Iman Lababedi

Three tween hearthrobs in the heart of the list. Gotyea quit hit wonder -I think so but then I thought the Surthymics were one hot wonders. A new Nicki, Kelly and Katy still hanging around… and Rida. Which leaves a Canadian American Idol.

Wow, Lionel Richie, well done: see, Madonna, you can’t go around BUYING the # 1 spot, eventually people catch on. Congrats to Monica, it is a terrfic album and deserves its success.

Old And Gray – Maps And Atlases – I haven’t really heard these art damaged English hipsters before, but they have a new album, this is the lead, and it is a big song. The sort of weirdly of-melody vocal you expect from Dorty Projectors, but even catchier. Grade: A

I don’t do Festivals but i did, I’d do Wakarusa, and for all the reasons you can think of, after the Godlike Pretty Lights, I’ve gott go with the retro soul Fitz And The Tantrums.

I can imagine Prince killing it, but Frank Ocean sure can’t: Frank, doesn’t dig deep enough to nail it down. There is a reticence to his vocals, and I mentioned Drake because like Drake it is played in a minor key: there is a somberness

he has handled worldwide fame with smarts to spare. Has there been a misstep si far? I haven’t noticed it. Not only did he string his first album along for years and years, he also copped a hotter than hell rock star girlfriend. But now he gets to put all his swagger to use before The Wanted eat his lunch.

there a lot of blood and guts and it all works really, really well…. except a) it isn’t scary and b) it is hard to really give a toss about any one. Still, much better to the very similar “The Hunger Games” Ss good but nothing special

Soundtrack to the classic sequence (recently parodied by the Simpsons) like a stone skipping through the cement pond of summer. In definably Los Angeles. Except, the weather is blisterring hot in the sequence, the song is definably nyc, Paul Simon who wrote it is obviously thinking local, and Dustin Hoffman looks like half my friends here

“Try not To Cry” -a re-write of Lennon’s “I Found Out”, which is as bare faced an expression of loss, it wears its sorrow right in your face: “I try not to cry over you”? McCartney would claim it was just a little blues number, in reality it was a cry from the heart.

dangerous Method” is the story of Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung’s friendship in the early 1900s and their subsequent rift as Jung went on to delve into into the archetypes of mankind and Freud kept obsessing about sex. The Kiera Knighlly character, a sexually hysterical patient whose earliest experience was being spanked by Daddy

Plus a ton of singles, including the new Maroon 5, Timbaland and Best Coast. The White is a real sneak peak, it is playing on ITunes and I was gonna mention that there is an AMEX presale today at 12p for White at Webster Hall on the 27th

Sounds like Steely Dan in blues-jazz mode, and while it is a specific subject, it feels like a wider net. With lines like “never had to worry about the cost of living”, the fall of the characters she is listing may have something to do with the economy. Or even the blues itself. Grade: B

All too often you find yourself reviewing Adam Duritz’s hair when you should be reviewing his band. And that’s not fair. because his hair is awful. So I listened to the album, and there is maybe two songs that don’t make me want to string him up by his wig. I might even claim that if you have never heard the original “Return Of The Grievous Angel” before, this plodding cover is alright. But the “Ooh La La” is a witless abomination, all the humor distilled from Ronnie Lane’s creation. And any way… why not review his hair? Grade: D+

the first time I’ve heard them and I’ve been spinning around their catalog and it is ridiculously great. First jeffry Lewis, now Lambchop -geez, maybe I should hang up my typewriter. Lambchop are playing the Bell House on Friday and if I am making the trip to Brooklyn, so should you.

Adele is back at number one, Bruce and Madonna are missing in action, Jessie J, Lana, Emii, Ed and David have been hanging around all year, Alabama Shakes is a surprise and Nicki Minaj isn’t.

So Carly leads and Justin follows and the charts are filled with the sound of pop. Goye and fun., one hit wonders? Could be, could maybe go the other way.

Ooh La La – The Faces – Ronnie Lane took lead vocals and laughed at his Granddad’s lessons about women’s ways. Ronnie doesn’t listen and, like all of us, pays the price. grade: A+

First Loudon, who owes us a goodie after his last tribute album was DOA, then Rufus, who can’t really compete with his brilliant requiem for his Mom. Next, two demo albums which we hope are more than archival interest. And finally, a new Neon Trees at last!

September 19th, 21st and 22nd. A Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. I am probably gonna pass. I will have seen him twice this year by then and despite my hops, i bet he is still leaning too hard on the new album, and i am not in the market for a third dose of the godawful “Wrecking Ball”.

Don’t let the Tangerine Dream band name fool ya, this is Ry’s son Joachim Cooder’s project for guest vocalists. The song features Inara George and it simply can’t be much better, a gorgeous synthy soundscape that doesn’t lose a deep connection to the song. Grade: A-

satiric? Actually, the entire story is a satire on rock star privilege. Or is it a parody on Courtney’s and Dave’s, and even Francis’, complete bizarreness.

But two songs in, I found New Life revealing itself. The Wales song wasn’t bad, on the deluxe version the Rick Ross duet -Ross’s bass worked well in counter distinction with Monica’s velvety tone, the back up singers help carry Monica along on the lovely (“I wanna fall in love…”) “Catch Me. And before I knew it I was 5 songs deep.

New York Mag gave this song a shout out, and I can see why but I find them very middlebrow stuff. I caught em ipening for Counting Crows around the start of their career and they were excellent, still they are like Fountains Of Wayne -distinct, tasteful, boring. By the way, Christmas is in Autumn not Winter. Grade: B

They are opening a store/club in Williamsburgh because Williamsburgh doesn’t have enough and they can rub shoulder s with Pitchfork and the Dirty Projectors and everybody can be very fucking happy together

Putting the pop into popcharts, and not one that isn’t new pop 2012 style, production and songwriting my committee. It is 1975 all over again. How bad is that? Depends upon the song

The more I listen to the Nicki, the better a pop move it feels. The proof that Madonna swiped the # 1 spot last week? Compare her to Lionel. AND, nothing seems to have much traction does it?

With the exception of Odd Future, Joker may be the best new rapper around. Here he spits out his rhymes with a fast fury and has the sort of flow that feels missing too often. Grade: B+

It is hard to know whether to laugh or cry but if music is a microcosm of the real it is possible they three are lieing and it is equally possible the three are telling the truth.

Litost – the Ambassadors – Is a Czech word which means a state of feeling miserable and humilaited (I can think of another: Life). It connects insult with revenge and the desire to hit back. And this indie band have written a truly drastic piece of strng laden sadness that more than lives up to it. Grade: B+