Damon & Naomi with Kurihara & Sharon Van Etten 92Y 1/30/10

Damon & Naomi were in NYC celebrating two new releases; one, a Factory 25 DVD release Damon & Naomi: 1001 Nights, a comprehensive video anthology of the duo and the other, a compilation CD of old songs put out by Subpop Records entitled The Sub Pop Years.

The Lovely Sharon Van Etten opened the show. She was extremely excited to open for the duo claiming she used to listen to them before her hand could even fit around the neck of a guitar or she could drink. She thanked the audience for being there to witness the show so she could be sure it wasn't a dream.

After she played her opening song "Give Out" she said "No Blood!" relieved that a big bucket full of blood didn't spill over her head like in Carrie. Then she started her next tune and any doubters in the crowd were won over with lovely choruses in "Consolation Prize." She next played her beautiful Blaze Foley cover of "Oooh Love." She rounded out her set with her newer songs "Call It A Joke," and the lovely "Heart in the Ground." She dedicated her closing song to Damon & Naomi and ended her short set. The crowd begged for an encore but Sharon simply and gracefully left the stage.

Damon & Naomi ex-Galaxy 500-er's were joined by guitarist Kurihara and opened there set with Jeff Buckley's "Song to the Siren." The cover was great but I still think Elizabeth Frazier's This Mortal Coil contribution will always hold the high water mark on that song. Damon broke his B-string during the second track but the band played on. He mentioned the song they were playing was related to a Japanese composer that used less chords. Damon finally changed his string and left Naomi to try some stage banter with the audience which was not her cup of tea. Some stand out tunes were "New York City" and "Turn of the Century." They dedicated a song to Sharon Van Etten, saying, "She's too young to have mastered the broken heart songs, but she has." They encored with a cover of Leonard Cohen's "Bird on a Wire."

3 Titans New 45 Out Feb 16th

The 3 Titans, Khalil Jackson, Jorden Plaines, and Dallas Ifill, are rhythmically gifted fifth-graders with their sights set on higher education. On their debut 7” for Daptone affiliate Dunham Records, “C-O-L-L-E-G-E” b/w “Life of a Scholar" (out Feb 16), the precocious eleven-year-olds trade rhymes about the benefits of going to college and the determination it takes to get there over two sides of old-school, hard-as-nails (and refreshingly sample-free) beats provided by the notorious Menahan Street Band (also known for their work with soul singers Charles Bradley and Lee Fields, as well as providing the sample for Jay-Z's 2007 hit, "Roc Boys").

The hooks are contagious hand-thrower-uppers, the breaks are spine-cracking head-bobbers (ala Brand Nubian and Pete Rock), and the raps are executed with a cool almost lackadaisical simplicity that evokes the playful cadences of early hip-hop, before rhymes and rhythms became overshadowed by egos and jewelry. The often imitated, never replicated, drums of Homer Steinweiss lay a solid bottom on the track, over which the young Titans play off of each other with ease, each threading their verses masterfully between the others’ and leaning into their individual styles with a natural confidence and lyricism that makes their lessons easy to memorize. It’s a message. It’s a groove. It’s a motherfucker. It’s the 3 Titans.

From the get go, the backing music—written, arranged and performed by the label’s resident house musicians, the Menahan Street Band, as well as folks behind such acclaimed acts as Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, Antibalas and Amy Winehouse—clicked as quickly for the adults as the message and rhymes did for the kids, and the new 45 marks a first on many fronts for the burgeoning Dunham family. Having outgrown the original converted bedroom/recording studio in co-founder Tom Brenneck’s Bushwick, Brooklyn apartment, the record label moved last year to more spacious Williamsburg quarters where Brenneck and label co-founder/drummer/producer Homer Steinweiss were able to realize a lifelong dream of building their own recording studio from scratch. The precocious efforts of the 3 Titans are the first recordings from the newly minted studio to be made available for the listening public’s pleasure. And certainly not the last.

The Sky Report Winter Showcase

The Sky Report is pleased to announce its first annual winter showcase at Tandem (Bushwick) on Friday, February 5th, 2010. Fresh off of sold-out opening dates with Passion Pit, The Dirty Projectors and Telepathe, Brooklyn trio Brahms join a bill that also includes Brooklyn electro chanteuse Bonnie Baxter under her new moniker ShadowBox, “epic synth-pop” band Fan-Tan, and ambient electronic artist David Shane Smith from Los Angeles. DJ’s Fatalist, Jeremy Russell and Silent T will carry out the party until 4:00am. No advance tickets are available, but rather $8 at the door, $5 with rsvp here or by sending an e-mail with your name and guests to theskyreport@yahoo.com. RSVP does not guarantee admission – first come first serve.

