Max Hammer – Page 86 – INDIE ROCK CAFE

DeVotchka, Los Campesinos, Bishop Allen, Junior League, The Speaks and Others Play DC’s U Street Concerts This Weekend

Posted on 05/17/200812/18/2019 by Max Hammer

DeVotchka performed tonight at the 9:30 Club in Washington, DC

The U Street Weekend Concert series in Washington, DC kicked off tonight with performances from artists Devotchka and Los Campesinos. Bands and artists including Junior League, The Speaks, Alice Smith, Bishop Allen and Yo Majesty will also perform this weekend at various venues in the nation’s capital.

DeVotchka, a four-piece multi-instrumental band blending rock with eastern European influences, performed for a packed crowd at Washington, DC’s legendary 9:30 Club. The opening act was Basia Bulat.

Los Campesinos!, the Welsh seven-piece indie pop-rock band, played the Black Cat with the Aquarium and Pash tonight to a pumped up crowd.

MP3: Los Campesinos – “Don’t Tell Me To Do The Math(s)” from the vinyl 7″ recording We Throw Parties, You Throw Knives

Check out Los Campesinos official web site for more music, merchandise and tour dates.

Saturday, May 17, 2008

DC’s own rock quintet, The Speaks, who are big in Asia, will perform at the 9:30 Club on Saturday night with opening artists Monako and Dreaming of Eden. The show starts at 6 pm and tickets are $12.

Bluegrass and country folk artist Junior League will play the Black Cat starting at 9 pm. Tickets are $10.

Sunday, May 18, 2008

R&B, soul and jazz singer Alice Smith, a local DC artists, will sound-off with her powerful voice and back-up band Sunday night starting at 7:30 with opening act Res. Tickets are $18.

One of Brooklyn’s favorite indie bands, Bishop Allen, will perform at the Black Cat with the War on Drugs and Deleted Scenes. Tickets are a deal at $12. Doors open at 8 pm.

MP3: Bishop Allen – Rain – from the album The Broken String

This is the band’s last U.S. performance before launching their spring European tour on May 23 in Gothenburg.

Check out Bishop Allen’s MySpace page for more music and tour dates. Bishop Allen is widely known for their song “Click Click Click Click” , which was featured on a Sony camera commercial last year.

Lastly, the all female electro-rap jam band Yo Majesty will take the stage Sunday night at DC9. Opening band Innerpartysystem will open the show at 9 pm. Tickets are $12 a pop.

NYC’s Vampire Weekend Continue Relentless Touring

Posted on 05/15/200812/18/2019 by Max Hammer

With a catchy name and unique sound that combines indie rock-pop and Afro influences, New York’s collegiate ‘indie’ sensation Vampire Weekend have managed to become one of the the hottest bands during the past two years, selling out shows, performing on Saturday Night Live and garnering a massive amount of buzz in the mainstream press and on countless music blogs.

But there are disadvantages of being so popular; there are music fans who absolutely love the band, and there are others who declare VW are vastly over-rated.

Live MP3: Vampire Weekend performing “M79” at SxSW 2008

Yet the soaring popularity of the band appears to be unabated. That can be a good and a bad thing, as we’ve seen so many times before. Nonetheless, I’d bet my Cadillac that many record labels are in a bidding war for these guys right now.

The band has toured relentlessly since early 2007, and there is no sign that they intend to take a break. In fact, VW are booked solid through the end of September when they will play at the famous Austin City Limits festival.

Here’s Vampire Weekend’s tour dates for the next four months. It seems as if they are playing nearly every music festival this summer, not just in the U.S., but worldwide:
If you’d like to see the band live, it is strongly recommended to get tickets once they go on sale, since tickets have regularly gone for double and triple the price on eBay and other third-party ticket auction sites.

One of the most interesting things about a band from New York City is that they have a number of songs about Massachusetts in their limited music repertoire (“Boston”, “Ladies of Cambridge” and “Cape Cod Kawasa Kawasa”)

The band describes their sound as “Upper West Side Soweto” – a reference to their early gigs playing at frat and literary parties for NYC social elites where people began to take notice of their unique blend of joyous indie rock infused with melodic Afro-beat rhythms.

Vampire Weekend’s band members are Ezra Koenig, Chris Baio, Rostam Batmanglij, and Chris Tomson. The group derived their name from a college film project shortly after forming in 2006.

Their first release, the EP Mansford Roof, caught the attention of music critics, including The New York Times. Word spread quickly about Vampire Weekend’s unique sound and lyrics (the track “Oxford Comma” refers to a comma use in a list of three items), buoyed by the band’s self-released EPs, which they recorded in locations spanning their Columbia dorm rooms to a family barn.

