All Over Albany

Phantogram, now at The Egg

The Phantogram show lined up for the Schaghticoke Fair Grounds July 27 has been moved to The Egg. The promoter's press release cites "unforeseen circumstances." Tickets already purchased will be honored, and refunds are available at the point of sale.

Tickets are $35 ahead / $38 day of. It's a general admission show in The Egg's Hart Theatre, which has a maximum capacity of 982.

When the show was first announced, Tycho was on the bill as an opener. But the act is no longer playing the show.

Phantogram shows usually sell out when they return home to this area -- the date at Upstate Concert Hall earlier this year sold out -- so it wouldn't be a surprise if this one does, too.

photo: Timothy Saccenti

Phantogram at Schaghticoke Fair Grounds

Phantogram is looping back for a show at the Schaghticoke Fair Grounds July 27. Tickets go on sale this Friday -- we're waiting to see the price.

The opener for the show is Tycho.

You know the story: Josh Carter and Sarah Barthel played shows around Saratoga Springs, recorded an album in a barn, got a record deal, toured around the world, got on TV, got famous, songs started showing up in all sorts of media, got a bigger record deal, started collaborating with Big Boi, there was a tidal wave. And they released a new album this past October.

They're on the big festival circuit this year -- Coachella already, and Sasquatch!, Governor's Ball, Osheaga, and Lollapalooza this summer.

The duo played a sold out show at Upstate Concert Hall this past January.

photo: Timothy Saccenti

Phantogram at Upstate Concert Hall

Just announced: Phantogram is set to play a show at Upstate Concert Hall January 14. Tickets go on sale this Saturday, November 26 -- the first 102 tickets are $10.27 (because of WEQX), after that they're $25 ahead / $30 day of. (It looks like there's also a presale starting Friday.)

This is, by our quick count, the first time they've been back in town for a show since a date at UCH in 2013.

You know the story: Josh Carter and Sarah Barthel played shows around Saratoga Springs, recorded an album in a barn, got a record deal, toured around the world, got on TV, got famous, songs started showing up in all sorts of media, got a bigger record deal, started collaborating with Big Boi, cue the tidal wave. And they released a new album in October, Three.

This show will sell out. So if you'd like to go, don't wait on getting tickets.

photo: Timothy Saccenti

Phantogram's got a new song, and a new album out this fall

You remember Phantogram -- Josh Carter and Sarah Barthel, made that album in a barn up near Saratoga, got really famous -- yeah, them. They released a new song today (embedded above) and announced their third album will be released in September.

Here's a Pitchfork interview about the album.

And Phantogram will be performing on Tonight Show Thursday night.

Phantogram, with Big Boi, on the Tonight Show

What have Sarah Barthel and Josh Carter of Phantogram been up to? Oh, you know, just collaborating with Big Boi.

Phantogram and Big Boi have teamed for a project called Big Grams. They performed "Fell in the Sun" from the project's new EP Thursday night on The Tonight Show. The clip is embedded above.

The trio talked with Pitchfork earlier this month about how their collaboration first came about:

Big Boi: I stumbled upon Phantogram through a pop-up ad on my computer. I was closing out screens and then a pop-up ad came up and it had their song "Mouthful of Diamonds" on it. I Shazamed it and bought it on iTunes, and ended up putting it on my BigBoi.com website as the jam of the week. I guess they caught wind of it and reached out to me. We began a conversation, and they sent me vinyl of their first record. We began to talk then, and was supposed to catch up with them then when I was doing Governors Ball [in New York City] but we kind of just talked on the phone. Then, we crossed paths at Outside Lands Festival out of San Francisco and we hit it off real cool. I invited them back to Stankonia [Studios] and we just started making magical music.

Along with the EP, there's also a Big Grams game -- that's sort of like Super Mario Brothers meets the seven deadly sins.

Phantogram was on Letterman

Check it out: Phantogram was on the Late Show last night, performing "The Day You Died" off their new album, Voices. (And Saratoga Springs got a little shoutout from Letterman.)

It's Phantogram's second national TV appearance in less than a month -- they were on Jimmy Kimmel in February.

They're headed for a national tour in late March/April, then over to Europe in May.

Phantogram's new album is out, and they were back on TV

Phantogram's new album -- Voices -- is now out. And not only is the 11-track album the duo's first full album since 2010's Eyelid Movies, it's also the result of working of a big-time producer and a major record label.

Voices also marks a new level of fame for the act that grew out of a barn near Saratoga. Among the many reviews that accompanied Tuesday's release:

+ The AV Club: "Phantogram's major-label debut, Voices, very deliberately feels like a band fulfilling its potential."

