NYC Concerts On Sale: Bjork Residency; Fountains of Wayne; Megafaun; & More

 Friday the 13th is a lucky day for New York City music fans, with tickets for some in-demand shows going on sale. Here are some details on Björk, Fountains of Wayne, and other acts.

Icelandic singer Björk is doing a series of multimedia shows in conjunction with her new album "Biophilia," which was released as a mobile app as well as an album. Because of the special demands involved in staging the presentation, "Biophilia Live" will be held in a most unusual concert venue, the New York Hall of Science (four shows), as well as at Roseland Ballroom (six shows).

Björk brings her "Biophilia Live" show to New York for 10 shows.

The shows take place from Feb. 3rd to March 2nd. Tickets for all of Björk's New York shows will go on sale here at 10 a.m. on Friday, Jan. 13th. Besides some novel instrumentation in the shows, the residency will include a number of educational events in conjunction with The Creators Project.

Fountains of Wayne return to New York for one show at Irving Plaza on Saturday, April 21st. Get tickets here starting at 10 a.m. Friday.

Megafaun plays the Highline Ballroom on Saturday, March 17th. No, they're not Irish, but they're an exciting new-ish band, and they should be great live. Megafaun tickets go on sale Friday at Noon.

Sinead O'Connor plays two shows next month, on Feb. 23rd and again the 24th. Whatever you think of her personal eccentricities, O'Connor has a beautiful voice that is gorgeous to hear in person (at least is was years ago, when I last saw her. Tickets go on sale Friday at Noon.

If you're in a retro mode, the reformed Van Halen featuring David Lee Roth is returning to New York for two shows at Madison Square Garden, Feb. 28th and March 1st. Kool and the Gang opens for Van Halen, and tickets go on sale Saturday at 10 a.m.

And if you're in the mood for dancing, DJ David Guetta performs at Roseland on Thursday, Feb. 9th. Tickets go on sale Friday at 12 Noon.

Free Album Streaming: New CDs from Fountains of Wayne, The Horrors, Keb' Mo', Antigone Rising, & More

The new Fountains of Wayne album "Sky Full of Holes" is one of the new albums streaming for free this week.

"Sky Full of Holes," the new album by Fountains of Wayne, is the highlight of this week's free album previews, but there's some other good stuff for streaming. (As for FoW, I went to one of the band's sold-out shows at the intimate confines of Maxwell's, where the crowd was treated to previews of "The Summer Place" and other songs from the new album, and of course some old favorite tunes.)

Other albums for free preview this week new releases from The Horrors, contemporary blues singer and guitarist Keb' Mo', and New York all-female band Antigone Rising. The new effort from the latter, "23 Red," has them sounding a lot more mellow than I remember them from years ago, and some of the tunes even have a country feel to them.

And there seem to be a number of members of well-known bands members out on their own with new projects, including Moonface (Wolf Parade frontman Spencer Krug), Ra Ra Riot bass player Mathieu Santos, and Collections of Colonies of Bees (featuring members of Volcano Choir, who collaborated with Bon Iver's Justin Vernon).

Spinner.com's Listening Party:
"Sky Full of Holes" by Fountains of Wayne
"On the Ocean EP" by Guster
"Organ Music Not Vibraphone Like I'd Hoped" by Moonface
"Massachusetts 2010" by Mathieu Santos
"Giving" by Collections of Colonies of Bees

KCRW Album Preview: 
"Skying" by The Horrors (streaming until Aug. 14)

AOL Music Listening Party: 
"23 Red" by Antigone Rising
"The Reflection" by Keb' Mo'
"King" by O.A.R.

Great Live Music in Hoboken: Lemonheads Tonight; Ian Hunter & the Baseball Project Sunday; Thermals & Alejandro Ecovedo Next Week; More

Ian Hunter and band playing "Cleveland Rocks" in London, 2004.

There's been a lot of good live music in Hoboken recently, and there's more to come. Here's a look at what's coming up, including some shows in the next few months (which I'm listing because they're in the small confines of Maxwell's, and may sell out well in advance of the show date). Note: there are many other shows at Maxwell's besides the ones I've listed here, which are shows that may be particularly popular because they are rare small-club gigs for some of the artists.

Tonight, April 28 - The Lemonheads/The Canon Logic - Maxwell's, 8:30 p.m., $20

Sun., May 1 - Hoboken Arts & Music Festival: Ian Hunter & the Rant Band (former leader of Mott the Hoople) - 4:30 p.m.; The Baseball Project (featuring Peter Buck & Scott McCaughey of R.E.M., Steve Wynn of The Dream Syndicate, and Linda Pitmon of The Pretty Babies) - 3 p.m.; The Pretty Babies (Blondie cover band) - 2 p.m.; Bern & the Brights - 1 p.m.

Sun., May 1 - The Thermals/special guests - Maxwell's, 9 p.m., $15

Fri., May 6 - Alejandro Escovedo and The Sensitive Boys/Jesse Malin and The St. Marks Social - Maxwell's, 9 p.m., $22 adv./$24 day of show

Fri., June 3 - She Wants Revenge - Maxwell's, 7:30 p.m., $22

Fri., June 10 - NRBQ - Maxwell's, 7:30 p.m., $15 adv./$20

Fri., June 17 - James McMurtry - Maxwell's, 7:30 p.m., $15

Fri., July 1 and Sat., July 2 - The Feelies - Maxwell's, $24.99

Sun., July 24 and Mon., July 25 - Fountains Of Wayne - Maxwell's, $24.99

In NJ This Weekend: Weezer, Ke$ha, and More at The Bamboozle; Fountains of Wayne in Hoboken

There's some great live music in North Jersey this weekend, and some of it's even free. First off is the not-free event, the annual NJ edition of The Bamboozle festival in the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford.

The Bamboozle takes place Saturday and Sunday, May 1st and 2nd, and they've got a great lineup of acts on both days. The May 1st show features Paramore, Drake, Something Corporate, Ke$ha, Angels & Airwaves, The Maine, and more. The May 2nd lineup has Weezer, MGMT, Ke$ha, OK Go, Matt & Kim, and Girl Talk, among many others. You can buy NJ Bamboozle tickets here.

You can get a FREE Spin 2010 Bamboozle mixtape download, with 13 songs by Bamboozle artists including Saves the Day, Say Anything, and Wale.

Set times and a map for The Bamboozle in NJ are posted here. 

A few miles away, the May edition of the Hoboken Arts & Music Festival takes place on Sunday with a strong headliner in Fountains of Wayne (which features at least two NJ natives, as far as I know). Also on the bill is a favorite singer-songwriter of mine, Freedy Johnston, who is originally from Kansas but lived in Hoboken for a time and has played at Maxwell's in town many times.

Freedy Johnston goes on at 3 p.m.; the Fountains of Wayne set is scheduled for 4:30. There are local acts performing as well. (Schedules and links to artists for the Hoboken Arts & Music Festival.)