‘A Brooklyn-based art project/punk band’ is a description bordering on the kind of fodder that lives in the world of Portlandia – on first glance. Japanther, the longtime DIY-oriented duo of Matt Reilly and Ian Vanek, do often play their accessible punk rock in unique situations: an 84-hour performance art piece and giant dinosaurs appearing alongside them at shows are just two of many situations that the veteran act can claim to fame.

Behind the theatrics, which ‘keep them interested’ according to Vanek, is a down-to-earth noise rock band happily existing within the confines of Brooklyn’s DIY scene twelve years since they began.

“You’re so vicious Death By Audio, I love it here,” says lead singer Reilly before jumping into another song at the start of their high-powered set Sunday night at the grungy, art-filled Williamsburg warehouse space. The packed crowd –  the majority of whom arrived early for the Olympia, WA-based noisy shoegaze act Broken Water (who just released an album on Japanther’s record label, Tapes Records) – consumed Japanther’s short but raw songs from the start.

Village Voice awarded them the ‘Best Live Entertainment’ award in 2011 and it’s not until you experience the excitement of Reilly belting out heartfelt lyrics over fuzzy garage pop licks live that you’ll truly understand. Interspersed within their hour-long set, Reilly and Vanek fulfilled their community duty of pumping up their fans to care for beaches rocked by Sandy last fall, start something new and just do-it-yourself. “You don’t need a million dollars to be a millionaire,” says Vanek to an attentive crowd.

That same crowd also cleared out the front half of the room with a rowdy session of moshing and crowd-surfing, but that’s just the nature of a Japanther show. The prolific duo released another LP, “Eat Like Lisa, Act Like Bart” yesterday and announced a summer tour. They play Brooklyn, NY next on July 11 at Rare Form and Cambridge, MA on July 14 at Cambridge Elks Lodge.

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The phrase ‘chamber pop’ is often thrown around in indie rock circles, but Brooklyn-based six-piece Friend Roulette have the resume to show that they’re worthy of the title.

The core of the group met years ago as freshmen at New School’s jazz conservatory. “It was summer camp… we all moved to New York and we played with a lot of groups. My philosophy was to do everything,” reminisced lead vocalist and violinist Julia Tepper.

She met co-founder Matthew Meade (guitar/vocals) at the conservatory, who eventually ‘started hating jazz,’ but still holds true to his classical roots. He excitedly mentioned that he spent the previous night at Carnegie Hall to hear a rendition of renowned modernist composer Charles Ives’ pieces.

Friend Roulette blossomed in the summer of 2010 and they do fit into Brooklyn’s alt. rock landscape regardless of their background. “We’re not pimping rock and roll…,” Meade begins. “But, we feel like were still a part of it,” Tepper says.

Their debut album, “I’m Sorry You Hit Your Head,” which comes out on Goodnight Records on May 28, does follow a decidedly pop structure. Expansive tracks reveal intricate melodies and rhythms, and this underscores the production of the album. Most of the tracks are layered with violins, bass clarinet, electronic wind instrument (EWI) and drums. “Our recordings are an ornate, decorative, dynamic take [on our songs],” Tepper explains.

Their live performance displays their loud side, as their NYC shows often have two drummers and two electronic bassists backing them up.  “The orchestration on the record is made up for by our intensity live,” says EWI/bass clarinetist John Stanesco.

“We like both [live and recorded settings] a lot. We can take the opportunity to showcase ourselves as a group in both settings,” Tepper says. At the same time, they have to adjust to the logistics of pop music. “We were all trained to be jazz musicians [and gig often]. This whole play two shows a month thing is really a bummer,” Stanesco says.

Catch Friend Roulette’s intensity live at their album release show on May 23 at Mercury Lounge.

The post Au naturale chamber pop appeared first on Metro.us.

One of the best parts of living in a big city is getting the opportunity to attend tons of free promotional events sponsored by venues, brands and other organizers. When music aficionado Andy Meyers moved to NYC in 2008 to attend NYU’s music business graduate program, he realized that there were tons of free shows in NYC but there wasn’t a regularly updated, centralized listing for these free concerts.

By the end of ’09, he began his own outlet, which has since grown to become one of the premiere outlets for free show listings in NYC. Metro’s Locally Amped sat down with Meyers to chat about MyFreeConcert and the music scene in New York.

