It’s been a long year. Scratch that, it’s been a veeerrrry long year. From social revolutions to the end of our occupation of Iraq, from the death of celebrities and dictators to a man who sneezes bullets and the mystery of planking, the world experienced a slew of emotions and all sorts of cultural and political upheaval in 2011. And that’s not even counting the plethora of music news that had the blogosphere abuzz this year.

So, as the question begs, what comes next? Well, 2012. If you were to believe certain factions, it’ll be the end of days. A more likely scenario, though, is that it will be another busy year, with people to meet, triumphs to celebrate, disasters to mourn, and a whole other set of memories to file away as we march perpetually onward toward the Great Unknown. A dreary prospect for sure, one that almost makes the impending Apocalypse sound warm and fuzzy. However, there is temporary respite in the form of New Year’s Eve.

New Year’s Eve is that magic night where one year is all but over. It’s the chance to stop worrying for a moment. It’s an opportunity to celebrate surviving the last 364. It’s the start of a whole new scheme or design for the upcoming 365. Rather than chugging cheap champagne and letting off fireworks, NYE should be commemorated with the one thing that makes any year bearable: music.

As we have for every other major celebratory occasion, CoS has your back with our handy-dandy New Year’s Eve 2011 Concert Guide. From the beaches of Miami to life in the City of Angels, and everywhere between, our guide has everything you’ll need to know to see your favorite bands live. Whether you’re planning to rock out with Patti Smith at New York’s Bowery Ballroom, get freaky with The Flaming Lips and Yoko Ono in Oklahoma City, or hit up BOTH of Kaskade’s NYE shows (in two different state mind you), our guide is the only New Year’s Eve accessory you need (save for maybe a noisemaker). Plus, if you’re not one to brave the weather and the sea of drunks, we’ll tell you what you should be watching on the old boob tube. The point is, if it’s happening on NYE, it’s in this guide. Your only concern will be how to get home and/or where to pass out at the end of the night.

If we’ve missed any gathering or shindig, please let us know in the comments below. Call this a cliché bit of writing, but we’d like to leave you with some parting words from the immortal Benjamin Franklin to guide you into what lies ahead: “Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each new year find you a better man.”

See ya in 2012.

-Chris Coplan
News Editor

New York City

– AarabMUZIK, Balam Acab: 285 Kent

– Assembly of Dust: Mercury Lounge

– Avicii: Pier 34

– The Bad Plus: The Village Vanguard

– Charles Bradley, The Budos Band: Music Hall of Williamsburg

– Chuck Berry: B.B. King Blues Club

– Dark Star Orchestra: Wellmont Theatre (Montclair, NJ)

– Deadmau5: Pier 36

– Deer Tick, J. Roddy Watson and the Business, Dead Confederate: Brooklyn Bowl

– Fitz and the Tantrums: The Gramercy Theatre

– Gogol Bordello: Terminal 5

– Gov’t Mule: Beacon Theatre

– Infected Mushroom: Best Buy Theater

– The Knocks: Gansevoort Park Avenue

– Laidback Luke: Pacha

– Lee Fields & The Expressions: The Bell House

– Los Lobos: City Winery

– Matt and Kim, Super Mash Bros., Body Language: Hammerstein Ballroom

– Neru: Webster Hall

– The New Deal: B.B. King Blues Club

– New Kids on the Block, Boyz II Men: Roseland Ballroom

– Nick Catchdubs: Loreley

– Nosaj Thing: Glasslands

– O’Death: Spike Hill

– Patti Smith: Bowery Ballroom

– Phish: Madison Square Garden

– Steve Lawler: District 36

– Ted Leo and the Pharmacists: Maxwells (Hoboken, NJ)

Chicago

– Alkaline Trio: Metro

– Big Gigantic: Riviera Theatre

– Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears: Double Door

– Cage the Elephant, Sleeper Agent: Aragon Ballroom

– Cave: The Hideout

– Disco Biscuits, Future Rock: Auditorium Theatre

– The Hood Internet: Lincoln Hall

– Keys N Krates: Chicago Urban Art Society

– Local H: Bottom Lounge

– Murder By Death: Subterranean

– Old 97s: Intercontinental Hotel Grand Ballroom

– Rusko, Sinden, Switch: Congress Theater

– The Spits: Cobra Lounge

Los Angeles

– The Aggrolites: Alex’s Bar

– Benny Benassi, Paul Van Dyk, Kaskade, Dada Life: Anaheim Convention Center (White Wonderland)

– DJ Quik: Key Club

– Duck Sauce, Diplo, Chromeo, Felix da Housecat, The Bloody Beetroots, LA Riots: Oak Canyon Park (Together As One)

