StereoactiveNYC

Photos: Up The Empire at Mercury Lounge

Here are some photos from the Up The Empire show (see yesterday’s post) at Mercury Lounge last night (with more available on Flickr):

Tags: mercury lounge, photos, up the empire

Up The Empire: New EP Out Now /// Release Show Tonight

Up The Empire has been laying low for a while now. It’s been more than ten months since they played a show, but they’re back tonight, playing at Mercury Lounge — a release party for their new EP that just came out yesterday. The EP is called Loose Ends and features four songs that capture the big, energetic sound we’ve come to expect and enjoy from them. The production work is topnotch and, of course, the cover of Dinosaur Jr’s “Feel The Pain” is a nice surprise, but it’s the musicianship evident in the crafting of the three originals that’s the lasting treat. These guys have always been among some of the most impressive players we know and the fact that they always seem to be enjoying what they do only tends to make us enjoy it all the more, in turn.

We’re pretty sure this EP and show will be the last chance to hear the band for at least a while, so we suggest you take advantage of it while you can.

Here’s an mp3 from Loose Ends:
“Reasons Why It’s On”

And here’s where it’s available to purchase online:
The Cougar Label
iTunes
Insound
eMusic
Amazon

 

Wednesday, December 17th

Up The Empire
@ Mercury Lounge (CD RELEASE SHOW) / 11pm
217 East Houston Street
New York, New York
9pm – Ford & Fitzroy
10pm – Bon Savants
11pm – Up The Empire 

Tags: mercury lounge, mp3, release party, up the empire

Live This Week: February 4-10

Monday, February 4th

The Art Of Shooting
@ Union Pool / 8pm
484 Union Avenue
Brooklyn, NY
w/ Unsane, Shock Cinema (featuring Conrad Keelly (Trail of Dead), Pistola

Tuesday, February 5th

Up The Empire
@ The Delancey / 8pm
168 Delancey Street
New York, NY
NO COVER + OPEN BAR!

Thursday, February 7th

She Keeps Bees
@ Death By Audio / 8pm
49 South 2nd Street
Brooklyn, NY
w/ Vuk, Anni Rossi, Rollin Hunt, Metal Mags

Saturday, February 9th

The Vandelles
@ Galapagos (JEZEBEL MUSIC) / 12:30am
70 North 6th Street
Brooklyn, NY
10:30pm – The Lost Revival
11:30pm – Funeral Crashers
12:30am – The Vandelles
1:30am – Organized Sports

Beat The Devil + Renminbi
@ Europa / 9pm
98 Meserole Avenue
Brooklyn, NY

Gold Streets
@ The Annex / 10pm
152 Orchard Street
New York, NY
“CHINESE NEW YEAR PARTY —- Our beautiful friends Love in October from Minneapolis are coming all the way to NYC to play our Chinese New Year Party! The States 8pm, Love in October 9pm, Gold Streets 10pm.”

Sunday, February 10th

She Keeps Bees
@ Bar 4 / 8pm
444 7th Avenue
Brooklyn, NY

Tags: beat the devil, gold streets, renminbi, she keeps bees, the art of shooting, the vandelles, up the empire

Live Friday And Saturday

Friday, November 16th

Takka Takka
@ Union Hall / 8pm
702 Union Street
Brooklyn, NY
w/ Travis Morrison Hellfighters

Telenovela Star
@ Fontana’s / 8pm
105 Eldridge Street
New York, NY
w/ Kelli Rudrick, 69 Nova, Object, The Statues of Liberty, Ayurveda

The Vandelles
@ Crash Mansion (NEW YORK UNDERBELLY) / 10pm
199 Bowery
New York, NY
w/ The Digs, Ava Luna. Free admission from 9-11 with RSVP to- rsvp@newyorkunderbelly.com Vodka open bar from 9-10 Vandelles on @ 10 newyorkunderbelly.com, crashmansion.com

Up The Empire
@ Abrons Art Center (CROWN POINT FESTIVAL) / 8pm
466 Grand Street
New York, NY

