The Antlers @ Black Cat

 On Tuesday I was psyched beyond belief to go see The Antlers at Black Cat. I was excited to see them play songs from their new album, Burst Apart. The opening band, of whom I only caught the last few songs, was Little Scream (pictured above). They seemed to me to be somewhere in between Twin Sister and St. Vincent - less poppy than Twin Sister, but the lead singer had a strikingly similar tone to her voice and even looked kinda similar but a slightly less hipstery. The few songs I heard, I liked for the most part and I think they could really grow on me with further investigation.

 One of the things I hate about seeing The Antlers lives is drunk people. I'm sorry but you just don't get wasted at a show like The Antlers. Their music is slow and contemplative. Their old album is downright tragic. All of their music is gorgeous and thought-provoking. It's not the kind of stuff you drunkenly grind with your even drunker boyfriend to. It's not the kind of stuff that warrants shouting like you're at a frat party. And for those of us who are true fans (like myself), it really takes away from the whole experience.

 The Antlers, as always, were great. Their music is full and beautiful, just as fabulous as it is on their albums - which I unfortunately don't get to say about a lot of artists. And despite their quick and somewhat dramatic rise to fame, they still seem like very down-to-earth guys. I know that's not saying much but it's really enough to describe them. They're a simple band playing lovely, complex music and they're very worth seeing live and also listening to their album, which I promise will grow on you with every listen. My only complaint was that the sound mixing wasn't great.

Setlist:
I Don't Want Love
No Widows
Parentheses
Rolled Together
Bear
Every Night My Teeth Are Falling Out
Hounds
Putting the Dog To Sleep
Encore:
Kettering
Corsicana
Two
Wake

More photos:

The Antlers @ The Black Cat

Every Night My Teeth Are Falling Out [mp3] - (iTunes / Amazon)

The Antlers - New single

Here's a taste of the Antlers' upcoming album, Burst Apart, due out May 10th via Frenchkiss Records. It's a lot less... quiet... than most of their debut album, but it doesn't lack any of emotion that made them such a break out hit in the indie scene. And hey, I'm always up for rockin' out, and this song is pretty rockin'.

Every Night My Teeth Are Falling Out [mp3]

The Antlers - New album and tour dates!

It was only 2009 that the Antlers exploded onto the scene with Hospice and now they are releasing their second album - Burst Apart - on May 10th. I can't wait! Also: tour dates. And they're actually coming through DC, unlike most of the bands I love. Yay!

05-12 London, England - Heaven
05-13 Manchester, England - Manchester Club Academy
05-14 Brighton, England - Great Escape Festival
05-17 Washington, DC - Black Cat *
05-18 Philadelphia, PA - First Unitarian Church Sanctuary *
05-19 Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall of Williamsburg * - 3/31 at 10 am
05-20 New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom * - 3/31 at 10 am
05-28 George, WA - Sasquatch Festival
05-31 San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall *
06-03 Los Angeles, CA - El Rey * - 4/1 at 10 am
06-04 Pomona, CA - Glass House *
06-07 Austin, TX - Emo's * - 4/1 at 10 am
06-08 Dallas, TX - The Loft *
06-09 Tulsa, OK - The Marquee *
06-10 St. Louis, MO - Firebird *
06-11 Chicago, IL - Metro *
06-12 Detroit, MI - Magic Stick * - 3/31 at 10 am
06-14 Toronto, Ontario - Mod Club * - 3/31 at 10 am
06-15 Montreal, Quebec - La Tulipe ^
06-16 Boston, MA - Paradise * - 4/1 at 10 am
06-17 Hamden, CT - The Space *

* with Little Scream
^ with the Dodos

Best Albums of 2009

As you might be able to tell by our lack of posting, we were hard at work over the holidays putting together our end of the year lists. Today is the first of three lists - our Best Albums of 2009 list. So in no particular order, we present them to you:
 

The Antlers - Hospice
This intensely beautiful, heart-wrenching album is full of more tragedy than we would hope any one person would experience in a lifetime, much less a person of front man and writer Pete Silberman's young age. Hospice launched The Antlers to indie fame this year, and deservedly so. The haunting melodies strike us deeply in our cores and stay with us long after we've listened to them. Not that it's ever that long between listens, since the album has pretty much been on repeat on our playlists since it first came out in March.
Sylvia [mp3] - (iTunes)

Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest

This anticipated album encompassed ingenious songcraft, never-ending unwinding textural and melodic flourishes, languid beatuy and sweeping rhythmic cavorts that cut to the center of any listener's ear. With painstaking attention to detail, Veckatimest soared above any fears of overproduction and swooped right into the land of absolute prowess.

