Diplo with Bonde Do Rolo - 3/30 - 8pm - Studio B

Boom. Cha. Boom. Boom-chica-chica. Boom-cha-boom - in your ear, for you to hear, this Friday night in Brooklyn. Experience the essence of Baile Funk, a marginal genre on-the-rise reminiscent of Miami Bass. And who better to see than the dj who has almost single-handedly exposed this genre to the nothern hemisphere through his notorious Fabriclive mixtape and a coveted series of Baile Funk cds/lps. You may also know him as the dj/producer for M.I.A.; his trip-hop album, Florida; his affiliation with Big Dada; or perhaps the spread he received in The New Yorker two years ago after rocking Brooklyn. In any case, the Florida native is on top of his game as he is now running his own independent label, Mad Decent. His recent single, "Gasolina," features the Brazilian sensation Bonde Do Rolo who will also be performing at this event that is bound to be a ball (pronounced the same as baile). Now go get funk'd up!

Growing @ Rockies Bar Death By Audio 3/31

The ever-prolific Growing has put out 4 studio albums since their start in 2003. Their 5th drops in April on Troubleman Unlimited's Megablade imprint. Taste the fruitful drone on Saturday at Rockies Bar (s. 5th st. & Kent Ave, Brooklyn) Death By Audio (49 S 2nd St btwn Wythe & Kent, Brooklyn). Ocrilim and Thrones are playing too.

RIYL: Merzbow, Godspeed You Black Emperor!, Tortoise, Spacemen 3, Psychic Ills, Drone music

THE BLACK LIPS / THE PONYS @ Bowery Ballroom – 3/26/07

The Bowery Ballroom will be host to two of the hottest bands on the brink tonight in The Ponys and the Black Lips. The Black Lips have gained a huge amount of press/notoriety following breakout performances in last year’s CMJ Music Marathon and last week’s SXSW Festival in Austin, TX. You can read NYCUG’s previous post about them here. Chicago’s Ponys are former In The Red labelmates of the Black Lips and, like the Black Lips, they have made the jump to a larger label, in this case Matador. And while their music has certainly dropped off since their 2004 debut, they are still worth checking out live. Although, it must be said that their shows are either really good or really bad (i.e. stomping off the stage after 20 minutes for seemingly no reason) so be forewarned.


RIYL: The Dirtbombs, The Monks, Pavement

NO FUN FEST @ Tonic – 3/22

Tonic will be hosting a plethora of underground bands this week in their No Fun Festival series. Most notably, this Thursday will feature the likes of the legendary jack-of-all-trades Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth as well as underground artists such as Keith Fullerton Whitman, Prurient, and Burning Star Core among several others. You can expect to hear some tape music, experimental, avant-garde, and other noise sub-genres from this marathon. If you are an avid fan of these artists or are looking for a great introduction to the underground, you can’t miss.

OOIOO @ Knitting Factory 3/20

When she's not battling pink robots or drumming for Japanese experimental-rock all-stars Boredoms, Yoshimi P-We fronts her all-female side project, OOIOO (pronounced "oh-oh-eye-oh-oh"). Their latest effort, the impressive Taiga, was just released in the USA this past Fall. They'll be at Knitting Factory Tuesday night to show off their chops.

RIYL: Boredoms, Deerhoof, Blonde Redhead, Enon



Knitting Factory, Tuesday 3/20, 8pm. Buy tickets here.

The Double @ Cake Shop 3/16 & 3/17

As far as I'm concerned, The Double are the most underrated act signed to Matador Records (although it could possibly be argued that Dead Meadow hold this title). The Double may also boast the "least-easily-navigable-website" in indie rock. In any case, this Brooklyn quartet is playing 2 shows at Cake Shop thisweekend.

The Double make left-field pop music - allowing dissonant guitar & organ noise to creep into otherwise seemingly harmless melodies.
RIYL: Suicide, Liars, Black Dice, The Fall, Excepter, Animal Collective

Mike Wexler opens up the Friday show. Crystal Stilts and The Japanese Beetles open up the Saturday show. Both shows begin at 8pm.

