Don Giovanni Records Showcase 2011

Jersey label Don Giovanni Records will present their 4th annual showcase on Feb. 11 at a TBA venue featuring headliner Lemuria and Feb. 12 at Music Hall of Williamsburg featuring headliner Screaming Females (tickets on sale Friday at noon). Screaming Females have already opened for Throwing Muses, Dinosaur Jr, Jay Reatard, and most recently the Pains of Being Pure at Heart at Music Hall, so it's nice that they're headlining almost two years since the Muses gig. With two new signings, Big Eyes and Laura Stevenson & the Cans, it was no surprise they'd appear on the shows. All these bands have news and recent releases, so here is the low down.

Day 1: The Steinways is releasing a singles collection LP on the label and with Alive Records. The Measure (SA) have released a new album on No Idea Records called "Notes." Black Wine is releasing a 3-song 7'' called Dark Energy. Full of Fancy released their new collection called Liquid Nature+Singles. And finally, Big Eyes have a 7'' demo out on Evil Weevil and are releasing a 7'' single soon with plans to record a full LP in May.

Day 2: Screaming Females released a Singles EP and Castle Talk LP. Laura Stevenson and the Cans is in the studio working on a new album. Lemuria is releasing a new album called Pebble on Jan. 11 through Bridge Nine Records. Shellshag released a new album called Rumours...And Byrds of Paradise is releasing a new album called Teenage Symphonies on Jan. 11.

Friday, February 11, 2011
@ Venue TBA after New Year's
The Steinways
The Measure (SA)
Black Wine
Full of Fancy
Big Eyes
7:00 $7

Saturday, February 12, 2011
@ Music Hall of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY
Screaming Females
Laura Stevenson & The Cans
Shellshag
Lemuria
Byrds of Paradise
7:00 $10 in advance/$12 at the door

Laura Stevenson & the Cans sign to Don Giovanni Records

Brooklyn's Laura Stevenson and the Cans have signed with Don Giovanni Records.

If you don't know them yet, Laura Stevenson got her start as a pick-up player in the Long Island punk rock collective Bomb The Music Industry. During her tenure, Stevenson began privately composing songs on the softer side of indie rock and traditional folk. With the addition of Mike Cambell and Alex Billig began playing out as Laura Stevenson and the Cans. Their first full-length LP A Record  is a available in the pay what you want format from Quote Unquote Records as well as on CD and LP on Asian Man Records. The band has toured the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Western Europe for the better part of the past year. [via Don Giovanni Records]

Check out a review from a show Laura Stevenson and Co. played in New Brunswick earlier this year.

Live Review: Laura Stevenson & the Cans in New Brunswick, NJ 3-26-10

By Zandra Ruiz

Laura Stevenson doesn’t look like someone who would command the attention of an entire room, much less a basement packed to the brim with sweaty college kids. That’s exactly what she did, though- held our focus, played with it, kept us rapt and on the toes of our dirty sneakers.

I shouldn’t be shocked. It’s no surprise that she’s talented, but to actually hear her voice in person blew me away. She’s incomparable to any singer-songwriter I know of. Who else holds such tenuous notes, weaves through delicate structures, and manages to be both strong and gentle at the same time?

I don’t have an apt adjective to describe her. She played with the Cans, a full band including a trombone and trumpet, and was still able to be distinct. Although she played mostly new songs (a few favorites include “Mouthbreather” and  “Halloween”), she kept, at all times, our attention.