Passion Pit - Manners
In a year stockpiled with celebrity deaths, who anticipated that Stanley Kubrick would be resurrected to orchestrate the best indie-pop album of 2009? Every moment of Manners contains a purposely placed hook - Kids singing! Catchy synth lines! A horn section! - but the album would amount to nothing more than a dizzying Go Team! disciple if not for the pitch-perfect layering of Michael Angelakos' heartfelt falsetto. Without it, Manners - and Passion Pit by proxy - would be an indistinguishable novelty act instead of a polished pop catharsis.
The Reeling [mp3] - (iTunes)

Matt Jones - The Black Path

We wrote about this album back in 2008, but it didn't technically come out until 2009, so we're going to write about it again because it's that good. Simply put, Matt Jones is a one-of-a-kind genius and this orchestral folk album is full of gorgeous, rich instrumentation and complex, deeply expressive lyrics. Matt Jones' music and unique voice are truly mesmerizing.

Waltzing With Lady Dawn [mp3] - (iTunes)

Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
While they've been on the music scene for a while, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix was the album that really put French band Phoenix on the map. With catchy hits like "Lisztomania" and "1901," they rocketed through the indie masses alongside the album's vivid revivalist melodies and danceable indie-pop beats. A small smear of brit-pop shoegaze added for fun and the love for the film Breakfast Club that was reignited made this album a clear standout in 2009.

Metric - Fantasies

Emily Haines always manages to create songs that are simultaneously melancholy or nostalgic and yet are awesome dance songs. You can rock out, yet feel an incredible emotional pull, and the songs are so catchy that they'll stay in your head for hours. Fantasies is no exception to this rule, and "Help I'm Alive" has not-so-slowly risen to be one of our most-played songs this year.

St. Vincent - Actor
St. Vincent's sophomore album, inspired, she says, by Prince, can take a little warming up to at first. Her songs are complex and many of them can't truly be appreciated on the first listen. But the more you listen to it, the more masterful layers you discover and the more you appreciate this virtuoso. Rocking guitar harmonics burst forth from fluttering wind instruments and St. Vincent integrates these two contrasting sounds flawlessly, even within the same song.

White Rabbits - It's Frightening

This percussion-driven band became a sensation this year with their aptly named, explosive "Percussion Gun." But these are no one hit wonders - their album was full of other good, very catchy, rumbling, crashing, banging, tapping songs. And while it might be easy for a band with such a focus on percussion to get in a rut where all their music sounds the same, they've managed to utilize a nice variety of sounds and genres, while still maintaining a cohesiveness over the entire album.

Florence and the Machine - Lungs
Florence's powerful, rich voice and epically dramatic music make her debut album Lungs a force to reckon with, alternating between dark and stormy, with drums booming and her imposing vocals, and then flowery and romantic with plucky harps. But no matter what the style, the album never loses the dramatic flare that hooks you within the first few bars.

Discovery - LP

The brainchild of Vampire Weekend keyboardist Rostam Batmanglij and Ra Ra Riot's Wes Miles, this debut album, which was recorded over the course of three and a half years, makes for an unique and pleasantly intriguing experience. Inventive beats, playful rhythms and slick rushes of harmonious vocals dapple throughout this album, producing indie electro-pop at its finest.

Fanfarlo - Reservoir
Reservoir is a package full of odds and ends that takes a while to unpack. The British sextet has created a well-crafted propulsive album that will make you laugh, cry, dance, sway or stand still in total revelry all within the same album. Their music has a warmth to it that is downright lovely. The exquisite instrumentation and lead singer Simon's distinct, cozy voice is enough to warrant more than a couple rounds of continuous listens.

Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca

It's perplexing that an album translating to "Please Killer Whale" would lead Brooklyn's experimental class into the pop realm this year (along with Animal Collective and Grizzly Bear). Differentiating this effort from its Yale-crested musical-composition predecessors are the hooks. That's right: hooks. "Stillness is the Move" is an outright jam - not just by Dirty Projectors' standards, but by Left Eye Lopez (R.I.P.) standards. It might have been the track of 2009 that best defined the shift (for those aforementioned bands) from strictly creating songs principled in deconstructionist methodology towards a welcomed practice of lavishing in mind-bending indie hymnals, i.e., running the musical gamut - in styles, genres, tempos, key/time signatures - during every featured track on the album.

The XX - XX
This debut album blew everyone away, with many describing it as downright perfect or fantastically innovative. Pitchfork called it "so fully formed and thoughtful that it feels like three or four lesser, noisier records should have preceded it." Indeed, it was a perfectly executed product from the London band of 20-somethings, with quiet instrumentation full of purpose and lyrics riddled with poignancy.

Elizabeth and the Catapult - Taller Children

Elizabeth & the Catapult's sassy debut album that juxtaposes the freedoms of youth and the responsibilities of growing up is a delightful listen from beginning to end - with bubbly, bouncy child-like songs such as "Race You" to the serious Leonard Cohen cover of "Everybody Knows," it's a well-rounded album and a very solid debut indeed.

Momma's Boy [mp3] - (iTunes)

Monsters of Folk - Monsters of Folk
Comprised of star players like M. Ward (She & Him), Jim James (My Morning Jacket), Conor Oberst and Mike Mogis (Bright Eyes), Monsters of Folk ventures into lands of varied and weathered styles, delivering quality and seamless song-work amongst the loose sea of rock-folk acoustic guitars and lush harmonies. Conor Oberst pens GFP writer Diana's favorite lyric of the year in "Temazcal," summing up a relationship that was never meant to be in less than 10 words: "love we made at gunpoint wasn't love at all."

Interview with The Antlers' Peter Silberman

For those of you not lucky enough to have purchased a ticket to their sold out show at Bowery Ballroom tomorrow night, here's a way for you to get your Antlers fix until they're back in January and February with Ra Ra Riot and Editors respectively: an interview with The Antlers' Peter Silberman. Peter wrote Hospice on his own, as it started out as a solo project but then in the recording process, The Antlers became the trio that we all know and love.

GFP: When you first set out, why did you decide to do a concept album? And where did you come up with the concept for Hospice?
Peter: It wasn't really a conscious decision. The songs and ideas were all centered around this one idea, this hospital setting for a collapsing relationship. I don't know that I had much say in the matter.

GFP: How did you establish the sound that prevailed throughout Hospice?
Peter: The recording of the record involved a lot of texture, layering things on top of one another until they became a different material altogether. Sometimes separate sounds come together in a way that makes them seem like one whole, sort of like the way separate songs can join together to make an interrelated whole.

GFP: What's it like to watch yourselves explode into the limelight? Talk a little bit about your journey over this past year or so and how it's affected you.
Peter: Honestly I'm not sure what's been happening for the past few months. I'm not completely lost or anything, but everything that's happened has been surreal and disorienting, and I'm not sure it'll make sense until a few months from now. It's bizarre to feel like people are crawling inside your head.

GFP: Hospice is so amazing but yet so stand-alone and full of such powerful emotions, that I'm really curious as to how you're going to follow it up... I know you've said that you're taking a break from writing/recording for a while, but when you do start writing again, do you have any ideas of what direction you're going to go?
Peter: Actually, the writing / recording hiatus is over. Hospice was exhausting, but it was finished quite awhile ago now. We're dying to make another album, and we're starting very soon. I couldn't say just yet what it'll sound like, but we're a different band than we were when Hospice was recorded. I think it'll probably sound like a different band.

