Five Minutes with Lukestar

Fritz: Your CMJ Music Marathon set at the Cake Shop last Saturday was pared down by trigger-happy stagehand fascists. I'm so sorry. Should we go kick some ass and take names?


Truls Heggero, Lukestar: No, don't be sorry. The biggest problem is the other bands in the concert. It's not our fault. We did everything up to schedule. It was the proper time and we did everything right. We were given 40 minutes and everything, but it was not our fault. They should've been stricter with the other bands.

Fritz: Did you get the full 40 minutes, at least?

Truls Heggero, Lukestar: No, we didn't. But that's okay. We traveled all the way from Norway and spent all of our money. But I think people liked it. I'm really really happy. It's New York; I'm from Norway. I've never really been outside of Europe before.

Fritz: What do you think of America?

Truls Heggero, Lukestar: (points to the milieu) It's like this. (laughs) America is good. The people here are really, really nice. I don't think that American people are that different from us.

Fritz: So what have you been up to this week in NYC?


Truls Heggero, Lukestar: I bought a guitar at the Music Center in Manhattan. I went to the park. I'm a wilderness type of guy. I really don't care that much about skyscrapers. They give me the creeps...so I haven't been into the real Manhattan. I've just seen it from a distance. I've done a lot of tourist stuff in Williamsburg and Brooklyn. I bought a lot of records.

Fritz: Do you have any American influences?


Truls Heggero, Lukestar: I liked Guns N' Roses and he liked Metallica and we just merged. Of course, we like Sonic Youth. And I like a lot of folky things as well. Tiny Vipers, I like a lot. I really liked the things she had before she recorded the album for Sub Pop. The earlier demos sound much better, I think. I like Marissa Nadler a lot. We actually went to see her yesterday in the Williamsburg Music Hall. She's a friend of ours. We booked a couple of concerts for her in Oslo. (pauses to look at a Hummer on the street) What the fuck is that? (laughs)

Fritz: It's says Housewives Next Door on the panel.

Truls Heggero, Lukestar: It's cocaine. They're selling cocaine...Our main influences are American bands and some English as well.

Fritz: So do you have plans for a full American tour in the works?


Truls Heggero, Lukestar: We had a meeting with Flameshovel who is putting out the record. They said that they want some tour in March. We've been talking about it before so it would be in time for SXSW. We're going to do an East Coast and West Coast tour sometime in March. We're recording new music in December. We are going to have a single out in spring and a new album in autumn, I think.

Five Minutes with The XYZ Affair

Fritz: How was your CMJ?


Alex Feder, The XYZ Affair: It was good, actually. It was our first time playing CMJ. We've spent four years applying and getting rejected.

Fritz: Yay you.


Alex Feder, The XYZ Affair: It's a funny thing. I was just talking to another band about this today. But actually, Sam, our drummer, he plays in another band. His band got officially rejected from CMJ. But they still played at three official CMJ shows...But we were sort of pessimistic going in because our shows were at such odd times.

Fritz: Have the Williamsburg and Brooklyn scenes affected your songwriting?

Alex Feder, The XYZ Affair: I wouldn't say so. I listen to a lot of pop music and that's sort of what I think of our sound being. There's a lot of bands I like. I really like The Hold Steady and Grizzly Bear. We actually played today with a band called Ghost Cube. They were kick ass. But no, I mean, we have a pretty wide array of stuff that we draw from. Our main thing is always super-strong melodies. We are way into the Beach Boys and Motown stuff. I really like Michael Jackson and Prince, anything catchy.


Fritz: Any post-CMJ projects in the works?

Alex Feder, The XYZ Affair: Right now, we're a little bit financially strapped. We're totally independent, so everything that we do totally comes out of pocket. We were originally doing this three EP project, where we would release three 3-song EPs. But it ended up just sort of eating away our cash and we had a lot of van troubles. So when we released the first EP, we noticed that the single and video were the only things being written about. After our tour to Georgia, we're going to record three songs again. But we are probably going to release them one at a time. We hope to release a full length in 2009.

Monday Morning Knee Trembler: Josh Ritter

"Girl in the War" by Josh Ritter

The Punk Dump

New York magazine contributor Karen Schoemer's article on the 30th anniversary of Nancy Spungen's death is a must read.

Tales from the Expat in Harlem

Omgwtfwranchdressing.

Fifth-wave feminism experimental punk fourpiece The Coathangers totally gobsmacked my solar plexus with their angst-riddled guitar licks, funny haha song titles ("Nestle in My Boobies" and "Don't Touch My Shit") and pure vaginas-to-the-wall badassery. Their Oct. 22 set at Todd P. NYC's anti-CMJ Grand Plaza zajebisty made me realize something: someone needs to piss in my feminist drag queen character Xaxa Zhao's Cheerios.