The Sky Report is a music blog based in Bushwick, Brooklyn with streaming radio 24/7 at www.theskyreport.blogspot.com and http://www.live365.com/partner/home.live.

The Sky Report Winter Showcase
w/ Brahms, ShadowBox, Fan-Tan, David Shane Smith
DJ’s Fatalist, Jeremy Russell, Silent T

Tandem
236 Troutman St. (between Knickerbocker + Wilson)
L train to Jefferson
718-386-2369

Sharon Van Etten artist project & New Song!

Coming January 26th, 2010, the first Shaking Through artist project, from Brooklyn's Sharon Van Etten. Images taken from behind the scenes footage by David Hartley, BJ Downs, and Reid Carrescia. Trailer Edited by Peter English.

Shaking Through: Sharon Van Etten - Coming Jan.26, 2010 from Weathervane Music on Vimeo.

Saturday Jan 30 2010 7:00P 92Y Tribeca w/ Damon & Naomi, Special Guest Michio Kurihara (Boris, Ghost) New York, New York

Sunday Jan 31 2010 7:00P The Brattle Theatre w/ Damon & Naomi, Special Guest Michio Kurihara (Boris, Ghost)

Sharon Van Etten "Love More".MP3
(Via The Tripwire)

Short & Sweet NYC Showcase 1/22/2010

Headlining the Short & Sweet NYC showcase on Friday January 22nd was turntablist Rob Swift who was featured in the amazing DJ documentary SCRATCH by Palm Pictures, took the stage to a thinned out audience. More than half the crowd left after Shilpa Ray's set but those who stayed were treated to some dance worthy grooves.

Shilpa Ray took the stage and the room got filled up quickly. The band had just got back in town from a tour. Two of her Happy Hookers had new faces: a new guitarist Andrew Bailey and a new drummer John Adamski. One happy hooker wasn't in attendance at all Andrew Hoepfner of Creaky Boards, he is usually the most well dressed of the hookers and his casio playing and unique outfits were missed. Nick Hundley the original hooker bassist who also plays in linfinity, was there keeping the grooves tight along with the new personnel. The new guitarist Andrew from Austin Texas added some much heavier guitar parts rocking out the songs a bit more with the new drummer. Shilpa had the crowd eating out of her hand as always. She was a bit surprised by all the dancing for a New York/Brooklyn audience. One fan gave her a twenty dollar bill to play two encore songs which they did to a extremely receptive crowd.

Apse had a great bass player and drummer. The ethereal triple guitar parts were nice too but I would have like to have seen one of them stand out from the pack with a little less reverb. The singer was not my cup of tea but hearing there recordings on their myspace. He might just have been having an off night.

We unfortunately missed the opening act The Venn Diagrams. I spoke to band members Jeffrey Marsh and Rick Sorkin and they informed me they are performing music at an upcoming play residency and also have a show coming up at Bowery Poetry Club. Well post some more details soon and try and check them out too.

The extremely nice, fun and animated DaVe Lipp creator of Short & Sweet NYC threw a great and eclectic showcase for the blogs second anniversary. Looking forward to his next one!

Gorillaz to release Plastic Beach

Plastic Beach the new album from Gorillaz, will be released by Virgin on March 9, 2010. The album is preceded by first single "Stylo" (featuring Mos Def and Bobby Womack) (click here to listen) which will receive its radio broadcast premiere tonight and will be available for download on January 26.

Confirming "Stylo," Murdoc Niccals twittered twitter.com/MurdocGorillaz, "A leak! A leak! Plastic Beach has sprung a leak! One of those Russian pirates has put a bullet hole in my island! My single's leaked! STYLO!"

Five years on from the release of Demon Days, Murdoc Niccals and co. return with Plastic Beach. The band have taken up residence, recording on a secret floating island deep in the South Pacific, a Plastic Beach HQ, made up of the detritus, debris and washed up remnants of humanity. This Plastic Beach is the furthest point from any landmass on Earth; the most deserted spot on the planet.

The world's biggest animated band, Gorillaz formed in 1998, and have since sold 12 million copies over two albums Gorillaz (2000) andDemon Days (2005). They have hit number 1 in more than a dozen countries and picked up awards including Grammys, Novellos, VMAs and EMAs.

The Gorillaz' return will be marked by a headline appearance at this year's Coachella festival. The Sunday April 18 performance will be the first Gorillaz live spectacle on U.S. soil since the awe-inspiring Demon Days Live run in April 2006 at New York's Apollo Theater.

Plastic Beach is produced by Gorillaz.