– The Henry Clay People, Races: The Satellite

– Give Up the Ghost: Ukrainian Culture Center

– Jenny and Johnny, Cults: The Standard Hollywood

– John Digweed: The Avalon

– Junkie XL: Detroit Bar

– L.A. Guns: Whisky A Go Go

– Lupe Fiasco: Hollywood & Highland Center

– Musiq Soulchild: House of Blues

– Wanda Jackson, Best Coast, Dan Sartain: Club Nokia

San Francisco

– The Fresh & Onlys, Thee Oh Sees: Brick and Mortar Music Hall

– Furthur: Bill Graham Civic Auditorium

– Kreayshawn: The Regency Ballroom

– The Limousines: Rickshaw Stop

– Maceo Parker: Yoshi’s

– Santigold, Amon Tobin Islam Live, Beats Antique, Claude Von Stroke,: Concourse Exhibition Center (Sea of Dreams)

– Primus: Great American Music Hall

– The Slip: Cafe du Nord

– Sonny & The Sunsets: Amnesia

– Talib Kweli: Sloane Squared

– Tedeschi Trucks Band, The New Mastersounds: The Warfield

– Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue: The Fillmore

– X: Slim’s

– Yeasayer (DJ Set): W Hotel

– DJ Z-Trip: Fort Mason Center

London

– The 2 Bears: XOYO

– Adam Beyer: Fabric

– Ferry Corsten: Brixton Academy

– Gabby Young and Other Animals: Royal Festival Hall

– Gary Numan: All Star Lanes

– Gross Magic: The Victoria

– Joker, Brekage, Roska, Plastician, Sigma: Electric Brixon

– Kasabian, Chase & Status, Zane Lowe: The O2

– Toddla T: The Nest

– The Wedding Present: Dingwalls

Elsewhere

Aspen

– Jane’s Addiction: Belly Up

Athens (Georgia)

– MartyParty, Dubconscious: New Earth Music Hall

– of Montreal: Go Bar

– Reptar: Georgia Theatre

Atlanta

– Against Me!, Fake Problems, Franz Nicolay: The Masquerade

– Cake: Fox Theatre

– JJ Grey & Mofro: Variety Playhouse

– Kylesa: The Earl

– Naughty By Nature, Ed Kowalczyk: Hyatt Regency

– Perpetual Groove: Center Stage

– STS9: The Tabernacle

– Zac Brown Band: Philips Arena

Atlantic City

– Brand New: House of Blues

Austin

– Big Freedia: The Mohawk

– The Black Angels, Wooden Shjips, Ume: Emo’s East

– Bob Schneider, Quiet Company: Paramount Theatre

– Designer Drugs: Austin Music Hall

– Gary Clark Jr.: Antone’s

– Groupo Fantasma: Beauty Bar

– Hayes Carll: La Zona Rosa

– Penguin Prison: American Legion Hall

– Russian Circles: Red 7

– White Denim, Royal Bangs: The Empire Space

– Willie Nelson: Moody Theater

Australia

– Arctic Monkeys, Crystal Castles, Dan Deacon, The Naked and Famous: The Falls Festival (Lorne)

– Fleet Foxes, Beirut, CSS, CANT, Unknown Mortal Orchestra: The Falls Festival (Marion Bay)

Baltimore

– Carbon Leaf: Hyatt Regency

– SOJA: Baltimore Soundstage

Boston

– David Wax Museum: Lizard Lounge (Cambridge, MA)

– Lucero: Paradise

– New York Dolls: New England Conservatory

Charlotte (North Carolina)

– Widespread Panic: Time Warner Cable Arena

Dallas

– Girl Talk, Ghostland Observatory, MSTRKRFT, Neon Indian, Pendulum (DJ Set): Lights All Night

– The Polyphonic Spree, Centro-matic: House of Blues

– Quinton and Miss Pussycat: Zubar

Denver

– Flux Pavilion, Doctor P: Colorado Convention Center

– Gauntlet Hair, Pictureplane: The Larmier Lounge

– Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad: Cervantes’ Other Side

– Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk, Orgone: Cervatnes Ballroom

– Ladytron (DJ Set): City Hall

– Pretty Lights: 1stBANK Center (Broomfield, CO)

– Railroad Earth: Ogden Theatre

– Truckasauras: The Summit

– Ween: The Fillmore

Detroit

– The Detroit Cobras: Magic Stick

– Greensky Bluegrass, The Macpodz: Majestic Theatre

– Maze featuring Frankie Beverly: Masonic Temple

Greenville (South Carolina)

