7/28/10- Amazing finale to this season's Anti-Idol at the Antihoot last night at Webster Hall! Six fantastic finalists competed at the end of the night for the free recording time at Webster Studios and the suspense was high as to which act was the winner. All six acts were wonderful: Tyler, Crazy and The Brains, Rob Shapiro, Supercute, The Fools and Cal Folger Day. With the packed room stamping and cheering the judge's (Lach, Brook Pridemore and Somer) called an impromptu meeting of the acts and a huddle formed around the soundboard. Then the acts sat back down and Lach announced that the rules were thrown out the window and all six acts would be allowed to record and that an Anti-Idol compilation CD would be made featuring all the finalists! In addition, Webster will print up 100 copies of the CDs to give to the acts and that the acts could also use the recordings for future projects if they wish. Talk about a win-win situation! Congrats to everyone involved, a big shout-out to everyone who attended the history making first season of Lach's Antihoot at Webster Hall and we'll see you all in September. (ed note: wait, what? a whole month with no Antifolk? Don't fret dear reader, The Summer Antifolk Fest will be in full swing in August at Sidewalk Cafe, NYC and Lach's Antihoot will be shipped lock, stock and barrel for the summer over to The Gilded Balloon in Edinburgh, Scotland for the World's largest Arts Fest, The Fringe!)

7/8/10- Congrats to Supercute for becoming last week's semi-finalist to be the Anti-Idol of the summer and winning the weekly prize of $100!

7/3/10- Congrats to Tyler for becoming last week's semi-finalist to be the Anti-Idol of the summer and winning the weekly prize of $100!

Only one more week to go. Come by this Tues July 14th for your last chance to become a semi-finalist, win $100 and go on to the finals where you can win free studio time with producer and engineer! 6/27/10- The Antihoot's Anti-Idol game is going great! The crowds have doubled in size and we already have four amazing semi-finalists: Rob Shapiro, Cal Folger Day, Crazy and The Brains, Gabrielle. They've all won $100 each and will compete for a recording deal in our finals at The Antihoot on July 27th. You still have three more weeks to win yourself! See you at da hooooot!

6/18/10- Ben Krieger at Sidewalk Cafe has announced the dates for their Antifolk Festival as being Aug.3-13. Plan accordingly :-)

6/14/10-Jeffrey Lewis and Laura Marling cover Eminem.

6/11/10-
(L-R) Eddie Izzard, Lach and Mike Myers enjoying the night at "Lach Presents..." at Webster Hall.

6/10/10- Great new video from Thomas Truax

5/29/10-Lach's Antihoot, NYC's longest running open stage, happens every Tuesday Night in The Marlin Room at Webster Hall (125 East 11th Str, NYC). Launching pad for such artists as Beck, Regina Spektor, The Moldy Peaches, Jeffrey Lewis, Rick Shapiro and hundreds more. Are you next? As much fun to perform as it is to watch. The Antihoot now includes the Anti-Idol contest. Each week a semi-finalist is chosen and they will win $100! After eight weeks, at the Antihoot on July 27, they will compete for the final prize of a recording deal with Webster Hall (studio time in Webster's recording studio with a professional engineer/producer and the manufacturing of 100 CDs!). Judge's decision is influenced by audience acclaim so bring your friends and fans to cheer you on! Doors at 7pm. Sign-up to perform at 7:30pm, show at 8pm. No cover, 2 drink minimum and 3rd drink is free! $3 beer/ $3 whiskey.

When: Every Tuesday night. Doors at 7pm. Sign-up at 7:30pm. Show at 8pm.

Plus: Free to get in! 2 drink minimum and 3rd drink is free!

5/21/10- An episode of Lach's Antihoot Radio Hour is now up on our jukebox! 5/13/10- At the last Antihoot at Webster Michelle Shocked showed up and jumped up on stage with Lach for a rendition of The Edie Effect from Lach's first album and the Velvet Underground's Femme Fatale. The week before Adam Green came by and charmed the crowd with two songs and introduced us to The Shining Twins. Can't wait to see what happens this Tuesday...

