In Praise Of Charles Hawtrey
Helen Bach has made the point to me that I love “Autobiography” because his cultural references are the same as mine and that is certainly true of Hawtrey, the member of the “Carry On” movie series
Winners And Losers Week Of December 9th, 2013: Laura Stevenson And The Coen Brothers
I thought I’d contact my friend Joe Steinhardt and ask him if he’d ask Laura, who records for Joe’s Don Giovanni Records, whether she’d ask Dan for us. And she did. We didn’t get it because, well, I guess because they were rehearsing but, to be brutally honest, I assume rock nyc simply isn’t big enough. But at least we have friends like Joseph, and good guys like Laura, to help us. More important than a 100 interviews.
R Kelly's Twitter Campaign Disaster
Some people have so much confidence it is scary, but sometimes it doesn’t serve them very well! This past week, R. Kelly dropped an album, ‘Black Panties’, and I have zero opinion about it because I can’t stand the guy (and his music).
Active Viewin' Concert Picks w-0 12-16-13
Bobby Womack is one of the great soul men of the 20th century and after his cancer scare last year we are lucky he is still with us.In January of this year he announced he as Alzheimers disease so we are very very lucky that he will be playing three nights at City Winery and I am making my way down there on Friday
My Top 18 Albums Of 2013: # 18 – This Is The Tomas Doncker Band's Howling Wolf EP -We Hope He Likes It
“Spoonful” is enormously difficult to play simply because it has been covered so much from every angle but this is a head rock and roll muscular version, the sexiness of “Shook Down” is shaken off through so much aggression, so much passion: it’s like you wanna say, Tomas, testify man, testify.
Hear Ye: What rock nyc Is Living To 12-15-13
Give It 2 U – Robin Thicke – Emphasis is everything and at Jingle Ball, used silence to emphasis his “Angel” hook and the rest of the song followed, making a substandard Timberlake song become a major pop stroke – A-
Henry Rollins As A Cannibal In His First Leading Movie Role
May be this weirdo cannibal character is a bit too close of what we expect Henry Rollins to be in a movie, intimidating, lonely, pissed off at people and damn scary, but it looks interesting nevertheless. Expect to see this film during next summer/fall in the indie festival circuit.
Million Dead's "I am the party" Reviewed
“I find myself unable to take it really seriously. He’s just too clean cut and handsome and grown up now for me to look at this with a real critical eye like I would any of his newer work. It’s like something he did in his garage with his college friends.”
"Beyonce" Snapshot review
“Drunk In Love” is better than nearly anything on Jay Z’s album “I’ve been drink, I’ve been drinkin’…” , “Blow” a real good r&b ballad, “Mine” with Drake better than nearly anything on Drake’s and the Frank Ocean featuring “Superpowered” is as good as anything The Dream has given her (sorry, nearly).
A New Study Confirms It: Music Doesn't Make Your Children Smarter
They followed 29 parents and their 4-year-old children, tested the children and randomly assigned each of them to one of 2 classes: one with music training and one with visual arts. Both classes were taught by the same teacher (Mehr himself) to get rid of the effect of different teachers, and they tested the children on cognition, vocabulary, mathematics and special tasks:
Helen Bach's Top Concerts of 2013
hen all the planets are in line and all the cosmic pressures balance, magic happens. This year only three of those occured, but man oh man did they occur. Over the years I have seen many live shows and 2013 gave me ‘the show of my life’, and that’s no small feat
Billy Bragg And Frank Turner To Perform Together For Charity (yesssss) In London (not yes)
You can draw a straight line between Joe Strummer through to Billy Bragg, father and son, white riot to spy vs spy, but you can’t continue the line to Frank Turner and we shall not overcome
The Beatles For Sale Again!
Just in time for the 50 th year anniversary of the day the Beatles landed at JFK February 7 th, 1994 (50 years, wow, the mind boggles), a box set of all 13 US only releases, some of which are making it to CD for the first time, will be available January 21 ST
Hear ye: What rock nyc is Listening To 12-14-13
Farshtaist – Scott Severin And The Milton Burlesque – Always good though a little hidden four tracks into Birdhouse Obligato, there is an early version on youtube where his singing is just about perfect, maybe with less of a mix it just sounds better – A
The Best 5 Albums of 2013 According to Mary Magpie
“This album is reminiscent of their first, and that’s a great thing. They were losing momentum with Ryan Ross and Jon Walker in the band, and by them splitting, it allowed P!ATD to grow into a superband that’s gonna continue releasing fantastic music and making teen girls melt.”
Led Zeppelin Is Now On Spotify, The Big Winner Of the Day
I am not exactly sure because you can nevertheless find parts of their respective catalogs when doing a search on Spotify. I wonder how long anybody will be able to resist. With the new free radio service, it’s now a matter of time till Spotify crushes Pandora
New Found Glory, “Nothing For Christmas.” Video Review
I have never been a fan of the nasal pop punk lovers lament vocal. Trust me when I say everyone from Mayday Parade to Bayside pull this shit but New Found Glory are the great grandfathers (cuz yeah they’ve been around long enough for the designation) of whine rock.
