Coachella Ends, But the Videos Live On

The Coachella Festival in California ended in the wee hours of Monday morning Eastern time, and I admit I was up quite late watching some of the closing sets. I caught PJ Harvey's entire set and part of Kanye West's, and even saw a song or two by Duran Duran (a group that seemed a very odd choice for Coachella).

Sadly, the festival is over for another year, but whether you caught any of the live webcasts or not you can watch the four dozen or so videos that are on the Coachella YouTube site (above, Broken Social Scene ending its set with "Meet Me in the Basement"). Among the other videos you can watch are more from BSS as well as tunes by Mumford and Sons, Two-Door Cinema Club, Chromeo (below), Health, and Jack's Mannequin (and yes, even Duran Duran if you like).

Watch Broken Social Scene LIVE Webcast from NYC Tonight (NOW)

Broken Social Scene (shown here playing Central Park in Sept.)  is webcasting its Terminal 5 show tonight.

Whoops, I meant to mention this earlier, but Broken Social Scene is webcasting its Tuesday night show from New York's Terminal 5 on YouTube starting at 9 p.m. (yes, it's been on for a few minutes).

Songs played so far include "7/4 Shoreline" and "Fire Eyed Boy."

If you miss it live, visit the website above because it says that highlights and the complete show are "coming soon." This sounds similar to the Arcade Fire webcast from Madison Square Garden last year.

Broken Social Scene is touring the southern U.S. in February in support of its latest album, "Forgiveness Rock Record."

Broken Social Scene Rocks Central Park

The sprawling Toronto music collective Broken Social Scene took over Central Park's Rumsey Playfield last night for a sold-out show that featured many new tunes (and a few new members) but maintained the band's characteristic sound, with a horn section, flute, and plenty of electric guitars.

Kevin Drew announced at the outset that the band was going to just play for two hours, and he was true to his words. Aside from occasional pauses to introduce songs or various band members (and to send several of them crowd-surfing into the audience), the group went through one song after another.

As expected, there was an emphasis on its latest album, "Forgiveness Rock Record" (which came out in Spring), with the band performing songs including "Texico Bitches," "Forced to Love," "Art House Director," and "Water in Hell." But BSS played many of its older favorites as well, including "7/4 (Shoreline)," "Fire Eyed Boy," "Superconnected," "Looks Just Like the Sun," and "Lover's Spit."

Above: Andrew Whiteman (left), who also performs as The Apostle of Hustle, performs lead vocal on a song.

As always, the band included its founders Kevin Drew and Brendan Canning, along with longtime BSS  core members Andrew Whiteman and Charles Spearin. Lisa Lobsinger is now the lone woman, singing the female vocals that were performed in the past by Leslie Feist, Amy Millan (of Stars), or Emily Haines (of Metric).

Drew remarked that the band had been together for 10 years, and several times thanked the audience for being fans and for coming out to see them over the years. He also thanked the crowd for coming out to the night's show, saying that they knew that there were many concert options in New York City.

Above: Several members of Broken Social Scene crowd-surfed into the New York night.


Broken Social Scene's tour continues through mid-December with dates in the U.S., Canada, Europe, and Mexico. 

Scott Pilgrim's Secret Weapon: Killer Music from Beck & Others

When I saw a screening of "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World" the week before last at a preview screening, I had no idea what to expect. Having never heard of the graphic novel on which the movie is based, all I knew about the film was a brief glance at the poster showing Michael Cera playing an electric guitar.

It turns out that I really enjoyed "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World," on several levels. It was funny and original, and had many sweet moments involving Cera (Scott Pilgrim) and his love interests. The story involves Pilgrim, the bass player in the garage-rock band Sex Bob-Omb, and his obsessive pursuit of a woman he sees in passing. The woman, Ramona, has a tangled past history of lovers that gives Scott Pilgrim a lot more than he bargained for.

One of the unexpected pleasures of "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World" was the role that music played throughout. Since Pilgrim is in a band you'd expect music to be a major element, and I noted that for a struggling rock band, Pilgrim's outfit made some pretty catchy tunes.

There's a good reason why: I noticed in the closing credits that the movie featured songs by Frank Black (of the Pixies), and many songs were written by Beck. But some other indie rock heavy-hitters were brought in to write or perform music, particularly the Canadian bands Metric and Broken Social Scene (one of whose songs runs just three seconds).

It's a fun movie, and the songs really are an integral part of it. I may listen to the soundtrack album and see if the tunes hold up on their own, apart from their use in the movie.

Free Streaming of New Albums: LCD Soundsystem, Broken Social Scene, Hold Steady, Merle Haggard, The Fall

Above: Broken Social Scene is one of the groups with a new album available for free streaming ahead of its release. Photo: Flickr user sfllaw.

Some tasty new albums are being streamed for free online in their entirety. LCD Soundsystem is streaming their new release "This Is Happening" from their Web site; the other free album streams are from NPR Music (and one from KCRW) and include Broken Social Scene (one of my favorite bands), The Fall (didn't realize they were still together), and Merle Haggard, as well as The Hold Steady.

For the NPR Music streams, the dates they're available are listed (with the last day of streaming being the album's release date). LCD Soundsystem doesn't say how long their album will be streaming.

* LCD Soundsystem, "This Is Happening" (release date: May 18 in U.S.)
* Merle Haggard, "I Am What I Am," April 13-20 (release: April 20)
* The Fall, "Future Our Clutter," April 19-May 4 (release: May 4)
* The Hold Steady, "Heaven Is Whenever," April 19-May 4 (release: May 4)
* Broken Social Scene,"Forgiveness Rock Record," April 19-May 4 (release: May 4)
* Minus the Bear, "Omni," April 19-May 18 (release: May 4)

More NPR Music streams will be available the following Monday, April 26.

New York Concerts on Sale: Glee, Massive Attack, Public Image Limited, Broken Social Scene, Thom Yorke, and More

I usually don't do two consecutive posts about tickets on sale for New York City concerts, but there are some great ones that will be in high demand and that just went on sale or are about to. The first few listed are already on sale; after that the public on-sale date is listed.

* Massive Attack, Tues. May 11th, Terminal 5
* Atoms for Peace (Thom Yorke's new band), Mon. & Tues. April 5th & 6th, Roseland Ballroom
* Regina Spektor (benefit for Doctors without Borders), Tues. March 23rd, The Fillmore at Irving Plaza
* Public Image Ltd., Tues. May 18th, Terminal 5
* Broken Social Scene, Sat. September 19th, Central Park Summerstage 
* The Thermals, Wed. April 21st, Brooklyn Bowl
* Glee "Live in Concert!," Fri., Sat., Sun. May 28th, 29th, & 30th, Radio City Music Hall (ON SALE: March 23rd)
* Willie Nelson & Family, with special guest the Levon Helm Band, Wed. July 28th, Radio City Music Hall (ON SALE: March 12th)
* Carole King & James Taylor "Troubadour Reunion" (3rd show), Wed., July 30th, Madison Square Garden (ON SALE: March 15th)