TONIGHT New York’s own TV Baby, Baltimore’s Weekends and Miami’s PLAINS will share a bill at a secret show in Chinatown.  The party, FUZZ, is the last Thursday of every month at SWAT. FUZZ is devoted to showcasing up and coming rock bands and the likes of Dirty Fences, Sea Monsters, Indian Rebound, Bleeding Knees Club, Quilty and Fort Lean have played thus far. FUZZ keeps a very limited online presence, sending out invitations by mail. To gain information about upcoming FUZZ shows send your mailing address to info@fuzz-nyc.com.  Check out their tumblr for this month’s flier and some NSFW imagery http://fuzznyc.tumblr.com/ .”

A couple of weeks ago we posted about the fantastic new vintage store Antoinette and if you haven’t yet indulged you should do so this Saturday for a great cause. Antoinette will be teaming up with Williamsburg based Animal Shelter BARC to raise money and awareness–Lexi Oliveri, owner of Antoinette, had this to say about the event:

“On Saturday, July 30th from 12-4pm, Antoinette is hosting a charity event by teaming up with BARC Animal Shelter, which is also located here in Williamsburg.  BARC will be setting up a pop-up adoption stand right in front of the shop & you’re invited to come by to find out more about your furry adoptable NYC neighbors! In addition, Antoinette will be donating 10% of sales that day to BARC!”

So get to Antoinette this Saturday for both the clothes AND the critters.  Peep the poster for more info.

c/o The New York Observer

Turns out Brooklyn hipsters aren’t as unique as they’d like to believe. This week’s Observer features an article by Adrianne Jeffries comparing and criticizing Brooklyn and its ever growing DIY, organic-living lifestyle as being a carbon copy of the Northwest hipster haven Portland, Oregon.

Jeffries notes that the similarities between the two areas include local interest in an arts and music scene, environmentally friendly DIY products sold auspiciously at markets like the Brooklyn Flea (just a few examples from the article include “rings glued to typewriter keys, handmade, vegetable-dyed, vintage Oriental rugs,” and homemade chocolate bars wrapped in packaging, “printer with soy inks on 100 percent postconsumer-recycled, chlorine-free, processed paper that was made from wind-generated energy”), an affinity for food trucks and the preferred mode of transpiration as bicycles.

These examples and more lead Jeffries to rebrand the borough, Brooklandia, after Portlandia the IFC comedy show starring Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein that makes fun of the West Coast hipsters.

This negative comparison to Portland is only one of many jibes Jeffries manages to get into the article as he writes off Brooklyn’s creative, environmentally conscious community as hackneyed and pretentious. Check out some choice Brooklyn-bashing quotes below:

• “Brooklyn’s overwrought mustaches and handmade ice cream in upcycled cups are now well-established facts of life. It’s as if the tumor of hipster culture that formed when the cool kids moved to Williamsburg had metastasized into a cluster of cysts pressing down on parts of the borough’s brain.”

• “One of the things I’ve found is that as a reporter it’s getting harder for me to pitch Brooklyn stories that start like, ‘Hey, there’s a group of guys in Brooklyn or a group of young people in Brooklyn who—’” Mr. Smith said. “You can sort of feel the eye-roll of the editor, like, yeah, there’s a bunch of people in Brooklyn who, you name it, are constructing a huge skyscraper out of used coffee cups! They’re learning how to butcher pigs in their own kitchen!”

-Robert Smith, NPR Reporter

• “Williamsburg is just becoming like a circus,” he said. “When I’m there, I hear the circus music in my head. Mustaches were like 2010. We’re on to mutton chops. Everyone is walking around like the Satorialist is about to take a picture of them. That’s not a healthy way to live.“It’s all just becoming so precious,” he reflected. “And Brooklyn is not supposed to be a precious place.”

- Jake Dobkin, Gothamist publisher

And the original…
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Twin Sister (via Paste)

The trifecta of Flaming Lips, Weezer and Yeasayer at Jones Beach handily leads our list of the most blogged-about shows this week. Toss in Sufjan Stevens, Lykke Li and Death Cab for Cutie and you’ve got seven days dominated by indie rock. Tickets for these shows may be $30+, but it’s hard not to enjoy a little late-nineties/early-aughts nostalgia.

Beyond the old faves, we hope you’re checking out some of the great free shows this weekend: Fucked Up, Cro-Mags, Screaming Females and Pissed Jeans is one of the best lineups of the summer — and free entry plus free Heineken at the House of Vans will almost guarantee you a great hardcore evening. You also don’t want to miss the Mad Decent Block Party at South Street Seaport. Diplo may not show up, but Gang Gang Dance, Zeds Dead and others will certainly do their best to make up for it.

Still want more options? Check out My Social List’s database of FREE & OUTDOOR concerts.

THE TOP 10 SHOWS FOR THE NEXT SEVEN DAYS

10. Sufjan Stevens @ Prospect Park Bandshell w/ My Brightest Diamond
Tuesday, August 2nd at 6pm – All Ages, $35 -> tickets

9. Summerscreen @ McCarren Park w/ Twin Sister and Your Youth
Wednesday, July 27th at 6pm – All Ages, FREE!

8. Students from So Percussion’s Summer Institute (SOSI) play the music of Dan Deacon
Monday, August 1st at 7pm – All Ages -> tickets

7. Warm Up @ Glasslands Gallery w/ Prince Language, Das Racist DJ Set, Vockah Redu, Holy Other and XXXY
Saturday, July 30th at 2pm – All Ages, $15 -> tickets at the door

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Maybe Matt and Kim are a little too saccharine for some people. But there is something completely endearing and infectious about how much fun these two are always having and how much they are constantly smiling. So, as long as they are putting out positive vibes into the world, I am going to keep loving it. They dropped by Jimmy Fallon last night, climbed on top of their instruments, and brought their Sidewalks jam “Block After Block.”

Also, Kim left this note for Neil Patrick Harris, who will be appearing on the show tonight. Cute!

‘Dreams were made for Mortals’ was a one day group show held on Sunday July 24th at St. Vitus Bar in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.

Curated by Karlynn Holland
Hosted by David Castillo, Samantha Marble, and St. Vitus Bar

Artists the displayed works (some of which is included in the video below): Mick Barr, Lee Bartow, Dallas Erl, Jamie Foster, Grey Heart, Karlynn Holland, Suren Karapetyan, Victoria Lui, Gerry Mak, Samantha Marble, Nicholas McMaster, Brian Montuori, Angela Nacol, Nicholas Palmirotto, Owen Rundquist, Sierra Seip, Nathaniel Shannon, Nikki Sneakers, Erin Utzig, Justina Villanueva, George Wilson

CANT is Chris Taylor of Grizzly Bear. His more avant garde side project has previously released only one 7” for the song “Ghosts.” And now we have “Answer,” the leading track from his debut LP called Dreams Come True. Listen to it below, again and again and again.
CANT – Answer (taken from Dreams Come True – Terrible Records / Warp Records) by Warp Records

Swirlies and Psychedelic Horseshit stopped by the Beekman Beergarden at South Street Seaport yesterday. Video edits of both bands are below.