After The Jump To Present Last Ever Show At KF Tribeca

ATJ, the NYC blogger collective, is set to help present the final show at the legendary, 3 level, Knitting Factory space in Tribeca. This last hurrah just happens to also be New Year's Eve. After the Knitting Factory space was put on the market and sold into condos, the decision was made to move the cutting edge concert space to the smaller scaled Luna Lounge in Williamsburg. The New York Times interviewed owner Jared Hoffman last month about the plans. The final multi level party is sure to be a fabulous event, the kind only fitting for a spot that many NYers (and not so NYers) hold in their hearts & where many amazing acts got their start. Stay tuned for details!

Sissy Wish @ Knitting Factory: She's Huge In Norway

Well, not all of the Sluts are on vacation... Last Tuesday, I saw Norwegian Grammy award winner Sissy Wish at The Knitting Factory. After seeing her short, but riveting, performance at SXSW this year, I couldn't miss my chance to see her first ever New York gig.

Once again, Sissy did not disappoint, giving as commanding a performance as her album Beauties Never Die demands. With a sound perhaps better suited for sweaty dance halls than punk basements, expect her to be tearing through CMJ after parties come October.

Efterklang @ Knitting Factory: Blowing Lungs Like Bubbles

It was roughly two years ago when I first discovered the brilliance that is Copenhagen's post pop collective, Efterklang. The 8 member band incorporates elements of jazz, electro experimentalism, folk, prog & krautrock into one otherworldly amalgamation. Last night marked the band's first ever visit to New York City and it was a glorious one. For nearly 75 minutes, Efterklang enthusiastically pranced around all of their releases to date creating a mystical wall of sound. To close out the evening, C. Taylor (Grizzly Bear) plus various members of Slaraffenland joined forces with Efterklang for an extended celebratory denouement. A monumental gig from start to finish! I kindly demand your attendance at one of their few remaining North American gigs. They may not return for some time.

Visit Efterklang at their official MySpace page. A handful of photos & an MP3 follow.







MP3: Efterklang - Cutting Ice To Snow

Neimo: Live Video From ATJ NYE @ Knitting Factory

Watch the band tackle 'I Wanna Be Your Dog' with Emilie Simon in the clip below.


MP3: Neimo - Echoing Pixels [alt link]

Senryu: A New Year's Eve Wrap-Up

photo by Josh Godin

After The Jump's New Year's Eve show had so many great moments - Poingly in silver spandex making everybody crazy, watching people's jaws drop in amazement as Pattern Is Movement began playing, David Longstretch (of Dirty Projectors) missing midnight but recovering so adorably a minute later, Eric from Foreign Islands kicking off karaoke with The Darkness single, 'I Believe In A Thing Called Love,' - but for me, the best part of the night was when beautiful, little Sophie from Care Bears On Fire joined Senryu on stage to sing my favourite songs of theirs, 'Leave The Light On.' I think I might have even liked it better than the original, and I like that a whole hell of a lot.

Senryu's live show is interactive and messy yet flawlessly calculated. It draws you in and spits you out with undulating waves of dance pop and slower indie melodies. It makes you fall in love and fall into step with nonconforming uses of recorded sound and off mic screaming that gets your blood pumping, as you find yourself uncontrollably screaming "I AM A BATTERING RAM!". Lead singer Wil Wright once described their live show as a "magical car accident." At the end of their set on Monday night, I found myself sweaty, covered in glitter and glowing with joy. I don't think he was far off.

If you didn't make it to Knitting Factory on NYE to see Senryu, you're shit out of luck New York, at least for a while. Next up for the Tennessee lads is a show at Knoxville's Pilot Light on Monday and then onto SXSW (with perhaps some more dates sprinkled in between).

For a better description of what makes Senryu tick, check out this rather fantastic article about the band's return to Knoxville in The Daily Times.

MP3: 'Leave The Light On'

'Suspicious Death' At Knitting Factory NYC

NBC reports: *Police are investigating what they call as “suspicious death” at a Manhattan nightclub. The body of a 28-year-old man was found unconscious inside a bathroom at the “Knitting Factory,” located at 74 Leonard Street. The man was rushed to Beekman hospital where he was pronounced dead.*

More info is sure to be released soon.

Knitting Factory Tickets Now Available Via Text

It was only a matter of time.