The full tracklisting is as follows:

1. Orchestral Intro
2. Welcome To The World Of The Plastic Beach (feat. Snoop Dogg and Hypnotic Brass Ensemble)
3. White Flag (feat. Kano Bashy)
4. Rhinestone Eyes
5. Stylo (feat. Bobby Womack and Mos Def)
6. Superfast Jellyfish (feat. Gruff Rhys and De La Soul)
7. Empire Ants (feat. Little Dragon)
8. Glitter Freeze (feat. Mark E Smith)
9. Some Kind Of Nature (feat. Lou Reed)
10. On Melancholy Hill
11. Broken
12. Sweepstakes (feat. Mos Def Hypnotic Brass Ensemble)
13. Plastic Beach (feat. Mick Jones Paul Simonon)
14. To Binge (feat. Little Dragon)
15. Cloud Of Unknowing (feat. Bobby Womack)
16. Pirate Jet

Coachella 2010 Line Up announced!

Click on the image for bigger blowup!

Friday April 16th Jay-Z, LCD Soundsystem, Them Crooked Vultures, Vampire Weekend*, Deadmau5, Public Image Limited*, The Specials, Grizzly Bear, Passion Pit, Echo and the Bunnymen, Benny Benassi, Fever Ray*, Grace Jones, Yeasayer, Erol Alkan, The Avett Brothers, Calle 13, The Whitest Boy Alive*, The Cribs, La Roux, Lucero, DJ Lance Rock, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Proxy, Ra Ra Riot, Deer Tick, Wolfgang Gartner, Aeroplane, Iglu & Hartly, Sleigh Bells, P.O.S., Baroness, Hockey, Little Dragon, White Rabbits, Wale, Kate Miller-Heidke, As Tall as Lions, Jets Overhead, Alana Grace, Pablo Hassan.

Saturday April 17th: Muse, Faith No More, Tiësto, MGMT, David Guetta, The Dead Weather, Hot Chip, Devo, Coheed and Cambria, Kaskade, 2Many DJ's, Major Lazer, Dirty Projectors, Gossip, Z-Trip, The xx, John Waters, Les Claypool, The Raveonettes, Mew, Sia, Camera Obscura*, Tokyo Police Club, Porcupine Tree, Old Crow Medicine Show, Aterciopalados, Bassnectar, Frightened Rabbit, Dirty South, Flying Lotus, Corinne Bailey Rae, Pretty Lights, Shooter Jennings, RX Bandits, The Almighty Defenders, Edward Sharp and the Magnetic Zeros, Craze & Klever, Zoe, The Temper Trap, Portugal. The Man, Band of Skulls, Girls, Beach House, Steel Train, Frank Turner.

Sunday April 18th: Gorillaz, Pavement*, Thom Yorke????*, Phoenix, Orbital, Spoon, Sly and the Family Stone*, De La Soul, Julian Casablancas, Plastikman, Gary Numan, Charlotte Gainsbourg* , Sunny Day Real Estate*, Yo La Tengo, MUTEMATH, Deerhunter, Infected Mushroom, Club 75, Matt & Kim, The Big Pink, Gil Scott-Heron*, King Khan and the Shrines, Florence and the Machine, Yann Tiersen, Little Boots, Miike Snow, Talvin Singh, Ceu, B.o.B., Babasonicos, Owen Pallett, The Glitch Mob, Mayer Hawthorne, Local Natives, Rusko, The Middle East, Hadouken!, The Soft Pack, Kevin Devine, Paparazzi, Delphic, One EskimO.

Tickets for Coachella go on sale Friday, January 22 at 10:00 AM at all Ticketmaster locations and www.coachella.com. Three-day weekend passes are $269.00, plus surcharges. More details on layaway, camping options and up-to-the minute information, can be found at www.coachella.com. Coachella 2010 sponsors include Heineken & PlayStation.

I added links to bands I've seen and loved live. I put plain Bold tags to bands that I've seen and thought were not so great live. I put *'s next to ones I haven't seen live but I'd be excited about seeing live. I am always a bit underwhelmed by the Coachella Line up in the last few years. I think they can try harder to secure bigger headliners and better bands in general. Even if they had one night with all the bands I selected I wouldn't be that excited!

Short and Sweet NYC Showcase

Long time Kevchino writer DaVe Lipp celebrates his NYC music and entertainment website www.shortandsweetnyc.com's two year anniversary by presenting it's first live music showcase featuring four different handpicked bands.

Artists performing include: DJ Rob Swift, Shilpa Ray and her Happy Hookers, APSE and Venn Diagrams.

The show is on Friday, January 22, 2010 Doors: 8:00 PM / Show: 8:30 PM $12.00 All Ages Show! at Knitting Factory - Brooklyn 361 Metropolitan Ave Brooklyn, NY 11211. Get your tickets here.