Dan Black is a multitalented electronica musician at the forefront of Wonky Pop. He sang and played guitar with the Servant until they disbanded in 2007, and he’s also sung with the Italian electronic-dance group Planet Funk. But he began to gain more attention a couple of years ago when he moved into solo work. He first found success with “HYPNTZ”—mixing lyrics from Biggie Smalls’ “Hypnotize” over a sample of Rihanna’s “Umbrella”—and then later with the singles “Alone” and “Yours.” And just two days ago, Black’s debut album, UN, finally came out in the U.S. Which, of course, brings us to the point: Dan Black (above, playing “Symphonies” on the French show Le Grand Journal) plays Mercury Lounge tomorrow night. You should be there.
Posts Tagged ‘Mercury Lounge’
Shake It with Dan Black Tomorrow Night
Wednesday, February 17th, 2010Phantogram Exceeds Expectations
Monday, February 15th, 2010Phantogram - Mercury Lounge - February 12, 2010
It’s an exciting experience to see a new band live. Will the group sound like the music on their record? How will they present their material? Does their appearance match their sound? While these questions—and others—color the perception of a concert, they are ultimately just subtext to the performance. The visceral feeling from the first chord, note, or sound leaves an indelible impression. At Phantogram’s sold-out show at Mercury Lounge on Friday, it was the initial beat of “As Far as I Can See” that silenced doubt and stuck in the crowd’s collective conscience.
Phantogram is the moniker for guitarist Josh Carter and keyboardist Sarah Barthel’s band. Hailing from Saratoga Springs, N.Y., the duo recently released their debut album, Eyelid Movies. In one sense, their sound feels familiar, evoking comparisons to such contemporaries as Beach House and Portishead. But, as their album demonstrates, they also have a unique depth and variety to their music, which sets them apart. On tracks like “When I’m Small,” elements of hip-hop and electronic rock fuse together with Barthel’s soft, beautiful vocals for spectacular results.
Once Carter and Barthel took the stage, following Junk Culture’s set, the crowd swelled in size. How droves of people heard about this rising band is unknown, but judging from the attendance, word is spreading rapidly. In addition to their setup of guitar, keyboard and samplers, Phantogram provided a foot-pedal-activated strobe light and an artistic visual display projected onto a sheet. The accompaniment made for a tremendously dynamic and engaging show. During “All Dried Up,” night shots of a barren highway complemented the dark, serene tune. And so in both sound and appearance, Phantogram exceeded expectations. —Jared Levy
Photos courtesy of Diana Wong | dianawongphoto.blogspot.com
See Harlem on the Lower East Side
Wednesday, February 10th, 2010
Let’s get the first question answered right away: No, Harlem is not a band from Harlem. In fact, the self-proclaimed “tiniest band in the world,” began in Tucson, Ariz., before heading to Austin, Texas, where they made a name for themselves with their fantastic live shows, a Cover of the Month Club and their self-issued LP, Free Drugs. The band consists of dual vocalists Michael Coomers and Curtis O’Mara, who switch between guitar and drums, and bassist Jose Boyer. Their specialty is in fun-loving, lo-fi music with interesting song titles, like “I’m on Drugs” and “Psychedelic Tits.” They’ve got a new album coming out later this year. But you can hear the trio’s new music when Harlem plays Mercury Lounge tonight. Check them out, above, playing “Witchgreens,” and then brave the snow and come see them play live.
Cold Cave Channels the Cure
Friday, February 5th, 2010
Cold Cave - Mercury Lounge - February 4, 2010
It’s hard to even imagine what it would have been like to see the Cure perform in a club the size of Mercury Lounge in the early ’80s. You can’t just chalk it up to pure nostalgia—there’s definitely a reason their sound still resonates through any number of music subsets today. Cold Cave, a band whose name actually describes it perfectly, is one of the direct descendants of that sound. Legend has it the band formed when Wesley Eisold left a successful Boston punk band and started messing around with thrift-store Casio keyboards alongside friends Caralee McElroy, of Xiu Xiu, and Dominick Fernow, of experimental noise band Prurient. Their first 7″ single, “Painted Nails,” was released on Fernow’s Hospital Productions label and has brought about something of a resurgence of Cold Wave minimalist synth that traces its roots directly back to Kraftwerk, Throbbing Gristle and, of course, the original post-punks, Joy Division.