+ Paste: "Voices thrums with a shapeshifting wistfulness and defiance from its outset, scooping up our loneliness and tossing us headfirst into a sea of same-feeling, party-going revelers. ... Voices is one of the most exciting sad albums I've encountered in a while."

+ Pitchfork: "Since the release of that first album, the indie-pop/R&B crossover zone Phantogram inhabits has become considerably more crowded with mega-hyped breakout acts, and Voices responds accordingly to these higher stakes with a bolder, more assertive approach. But while its standout tracks are strong enough to ensure Phantogram maintains its current altitude, there are a lot of places to turn to for this sort of thing these days, and this album ultimately underwhelms next to the pure-pop punch of Haim, the cutting lyricism of Lorde, or the radiant grandeur of Chvrches."

And with the new album, comes more TV. Josh Carter and Sarah Barthel were back on Jimmy Kimmel Tuesday night. One of the songs they performed -- "Fall in Love" -- is embedded above. A second is embedded after the jump.

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Phantogram looks good in stripes

This is cool: Phantogram hooked up with designer Joshua Davis for some trippy, stripe-y visuals for their video for the song "Fall in Love." It's embedded above.

Davis is well known in the digital design world for his generative art work.

Anyway, there's a section about 2/3 of the way through the Phantogram video that's really great.

Phantogram's new album, Voices, is out next Tuesday, February 18. And, as mentioned, they'll be on Jimmy Kimmel that night.

A major label bidding war. Big Boi. Famous designers. TV.

It's not exactly a barn near Saratoga.

Phantogram. And a guy with an owl.

Hey, look, there's a new video for Phantogram's "Black Out Days." (After posting this we figured out the embedded video, now posted after the jump, won't work until tomorrow -- you can watch over at Filter in the meantime.) The guy wearing a blazer and an owl was a nice touch.

The song is off the 4-song EP they released earlier this year, which Paste tagged as the top EP of the year.

Phantogram has a full-length album lined up for February 18 called Voices -- it'll be released on a "major" label, Republic (part of Universal). We're guessing the odds of them popping up on TV again around the release of the album are pretty good.

Up, up, up.

Because... why not: Here's a piano and string version of "Black Out Days" that someone posted on YouTube.

Earlier on AOA: Phantogram on Jimmy Fallon (video)

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Phantogram on Jimmy Fallon (video)

The clip from Phantogram's appearance on Jimmy Fallon Friday night is embedded above. They played "Black Out Days" from the new EP.

Announced last week: Phantogram will be playing a show at Upstate Concert Hall December 7. Tickets are now on sale -- they're $10.27 (for the first 102 tickets sold online through Ticketmaster) / $18 ahead / $20 day of. (As mentioned.)

Phantogram at Upstate Concert Hall

Just announced: Phantogram will be back in town to play at the Upstate Concert Hall December 7. Tickets go on sale this Friday, October 4 at 10 am. The first 102 tickets will be $10.27 thanks to EQX -- otherwise, they're $18 ahead / $20 day of. (Update: The $10.27 tickets are only available online via Ticketmaster.)

As you well know, this will be a homecoming show for Phantogram, originally from the Saratoga area. Josh Carter and Sarah Barthel are on a headlining tour to support a new four-song EP out today -- and an album that will apparently arrive sometime later on. Two tracks off the EP are embedded after the jump.

We're guessing this is the start of another rise in Phantogram's profile. They'll be on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon this Thursday night. They recently scored their first national magazine cover. Since their last EP, in 2011, they've been recording with Big Boi, and doing weird stuff with the Flaming Lips. And their music also keeps popping up in commercials.

photo: Doron Gild

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Sean Rowe at Helsinki Hudson / Phantogram on Jimmy Fallon again

Announced today: Sean Rowe is playing Helsinki Hudson November 16. Tickets are on sale now -- they're $15 ahead / $18 at the door. It's a 21 and over show.

Rowe is also set to play a show at the Troy Musical Hall next April 12 (as mentioned). Tickets for that show are also currently on sale.

Because Rowe is 1) really good and 2) from the area, his recent shows in the Capital Region have had a big and/or full crowds. If you're thinking about going to either show, getting tickets sooner rather than later is a good idea.