5/10/10- New Soft Black video premieres today!

5/6/10- Last night at Lach Presents...in The Marlin Room at Webster Hall: Sander Hicks announced his candidacy for the Green Party's nomination to the US Senate with a speech from the stage. Macaulay Culkin, Dibs, Dashan and Kirk Kelly spotted in the crowd. Alana Sveta discovered and booked straight from the weekly Tuesday Night Antihoot mesmerized the late-night crowd with a beautiful, hypnotic set. Next week sees the return of Joie Blaney (AKA Joie Dead Blonde Girlfriend) to the New York stage at Webster on May 12th along with fellow Antifolk stalwarts Lenny Molotov, Greg D and the mysterious Churchill Downs

5/5/10- Wow, what an amazing Antihoot last night in the Marlin Room at Webster Hall! Over 100 people came by to hang out, perform and have fun. I dug all the performances but a few stand-outs to my brain-of-very-little-sleep include Rob Shapiro's hilarious diatribe, Adam Green's set, Da Skufz getting the crowd joint jumpin', The Antihoot debut of The Shining Twins, Pezzettino's stomping accordion set (she's fresh in NYC for only two days but I got a vibe she's gonna have a great summer here!), Toby Goodshank's short and sweet song, Tommy Volume of The Star Spangles Lou Reed-like number...oh man and dozens of other great acts and moments...oh yeah, the light saber martial arts demo by Dark Cthulu! Tonight, Wednesday Marlin has 6 acts for 5 bucks. Look at our calendar on this page for the line-up and we'll see you tonight!

5/1/10- On Wednesday May 5th at 8PM Sander Hicks will announce his Green Party candidacy for the NY Senate at his show this week at Lach Presents....at Webster Hall. Other clubs profess revolution, we do it!

4/20/10- So, how many of you have gotten your heads wrapped around the fact that Antifolk now has a home at NYC's largest, longest running, live rock and roll music venue - Webster Hall? Every Tuesday night is Lach's infamous Antihoot open stage with sign-up at 7:30pm and every Wednesday night Lach Presents...5 acts for 5 Bucks! This is Antifolk on steroids! The roof just came off and this beanstalk's shooting past the clouds, hop on, it's a wild ride!

One of the best columns we've read recently on Antifolk...and in Pitchfork!?! (ed. note: who's James Murphy? We never got his demo...)

4/18/10- Adam Green interviewed in Cleveland Scene

4/10/10 - The NYC debut of Lach's One-Man Show The Day I Went Insane has been announced for Wed. April 21st at 11pm at Webster Hall in NYC.

4/8/10- Malcolm McLaren has died. Malcolm's style and energy as manager of The Sex Pistols was a big influence on what became the Antifolk scene. We will miss him.

4/5/10 Nice write-up on the new Antifolk scene at Webster Hall in The New Yorker. So classy! Um, a few corrections though: It's the Antihoot, not the Anithoot. It started in 1984 and arrived at Sidewalk fully-developed in 1992. It was on Mondays at Sidewalk not Tuesdays. It attracted over 200 people a night on average not 60 and it's already doing quite well in the bigger room at Webster. Other than that at least they spelled Lach's name right and we love the New Yorker! When is the Antifolk cartoon issue with David Chelsea, Jeffrey Lewis, Fly, Leah Hayes and Toby Goodshank coming out?

4/4/10- New interview with Lach in indiesoundsny.com

3/25/10 - Spotted at the last two Antihoots at Webster: Jason Trachtenberg, Randi Russo, The Debutante Hour, Master Lee, Rob Shapiro, The Fools, Debi Dalton, Crazy and The Brains, JJ Hayes, Lorraine Leckie, Timothy Dark, Chris Maher, Larkin Grimm, Steve Espinola, Cal Folger Day, Mr. Patrick, Ariel, Touching You, Joe Crow Ryan, Don McCloskey, Birds of Prey, Anna Haas and scores upon scores more. Don't miss it! Lach's Antihoot every Tuesday night at Webster Hall!