An emaciated Eisold barely moved behind a massive Moog voyager, but he worked up a sweat singing in his slight crooning baritone, with an ingrained punk burst of nihilistic vocals, hands clasped behind his back, looking scarily close to Mr. “Love Will Tear Us Apart” himself. Eisold barely mumbled “thanks” before going into the next pounding inhuman beat from Cold Cave’s debut, Love Comes Close. McElroy played off Eisold’s darkness with her own heavily echoed melodic delivery on songs like “Life Magazine” and providing a back-and-forth harmony on “The Tree’s Grew Emotions and Died,” sort of like an industrial Goth version of the Human League.
The three members of Cold Cave, all dressed in black, use their impressive display of technology, minus the nostalgia, thanks to Fernow, whose sheer massive solo catalog of sound manipulation takes each arrangement to a place other New Wave throwback acts just can’t follow. (Simply playing with every piece of an analog synth keyboard is no substitution for knowing which sounds you want to hear and actually willing them out of the circuits.) The music stays perpetually focused on the icy, emotionless sound, straddling a line between undanceable and undeniably catchy. And all of it comes from three keyboards, just like on Trans-Europe Express. The entire New Wave ’80s wished they sounded this good. —Jason Dean
A Double Dip of the London Souls in February
Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010
The young, talented New York City band the London Souls are a straight-up rock group with a little bit of the blues and soul thrown into the mix. And if you judge a group by their influences, you’ll be happy to know these guys are rather fond of Led Zeppelin, the Allman Brothers Band (“Eat a Peach in particular”), Stevie Wonder, James Gang and Derek and the Dominos. So as you can imagine, the London Souls like to play fast and loud. Find out just how loud tonight and next Tuesday at Mercury Lounge.
(Above, the London Souls play “Stand Up” for fearlessmusic.com.)
Retribution Gospel Choir Came to Rock
Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010Retribution Gospel Choir - Mercury Lounge - February 1, 2010
(Photo: Jared Levy)
Less than a week after the release of their sophomore LP, 2, Retribution Gospel Choir played a knock-the-taste-out-of-your-mouth show at Mercury Lounge last night. The band consists of frontman Alan Sparhawk, the singer-songwriter-guitarist from Low, with fellow Low member and bassist Steve Garrington and drummer Eric Pollard. Contrary to Low, Retribution Gospel Choir explores a drastically different sonic region. With quick, grungy and, above all, loud rock songs, Sparhawk displayed a side of himself seldom heard in his other band’s slowcore sound.
Opener Arms and Legs showed charisma and promise during their set. Scott Daly, the sole songwriter and consistent member of the group, presented himself with magnetic intensity and focus. A set spanning originals from their EP Nothing Ever Was and an endearing Daniel Johnston cover kept the lively crowd engaged. Datus, an emerging Brooklyn-based band, followed with a rhythmically intense performance that pushed the show toward its headliner. Ezre Longinus, formerly of Apse, has vicious drumming with fills that literally deconstructed his cymbal and shattered his drum sticks. Though Datus’ set lacked cohesion, songs like “Roof Walker” proved their original material to be engaging and inventive.
Retribution Gospel Choir took to the stage dressed in business attire: button-down shirts, ties and jackets. However, even before the first note, the layers started to come off. And Sparhawk shredded his Gibson electric guitar with an intensity usually reserved for the weekends. He trashed it, pounded it and even played it with his mouth, à la Jimi Hendrix. The group is clearly classic-rock influenced, and on tracks like “Electric Guitar,” the adoration is made apparent. Highlights included the riff-heavy “Poor Man’s Daughter” and the band’s new single, “Hide It Away,” which showcased drummer Pollard’s impressive skills. By their last song, the guys in Retribution Gospel Choir were drenched in sweat and noticeably exhausted. And isn’t that how a rock show should be? —Jared Levy
A Wonderful Midweek Memory
Thursday, January 28th, 2010Bear in Heaven - Mercury Lounge - January 27, 2010
It takes a particular assemblage of circumstances to sell out a concert on a Wednesday. You need appealing bands, an inviting space and good timing. Last night at Mercury Lounge these ingredients came together to create a fantastic show. Headliner Bear in Heaven is three months removed from the release of their critically acclaimed second album, Beast Rest Forth Mouth. While they have steadily built a fan base with their anthemic electronic sound, Beast marks the band’s expansion into more accessible pop songs. And, from the looks of last night’s show, this sonic shift is paying dividends.