Seriously, Sarah Palin needs to pop a squat and urinate in my alter-ego's Cheerios 'cuz we have a lot to be pissed off about. (In case you haven't noticed.)

••• The Coathangers: Tanya Harding •••

The Coathangers - "Tanya Harding" from ataricharm on Vimeo.

Check out my Metromix New York deets here.

Todd P NYC @ Continental Army Plaza

DIY power-booker Todd P has been busy crafting a lineup of kick ass free shows during the CMJ Music Marathon.

So, for a variety of reasons I have been mum so far about my CMJ-week plans... well here goes:

ALL THIS WEEK! Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, & Saturday afternoons in CONTINENTAL ARMY PLAZA - a 100% FREE & all ages miniature festival of great bands playing outside in the park, w/ no corporate sponsorships & no "vip" lists & no bullshit - just for the love of music!

Complete schedule here.

He Has Risen...Again in Pittsburgh

Neutral Milk Hotel - Engine - 10/18/2008 Brillobox, Pittsburgh PA from Engine on Vimeo.

The Messiah of indie fuzz-folk Jeff Magnum made yet another appearance, but this time in Pittsburgh (better known as Philly's pockmarked, saggy-breasted cousin.)

Monday Morning Knee Trembler: The Morning Benders

"Waiting for a War" by the Morning Benders

Weekend S-50

•••Amazing Baby @ Mercury Lounge, 10/19

•The Spinto Band @ Music Hall of Williamsburg, 10/18, $15

•Amy G. @ Spiegelworld, 10/18, $10

•Casiotone for the Painfully Alone @ Silent Barn, 10/18, $7

•Ra Ra Riot @ Sound Fix Records, 10/19, free

•Earth @ The Knitting Factory, 10/19, $12

Shit Hot Jams

A rundown of shit hot jams to shake yer groove thang to:

•mp3 TINY MASTERS OF TODAY LA-LA LAND
This munchkin garage-rock duo (Ivan is 14 and sister Ada is 12) gets McNasty by sampling nefarious speeches from McCain-Palin.

•mp3 KANYE WEST HEARTLESS
The Ego still hasn't found his copy of The Power of Now. But luckily for us, his latest mp3 in support of his new 'un 808s and Heartbreak is AutoTune crunk. (FYI: unless you schlep away in a blaxploitation porn studio, the above linkage is NSFW.)

Ginormous dream-pop props for Gangi

•••Gangi

I swear to the chloroflexi-infested body of Paul Nelson: Fanatic Promotion sends me a daily dose of yummy hipstertards. And their latest signee Gangi gets me hot for day-glo textiles:
Sez the MySpace:

Gangi uses dissonance, contrasting sun-shining optimism with a harsh reality by juxtaposing dream-like vocals, guitar playing and melodies (at times echoing fractures pop of the 60s and 70s) with darker toned samples. Some of the samples are appropriated from news sources and others are sounds or musical elements that often give the song a harsh edge.

Gangi will be playing the CMJ Music Marathon Manimal Vinyl show at the Cake Shop 10/21.

CMJ '08 schedule finally released

Noisebots rejoice: The CMJ Music Marathon schedule has been released.

Monday Morning Knee Trembler: CSS

"Left Behind" by CSS

The audacity of guerilla artists

Guerilla art near SoHo.

The Apple Sisters @ The Hysterical Festival

Photo Credit: Keith Huang

Last Comic Standing's Michelle "Tittyshake" Buteau is just trying to make her way in the world. Like every other hinyacka-proportioned woman in New York City, "Tittyshake" Buteau is climbing mountains, spreading peace and bringing joy into our lives. One well-placed tittyshake at a time.

Tittyshake emcees the virginal voyage of the Hysterical Festival. The two all-beef patties and special sauce is drizzled below:

10-15-2008 The Apple Sisters, I Eat Pandas, Livia Scott, Michelle Buteau and Miss Saturn 7:30 p.m.- Comix [tix]
10-15-2008 Laughing Liberally featuring Daily Show creator and Craig Kilborn's punching bag, Lizz Winstead 8 p.m.- The Tank
10-15-2008 Stripped Stories featuring Bridget Everett 9:30 p.m.- Comix [tix]
10-17-2008 Hysterical Femmes featuring Hedda Lettuce 8:30 p.m.- Comix [tix]
10-18-2008 Jo Boobs, Bunny Love, Clams Casino, The World Famous *BOB* 10 p.m.- The Zipper Factory [tix]

Kurt Wagner @ Joe's Pub

Kurt Wagner said recently that his countrypolitan chamber-pop collective Lambchop is "a vehicle for my songs and myself as an artist. I’ve fought against that interpretation for 20 years, but now I’ve just given up trying to fight it anymore.”

