Iman Lababedi

From the folks who wrote “The Hangover” how is this for high concept? “The Hangover Goes To College”? Not bad and starring Skylar Astin, who was so good in “Pitch Perfect” as Casey

I’m not overwhelmed by Bastille, who sound like a million English bands before em so if you like that English rock and roll stuff, be my guest. Stereophonics, Welsh guys so… you know, say no more. I prefer em to Bastille but whatever.

I know for sure that Timberlake and Hova are gonna sell out Yankee Stadium Tuesday…. the question is will they add a date. And the other question is, why is the new stuff such a bummer? The Pink song with the Nate sounds an awful lot like fun. so figure this was more than just a guest star role.

Langhorne is new to me but he is a talented guy and cool as hell, but the day belongs to Karen and ELla, these two singers are all cream, all loveliness. It is a moment lost in time, and at the end they harmonize to “As Time Goes By”. See for yourself…and then the counter melodies on “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore” ahhh… see for yourself!

It sounds like she just got back from Europe where somebody stole her camera but gave her back her smile, though the smile isn’t really complete and the song is troubled, it is all journey and no arrival

What do you make of a DJ set where the headliners go on stage at 1am? On a Thursday night/Friday Morning? Not much, right? But the Le Poisson Rouge set was an immediate sell out because the DJs are Atoms For Peace Thom Yorke and Nigel Godrich. Plus apparently THERE WILL BE MICROPHONES… Finally, AMOK is a very good album so do what I did, take Friday off work.

Songs For Slim – The Replacements – ‘Mats guitarist Slim Watson had a stroke and will need full time care for the rest of his life so Tommy and Westerberg recorded a couple of songs together and drummer Chris Watson recorded a song by himself. The results are not exactly a reunion but it is as close as we are gonna get. And the Nico cover “I’m Not Sayin'”reminds you why so many people worship the band – A-

he Allmans song was the killer Friday night at the Beacon, and Kat Edmonson’s cover of the Purpke Rain track did her nothing but favors on Thursday and best of all, Boz Scaggs has even improved with age though this Elton John wannabe was plenty good back in day. As for Surfer Blood? Dig dem horns…

The Mavericks own one of the best albumss of the year and this is the best song on one of the best albums, but it is has been a quiet week for great songs and Normal Living, Nick Cave, James Blake -all these folks have been around a couple of weeks already. The newbies are from #2 to # 6.

Thurston Moore is so pretentious he named his band after phillip Glass moving company before he became famous. And Pretty Little Demons balance on the edge of precocious and don’t fall over> Otherwise, the Nash album is a little disappointing, the Raekwon is disappointing, the hendrix is growing off me, Ball died and I am not going to see Blackstreet at Best Buy.

I am pretty certain they are a couple of middle aged sots who, since no one one cares anymore, and since they are both rich and so can ignore the Public School Toffs Versus Working Yobs class wars that fueled the Brit Pop Wars of the 1990s, and note that they do, in fact, have more in common than they thought

I’ve been on a Drifters jag since listening to the Brad Paisley instant nostalgia instant song of the week or at least the immediate past, Prince? well, I bet D’Angelo sang it at Carnegie Hall last night . Pretty Little demons hole cover is a revelation. ten years old? the older member? That’s cray. And as for ten years after… I was never a huge fan but sorry to hear about Alvin Lee’s death.

If Bruno Mars wasn’t available for a buck 99 last week on Amazon, Atoms For Peace would have taken # 1. Also, if AFP had given up the album for streaming they would have probably been # 1 anyway. Otherwise, Hillsong United? As far as Christian rock bands go, they are the best not known as P.O.D. or The Devil Wears Prada.

What happened was this: hip hop got very weird musically but lyrically it is mostly the same ol’ dick waving wallet huggin stuff and so the end result is something like the new drake song: it sounds bearly mainstream but asks with the same intense sense of inflated ego that the rest of hip hop staggers under the weight of.

The second Elvis in full effect, he can’t write songs about the girl he is with crying for somebody else anymore, the Hlly cover is really good, i’ve loved olof ever since I saw her at Joe’s Pub and see no reason to stop now. Katy is a disappointment, Monroe is nothing much country and Rose is something else country.