The buzz around Vampire Weekend reached a feverish peak in 2007; that summer, the band embarked on a seemingly endless tour in 2007, made several appearances at that year’s CMJ Music Marathon, and eventually signed with XL Records that fall.

Since then, Vampire Weekend has continued to grow in popularity, evidenced by the fact that most of their shows for this spring and summer have already been sold out.

Some worthwhile VW links, including audio and video performances:

Vampire Weekend: Fresh blood on campus – UK Telegraph

See more Vampire Weekend on IRC including a special and exclusive video performance shot at San Francisco’s Rickshaw Stop show on Easter Sunday.

Streaming Video Session: Vampire Weekend live on KCRW

Webs: Vampire Weekend’s official website and MySpace page.

Summerfest 2008 Adds New Artists Blondie, Three Dog Night, CCR, Pat Benatar, Cheap Trick and More

Posted on 05/15/200812/18/2019 by Max Hammer

Hailed as the ‘world’s largest music festival’, Summerfest 2008 organizers have announced the line-up for the ‘classic rock’ stage which will be located at the south end of Henry Maier Festival Park and sponsored by Milwaukee FM radio stations 97.3 The Brew and My 95.7.

Here is the line-up of artists set to headline the M&I Classic Rock Stage during late June and early July:

June 26 – 9:00 pm – Three Dog Night
June 27 – 10:00 pm – Think Floyd
June 28 – 5:30 pm – Daryl Stuermer
June 28 – 10:00 pm – Blondie (see video below)
June 29 – 10:00 pm – Dickey Betts
June 30 – 8:30 pm – A Tribute to James Brown featuring Bootsy Collins along with The Original James Brown Horn Section & Long Wilson, Bobby Byrd Band (featuring Mrs. Vicky Anderson Byrd), Escapism (featuring Venisha Brown), iCandi, Freekbass, Djizzle, ZienPlanet10
July 1 – 8:30 pm – Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo
July 2 – 9:00 pm – Creedence Clearwater Revisited
July 3 – 10:00 pm – Kansas
July 4 – 10:00 pm – Mountain
July 5 – 3:00 pm – The Zombies
July 5 – 10:00 pm – Cheap Trick
July 6 – 9:00 pm – Earth Wind and Fire

This is the official music video for Blondie’s 1979 smash hit “Heart of Glass”:

DJ James Pants Emerges from the Forest to Release Welcome

Posted on 05/11/200812/18/2019 by Max Hammer

Infusing elements of dance, hip-hop and funk, Spokane, Washington’s one-band and DJ James Pants (born James Singleton) has released his debut album Welcome.

MP3: James Pants – “We’re Through” from the album Welcome on Stones Throw Records

If you like what you hear, purchase Welcome from iTunes.

After meeting Stones Throw Records head Peanut Butter Wolf, Pants’ recording of “Do A Couple of Things” was included on Wolf’s compilation Chrome Children.

Pants has a penchant for recording humorous and fun mixtapes, which have been the catalyst behind much of his popularity in the indie music underground.

In 2007, Pants has released a 12″ EP titled Kash and a follow-up single track “Murder” on Chrome Children, Vol. 2.

Recently, Pants has toured as a DJ with Peanut Butter Wolf and Jamie Lidell.

Thursday Indie Rock LinkStorm – Vampire Weekend, The Black Keys, Adaline, Ryan Tedder, BSS, Ryan Lott, Brendan Canning

Posted on 05/08/200812/18/2019 by Max Hammer

The video above features Wolf Parade performing “This Heart’s on Fire”

There’s always too many indie rock articles and items of news and never enough time to write about them. So, as an antidote, IRC has come up with the ‘linkstorm’ concept to deliver to you the best in what’s happening in the indie music world. Enjoy.

Akron, Ohio’s The Black Keys cover 70’s icon Captain Beefheart in the song “I’m Glad” (via Stereogum). Get the MP3 while you can because it could expire at any time.

Vampire Weekend: Fresh blood on campus – UK Telegraph – See more Vampire Weekend on IRC including special performance from San Francisco’s Easter Sunday show.

Adaline transcends singer-songwriter label – The Vancouver Sun

Ryan Tedder of OneRepublic with fresh taste of success – Melbourne Herald Sun

Bands to Watch For – Spaces For Morning – Princeton Record Exchange Blog – View Spaces For Morning’s MySpace page.

