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.