Il Abanico - LA-to-Brooklyn Post-Rock Band Plays Goodbye Blue Monday on Feb.11th

Los Angeles-to-Brooklyn post-rock band Il Abanico plays music that sounds like one of the bands from the Teen Beat / Slumberland roster crossed with a heavy Latin influence.

Il Abanico is an Indie/Experimental band created in 2010 by Nicolás Losada (guitar) and Juliana Ronderos (Voice). They expose their personalities with innovative melodies, an upbeat rhythm section and unorthodox guitars. Originally from Bogotá, Colombia, this duo spent fall of 2010 composing what would become their first work “Crossing Colors” (February 2011); a 5 songs EP, recorded in well renowned Studio G (temporal studio for the Black Keys) in Brooklyn, NY. Established in Boston, MA, and playing around the east coast area, Il Abanico started to play with a full band. The new band members captured the attention of many blogs and interviews because of their diverse nationalities.



Il Abanico has recently moved from Los Angeles to Brooklyn and the band is playing their first show as a "local band" at Goodbye Blue Monday on Feb. 11th. This show is free and Jahn Xavier (who has probably done a million things over the past 20+ years and I'm still going to remember him as "X Sessive" from Richard Hell's band or from his stint leading The Nitecaps) & the Bowerytones, The Nu-Sonics, Mic Raygun and Band of Outsiders are also on the bill.

Links:
Il Abanico

Bell & The Bees: Cambridge, MA Country-Folk Band Play Goodbye Blue Monday on Dec. 8th

Cambridge, MA country-folk band Bell & The Bees are playing a handful of East Coast dates over the next few weeks in celebration of the release of their debut CD Meadowtapes.

The band is playing a free show at Goodbye Blue Monday in Brooklyn on December 8th. Bell & The Bees are going on at 10PM and they will be joined by Brooklyn's Yellowbirds (featuring Sam Cohen from Apollo Sunshine) at 11pm. Yellowbirds will play a special acoustic set.

The next night, December 9th, the band is playing Sidewalk Cafe in the East Village. The set time for this show is 8PM. This show is also free (2-drink minimum).

The band's new disc Meadowtapes is available as a digital download via Bandcamp for $7.00.

Last summer, we recorded seven songs live to tape in an old carriage house that sits beside Bakers Meadow in Andover, Massachusetts.

We weren't the first bees to come to this carriage house. In the months before we arrived, it was teeming with honeybees--thousands had made their nests within the mint green walls. As you walked in, you could hear their steady, collective hum. This was a good place for bees to continue making music.

For two sweltering August days we gathered with our instruments in front of a picture window, looking out into a forest of oak trees, while friend Carter Tanton rolled the tape. And while we were unfettered by the humidity and mosquito bites, our decidedly sensitive tape became seriously hot and bothered. Flying to Europe in a matter of hours, Carter manned the boards determined that we leave with all 7 songs intact. And with the deft swab of a q-tip or two, that is just what we did.

In the following weeks, the fragile tape continued to shed. Thankfully, a lightbulb popped into Martin's mind, ushering the wonderful Elio Deluca into the fold. He saved our tape, and we had a blast mixing the record during our visits to his amazing Soul Shop studio in Medford.

Our last stop brought us to Soundmirror in Jamaica Plain on a lovely spring day. After spotting an E.L.O. safety tape perched on a file cabinet, we knew we were in the right place! (ELO turned out to be a local classical orchestra, but don't mind that). The wonderful Mark Donahue mastered and brought everything together.

Links:
Bell & The Bees

Chicago's Welcome to Ashley Play Three NYC Shows This Week (Power-Punk)

Photo by morgan miller
"WTA have a glam-rock swagger that you haven't heard in most pop bands since Jim Ellison's day" -Time Out, Chicago.

This says a lot to me (especially coming from a major Chicago magazine) as I always thought that Material Issue was one of the top live acts of the early 90's. Welcome to Ashley are in town for a three-night run of shows that starts tomorrow night.

Here are the details:
- Sunday, June 28th at Arlene's Grocery (10PM set time)
- Monday, June 29th at Goodbye Blue Monday (9PM set time) and
- Tuesday, June 30th at Lit Lounge (headlining set - probably 11PM [call the club]).

The band released their debut CD in 2006 and a handful of EPs in the following years. The newest EP, Absent Man, came out in April and is available on iTunes. Check out "Trust in Me" (from Absent Man) which is streaming on the band's MySpace page (link below).

Links:
Welcome to Ashley's MySpace Profile