Openers ArpLine and the Jaguar Club led the talent-soaked quadruple bill. Both bands are based in Brooklyn and show potential, but ArpLine’s excellent guitar work and contagious energy especially caught my attention. (Check them out at their free record-release show at Brooklyn Bowl on February 17th.) Oh No Ono, a psychedelic quintet from Copenhagen, followed—their first show in New York City. The band, both in appearance and song, carries themselves as a ’60s/’70s rock-revival act. Each member seems to stylistically embody a rock star of old. Most notably, lead singer and guitarist Malthe Fischer sports a crazy curly hairdo that could confuse him with Bob Dylan circa Blonde on Blonde. I thoroughly enjoyed Oh No Ono’s entire set, however their cover of Radiohead’s “Weird Fishes” clearly stood out. They captured Thom Yorke’s vocal part perfectly and added their own synth-heavy touch.
Bear in Heaven closed out the night with a tasty sampling of their catalog. The four-piece band, headed by frontman Jon Philpot, showcased their musical dexterity, constantly switching instruments and creating a full, rich sound. With the help of two female vocalists, the group ripped through their soon-to-be-classic take on youth angst, “Lovesick Teenagers,” followed by the rhythmically commanding “Beast in Peace.” As Bear in Heaven finished their set around midnight, Wednesday gave way to Thursday and the night’s performances solidified into a wonderful midweek memory. —Jared Levy
Photos courtesy of Jared Levy
A Big Band in a Small Room
Friday, January 22nd, 2010
The sidewalk in front of Mercury Lounge was divided into two lines like some sort of downtown apartheid: One for those seeking to pay their way in to see Britt Daniel and the other for those with their names on the guest list. They were faced in opposite directions—the music-industry insiders and the morally righteous superfans willing to stand in the cold and pay real money for music. It was thus written on the street that something special was happening inside. A band that will play Radio City Music Hall in two months was playing this tiny sold-out venue.
Spoon took the stage just after 10 and, Daniel, in a brown fitted shirt (he wrote an entire song about this in 2001), was awkward in the way cool people can get away with being weird and compelling. He thanked us for coming, and the room buzzed with the sense that we should be thanking him. Spoon slipped into “Black Like Me,” maybe their most cerebral effort, before shifting into “Is Love Forever?,” off their latest album, Transference, a downstroke anthem that ends with a collision of reverb and the feeling of a pulled plug. Daniel played most of the new record, including “Who Makes Your Money” and “Nobody Gets Me but You,” in the first half of the set. The crowd, quite obviously a sea of personal and music-business connections, leaned close and the room approached the feeling of a birthday party where everyone was sure their invitation was genuine.
Daniel upped the ante in the set’s final third. Favorites “Cherry Bomb,” “I Summon You” and “Beast and Dragon, Adored,” appeared next to new cuts like “Mystery Zone,” “Written in Reverse” and the night’s closer, the propulsive “Got Nuffin.” Daniel thanked us again for standing in the cold and we silently replied that we mostly hadn’t. But some did, and for the feeling of a major event with a big band in a little room, this is exactly what counted. —Geoff Nelson
Doveman and Friends Quiet Crowd
Wednesday, January 13th, 2010Doveman and Friends - Mercury Lounge - January 12, 2010
Thomas Bartlett, the young pianist and songwriter known as Doveman, has some pretty talented friends, having collaborated with artists including the National, Martha Wainwright, Beth Orton, and many others. At the show billed as “Doveman and Friends” yesterday evening at Mercury Lounge, the promise of some exciting musical company was no doubt on many people’s minds.
Of course, Bartlett is quite something on his own. His recent album, The Conformist, is a mellow, subtle series of songs, with Bartlett’s distinctive singing, hushed and whisper-like, adding an air of melancholy to the music. As he and his band opened their set with “The Best Thing,” there was a sense of intimacy formed between the stage and the audience almost instantly—leading to one of the most quiet, attentive and well-behaved audiences that I gander the Mercury Lounge has seen in some time. Doveman treated the crowd to several other cuts from The Conformist, including songs about whiskey (“Angel’s Share”) and wine (“The Burgundy Stain”), as well as a striking, dreamy cover of Smokey Robinson’s “Ooo Baby Baby.”
