Tag: The Dirty Nil

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Video: The Dirty Nil, Wrestle Yü To Hüsker Dü

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So before I started this post I skimmed back through all of my previous posts about The Dirty Nil (scrappy little band of my heart, Frozen North division) just to make sure I wasn’t about to tell the same story for the third time, and here’s what I realized: I maybe haven’t told enough stories.

A side effect of following a band’s career for a while is you get to watch them evolve and grow. The first time I saw The Dirty Nil was their first New York show, at Glasslands in 2013. It was December (and freezing) and also, like, a Wednesday, so their crowd amounted to me and four other people (all dudes) over 35 stomp-swaying (mostly swaying) appreciatively. Still, they did their best to blow the roof off.

My gut reaction was Oh yeah, this is the good stuff and Where is their pit? They need a pit.

(Answer: At home in Toronto, where from what I can tell from the internet, their shows are glorious chaos, as they should be.)

I’ve since seen them at a tiny filthy punk club and Warped Tour, with larger crowds for each excursion, and not only is everyone … Continue reading

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2015: A Year in Pictures

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Hello, darlings. I hope you are having excellent holidays, or at least excellent days.

Normally this feature is just a year’s worth of shows – or a year and a bit – but I’m doing something a little different this time around. 2015 has been amazing, at times, and brutal, at others, and as I uploaded my images, it occurred to me that some of the silences had as much of an impact as the instances of joyful noise.

So, here it is: a year of pictures of rockstars, and some other things, too.

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Book of Love, Terminal 5, New York, NY, Dec. 31, 2014

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Andy Bell, Erasure, Terminal 5, New York, NY, Dec. 31, 2014

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Kennedy (tuxedo) and Nikita (fluffball), dozing, New York, NY, Jan. 17, 2015

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Nikita, 2001-Feb. 16, 2015

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Kennedy, Feb. 28, 2015

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The Dirty Nil, No Weaknesses

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The Dirty Nil (scrappy little band of my heart, Frozen North division) have been busy lately. First they went out on Warped Tour for the summer, which is not so much as tour as it is an endurance test, and now they are releasing more new music. The first single out of the gate is No Weaknesses, below – a cover of Fugazi’s Provisional is the B-side – and there’s a full record coming early next year. I’m super excited and looking forward to all of it.

Previously on NTSIB, with The Dirty Nil: Luke Bentham talks A Good Read, A Good Listen and a Good Drink.

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Canadian Music Week: A Good Read A Good Listen and a Good Drink: Luke Bentham, The Dirty Nil

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It’s a simple yet sublime pleasure, and just thinking about it can make you feel a little calmer, a little more content. Imagine: You bring out one of the good rocks glasses (or your favorite mug or a special occasion tea cup) and pour a couple fingers of amber liquid (or something dark and strong or just some whole milk). You drop the needle on the jazz platter (or pull up a blues album on your mp3 player or dig out that mixtape from college). Ensconcing yourself in the coziest seat in the house, you crack the spine on a classic (or find your place in that sci-fi paperback or pull up a biography on your e-book reader). And then, you go away for a while. Ah, bliss.

In this series, some of NTSIB’s friends share beloved albums, books and drinks to recommend or inspire.

A Good Read normally happens on Fridays, but this week we’re having a Very Special Monday Presentation. In the spotlight today are The Dirty Nil, of Hamilton, Ontario, who have some very exciting plans this summer: they’re headed out on their first Warped Tour.

If you have not already had the pleasure of … Continue reading

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Tour Alert: The Dirty Nil

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Dig out your best dancing boots, ladies and gentlemen, because The Dirty Nil are headed out on tour.

They’re from Toronto, and they are, seriously, just the best. Grab a beverage of your choice, wriggle up to the barricade and get ready to sing with them and/or bang your head.

Nil Summer Tour Poster

This is their latest single:

This is another awesome song:

Little Metal Baby Fist by The Dirty Nil

For more updates: Official Facebook.

