I’ve liked Ed Sheeran for about a year now and have every intention of catching him at a 630p gig, at West Houston’s tiny Mercury Lounge for what is PR folks dub “acoustic-folk rap”, will be catnip.
Christmas has reached that place, not unlike Lady Gaga, where the meaning has been eaten by the tradition and, whether you belive in Christ, or anyone else for that matter, you might still share in the melting point.
Will 2012 be the revenge of Brooklyn? New albums by Animal Collective, Sleigh bells and of Montreal may tell the tale
Like Smoke – Amy Winehouse And Nas – This is a great song, not Amy or nas’s best but the best post-humous Winehouse release. Nas is a great rapper and Amy is very much the essence of desire.
I was buying a ticket at the Bottom Line in June 1999 when the guy behind the box office wised me up that tix for June Cash Carter had just gone on sell… did I want to? Darn tootin’. Press On had just been released and I loved it.
“What, that’s it?” said Houston, shocked. “Weed’s not a drug! … I put weed in my cereal this morning! I smoke weed just to go to Target” Agreed. C’mon, pot is barely illegal.
I know about half of them and like about half of that. The first album I like on this list is the Horrors. I am less keen on Let England Shake than they are, and much less keen on The English Riviera
Director Julia Leigh is a juxtaposition of youth and beauty and various forms of decay and ache. It looks really stunning and while enjoy it is not the right word, I watched it with a detached coolness that mirrored the primary actress.
the parts where Scorcese recreates the movie trickery of the old silent movies nearly makes this unwieldy, boring piece of crap worth watching. No child in its right mind would go within a million miles of this stinker.
Default Picture – T-Pain – It is now official, he is the only person in the world allowed to use auto-tune. This is T-Pain at his poppy best only waiting for Justin Timberlake on the remix.
But it is Suzanne’s show and whether throwing back her hair and growling or crouching and roaring, she is not just a very powerful voice, Suzanne is the package. An entertaining, provocative and enjoyable lead singer who can really sing the blues. The band is at the Bitter End, January 13th, try and catch em.
The hottest Record Label on earth is James Murphy, of LCD Soundsystems fame, DFA record. They didn’t just give us the great disco band around, Holy Ghost, or the best DJ, Shit Robot, but bands from the Rapture to Free Energy.
So what grabs your attention? Not much from Alas I Can not Swim, right? I mean, really, it adds up to “Ghost” and on your bike. I Speak Because I Can gets four appearances… why the short shrift on her best album?
Frankie Rose is the woman with a plan. Her plan is too join bands, wait till they become successfl, and run for her life. The Dum Dum and Vivian Girls to name two. But she can’t really run away from her own band, so after the Alyson Camus approved (I had my doubts…) first solo album
So you wanna know about Amy, right? Put it this way, even on a first listen it is no Back to Black or even Frank for that moment. Geez, the second song is an early version of “Tears Cry On Their Own”. But… it ain’t “Michael” either.
Hey There – Harry Connick Jn – A very witty song, Connick recording a “memo to self”, advising himself to forget a girl with “her nose in the air”. Then playing back the recording and berating himself for not listening to his own advise. “Is it all going in one ear and out the other?”
Wynn’s band the Miracle 3 is a very good,psychedelic sludge jam band, and Wynn is an economical and smart live performer. The band jammed out but it was a sparse live jamming, the solos kept to a minimum as they went in search of community. of a groove. And found it just about always
On the soundtrack there are lots of pop songs of the period, here a Dean Martin, there a Nat King Cole. Best of all is Marilyn singing “I Found Dream” in the bath, while Colin looks on from the back dazzled. It might never have happened but I treasure the daydream of proximity to greatness.
Fever pitch excitement for Ryan Adams at the great Carnegie Hall on Tuesday. A solo acoustic set to go along with his acoustic recent release. I have zero prediction here. It could be the set of a life time or it could be a somnabulistic nightmare. But I can’t wait to find out.
Olly at the top (#2 in the singles charts) with Buble close behind. And, while I don’t know about the UK, Buble has a Christmas special on Tuesday over here.
Olly Mars is a good looking lad, like the man said, a bright spark might corner the marker on this years boy. Olly hasn’t crossed the big pond yet but I don’t see why is brand of boy pop wouldn’t be quite big here.
I Found Dream – Marilyn Monroe – Only a verse, but it offers Monroe singing Hungarian(?) folk song very, very purely. Monroe so overshadowed herself, that her ability to be anything but a movie star was invisible. A doomed woman unable to maintain the illusion.
had no intention of standing for three hours -otherwise I was open to persussion, The NO SRO meant Patti Smith (one of my finalists) was out and it also meant i was leaning hard towards Fitz And The Tantrums at the Gramercy. But they would lose.
With her cute doll-dress, black tights and blood-covered housewife apron, she seemed to make some big feminist statement, i.e. the gender bender name, and the fake blood to denounce violence against woman. But how many bands have such a strong female presence going insane onstage?
In May 2009, rock nyc had been up a month and I was fond of “Paparazzi”, so I tried to get a tix to see Lady Gaga at T5/ It was sold out. But then she added a late night show and a hmmmd and I haaaaad and finally decided to buy a tix
I hope the Arctic Monkeys break off and do a small solo jaunt while on this weird ride. I would love to see them live but The Black Keys I could do with out.
In The Present – Live From Lyon – Yes – I used to believe that if they toned it down a notch or two and stopped acting like such pompous asses maybe I’d grow to not hate them… well, with no Rick Wakeman to sexually brutalize the keyboards they tone it down. At it is unbearable. Grade: D+
Someday (You’ll Want Me To Want You) – Patsy Cline – In the1980s I wrote a novel about an alcoholic guy, just out of the armed forces, and blocked on a bio he was writing about Patsy. Yup, that’s how great she was -she inspired novels.
From the start, Mary was a good writer, and through the years she has become my favorite rock nyc scribe. A complete professional, who, with a sense of commitment, dedication, and self-control (yes, self-control -it is difficult to maintain your cool while meeting your rock star heroes) beyond her years.
the real excitement here is For Science reforming. One of my fave bands of all time, the pop punk quarter with guitarist Joe Steinhardt writing some of the greatest songs I’ve ever heard and Joe Slovan singing them
He Called Me Baby – Patsy Cline And The Jordainaires – The surprise here is that when you think of Presley’s backing band, you think of country boys helping invent rock and roll. But what you get here is country boys helping invent countrypolitan.
This is 2011, if an album doesn’t kick in, there are a million more just waiting for our attention. So when neither Adam’s “Ashes And Rain” nor Marling’s “A Creature I Do Not Know” hit my mental repeat button I moved on. Till I bought tix to see them live.
More interesting is the answer to who will play Eponine. According to Page Six it’s between Taylor Swift, Lea Michele, Scarlett Johansson and Evan Rachel wood.
Being Princess of Wales is one thing, but Amy absolutely begged for the paparazzi. And even if she didn’t, running around London smashed out of your mind in your undies is gonna draw attention whoever you might be.
The romance has gone out of it”. That’s Noel Gallagher discussing what has changed in the consuming of music and it was certainly a much richer experience when you were actually searching out music.
Well now, except for Rihanna, Drake and maybe Mary J., this pretty much sucks.I gues Buble’s is about the best Seasonal albym but some of these acts are so bad… Nickelback are the second worst band on earth. the worst are at #10.
Calvin Harris is a talented fellow, I’ve just gor around to hearing his album and his 2011 “Feel So Close” and the Rijamma hit is no fluke. Believe it or not, this is a case of a sharp as fuck production improving a great song
It is not simply that this, a lost love lament written by Charlie Fink to former bandmate Laura Marling, is the best song on the album of the same not. Or even the best song Charlie has written before or since. Or better than anything Laura has ever written. Or as good as anything but the best by Ryan Adams. It is the naked emotions that flood this is song
Swedish House Mafia is the biggie here, a swift sell out (in never got past the Facebook presale). This is a huge gig for them (I believe they’re recording it), not only is it at MSG -a big room by most standards, but for dance fans anyway, it is the biggest thing this side of Miami (Or Ibiza).
Drake and Florence welch have formed a mutual admirtion society. And to prove it, here is Florence with her machine covering Drake’s recent “Take Care” duet with Rihanna which samples the XX!!
The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year – Scott Weiland – Fully orchestrated, essentially faithful,takes on the standards.Hurt because… well, because his voice is creepy. Might sell to the fanbase if he has one. Grade: B-
Andrew Lloyd Webber’s, not to mention lyricist Tim Rice), greatest moment, perhaps because it’s the greatest story ever told, right, is making a comeback. Broadwy eagerly awaits the March 2012 mounting of Jesus Christ Superstar. faux rock? Sure. but better faux-rock than faux-opera.
After a year of writing this column, I figured I’d try something different. I would explain why I was listening to the songs instead of what they sound like…
He has made movies that have just rocked me out. “The Boyfriend” -his homage to Busby Berkeley for one. And the two I mentioned earlier. Everything Russel does is feverish in the way Fellini or Zeffirelli are feverish: he can pitch it so over the top, again, look at “Tommy”.
had tix to see the Streets farewell gig last August but he cancelled. Which means I will have never gotten to see my favorite English rapper on stage. Better than Tinie Tempeh, Professor Green, better than Dizzee Rascal or Wiley.
‘C’mon man, I think gay people are too sensitive. If you can take a dick, you can take a joke.’ That’s T.I. whose prison term may have been more interesting than he is letting on…
Generic Gift – Modern Hut – Joe Steinhardt’s new band. If all you’ve heard is the “Wrong” stream, the man is holding out. I’ve heard some of the new stuff and it is everything you hoped it would be.
The story of Saddam Hussein’s son, the villainous Uday Hussein, should be the highest of high camp as befitted the modern day Caligula, or a deadly serious look at his villainly. “The Devil’s Double” is neither.
The pressure to be perfect 24:7 is unfair on ALL artists. I over sang at points yes I wasn’t in tune the whole song yes and I’m confident to put that out there. Its important to know your qualities but also know where things can be improved
Goblin – Tyler The Creator – People hate this album before they’ve even heard it. Shouldn’t that tell you something? A stone cold classic and a “rebel without a cause” for a new generation. And a game changer like the Pistols. And the voice of white america in the teens 21st century. And just a truly great rap album.
