(left to right) Dan Baranello, Brian Chillemi, Ryan Heil
Next up in our slew of Northside showcase interviews is rockabilly garage trio Organs. Recently signed to self-distributing indie folks Puta! Records (releasing a single and cassette EP by the end of summer), these boys play the kind of songs that let your drunk head sway, or remind you why you were drinking that whiskey in the first place. Their regular appearances at neighborhood favorites Bar Matchless and Don Pedro’s always buzz eery with prohibition era vibes and memories of joyfully simple Rock ‘n Roll taboos.
An emotional drone of harmonica on tracks such as “Don’t Wanna See Me No More” or singer Brian Chillemi’s longing wails on “Need Your Love” present us with why people make music in the first place– to dance and feel and fight and, well, get you to want to take your pants off. If you’re a fan of any combination of those things, read the rest of the interview with Brian after the jump for a little insight on 20th century girls, the importance of good shoes, and Union Square drug dealers.
Get the Organs record here for FREE—-> http://www.mediafire.com/?fd3bg3tx3wj
Your myspace page says you guys sound like “If Hank Williams listened to the Stooges while fucking Little Richard”. How did you land on this style/sound? Or is it just a musical wetdream of yours to get all those dudes in one room?
The Stooges are the sickest rock n roll punk band ever, Hank Williams is the god father of country music and Little Richard is one of most primal performers in the history of rock n roll. We’re striving to integrate those three the best we can… and fucking isn’t a bad way to get people integrated.

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Before you guys come to our showcase on friday, we thought it would be only fitting that you get to know the bands we love a little more personally. First up are our boys in Real Estate.
It’s difficult to believe that before September this band didn’t exist. They have since been signed to one of the best labels right now Woodsist, been all over Pitchfork and recently finished up a tour stint with Love is All.
FW: What’s your daily routine as a band?
Martin Courtney:
We don’t really have a daily routine as a band; we don’t like live together or anything. If we lived together, it would be in the suburbs, and we would do things like jam and eat mac and cheese.
Etienne Duguay:
chill then grip;
chill, jam, party, grip

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Last summer, The Walkmen delivered You & Me perfectly packaged to the masses, and quickly became one of my favorite albums of 2008. WIth a more solemn tone than their previous work, the lyrics managed to simultaneously break our hearts and fill them once again with hope, literally track by track. The often mentioned Roy Orbison-ness of singer Hamilton Leithauser’s voice takes front and center in these seemingly lonely tales of longing, accompanied on tour by, well, Craigslist horns.

We got a chance to catch up with Mr. Leithauser recently about Anderson Cooper, a CL musician who witnessed Otis Redding’s fatal death, and twitter.

Be sure to catch The Walkmen with Beach House and fellow FREEburg favorite Cymbals Eat Guitars TOMORROW night @ Webster Hall– this is your last chance to see them out in NY for a while as they kick off their tour with Kings of Leon two days later.

Check out the interview after the jump:

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Photos by Clarissa Roudabush

Now that it’s Friday, I feel like I can talk about my wanna-be weekend Wednesday at Glasslands. We’ve all been there before– when its past your bedtime, but all you really wanna do is dance. Although warmed up by the musical stylings of Neon Coyote and DJ Mike Dextro (and a few vodka sodas), all I wanted in my life was some Alaska in Winter. Before I could catch my fix, a pleasant surprise named Charlie! took the stage. In the fashion of more recognizable man duos such as Chromeo, these boys summoned their inner if-Kanye-was-a-Power-Ranger-that-had-to-sit-still. Listen, if you add a 2-step to NIN’s ‘Closer’, no matter how much I think I’m going to hate it, you’ve pretty much got me sold. It just really makes me miss the days when I lived with three dorky sound engineering boys.

Finally the one man band Alaska In Winter (aka Brandon Bethancourt) appeared, and the presence of the ladies in the male dominated room became apparent. But past the fact that Alaska’s frontman looks good in fur, his artful performances are exactly that– performance art. Details such as the removal of a tie in his video orchestra to Brandon’s real time clothing removal on stage showcase some crossdisciplinary skills. Put him in a glass box and this boy could make it at P.S. 1 any day.