"Black Diamond" live @ Tonic September '06:

THE GOOD, THE BAD, & THE QUEEN @ Webster Hall – 3/12/07

Damon Albarn’s latest brainchild, The Good, The Bad, & The Queen will be in town tonight at Webster Hall. In his latest effort, Albarn enlists what seems to be comprised of a veritable all-star cast including Clash bassist Paul Simonon, Verve guitarist Simon Tong, and Fela Kuti’s afro-beat enthused drummer, Tony Allen. While virtually taking a 180-degree turn from Gorillaz style synth-hop, GBQ sounds much more like Albarn’s days with Blur, but it is certainly more downbeat than the majority of Blur’s footy-hooligan rowdiness. Since Blur will likely never get back together with their original lineup, this show will act as a good substitute for those Albarn fans out their.


RIYL: Blur, Oasis, Supergrass, Air, Pulp, Super Furry Animals

The Shins @ MSG 3/14

Having successfully changed the life of that dude from Scrubs, indie-pop darlings The Shins are ready to rock yr world too. They're playing @ the Theater @ Madison Square Garden on Wednesday in support of their latest effort Wincing the Night Away.


Tickets are kinda steep @ $37.50 apiece.

OF MONTREAL @ Irving Plaza – 3/9, 3/10

Athens, GA madman Kevin Barnes and his merry band will be invading the Irving Plaza this weekend and you will have a chance to see a real spectacle of a show. Ever since Barnes virtually hijacked Of Montreal and made it his own, they have gotten considerably weirder than they originally were on their Bar/None releases. In fact, Barnes may very well be the weirdest of the former Elephant 6 consortium and that, my friends, is saying a lot. Case in point, earlier this tour, Barnes’ penis made its on stage debut, much to the chagrin of a Las Vegas crowd. Let’s hope this doesn’t happen again. The eccentricities are not all bad, though. Their newest release on Polyvinyl, Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? is a much more mature album in terms of subject matter than their two previous critically acclaimed albums, Satanic Panic in the Attic, and The Sunlandic Twins, but the danceable, upbeat compositions and hyper-intellectual lyrics remain well in tact. We may never know why the bizarre Barnes felt it necessary to whip out his wanker on stage, but it could have just been another Outback Steakhouse advertisement.

RIYL: Olivia Tremor Control, Marshmallow Coast, Apples in Stereo, Elf Power

Beach House @ Mercury Lounge 3/5

Baltimore's Pitchfork-approved Beach House are playing a slew of NYC shows next week. They are opening both sold-out Grizzly Bear shows at Bowery Ballroom on Tuesday and Wednesday. If you dont have tix for that, scope them at Mercury Lounge on Monday evening.

I first came to know of this band when seeing them open for Avey Tare & Kria Brekken back in November; they blew me away. Beach House is a duo comprised of Alex Scally on guitar and organ, and Victoria Legrand on keys and vocals. Together, with the assistance of prerecorded drum loops via laptop, they make (delightful) dreamy pop songs. Listen here. Buy tickets here.

RIYL: Spiritualized, Mazzy Star, Azure Ray, Nico

THE THERMALS @ Bowery Ballroom – 3/4/07

Oft discussed Lo-Fi indie punkers the Thermals will be hitting the
ballroom this Sunday night in NYC. It's pretty much a guarantee the
Hipsterati will come out in droves to see the Portland, OR all-star
team work the crowd with their high energy stage show. They have a
tendency to combine fuzzy punk riffs and the typical snotty sarcastic
indie vocals/lyrics to create songs that barely top three minutes in
duration. While not the best nor the most innovative band in their
field, they do put on a good show and it is a lot of fun. They are
touring on the heels of their latest release The Body The Blood The
Machine on "independent" label SubPop.

RIYL: Bratmobile, Nerf Herder, Nada Surf, Presidents of the United
States of America