– The Avett Brothers: Bi-Lo Center

Houston

– Blue October: House of Blues

– Christopher Lawrence: Stereo Live

– Young Jeezy: Reliant Arena

Lake Tahoe

– Bassnectar, Pretty Lights, Thievery Corporation, The Glitch Mob, Childish Cambino, A-Trak, Theophilus London, YACHT: Snowglobe Music Festival

Las Vegas

– Chris Brown: Pure Nightclub

– Guns N’ Roses, Sebastian Bach: The Joint

– John Legend: Pearl Concert Theater

– Kaskade: Marquee

– NOFX, Lagwagon: House of Blues

– Paul Oakenfold: Rain

– Steve Angello: XS Nightclub

– Stevie Wonder: Cosmopolitan

Louisville (Kentucky)

– The Pass: Butchertown Pub Studios

Miami

– The Heavy Pets: Tobacco Road

– Spam All-Stars: The Catalina Hotel

Minneapolis

– Dawes: Varsity Theater

– EOTO: Skyway Theater

Milwaukee

– Skrillex, Dillon Francis: The Rave

Nashville

– Bassnectar: Bridgestone Arena

– Moon Taxi, Apache Relay: Exit/In

New Orleans

– Big Sam’s Funky Nation: The Joy Theater

– Black Lips: One Eyed Jacks

– Dr. John: House of Blues

– Funky Meters: Tipitina’s French Quarter

– Galactic, Anders Osborne: Tipitina’s Uptown

— Rebirth Brass Band: Howlin’ Wolf

Northampton (Massachusetts)

– Josh Ritter: Calvin Theater

– Rubblebucket: Pearl Street Nightclub

Oklahoma City

– The Flaming Lips, Yoko Ono: Brickstown Events Center

Orlando

– Trivium, Sevendust, Black Tide: House of Blues

– Slightly Stoopid, The Expendables: Hard Rock Live

Ottawa

– Electric Six: Mavericks

Philadelphia

– Clutch: Trocadero

– Eternal Summers, Bleeding Rainbow: Level Room

– Good Old War, River City Extension: Theatre of Living Arts

– Lotus: Festival Pier

– Man Man (DJ Set), Dr. Dog (DJ Set), Sun Airway (DJ Set): Johnny Brenda’s

– Smoking Popes: North Star Bar

Phoenix

– Meat Puppets: Clubhouse Music Venue

Portland (Maine)

– moe.: State Theatre

Portland (Oregon)

– Leftover Salmon: Roseland Theater

– Nurses, Radiation City: Mississippi Studios

– Pierced Arrows: Ash Street Saloon

– Red Fang: Star Theater

– Reverend Horton Heat, Supersuckers: The Crystal Ballroom

– Talkdemonic: Misson Theater

San Diego

– Fedde Le Grand, Porter Robinson, Hardwell, Bart B More: Valley View Casino Center (OMFG! NYE)

– Kinky: 4th & B

Seattle

– Mustard Pimp: King Cat Theatre

– Starfucker, Champagne Champagne: The Crocodile

St. Louis (Missouri):

– Cowboy Mouth: Old Rock House

– Devon Allman’s Honeytribe: Blueberry Hill

– Excision: Koken Art Factory

– Umphrey’s McGee: The Pageant

Toronto

– Elliot Brood: Lee’s Palace

– Kyuss! Lives: Cherry Cola’s Rock N’ Rolla Cabaret & Lounge

– The Sadies: Horseshoe Tavern

– Steve Aoki, Thomas Gold: Kool Haus

Vancouver

– Tiësto: Pacific Coliseum

Washington, DC

– Animal Collective (DJ Set), Le Tigre (DJ Set), ANR (DJ Set): 1800 L Street NW (BYT NYE)

– Drive-By Truckers, Booker T, Alabama Shakes: 9:30 Club

– Gucci Mane: Love Night Club

– Morgan Page: Fur Nightclub

– Painted Face: Rock and Roll Hotel

On TV

– Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve (ABC): Lady Gaga, Florence and the Machine, Blink-182, Nicki Minaj

– New Year’s Eve with Carson Daily (NBC): Drake, The Roots, Cee-Lo Green

– NYE in NYC (MTV): J. Cole

– Coldplay New Year’s Eve: An Austin City Limits Special (PBS)

Fortunately, West, Wooden Shjips’ third proper full-length, hits on the band’s distinct sound while evading the flaws of their messier previous output. It’s purportedly based around the mythology of the American West, but that concept becomes irrelevant as soon as frontman Ripley Johnson gets on the mic. He sings in a tired, Alan Vega-style monotone, making it nearly impossible to make out the lyrics (though, his vocals here are actually less obscured than usual).