The Antlers @ Mercury Lounge

This past Friday night was the album release party for this year's "it" band The Antlers. I can't remember the last time I've gotten that sweaty and gross at a show - I don't know if something was wrong with Mercury Lounge's AC or what... But it was stifling hot, even before it got uber crowded. Other than getting soaked in the sweat of many other people besides just myself, it was a great show.

The Antlers played all the songs from their album, Hospice, which is what the concert was celebrating as it was re-released in its new new remastered form with a label behind it. I have to say they were a lot more engaging than when I saw them the last time. It almost seemed as if they had adapted their music for the stage a bit, as it was a little more rock 'n' roll, a little less wall-of-sound. Don't get me wrong, I love their album just the way it is, but I really thought the way they performed it Friday night was a good adaptation in terms of performing on stage. It allowed them to have a little more energy and throw themselves into the performance more. It also seems like the sudden onslaught of indie fame hasn't gone to their heads, as they seemed exceptionally grateful to be on stage in front of such a packed audience.

Tour Dates:
9/12 - Monolith Festival @ Red Rocks Ampitheatre - Morrison, CO
9/16 - Jackpot Saloon - Lawrence, KS
9/17 - Play:STL Fest @ Cicero's - St Louis, MO
9/18 - Pygmalion Festival @ Canopy Club - Champaign-Urbana.IL
9/19 - The Frequency - Madison, WI
9/21 - Subterranean - Chicago, IL * ( With Holly Miranda )
9/22 - Majestic Cafe - Detroit, MI * ( With Holly Miranda )
9/24 - Horseshoe Tavern - Toronto, ONT * ( With Holly Miranda )
9/25 - Asbury Hall - Buffalo, NY * ( With Holly Miranda )
9/26 - Iron Horse Music Hall - Northampton, MA
9/28 - Jerky's Live Music Hall - Providence, RI * ( With Holly Miranda )
9/30 - DC9 - Washington, DC * ( With Holly Miranda )
10/2 - Maxwell's - Hoboken, NJ * ( With Holly Miranda )

Bear [mp3] - (iTunes)

Rooftop Films Dates

A few exciting upcoming shows/screenings at Rooftop Films here in Brooklyn featuring bands The Albertans and one of my favorite bands of this year, The Antlers:

THURSDAY JUNE 25
Film: WILLIAM KUNSTLER: DISTURBING THE UNIVERSE
Venue: BAM GGMC Parking Lot (Outdoors across from BAM)
Rain: In the event of rain the show will be held Tuesday, June 30. Check www.rooftopfilms.com or call 718-417-7362 on the day of the event if the weather seems questionable.
8:00PM: Doors open
8:30PM: Sound Fix presents live music by The Albertans
9:00PM: Film
11:00PM–12:30AM: After-party: Open Bar on-site, courtesy of Radeberger Pilsner
Tickets: $11 at the door or online: http://newyork.going.com/event-609974;Rooftop_Films_BAMcinemaFEST_Kunstler#

FRIDAY, June 26
Film: HUMPDAY
Venue: on the roof of the Open Road Rooftop
8:00PM: Doors open
8:30PM: Sound Fix presents live music The Antlers
9:00PM: Films
11:30PM - 1:00AM: Open Bar at Fontana’s (105 Eldridge St), courtesy of Radeberger beer
Tickets: $9-$25: http://newyork.going.com/event-602767;Rooftop_Films_Humpday#
No refunds. In the event of rain, the show will be indoors at the same locations.

Furniture [mp3] - The Albertans - Sex With an Angel (iTunes)

Sylvia [mp3] - The Antlers - Hospice (iTunes)

White Rabbits and The Antlers

Thursday night White Rabbits and The Antlers played a sold out show at Bowery Ballroom. Sadly, I was unable to attend, but I still wanted to write a little bit about both bands, as they are both semi-new discoveries for me and they have quickly risen to stand amongst my favorite bands.