Over the course of the show, friends did indeed appear, including Norah Jones (who had performed a set of classic country covers—and plenty of raunchy stage banter—with her trio, Puss n’ Boots, earlier in the show), Justin Bond (the musician-performance artist best known as one half of the duo Kiki & Herb) and singer-songwriter Dawn Landes, lending backing vocals. Longtime Doveman collaborator Sam Amidon, who also performed an opening set of his own music, contributed guitar, banjo and vocals as part of Doveman’s band. Bartlett’s music is captivating enough even without the promise of friends, but after witnessing the beauty of his songs live, it is understandable why so many first-rate musicians would want to be part of Doveman’s inner circle. —Alena Kastin
Even Rusty Pipes Can’t Derail the Rural Alberta Advantage
Monday, January 11th, 2010The Rural Alberta Advantage - Mercury Lounge - January 9, 2010
The Toronto-based trio the Rural Alberta Advantage had a busy 48 hours in the Big Apple this past weekend, opening for Passion Pit at Terminal 5 on Friday and then playing back-to-back shows at Mercury Lounge on Saturday. By the time the late show rolled around, the whirlwind of performances seemed to have taken a toll on singer Nils Edenloff’s voice, rendering his pipes a bit rusty as he belted out the groups’ emotive songs. The RAA’s debut album, Hometowns, paints pictures of fear and loathing in rural Canada, full of plaintive, country-inflected acoustic rock songs, à la Okkervil River or Neutral Milk Hotel, simmering with tension until they boil over into urgent, anthemic choruses. It’s surprising Edenloff doesn’t lose his voice more often.
As the band prepared to play a new song, halfway through the set, Edenloff told the crowd that it might destroy his throat, describing it as “a fucking killer.” Over drummer Paul Banwatt’s intense drumbeat, Edenloff sang variations of the repeated refrain, “I let you die/ I let you go,” with vocal chord-shredding fury. It was almost uncomfortable to watch the man seriously struggle to get out these words, but at the same time, as promised, the song was fucking killer. (“Someone get the man a fucking Ricola,” said the woman next to me.)
As Edenloff summoned the vocal power to belt out “Oh, I’m really trying to make it through the night,” during the cathartic “Drain the Blood,” the line had clearly taken on a double meaning. Yet the RAA did manage to make it through the night, and where Edenloff’s voice fell short, the packed crowd was always happy to fill in the blanks, singing along with gusto. —Alena Kastin
Photos courtesy of Jared Levy
A Band Grows Up on the Lower East Side
Thursday, January 7th, 2010Des Roar - Mercury Lounge - January 6, 2010
New York City rockers Des Roar deserve credit for the number of things that sets them apart from every other black-clad retro indie-rock band bred on the Lower East Side: One being their chick drummer and back-up vocalist, Lyla Vander. Two is their Irish guitarist, Alan O’Keeffe. And perhaps most important, three, the amount of growth from their previous album and all the other times I’d seen them.
Des Roar have grown into their own with their more recent material, finding a greater sense of melody and better hooks than their earlier tunes ever displayed. They played an almost even split of old and new songs to a mostly full Mercury Lounge last night. They’ve done a wonderful job of reaching beyond the confines of the often-generic LES rock and roll sound, particularly with the newer material, which had concertgoers dancing. But it was older songs like “Ted Bundy Was a Lady’s Man” that earned hoots and hollers from the fans. (“Must be from Florida,” responded singer-guitarist Ben Wolcott.)
The main support on the five-band bill, Dead Sparrows, another New York City-based band, played a pretty raucous set, drawing the largest crowd of the evening. They seemingly come from the same set of influences as Des Roar, but where Des Roar excels in melodies, Dead Sparrows shine because of singer Joey Sparrow’s haunting howl. —Kirsten Housel
Photos courtesy of Kirsten Housel
Hot Music on a Cold Night
Monday, January 4th, 2010These Green Eyes - Mercury Lounge - January 3, 2009
These Green Eyes
On one of the coldest and windiest nights of the winter, Mercury Lounge hosted a five-band showcase of a variety of Northeastern musical talent. The first three groups, Robots and Empire (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.), the Lows (New Haven, Conn.) and These Green Eyes (New Haven, Conn.), played more straight-up rock music than the later bands, with These Green Eyes being the most unique of the bunch. Visibly and audibly, they have more post-hardcore, emo and punk influences, and they skillfully combine anthemic choruses with heavy riffs.
However, as excited as I was to see These Green Eyes, I was pleased I caught the last two acts, Brooklyn’s Guitar Bomb and the Sweet Ones, both of which played less-serious sets than the preceding bands. Guitar Bomb is simply a shaggy-haired singer-guitarist jamming with a heavy-hitting drummer, playing a collision of punk and the blues, like a more ludicrous and twangy version of the Gay Blades or the Black Keys. Song titles like “Shit Stains” and “Liquor Genie” and “Freaks, freaks, freaks take back the streets” choruses had me toe-tapping and laughing.
