Passion Pit Incite Dancefest at Bowery Ballroom

Passion Pit at Bowery Ballroom, 6.19.09

We’ve been championing Passion Pit for going on a year now and it was an truly impressive sight to see how far this band has come from playing to modest crowds at Pianos last summer and an opening slot for French Kicks at Bowery Ballroom to booking two high profile, sold-out, headlining shows at Bowery in such a short time. This time the Massachusetts ambassadors of raucous indie-dance weren’t hawking their wares in the form of a 6 song EP, but performing tracks from a recently released full-length album that appeared to have won over individuals of all ages and scenes who couldn’t help get swept up in the exuberant energy of Passion Pit’s music.

You’d guess by their geek chic appearance that Michael Angelakos and company would be reluctant purveyors of hot beats and dancefloor bangers, but to watch Passion Pit live is to see a band fully animated with a confidence in the quality of their tunes and a conviction to deliver them with precision and ardor. The crowd immediately turned into a sweaty mob and kept up the pace throughout the 45 minute set. Highlights included I’ve Got Your Number, Sleepyhead, Make Light and epic set closer, The Reeling.

Brooklyn based four-piece, Body Language, played a formidable and winning opening set, showcasing their original blend of soul, jazz, pop and electronica. Look out for our Artist to Watch interview feature with the band soon.

MP3: Passion Pit – The Reeling (Calvin Harris Remix) or zShare
MP3: Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Heads Will Roll (Passion Pit Remix) or zShare

Pixies Add More European Tour Dates

The Pixies just announced more tour dates…unfortunately none are in the states.  Make sure you lucky Europeans see them on the tour dates below and tell them to get to NY ASAP!

OCTOBER
1 IRELAND DUBLIN OLYMPIA
2 IRELAND DUBLIN OLYMPIA
4 SCOTLAND GLASGOW SECC – HALL 4
6 ENGLAND LONDON BRIXTON ACADEMY
7 ENGLAND LONDON BRIXTON ACADEMY
8 ENGLAND LONDON BRIXTON ACADEMY
9 ENGLAND LONDON BRIXTON ACADEMY
11 GERMANY FRANKFURT JAHRHUNDERHALLE
13 HOLLAND AMSTERDAM HEINEKEN MUSIC HALL
14 BELGIUM BRUSSELS FOREST NATIONAL
15 FRANCE PARIS ZENITH

TICKETS FOR THESE DATES ON SALE JULY 3RD!

MP3: Pixies – Gigantic or zShare

Florence and The Machine Covers Beyonce’s Halo

Check out Flo’s beautiful live rendition of Beyonce’s hit single Halo from Radio 1’s Live Lounge. Do you think she did justice to the track?

MP3: Florence and The Machine – Halo (Beyonce Cover) or zShare

Rest in Peace Michael Jackson

Like the rest of the world, we’re reeling from the huge loss of this generation’s most influential icon Michael Jackson. Through all of the questionable behavior and very public hardships nobody can take away the fact that he is our crowned legendary ‘King of Pop.’ As a child I remember being frightened yet intrigued by the Thriller music video, failing miserably in my attempts to moonwalk, awaiting the epic music video premieres,  and even playing the Michael Jackson Moonwalker video game with my brother on our Sega Genesis. The man touched a lot of people through his art.

Yesterday the world was shocked by the news that Michael Jackson passed away as a result of cardiac arrest at the age of 50.  We’d like to take this moment to pay tribute to his life and very successful career,  I’m not sure where we’d be without his contributions to music and pop culture.

August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009

MP3: The Jackson 5 – I’ll Be There or zShare

Jack Penate Announces US Tour Dates!

Jack Peñate at Bruar Falls, 6.3.2009

We caught Jack Peñate earlier this month (on my birthday to be exact) and it was such a great treat! Peñate blends so many different flavors into his sound and doesn’t slack on the stage presence! With this said, we’re excited for his return to the states! Don’t miss the crooner on tour this fall with 2 dates at New York’s famed Mercury Lounge and Maxwell’s in NJ!

9/15 – New York, NY – Mercury Lounge

9/16 – New York, NY – Mercury Lounge

9/19 – Hoboken, NJ – Maxwell’s

Check out Jack Peñate on MySpace for full tour dates. The awesome new record Everything is New will be out on August 18th on XL Records in the US.