We caught up with Bethancourt about tex mex, deep space, and crashing at Zach Condon’s place before the show. Check out the interview, as well as some AIW wardrobe changes, after the jump…

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At times, Amadou & Mariam seem a bit uncomfortable with questions about Mali. I suspect it is because they do not want to end up pidgeon-holed by an American audience used to associating African music with “world music,” a label that can scare potential listeners away from an act they fear they will never have the language or cultural background to enjoy. But Amadou & Mariam do make world music, and always have. From their early recordings that passed the sounds of traditional Malian music through a lens of Western jazz and blues, to their latest album, Welcome to Mali, which sounds profoundly influenced by decades of global touring, Amadou & Mariam’s world music sheds regional codes and dialects leaving pretty much pure pop in the most enjoyable (if Francophone) sense. We had the enviable opportunity to have a translator-assisted chat with the duo recently.

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Peggy Wang on vox and keys

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart are everywhere right now and honestly — although I’ve heard the name kicked around for awhile now — I didn’t listen to them until recently. They have a fuzzy, pop sensibility that recalls My Bloody Valentine, but puts me in a much nicer mood. I see visions of high school dances, sneaking Peach Schnapps under the bleachers. (OK that’s a scene from The Virgin Suicides). The music is pretty in a twee, Sofia Coppola-kinda way.

On vox and keys Peggy Wang adds an essential layer to this confectionery delight, and like so many New York dwellers doesn’t stop at just making music, she’s also an editor at BuzzFeed. Miss Wang was nice enough to answer our burning questions on skinny boys, making an album, the Internet and European dreams.

So first of all congrats on all your recent successes — especially your Pitchfork review. How does all this buzz feel?

It’s awesome! It is kind of crazy that one simple thing can open so many doors. No one had ever heard of us before the review, and now I have old high school and college friends contacting me and saying stuff like “Congrats!” and “I’m so proud of you!” It’s funny because I don’t think anyone has said “Congratulations” to me since the time I won the regional spelling bee in 5th grade. We self-released an EP and it was never reviewed on Pitchfork, and I think when we recorded the album, it didn’t even occur to us that it would even get reviewed. So yeah, it really surpassed any kind of expectations.

How important do you think the Internet is for bands these days? And why do you think you guys have had so much success on the ‘net?

The Internet has been incredibly instrumental for us. It used to be that you needed to be on a record label with distribution if you wanted to get your music out there. We were able to put out our first EP ourselves, and maybe it wasn’t available at Virgin Megastore or whatever, but we did put all our music up for download and people were able to hear us and get a bit of a buzz going. I think people lament over the old days, when you would make your friends mix tapes and tape your favorite college radio shows to find out about new music. But the way things are right now with the Internet, it’s just so much easier for indie bands.

Can you tell me a little bit about the formation of the band – when did you guys meet…that sorta thing?

Alex and Kip used to work together at Insound. Kip and I met through my friend Shirley. The three of us formed the band to play at my birthday party in March 2007. We all loved this band from Leeds called the Manhattan Love Suicides and also Titus Andronicus, both of whom played the party too. The party was in a giant warehouse on Wythe St. in Williamsburg and was by far the most epic birthday party I’ve ever had. It was so fun that we just wanted to keep doing it, and with the help of Cakeshop, we were able to book another show. We went for about 8 months playing with an ipod instead of a real drummer, until we met Kurt who came to a few of our shows and really liked the EP that we put out. Besides being a totally amazing drummer, Kurt also has amazing taste in music. I feel like we all have pretty good taste in music, so it makes for a good band situation, especially during long car rides while on tour.

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People with sophisticated taste know that Anchorman is the best movie ever made. That’s why we were excited to discover the all-new Ron Burgundy Interview series on Funny or Die. Here’s Ron interviewing Rebecca Romijn. Tom Brokaw after the jump.

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by Monte Holman

Dear Teenage Fanclub:
Please forgive the sterility of the medium. Were we in the UK , we would do this in person. It’s been a while since your last solo effort. 2000 brought us Howdy!, and you released the collaboration with Jad Fair, Words of Wisdom, in 2003, which was great‚Äîdon’t get us wrong. But it’s been a quiet half-decade for new Teenage Fanclub material. Since you’re one of our very favorites and have been for quite some time, we were worried.
So you can imagine our excitement after hearing your latest, Man-Made. And on top of that, you collaborated with John McEntire on this one. Twin powers unite—form of wonderful addition to already stunning discography!
Anyway, thanks for answering our questions. So nice to hear from you again.
(Teenage Fanclub is Norman Blake, Raymond McGinley, Gerard Love, and Francis Macdonald. Norman Blake wrote us back.)
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Norman Blake
This is the first album in five years – why the wait?
We released a compilation in 2003 to fulfil a contractual obligation that we had with Sony, after they inherited the remainder of our Creation contract. That precluded us from releasing a new album.
Why’d you choose John McEntire as a producer, and how did he affect the songs on this album?
Gerry had worked with John on an album that the Pastels had recorded for the soundtrack of a Scottish independent movie called the last great wilderness. When it came time to think about who we would like to work with, Gerry suggested John. We all liked the work that John had done with Stereolab, so he seemed like a good choice. John saw his role as primarily an engineering one (which he did very well). Leaving the song arrangements to us, however; he did some pretty creative stuff when we were mixing.
How do you feel about how Man-Made has been received? Lots of reviews note the album’s pop-ness‚Äîis that a compliment?