CMJ reports: *Knitting Factory Entertainment, who own venues in both New York and Los Angeles, has launched the first ticketing-by-text system, allowing concert-goers to purchase tickets via SMS text messaging, directly from their mobile phone. The service is available now for both coast's venues, with plans to expand service to its Boise and Spokane locations in the next few months.

"The times you are most likely to want to buy a ticket are often the times you are least likely to have full Internet access—in a venue scanning the upcoming show listings... seeing a flyer or poster," says Jared Hoffman, president and CEO of Knitting Factory Entertainment. "It's not just the concert industry, the whole nature of commerce is changing—people want it now, they want it fast—and the device that can make that all possible is the mobile phone."

Powered by ShopText mobile, the system works like this: See a flyer or poster with the ShopText logo, text the event's code number to 467467, enter your credit card number, receive a unique PIN (for future purchases) and enjoy the show. You can also first register and screate an account at shoptext.com for a quicker initial sign-up. All transactions are guaranteed security.*

Read the rest of the article here.

MP3: Beck - Cellphone's Dead

A Brief Smile @ Knitting Factory: Louder Than Bombs

With all the planning, hoopla and overall good time associated with our Spring Fling back in March, I failed to post a proper review of the show. Without a doubt, one my personal highlights of the evening was finally getting the chance to see NYC's very own, A Brief Smile, in the flesh. I've been going on about this 5-piece for some time now (read The Music Slut's interview with the band here). After stunning our Spring Flingers with their bombastic yet shoegaze-y sound, I couldn't wait to check out the band's Knitting Factory debut last night.

Focusing primarily on their upcoming EP, due out this summer, the band performed a whirlwind of a set, demonstrating their unique hybrid of harmony & dissonance for the better part of an hour. In spite of the bevy of new tunes, their debut short-player wasn't completely ignored; the band opted for 'Kitchen Floor' as the lone track to be performed from '06's R.E.S.T. (MP3 below). With a sound that falls somewhere between Mogwai's Young Team, Spiritualized's Ladies & Gentlemen... and My Bloody Valentine's Loveless, it's no wonder that A Brief Smile is slowly but surely becoming one of my favorite local acts.

A Brief Smile will be opening the Pop Tarts Suck Toasted-curated show next Saturday night at The Delancey. More info on that gig can be found here.

Check out A Brief Smile's MySpace page for tunes, photos and further glowing reviews.

MP3: A Brief Smile - Kitchen Floor (via Free Indie)

The Cinematics @ Knitting Factory: Stars In The Dark Sky

It'd be relatively easy to lump Glasgow four-piece, The Cinematics, into the 'skinny boy, shaggy-haired NME darlings' sub-category. Quite easy, in fact. However, with opening slots for Editors & We Are Scientists, along with perpetual peer pressure to check out the band, I had no choice but to witness their Knitting Factory debut last night and I'm thrilled to report that they completely surpassed all my lofty expectations.

With a delicate yet passionate vocal delivery, Cinematics frontman, Scott Rinning's voice is most reminiscent of Muse's Matt Bellamy, The Hourly Radio's Aaron Closson, and even, at times, some Jeff Buckley. Let's not forget, it was The Cinematics cover of Jeff Buckley's 'Grace' that brought Jeff's mom to hysterics at this year's SXSW. Last night we weren't treated to any Jeff covers but rather a slew of songs from the band's debut LP, A Strange Education.

Opening with Sea Change-era Beck cover 'Sunday Sun', The Cinematics poured their heart and soul into the sixty minute set, wowing newcomers and pleasing Cinematics loyals alike. Their dark yet hopeful sound has been attempted before by countless other bands but The Cinematics manage to achieve it with surging vigor, charm and precision, truly setting them apart from the rest.

The boys will be back in town later this spring, touring with The Bravery (yes, we're disappointed as well). To check out all those dates, head to the band's MySpace page here. Those shows hit NYC on May 29th and 30th at Irving Plaza The Fillmore.



MP3: The Cinematics - Race To The City

Think About Life & The Long Blondes @ Knitting Factory 7/27: It's All Fun and Games...

Damn this post is late coming. Sorry 'bout that.