Saturday, November 17th

Bling Kong
@ Union Hall (BLING KONG’S LAST SHOW!)
702 Union Street / 8pm
Brooklyn, NY
w/ The Scotland Yard Gospel Choir, Mustang Cobra

A Place To Bury Strangers
@ Abrons Art Center (CROWN POINT FESTIVAL) / 8pm
466 Grand Street
New York, NY

Gold Streets
@ Sound Fix / 8pm
110 Bedford Avenue
Brooklyn, NY
mike bones – 7, gold streets – 8, boy genius – 9, sam champion – 10

She Keeps Bees
@ Europa / 9pm
98 Mesarole Avenue
Brooklyn, NY

The Problem
@ Trash / 11:45pm
256 Grand Street
Brooklyn, NY

Tags: a place to bury strangers, bling kong, boy genius, gold streets, she keeps bees, takka takka, the problem, the vandelles, up the empire

Live Tonight: Up The Empire

Up The Empire
@ Union Pool
(JEZEBEL MUSIC – FEATURE SHOW)
484 Union Avenue
Brooklyn, NY

8pm – Cinemasophia
9pm – Viva Viva
10pm – Up The Empire
11pm – Abigail Warchild

Tags: abigail warchild, up the empire

CMJ Recap

Okay, now that CMJ is good and over, let’s take a look back at a few highlights.

Of course, Saturday night was the StereoactiveNYC/Hot Rocks Party Official CMJ Showcase, co-sponsored by DigitalFreedom.org. In case you missed our wrap-ups, here they are:

PART ONE: Chop Shop, The Secret Life Of Sofia, Gold Streets

PART TWO: Mancino, Man In Gray, A Place To Bury Strangers

PART THREE: Up The Empire, El Jezel, The Vandelles

And here’s some other coverage of the show we’ve seen so far:
Metromix New York
CMJ
EarFarm
The Culture Of Me
The Sky Report
Flickr.com – EarFarm
Flickr.com – Jenny Fireballs
Flickr.com – Subinev
Flickr.com – LPSlogan
Flickr.com – Annie Rock

Now on to some of what we managed to catch earlier in the week…

(photo by Bryan Bruchman)

On Tuesday, we checked out a good portion of the Serious Business Records showcase at Pianos. First up was Benji Cossa, who impressed us with his vocal abilities. But our ears really stood up at attention during the second half of the set, which featured a full backing band made up mostly of members of Rocketship Park (above). No surprise then that Rocketship Park’s own set immediately after that blew us away. Their country rock sound was just what we wanted to hear and the pedal steel guitar through most of set was especially gorgeous sounding. We can hardly wait to hear the album they’ve been working on over there at Serious Business.

(photo by Bryan Bruchman)

Next up was The Two Man Gentlemen Band (above). It had been much too long since we’d seen them play. Their old time, rootsy country tunes and stage antics had the place mesmerized and the duo — accompanied by Travis Harrison on percussion, so actually it was a trio — had the crowd eating out of their hands like nothing we’ve ever seen before. It was truly exceptional. Plus the new material, including a raucous song about President William Howard Taft, from their next album was really great.

(photo by Bryan Bruchman)

Then it was time for the Unsacred Hearts (above), playing for the first time since May. And speaking of raucous, the stage was basically treated like one of those inflatable moon-jump things you see at carnivals and the drumset was like a min-trampoline with frontman Joe Willie leaping on and off it at will. But while this was all entertaining, it was, of course, the music that really rocked the place, just as it would again the next night at Matchless.

Then it was on to the Industrial Park Records showcase at The Tank, where we caught Higgins (above) for the first time in a while. Their sixties styles psych-tinged indie pop was a great was a great way to end the night. Notably, the set was the fourth of the night for drummer Brian Kantor, who’d played with John Biz just before and with Rocketship Park and Benji Cossa earlier at the Serious Business showcase.