3/21/10- Happy Spring everyone. A time for new beginnings is upon us. Easter and Passover respectively celebrating rebirth and liberation! The perfect time to come out this week to Webster Hall (125 East 11th street, NYC) for the official opening night of Lach's Antihoot. Doors at 7pm, sign-up at 7:30pm if you want to perform, show starts at 8pm and goes all night long. At last week's 'soft launch' of the Antihoot we had an amazing time. Everyone kept describing it as a dream, as being surreal and walking around with huge grins on their faces. Time-out NY made us a pick-hit for this week, 'East Village staple Lach personifies the antifolk scene with his jangly, funny pop-punk songs. Tonight he hosts an antifolk open-mike night, which restricts performers to (very) brief sets; good for those with short attention spans. This series ran for years at Sidewalk Cafe, and tonight debuts at Webster Hall's new Marlin Room.'
And then on Wednesday, March 24th at Webster is the premiere launch party for the new weekly series entitled "Lach Presents...". Every week you can see 5 acts for 5 bucks in the beautiful Marlin room at Webster. This week on the 24th we hit it with The Fools, Chink Floyd, Ching Chong Song, Rav Shmuel and Don McCloskey

3/17/10-From the Herblog:

Lach's Antihoot got off to a new start last night at Webster Hall. I wandered up about 7:20 or so and saw some familiar faces outside, Debe Dalton chiefly among them. The room inside is large and kind of slick, with comfortable places to sit. There's a stage with a cool back drop that looks like a big wrought iron fan--a kind of Art Deco look. Lach is stationed behind plexiglass partitions in a booth at the back of the room. There's a large bar to the left of the stage. Leading into the main room is a side room that I have a feeling will become like the Sidewalk basement, a place to hang out, practice, chat. While hanging around before things got going, I had this disorienting moment from encountering Lach as Antihoot host in a new setting. After all, the pattern and rhythms of the Sidewalk open mic nights hosted by Lach had grown so familiar over the years.

The crowd was kind of slow to build and Lach delayed sign up a little. Unfortunately I had to leave for a while and so wasn't there for the evening's kick-off, but from what I heard it was pretty much as usual with Lach explaining the ropes of how the evening works. I came back later in the night and somehow things felt more familiar. Bernard was hanging around and people were singing their hearts out on stage.

It seemed to be a kind of quiet kick-off for the Antihoot. There were any number of folks from Sidewalk there: Master Lee and Mr. Patrick, Steve Espinola, Vin, Charles Mansfield, Don Cameron, Rick Shapiro. There also were other performers who seemed new to the scene, who somehow found out about the Antihoot, and there was also a group of mysterious folks in darkened areas along the wall who were hanging out. But the large room made it feel as if it was a little sparsely populated. The new event probably does need some time before it catches on but I have no doubt it will.

As usual, even in the brief time I was there, I heard some really interesting music, some of it from folks I wasn't at all familiar with. Is there a bottomless source of people in New York needing to express themselves? It seems so. The greatness of open mics is the opportunity given to anyone who has the urge, the drive, the desire to tell the world how they feel. Even with Lach back as host, this one will probably take on a character that's different than what came before. So, let's say welcome to the new Antihoot, and thanks for providing us a stage.

3/11/10 - The Fools added to jukebox. Catch The Fools on the opening night of "Lach Presents...at Webster Hall" on March 24th along with Chink Floyd, Ching Chong Song, Rav Shmuel and Don McCloskey

3/9/10- Trevor Jude Smith added to the artist pages and the jukebox.