The Sweet Ones are pretty much the same deal as Guitar Bomb, but play with a fuller lineup. The heavy-hitting drummer—and the bassist who sat in on Guitar Bomb’s last four songs—remained, but the shaggy-haired guitarist was replaced by a man with shorter hair. I didn’t catch any of the band’s song titles, but the Sweet Ones did introduce a tune as “a song that’s very true about NYC” and went on to mention “it’s not who you know but who you blow.” Needless to say, I can’t wait to see either band again. —Kirsten Housel
Photos courtesy of Kirsten Housel
A(nother) Weston Reunion
Monday, December 21st, 2009Weston - Mercury Lounge - December 18, 2009
Pennsylvania’s Weston—formed in 1990 and best known for its pop-punk sound that once took it to the cusp of the mainstream—reunited Friday night at Mercury Lounge to celebrate long-time friend Tommy Rockstar’s birthday as well as the release of its live record, This Is My Voice and This Is My Heart: Live at Maxwell’s, recorded at another reunion show last year.
With a plethora of music to choose from, Weston puts on an exciting, and sometimes unexpected, show. Over the years, while the band members and record labels have changed, Weston’s sound has barely wavered. Although pretty much everything that comes out live is nerd-rific: Shaggy-haired Jimmy Snyder, who still wears early-era-Weezer sweater vests, too-short trousers and beat-up Chuck Taylors, and the band’s namesake, the bespectacled Dave Weston, both look equally uncomfortable onstage, though such a presence only lends to the band’s appeal—and from just listening to the upbeat, sometimes self-deprecating songs one would never know.
On Friday, the band played original songs like “Fafi,” “Retarded” and “New Shirt/Heather Lewis” (the last two being staples of Weston’s live performance). Fans were also treated to a rare performance of “Lovely, Fragile February” and a Japanese B-side (that I can’t name). About three-quarters of the way into the set, the band also did a run of Joy Division, Misfits and Pixies covers. Though Weston never reached the same level of fame as some of its peers, the group has been credited as being an integral part of the East Coast’s ’90s pop-punk scene, and time and time again, these reunion shows draw friends and fans excited to relive the experience of a band that has always played fun music. —Kirsten Housel
Photos courtesy of Kirsten Housel
Spend Monday Night with Lissy Trullie
Friday, December 11th, 2009Her path toward a music career has been an unusual one. Elizabeth McChesney was born in Washington, D.C. But she moved to New York City in her teens and attended a performing-arts boarding school outside Boston before studying graphic design at Parsons. Somewhere along the way, she took the name Lissy Trullie and became an It girl, DJing at the infamous Beatrice Inn and dabbling in modeling. Time Out New York even referred to her as “Patti Smith crossed with Edie Sedgwick: a paragon of downtown arty cool.” But, truthfully, that’s just an interesting backstory (or not, depending on your view). What really matters is her music. Her EP, Self-Taught Learner, came out in February and was recently rereleased with a few added songs. She’s even got some famous fans in Courtney Love and Adam Green of the Moldy Peaches, with whom she covered Biz Markie’s “Just a Friend.” Check out Lissy Trullie, above, playing “Self-Taught Learner” and then see what all the fuss is about on Monday at Mercury Lounge.
Violens - Mercury Lounge - December 9, 2009
Thursday, December 10th, 2009
Win Tickets to See Jeff the Brotherhood on 12/7
Friday, December 4th, 2009
Performing as Jeff the Brotherhood, brothers Jake (vocals and guitar) and Jamin (drums) Orrall began playing shows in Nashville in 2006. Their lo-fi “psychedelic-grunge” sound found them playing basements, bars, galleries and pretty much any other place that would have them. But pretty soon, that we’ll-play-anywhere work ethic and their take-no-prisoners attitude won the Orrall boys a loyal following. They’ve since released a full-length album, Heavy Days, on their family-run record label, Infinity Cat.
Jeff the Brotherhood, above, playing “Heavy Days,” opens for Ted Leo and the Pharmacists at The Bowery Ballroom on Sunday, which is sold out. But have no fear ’cause they also play Mercury Lounge on Monday, and it just so happens that The House List is giving away a free pair of tickets. Want to go? Just fill out the form below, listing your name, e-mail address, which show you’re trying to win tickets to (Jeff the Brotherhood, 12/7) and a brief message telling us why you deserve a free Monday night out on us. The winner will be notified by noon on Monday.
© 2009
