Thursday (tonight):

• Forro in the Dark at the MoMA Sculpture Garden (free, 5:30 pm)
• Thee Oh Sees, Golden Triangle, The Beets, German Measles at Glasslands
• Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players, Tammy Faye Starlite at (le) Poisson Rouge
• The Feelies at Maxwell’s
• Jay Reatard, Screaming Females, TV Smith of the Adverts at Music Hall of Williamsburg
  
• Cubic Zirconia, Head Automatica, Chico Mann, Dam Funk at Santos Party House
• Cage, Yak Ballz at Southpaw

Friday:

• Woodsist/Captured Tracks Festival with Crystal Stilts, Blank Dogs, Psychedelic Horseshit, caUSE co-MOTION!, Mayfair Set, Gary War, Little Girls, Kid Romance, Beachniks, Gutsies at 979 Broadway Backyard in Bushwick, Brookyln (starts at 5 pm)
  
• Cryptacize, Casiotone for the Painfully Alone, Katie Eastburn at Market Hotel
• The Feelies at Maxwell’s
• Here We Go Magic, Bachelorette at South Street Seaport (free)
• Cage, Yak Ballz, Junk Science, Tone Tank at Southpaw
• Sharon Van Etten, Angel Ocana at Sycamore
• pow wow!, Dinosaur Feathers, Darlings at The Studio at Webster Hall
• Sonic Youth, The Entrance Band at United Palace Theater

Saturday:

• Conor Oberst & the Mystic Valley Band, Jenny Lewis at Battery Park (starts at 3:30 pm, free)
• First Saturday with The Shondes at Brooklyn Museum (free)
  
• Woodsist/Captured Tracks Festival with Thee Oh Sees, Vivian Girls, Kurt Vile, Woods, Tyvek, Dum Dum Girls, The Fresh & Onlys, Brilliant Colors, Ganglians, The Great Excape, The Beets, Real Estate, German Measles, Beach Fossils at 979 Broadway Backyard in Bushwick, Brookyln (starts at 2 pm)
  
• Afropunk Festival with Whole Wheat Bread, Pure Hell, Game Rebellion, American Fangs, The Objex, Funk Face, oOohh Baby Gimme, Jesse Nobody at Brooklyn Academy of Music (starts at 3 pm, free)
  
• Rooftop Films with Bachelorette at Chelsea Art Museum (starts at 6 pm)
  
• Japanther, NinjaSonik, Ghost Mall, Muhammid Ali at Lit Fuse Cyclery (409 Willoughby Brooklyn, NY) (starts at 1 pm)
  
• The Feelies at Maxwell’s

Sunday:

• Afropunk Fesitval with Earl Greyhound, Tamar-Kali, The London Souls, Apollo Heights, Sabatta, Sweetie, Peekaboo Theory, The Echo Jinx, B L A C K I E at Brooklyn Academy of Music (starts at 1 pm, free)
• Psychedelic Horseshit, Wet Hair, John Maus, Ganglians, Dead Luke at Monster Island Basement (NE corner of Metropolitan Ave & River Street Brooklyn, NY)
• The Entrance Band, TK Webb and The Visions at Southpaw
• Das Racist, Team Facelift at The Studio at Webster Hall (start at 4 pm)
  

And Monday, the Afropunk Festival continues with Saul Williams, Janelle Monae, Dallas Austin, Elevator Fight, Chewing Pics at Brooklyn Academy of Music (starts at 3 pm, free)

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Image: Fanatic Promotion

Local Brooklyn band The Shondes have a lot on their plate these days, but they will be celebrating Independence Day in style. The band will be playing a FREE show at the Brooklyn Museum’s First Saturday/July 4th party. The band goes on 8 pm and is sure to bring up the energy level with their punk-influenced rock music. Their album The Red Sea came out last year and they are currently working on a new one. The group has opened for the likes of Electrelane, Erase Errata, and Amy Ray, and has played various venues throughout New York and beyond. I had the chance to talk with drummer/vocalist Temim Fruchter:

Big Apple Music Scene: Your band identifies with many cultures and traditions, like Judaism, punk, and the LGBT community. How do these myriad of traditions influence your music?