Son Lux’s Ryan Lott – Remember Me—But, ah, Forget My Fate – The Brooklyn Rail

Broken Social Scene – Canadian Indie Rock Army on Stage – Turkish Daily News

Bonus: BSS’s Brendan Canning will release his first solo effort on July 22, 2008.

Band of the Week: Canada’s The Weakerthans

Posted on 05/04/200812/18/2019 by Max Hammer

The Weakerthans, a Canadian indie band from Winnipeg, put themselves on the music map back in the late 1990’s, and have been impressing critics and fans with subsequent, yet limited, releases ever since.

The band’s latest album, Reunion Tour, released last fall, has received wide praise by the music press, bloggers and fans, making many top album lists for 2007.

Comprising an exciting mix of punk revival and melodic indie rock, Paste magazine hailed Reunion Tour as a collection of “songs of brutal beauty, little rock n roll vignettes that perfectly capture the malaise of the peculiar, disorienting times in which we live.”

Here is the hit single music video “Civil Twilight” from The Weakerthans’ Reunion Tour CD:

Propagandhi member John K. Samson left his former band and joined Red Fisher drummer Jason Tait and bassist John Sutton to create The Weakerthans in 1997. Later guitarist Steve Carroll and bassist Greg Smith joined the lineup.

The band, especially founder, John Samson, doesn’t just record and play music; they are actively involved in promoting the fight against poverty and advocating for environmental conservation. Samson’s ‘day job’ includes his publishing company, Arbeiter Ring Publishing.

Reunion Tour was, in a sense, aptly named since the band’s last release before that, Reconstruction Site, was issued back in 2003 on Epitaph Records.

MP3: The Weakerthans – “Plea From A Cat Named Virtue” from Reconstruction Site

MP3: The Weakerthans – “Aside” from Last and Leaving

You can listen to and download more music, plus watch various music videos, from The Weakerthans on their official web site. Also, check out The Weakerthan’s MySpace page and Facebook profile to social network with the band, get tour information, connect with fans and stream songs.

The Weakerthans were the first band in the CBC Radio 3’s R3-30 chart history to hit the No. 1 spot with two different songs in the same year – a cover of Rheostatics “Bad Time to Be Poor” during the week of June 21, 2007, followed up in November 2007 by another No. 1 song, “Civil Twilight”, their hit single from Reunion Tour.

The band released their debut album, Fallow, to wide praise from music critics and fans in 1998, on the indie label cooperative, G7& Welcoming Records. In 2000, The Weakerthans issued their sophomore record Left and Leaving, followed a year later by the EP Watermark.

Left and Leaving was eventually named one of the ten best Canadian albums of all time in a Chart magazine readers’ poll last year. Epitaph re-released Fallow and Left and Leaving in Canada on November 6, 2007.

10,000 Lakes Festival Adds More Artists to 2008 Line-Up

Posted on 05/02/200803/21/2016 by Max Hammer

The above video is a promotional vid for the 2008 10K Lakes Festival in Minnesota.

With two months and three weeks left until the festival gates open for the 2008 10,000 Lakes Festival. The following artists have just been added:

Deep Banana Blackout
Lotus
Extra Golden
Papa Mali
New Primitives
God Johnson
Lynx
Ultraviolet Hippopotamus

You can purchase your tickets now before the May 15 price increase. Get the full details on camping tickets. Tickets for the four-day general admission and camping fee are now selling for $130.

The festival takes place on five stages starting Wednesday, July 23 through Saturday, July 26 at the Soo Pass Ranch in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota.

The 10,000 Lakes Festival official line-up features:

Phil Lesh and Friends
The Flaming Lips
Michael Franti and Spearhead
Leftover Salmon
Mickey Hart Band feat. Kimock & Porter
George Clinton & Parliament/Funkadelic [Late Night]Medeski Scofield Martin & Wood
Slightly Stoopid
Dark Star Orchestra
WookieFoot
TR3 featuring Tim Reynolds
The Bad Plus
JJ Grey & MOFRO
Deep Banana Blackout [Late Night]Lotus [Late Night]Extra Golden
Bonerama
Papa Mali
EOTO
Panjea with Michael Kang
Everyone Orchestra
The Waybacks
Secret Chiefs 3
The New Mastersounds
Dub Trio
The Wood Brothers
Cornmeal
God Johnson
Family Groove Company
U-Melt
One Under
New Primitives
Kinetix
Redux
Lynx
Pert’ Near Sandstone
The Rhinestone Diplomats
WBPN
Ultraviolet Hippopotamus
The Hue

Virgin Mobile Festival Line-up 2008 Announced

Posted on 04/30/200812/18/2019 by Max Hammer

After much anticipation, the official line-up for the 2008 Virgin Mobile Festival has been announced (see below).

