John Darnielle, do-gooder, renaissance man.... 02 May 2008

We all know how talented John Darnielle is musically, with the hundreds of songs he's written for his band The Mountain Goats and, anyone that likes metal knows he is a hell of a writer about that genre. He's written for several metal mags and has a regular column in decibel , oh - and his own blog, Last Plane To Jakarta is a favorite bookmark for many.

Now, John has finally written a book ! It's part of the 33 1/3 series of books on classic albums. His is on Master of Reality by Black Sabbath .

If you live in NYC, you are lucky, for 2 reasons.

1) because John will be reading from his book at Housing Works Bookstore as part of their 10th anniversary celebration. His reading is on May 17th, and more info is here !

2) John is also playing a benefit for Aids Walk NYC the day prior, May 16th at the Brooklyn Masonic Temple. More info/tickets here!

SO....get out, support bookstores, give to charities and support independent music!

Stereolab New Album!!! 24 Apr 2008

We're delighted to confirm what the eagle eyed among you have already spotted, Stereolab's forthcoming new album, Chemical Chords, is indeed being released by Duophonic UHF Disks / 4AD on August 19th (August 18th for those outside the US).

New Mountain Goats video directed by Ace Norton 04 Feb 2008

Check out the new Mountain Goats video directed by the Doogie Howser of music videos Ace Norton (Bloc Party, Simian Mobile Disco, Aesop Rock, etc.) Sax Rohmer #1 is the first video from the forthcoming album 'Heretic Pride' and the video is a creative (and delightfully nauseating) journey through the legendary lyricism of Mountain Goats mastermind John Darnielle.

GO HERE TO SEE IT

Seen & Heard: Beggars Group Film & TV Update For November 29 Nov 2007

Hey guys, sorry for the delay, but we're back with a pretty exciting update for ya...So pls tune in!

BADLY DRAWN BOY
"I Love N.Y.E." (From the About a Boy OST)Is featured  for 2 months in the USA and Canada in the Starbucks holiday campaign spots both on tv & online.
Start date:  November 21st  Watch it here:  http://www.starbucks.com/flash/externalShell/sbux_holidaySpots.html
 

HOLY FUCK
"Frenchy's" was featured in CBS series CSI NY (episode # 408).  Scene description:  stylized montage CSI detective Lindsay Monroe is processing of a purse for evidence in an ongoing investigation.   Air Date:  November 14th

MOJAVE 3
"Big Star Baby" is featured in the new Gregg Araki film Smiley Face.  Scene Description:  4 min. BV Song plays as Jane & Mikey are stuck in traffic.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0780608/
The film will have a very limited theatrical release and will play in Los Angeles at the NuArt Theater in West L.A. starting November 16, 2007. Though, if you can’t make it to the theater Smiley Face will release on DVD on January 8, 2008.

THE NATIONAL
"Start A War" is featured the ABC series Brothers & Sisters (episode #209).  Series description:  A family in LA deals with life's trials & tribulations after the death of the not so perfect patriarch. Scene Description:  BV approv 2:30 Kevin & Scotty talk after Kitty & McCallister's wedding.  Air Date 12/2/07

EMMA POLLOCK
"THE OPTIMIST" was featured on the new CBS series starring Jimmy Smits Cane (episode #008 ) Scene description: Frank & Ellis are on his yacht & he tells her he wants to go public with their relationship.   Air Date:  11/13/07

VOXTROT
"Ghost" is featured on the Yurman website in a online ad for a new watch design called Waverly Watch. Link: www.davidyurman.com Air Date: November 2007 - November 2008.

BEST,
JL&BG
 

Emma Pollock's US Tour Is Almost Over :( 13 Nov 2007

We need to bid Emma Pollock Bon Voyage as she is heading back to Scotland tomorrow. But before she leaves these shores she has one remaining show! You Los Angeles-ites! Don't forget that Emma Pollock is playing there tonight at The Echo ! This is the last date of her US jaunt which included many shows with The New Pornographers . Emma and her band are amazing live and you West Coasters have been lucky in that you get to see their full headlining set. Here is one review If you can't make the show (for instance, if you don't live in LA) feel free to go out and purchase her debut album Watch The Fireworks.