Phantogram

With a new album coming out soon (?), it looks like Phantogram is scheduled to appear on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon October 3. The show has a "band bench" drawing for the appearance -- winners get "the exclusive chance to come down to the studio floor and surround the musical guest during their performance." The entry details are at that link. Phantogram also played on Jimmy Fallon back in 2011. [via @SaratogaIdiots]

Oh, and they played the Hollywood Bowl last night with M83.

photo: Marius Bugge

New Phantogram song

Check it out: Phantogram released a new song today at Pitchfork. It's called "Black Out Days." It sounds like Phantogram. Or, as Pitchfork put it, "it's the Phantogram you still know and love."

Phantogram has a new album coming up, presumably sometime before the end of the year. They set out on a national tour soon (closest date: NYC, December 5). And they scored their first national magazine cover this month.

The album will be the first full length or EP since 2011 for the duo from the Saratoga Springs area. Of course, in the interim they've been recording with Big Boi, doing weird stuff with the Flaming Lips, and touring. It's a long way from the barn in Easton.

Cover people

You might recognize the people on the front cover of the upcoming issue of Filter magazine: it's Josh Carter and Sarah Barthel from Phantogram.

According to the blurbage for the issue, it's Phantogram's first national magazine cover (and we can't think of another one). Earlier this summer the mag stopped by the studio in LA where Josh and Sarah were mixing their upcoming album, presumably for a feature in this issue. It's on the newsstands September 13.

That new album is set to arrive sometime this fall. And the group will be on the road touring -- the closest date to the Capital Region is December 4 in New York City at Terminal 5.

The album will be the first full length or EP since 2011 for the duo from the Saratoga Springs area. Of course, in the interim they've been recording with Big Boi, doing weird stuff with the Flaming Lips, and touring. So, they've been busy.

Crowding in for Phantogram

Just a quick pic from Pearl Palooza this past Saturday. There was a big crowd for Phantogram. (Then it rained. A lot.)

Nightlife by Phantogram

Sarah Barthel and Josh Carter. A little different from the Charlie Everywhere days.

The new Phantogram EP -- Nightlife -- is officially out today. It's more a mini-album than EP -- it includes six songs. You can grab it at the usual places like iTunes ($4.99) and Amazon ($5.84).

A few snips from reviews:

+ Pitchfork: "So it's with the appropriately titled Nightlife EP that we find the twosome refining and tweaking some of the ideas put forth on its debut without entirely resting on its laurels, and offering a few of the band's best songs to date." (7.1)

+ Seattle Weekly: "Gloom, despair, desire, comfort--the emotional range packed into this story told over six songs is extraordinary."

+ Prefix: "... a logical progression from the sound the duo cooked up for Eyelid Movies last year, with fizzy electronics complemented by delicately spun guitar lines."

Here's a track-by-track "how it was born" conversation about the EP from SPIN last week.

Nightlife has been posted online seemingly everywhere over the last month. There's an embed after the jump if you haven't heard it, yet.

Josh and Sarah told Wired last week that they're looking forward to working on their next full length album when their current tour ends this month. They have a bunch of shows before that -- including sold out dates in LA and San Francisco. The last stop is in Burlington on November 20.

Earlier on AOA:
+ Phantogram: Wired, SPINned, Boinged, liked
+ Phantogram at RPI, song by song

photo: Doron Gild

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Phantogram at Moog

This is cool: Phantogram playing "16 years" at the Moog Music factory in Asheville, North Carolina (Moog's founder is an electronic music pioneer).

Phantogram played Lollapalooza (Chicago) and Bumbershoot (Seattle) this summer (performances from both embedded after the jump). They're on tour again this fall, pretty much all over the country. They have a stop scheduled in Burlington November 20.

By the way: The video for "When I'm Small" is over a 1 million plays on YouTube.

[via @Ravacon]

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Phantogram at RPI, song by song

Check it out: Brian has uploaded a full set of clips from Phantogram's show at RPI this past weekend.

There are 12 songs in all -- including new tune "Sixteen Years." The sound quality is great -- and the video is good enough to watch full screen.

Earlier on AOA: Phantogram on Jimmy Kimmel

Phantogram on Jimmy Kimmel

The clip of Phantogram's performance on Jimmy Kimmel Thursday night is embedded above. They played "When I'm Small" and sounded great. And it was good to see Tim Oakely get some TV time.

They performed another song for the show, "As far as I can see," which was posted as a bonus clip online.

Hey, how about this: Phantogram will be playing at RPI Union May 7 (that's a Saturday). The show is open to the public -- tickets are just $5. They're currently only available from the union admin office (room 3702). We've gotten some conflicting info about this, so hold off for the moment. And here's the deal, straight from the club's adviser: 100 tickets will be set aside for the general public. They go on sale Monday. They're $5.