Tickets for the two-day festival sponsored by billionaire Richard Branson start at $175 for the full two days, however, single day tickets have not been released, which is the norm when festivals first announce the official line-up.

This year marks the third year of the Virgin Mobile Festival held August 9-10 at Pimilco Race Course in Baltimore, MD.

Here is the official VMF line-up:

August 9
Main Stage

Bloc Party
Cat Power
Chuck Berry and The Silver Beats
Citizen Cope
Duffy
Foo Fighters
Gogol Bordello
Jack Johnson
KT Tunstall
Lupe Fiasco
The Offspring
Paramore
Rodrigo y Gabriela
Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings
The Swell Season
Wilco

Dance Tent

DJ Dan & Donald Glaude
Erol Alkan
Ferry Corsten
Soul Wax
Steve Lawler
Underworld

August 10
Main Stage

Andrew Bird’s Bowl of Fire
The Black Keys
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
Bob Dylan
The Go! Team
Iggy & The Stooges
Kanye West
Lil Wayne
Nine Inch Nails
She & Him
Shudder to Think
Stone Temple Pilots
Taking Back Sunday

Dance Tent

Armin van Buuren
Chromeo
Deadmau5
Moby (DJ Set)
Pendulum
Richie Hawtin

Coachella 2008 Video Performances from Prince, Jack Johnson, The Raconteurs, The Verve and Vampire Weekend

Posted on 04/27/200801/01/2017 by Max Hammer

Coachella is just about over for another year. Here are some video highlights from the festival.

Prince – Little Red Corvette – Coachella, Saturday night

Jack Johnson “Waiting For You” performed Friday night at Coachella 2008.

The Verve performing Friday night at Coachella (not sure song title)

Vampire Weekend performing “A Punk” at Coachella 2008

Quick Clips

Prince – Jammin

The Raconteurs

The National (song title anyone?)

Pendulum – Voodoo People – raving at Coachella – short clip, but good sneak preview

Serj Tankian

Coachella 2008 Video Performances and Weekend Line-up

Posted on 04/26/200801/01/2017 by Max Hammer

Coachellians poured in to the Empire Polo Fields in Indio, California today in the hot sun to see artists like Portishead, Prince, DCFC, Hot Chip, Rilo Kiley and others. Check out the lineup for Saturday and Sunday below.

The YouTube videos from Friday’s Coachella performances are already being posted. Sifting through them, here are some of the best, including The Black Kids, The Raconteurs, Aphex Twins and Fatboy Slim.

The Black Kids performing “I’m Not Going to Teach Your Boyfriend” at Coachella on Friday, April 25:

The Raconteurs – “Consolers of the Lonely” – Friday Coachella show

The Raconteurs – “Attention” – from AT&T BlueRoom Broadcast (FYI: This may be deleted by YouTube)

Aphex Twins – Live set at Coachella, Friday, April 25, 2008 (song title anyone?)

Fatboy Slim – “Green Supernova” – Friday night, Coachella 2008

The following is the line-up for artists and bands playing Coachella Saturday and Sunday. Check out the stage and set times for more information.

Saturday

Portishead, Prince, Kraftwerk, Death Cab for Cutie, Cafe Tacvba, Sasha & John Digweed, Rilo Kiley, Dwight Yoakam, M.I.A., Hot Chip, Cold War Kids, Animal Collective, Kate Nash, Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks, DeVotchKa, Flogging Molly, Mark Ronson, Turbonegro, Scars on Broadway, Islands, Does it Offend You, Yeah?, Above & Beyond, Enter Shikari, Calvin Harris, Boys Noize, Junkie XL, Cinematic Orchestra, The Teenagers, VHS or Beta, CarbonSilicon, Erol Alkan, Man Man, Yo! Majesty, Little Brother, Bonde Do Role, St. Vincent, AkronFamily, MGMT, Surkin, Curses!, Para One, Orgasmic, James Zabiela, SebAstian, Kavinsky, Minus the Bear, Dredg, The Bird and the Bee, 120 Days, Yoav, Electric Touch, Yelle, Uffie featuring DJ Mehdi

Sunday

Roger Waters, Love and Rockets, My Morning Jacket, Spiritualized, Justice, Gogol Bordello, Chromeo, Metric, Danny Tenaglia, Simian Mobile Disco, Booka Shade, Murs, Dimitri from Paris, Autolux, Stars, The Field, Linton Kwesi Johnson, The Cool Kids, Sons & Daughters, Sia, Holy F*ck, Black Mountain, Annuals, Kid Sister with A-Trak, Modeselektor, Duffy, I’m from Barcelona, Manchester Orchestra, Deadmau5, AUSTIN TV, Grand Ole Party, Shout Out Louds, Plasticines, Brett Dennen

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To get indie rock songs, videos, concert and festival listings, album reviews, playlists, news and much more throughout 2008, get the Indie Rock Songs feed.

