Animal Collective @ Irving Plaza (2.23.2016)

Animal Collective released their eleventh studio album, Painting With, on February 19th. This release marks the very first time that the band recorded and released an album before touring the songs beforehand. Nevertheless, the new songs received their live debut in Philadelphia on the same day as the album's release. After playing a few shows in New England, Animal Collective made their way to New York City for two consecutive shows at Irving Plaza.

Panda Bear @ The Bowery Ballroom (October 2015 - ALL THREE SHOWS!)

This past year has not seen a shortage of anything Panda Bear. The official releases of the Mr. Noah EP, Panda Bear Meets The Grim Reaper LP, and Crosswords EP have kept fans of Noah Lennox satisfied in between Animal Collective records.  Panda has also toured quite extensively in support of the PBVSGR set, visiting New York on three separate occasions prior to this month's run of shows at the Bowery Ballroom.

Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks @ Webster Hall (10.4.2014)

Earlier this month Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks headlined the final night of the Downtown Festival at Webster Hall. The Downtown Festival made its way to New York City from October 2-4. Each night, the festival utilized all three rooms of Webster Hall. On the 4th, Slasher Flicks was joined by Atlas Sound, Tobacco, Mas Ysa, Vacationer, and Computer Magic.

Panda Bear @ Music Hall of Williamsburg (9.22.2014)

Panda Bear began his fall tour earlier this month following a month-long stretch of European shows this summer. He returned to Brooklyn this week in support of his upcoming release, Panda Bear vs. The Grim Reaper. Though no definitive release date for the album has been announced, Panda Bear released a mixtape on his website (featuring snippets of possible Grim Reaper songs) and continues to perform new material live. Panda Bear also played the following night at Irving Plaza in Manhattan.

Panda Bear @ Warsaw (5.18.2014)

Panda Bear played the Warsaw in Brooklyn as part of his tour previewing music from his upcoming album, the tentatively titled Panda Bear Meets The Grim Reaper. The show featured a bevy of unreleased tracks, visuals created by frequent Animal Collective collaborator Danny Perez, and some nifty lasers.

Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks @ The Bowery Ballroom (4.21.2014)

Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks played the Bowery Ballroom as part of their current tour supporting their debut release Enter The Slasher House. The band, which consists of Avey Tare (Dave Portner) of Animal Collective, Angel Deradoorian (formerly of The Dirty Projectors) and Jeremy Hyman (formerly of Ponytail) took the stage after a mesmerizing set by guitar looping aficionado Dustin Wong.

Deerhunter @ The Music Hall of Williamsburg (9.17.2013)

Deerhunter released Monomania this past May on 4AD. Following 2010's polished Halcyon Digest, Monomania marks a return to a more aggressive, garage punk style for the band. Since the album's release, Deerhunter curated their own weekend at ATP UK, where they performed their albums Cryptocrams, Microcastle, and Halcyon Digest in full. They also began touring around the U.S. and booked a run of three shows in New York between Brooklyn's Music Hall of Williamsburg and Manhattan's Webster Hall. They played their first show to a sold out crowd at the Music Hall of Williamsburg.

The Magnetic Ghosts @ The Long Island Ale House

The Magnetic Ghosts are a four piece folk rock band from New York. The band formed in early 2013 and features Dylan Carey on drums, Rich Michelson on acoustic guitar and vocals, George Simpson on bass and vocals, and Chris Zec on electric guitar. The Magnetic Ghosts frequently play live in venues around Long Island and are looking to book shows in the city in the near future. We recorded two of their most recent shows at the Long Island Ale House.

Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks @ Glasslands (6.17.2013)

Avey Tare announced his new project Slasher Flicks in April. The new band was described in a vivid press release as the result of a group of three hippies falling prey to a murderous, cannibalistic band consisting of Avey himself, Angel Deradoorian, and Jeremy Hyman. After much intrigue and anticipation from the Animal Collective fan base, Slasher Flicks made their surprise debut last week at the Metro Gallery in Baltimore and played their second show ever at Glasslands in Brooklyn.

James Blake @ Terminal 5 (5.9.2013)

Overgrown, James Blake's highly anticipated sophomore album, was released on April 8th.  We saw him debut some of the material from the new album last December at the Music Hall of Williamsburg.  All but one of the new songs he played that night are featured on Overgrown ("Every Day I Ran" is now a bonus track).  It is no surprise that James Blake has gained a considerable amount of new fans over the last few years, especially after touring the United States.  The last two times we saw him, he performed at small and intimate venues.  Last week, however, James Blake sold out two shows at Terminal 5.

Born Ruffians @ The Bowery Ballroom (4.16.2013)

Born Ruffians released their third album, Birthmarks, on April 16, 2013. Though they have returned to New York several times since, we last saw Born Ruffians at Santos Party House in 2010 (the first show we recorded for this blog!).  Since then the band officially became a four-piece, adding guitarist/ keyboardist Andy Lloyd, Luke Lalonde debuted his first solo album, and the band worked on what would become their newest full length.  After working diligently for three years on the record, Born Ruffians celebrated the release of Birthmarks with a special show at the Bowery Ballroom.

Young Man @ Glasslands (4.10.2013)

Young Man's third, and final, full length album entitled Beyond Was All Around Me was released on April 9, 2013.  Despite working with the same band members as 2012's Vol. 1, Colin Caulfield's songwriting and overall sound evolved considerably between the two releases.  Beyond Was All Around Me captures a more serious, perhaps even darker tone for the band.  We last saw Young Man perform this past August at the Mercury Lounge during their first headlining tour.  Back on the road to promote the final installment of the Young Man saga, the band began their tour at Glasslands.

