An Epiphany on the Bowery

in honor of the release of Epiphany's Winter/Spring '09 issue. Along with several other stirring story-tellers, reading will feature the talent of Mira Ptacin-Jackson, reading an essay about the uterus. It's guaranteed to be as lovely as the lovingly-rendered illustration above.

NAKED PSYCHES ON THE BOWERY

Epiphany is proud to announce the release of its Winter/Spring ’09 issue, Naked Psyches. Epiphany will be celebrating the release of Naked Psyches with a reading and launch party on March 25th from 6-8 at the Bowery Poetry Club, 308 Bowery, N.Y.C. (Admission: $5, Admission + Naked Psyches: $10, Admission + one-year subscription: $15.)

PB&J at W Hotel Wonderlust, 3/17/09

It may have been St. Patrick's day, but 100 or so attendees at the midtown hotel's Great Room were content to bypass the Irish for three Swedes.




Peter, Bjorn and John chose this venue for the coming out party for their new album Living Thing, but also make their first appearance on these shores for more than a year. I confess I hadn't heard the entire show (the watermarked-advanced-copy machinery broke down in that regard), but their tight production talents were necessarily on display for the glammed-up hotel crowd, and brought some New Yorkie friends onstage to play "Young Folks" for the first time in a long, long time. They did the whistling themselves.


I watched half the show at a corner table next to actress Parker Posey, who remarked "Where's all the dancing? I though this would be more of a dirty downtown scene."



Well, Parker, the luxury hotel setting may indeed be a little more staid than your average downtown partyer is used to, but don't you think the free vodka appletinis and hors d'oeuvres more than made up for it?



Earlier in the evening, I sat down to talk to Bjorn Yttling and John Eriksson (Peter Moren, who recently released a solo album was elsewhere indisposed), and was delighted to find that they're as curious and whimsical in person as they are on their records, complete with onomatopoeic representations of the stripped-down beats they'd like to use on their next recors (Unfortunately my recorder was out of batteries, so I'm going to have to try to recreate that from memory. Ahem: ch-ch-ch-ch-boom-k-ch-ch-ch-ch-ah-ah-boom-boom.)

See you at SXSW!

No, not really. I'm just joshin.' As usual, I'll be right here in New York ( the fact that I'm on spring break and still swamped with work makes it all the more bittersweet). Seeing some brilliant shows (see below and above) right here in Manahatta this week is some consolation, however.

Given my promise to keep this blog New York-focused (or, more accurately, wherever-I'm-living-right-now-focused), I won't devote a lot of space to the goings-on in Austin, but for those of you who are luckier than I, I'll take the time to point out some events I feel are particularly worth checking out, especially for those wanting to venture beyond the major-label bashes (in a kinder world, I'd be at them):

#1:



Beyond Race Magazine is sponsoring an uncharacteristically alt-country heavy roster at The Sidebar on Friday, March 20. I would particularly recommend Deertick, whom I have not seen live, and Golden Boots, whom I have (back in another life, when I lived in Tucson, where the band hails from). Those who like their country served with a side of psilocybin ought to be right pleased.

#2



Wednesday, March 18th @ MS BEA'S - Austin TX

:: FREE ALL AGES PATIO PARTIES IN AUSTIN 2009
:: brought to you with love by Todd P & Fiona Campbell

:: \/\/ NY NOISE party, curated by Shirley Braha - 6-10pm \/\/
::
:: 9:30 - Telepathe
:: 9pm - Pains of Being Pure at Heart
:: 8:30 - Here We Go Magic
:: 8pm - Pete and the Pirates
:: 7:30 - Let's Wrestle
:: 7pm - Still Flyin'
:: 6:30 - the Beets
:: 6pm - Box Elders
::
:: /\/\ NY NOISE party, curated by Shirley Braha - 6-10pm /\/\
::
:: \/\/ MUSIC MADE BY WOMEN party, curated by Veronica Finally Punk - 12-6pm \/\/
::
:: 5:30 - Yellow Fever
:: 5pm - Pocahaunted
:: 4:30 - Explode Into Color
:: 4pm - Finally Punk
:: 3:30 - the Splinters
:: 3pm - PRE
:: 2:30 - the Carrots
:: 2pm - the Coathangers
:: 1:30 - Tacocat
:: 1pm - Micachu and the Shapes
:: 12:30 - Forever
:: 12pm - Anni Rossi
::
:: /\/\ MUSIC MADE BY WOMEN party, curated by Veronica Finally Punk - 12-6pm /\/\