Seen & Heard: Beggars Grp Film & TV Update For the week starting Nov 5th 09 Nov 2007

DEVENDRA BANHART
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/alltherage/

BLONDE REDHEAD
"Spring And By Summer Fall" was featured in the CBS series Numb3rs (ep # 405). Series Description: FBI agent recruits his mathematical genius brother to help solve complicated LA cases. Scene Decription: BV 6:21 Bank lobby/tunnel alarm sounds annoyed security guard talks to dispatch Moe & Curly listen in. Air Date: Oct 26th

Have a great weekend everybody!
Best,
Jenn

This week's new BEGGARS GROUP releases 07 Nov 2007

We would like to welcome these fabulous records to our world this week.

Johann Johannsson Englaborn (Reissue)
This is Johann’s debut solo album and we’re re-releasing it! Jóhann Jóhannsson is one of the most active participants in the new Icelandic music scene. He has one of the founders of Kitchen Motors, an art organization/think tank/record label, he has produced and written music with artists as diverse as Marc Almond ("Stranger Things" album), Barry Adamson and Pan Sonic, The Hafler Trio, Magga Stina and many others. He has also written music for the theatre, documentaries and soundtrack music for 3 feature films. Englaborn is Jóhann's first solo album. It is derived from music he wrote for an Icelandic play of the same name. The music is written for string quartet, piano, organ, glockenspiel and percussion. These elements were processed and manipulated, adding delicate electronic backgrounds to the otherwise entirely acoustic recordings. “This first solo album from Jóhann Jóhannsson is absolutely beautiful, and it has only become more so over the past few months, sustaining me for long periods of time when other music just wouldn't do the trick.” – Pitchfork Media

Sigur Ros Hvarf / Heim
Hvarf and Heim are twin Sigur Ros records, released in support of the band’s first ever film, Heima. They will be released together on CD on Nov 5, 2007. It’s more complicated than this, but effectively Hvarf is the electric side and Heim is the acoustic side. The five tracks that make up ‘Hvarf’ are new recordings of songs taken from various points in Sigur Ros’s history. Three of them have never been released on record before, either because they were not recorded in the first place, or because they were recorded and then not included on a finished album. The other two, ‘Von’ and ‘Hafsol’, are radical reworkings of songs from the band’s first (pre-Kjartan, pre-Orri) album, with latter being available in limited form as the b-side to ‘Hoppipolla’ single. The six songs that make up ‘Heim’ are acoustic versions of material taken from all four Sigur Ros’s albums. They were recorded in Iceland either during the band’s summer 2006 tour or early this spring. All songs are live recordings.

Lisa Gerrard Best Of
As this one-disc retrospective collection makes clear, Lisa Gerrard is one of the most singular and fascinating singers and composers in the world. Her career takes in almost two decades with Dead Can Dance, award-winning motion picture soundtracks and a series of acclaimed solo and collaborative albums. This 15 track survey offers a concise and convincing insight into the various strands of her musical output.

The Beggars Group is invading Austin and FUN FUN FUN fest! 02 Nov 2007

We've got a bunch of bands coming through for this year's Fun Fun Fun Fest ,
taking place this weekend (Nov 3rd and 4th) at Waterloo Park in Austin, TX.

Check them out!

Cat Power & The Dirty Delta Blues Band (Matador)The Cave Singers (Matador)
Celebration (4AD)
Emma Pollock (4AD)
The New Pornographers (Matador)

Here are their set times, YAY!!!
Saturday, November 3rd

Stage 1


Emma Pollock - (2:35-3:05)

New Pornographers - (7:35-8:35)


Sunday, November 4th

Stage 1

Cave Singers - (2:10-2:40)

Celebration - (2:45-3:15)

Cat Power & Dirty Delta Blues - (8:40-9:40)

Seen & Heard: Beggars Group Film & TV Update 29 Oct 2007

The Mountain Goats "This Year"gets 'playlisted' by one of the characters (Karl) from the  new series Big Shots on ABC, chk it out:
http://abc.go.com/primetime/bigshots/index?pn=Playlists#t=0&d=26601


THE NATIONAL
"FAKE EMPIRE" is featured in the TV TRAILERS for the United Artists/MGM film Lions For Lambs, directed by Robert Redford & starring Meryl Streep & Tom Cruise.  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0891527/  Start date:  THIS WEEK!!