Last night's solo performance at Joe's Pub was the tipping point for this tough titty realization. With his vintage Gibson L4 gee-tar, old-school laundry hanger and signature feed store cap, Wagner croaked through most of his latest, OH (ohio).

It was aces.

Setlist included:
Dylan’s “You’re a Big Girl Now”
“Slipped, Dissolved And Loosed”
"National Talk Like a Pirate Day"
"Sharing a Gibson with Martin Luther King"

10-20-2008 Ebensee, Austria - Kino
10-21-2008 Vienna, Austria - Gasometer (with Calexico)
10-22-2008 Graz, Austria - Orpheum
10-24-2008 Zürich, Switzerland - Rote Fabrik, Aktionshalle
10-25-2008 Paris, France - Café de la Danse
10-26-2008 Brussels, Belgium - Ancienne Belgique
10-27-2008 Frankfurt, Germany - Mousonturm
10-28-2008 Utrecht, Netherlands - Tivoli
10-29-2008 Brighton, England - St George's Church
10-30-2008 Reading, England - The Town Hall
10-31-2008 Glasgow, Scotland - ABC
11-1-2008 Dublin, Ireland - Tripod
11-3-2008 London, England - Union Chapel
11-4-2008 London, England - Union Chapel
11-5-2008 Dudelange, Luxembourg - Centre Culturel Opderschmelz
11-6-2008 Deventer, Netherlands - Burgerweeshuis
11-7-2008 Dortmund, Germany - Konzerthaus
11-8-2008 Luzern, Switzerland - Schüür
11-9-2008 Munich, Germany - Amerika-Haus
11-10-2008 Heidelberg, Germany - Halle 02
11-11-2008 Basel, Switzerland - Volkshaus
11-12-2008 Dresden, Germany - Alter Schlachthof
11-13-2008 Leipzig, Germany - Conne Island
11-14-2008 Warsaw, Poland - Fabryka Trzciny
11-15-2008 Berlin, Germany - Passionskirche
11-16-2008 Hamburg, Germany - Fabrik
11-18-2008 Copenhagen, Denmark - Vega
11-19-2008 Aalborg, Denmark - Studenterhuset
11-20-2008 Malmö, Sweden - KB
11-21-2008 Gothenborg, Sweden - Sticky Fingers
11-22-2008 Stockholm, Sweden - Berns
11-23-2008 Oslo, Norway - Chateau Neuf
11-24-2008 Barcelona, Spain - Palau de la Musica

Monday Morning Knee Trembler: Rage Against The Machine

"Bulls on Parade" by Rage Against The Machine

Jesus, Don't Cry

Arena-gospel hokum and overlooped Christian ska. Two genres that should never appear in the same sentence.

Let's get drunk and freaky fly

While I'm fairly positive that the "greatest party on Earth" involves hermaphrodite midgets snorting lines of coke out of Mickey Rourke's chesticles, Webster Hall sez otherwise.

The PR gods have spoken:

Webster Hall announces the addition of "The Studio @ Webster Hall" - a state-of-the-art recording studio built into the intimate 300 capacity room of this NYC Landmark venue. The Studio features an L'Acoustics sound system, stage lighting that will rival any large room in New York and the ability to record digital multi-track sound from the Grand Ballroom as well as The Studio. Select bands will be approached about recording their shows for the upcoming Live at Webster Hall Series which will be available on-line and at Best Buy.

Since the first show in 1886, Webster Hall has been an important mainstay in the live music community. Known for breaking new acts and hosting the industries top artists, this multi-level venue has always been the center of attention. The venue was designated an NYC Landmark in 2008 - nearly 125 years after the doors first opened.

As a visitor to The Studio you will have access to all four levels of Webster Hall on Thursday through Saturday nights at no additional cost. Resident DJs, late night comedy, weekly dance parties, record release shows and special unannounced acts are just a glimpse of what you will find at The Studio. You never know who you might see when the lineup says "special guests."

In addition to the hottest new acts, Webster Hall is also known as a club where established acts like to perform in an intimate setting. Some of these include Kings of Leon, Justice, Tiesto, Sasha, and Bloc Party.

"The Studio @ Webster Hall" will celebrate its' official opening on November 8th. However, you can get an early peek starting October 21st when the venue will open for the CMJ Preview week featuring performances by: Friendly Fires, Gang Gang Dance, Tigercity, Young Love, Jealous Girlfriends, Shout Out Out Out Out and many more! For this week only (October 21st - October 25th) entry is totally FREE for all shows!

The Studio will be open 7 nights a week from 7:30 pm - 4 am starting Tuesday October 21, 2008 and STAY TUNED for what's in store on November 8th - the official OPENING DAY!
For a full list of artists playing during CMJ, check out www.websterhall.com/thestudio