#3




Thursday, March 19th @ MS BEA'S - Austin TX

:: FREE ALL AGES PATIO PARTIES IN AUSTIN 2009
:: brought to you with love by Todd P & Fiona Campbell

:: 10:30 - Casiotone for the Painfully Alone
:: 10pm - Best Friends Forever
::
:: \/\/ CAPTURED TRACKS party, curated by Mike Sniper - 5:30pm-9:30pm \/\/
::
:: 9:30 - Indian Jewelry
:: 9pm - Lou Barlow & Imaad Wasif --- from Sebadoh, Dinosaur Jr, Lowercase
:: 8:30 - TV Ghost
:: 8pm - Golden Error
:: 7:30 - Guinea Worms
:: 7pm - City Center
:: 6:30 - Hank IV
:: 6pm - Nite Jewel
:: 5:30 - Grant Hart ------------- from Hüsker Dü
::
:: /\/\ CAPTURED TRACKS party, curated by Mike Sniper - 5:30pm-9:30pm /\/\
::
:: \/\/ DAY INTO NIGHT party, curated by Jeanann Siedman & Katrina Hallowell - 12pm-5:30pm \/\/
::
:: 5pm - Many Birthdays
:: 4:30 - Edie Sedgwick
:: 4pm - dd/mm/yyy
:: 3:30 - Medications
:: 3pm - Phosphorescent
:: 2:30 - Snake Trap
:: 2pm - the Gary
:: 1:30 - Ali Eskandarian
:: 1pm - J.D.S.
:: 12:30 - The Fieros
:: 12pm - The Forms
::
:: /\/\ DAY INTO NIGHT party, curated by Jeanann Siedman & Katrina Hallowell - 12pm-5:30pm /\/\

Thursday, March 19th -MIDNIGHT- @ MS BEA'S YARD - Austin TX

:: FREE MIDNIGHT UNAMPLIFIED ACOUSTIC BBQ IN AUSTIN 2009!
:: in the field under the big tree @ Ms Bea's!
:: brought to you with love by Todd P & Fiona Campbell

:: 4:10 - Box Elders
:: 4am - Golden Error
:: 3:50 - Gary War
:: 3:40 - Jana Hunter
:: 3:30 - Pete and the Pirates
:: 3:20 - Herman Dune
:: 3:10 - the Fresh & Onlys
:: 3am - Adventure
:: 2:50 - Viking Moses / Golden Ghost
:: 2:40 - Still Flyin'
:: 2:30 - Best Friends Forever
:: 2:20 - Gun Outfit
:: 2:10 - Talk Normal
:: 2am - Vivian Girls
:: 1:50 - Wavves
:: 1:40 - tba
:: 1:30 - Tyvek
:: 1:20 - Psychedelic Horseshit
:: 1:10 - Jeremy Jay
:: 1am - Los Llamarada
:: 12:50 - Love of Everything
:: 12:40 - Real Estate / Ducktails
:: 12:30 - Anni Rossi
:: 12:20 - the Forms
:: 12:10 - Fiasco
:: 12am - the So So Glos

:: MIDNIGHT ACOUSTIC BBQ @ MS BEA'S YARD CURATED BY:
::
:: Fiona Campbell
:: Todd P

| MS BEA'S |
1104 East 6th St @ Medina St | Downtown Eastside - AUSTIN, TX
just walk 2 blocks East on 6th! | ALL AGES | 512.481.9725 | MIDNIGHT| FREE!



Brooklyn DIY ringmaster and my erstwhile colleagues at Death by Audio Todd Patrick and Edan Wilber (and their friends) are hosting a cavalcade of all-ages events featuring the usual suspects (Telepathe, Vivian Girls, et al.) Because I can't print them all, I'll recommend the 19th, which by itself is enough great bands to go down to Austin for -- Phosphorescent (providing his set is less-Willie, more-Matthew, and he shows up dressed as he is above), and The Pains of Being Pure at Heart (shoegaze for shameless popsters like myself) being my personal picks. Plus they're free and you don't need a press pass to see them. (Hmm. I wonder if I could get a flight at this late date...)

#3:



The Bouncing Souls. Pizza. BRM. Need I say more?