Metro: How did MyFreeConcert begin?
Andy Meyers: I originally began it because I didn’t want to email friends [about events.] I told them, ‘if you want to go to things I like, I’ll post it to my page.’ I met a couple of people who thought that it was a great idea. For a year and a half, it was very basic and I kept it kind of indie. But, then I started getting partnerships with bigger brands…

Metro: Since then, it’s definitely developed as you now often feature giveaways for shows at Terminal 5, Webster Hall, bigger shows at Madison Square Garden and music festivals around NYC. How did those opportunities come about?
A.M.: Our main approach is that we’re really consumer-friendly and brands are willing to throw down. They want email addresses and exposure. We do lots of giveaways via social media — Twitter’s gone huge. If we can help them, they can help us.

Metro: So, you began the site while you were in the NYU graduate Music Business program. How did that program help you to start the site?
A.M.: It put me in the right atmosphere. For part of the program, you write a thesis and I thought that that [MyFreeConcert] could be a good project. A lot of the people there that I met were like-minded, as we were all kind of working in the music industry. In class, I used some concepts and had active discussions about the site with my classmates. It definitely helped immensely.

Metro: What are your responsibilities at MFC on a day-to-day basis?
A.M.: I’m a content person: finding things, getting social media done, putting the proper emphasis on shows. I work with four others, but I founded the site.

Metro: What’s the most difficult part of the job?
A.M.: One problem is deciding how to use my time. We work with other PR companies, Bowery Presents, blogs that reach out to me and people posting events. Everyone is emailing me to come to their show — and it’s overwhelming at times, especially when there’s a lot of work to be done.

Metro: At the same time, you also get lots of perks as you’re able to attend lots of shows and events for free. What are your favorite venues in NYC for live music?
A.M.: Brooklyn Bowl and Bowery Ballroom. Brooklyn Bowl because they always get solid acts and it just has a great vibe. Bowery Ballroom because it’s probably the best place to see some really huge acts.

Metro: What do you have planned for MFC in the future?
A.M.: We want to do more coverage, including photos and reviews. We’ve also started hosting shows in Manhattan.  We’re working with BuzzChips, who book the bands, and we will start hosting shows at a new venue called Subculture in June. You’ll definitely want to stay tuned as there are a lot of neat things we’re working on as summer starts.

Check out the MyFreeConcert site for comprehensive free concert listings and follow them on Twitter and Facebook.

The post Making a business out of free concerts appeared first on Metro.us.

For a long time music lover, especially one who has scoured indie music blogs for nearly a decade, it’s a surprise to come across a universally praised act which isn’t new to the scene. I first heard the name Phosphorescent, the alter ego of Matthew Houck, buzzing on my Twitter feed last month and quickly assumed that ‘they’ were a new rising act.

Matthew Houck has been producing music under the Phosphorescent pen name since 2003, though he recorded and toured as Fillup Shack beginning in 2000. He had a long, tired journey to get to his sixth album, Muchacho, which was his first to hit the Billboard 200 last month. The persistent performer finished off the US leg of his album release tour last Thursday at a sold-out Bowery Ballroom – and he finished it off with a vengeance.

The nearly 90 minute set, a mix of material from his last three albums, showed that indie folk can thrive in a more traditional form even in the era of pop-leaning Mumford & Sons and The Lumineers. Backed up by a raucous five-piece band, Houck hit country tones and ‘70s rock riffs to an open-minded, diverse crowd.

Shaped and grizzled as Houck is, the solo artist’s voice has a warmth akin to Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon or  The Tallest Man on Earth. The set hit a sweet spot with his synth, violin and pedal-steel guitar-laden single “Song for Zula,” which would rightly turn up as a single on alt. rock radio in a perfect world.

The introspective “A Picture of Our Torn Up Praise” helped lead the way into a three-song encore that seemed to last much longer. Houck did  push his luck on “Wolves,” an unaccompanied piece which he looped his voice on top of itself over and over again electronically.

The duet which followed, a cover of Waylon Jennings and Jessi Colter’s “Storms Never Last,” was a full-on ode to country. The duet showed off one of his backing musicians’ sweet, tender voice for the duet.  “Los Angeles” finished off the night, a bluesy tune which is a bit more standard contemporary indie folk fare.

