WaterCoolerGossip

Remember that video I posted on of Herman Dune singing in a pink funny hat? Well he is at it again, wearing a brown funny hat this time, playing guitar in Laundromat then wandering the streets of Paris. Visit La Blogothéque to pretend you read French then watch the video.

I'm from Barcelona was also recently featured on the site. Go there.

Posted by 3xWes at 02:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

PLUG is presenting another show that is free this weekend (TONIGHT!) and worth mentioning. Come check out Takka Takka, The Harlem Shakes, Dragons of Zynth, and Illinois at The Syrup Room. Finger on the Pulse will DJ till 4 in the morning.

PLUG Brooklyn @ Syrup Room, 100 Ingraham in Brooklyn (Morgan L stop). Doors at 8pm. RSVP here! (Thx Brian)

Also don't forget to vote for your favorites of the year at the PLUG Awards. Vote for us – Sirius Blog Radio – under the Specialty Show of the Year (Commercial Radio) in the Media Categories (Obsessive). The organization of the categories is confusing, I know.

Posted by 3xWes at 02:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

TV On The Radio is on this week's edition of the Interface. Link. MP3. Enough said.

Posted by 3xWes at 01:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

This is a repost from Product Shop. Might as well though because the show is free, those are hard to come by in the colder months....The Twilight Sad have come all the way from Glasgow to play in the FatCat Records residency at Piano's sponsored by our friends at Stereogum. Two shows down and one to go. This is your last chance to see this band of big noise and Scottish accents. Listen to their EP here.

Sunday 11/19: Twilight Sad at Piano's. Free. Doors at 9:30.

Posted by 3xWes at 11:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

This show was at Church uptown near Lincoln Center put on by a guy who works there but also likes indie rock. He wanted to combine the musical worlds of classical and indie so he started The Wordless Music Series. Andrew Bird, A Hawk and A Hacksaw, and classical pianist Steven Beck all performed. Members of Beirut processed in toward the end of A Hawk and A Hacksaw's set. That was festive. There were even programs (click for detail – nice type) and free wine before the show. More at Product Shop.

Explosions In The Sky is set to do one of these in February. Get tickets here.

Posted by 3xWes at 03:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

El Perro Del Mar is playing a bunch of shows this week. I saw here at Union Hall Tuesday. Despite the girl group harmonies on the album, four well-dressed and seated gentlemen backed her at the show. El Perro played the guitar and tapped her foot on a tambourine. All of her songs have glum cuteness about them and her voice sounds amazing live. I could see her at Bowery eventually. She is from Gothenburg so of course she is working with Jens Lekman. You can catch her tonight at the Mercury Lounge opening for Annuals.

DOWNLOAD
God Knows (MP3)

Posted by 3xWes at 11:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

For those of you who don't know AOL Music's indie arm is now called Spinner and they have a brand new studio in LA. The Decemberists just happened to drop by for a chat and a few songs. I am sooo glad they did not play songs just from The Crane Wife because that is sooo not their best record. However, all the songs played here are good.

Go here to read about it and see some pics.
Go here for the the mp3 of the session.

Posted by 3xWes at 07:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Big Sleep is also one of those New York bands that I see every chance I get. I just saw them last night at NYU, which kicked off their tour. If you are not familiar, they play mostly instruemental tracks with occassional lyrics. I wioud liken them to the simple repetition of The Fall or the sweeping compositions of Explosions in the Sky or even Secret Machines. Let's hope they bring their flood lights with them.

DOWNLOAD
Murder (mp3) (video)
You Can't Touch the Untouchable (mp3)
More at their website

THE BIG SLEEP'S TOUR DATES
Nov 10 :: Philadelphia PA :: North Star Bar
Nov 11 :: Cleveland OH :: Grog Shop
Nov 12 :: Detroit MI :: Magic Stick w/ Dead Child
Nov 13 :: Toronto ON :: Lee's Palace w/ Annuals, Evangelicals
Nov 14 :: Buffalo NY :: Mohawk Place w/ French Kicks
Nov 16 :: Chicago IL :: Schuba's w/ Small Sins, Little Ones
Nov 17 :: Dayton OH :: Nite Owl
Nov 18 :: Pittsburgh PA :: Brillobox
Nov 25 :: Washington DC :: Black Cat w/ The Hold Steady
Nov 26 :: Carrboro NC :: Cat's Cradle w/ The Hold Steady
Nov 27 :: W. Columbia SC :: New Brookline Tavern w/ The Hold Steady
Nov 29 :: Orlando FL :: The Social w/ The Hold Steady
Nov 30 :: Tampa FL :: Orpheum w/ The Hold Steady
Dec 01 :: Tallahassee FL :: Beta Bar w/ The Hold Steady
Dec 02 :: New Orleans LA :: The Parish (inside House of Blues) w/ The Hold Steady

Posted by 3xWes at 07:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I was up front for Matt and Kim's CD release party (above) at Third Ward two weeks ago and it was fucking coconuts. I even skipped Love Is All, another dance-crazed concert, for that show. Somebody called this couple-core, like Mates of State but upbeat and more punk. They are about to go back out on the road, so don't miss these two.