I was rather pumped to go and see Think About Life at Knitting Factory a couple of Thursdays ago. I had heard a little buzz about them and they looked like a fun group but alas, they failed to make much of an impact on me. While their music was peppy and their lead singer endearing, together, they sort of created a bit of a sticky mess of it all. The lead singer's vocals reminded me a bit of Julian Casablancas while the music was very Bloc Party. Separately, great. Together, not so much. Lord I hate writing bad reviews, especially when it is so obvious that those boys were just up there having a good time. After the Think About Life set, lead singer, Martin Cesar, came up to the balcony and danced like a madman during the Long Blondes set right next to me. A bit distracting, but oh so funny. Especially when he stepped on me.


The Long Blondes, however, I really enjoyed. Another British import, this time fronted by a sexy, brunette, female vocalist, their music is The Libertines at their best. They'll be touring most of the British Festivals and, funnily enough, the Venice Bienale. Chris over at Music Snobbery was also bopping around the balcony with Martin and me.


Oh, and to the cute guy who just moved back to NYC from Japan and bought me a Pabst: Hi, sorry we didn't quite hit it off but thanks for the beer. You were awfully cute though.

Boy Least Likely to...@ Knitting Factory 6/13: Summer Lovin'

Last week, on my tour of NYC concert venues, I saw one of my favourite live acts, the Boy Least Likely to... It was the last show on their North American tour and was recorded for KCRW (you can listen to it here).


I tried to explain to my friend, who didn't know anything about the group but came with me anyway, what Boy Least Likely to sounded like and the closest comparison I could come up with was that they are a mixer of those old folk kids records that you used to listen to before bed when you were little together with some country rock thrown in. I do enjoy BLLT's album but I don't know whether it's actually their music or their live show that makes me love them as much as I do. All I do know is that I would never pass up an opportunity to see them. The banter between lead singer Jof and guitarist Peter is more clever and endearingly funny than most sitcoms and stand-up comedians could ever hope to be. My mate thought that Peter was actually rather annoyed at Jof for chatting so much but I didn't see that- they act like brothers taking verbal jabs at each other. The funniest bits of the show came when Jof realised that the boys in front of the stage were only 13 and that they should probably keep the show clean, not least of all because it was on the radio. Whilst on their tour in Portland, the band found a shop that sold trophies and bought up a bunch to give to the best audience members on the road. That night, the trophy was especially given to the 13 year old jumping around like a mad thing and requesting 'My Tiger, My Heart.'


You can download the new song (well it's not on the album anyway) 'Rock upon a porch with you' on their MySpace The tune is immediately catchy and a little bit danceable. It embodies just about everything this band is about: being happy with simplicity and nostalgia for things they have yet to experience. Jerry also has a review up with an mp3 of BLLT's cover of 'Faith.'

Whirlwind Heat and Be Your Own Pet @ Knitting Factory 6/12: Kids! With their awful clothes and their rock an' roll!

For three shows in a row this week, the over arching theme was definitely: KIDS.


I feel that I should dredge up something to say about Whirlwind Heat... you know, they weren't really my thing but for what they do, they do it well. Certainly, it seemed that lots of the young boys in the front were very excited about the whole thing.


I just went searching for how old the boys in the group are, thinking that they are no more than 20, but they are 24. 24. Geeze. Time has been good to them. Sometimes, a band's live show far outshines their album and at times it is vice versa. Despite just thinking the live act was ok, I'd like to hear Whirlwind's new album, the one with the sexy cover I adore, before I make a decision about this group. The press about it certainly has me intrigued. What I did love about their set was at the end they let a kid from the audience bang on the cymbel as the did a final rock out before running off stage.

Check out Laura's picture of the boys in the bar after the show.


During the set change, my crew and I went searching for a beer then found a spot to sit upstairs while we waited for Be Your Own Pet. Danny Masterson sauntered upstairs and sat against the wall while the balcony was still empty. So cute in person. He's my favourite 70's show guy AND he's from Strong Island. When Be Your Own Pet came on, he stood and leaned against the balcony rail and I convinced Miss Modernage to go stand next to him since there was a mini sized spot available.


Remember when I said up there that some band's albums far outshine their live performance? Yeah, in this case that is true. In person, BYOP's songs are rather indistinguishable but the album is pretty enjoyable, especially the song 'Adventure.' I recommend going to see them, however, if they blow through your town. Pitchfork gave their album a great review and the big-wigs seem to love it so I would say it would be worth paying the small amount it is now to see them and figure it out for yourself.

You can stream the entire album here.

PS: One kissing with tongues to the theatre geek who can tell me what musical the blog title is from.