Temim Fruchter: This stuff all makes its way into our music just because it’s pieces of who we are and the things we care deeply about, you know?  I think we all constantly appreciate that we all come from pretty different backgrounds – musically and otherwise – and were able to come together and be like, we just want to make music that really moves people, and that means something to people.

TF: Our band name is both a loving tribute to Jewish and specifically Yiddish tradition, and a reclamation of an age-old Yiddish insult.  Someone whose identity doesn’t quite mesh or who speaks out for justice a little too loudly or radically or brashly is often called a Shonde.  I think it’s pretty safe to say that some of my favorite people in the world are Shondes.  You know, in the best possible way!

TF: I think some of our favorite shows have just been the ones where people get the sweatiest and scream along the loudest, venue-irrelevant.  Still, we love some of the venues closest to home – Union Hall, the site of our last New York show, was fun and cozy (and has bocce ball to boot).  One of the first OMG-I-Live-In-NY-Now activities I engaged in upon first moving to Brooklyn was attending First Saturday at the Brooklyn Museum, so I’m really excited that I get to play it this time around!  We love to play free and all-ages shows when possible, so it’s great that this is both – and it doesn’t hurt that we’ll be playing amid a host of great works of art.

TF: I have to say the thing that’s going to sound cheesy but is quite true – some of the raddest musicians and bands we’ve played with are the ones who you may not have heard about yet.  That said, I was pretty psyched to open for Joe Lally [bassist for Fugazi] a little while back.  I grew up in the DC area and when I discovered Fort Reno and the punk/political music scene ‘round those parts I fell hard and fast for Fugazi, so I had a little bit of punkstarcrush holdover when we played with him.

TF: We are hard at work on our next album and are super-excited about it.  Stay tuned for news and announcements on that front.  In the meantime, we’re collecting mini-heartbreak-stories on twitter and at shows – heartbreak is a huge thread through the songs on the next record.  We definitely want your stor

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The Apollo Theater is hosting a tribute to Michael Jackson today (Tuesday) starting at 2 pm. Six hundred fans at a time can go in and listen to his music and watch video tributes. Rev. Al Sharpton will be there to read a eulogy, as well as the president of the Apollo. People have been at the theater since MJ died and I’m sure the crowd is huge right now…but go on up there and try to get in!

Images: Newscom

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• July 4: Main Floor: Mark Farina / DJ Hype / Heidi / Audio Fly / Keoki / Proper Villains / Future Funk & Kliprock / Chris Love / The American Dream Team / Human? Floor 2: DJ Dara / Odi / Jen Mas / St8cyde Jump Up with MC Dylz / Strife / Steppo / Tracatak / Su_Real / Mike Vertex / Sour Diesel / DJ Dupont Open Air Rooftop: DJ Translucent / DJ Kiwi / Billy Belmont / Dali / R.E.A.L.I.T.Y. / Metaphysikal / Anthony Nero / Frankie Pena / Rob Junior / Mike D. Tickets

• July 10: Flashing Lights party with Flosstradamus (Chicago) Plus DJ Ayres, Nick Catchdubs, and Jubilee
• July 11: Down and Derby Roller Disco with Eli Escobar (Outside Broadcast/Plant Music/Money Studies), Duane Harriot (Negroclash/Bim Marx/Other Music), and Rok One (The Bangers). RSVP
• July 12: Tragedy, Morne, Blacklisted, Brainkiller, + 1 more TBA. Tickets

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• July 11: Dark Star Orchestra, Keller Williams, Pete Francis and Barefoot Truth. Tickets
• July 12: DJ kHZ for FREE
• July 18: DJ Erik the Red for FREE
• July 19: TRAGEDY, All Metal Tribute to the BEE GEES, The School of Rock All-Stars / The Rodney Speed Experience for FREE
• July 25: The Beatards for FREE
• July 26: Turntables on the Hudson, Full lineup/tickets TBA
• August 4: Erykah Badu. Tickets
• August 15: Hip Hop Karaoke BBQ
• August 18: The B-52s. Tickets
• August 23: Turntables on the Hudson, Full lineup/tickets TBA
• September 6: Turntables on the Hudson, Full lineup/tickets TBA
• September 12: Mos Def Ecstatic Tour. Tickets
• September 26: Buckethead. Tickets