Each of the seven songs here follow a tight formula, the same one that the band’s been using for years: Fuzz-doused rhythm guitar riffs are played again and again, the vocals are a minor texture as opposed to a focal point, and subtle guitar and keyboard licks seep in when things start to get stagnant. Throughout West’s 38 minutes, it’s clear that the Shjips are really starting to get their sound down pat.

There are no caprices here, but “Black Smoke Rise”, “Home”, and “Flight” are slyly conspicuous highlights, devoid of much contrast but bursting with intense grooves. All told, West might repel listeners with short attention spans, but with a bit of patience, its coherence pummels any monotony.

Essential Tracks: “Black Smoke Rise”, “Home”, and “Flight”

According to an issued press release, the “over riding theme for the album (as indicated by the title) is the American West, and all of the mythology, romanticism, and idealism that it embodies. The band members grew up on the East Coast, so for a long time the history and literature of the West was an abstraction and a fascination for them. Part of the allure of the West, which is part of the myth, is the concept of Manifest Destiny, the vastness, and the possibilities for reinvention, which is not to say that is what each song is specifically about, but it was very much an undercurrent during the songwriting of the album.” Needless to say, the album’s artwork, which you can peep to your top right, goes along with the whole theme.

Wooden Shjips plan to support the release with a West coast tour in August, but tour dates are still forthcoming.

West Tracklist:
01. Black Smoke Rise
02. Crossing
03. Lazy Bones
04. Home
05. Flight
06. Looking Out
07. Rising

Wooden Shjips 2011 Tour Dates:
09/02 – North Dorset, UK @ End of the Road Festival
09/04 – London, UK @ Scala
09/05 – Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Social Club
09/09 – Helsinki, FI @ Korjaamo

Anyhow, you can find the album’s artwork to your right and the names of the 10 songs below. In support of the release, Dungen has plans to visit this fall, starting on September 3rd in Buffalo, NY. Included will be appearances at the Hopscotch and ATP New York music festivals.

An issued press release describes the record as a “collection of gorgeous rippers and graceful jazz filled polyrhythms.” To hear exactly just what that means, you can stream the track “Marken Låg Stilla” on the band’s website.

Skit I Allt Tracklist:
01. Vara Snabb
02. Min Enda Vän
03. Brallor
04. Soda
05. Högdalstoppen
06. Skit I Allt
07. Barnen Undrar
08. Blandband
09. Nästa Sommar
10. Marken Låg Stilla

Dungen 2010 Tour Dates:
09/03 – Buffalo, NY @ Mohawk Place
09/05 – Monticello, NY @ ATP New York
09/07 – Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s *
09/08 – Baltimore, MD @ Ottobar
09/10 – Charlottesville, VA @ Jefferson Theatre
09/11 – Raleigh, NC @ Hopscotch Music Festival
09/12 – Asheville, NC @ Grey Eagle
09/14 – Atlanta, GA @ The Earl
09/15 – Nashville, TN @ Mercy Lounge
09/16 – Memphis, TN @ Hi-Tone
09/17 – Dallas, TX @ The Loft
09/18 – Austin, TX @ Mohawk
09/22 – Phoenix, AZ @ Rhythm Room
09/23 – San Diego, CA @ Casbah
09/24 – Pioneertown, CA @ Pappy & Harriet’s
09/25 – Los Angeles, CA @ Echoplex
09/26 – Big Sur, CA @ Henry Miller Library
09/29 – Oakland, CA @ New Parish
10/01 – Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios ^
10/02 – Vancouver, BC @ Biltmore ^
10/03 – Seattle, WA @ Neumos ^
10/06 – Minneapolis, MN @ Tripe Rock ^
10/07 – Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall ^
10/08 – Detroit, MI @ Magic Stick ^
10/09 – Cleveland, OH @ Grog Shop ^
10/10 – Toronto, ON @ Horseshoe Tavern ^
10/12 – Burlington, VT @ TBD ^
10/13 – Boston, MA @ Harpers Ferry ^

* = w/ Wooden Shjips
^ = w/ The Entrance Band

For one, ATP New York has handed over the reigns to Jim Jarmusch, the legendary indie filmmaker whose resume results in a rather lengthy Wikipedia entry. The 57-year-old Akron, OH native, who has the task of following up 2009 curators, The Flaming Lips, will hand pick the Sunday portion of ATP. So far, that lineup includes Raekwon, Girls, Fucked Up, Vivian Girls, the Brian Jonestown Massacre, Wooden Shjips, and The Black Angels.

