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What’s good people? Oh yeah – a killer show tomorrow put on by the Big Ass Lens crew. After years of scheming, conning, begging and pleading our way into shows, filming the shit out of them and coming through with great videos for our favorite artists, BAL is finally flipping the script. We’re going to produce and shoot our own show!

Saturday night at Bar Matchless we have an outstanding line-up featuring four original, crushing and damn satisfying bands. On tap are the Spin Magazine touted “must-see” Grandfather, whose potent blend of heavy psych-tinged rock is ringing serious bells these days. In addition, we have Converse Tent SXSW spot rushers Dirty Dishes, whose energetic rush we liken to a mash of our favorite 90′s stylings with a gorgeous female voice over top. Propulsive and lush, dexterous and dizzyingly dancy this band hits all the right spots for us.

On the grimier side of life we have Grass Is Green, who’s heartfelt, knotty and spastic songs touch on the sounds of some our perennial 90′s favorites – the Dischord roster, Unwound, Jawbox. Rounding it all out are the bombastic, in-the-trenches monsters Madam Trashy who hit hard as hell.

Overall, it’s going to be a great night of music (especially these four amazing drummers!) and a start of a new era for us at Big Ass Lens. Come through, get drunk stay drunk at the club.

Since the G can only get you so far this weekend and the L might be more trouble than its worth, staying in the neighborhood might be the way to go. There is alot going on, after all. Here are a few more, just in case.

Goddamn Cobras’ literature project BOOMSLANG is hosting The 3rd Annual Rooftop Bikini Reading Party to Promote Literaryness and Sun on Saturday, June 18 from 6-9pm on the roof of The End at 13 Greenpoint Avenue in Brooklyn. The party is part of Northside Open Studios. Poets, novelists and playwrights will read their work while folks party in swimwear, drinkin in sunshine (we hope) and beers.

It’s been a long, hot wait, but the Vegan Summer Shop-Up(Part 1!) is FINALLY HERE! The all vegan all local pop-up market brings you raw ice cream, Brooklyn-made hummus, artisan tempeh, gluten-free truffles, fresh-pressed juices, farm-fresh herbs, bug repellent, soy wax candles, lip balms, and oh yes, WAY MORE.

Come on out Sunday June 19, 1- 5pm to the Pine Box Rock Shop (our favorite vegan bar!). You’ll see new vendors and old with tons of rad products to satisfy any and all summer cravings. The Shop-Up also coincides with Sunday WAFFLE BRUNCH at Pine Box!! Indulge in waffle heaven while hitting up the best Bloody Mary menu in town(because it’s also happy hour!).

Eagle Street Rooftop is slinging veggies all over town on Sunday, buy some for a local foodie dad for father’s day?

Let’s hope that Zach Condon doesn’t take on this Debbie Harry reggae-drenched version of his “A Sunday Smile” when playing McCarren Park tonight. It was announced a while ago that Blondie would be covering this song, but we can’t turn out eyes from a car crash, even if we’ve seen the crash coming for miles. Go back and listen to Plastic Letters and remember why Blondie are still revered, but leave the indie gypsy crooning of Beirut to Condon and company.

Brooklyn duo Matt & Kim are known for their wild New York-centric music videos, and their latest, “Block After Block,” doesn’t disappoint. The band, accompanied by a roving moshpit, created flash mobs all over the city, taking over an intersection in Chinatown, a bodega in Queens, a subway car, and the Brooklyn Bridge. Though they definitely broke some laws laws in this video, authorities should be happy that they at least managed to keep their clothes on this time.

We’ve always been fans of the poetic realism Noah and the Whale serve up — from heartache to hope. And as other bands from their homeland (see: Mumford & Sons) climb the ranks of the folk-rock scene, Noah has been steadily maturing from their 2006 debut to this year’s release of Last Night On Earth back in March. But, it seems, that frontman Charlie Fink is still coming of age.

“I don’t think that coming of age thing has been in anything I’ve done before,” Fink says. “But from the beginning I wanted to write a record that had that excitement of being young and being in the night. I think it’s that naivity — that feeling that things are happening everywhere except where you are, wondering what’s out there in the wide world. It’s when you’re on a bus, you don’t know where you’re heading, you don’t know what’s at the end of it, and you have this fantasy that whatever’s at the end of it is going to be remarkable and magnificent.”

And with that kind of wafting longing, it’s no wonder the band lists Noah Baumbach and Charles Bukowski, along with their perfect “loser’s pride,” among their influencers. Catch Noah and the Whale at Irving Plaza this Saturday (6/16) or just comment below to win a pair of tickets to the show!

To RT @mattlemay, “You can tell that the L train is from Williamsburg because it doesn’t work.”

image c/o Village Voice

Riiighhht?  Here’s this weekend’s breakdown (ha. pun):

Starting at 11:30pm Friday, June 17 to 5am Monday, June 20…

(1) There are NO L trains between 8th Av and 14 St-Union Sq. Free shuttle buses will be provided.

(2) Working L trains run in two sections:

Between Bedford Ave and Rockaway Pkwy
Between Bedford Ave and 14 St-Union Sq

This means everyone must transfer at Bedford Ave.

(3) L trains skip 3 Av in both directions.

(4) L trains run every 16 minutes in both directions.

Just in time for the Northside commute. Nice.

photo via +Pool

Could this be real? First and foremost you should probably listen to THIS while reading this post…you know, for “atmosphere.”

Both Curbed and the Village Voice have reported  that  the ever mysterious “+Pool” project is an actual possibility.  +Pool is probably the coolest (literally) and most summer useful projects to date: the pool (in the shape of a plus sign) will float on the east river and filter the river’s water– so it will be LIKE swimming in the East River but without fear of infection.  The project has teamed up with an engineering company and their kickstarter page is up and running, check it out and become a “backer” of this amazing project (they need $25,000 by July 15th to make this a possibility).

I’m predicting this will be a train wreck, but I still can’t wait to hear it. From Metallica’s website

we are more than proud to announce that we have just completed recording a full length album that is a collaboration with none other than the legendary Lou Reed.

Ever since we had the pleasure of performing with Lou at the 25th Anniversary of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at Madison Square Garden in October of 2009, we have been kicking around the idea of making a record together.  Some of you astute Bay Area residents may have picked up news of recent Lou Reed sightings in the greater San Francisco area and we have indeed been working at our home studio at HQ on and off over the last few months.  In what would be lightning speed for a Metallica related project, we recorded ten songs during this time and while at this moment we’re not exactly sure when you’ll hear it, we’re beyond excited to share with you that the recording sessions wrapped up last week.

A true innovator and easily one of the most influential songwriters, musicians, and performers in rock music history, Lou’s work with the Velvet Underground and as a solo artist has such an enduring quality that he has long been revered and respected by us and many of our peers.  We can’t wait for you to listen to the finished record, so as we like to hear ourselves say around here, keep watching this spot for updates . . . we’ll be back with more details as they come together.