Iman Lababedi

Founding Editor of Rock NYC. Iman Lababedi was a freelance rock critic in the 1980s, took a break of 20 years, and has been writing and editing the music blog rocknyc.live since 2009. He considers this to be in many ways a golden age for pop music and hopes you are enjoying it too.

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Hear Ye: What rock nyc Is Listening To 5-10-13

Chugalong to the Dixie Chicks mainstay Natalie Maines and you may be surprised by this piece of Eddie Vedder cover, a superb vocal performance. The Rod Stewart is the finest moment on his finest album in decades, “22” is finally available on Spotify (but who was waiting, right?) , I got past my problem with Andre 3000s vocal and the Lonely Island is there usually incongruity put to good use.

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US Top 10 Singles May 17th, 2013

I guess it is the horns that are hooking them on M&L’s # 1, but I am not sure why if that’s the case I can’t hear em? Both songs are huge shrugs to these ears and while I am not unhappy for them, what else do i have to say? Not a damn thing, it is average hip hop which for some obscure reason won the Lotto. Couldn’t be happier to see “Cruise” in the top ten

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US Top 10 Albums May 17th, 2013

Kenny Chesney might well own the worst album of the year not. Not country album, no, no, no, worst album period, on your bike, that’s it. But country is well represented by Blake Shelton and Randy Rogers, the latter is living up to years of promise with an album on the verge of a major crossover

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Hear Ye: What rock nyc Is Listening To 5-9-13

Never a big fan of Kid, but “Kid” is a pretty good stiff upper lip lad piece of advise, 7 of the rest of these songs are also new releases, two are off “The Great Gatsby” as well, and “#Beautiful” is growing on me but I’m sure I’ll be sick of it soon enough.

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Hear Ye: What rock nyc Is Listening To 5-8-13

Apparently, Rod is sick of the Great American Songbook and has returned to writing his own songs and while there will never ne another album as great as even Atlantic Crossing, the new one is good enough. Jay and The Americans are at BB Kings this September and I went to see Rihanna yesterday. The rest are all new.

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Sneak Peaks: New Releases Week Of May 6th, 2013

Obviously Vampire Weekend is the one to beat here, but the runner ups are pretty impressive. I’ve liked everything I’ve streamed off the new Rod Stewart, Talib Kweli and Fitz And The Tantrums are long time rock nyc faves, Van Dykes Park is his first album of new material since the excellent Orange Crate Art with Brian Wilson. If you haven’t heard it, the album sounds better now than it did in 1995.

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Hear Ye: What rock nyc Is Listening To 5-7-13

8 of these songs are here directly because of live concerts, three reference the Peter Tork set, three are a preview for tonight’s Rihanna show, one for the past date Mac show and one for the I am not gonna see Van Dyke Parks show at MHOW on Sunday May 16th, 2013.

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Hot 97 Summer Jam 2013… Whatever

Weezy sure ain’t putting up any of his talent and while the promise of the biggest star in Hip Hop might have you guessing, I think even Jay-Z won’t be enough, maybe Jay-Z and Kweezy but there ain’t no Drake and there ain’t no Rick Ross in Hut 97’s future now is there?

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UK Top 10 Singles: May 11th, 2013

If Passenger are this year’s Gotye (and I certainly hope so) than without a reasonable doubt,at least it doesn’t sound like Sting. electronic twins Disclosure put the great Eliza Doolittle to pretty good use one way or the other on a boring song. Otherwise, electronic pop songs rule of 2013 continues

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UK Top 10 Albums: May 11th, 2013

I’ve only given Passenger a perfunctory listen, so it might be better, it might be worse, Blue -a typical European Boy band, is nothing much and Bo Brice is very good. Passenger -I wonder… let’s wait and see.