I have to admit, for a music blogger, I'm a little less proactive in seeking out new stuff than I probably should be. I get so much stuff sent to me now, and I have enough trouble going through that, that I just haven't really had the time. So, even though I apparently had a few songs by them in my iTunes that I didn't realize, the first time I really discovered White Rabbits was when their awesome music video for "Percussion Gun" was emailed to me a few weeks ago. Ever since, I've become completely obsessed. For the hour between receiving their music video and receiving their album, It's Frightening (came out May 19th) via email, I played the music video on repeat in the background of my computer and listened to the song over and over. Their album has been at the top of my playlist since that day. "Percussion Gun" is aptly named, but all of their songs are very percussion-driven and dramatic, making this a great album to listen to when you want to get pumped up about something. I can't believe I didn't know about them before a few weeks ago and I feel like my life was not complete before I found them.

Percussion Gun [mp3] - (iTunes)

I first discovered The Antlers when I was going to go see them perform at Music Hall of Williamsburg with Here We Go Magic in early April. I really liked their album Hospice after the first few listens, but I didn't enjoy their performance all that much - largely due to the environment, which wasn't really their fault. However, I didn't let MHOW get in the way of my feelings for The Antlers. I kept listening and Hospice quickly climbed the ladder to land amongst my favorite albums of the year. There is more tragedy in that one album than I would hope anyone has experienced in an entire lifetime, much less a guy of Pete Silberman's tender age, but the album is also full of such astonishing, heartbreaking beauty that I literally get chills. I normally only truly enjoy sad music when I'm in a sad mood, but I Hospice is so breathtaking that I find myself craving it all the time, even when I couldn't be merrier. The song below, Sylvia, is my favorite song on the album. I love the dramatic choruses contrasted with the quiet, timid verses (which perfectly fits what the song is about if you're listening to the lyrics closely). The Antlers recently signed to Frenchkiss Records and they will be re-releasing a remastered version of Hospice on August 18th. Honestly, I think it's pretty perfect as it is... 

 Sylvia [mp3] - (iTunes)

Here We Go Magic @ Music Hall of Williamsburg

Tuesday night I trekked over to Music Hall of Williamsburg to catch The Hymns, The Antlers and Here We Go Magic. I have to say, for me Hymns kind of stole the show and it's a shame more people weren't there early enough to see them. They're a New York band (by way of North Carolina and Texas), who play country-style rock. While they didn't always look 100% sure of themselves (maybe it was the fact that the bass player had joined them 2 days prior and they didn't have their whole band with them), I think they are definitely a band to watch over the next few years. Their music is solid and highly enjoyable. Considering the small audience they had, they did a good job of keeping us engaged and keeping their own energy up. I don't think I've ever seen someone jump around on stage as much as guitarist Jason Roberts, who accidentall spit his gum into his hair at one point (hot! haha). Definitely check them out if you have a chance. I bet they're even better with their full band.

St. Sebastian [mp3] - (iTunes)

Next up was The Antlers. While I really enjoy their music ("Hospice" is one of my favorite albums this year) and think they are incredibly talented, I have to say that I didn't think MHOW was a good venue to see them perform. I want to be sitting down with a glass of wine or something when I listen to The Antlers. Not standing up in a poorly mixed music hall with drunk people bumping into me as they try to dance to music that isn't danceable. Their wall-of-sound thing that they have going on would be great in a sit-down venue with a really stellar sound system where we could relax calmly and just absorb the beautiful music. Their music has an intense drama to it that I absolutely love. But I would prefer to see them in a different venue next time.

Two [mp3] - (iTunes)

Headlining was Here We Go Magic, a band that I'm not sure what size they are, as new members seemed to appear out of thin air at times and then disappear again. I believe it's spear-headed by Luke Temple (see right). Here We Go Magic tied together the first two bands well, as they were a little more upbeat than The Antlers, but still had a wall-of-sound, semi-experimental thing going on. Listening to their self-titled album, I have to say I love the music. It's different enough to stand out, but catchy enough to be pallatable to many different people. Unfortunately, the sound mixing got even worse when they went on and so I can't say I enjoyed the show as much as I thought I would. First, I couldn't hear the vocals at all. Then the vocals were all too loud and unevenly mixed amongst all the singers. So once again, we have a venue problem (although I think the venue size/setting was appropriate for Here We Go Magic). But I would say that they're definitely worth seeing again, hopefully in a venue with better sound mixing.

Tunnelvision [mp3] - (iTunes)

More pictures HERE.