 RJD2
"Get It" was featured in the opening scene of CBS series CSI:  NY (episode #404).   Episode title "Times Up" & you can view it here:   http://alpha.cbs.com/primetime/csi_ny/
Scene description:  BI :40 sec.  Naked, bloody man runs down the street into the police station & whispers into detective Taylors ear then dies.  Air Date:  Oct 17th

The New York Times Arts blog on CMJ 19 Oct 2007

We have a ton of bands playing at CMJ this week, and the New York Times has written kindly about a couple of them so far on their arts blog .

Nice things on VAMPIRE WEEKEND + CELEBRATION so far...

Neatness matters to Vampire Weekend, who played a concise afternoon
set of snappy little pop songs at the Cake Shop. Neatness always
matters or snappy little pop bands, but Vampire Weekend is the only
one with a chorus that goes “Is your bed made?” Of course, there’s
more to that question than housekeeping.

Vampire Weekend’s songs are terse clockwork constructions that equate
cooperation with mutual avoidance. If the guitar is playing chords,
the keyboard isn’t, or vice versa; if the rhythm section is playing
downbeats, the guitar is on off-beats, and if vocals or keyboards have
a sustained melody, everyone else is staccato. One band member
introduced various songs as “jams,” although they are emphatically
not jams, since every note is locked in its clever place. The lyrics
take up romance (on and off-campus), lies and, often, real estate,
from mansard roofs to brownstones in San Juan. It’s not just that the
band comes from real-estate-obsessed New York CIty; it’s that in
Vampire Weekend’s songs, every millimeter of space counts.

To speed his set up, David Bergander, the drummer for the Baltimore group Celebration, assembled his drum kit on the sidewalk outside Piano’s this afternoon; the Manhattan club was crowded for a free showcase organized by the blog BrooklynVegan. Celebration had performed with the Brooklyn act Dragons of Zynth at Union Pool in Williamsburg on Tuesday night. Then the two bands hung out together until 4:30 a.m. at the friend’s Williamsburg apartment where Celebration was staying, Mr. Bergander said. How did the members prepare for their Piano’s show, their last at this year’s Marathon? “We slept in,” Mr. Bergander said. “The last time we played CMJ, two years ago, we did a Fader showcase at like 2 p.m., completely hungover.” This time, after an afternoon breakfast of Korean food, they were ready to play.

Listen as Katrina Ford, the singer of the Baltimore band Celebration, talks about how she’ll prepare for their upcoming tour: here(by Melena Ryzik and Jeremy Beiler)

Seen & Heard: Beggars Group Film & TV Update For The week of 10/15/07 19 Oct 2007

Mojave 3
No Matter What You Do (Their Love cover) will be featured in the Miramax/Disney film Gone Baby Gone, directed by Ben Affleck & stars Casey Affleck, Morgan Freeman, & Ed Harrris.  Scene Description:  1:52 BV Song plays in a  rundown slum where drug addicts meet.  Two of the lead characters enter the house investigating a child's abduction.   Release date:  Oct. 19th in the U.S.

Seen & Heard: Beggars Group Film & TV update for the week of 9/3/07 07 Sep 2007

MARK LANEGAN
ONE HUNDRED DAYS is featured in the FX series Rescue Me (episode #412). Scene Description: BV BV: 2 Uses: Up to 3:45 (approximate timing) – Tommy sneaks into a burning building wearing Jimmy Keefe’s bunker jacket, he saves, and makes-out with a rather drunk woman. Despite a huge blinding explosion, they make it out safely. Tommy leaves her in an alley where EMT’s find her, and walks off unnoticed. 2nd Use: End credits. Air Date: September 5th.

THE NATIONAL
"Fake Empire" appears in the Canadian feature film Battle In Seattle Film Description: BV & End Credits - This film, which stars Charlize Theron, Woody Harrelson, Ray Liotta and directed by Stuart Townsend, is about the 5 days that rocked the world in 1999 as tens of thousands of demonstrators took the streets in protest of the World Trade Organization. Release date: September 8, 2007 at Toronto International Film Festival

PIXIES
"Gouge Away" off of Doolittle will appear in the snowboarding film Catch The Vapors. Film Description: BV The fast paced snowboarding visuals will be edited to the beat of the music, keeping the integrity of the song while offering excellent representation of the artist. In essence, it has a similar format as a music video. Release date: September 4th, 2007

GARY NUMAN
"Are Friends Electric" will be featured in a snowboarding and lifestyle film titled "Thanks In Advance." Release Date: Sept 4th, 2007.

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