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• Portugal, The Man at Mercury Lounge August 5. Tickets
• Brendan Benson at Bowery Ballroom on August 17. Tickets
• The Breeders at Bowery Ballroom August 18 and 19. Tickets
• Michael Franti & Spearhead at Terminal 5 on September 1. Tickets
• Down and The Melvins are at Nokia Theater on September 11. Tickets
• Deerhoof are at (le) Poisson Rouge on September 15. Tickets
• Jack Penate and Miike Snow at Mercury Lounge on September 15 and 16 and Maxwell’s September 19. Tickets
• Rodrigo y Gabriela at Terminal 5 on September 16. Tickets
• Ingrid Michaelson at Webster Hall on September 16. Tickets
• …And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead and Secret Machines at Webster Hall September 18 and Music Hall of Williamsburg September 19. Tickets
• Snow Patrol and Plain White T’s are at Beacon Theatre on September 22 and 23. Tickets are on presale now (password: HESUNS) through 10 pm tonight, go on regular sale tomorrow (Saturday) at 10 am.
• Phoenix and Passion Pit have added a second show at Rumsey Playfield in Central Park on September 26. Tickets
• Sunny Day Real Estate is reuniting! They are playing Terminal 5 on September 27. Tickets
• Infected Mushroom is at Terminal 5 on October 3. Tickets
• The Dodos and Ruby Suns are at Music Hall of Williamsburg October 13 and Bowery Ballroom October 14. Tickets
• Daniel Johnston is at The Highline on October 14. Tickets
• Asobi Seksu and Loney, Dear are at Maxwell’s October 15 and Bowery Ballroom on October 16. Tickets
• The Avett Brothers are at Terminal 5 on October 17. Tickets

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Afrobeat legend Femi Kuti and The Positive Force played a free show for Celebrate Brooklyn last night at the Prospect Park Bandshell. Thankfully the rain gave up for one day and it was beautiful out. The place was packed and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. The opener, Melvin Gibb’s Elevated Identity, started off the evening with slick grooves, setting the stage for the more upbeat Femi Kuti, who came with at least four horn players, drummers, and some awesome dancers. They played for about 2 hours, and the crowd couldn’t get enough. The Park constinues with great shows this weekend: Tonight (Friday) is Blonde Redhead and Olof Arnalds and tomorrow (Saturday) is Dr. Dog, Phosphorescent, and These United States. And it’s all free!

All Images: Devorah Klein

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Image: Ben Ritter

The Antlers have come a long way. New Yorkers that have been working the club scene for a while and releasing their own albums, they are finally getting some recognition. Frenchkiss is re-releasing their latest album, Hospice, on August 18, but you can stream it now here. Their music is beautiful and sad and did I mention beautiful? The critics have been raving, and Pitchfork gave their song “Bear” an 8.0.

They’ve been playing shows nonstop, so unsurprisingly they have a bunch coming up. This Friday, June 26, they will play the Rooftop Films event at Open Road Rooftop (350 Grand St), followed by a screening of Humpday. You can buy tickets here. The they will jaunt around the country for a while, returning to NYC on August 21 for a record release show at Mercury Lounge with Murder Mystery, Twin Thousands and Brent Arnold (solo cello). Tickets on sale here.They also recently did a piece on NPR. Check it out here.

It just so happens that The Antlers were one of the first bands to reach out to me when I started writing for this blog, so I have long championed them. Frontman Peter Silberman took the time to answer a few of my questions:

Peter Silberman: It’s all completely bizarre. This big change was completely unexpected, but I feel like in a pretty short period of time, we’ve been working really hard and are really dedicated to what we’re doing.  It’s all extremely encouraging…definitely a dream come true.