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Hear Ye: What rock nyc Is Listening To 5-6-13

I hate time because time means Conor Oberst doesn’t have the wild innocence of his youth, as he does on “Train Under Water” where you can see the innocence comes unstuck like a young Van Morrison singing “And if I don’t call that just means I’d rather not”. Both of these guys are confused by how cruelty and honesty interlock

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Singles Going Steady: New Album Reviews, Week Of April 29th, 2013

To quote the Joker, wait till they get a load of me. With guest stars a plenty on hand mostly for vocal purposes (Howdy Jello Biafra!) long term sludge rockers cover their fave tracks but only fly when they leave their natural breeding ground for Queen, Roxy Music, and one of the great covers of the year, a damaged and deformed but still the same sensed version of the already pretty out there Bowie masterwork “Station To Station ” – ALBUM OF THE WEEK – A-

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Active Viewin: Pick Concerts Week Of May 6th, 2013

James Blake will probably be brooding behind a bank of synths for 90 minutes on Thursday BUT his songs are so remarkable who cares? It is the price of doing business with the young electronic whiz kid you’ll have to suck it up to hear his excellent sophomore effort Retrograde on stage. Plus it is T5 so you weren’t going to see much any way. Request “A Case Of You” quietly.

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Hear Ye: What rock nyc Is Listening To 5-5-13

The Melvins are my big rock band right this minute, I really enjoy their new covers album and I love their haircuts which always helps. Down the middle of the list are three of the biggest dogs of the year, you should listen to em just so as you know I am not aimlessly dssing here. The Vince Gill song is a masterpiece that passed me right by and more’s the shame. As for the last three, two are 2013 faves and the last one was a highly of Marrs gig at MHOW.

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The Top 10 Star War Songs

Too much of it is like a background sound in search of a screen and that is with all due respect to williams work. But the truth is even for star wars it isal the equivalent of underlining a sentence for emphasize

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Winner And Loser Week of April 29th, 2013: The Nets And Rihanna

wned and operated by Rockafella Records (or did I misread that somewhere?) and playing at the surging Barclay Center where everybody who is anybody comes to perform, starting with Barbra Streisand. Sure, the Bulls are decimated by DLs at the moment and I couldn’t be happier! The Nets have been fun to watch all year and while I am a Knicks guy (through gritted teeth till they dump Dolan), I am awed by the Nets having forced a Game Seven at the Barclay Center tonight. LET’S GO NETS.

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Hear Ye: What rock nyc Is Listening To 5-04-13

The top six are simply my way of saying adieu adieu, to yieU and yieu and yieu. Deanna Darbin was a particularly favorite of my gone but not forgotten papa, two of these songs have much much much to do with having seen Mr. Marr last night, and the newbie is a revelation I missed when I reviewed the album. If you haven’t read Ross’ Richard barone, do it NOW!

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Hear Ye- What rock nyc Is Listening To 5-03-13

I got tix for Pet Shop Boys and Vampire Weekend, a pretty good reason to stick on tons of PSB and return to the scene of the crime with VW whose use of the f bomb was entirely inspired. The new Hanson sounds like the Jackson 5. Not as good of course, but pretty damn good any way.

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US Top 10 Albums: May11th, 2013

Take a look at this list, notice anything? Three rock albums, how about that then? Indeed, this is a pretty good chart by any standard. maybe nothing jumps out and blows you away, still FOB, Phoenix, Fantasia -these are very good albums all and if nothing is gonna change your life for the better, nothing here is all that bad either.

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Hear Ye: What rock nyc Is Listening To 5-2-13

The two Sinatra’s are in general excitement for the 6-11 gig at Summerstag and this is Reprise Sinatra which is consistently better than you remember it being. The VGM is a new discovery and one I am finding very thrilling and original, and the Melvins album is astoudingly good fun. Finally? Don’t we dislike Streetlight Manifesto? Maybe not.

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Sinatra In The Park Naming Names!

And so the longest winter continues with no end in sight. It just goes on and on and on forever and June 11th, the date where Sinatra takes the park, looms like a beacon of hope in the summer wind blowing from the cabarets of New York to the lawns of Central Park

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Best Concerts Thru March 30th, 2013

Fleetwood Mac – Madison Square Garden – April 8th, 2013 – The Buckingham Nicks love affair with each other and with us has lead them to this place: where Fleet Mac are again what they once were: a guitar art band with an excellent rhythm section.

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Best Albums Through April 30th, 2013

.Side Effects Of You – Fantasia – She has gone through a lot to get here, a nigh on perfect soul record, mixing dance and ballads to equal effect and sounding very much like the woman who has survived the life she has, indeed survived.

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