3/8/10- The Return of The Antihoot hits the news at altsounds.com

3/7/10- RANT FROM THE EDITOR: OK here it is. Spring is around the corner. The Antihoot is coming to Webster's Hall. Antifolk is blooming all over the world (again!) and a lot of people are jumping on the bandwagon. They are adding "Antifolk" to their music resumes as a marketing tool along with twitter, facebook, and myspace. They feel the need to be everywhere at once and part of anything that might possibly help them get three more people to a gig or the attention of the music programming director for Grey's Anatomy. The phrase "chill out, it's all good" was actually overheard at an Antifolk event! Enough's enough. It's NOT all good. Some stuff is fucking amazing and some stuff suck's Woody Guthrie's balls. How can an artist grow in an environment like that? The scene was never about a cloying passive-aggressive acceptance of everybody so no one gets offended and everybody wins. You want that go join a San Francisco Little League team. Artists, true artists, need and thrive in a community of like-minded peers who are critical, competitive and supportive. But they are supportive out of a desire to experience better art not out of a fear of personal rejection or failure or being left behind.
To be an Antifolker takes more than just using the word as your genre descriptor next to indie, quirky and guitar-driven. It means hanging out at the Antihoot 'til dawn because your heart is burning to be part of the song of night, it's about owning a vast collection of Antifolk CDs,it's about going to an Antifolk event not just because your friend is playing and you want them to come to your gig too but because you've been to them before and had your mind shredded and opened up to a new way of approaching art and entertainment. You can't call yourself "folky" and expect an artist page on antifolk.net. We are NOT folky! Go play on the freak folk site or buy a ticket to the Folk Alliance to listen to Gordon Lightfoot wannabes and don't waste our time anymore.
On our end of things, we apologize, we've gotten a little lazy while pulling up our chair to the lip of the apocalypse. We allowed artist pages up on the site without really vetting them and as we started to review them over the past week we found they had NO MENTION of Antifolk on their sites. That no-one has seen them actually hanging out at Sidewalk's open stage, that they couldn't name a Debi Dalton song if you paid them.
Over the next few weeks we will be deleting those artist pages that are from artists that are not really committed to calling themselves Antifolk. It's OK, they probably won't notice anyway.

3/6/10- Darwin Deez has a wonderful new video

2/27/10 - OK, this is big. Really. Really Big. Lach's Antihoot is back but at a new venue on a new night. Starting on Tuesday Night March 16th (and every Tuesday thereafter) Lach will be hosting The Antihoot in the Marlin Room at Webster Hall (125 East 11th Street, NYC), sign-up at 7pm to perform. There will be no cover charge and no drink minimum. There will be a piano, full bar and coffee drinks available. We'll get you more details as they become available but, for now, mark your calendars for Tuesday March 16th...The Return of Lach's Antihoot!

2/21/10 - Ray Brown added to artist pages.

2/20/10- This Just In: Lach will bring the infamous Antihoot back to Sidewalk Cafe for one night only this coming Monday night (Feb.22) to give Ben Krieger a well-deserved respite. Sign-up to perform is at 7:30pm, chamomile campfire sometime after 2am.

2/20/10- It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Antifolker Gena Dry. Gena arrived to the NYC scene in early 2000 from the UK and brought with her a vitality and sassiness that quickly endeared her to the Antifolk community. She will be missed.

2/20/10-Adam Green fashion tips

2/19/10- Cal Folger Day added to artist pages.

2/19/10-Antifolk Fest, Live, February 18, 2010
Blurple is the type of act we need more of around here. Kind of weird avant gardy stuff They even had a song called Avant Schmavant Garde Schmant, or something like that. Another of their ditties elucidated the steps for making grilled cheese, and yet another featured a sort of chant of the lyrics: "Hey Kids, Don't You Smoke, Hey Kids You Will Choke. Blurple consisted of a guy who mostly played acoustic guitar but also played the piano with his foot on one song and a girl who played a variety of things including a hollowed out gourd whistle. Somehow Blurple, I think, came from a combination of the names of the two members of the group. - Herb Scher

2/18/10- Annie Crane added to artist pages and jukebox.