Another Look At Disney's "Frozen"
There is no question in my mind that this will be adapted for Broadway, which was, no doubt, Disney’s plan all along. Even the choice of composers, the Tony-winning couple Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez, who wrote Book of Mormon, lends itself to such an adaptation
The Pixies Fired Their Bassist For Being Too Enthusiastic?
“The band has made the decision to go with another bass player.” I was shocked… I get the feeling they’re more introverted people than I am. Nobody really talked about deep issues, at least out loud. There was a show at the Mayan in Los Angeles where I got overly enthusiastic and jumped into the crowd, and I know they weren’t thrilled about that
Eric Clapton's "Give Me Strength – The '74 '75 Recordings" Reviewed
Over the 17 tracks on CD One, it doesn’t deviate, it is a gorgeous, melodic, warm summer evening of an album, too hot to bother fussin’, Clapton lays back and plays the blues . The ten tracks that make up the original album are not better played than the additional 7, but they are better songs.
Hear Ye: What rock nyc Is Listening To 12-13-13
Sweet Home Chicago – Freddie King – This guitar sound is so heavy it sounds like a supple bass or a rhythm guitar turned to 11, and the notes bend around the melody in a sledgehammer precursor to metal – A
Title Fight's 10 Year Anniversary Show Reviewed
“It looks, it feels, it *is* a punk show, and that’s what this band has brought back into the world, with the help of others like them- that classic punk sense of a show community..they covered “Minor Threat”, and I swear if the video footage was in grainy black and white, you’d think these were kids who were opening up for Minor Threat and paying them homage.”
Must See: Blood Orange At Webster Hall, February 2014
Blood Orange recently released the excellent, like top ten maybe of 2013, Cupid Deluxe and on a purely subjective basis, I am hoping the guy has improved on stage. Indeed, I am betting on it. A definite must see.
NYC Will Celebrate The 50th Anniversary Of the The Beatles' First American Performance In February
f you are planning to visit New York City soon, do it in February! NYCBeatles50 is going to celebrate the Fab Four, and in particular the 50th anniversary of their first performance on American television, on the Ed Sullivan show,
My Ten Best Concerts Of 2013
I got to see them at the Jimmy Kimmel Live on July 29th, and managed to bump (almost) into Josh Homme’s giant body when exiting the green room. But seriously, these guys have a mega-monster sound, they blow up the roof even when there’s none
AC DC Pinball For Christmas
Pinball machines have been around since the 1930s and still hold a strong nostalgia market. Purists shun the ‘video game’ in favor of the silver ball and flipper guards. With all our technology sometime it’s nice to get back to basics
US Top 10 Albums 12-21-13
Here comes Christmas and the proof is Pentatonix viral hit version of “Little Drummer Boy”, a capella and none the worse for it with a pretty good human beatbox. Meanwhile, Britney has the lowest sales of her career. Miley is gone, Gaga is gone and Katy is next.
US Top 10 Singles 12-21-13
This makes it Rihanna’s 13th # 1m according to Billboard: ” Rihanna ties Michael Jackson for the third-most leaders in the Hot 100’s history… she passes Madonna and the Supremes, each with 12. Color me impressed.
Hear Ye: What rock nyc Is Listening To 12-12-13
God Rest You Metal Gentlemen – Ronnie James Dio, Tony Iommi – Not only is this a timely reminder that, yes, in fact, Dio was in a league all his own, but it is a crackerjack classic brought to a ridiculously mature and powerful testament to Christmas – B+
Vampire Weekend At The General Society Library "The Artist Den" Taping, December 10th, 2013 Reviewed
They are reserved and smart, they are like the great surgeon with lousy bedside manner. You need both, Vampire Weekend need to give more. I remember Liam Gallagher’s quote about Oasis on stage. “We’re standing there, we’re singing our songs. What do you want us to do?” Vampire Weekend should rent “Stop Making Sense”.
Rod Stewart At Madison Square Garden, Monday, December 9th, 2013, Reviewed
There is still no crime in giving people precisely what they bought and there is no crime in growing old and missing a step and Rod Stewart did exactly that in his “Live The Life” concert at Madison Square Garden, Monday: he gave the people what they wanted and he missed a step
The Wonder Years, Defeater, Real Friends, and more announce North American Tour
“The Greatest Generation World Tour is going to be one of the most memorable tours of 2014 simply because it’s basically my dream tour. When I was littler, I imagined Fall Out Boy, Panic! At The Disco, and My Chemical Romance touring together- impossible, right? This is pretty much the equivalent. “
Is The Song Dead As The Currency Of Modern Pop?
At the heart of so many 2013 big albums, is the lack of song, from Prism to Artpop, from New to Hesitation marks, from …Like Clockwork to Britney Jean, the lack of songs kills the albums in their tracks. They don’t get heard often enough and when and if you do give them the time they need to hit your pleasure button they don’t.
Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy Camp 2014 m/
Yes, the KISS guy who shows up everywhere and who’s carnival huckster persona assure a dime is made for every waking moment. No surprise here- Gene and Vegas just seem a great pair!
Has The Track Overtaken The Song In Modern Pop Music?
The death of the song is something to be dreaded, not for disco or funk, but for soul, rock and roll and pop music, this is a sorry state of affairs. And even with that, you can arrange a good song into a dance hit but you can’t arrange a dance hit into a good song.
Hear Ye: What Rock NYC Is Listening To 12-11-13
From Morrissey to Mel theres always a guy willing to croon. But when you add Childish Gambino and A$AP Rocky there could well be a knife fight and my money is on them.
Be Here Now: Snapshot Reviews Of New Album Releases 12-10-13
Give Me Strength Sessions ’74-’75 – Eric Clapton – The sessions from one of the great albums of the 1970s, a height of spirituality and passion Clapton has never come close to before and since and anything that adds to the story including a 1974 concert, is more than welcome – A
"Jobs" Reviewed
All power to Ashton for scowling his ass off but he doesn’t manage to make Jobs change at all, he is the exact same man at the beginning as he is at the end, a stubborn dick -there are a lot of people like that and it doesn’t explain the man at all. A real waste of an opportunity.
Not With The Band: The Problem With Mentally Ill Artists
Adam Ant, Kurt Cobain, Ray Davies, Sinead O’Connor (among others) were diagnosed with bipolar disorder, Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson has a schizoaffective disorder and Pink Floyd’s Syd Barrett was speculated to have either schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. Each case is different and these artists certainly managed to have a career of their own
Johnny Thunders Died With $4,000 To His Name
There are many more financially successful musicians than Johnny Thunders but there aren’t many more important musicians than Johnny Thunder. To die broke and to leave his sons to a life as career criminals, that’s some price for immortality
Katy Perry, UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador
Katy isnt exactly known for being a scholar. Don’t get me wrong she could be a very intelligent woman but basically shes a blow up doll with a vocal range. BUT she does have presence so there you have it- let’s make her an ambassador!
Bob Dylan's Handwriting Analyzed then Up For Auction
There is no real science behind such analysis, it’s often qualified of pseudoscience even though people really want to believe there is a strong correlation between personality and the way a ‘b’ or a ‘d’ are formed! For me, it’s a bit like astrology, some ancestral superstition based on false science
Winner And Loser Week Of 12-2-13: U2 And Kanye West
Talk about timing being everything, the Nelson Mandela movie, “Long Walk To Freedom” was having its premiere the night Nelson died and U2, who I would love to claim opportunism but can’t because, well, I don’t believe it was, have their stinky “Ordinary Love” saved from the fag ends of the pop bonfire
Hear Ye: what rock nyc is listening to 12-10-13
Oh, she’s nine years old, that why Rod Stewart upped her to nineteen, though it does beg the question why did Berry make her a child instead of a teenager. The answer would probably be target demo but that makes no sense either! Maybe it is more like a significant portion of the audience but we don’t remember it that way – A+
MGMT Oakdale Dome in Wallingford CT December 6th 2013 Reviewed
“I was disappointed in the fact that ninety five percent of the crowd was too f’d up to appreciate the band. I don’t get it and I never will, but missing out on a pure concert experience isn’t something I’d really dig. Regardless, to each his own, but it’s also not as if the band doesn’t expect that.
The 100 Best Songs of the 1990s
Lester’s vision of cultural atomization became a reality in the 1990s, as audiences segmented into different genres/sub-genres and fewer artists impacted mass culture as a whole. Therefore, everyone’s ‘90s list will be radically different
Willie Nelson and Heart Cancel Their Shows At Orlando Sea World!
You got it Willie! Something apparently happened between the time the picture above was taken and his decision to cancel! May be he heard about killer whale Tilikum’s sad story? And I wasn’t expecting less from a nature and animal lover like him.
Sneak Peaks: New Albums Week Of 12-9-13
Not much going on here so if it boils down to R. Kelly versus Childish Gambino, there is no real choice though I might say that if Kelly ever had the opportunity to be more than an r&b bangerz machine, to be a Stevie Wonder like melody machine, that train left when he wouldn’t get out of the closet 10 years ago.
Did Kanye West Say He Was The Next Mandela? He Could Have…
Lots of people found it extremely disrespectful! For whom? Kanye West? And that was crazy because the joke was on him, not on Mandela!! I’d certainly hope everyone would understand this, but the fact that so many people took it for the truth without questioning even a minute the interview, tells a lot about West’s public image.
Roger Waters and The Star of David
How about this, how about everyone shut the fuck up and listen to the music. If you don’t agree with his imagery stay home and listen to the album. Roger Waters is nothing more than a musician, he is not a political professional nor an advocate.