rock nyc

rock nyc

Spotify, No Friend of Joe Average

I need variety and I don’t want some hack kids ‘’playlist’ or some ‘mood enhanced’ song scroll. I want to turn the thing on and I want a genre non stop til I tell it otherwise. I need radio.

rock nyc

The Many Music Fairs And Festivals Happening Around Los Angeles

With the FYF fest just announcing its set times for the two-day music celebration this weekend, I was thinking that Los Angeles (and its region, Orange County included) has a hella number of music festivals, this is quite incredible. Mammoth-size festivals or neighborhood-size street fairs, from April to October, festivals abound around me. I have tried to make a list of them:

rock nyc

Rolling Stones In The Studio?

I wouldn’t put too much faith in that occurring. Where’s the tour? Where’s the videos? Where are the guest spots? So far all we have gotten is gossip and a coffee table book.

rock nyc

Colony On Broadway And West 49th To Close

The world just dies on us, it disappears and there is nothing that can bring it back. I remember when the Ramones played the Village a coupla days a week for years on end, and that ended. And now the Colony, a New York institution for decade after decade is going as well. Oh well, I am sure we will get a wonderful Chase Bank vestibule in its place.

rock nyc

Bob Dylan's "Duquesne Whistle" Reviewed

Bob Dylan claimed that he original planned to make Tempest an album more religious, but found the single theme concept album too constricting. But the ghost of the idea lies in “Duquesne Whistle”, another traveling song with a twist

rock nyc

Jay-Z's Made In America Line-Up Labor Day Weekend

. Long time readers may remember I was infamously expelled from the Boy Scouts for taking the train when I shouldda been hiking. Something of an overreaction if you ask me. Still, the pain lingers and my ideaof hell is being at the back of a crowd of 100,000 people seeing “Daughter”.

rock nyc

Hands At Echo Park Rising, Saturday August 25th 2012

The music was extremely layered and filled with exotic rhythms and dance beats, at times borderline disco – one of their songs almost reminded me something borrowed from a Blondie track – with a few sprinkles of different things, dreamy and moody vocals, glittering synth, and lots of beats.

rock nyc

Must See: Das Racist In September

I’ve thought of catching Das Racist a couple of times but the timing wasn’t right and when I heard they were playing Irving Plaza on September 29th, the timing wasn’t right either. I am seeing Corin Tucker at Mercury Lounge that night. But, catch this, Corin is a 730p early showm and with two opening acts, Das Racist will probably hit the stage at tenish..

rock nyc

Justin Bieber On The Simpsons

‘Swaggy’, thats the word of the day! The episode titled ‘The Fabulous Faker Boy’ has Beiber as a contestant in a talent show- and not making the cut. A bit of pop star self depreciation. I gotta say though, Beiber has lost his standing joke status

rock nyc

Listen Up: 7-30-12

Guardian – Alanis Morrisette – It’s been a long long time since Alanis blew us all away with “Hands Clean”, and this, while standard issue good as opposed to painful Alanis (though the chorus gets kinda close to please stop now level), isn’t gonna change the perception. Still, it is nice to heard such devotion from the girl, and it should play well on stage – Grade: B

rock nyc

Claire's Diary "Girl Next Door" Reviewed

Simplicity is a gift, and Claire’s Diary is simple but in a complicated way. Adding a guy to the mix ups the sexual complexity clearly mooted in the proto-teen CBOH, and channeling Kathleen Hanna raises the specter of girl power all the way to feminism

rock nyc

Hip Hop 2012 For Dummies

When was the last time you heard of Freddie Gibb, let alone Public Enemy? PE’s latest album, though a masterpiece of sorts that improves with listening, was roundly ignored in a baffling act of cultural ignorance. Modern hip hop is a mess where people are so desperate they rave about Rick Ross. It is a machine, but some of the parts are faulty.

rock nyc

Direct Current's New Releases Effective September 4th, 2012

A Rickie Lee Jones cover album? I had hoped it’d be filled with jazz covers, Charlie Mingus preferably, but instead it is standard issue 1960s classic rock for the most part. Jamey Johnson’s hank Cochran trib looks like a better concept. And as long as we are in cover land, I don’t see how another Nick Lowe covers album to top the last one. I mean, Graham Parker’s version of “Rose Of England” is better than Lowe’s original

rock nyc

Neil Young "Old Man" Sound Remedy Remix Reviewed

It reminds me of the frustration of having numerous windows open on your computer.. as you shut each down the noise divides. There are skip beats which totally work but in all sincerity I think the one way this could have been improved would to speed it up a bit.

rock nyc

Steve Earle Memoirs On Its Ways!

I haven’t read last years novel or any of his short stories so I certainly won’t state that they suck. I’ll just assume it without any proof. What I will say is you only live once and lif is way too short to waste it writing shitty protest songs and long, boring concerts which fail to get to the point.

rock nyc

Listen Up: 7-29-12

Burnin’ Hell – The Bootleggers – Featuring the one and only Nick Cave, who wrote the screenplay for the movie whose soundtrack this is on. This is a hard boogie with a vicious violin steamrolling through it – