Iman Lababedi

I assume Taylor Swift can fill Metlife a couple of times, that’s not the question. The question is can she play it? If she can she will be the female Springsteen in waiting.

I Need Lunch – The Dead Boys – They coined a word for nasty dead boys like Stiv: MISOGYNISTS, and this holla to the zipless fuck has improved with time before now it is not only nasty, it is also wrong – Grade: B+

The buzz on My Morning Jacket’s lead singer Jim James is getting pretty deafening, mostly because the first single, an electronic r&b beauty, better than anything he’s done since “Evil Urges” has all of us were huge fans now less so, excited again

I didn’t like 90% of Tomlin’s Christian Contemporary rock album, but a coupla songs got thru my defenses. In the world Of Christian music, this breaks pop because it sounds pop. Hollywood Undead are repaid for a decade of touring… or was that on American Tragedy?

# 2 and # 3 are both true indies and what has become clear in 2013 is that bands can break without major label distribution though it isn’t remotely easy. Indeed, it is the equivalent of winning the lottery. Despite all the hard work behind, there is a huge element of dumb luck.

Sweet Tooth – Teena Marie – From the best album of 2013 (so far), an old fashioned metaphor with a sexy Lil Kim sounding rap, a great back beat and organic orchestration… and a little French for taste. Touche Ole – Grade: A

We missed the February 2009 New Line On The Horizon (rock nyc started in April 2009) and I feel terrible about all the sneering, snotty posts I didn’t write. Cmon guys, release the album now this minute!!!

The Greatest Albums of all time don’t change all that much in my book, one gets in, one goes out, but Presley and the Beatles tend to battle for second place and Hendrix always wins first place. In the end, there is no rock music as we know it without Hendrix and if that didn’t make the album important enough, it was a pop music move at the time and remains a slice of history and a stab of pop.

Slide – Jake Bugg – What Jake can do it, which isn’t at first visible, is nail a metaphor. Here he compares a bad romance with sliding on a frozen sea. Not a bad concept. On stage, this was the highlight of his show. A powerful encore with the sort of vocal, rich and full of feeling, he didn’t seem to bother with the rest of the night – Grade: B+

OK, Karen O is cool enough and I wanna see em live which I never have because last time they played I had a tix to see Costello filming that talk show of his and blew off KO for EC. A mistake sincethe filming went on for bloody years and Costello was about as boring a bastard as you’d ever wish to listen to and nearly as lousy an interviewer as I was with poor ol’ People Get Ready.

Close Chorus – A Sunny Day In Glasgow – The revolving harmonies on the top of this songs are so lovely, the melody starts large and keeps growing till the song is getting engulfed and the two voices go into counterpoint, as they sing solo then join together there is a disquiet very feminine sense of anthem – Grade: A-

I grew to love Cohen over the past four years and am ready to try it again and admit my sins. At the scene of the crime, Radio City Music Hall, on April 6th.

No doubt at all the A$AP Rocky, Chris Owens, Yo La Tengo and Free Energy albums are all biggies, the biggest of them all is the release of the late and truly lamented Teena Marie, who died at 54 years old and whose 14th album, which was working on it at the time of her death, will be released.

What Goes Round/…Comes Around -Interlude – Justin Timberlake – Sure I was at MSG when they filmed the HBO Special, with my niece Hyam, and we were both stunned by Timberlake’s performance. Especially his dancing… nah, especially this terrific song performed at the piano – Grade: A+

From small things, baby, Bowie took three albums to get his bearings but once he did, with album # 4. it was a great ride of pop music changing sound for a decade where Bowie was the greatest rock and roll star of all time. Then two things happened, punk and a pop star superstar lull from which he never got back his bearings. In 2003 Bowie retired and early last week he released a new song. Buckle down Bowie fans, it’s gonna be a bumpy ride

Spider Bags Dan McGee promised me a concert last September at MHOW… never happened. Then Songkick announced a gig at Union 251, but their basement got flooded. And then the band switched this gig from Saturday to Friday though luckily I don’t care so here, FINALLY, the makes of Shake My Head -2012’s best album, live on stage on Friday at Cameo Galley in Brooklyn.: IT’S SPIDER BAG

Sure “Next To Me” is a great song, but it aint that great but let’s forget about that and point to our buddies in Black Veil Brides, interviewed here some three years ago now, and now firmly ensconced in the Brit Top 10! Makes us feel (self) important… or at least prescient.

The Rihanna piano based ballad off the latest album “Stay”, simulates longing with the best of them and the Calvin Harris track won’t be released as a single Stateside because Tinie Tempeh can’t seem to crossover the Atlantic.

Shower The People – James Taylor – Though a hit in 1976, it’s second life as an anthem is precisely what Taylor does best: he allows time to catch up with his songs and change in a song from a mid tempo guitar based pop song to a feel good singalong – Grade: B

Yo La Tengo are gonna be roaring back with Fade when it is released later this year and the first song off the album is guitar hydraulics as folk rock and very near perfect. Fantasia ain’t bad either. The Owens album is gonna be really really big.

Released six months ago in Europe and headed late on the hels of the excellent “Vegas Girl”, this is Pharrel’s attempt to find a new Justin Bieber up to discovering Conor on Youtube. And it is not unsuccesful electronic pop music either, though the definition of nondescript. A handful of tracks, “Animal” and the hyper ballad “Glass Girl” among them, should get the job done. And the album is abpout as interesting as this review: Grade: B-

I’ll Go Home With Bobby Jean – Gene Kelly And John Gustafson – And Van Johnson, ripping up this Lerner And Lowe classic to the morning of a marriage (conceptually not a million miles away from “girls come and kiss me, tell me you’ll miss me”) from “Brigadoon”. A Vincent Minnelli disaster of epic proportions that survives as both gilded and bright and shallow and dark. The song is a blast – Grade: A-

If you haven’t see the man on stage do treat yourself to the fine tuned sound merchant, he is so supremely confident and such a charmer on stage it is a consistent shock he is at the Iridium and not at Carnegie Hall.

Winner – David Bowie – In a move that took the world by surprise, David Bowie released a new single from an upcoming album and reclaimed his position as, at the very least, one of the greatest self promoters of all time! The song itself is depressing Bowie schtick with a powerful ending and after a little hastle with the UK charts it will be entering em at #1… unless britney beats him.

Intro – The XX – Made them stars and it is easy to see why, there is a sort of pragmatic darkness to their music, like it only lifts its head above water to nod it from time to time and still there is a still loveliness to it. Like staring at the dead sea in a sun so light it is blinding you – Grade: B+

No more prevaricating, the bet is Solange brings it on this high profile concert and later this you when the True EP becomes an album, my bet is it will be revealed as better than the shrugs I’ve been giving it.

Five absolute must see concerts and only one me? It happens from time to time, you just get completely killed with choices and start getting out maps and timetables to see how many you can make. I think I can make two, so here are my choices for the person on the move.

Perhaps the real answer to the question of distribution, as shown by the effect of Amazons sales on the charts, is killing the price of a digital album from $12.99 to $6.99, or even an even five bucks across the board. If streaming is really encroaching on the business, perhaps that will keep em at bay, raise profiles, sales, and ticket sales.

I keep claiming Will hasn’t had a solo hit but he was behind Usher’s “OMG” and this is indeed, his third hit. Let’s say he hasn’t had a hit in awhile. Neither has Britney who just quit X Factor and probablky still doesn’t need the money.

This Is The Army, Mr. Jones – Irving Berlin – Once the US joined WW2, Irving Berlin got to work and maybe no better than he did here: it is indeed, a sort of a dream of war, a sort of changing of life priorities: “This is the army, Mr. Brown, you and your baby went to town, she had you worried butthis is war and she won’t worry you any more”. Sorta death as final solution – Grade: A+

All there is on Lodger is “Boys Keep Swinging” and that is no “Always Crashing In The Same Car” now is it? Don’t let time rob you of your Bowie… when I get a minute I will review em all for you and you can judge for yourself. His best song in the past 30 years was a cover of Jonathan Richman’s “Pablo Picasso”!

When it comes to Metlife, it is pretty obviously that NJ sons E Street Band are playing the Giants to Bon Jovi’s Jets, BUT, as Herman Edwards almost put it: you play the Stadium concert to see who wins. My bet? Bon Jovi take Bruce down

God’s Great Dance Floor – Chris Tomlin – The difference between Christian and Gospel Contemporary is that Christian tends to be facsimiles of AOR and Gospel remains Gospel… with exceptions. While I was hoping for dance, this track has a God given lick and a smart smart lyric building nicely to a cathartic ending ) – Grade: A-

“Pitch Perfect” is fun, just light enough, and always building to find musical scenes where the bands mash up current hits and perform them a capella.

So while I wouldn’t drop Maroon 5 (playing February 16th as well ) for Yo La Tengo… for Lulu Kennedy-Cairns, OBE, there is zero option. I might be able to dash to MSG and catch the last hour of Adam Levine but no, Lulu must be seen. The only question is why BB Kings? why not Radio City?