The Acorn Play Three Nights in NYC/NJ in July

DOWNLOAD - The Acorn - "Restoration"

Ottawa band The Acorn will be performing three NYC dates in mid-July in support of their forthcoming Bella Union CD, No Ghost. There will also be a limited edition of 300 180-gram, red-pressed vinyl edition with hand-silkscreened covers.



Here are the local tour dates:

Tue. 7/13 at Maxwell's [Hoboken]
Wed. 7/14 at Mercury Lounge [NYC]
Thu. 7/15 at Littlefield [Brooklyn]

The band have been traveling the world for two years on headline runs in support of their concept album, Glory Hope Mountain, which is a concept album about front man Rolf Klausener's mother and her life story. After several dates with Phosphorescent, Calexico, and Bowerbirds among others, they retreated to an isolated cottage in northern Quebec earlier this year to work on No Ghost.

NPR calls The Acorn's music, "intimate and beautifully orchestrated," with Mojo saying it's "robust and kaleidoscopic." Pitchfork said Glory Hope Mountain was "epic and satisfying," SPIN made them an 'Artist of the Day,' calling their music "almost folkloric," and Billboard called the album,"an apt command for the listener."

Links:
The Acorn's MySpace Profile

Longwave Plays an Acoustic Set Tomorrow at Sound Fix Records

After a three year break, Longwave is back. The band has a new disc, Secrets Are Sinister, coming out on November 11th. To celebrate the new release, the band is playing a special acoustic performance tomorrow night at Sound Fix in Williamsburg.

Check out this video for an in-the-studio performance of the lead-off track, "Sirens In The Deep Sea", from Longwave's new disc.


What is going to make tomorrow night's show somewhat crazy is that MyOpenBar.com is a co-sponsor of the event and there is a double open Drambuie bar, at 7pm and again, at 9pm, that will wrap the band's performance.

The event poster says that you need to RSVP to http://www.myopenbar.com/longwave but please note that it also says that RSVP'ing doesn't guarantee admission.

Links:
Longwave's MySpace Profile

Rooftop Films Summer Series Closes Tomorrow Night with Chairlift + Free Beer

Rooftop Films Summer Series closes tomorrow night with a live set by Chairlift, highlights from the 2008 Summer Series films and an After Party at Fontanas with free beer (courtesy of Radeberger Pilsner).

In 2008, Rooftop Films screened 20 feature-length films and over 130 short films. They showed films from 33 different countries, in every imaginable genre—documentaries, narratives, animations, experimental films, music videos, home movies and more.

There were films by first-time filmmakers, and by experienced masters (including rarely-seen works by Salvadore Dali). There was an animation about a fire-fighting dog and a documentary about birds who make the skies safe for airplanes. There was a film about a Nobel Peace Prize nominee, and a film about a furtive kleptomaniac.

Prior to the films, Sound Fix presents live music by Brooklyn based trio Chairlift. Having already played with Ariel Pink and MGMT, the band is revving up for an upcoming tour with Yeasayer and will release their first full-length album Does You Inspire You on October 28th. Their single "Bruises" is featured in Apple's new "nano-chromatic" ad.

Venue: on the roof of the Open Road Rooftop
Address: 350 Grand Street @ Essex (Lower East Side)
Directions: F/J/M/Z to Essex / Delancey
8:00: Doors Open
8:30PM: Sound Fix presents live music by Chairlift
9:00 PM: Films
11:30 PM: Open bar at Fontana's with complimentary beer courtesy of Radeberger Pilsner

Tickets are $9.00 and you can click on the picture to buy advance tickets.

The Acorn - Soundfix Records, Williamsburg, Brooklyn 5/4/08

The Acorn are in town for a 4 show run (all at different venues though). The second show was earlier this evening at Soundfix Records in Brooklyn. The band played what has to be close to a complete set, with the majority of the material coming from the new CD, Glory Hope Mountain.



The Acorn capture the intricacy and intimacy of Glory Hope Mountain in their live set and all the members of the band are impressive musicians. NY Press said that "[their] intricate polyrhythms and instrumentation absorbed me immediately and completely". If you are going to Monday or Tuesday's show, get to the club early so that you can get close enough to watch the band play.

The Acorn have two more shows in town. They are playing Piano's tomorrow night (May 5th) and Mercury Lounge on May 6th.

Links:
The Acorn's Website
The Acorn's MySpace Profile

New Music Releases and Live In-Store Performances this Week (August 6th)

The "big box" stores really haven't had a lot of interesting releases this summer. Unfortunately, this week is no exception.

The most interesting major label release is the new Fuel CD. I've been sort of hit and miss on Fuel's past work but I am curious what the new singer brings to the band. For those who haven't kept up with the band, singer Brett Scallions left the band in 2006, joined local rockers The X's and then became the new singer for The Doors/Riders on the Storm. The band tapped Toryn Green from Los Angeles' Something to Burn as the new singer and the CD that will be released on Tuesday will be the first with Green and new drummer Tommy Stewart (x-Godsmack). The band appears to have a serious promo budget behind them as they are on Rockline tomorrow night and Jay Leno on Friday.

Triple Crown recording artist The Receiving End of Sirens is playing in-store sessions at Looney Tunes in Long Island on Wednesday, Aug. 8th and Vintage Vinyl in Ford, NJ on Thursday, Aug. 9th. (Unfortunately, no dates in the city) The band's new CD The Earth Sings Mi Fa Mi will be released Tuesday.

Marissa Nadler is playing an in-store tomorrow at Sound Fix in Williamsburg. She has a new CD "Song III: Birds on the Water" coming out on Kemado. SoundFix's website states that Nadler will be playing a full set starting at 10PM. I caught Nadler's show at ArthurFest and was completely knocked-out by her performance. She is back in town on September 14th to play a show with Michael Gira at the Highline Ballroom.

Lastly, Elk City is playing Sound Fix on Thursday, August 9th. The band released their debut CD New Believers in April of this year to good reviews. Elizabeth Harper is opening and the show starts at 8PM.

Martin Carr @ Sound Fix Records, Brooklyn, Nov. 11, 2006

Boo Radleys' guitarist/songwritter Martin Carr returned to New York after a 9 year absence to play Jack Rabid's Big Takeover Party at Sound Fix Records. Carr is still writing great songs and this show kicked off a short US tour. Most of Carr's 30+ minute set focused on his solo material but he did play the Boo Radley classic Lazarus.


Carr disbanded his band bravecaptain of the last few years in October and is now touring under his given name. The sixth and final bravecaptain CD, distractions, available as a free download on the bravecaptain site. Click on the CD cover below and that will bring you to the distractions download page.