DOWNLOAD
Yea Yeah (MP3)
Silver Tiles (MP3)
No More Long Years (MP3)
Verbs Before Nouns (MP3)

MATT AND KIM TOUR DATES
Nov 09 :: New York NY :: E&L Auditorium
Nov 24 :: Boston MA :: TBA
Nov 25 :: Philadelphia PA :: Circle of Hope
Nov 26 :: Richmond VA :: The Bonezone
Nov 27 :: Greenville NY :: The Spazzatorium Galleria
Nov 30 :: Atlanta GA :: TBA
Dec 01 :: Daphne AB :: Mama Engine's
Dec 02 :: New Orleans LA :: TBA
Dec 03 :: Austin TX :: TBA
Dec 04 :: Ft. Worth TX :: TBA
Dec 06 :: Phoenix AZ :: Trunk Space
Dec 07 :: Flagstaff AZ :: TBA
Dec 08 :: San Diego CA :: che cafe
Dec 09 :: Los Angeles CA :: TBA
Dec 11 :: San Francisco CA :: TBA
Dec 13 :: Portland OR :: Rotture
Dec 14 :: Seattle WA :: Camp Nowhere
Dec 15 :: Missoula MT :: TBA
Dec 16 :: SLC UT :: Kilby Court
Dec 17 :: Denver CO :: Rhinoceropolis
Dec 19 :: Omaha NE :: TBA
Dec 20 :: Minneapolis MN :: Triple Rock Social Club
Dec 21 :: Chicago IL :: Abbey Pub
Dec 22 :: Kalamazoo MI :: Rocket Star

Photos: Tod Seelie

Posted by 3xWes at 06:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I posted some songs from the best bands I saw live at CMJ this year. I would upload the MP3s here but that would be too much work. Just go get them from Product Shop. Sorry if it is annoying that Water Cooler Gossip's CMJ coverage is satellite. But our coverage is now complete so go get these MP3s.

Posted by 3xWes at 06:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

That was a fun show and I got to pretend I was in college again. No alcohol at the show though but that is what reentry is for. Review and photos at Product Shop.

Posted by 3xWes at 03:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Finally, my CMJ recaps com to an end. The last one is over at Product Shop. It is basically about The Blow. CMJ was a blast. I am still exhausted.

CMJ SATURDAY
Fader House :: The Blow, Aloe Black, Malajube
AAM Day Party at North Six :: The Album Leaf
Modular Showcase at Midway :: The Soft Lightes
The Musebox Showcase at Lit :: Shout Out Out Out Out

Posted by 3xWes at 03:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I can't wait till Voxtrot releases an album then they may feel that they have enough recorded songs to play an entire live show. I had fun at Bowery both nights though. Full review over at Product Shop.

PS: They are streaming their entire new EP Your Biggest Fan over at their myspace.

Posted by 3xWes at 07:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Friday at CMJ we spent the entire day preparing for our show at Studio B. There were a few fires to put out at the beginning of the day but the show turned out to be a hit. A big thanks to everybody who came. Pictures are over at Product Shop.

Posted by 3xWes at 04:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

There are short reviews and pics over at Product Shop.

CMJ THURSDAY
KEXP Session at Gigantic Studios :: Hot Chip
Gothamist House :: Pela
Fader House :: Lo-Fi FNK, Dappled Cities, Annuals, 120 Days
Yep Rock / Stereogum Showcase at Pianos :: Cities, Apples In Stereo
Mercury Lounge :: Malajube, Benjy Ferree, Archie Bronson Outfit, Forward Russia
Vice Late Night Party at Cake Shop :: Cold War Kids, The Black Lips

Posted by 3xWes at 06:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Knife is continually putting layers between them, their music, and their audience. Wednesday night at Webster Hall there was a scrim with projected lines of light between the masked brother and sister duo and the audience. Images were projected behind the two and large faces were projected on three oval screens midway back on the stage. Dressed identically, Olof and Karin also disguised themselves visually behind black ski masks covering orange iridescent face paint and aurally behind various effects on the vocals. There were few if any instruments on stage; buttons are a more apt description. Karin would trigger vocal effects and Olof would wield his glowing drumsticks over pads to pound out elements in the beat. The Knife performed as an idea rather than the two individuals who made the music. The only glimpse of personality we saw on stage was in their dancing.

Flattening the overlapping layers of bodies, light, image, The Knife gave us a screen to view their music, a virtual performance almost without people or instruments. However, the show was more physically engaging than just watching a moving image, you could still hear the life in her voice, see their character in their dancing, and feel the energy in the crowd. The duality of Karin and Olof being at Webster Hall performing their music but not is a pretty good trick.

PS. Jason and I had the amazing opportunity to interview The Knife on our Sirius radio show last Tuesday. This was a little mind-blowing because Karin and Olof came to the studio without masks and talked about their personal lives. I hope you are in the habit of listening because they were really interesting people. There