Coachella 2008 Guide: Maps, Stages, Performance Schedule

Posted on 04/24/200812/18/2019 by Max Hammer

Coachella 2008 – April 25-26 – kicks off tomorrow in the desert of southern California. Here’s the full skinny on the event, with stages, maps, artists and performance times.

Survival Guide for Coachella festival-goers (Press-Enterprise) – Summarized information on how to stay cool and hydrated, protecting yourself from the sun by wearing hats and sunscreen (there is almost no shaded areas at Empire Fields), what you can and cannot bring and food options (plastic not accepted, so bring cash because ATM lines are usually very long).

You can view an Excel sheet of all three days performances (thanks to NoInput) or check out the official Coachella customizable schedule here.

More Coachella 2008 news and features:

– Coachella releases schedule (sixsquare)
– Coachella 2008 Set Times Unveiled (Spin)
– Mouse’s Coachella Saturday Schedule (Classical Geek Theatre)
– Coachella Schedules in PDF format (MyDesert)

Crave Online has released a Music Guide to Coachella 2008 with a detailed line-up of artists not to miss and in-depth review of performers and other events.

And of course, check out the Coachella website for all the latest. You may want to watch the AT&T BlueRoom telecast which really needs to step it up this year, especially after the huge controversy from Lollapalooza 2007 when Eddie Vedder’s anti-Bush statements were censored by AT&T, although the company says it was an accident. Yeah, and I’m King Tut.

However, perhaps to AT&T’s horror, rumors are flying around that Eddie Vedder may make a surprise appearance at Coachella this weekend. You can almost bet that if he does, he will say something to irk AT&T, so don’t be surprised if they pull the plug on him again, should he make the rumored surprise appearance.

New Tracks Tuesday: Tokyo Police Club, Elf Power, Tapes N Tapes, Sleepercar, Sarandon and Flight of Conchords

Posted on 04/23/200812/18/2019 by Max Hammer

The best indie, alternative, rock and pop new CD and MP3 releases of 2008 are pouring in at a dizzlingly pace. This week’s New Tracks Tuesday features Tokyo Police Club, Tapes N Tapes, Elf Power, Sleeper Car, Sarandon and The Flight of the Conchords.

Ontario, Canada’s quirky quartet Tokyo Police Club mix straight away garage rock with poeticism and post-punk overtures, accompanied by catchy guitar hooks, energy-drenched drumming and infectious melodic bass lines, in their new full-length CD, “Elephant Shell.”

MP3: Tokyo Police Club – “In A Cave” from Elephant Shell
Stream: Elephant Shell from MTVU.com

Minneapolis’ lo-fi, jamming indie rock outfit Tapes N’ Tapes has released their first new album since 2006’s widely-acclaimed “The Loon”. The CD is full of spirited rock mixed with dark keyboards, experimentation and the band’s signature shaky vocals.

MP3: Tapes N’ Tapes – “Hang Them All” from Walk It Off
Stream: Walk It Off from MTVU.com

Athens, Georgia’s psychedelic indie pop band Elf Power has returned from sabbatical with a new album In A Cave. The album is a collaborative effort featuring Olivia Tremor Control hero Eric Harris, the Instruments Heather McIntosh and former Of Montreal music man Derek Almstead.
MP3: Elf Power – “Paralyzed” from In A Cave

The El Paso band Sleepercar mixes Americana jingle-laden pop with swirls of alternative folk on their debut album West Texas. Jim Ward, a musician well-heeled in the indie music world for his work with At The Drive-In or Sparta, spent six years working on this album. “Even if you are a bit wary about the whole “Americana” tag, this album is worthy of your attention and may even help expand your musical horizons” says music writer Rich Duncan.

MP3: Sleepercar – “Stumble In” from West Texas

More new or upcoming releases:

MP3: Sarandon – “Welcome” from Kill Twee Pop!

MP3: The Conchords – “Ladies of the World” from Flight of the Conchords
Stream: The Flight of the Conchords