A.C. Newman at the Bowery Ballroom, Sunday 3/15

This week, after a long hiatus of covering larger shows, I feel quite fortunate to be seeing two bands that I've dreamed about seeing live for years: tonight it's Peter Bjorn and John at a press-only thing at the W Hotel, and Sunday, it was Allan Carl Newman (formerly of the New Pornographers, but his solo work is better. Yes, I went there).

I went in thinking his new release Get Guilty, didn't quite hold up to his wistful 2004 orchestral-pop masterpiece The Slow Wonder (since he recently got married, I figured it was because his emotions weren't as raw as they seemed to be when he was writing that album). But the Bowery Ballroom's unbeatable acoustics came through for the title track, whose crystalline chorus sounded like it could have come out of Abbey Road Studios circa 1969. Like the best live shows, it made me want to listen to the album again, and I suggest you do, too.

My full review can be found here.

A.C. Newman on MySpace
Matador Records

Time for a Soiree, Beyond Race Magazine-style

This Thursday, March 5 marks what will be your first (and quite possibly only) chance to snatch up all the FREE copies of Beyond Race Magazine you want, at BRM's big event of the year. This issue features cover stories on Common and G4’s Attack of the Show, as well as features on Leonardo DiCaprio, Notorious, Marc Ecko, MGMT, Peelander-Z, Tom Morello, and a special section on 25 Artists To Watch in ’09, three of which will be performing at the release party.

(Not to mention reviews by yours truly.)

Performances by: Peelander-Z, Planet Ubiquity, I Love You Airlines, Creative Juices, Bodega Girls, Kind Monitor, Division X, Kahlil Almustafa, Brad Farberman's Expected Draw

Where:
Public Assembly (formerly known as Galapagos)
70 North 6th St. (btwn Wythe and Kent Ave.)
Brooklyn, NY
(718) 384-4586

When: Thursday, March 5, 2009
Doors at 7pm; Music at 8pm

Cover: $10
RSVP to my buddy kyle@beyondrace.com for the guest list.

The Jayhawks are back together

Well, not really, but that sure has a ring to it, doesn't it? Besides, we've got something almost as good. Old friends Mark Olson and Gary Louris, (aka Mr. and Mr. Jayhawk) are back together after more than 10 years of a radio silence, in which both of them recorded solo albums and didn't speak to each other. (Tsk tsk, boys.) The buzz is that Ready for the Flood is stripped-down Jayhawks, focusing more on the boys' legendary high-lonesome harmonies and acoustic picking than any of the alt-country production that characterized their earlier work. Yes, although there are still some movers, here, including "Chamberlain, S.D.," an electric barroom rollicker, remnsicent of Rainy Day Music's "Come to the River." For the nerds, of course, there's trying to get a handle on how their songwriting has settled and matured in the last 10 years. But the real joy, of course, is sitting back and listening to these guys' voices intertwine -- nothing's been lost, thank God, and nobody since the Louvin Brothers has done this sound better.

I wish I could say the two will be on their way to New York in the near future, but alas, they won't. Their two shows at Minneapolis' Varsity Theater this weekend are sold out, of course. For the lucky, here's where they'll be:

Feb 15 Sun Louisville, KY
Phoenix Hill Tavern
Feb 17 Tue St. Louis, MO Blueberry Hill
Feb 18 Wed Columbia, MO Mojo’s
Feb 19 Thu Cedar Rapids, IA CSPS
Feb 20 Fri Chicago, IL Park West
Feb 21 Sat Minneapolis, MN Varsity
Feb 22 Sun Minneapolis, MN Varsity

For more Jayhawkiana, I recommend Chris Riemenschneider's in-depth profile of the twosome on Startribune.com, as well as Olson and Louris's MySpace.

No place says L'Amour like Bushwick, Brooklyn

It is a proven fact that there is no problem in life that cannot be solved by going to the Bushwick Libary. This is a perfect opportunity. It takes place Saturday, February 14, from 3 to 5 p.m. (Yes, that is Valentine's Day, which to many people is a problem in and of itself.)

There's also been rumors of pantomime and commemorative quarters.

Readers are:

Rohin Guha
Matt Carney
Aaron Short
Marc Jaffee

Something also might be done to their voice boxes, I'm not sure. The Bushwick Libary is at Bushwick Ave. and Seigel St. in Brooklyn.

Bushwick Reading Series on the Internets