Tonight: Spirit Family Reunion @ Brooklyn Bowl

The always awesome Spirit Family Reunion are opening for Greensky Bluegrass tonight at Brooklyn Bowl. The show is only $5.

Link:

SFR @ Brooklyn Bowl

Lady Gaga Gives Weird Al The Okay For Parody, "Perform This Way"

When Weird Al sent Lady Gaga his spoof of "Born This Way" she shot it down. She's a serious artist and how dare Weird Al poke fun at her. Well, Weird Al went on the offensive and announced that proceeds from the song would go to charity. So Lady Gaga caved and gave Weird Al the thumbs up. Hooray for Weird Al!

Link:

Weird Al Wins Over Lady Gaga

RIP Gerard Smith (TV On The Radio)

Gerard Smith of TV On The Radio has died from lung cancer. The band has announced that they will cancel a string of tour dates out of respect for their fallen friend.

Link:

Gerard Smith RIP

Cheeseburger & Superjail! Have A New Video, "Winner"

Brooklyn rockers Cheeseburger have an awesome new video out. Why is it awesome? Well, the song is pretty cool but the video features the band playing at Superjail! Don't know Superjail!? It's on Adult Swim and it's the greatest cartoon ever...well, the best one out now at least. Fuck Yes!

Winner by cheeseburgernyc

Village Voice Shuts Down Siren Festival, Announces 4Knots Fest

After 10 years the Village Voice has decided to shutdown Siren Festival. It's a bummer to see it go but frankly, it was pretty hellish. Standing in a parking lot all day with a 95 degree sun beating down on you while you're surrounded by sweaty, drunk hipsters is not much fun.

That is exactly why the only two years I went were years I had VIP passes. Oh man, let me tell you - awesome VIP section. Free booze and snacks under a nice big canopy with industrial fans blowing on you the whole time and when you wanted to check out a band you walked up to the reserved section in front of the stage. It was fantastic but yeah, sans VIP badges it was kinda horrible. Pretty good bands most years though.

With Siren Festival a thing of the past the Village Voice has announced it's next endeavor - 4Knots Festival. They haven't announced any bands yet but they have announced the location, South Street Seaport. It's a better spot than Coney Island for sure but when the Seaport Space gets packed all hell can break loose. This will be interesting. 

Arctic Monkeys, New Video For "Don't Sit Down Cause I've Moved Your Chair"

Earlier this week, Zane Lowe  premiered the Arctic Monkeys first single, “Don’t Sit Down ‘Cause I’ve Moved Your Chair” on BBC's Radio 1 in the UK.  The band has now unveiled the video, directed by Focus Creeps, which launched on their website yesterday. The track is the first single proper from the Sheffield quartet’s highly anticipated fourth album, Suck It and See - out  June 7^th on Domino Records.

Joel Jerome Of Dios, 'When Beck Was Cool' (Free Download)

Joel Jerome of the band Dios has a thing for old Beck tunes. I happen to be a big fan of the old, weird, semi-acoustic, white trash anthem days of Beck. Frankly, I'm bored with artsy, electro Beck and yearn for the days of "Loser" and "Beercan". Anyway, Joel Jerome has recorded an album of nothing but old Beck tunes called, When Beck Was Cool which hits iTunes on April 19th.

Joel Morales - Cyanide Breath Mint by buzzbands

The Death Set Have A New Video, "We Are Going Anywhere Man"

The Death Set have a new video and it's pretty rad. Here's the story about the making of the video.

We wanted to throw a party on our roof so we invited our friends and a bunch of party ingredients. It all worked until we made too much ruckas and apparently knocked “art” off the wall of the douche bag downstairs. Now this guy’s “art” was his “Transformers the Movie” poster and of course threatened to sue and asked if I had “music video insurance”. And of course I have insurance right? Health insurance, dental insurance, music video insurance, insurance on deez nuts and but, all of the above pffff. Just like one of the causes of the economic crisis, hell I got insurance for my insurance… Anyways so we just took the party to our tiny ass apartment and had a time. Reminds me of that game we played as kids where you spin around till you blackout.

Soundgarden Announce Summer Tour Dates!

YES, YES, YES!!! Soundgarden has announced that they're playing shows this summer. They're calling it a tour but so far it's only four shows and the closest one to NYC is in Philly.

The tickets go on sale on Monday for fan club members and April 22nd for the rest of you poor bastards. All pre-sale tickets are being sold in pairs, which is annoying, and range from $119-$149 per pair. That's expensive but I've always said I'd gladly shell out $200 to see Soundgarden so this ain't so bad.

I am so excited for this. I loved Soundgarden growing up but I never got to see them live - this is a dream come true!

• 7/2/11: Toronto, ON @ Molson Canadian Amphitheatre
• 7/13/11: Philadelphia, PA @ Festival Pier at Penn's Landing
• 7/18/11: Denver, CO @ Red Rocks Amphitheatre
• 7/22/11: Los Angeles, CA @ The Forum

Link:

Soundgarden Announce Summer Tour

For Soundgarden fans, this is a moment they’ve been waiting for: since the band’s final show in Hawaii in 1997, fans have hoped that Matt Cameron, Chris Cornell, Ben Shepherd, and Kim Thayil would once again take their exalted rock show on the road. This summer, Soundgarden will do just that.

The band has recently confirmed that they are in the studio in Seattle, and are writing and recording what will be the first newSoundgarden album in over 15 years. In the meantime, they will take a break to play a city near you. Today, four shows from their Summer tour are announced, with more to come in the coming weeks.  Stay tuned to www.soundgardenworld.com for updates. Come experience the noise!

Black Lips & Vivian Girls Played Webster Hall Last Night

Black Lips have an album coming out which was produced by Mark Ronson which will kill lo-fi dead. Last night they brought their insane live show and new tunes to Webster Hall. Brooklyn's own Vivian Girls opened the gig. Metromix posted a short review and some pics from the gig.

Link:

Metromix Saw Black Lips

Tonight: FORlokals, Grand St. Happy Hour @ Lady Jay's (Free BBQ & Cheap Booze)

Stop by Lady Jay's after work and have a few drinks and hot dogs. The hot dogs are free and the booze is pretty damn cheap. I'll be manning the grill (until it starts raining, at least) and maybe even DJ a few tunes at some point. Carlos (Nickels & Dimes) and Nora (I Rock I Roll) will be DJing. The last edition of FORlokals was super fun - everyone left with bellies full and livers swollen. 

RSVP & Details:

FORlokals

Spirit Family Reunion Need A New Van

Spirit Family Reunion is in need of a trusty new van so they can hit the road this summer. They've created a Kickstarter page for the cause. You can help them out by contributing anywhere from $1 to $1,500. Contributors will be rewarded with things like a private concert, festival passes, lyric sheets and so on.

Link:

SFR Kickstarter

Spirit Family Reunion "Leave Your Troubles At The Gate" from Possum Den Productions on Vimeo.