In the 48 hours prior Sunday, many others will perform at Kutsher’s Country Club in Monticello, NY. The previously announced Stooges (performing Raw Power), Sleep (performing Holy Mountain), Mudhoney (performing Superfuzz Bigmuff + Early Singles), and The Scientists (performing Blood Red River) will kick things off on Friday. Then, on Saturday, the likes of Sonic Youth, Explosions in the Sky, Fuck Buttons, The Breeders, The Books, Papa M, and Apse will entertain the lucky masses.

Many more artists are still to be announced. Plus, all three days will also feature DJs and movies!

Festival tickets are priced at $250 + booking fee for the weekend. Friday day tickets are priced at $110 + booking fee. Saturday day tickets are priced at $120 + booking fee. Sunday day tickets will be available in March. May we direct your attention to atpfestival.com for more ticket purchasing and more information. You better hurry, however. Total capacity is limited to 3,000 after all!

Check out the rather sick comic book style flier below. Now that’s how you promote a fest!

They join the some other bands that Pavement likes: Enablers, Endless Boogie, The Fall, Faust, and Quasi.

Find all Pavement’s favorites here. Then, head here to buy tickets where you’ll be greeted by lots of “sold out”‘s.

All Tomorrow’s Weekend #2 goes down May 14-16 at Butlins Holiday Centre in Minehead, U.K. Weekend #1, curated by Matt Groening, takes place one weekend prior (May 7-9) at the same place.

Marrying the droning fuzz-pop of the Electric Prunes to the driving rhythms of NEU!, with a penchant for Velvet Underground-style guitar explorations, Wooden Shjips craft the perfect lost psychedelic album with Dos. Drawing from a set of bands that despite not being contemporaneous, all share the unique quality of having posthumous cults that drastically outnumber their original fans, if you found a beat-to-hell copy of Dos at the bottom of a bargain bin with a sticker that said “1969″ on it, there’d be no question that it was the missing link between the American psychedelic scene and German Krautrock.

Either a tribute to Suicide’s “Ghost Rider”, or a reworking of “The Living End” by the Jesus and Mary Chain, opening track “Motorbike” does nothing to dispel this “missing link” myth. After a chewy guitar intro, the Shjips quickly lock into a mechanical groove, complemented by pulsing organ work that deserves the “Ghost Rider” mention. The few vocals there are only serve to provide a little atmosphere and frame Shjip’s captain Johnson’s cascading walls of fuzzed-out guitar, drenched in reverb, a la the JAMC. Ironically, it’s these later influences that keep Dos‘s psychedelica from going stale. Even though “Motorbike” is unabashedly indebted to 60′s psychedelica, there’s enough well-rounded 70′s and 80′s influences to keep the songs from descending into acid-rock cliches. No drum solos. No backwards tape effects. No peace-love-dove lyrics or tie-dyed shirt. Wooden Shjips doesn’t need these things to authenticate its psychedelic haze. All it takes is a half a tank of gas, a decent car stereo, and forty miles of uninterrupted highway.

But two albums and a handful of singles in, leather-clad psychedelica like “Motorbike” is par for the course. Dos distinguishes itself from the rest of the band’s work because of its increased predilection towards succinct songwriting over free-flowing jams. Compared to earlier epics like “Shine Like Suns”, Dos’s songs are almost radio-friendly. Case in point: “For So Long”. Following up on the final guitar histrionics of “Motorbike”, “For So Long” jumps straight into a fun, funky bassline, and the clearest, most up-in-the-mix vocals of Johnson’s career. As much Swinging London as it is Summer of Love, “For So Long” is a dancey, to-the-point number that finds the band at its most focused–but without compromising the band’s woolly jamming.

Dos, as with the rest of the Shjips’ work, will have its criticisms. As before, they will not be unjustified. “It all sounds the same”, they’ll say–and despite the fact that consistency and flow are this band’s bread and butter, they’re right. Even though it’s a relatively short album at 38 minutes, Dos feels overlong, due mostly to 10-minute-plus jamathons like “Down by the Sea” and the closer, “Fallin”, which admittedly does start off on the right foot as a tight, Roxy Music-style pop song, before eventually descending into the gratuitous organ solos and laid-back guitar licks trading off into eternity.

In spite of the great length and minimal dynamics of these songs, Dos is a surprisingly listenable album. Winding jams are this band’s stock-in-trade, and Dos finds the Shjips in top form, serving up “European Son” impressions to the stoned and square alike–and at its best, Dos finds these jams elegantly set into increasingly well-written pop songs, in the cases of  ”For So Long” and “Fallin”. Although Dos isn’t going to replace anybody’s collection of obscure psychedelic LPs, it’s certainly a worthy addition to such a collection.

Check Out:
For So Long