These are intricate pop song portraitures which work whether you’re paying attention or leaving em in the background.

By dating boys so much younger than she is, Taylor has managed to remain a sort of modern times Doris Day, despite the press best attempts there is something squeaky clean about her. She even dodged the John Mayer bullet

While it is surprising that the Styne and sondheim classic can be so seamlessly added to the replacements catalog even after all these years, and surprising that both Buble and Paisley have come up with the goods on their new releases, less surprising that Yeah3 and Raekwon are good not great and not surprising at all Reznor is reforming Nine Inch nails.

I would’ve guessed that the producers made a deal with the Tourist Bureau Of Russia (we’ve all seen “Argo’ we know how it’s done) but since it insults the Russian legal system (for good reason -pace Pussy Riot, but that isn’t the point) and uses Moscow for nothing except blowing to pieces I don’t see why

Country Tuesday, right? I’ve been listening to Nesmith quite a bit, in excited anticipation of the Town Hall solo gig this April, Gram I’ve been listening to as a reminded as to what good ol’ boys should sound like and Iris as a reminder that there is a way to write about God without being a moron.

Teenage zombie falls in love! Twilight goes flesheating with a wink at the public. We would know it’s based on a book any way because of a relentlessly tedious and unfunny voiceover by Hoult, who mostly grunts in zombie state.

Maybe this isn’t a MISERABLE top ten, but really. Emili is still at # 1, Buggs (who was pretty bland on stage) is still at # 10 and Ben Howard and Ben Howard are inbetween and holding the Fort.

“Mirrors” is 8 minutes long and it is pretty good but nothing great. It ain’t that easy, Justin. Like Dylan said once, you can come back but you can’t come back all the way

How can you take these country boys seriously if you were raised on Gram Parsons? They aren’t serious guys, they just aren’t. The Bob Dylan song is one of his best of all time (though don’t bother with the Sheryl crow cover) and if you don’t believe me about the Mavs listen to Steve Crawford: “The new Mavericks album. Believe the hype. It is superb”.

I stayed around three hours and left in full rave. This will be Swedish House Mafia’s last tour, mostly because there is no good reason for the three superstars to split the bread three ways. Still, it was a great show. It renews your faith in a USA who still come to rave and love.

In Time – The Mavericks – This is the Cuban American Raul Malo’s return to his country music roots and inventing a new type of Americana where Spanish and Hawaiian music melds effortlessly into twang in song after song. Swing or salsa, mariachi or country blues it all adds together for this more than welcome reunited band. ALBUM OF THE WEEK – Grade: A

It is March Madness at the Beacon and after screwing it up the last coupla years I got a tix on the Amex presle and nabbed the Friday 8th gig. if it is half as good as when I saw em in 2010 a splendid time will be had by all as we boogie long into the night.

Of all the people I should see but keep on not seeing and haven’t see, Dizzee is up there with the Streets. In the meantime, Armand killed the track at MSG Friday. Both country songs are excellent, AFP is a very very good track, and Polyenso are absolutely one to watch.

It is like they are the last band in town writing new, young, classsic rock worth a damn, as though Normal Living are wrestling away from daughtry and Linkin Park and giving it to another generation.

– She sold out her entire UK tour in under ten minutes, riots occured where there were actually physical box offixes selling tix, the V Festival she is headlining is expected to last 20 minutes… There isn’t a ticket to be had outside of ticket brokers and she sold out barclay center 4 times or if you prefer, she sold 75,000 tickets in New York like that. with the new album in the wings and the promise of lots of hits on album # 5, which includes The-Dream all over it, plus… well you know the resume by now.

The Kate Nash has been a favorite since i heard it, the Claire’s Diary will be throwing up songs for the next couple of weeks. and Polysenso are a new find but I really love em. Still, not a great week all in all. we are in Mrch now and i am waiting for something to happen.

Costello and the Who were highlights of their respective Thursday night sets, and the song between them is from the Mavericks surprisingly excellent new album -their first since reforming in 2011 and worth the wait.