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by Alexander Lauence
Bands are getting younger and younger these days. Smoosh are two sisters from Seattle who are ten and twelve years old. Their names are Asya and Chloe. With their combined ages, they are still younger than Joanna Newsom. Asya sings and plays keyboards. Chloe plays drums. ROCKRGRL describes them this way: “Imagine a stripped-down version of the first side of Pet Sounds (before Brian Wilson gets cynical) and you have some clue to Smoosh’s sound. Musically they more than hold their own.” Their effortless talent and imagination is astounding. This is a band that relies on instinct and plays music because it is fun. Needless to say, they’re unaffected by the demands of indie cool.
Thus far, Smoosh has played shows with Pearl Jam, Cat Power, Death Cab For Cutie, Sleater-Kinney and Rilo Kiley.
Smoosh started about four years ago, when Chloe’s drum teacher, Jason McGerr, the drummer of Death Cab for Cutie, encouraged her to begin playing more seriously. Her sister just happened to have some songs and energy. Years later their demo got around and was played on the radio station KEXP. Soon they were signed to record label Pattern 25. Their album came out in September 2004. I spoke to them on the phone during a lull before touring and recording their second album. I had to call them at 4pm because they didn’t get home from school before then.
Their album, She Like Electric is out now. There have been rave reviews in Blender, Tigerbeat, and Alt Press. Their album was The Village Voice’s #1 most overlooked record of 2004. Look for the band on the cover of magazines and TV this Spring. They are going to be on CNN with Wolf Blitzer very soon. I spoke to Asya and Chloe right before their big tour with Mates of State and high profile gig at Noise Pop 2005, in San Francisco.
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AL: Hello.
Asya: Hello.
AL: I am Alexander. Who’s this?
Asya: Asya.
AL: I am calling from Los Angeles.
Asya: Alright. Cool.
AL: I bought your CD a few weeks ago, loved it, and that’s why I am calling you.
Asya: Thanks.
AL: How long have you been playing together?
Asya: Probably about four years. I have been writing songs all my life. I started when I was about five years old. Chloe got her drum set when she was six. She started to get better and she needed to play with another person. So that was the earliest time we started playing together.
AL: Did you take piano lessons before that?
Asya: No. I never took any piano lessons. I learned to play on my own. But after a while I tried to learn how to read music so I could take lessons. But I quit taking lessons with a teacher after a month each time because it wasn’t very fun.
AL: You write all the songs in Smoosh?
Asya: I write all the lyrics and piano parts. After I do that Chloe kind of makes up her piano parts. We both contribute to every song.
AL: What are your songs about?

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Volvo wants them, but The Kills aren’t interested. They’re more concerned about being confused with The Thrills or The Killers than cashing in.
This minimalist indie duo are not here to resurrect Robert Johnson or Charlie Patton. There’s no agenda to save ROCK. No, the Kills are camped out in the Chelsea Hotel to promote their new record, chain smoke some cigarettes, and work on their other hobbies: writing in their diaries and taking photographs with their digital camera.
We found The Kills, Alison Mosshart and Jamie Hince, ensconced around a table littered with cigarettes, water bottles, an iPod, and a worn copy of Gunther Grass’s The Tin Drum, a book about an “the eternal three-year-old drummer” that Jamie claims to have read dozens of times.
They were in New York doing interviews to promote their follow-up to 2003′s amazing Keep on Your Mean Side. Alison and Jamie graciously sat down with us to discuss their music, those nagging White Stripes comparisons, and touring with Franz Ferdinand. Jamie is unpretentious and outspoken. He smoked a lot. Alison is beautiful, articulate, and a bit shy. She smoked even more. Their platonic affection for one another was obvious and endearing. Their chemistry will delight fans on their fantastic new record, No Wow.
NOW WOW. OUT MARCH 8 ON ROUGH TRADE/RCA.
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FW: How long were you in the studio with No Wow?
Jamie:We did in two parts. We wrote it in Benton Harbor, Michigan. We were there for four weeks. We then took a week off and then recorded the album in three weeks in New York.

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