(Thanks, Kevin (not Marshall))

Earlier on AOA: Phantogram on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon

New song from Phantogram, and back on TV

Something to listen to/watch this morning: "16 years," a new song from Phantogram, performed at the Coachella festival this past Sunday:

And check it out: Josh and Sarah are going to be back on TV this week -- they'll be the musical guest on Jimmy Kimmel Thursday night.

Earlier: Phantogram on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon

Phantogram's bump from Skins

Well, this is just silly: apparently some people were upset that Phantogram's "When I'm Small" showed up during Skins on MTV. That prompted this great response from the band on Facebook:

hey vincent, do you like our music? or are you only into artists that are never credited for their hard work and talent? in our humble opinion, it might be a good idea for you to take a step back, and look towards the future of art and music in an optimistic way. we appreciate people (like you) who listen, and enjoy music for what it is. sincerely, phantogram.

A rep for Barsuk, the band's label, basically told people to get used to hearing Phantogram on the show: apparently Skins' producers are big fans and plan to use the band's music multiple times this season. [Seattle Weekly]

That could turn out pretty well for Phantogram. From a Billboard article this week about the 19-year-old music director of Skins (emphasis added):

But controversy and ratings aside, 1.3 million sets of ears are the most that the small-fry artists that Feldman likes to feature have ever reached. Tracks featured in episode one of the U.S. "Skins" series experienced a boost in sales the week of the telecast: Sales of "When I'm Small" by electro-ambient duo Phantogram (Barsuk Records) rose 344%, while sales for "My Girls," the 2009 single from freak-folk mainstay Animal Collective (Domino), increased by 201%, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Number-wise, the gains are in the high hundreds and low thousands, but it could be an option to explore for artists looking for initial breakout exposure and a small synch fee of typically no more than $600.

It's good to hear they're doing something right on the US version of the show. Now that we think about it, we could see Effy Stoneham listening to Phantogram...

(Thanks, Jeff)

Earlier on AOA: New video for Phantogram's "When I'm Small"

photo: Doron Gild

Phantogram on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon

Check it out: Phantogram was on Jimmy Fallon last night -- and Questlove from The Roots played the drums for them:

Earlier in the day, Questlove had called Phantogram "Upstate NY's most notorious lovers of peace" on Twitter, along with a pic from soundcheck. He tweeted afterward, "so cool to sit in with @Phantogram on @latenightjimmy. thanks guys." And they responded with thank you tweet of their own.

Later this spring, Phantogram is playing the Coachella festival in California.

Also: Photos of Phantogram and other good local bands from the WEXT benefit last weekend by Sebastien and Jason.

How Phantogram's music looks

Here's something to look at. It's a video for the Phantogram song "Make a Fist" by greater Capital Region locals The Ravacon Collective. It's like something from a turbulent dream. We like it. (Though we're glad to be experiencing it awake).

Ravacon created a dozen different visuals for Phantogram to play during their national tour this year. You can see how the visuals were used from this concert clip shot at a show in Louisville back in September.

There's one more after the jump, video for the Phantogram song "Running from the Cops."

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Hanging with Railbird

It's like hanging out in the studio with locals Railbird -- but, you know, virtually:

(Doesn't that question always come up in any important enterprise: eat now or later?)

Justin Cerone, one of the producers of the video, says he and production partner Adam Morrell have been following Railbird around as the band records its new album and plays live shows. He says the video will end up in a series of online clips -- and, maybe, a documentary.

Railbird's playing Art on Lark this weekend around 3 pm.

Bonus: Phantogram, in an interview with Filter, on some of their aspirations for the future: "It would be awesome to have our music paired with a film from Michel Gondry, David Lynch, Danny Boyle, Spike Jonze or Wes Anderson."

Small world: the NY Lotto meets Phantogram

Update June 5: We got word this week from a rep for one of the production companies involved with the spot that the :45 version wasn't supposed to be released, yet. And as you can see below, that version has been removed from YouTube. The user who had posted it has since posted the :30 version -- which does not include Phantogram's music.

The video above is embedded from a different source.

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Phantogram's music has always sounded like it could pop up in commercials and movies -- and now it has.

The clip embedded above is a new TV spot for the New York Lottery (it's titled "Small World"). The Michel Gondry-like imagery is by uber ad firm DDB and director Ne-o; the music is by Phantogram. The spot uses a loop from "Mouthful of Diamonds."

We heard about this via a (response to a) tweet from @guero518 -- and it sounds like Josh and Sarah did, too. Odd.

Next up for Phantogram: a handful of (sold out) shows out with The xx and Metric.

This post has been edited -- we heard that the production house originally credited for the spot was... incorrectly credited.