Iman Lababedi

You’re So Vain – Carly Simon – 1973 – This is West Coast superego soft rock par excellence -no wonder taylor Swift loves it. For the record I prefer “We HaveNo Secrets”. Plus, you can see carly’s nipple through the tee on the album cover… – A-

Crash My Party – Luke Bryan – Whatever you wanna say about “If You Ain’t Here to Party”, and I am no fan myself, at least it was fun, unlike this maudlin bullshit – D+

The week belongs to Rudimental, sadly enough since I spent so much time dismissing them

Of course Glen Campbell gets the nod; as he suffers through Alzheimer’s Disease he fades away so gracefully he deserves the nod.

Juicy – Notorious B.I.G. – I consider Biggie the equal of Cobain, the one undeniable voice of hip hop. Simply put: the greatest. I should write about him more – A+

A deserved number one and a post-childhood number one on her her own mollie-fied terms

Swim Deep are a smart little band from Birmingham, England, which has a scene brewing called “B Town”.

Chelsea Morning – Joni Mitchel – written for Leonard Cohen many many years ago and now part of a larger landscape of perfect days – A

The songs are a touch better and John Newman is a really good singer. The Emilie Sande track doesn’t hurt – ALBUM OF THE WEEK – B+

he brought out the following rappers in an epochal you hadda be there set: French Montana, TLC, J. Cole, Miguel, Diddy and Ma$eA$AP Rocky, Lil Wayne and KANYE WEST.

Freedy Johnston is the poster boy for the singer songwriter who never quite got where he deserved to get.

Columbus Stockade Blues – Jimmie Dale Gilmore – There are countless versions around, including ones by Willie Nelson and woody Guthrie, but this is the best – A

Amanda Shire plays a mean violin and is married to Jason Isbel -but is that enough? It is today.

Stayed On You – Tye Tribbett – A rejiggered to a Jesushead pinpoint that would have pleased George Harrison no end – B+

On the other hand, nobody wants to be in the business of defending Ryan Adams.

But with a new rhythm section? I don’t know man

Tulane – Joan Jett – Excellent cover of excellent mid-period Berry drug trafficking song – A

You can be as mentally fucked up as you choose and whatever, freedom of speech etc, et al, but step into the world of music and rock nyc will cut you down

while I knew the Maroon 5 song it left zero impression on me and what’s worse, they really need to stop pulling songs off that album

5 Finger are pretty good if you like that kinda thing and I like it but not for an entire album.

Edmunds takes of Graham Parker from one of the classic 70s rock and roll albums by a classic 70s rock and roller. It is the image of self destruction and resurrection

The theme music is an awesome swirl of synths and special effect; written by Ron Granier and Della Derbeyshire , Della was a famous electronic musician decades before EDM, or even Giorgio Moroder.

18 Months had garnered a record breaking nine top ten songs in the UK

We know some of this stuff, actually a lot of it, off albums like Raised On Rock and Promised Land, but to hear everything in one place?

The One That Got Away – The Civil Wars – A complete nonbeliever in the band still This lead off song is delicate and harsh at the same time – B+

They are playing Best Buy on Best Buy on December 17th, a Thursday but we will have to suck it up; take the day off school, God will understand

Apparently, it was all one takes and out as she refused to do two takes, fireworks and tantrums on the stage, you know the full Marilyn Monroe

like an East Coast Blanche Dubois wandering on to the set of “Husband And Wives”.

My favorite album of the year, it is ten new, one For Science cover , every single track of “extreme loner folk a masterpiece of detail and brood”

Visions Of Paradise – Mick Jagger – The most hated album of all time? Why, oh why? This is why, a song so breathtakingly bad it ruins a pretty good Jagger vocal – C-

She is a fine looking woman, an excellent dancer, set piece after set piece scintillates and excites; Beyonce knows her genre and her position as Queen Bey

The story of not just concerts but the week, was the closing of Maxwell’s after 25 years, the last night a very moving experience