MP3: Jack Peñate – Be The One (Fouquet Remix) or zShare

Be There: Björk Voltaic Screening Tonight + Contest

I’m so excited for the screening of Björk’s Voltaic: The Volta Tour Live in Paris tonight at the SVA theatre! Make sure you don’t miss this one time special event, tickets are only $13 for SVA Students and $15 for the General Public.  Tickets can be purchased HERE!

Björk’s DVD/CD/VINYL recording Voltaic is out on June 30th in the US, but you can win a copy of the DVD and a print of the gorge ous poster on the right by emailing us now! Winners will be notified by Monday June 29th.

MP3: Björk – Hyperballad

Concertgoer Wall of Shame: The Dodos at Studio B

Tame your hair and be mindful of the people around you.

Ladies (and some gentlemen) please listen up. If you have big or long hair please be mindful of the people around you at a concert. Tame the mane if you will.

We caught The Dodos at Studio B for the Northside Festival and had to deal with this crazy woman who kept whipping everyone with her bushy hair (ick!) and leaning all the way back into the people behind her to take swigs from her beer.

All we ask for is a little consideration of the people around you, hopefully this will be a lesson learned for all!

Esser’s US Debut at Le Royale in NYC

We featured an Artist Spotlight on Esser way way back in January calling him the future of indie electro. Over 5 months later and after finally seeing him perform live, we wouldn’t take any of it back except to throw pop and punk into the indie electro mix of Esser’s distinct sound.

He didn’t seem the least bit nervous to make his Stateside debut on the miniscule stage of Le Royale in Manhattan’s West Village — in fact he seemed pretty determined to knock it out, which he did and to the utter delight of the industry types, bloggerati and indie tastemakers in attendance.

The set was short but sweet and full of all the energy, sharp delivery and impeccable style we hoped for and so much more. Highlights included Work it Out, This Time Around and I Love You.

Esser’s irresistibly clever and dancetastic debut album, Braveface, is out now in the UK and if you’re heading to Glastonbury next week, don’t miss him play the John Peel Stage.

MP3: Esser – Headlock or zShare

Peaches At The Music Hall of Williamsburg: Gonna Whip This Party Into Shape

Peaches at The Music Hall of Williamsburg, 6.19.2009

Last month I had the delight of seeing Peaches for the first time at Webster Hall. That show was a topic of discussion for the weeks leading up to Friday night’s show which was luckily added to the ongoing tour as a make up date for Drums of Death missing his Webster Hall set after being stuck at US Customs.  We also chatted with DoD before showtime which can be read HERE.

We unfortunately had to endure the gag-worthy Naked Cowgirl yet again until being saved by Drums of Death’s delivery of his dubstep-rock-electronic brand of music (or as he calls it Electronic Gospel / Soul Rave.)

DoD got the party started on the right foot, warming up the crowd for what would be another sweaty and hot night with none other than Peaches shifting gears behind the wheel.

Peaches took the stage a little before 11 PM playing an almost identical 27-song set as the one she blasted through Webster Hall. Seeing the show at Webster Hall and then the translated version to the much the smaller stage at MHoW brought on some constraints but nonetheless the show was on point and on key.

Surprisingly the crowd Friday was younger, mostly male and seemingly less rowdy minus our front section that screamed along and pumped fists in Peaches direction. It was quite the scene.

For some reason, this set cut off 2 of our favorites from the original set Relax and Take You On in place of  2 songs from Sweet Machine. Overall the show did not disappoint, but the fans in the crowd were kind of lame. The ultimate highlight for me at the show was her trilogy of crowd surfing, the most badass during Hit it Hard when she was being held upright by the crowd.

We had to limit the amount of pictures posted, but to view more of our pictures from the epic gig, click HERE!

MP3: Peaches – Tombstone, Baby or zShare

MP3: Peaches – Boys Wanna Be Her (Tomiie Sunshine Brooklyn Fire Retouch Mix) or zShare

Fuse Features Bonnaroo ‘09 Coverage

As you probably know, TLC was not able to venture down to Bonnaroo this year (oh and Tennessee in the summer heat? no thanks) but we still wanted to catch up on all the action.

If you’re like us, or if you went and want to relive the memories (or see what you’re unable to remember for various reasons) Fuse TV is airing some of the best performances from Bonnaroo tonight at 9pm EST – you can see exclusive Bonnaroo ‘09 performance footage from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Beastie Boys, Springsteen, Snoop Dogg, etc. Also check out Fuse’s official Bonnaroo page here for exclusive interviews with Passion Pit, Karen O and more.

MP3: Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Heads Will Roll (Passion Pit Remix) or zShare