(Flyer via Aviv)
You know how leftovers are sometimes better than the meal was in its original form? That’s also true for CMJ apparently. It seems like some seriously great bands and musicians are lingering around town, taking breaks from their major projects and toying with new ones, old friends, and completely different sounds altogether. You too can dabble in all three this week (and beyond). See what we’ve got for you below.
The Tribeca Film Festival is here and one of the more exciting feature films on view is Jackrabbit, a throwback dystopian sci-fi film that follows the lives of people who cordoned themselves off from the rest of the world after “The Reset,” an event that sounds to us a little bit like the Y2K that never was. But not everything about this post-apocalyptic society is unfamiliar– one major issue is the constant surveillance of citizens of the annexed nation. The only technology available is outmoded stuff, web 1.0 and before. To help set the mood for the spooky, tense atmosphere of the film, Will Berman (of MGMT) was recruited to compose the soundtrack which is ruled by minimal electronic vibes and ambient noise.
Bear Hands and their label, Cantora, remain synonymous with a certain time in the Brooklyn indie scene — before MGMT went down the rabbit hole, and when groups emerging from Wesleyan University dominated the scene. Das Racist was still intact, and the world hadn’t yet heard of LE1F.
More →
MGMT surfs with the alien. (Photo: EVR’s Facebook)
Earlier today, East Village Radio gave away tickets to MGMT and Dinosaur Jr.’s Friday-night show at the Barclays Center. Fans got to ring the band’s 75-pound cowbell and were molested by the alien you see with the band above, then Andrew VanWyngarden endorsed The Pizza Underground and confessed that his friend stole a pylon from Rockaway for him.
More →
Self-portrait of Elbrecht as a child (from the new 7″).
Jorge Elbrecht’s introduction to the music industry came in the early 2000s with the success of his band/art collective, Lansing-Dreiden, which reissued its entire catalog this past spring. During its heyday, the group received two favorable “Art in Review” write-ups in The Times.
Following Lansing-Dreiden, Elbrecht went on to form Violens and earlier this year joined Ariel Pink’s band as their new guitarist. The Costa Rica-born artist has also become an in-demand producer, most notably making the new Au Revoir Simone record, whose single “Somebody Who” was released in June.
More →