Phosphorescent hits the hearts of Pitchfork-wielding critics. Yet, Phosphorescent’s live set showed that he certainly isn’t serving up standard buzz ‘meat.’ The sold out, enraptured crowd ate it up.

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The week-long festival morphs the city of Austin into music-lovers paradise, filling nearly every bar and event space with thousands of bands from across the nation looking for some luck. While Prince, Justin Timberlake and Willie Nelson performed, SXSW still hosts a unique atmosphere of up-and-coming bands, and a great party for the music industry.

Here are some things we saw, loved and hated during the week.

1.) With the promise of hundreds of up-and-coming bands, free booze, and lots of opportunity to make connections, music journalists of all sorts — from Rolling Stone editors to amateur bloggers — are definitely a common sight during the fest. We bumped cameras with writers and photographers of all sorts, including one college girl who convinced us to get her into the photo pit.

2.) Crowds and lines are the norm, not the exception. Sixth Street, the downtown bar and nightlife district, is packed from noon to 3 A.M. every night with showgoers looking for their next destination. On Tuesday night, while waiting in an hour-long line to see Spoon‘s new project, The Divine Fits and punk rockers Japandroids, there was an upside to the wait: we got to chat with other music lovers from across the country.

3.) Once entering a venue, the massive, music-loving crowds become your friends. Here’s a picture of the crowd from Saturday afternoon’s FADER Fort crowd dancing along to a surprise encore set from rappers French Montana, Macklemore, Earl Sweatshirt and Diddy.

4.) During a set from British rock act Leogun at a laid-back Thursday afternoon session hosted by Blackberry House, some brightly colored college kids began dancing in the front of the stage. Set to a backdrop of industry folk hanging with drinks in the late afternoon sun, it was a breath of fresh air to see people appreciating their tunes.

5.) Amidst literally thousands of bands playing shows during the week, it’s difficult to stand out. NJ-based The Ugly Club hit the streets of Austin in between their four SXSW shows with their polished indie rock. Their persistent work ethic during the festival paid off, as they even got a shout out from NPR.

Other highlights included dreamy chamber pop from The Last Bison, hard-hitting R&B vocals from Autre Ne Veut and one of the first US appearances from Scottish electropop act Chvrches. A week later, it’s difficult to comprehend the fact that we caught over 25 acts over four sun-drenched, sleep-deprived days. But, we’re definitely ready to take it on again next year.

The post Sights and sounds from SXSW 2013 appeared first on Metro.us.

It’s a sweaty late Saturday night, a loft in Greenpoint, Brooklyn is filled far past capacity, and there are a few young British blokes playing scrappy indie rock in the front. There are rowdy twenty-somes moshing… and it’s unclear if there’s more beer or cigarette smoke being consumed inside.

It still happens in New York, even in 2013. Palma Violets, a four-piece London-based act with not-so-hidden hints of The Libertines and the Arctic Monkeys, made their Northeast US debut count in late January. Locally Amped caught two of their half-dozen shows in NYC over the course of a week, one at Brooklyn’s Glasslands and one at the aforementioned loft show.

Simple, reverb-heavy songs define the young Brits, who quickly caught the hearts of the British music industry and media. In 2012, they played mostly small basement gigs before Rough Trade — the home of their proteges, The Strokes and The Libertines — signed them.

Their debut album, “180″ finally hit the public this past week to mostly positive reviews, but prior to that, their buzz was solely the result of two singles including a youthful track with a chorus of “I wanna be your best friend.”

Add friendly songs, some exuberant, young guys and the accessible four-chord garage rock sound together, and its not surprising that they’ve got this initial buzz.

New York surely didn’t get sick of them, as Brooklyn Vegan reported that nearly all of the shows had a young, vibrant crowd. Crowd surfing happened, and it wasn’t even a punk show.

They have the young, reverb-soaked sound down pat. And, their live presence is stellar, to say the least. Now, let’s see if they have staying power.

They’re back on the East Coast at Brighton Music Hall in Boston on May 6, Johnny Brenda’s in Philly on May 8, Music Hall of Williamsburg (NYC) on May 9 and Bowery Ballroom (NYC) on May 10 so catch them and make an educated guess then.

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