As for whether or not things will change, they’ve already changed monumentally, and that seems to happen almost every day. I have no idea what the future’s going to bring, but that’s a good feeling.

PS: It’s been amazing to get the chance to play with a lot of bands we really admire and are huge fans of. That Walkmen/Beach House bill in April was a dream bill. The White Rabbits show was great too, and Cymbals Eat Guitars are super impressive and sweet people.

PS: It was a long period of getting social readjustment, a lot of attempts at understanding the past and moving forward with it.

PS: Well, we’re touring a bunch this summer up until then, and then will probably continue to do that, hitting Monolith Festival in September and CMJ in October.  If we get any free time in between tours, I think we’re all really itching to start recording again.

PS: New York’s full of a lot of amazing bands…probably too many. I think it makes us work harder, practice more, etc. But I think in addition to all the influential music happening here now, there’s also so much musical history here that sometimes it seeps into what you’re writing/recording or how you’re playing live.

PS: It’s safe to say we’ve all got a soft spot for Cake Shop, where, for awhile, we were playing almost every two weeks. Recently we’ve been really fortunate to have the chance to play some of the bigger venues. I’d say my & Michael’s favorite’s been Music Hall of Williamsburg and Darby’s has been Bowery Ballroom.

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THE PSYCHEDELIC FURS / HAPPY MONDAYS 2009 TOUR
Sept 08 / CHICAGO, IL / House of Blues (tickets)
Sept 09 / MILWAUKEE, WI / Pabst Theatre
Sept 11 / BOULDER, CO / Boulder Theater (tickets)
Sept 12 / SALT LAKE CITY, UT / In The Venue (tickets)
Sept 14 / SEATTLE, WA / Moore Theatre (tickets)
Sept 15 / PORTLAND, OR / Crystal Ballroom (tickets)
Sept 17 / SAN FRANCISCO, CA / Regency Ballroom (tickets)
Sept 18 / LOS ANGELES, CA / Club Nokia (tickets)
Sept 19 / ANAHEIM, CA / House of Blues (tickets)
Sept 20 / SAN DIEGO, CA / House of Blues (tickets)
Sept 22 / LAS VEGAS, NV / House of Blues (tickets)
Sept 24 / AUSTIN, TX / Stubb’s (tickets)
Sept 25 / DALLAS, TX / House of Blues (tickets)
Sept 26 / HOUSTON, TX / House of Blues (tickets)
Sept 28 / TAMPA, FL / Ritz Ybor (tickets)
Sept 29 / FT LAUDERDALE, FL / Revolution Live (tickets)
Sept 30 / ORLANDO, FL / House of Blues (tickets)

Oct 02 / ATLANTA, GA / Masquerade
Oct 03 / CHARLOTTE, NC / Amos’ Southend (tickets)
Oct 04 / NORFOLK, VA / NorVa (tickets)
Oct 06 / WASHINGTON, DC / 9:30
Oct 07 / PHILADELPHIA, PA / Trocadero (tickets)
Oct 09 / NEW YORK, NY / Roseland Ballroom (tickets)
Oct 10 / BOSTON, MA / House of Blues (tickets)
Oct 12 / COLUMBUS, OH / Newport Music Hall (tickets)
Oct 13 / PONTIAC, MI / Clutch Cargo’s (tickets)
Oct 14 / TORONTO, ON / Koolhaus (tickets)
Oct 15 / MONTREAL, QU / Olympia de Montreal (tickets)

Thanks Brooklynvegan for all dates

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Image: Rich Hall

Finger on the Pulse is throwing a Summer Blowout BBQ tonight. Not only will there be great food by the chefs at Egg (amazing restaurant in Williamsburg), but Les Savy Fav will be DJing. It’s free to get in, food is $5 a plate and there will be $2 PBRs. It starts at 7 pm tonight (Wednesday, June 24) and it’s happening at Hope Lounge (10 Hope St., Williamsburg, Brooklyn).

Post from: Big Apple Music Scene