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Postcards from the Pit: The Dirty Nil / Weird Womb / Phone Home, Shea Stadium Brooklyn, 2/20/14

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Ok, so first I have explain the venue. Shea Stadium Brooklyn is, uh, not the ballpark, which used to be a few miles north in Queens, until it was demolished in 2009. It’s actually the opposite of a stadium: one cozy room with comfortable couches scattered around the edges and affordable drinks. The vibe is very punk-rock clubhouse, largely because that is what it is; it was founded by members of the SoSoGlos, also in 2009. It’s also unlike other venues in that every performance is recorded and made available on the internet for free. The process takes about a week, so if you’d like to hear the show I went to, check their website this weekend.

Now, onwards to the show. Note: the one thing Shea Stadium Brooklyn does not have is strong stage lights. So some of these postcards are very blurry postcards.

Phone Home was first, and they played what I can only describe as a torrent of heavy jammy-psychedelic noise. If you clicked on that link back there, and I encourage you to do so, know that they are 200% louder and more viscerally intense live. Here they are in action:
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2013: A Year in Pictures

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A full year of rock ‘n’ roll pictures, January to December, New York to Boston to Philadelphia to Brooklyn. They might not be the best pictures ever, but they are mine.

Magic Trick, Webster Hall, New York, NY, January 14, 2013
 

Father John Misty, Webster Hall, New York, NY, January 14, 2013
 

Wildstreet, Best Buy Theater, New York, NY, January 24, 2013
 

William Control, Best Buy Theater, New York, NY, January 24, 2013
 

Andy Biersack, Black Veil Brides, Best Buy Theater, New York, NY, January 24, 2013
 

Andy Biersack, Black Veil Brides, Best Buy Theater, New York, NY, January 24, 2013
 

Ashley Purdy, Black Veil Brides, Best Buy Theater, New York, NY, January 24, 2013
 

Jake Pitts and Jinxx, Black Veil Brides, Best Buy Theater, New York, NY, January 24, 2013
 

Jinxx, Black Veil Brides, Best Buy Theater, New York, NY, January 24, 2013
 

Pete Wentz book signing, New York, NY, February 21, … Continue reading

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Video: The Dirty Nil, Nicotine

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Okay so this video for Nicotine by The Dirty Nil isn’t scary, but it does explore extraterrestrial themes.

To properly enjoy it, first consider the following:

What if –
1) We made contact with aliens
2) Some of them were human-shaped
3) They would consent to get romantically involved with humans
4) One of those alien-human relationships went horrendously wrong
5) What would it look like if they ended up on a future equivalent of the Jerry Springer show?

Ok. Ready? Turn your speakers up and press play.

 
The Dirty Nil – Nicotine (Official Video)The Dirty Nil - Nicotine (Official Video)
Watch this video on YouTube
 

Nicotine is from Smite, due in January 2014.

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The Dirty Nil, Summer Mix Tape Vol. 2: Covers

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The Dirty Nil have a present for you, darlings. It’s an EP of covers and it is pay-what-you-want until the end of the summer, by which they mean the fall solstice. Digital only, though, unless you find yourself at one of their shows, where you might be able to buy it on cassette.

I’ve picked two of the four songs to share with y’all today.

First is Game of Pricks (original by: Guided by Voices), to which they add some fuzzy depth, or maybe warmth, or possibly both depth and warmth. In any case, I liked it.
 
Summer Mix-Tape Vol. 2: Covers by The Dirty Nil
 
And then there is Mama Tried (original by: Merle Haggard) which I listened to and then sent them an email that contained at least eight exclamation points. And even that was not really enough to properly express my joy.

I have, in all seriousness, been longing for a punk cover of this tune for several … Continue reading

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The Dirty Nil/Northern Primitive Split 7″

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The Dirty Nil/Northern Primitive Split 7"

 

The Dirty Nil, who appeal to our never-ending love of loud, have a new single out. This time around, they’ve gone in on a split 7″ with their friends Northern Primitive. The single is available digitally and on vinyl.

Check out a video of the bands playing both songs of the split – “Positive Bondar” and “Zombie Eyed” – in, as the band says, “the coldest barn in the history of barns”.

 

The Dirty Nil @ Bandcamp

The Dirty Nil @ Tumblr

The Dirty Nil @ Twitter

The Dirty Nil @ Facebook

Northern Primitive @ Bandcamp

Northern Primitive @ Tumblr

Northern Primitive @ Twitter

Northern Primitive @ Facebook

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