At Sidewalk's Antifolk Festival last night we caught JJ Hayes doing his TS Eliot meets The Doors set last night as well as Joe Crow Ryan's beautiful off-the-cuff acapela version of 'September Song' and The Telethons' punked-out power-pop set and were instantly reminded of how the diversity and eclecticism of Antifolk still thrills us and confounds the critics. Perfecto.

Hank and Pigeon added to artist pages and jukebox.

2/17/10-
Antifolk Fest, February 16, 2010 - By Herb Scher

Jeff Lewis: Jeff started off with a new song...it was about trading time...essentially it was about how to be great, how to use the time you have to learn something new, unique....
He also did covers of three songs from the 1950s: "Endless Sleep" by Jody Reynolds and the Storm, The Fang, by Nervous Norvus, and a Tom Lehrer song about when we all die.
Another new one was a song about green sludge. Yes, it was about something called "Crongu" the best green sludge around. (I'm not really sure if that is how you spell "Crongu" by the way. Could be Krongu or Crongoo or Crongue etc.
Jeff also performed one of his documentary films, a new one about the fall of the Roman Empire.
As usual Jeff's set was rich with compelling and interesting material. It had at least three new pieces and three covers I'd never heard him play before. That's a lot of new material and a lot of ideas for someone who could coast a lot more on his established "hits" if he wanted to.
Unfortunately I had to leave before hearing The Everybody Knows. Man these shows go late.

(ed. note: The Everybody Knows caused an appearance of the police due to noise problems...now that's folk!)

2/16/10-Roger Manning added to the artist section

2/15/10- Crazy and The Brains added to the artist section and the jukebox!

2/6/10- What's old is new again. It's funny how Antifolk is constantly the 'new thing'...for 25 years! 1/13/10- For those in the know Jessica Kane is an amazing performer and was a shining light of the Antifolk scene for a few years at The Fort at Sidewalk Cafe. It is to our delight that she's back with a brilliant album collecting her spoken word rambles. Check it out for free at her site.

12/23/09- Jeff Lewis and Kimya join forces for a new album as The Bundles.

12/21/09- New Joie Dead Blonde Girlfriend Review.

12/18/09-ALL FOLKED UP with NOWHERE TO GO?

KIRK KELLY's Go Man Go ANTIFEST at Webster Hall features Jeffrey Lewis, Lach, Jason Trachtenberg, Joe Hurley, Debe Dalton, John S. Hall, Roger Manning, Erin Regan, John Kruth, and Mike Rimbaud.

12/17/09- Wakey!Wakey! releases new album. Read about it here.

12/14/09 - A Lach interview has surfaced. Read it here

12/11/09- Five Questions for Lach from Metro UK just surfaced, thought we'd post it.

12/8/09- Review of Regina Spektor concert in UK

12/5/09- One of our fave UK Antifolk venues is closing (read about it here). We hope Ruth and the gang best of luck wherever they end up!

11/30/09- Video of Lach performing at McCabe's Guitar Shop in LA from several years back unearthed and posted in the video section (Lach plays at Sidewalk in NYC on Dec.5th)

11/25/09-New Adam Green song for free for the Antifolk.net crew :-)

11/13/09: BULLETIN FROM THE FORTIFIED STORE:

We have unearthed a few official Fortified Antifolk Fest 2006 T-Shirts! These collector items are designed by renowned artist Peter Nevins (graphic artist for Gillian Welch, Lach, Ben Godwin, Eric Wolfson!). This is it! Once these are gone, they're gone! Here is what's available (first come first served!): Ladies Tank Tops: XL, M, S and Guys: S. Please indicate which type in your order. These 100% cotton T's will sell -out fast so please order today so you won't be disappointed.