(photo by EarFarm)

Wednesday night, at the EarFarm“>EarFarm & Serious Business CMJ Party at Matchless, we caught the Unsacred Hearts again and finally caught a full set of Goes Cube (above). Their heavy, loud brand of indie rock left us wanting more, so we’ll be checking them out again very soon.

(photo by Insky)

Thursday night at the Deli Magazine/Going.com party at Galapagos, we checked out a band recommended to us by Marta DeLeon of Lariats. We’d listened to a few Beat The Devil (above) tracks online, but just weren’t prepared for the sheer ferocity of their live show and the amount of classic and garage rock sensibility mixed in with the cabaret vibe the mp3s seemed to showcase quite a lot more of. And we have to say that singer Shilpa Ray has a powerhouse voice.

On Friday, we caught a little bit of Eagle Seagull’s set at the Indaba Music/Underrated Magazine loft party and hope to see more of them soon. Then it was off to another loft party featuring Kinetic and Looker, along with Man In Gray and Up The Empire. The new wave sound of Looker was fun and great for the party vibe. And the more psyched-out indie pop of Kinetic was more great stuff we look forward to hearing more of soon.

Tags: a place to bury strangers, beat the devil, chopshop, el jezel, goes cube, gold streets, Higgins, hot rocks party, mancino, rocketship park, the secret life of sofia, the two man gentlemen band, the vandelles, unsacred hearts, up the empire

Wrap Up: StereoactiveNYC/Hot Rocks Official CMJ Showcase — PART THREE

<<< READ PART TWO
<<< READ PART ONE

Up The Empire

(photo by Bryan Bruchman)

Somehow, even after six bands, as Up The Empire took the stage at midnight, the night still seemed young. Every band to this point had played among the best shows we’d seen and heard from them to date, and Up The Empire kept that trend going with a set that perfectly showcased their power trio talents. Not only did every song of their own shine, but for the second night in a row we heard them play a really amazing cover of Dinosaur Jr’s “Feel The Pain” that just killed.

Make sure to catch Up The Empire at Union Pool in Brooklyn on November 15th.

El Jezel

Jesus, we cannot wait for the new El Jezel album. Every time we hear them play the new stuff live, we get more excited about it. They were in top form on Saturday night in pretty much every way — even played frisbee with the audience (thanks to our sponsor, DigitalFredom.org, for providing all those free frisbees, by the way) and played their excellent version of The Breeders’ “Do You Love Me Now?” Another excellent set from an excellent band. What more could you ask for at 1am on a Saturday night?

The Vandelles

The Vandelles‘ mix of wall of sound and surf rock vibes with more modern distorted fare was an excellent way to close the night out. After the eight previous hours of rock, the rush of distorted sounds and projected video grabbed that last bit of energy everyone had left and put it to great use. We also snagged their just released self-titled EP and have been enjoying it since the weekend and suggest you do yourself a favor and get yourself a copy.

Tags: el jezel, hot rocks party, the vandelles, up the empire

CMJ Preview: Up The Empire

From Cincinnati CityBeat:

Kind of like Indie sensations The National — who were born and bred in Cincinnati but high-tailed to New York to get their band going — UP THE EMPIRE has its roots in Louisville but now calls Brooklyn home. Originally known as Kilowatthours, the band signed with the Temporary Residence label and released a few albums of intriguing, ambient Art Pop. As the band moved in a more rockin’ direction, they switched monikers and recorded a mesmerizing four-song EP, Seaside, that’s received attention from taste-making radio outlets like woxy.com and KEXP in Seattle. There’s still an ethereal glaze to Up the Empire’s sound, especially in the glistening vocals, but now it’s on a bed of sometimes crunching, often hypnotic guitars, lithe keys, spacious-to-pounding drums and some fantastically snaking bass lines. The combination has a lysergic sway, and the mix of airy, spellbinding melodies and crafty Post Punk pulsations is irresistible on record.

Up The Empire will be playing at the StereoactiveNYC/Hot Rocks Party Official CMJ Showcase on Saturday, October 20th at The Delancey in NYC. The event is co-sponsored by DigitalFreedom.org.

Tags: hot rocks party, up the empire