James Blake @ The Music Hall of Williamsburg (12.11.2012)

In September, James Blake announced that he would debut new material from his upcoming album at a few intimate shows.  We last saw James Blake at the Bowery Ballroom in May 2011, not long after his first full length LP came out.  Though we were treated to 1 new song during that set (Enough Thunder), I was definitely excited to hear the direction he was headed in for his next major release. After playing three shows in England, he made his way to New York to play two more shows.  Tickets sold out almost immediately for the first show at the Music Hall of Williamsburg so a second show was added at the Bowery Ballroom for the following night.  I attended his first New York show of this small tour at the Music Hall of Williamsburg.

Animal Collective @ Terminal 5 (12.4.2012)

We last caught Animal Collective at Prospect Park in 2011 where they played live as a full band for the first time since 2006.  The band has since released a 12" version of the material from their Transverse Temporal Gyrus installation, the non-album Honeycomb/ Gotham 7" single, the full length Centipede Hz at the end of the summer, and a 10" Applesauce single (b/w "Crimson") in November.  Animal Collective began another full length tour when CHz released and have since been playing shows throughout the U.S. and Europe.  They were scheduled to play the Williamsburg Waterfront in October but unfortunately had to postpone the show due to illness.  Graciously, the band not only rescheduled the original show but added a second show for the following night, all to benefit the Red Cross for Hurricane Sandy relief.  We attended the first of their two shows at Terminal 5.

Grimes @ The Bowery Ballroom (10.27.2012)

Grimes has toured extensively over the past year, playing shows throughout North America and Europe (check out her February performance in Austin).  Most recently she was joined by Elite Gymnastics and Myths on her "Mythical Gymnastics" tour.  The final leg of the tour originally featured two New York City shows.  Yet due to instantaneous sell outs of both shows, two additional shows were immediately added to meet the overwhelming demand.  Of the four shows, we were able to get tickets to her third scheduled performance at the Bowery Ballroom, alongside Blue Hawaii and Myths.  However because of Hurricane Sandy, the October 28th show at the Music Hall of Williamsburg was canceled, making the show we attended and recorded the last of the tour.

Young Man @ Mercury Lounge (8.14.2012)

Evan and I first encountered the work of Colin Caulfield and his project Young Man with the release of his 2010 EP Boy. With its catchy guitar melodies and thematic lyrics about childhood,  Boy became an instant favorite of ours.  Colin followed the EP with another stellar release, Ideas of Distance, in 2011.  Ideas was not only a complete departure from Boy stylistically but it also marked the first album in a set of three conceptual full-length records to be made under the Young Man name; Vol. 1 became the second.  Released this past May, Vol. 1 features a full band and some of the most impressive examples of Colin's song writing yet.  This summer, Young Man set out on their first headlining tour and made a stop at Mercury Lounge in New York City.

Black Dice @ The Living Bread (04.07.2012)

Black Dice released their new album Mr. Impossible last month on Ribbon Music.  They debuted what would become the album's material in early 2011, the show at Secret Project Robot being one of the first to showcase the new songs.  They also played a similar set to open for Animal Collective at Prospect Park in 2011.  In their recorded form, the Mr. Impossible tracks are just as full and exciting as they are live.  To celebrate the new album, Black Dice played their record release show at the Living Bread in Brooklyn.

Sonic Boom @ The Knitting Factory (3.30.2012)

Pete Kember (Sonic Boom of Spacemen 3 and Spectrum) played a solo show last weekend at the Knitting Factory in Brooklyn.  Aside from his own musical ventures, he has also made a name for himself as a producer, most recently working with Noah Lennox (Panda Bear, Animal Collective) on his fourth solo release Tomboy and subsequent touring dates (you can find him on the Music Hall of Williamsburg and Webster Hall recordings). His contributions to the Tomboy material were impressive, exemplifying his understanding of sound and texture, as well as his overall talent.  Evan and I became acquainted with Pete over the last few months and were given permission to record his performance this weekend.

Grimes @ Lambert's, Austin TX (02.29.2012) + Signed Poster Contest!

Claire Boucher, aka Grimes, and her new album Visions have gathered unbelievable hype over the last few months, and deservedly so.  The album is a perfect mix of catchy synth riffs, dance-driven drum beats, and beautifully layered vocals that rewards the listener with every play.  Grimes recently began touring this year to sold out crowds across the country.  She is scheduled to play three shows in New York at the end of March (two at the Mercury Lounge, one at Glasslands) but unfortunately we were not able to secure tickets.  However we are lucky enough to host a recording of her recent show at Lambert's BBQ in Austin, Texas courtesy of a fellow Collected Animals member.

Zammuto @ 92YTribeca (02.04.2012)

Recently Nick Zammuto and Paul de Jong announced that they were calling it quits as The Books. This news came as a blow to fans of experimental music; The Books created some of the most stunning, singular pieces of music of the last ten years (check out our recording of them at Zankel Hall). They combined fragmented samples from sources as disparate as lost vinyls, old Talk Boy tapes, and golf instruction videos with aspects of classical music and electronic/folk music into a one of a kind sound. However, with the news of the bands demise also comes Nick Zammuto's new band, simply titled after his last name. The new band consists of brother Mike Zammuto on bass, Gene Back, an extremely talented multi-instrumentalist, and New York City drummer Sean Dixon. This promising new four-piece is more rock focused, and takes their cues more from Paul Simon and Radiohead than relaxation tapes. We caught their second live show as a band at 92YTribeca.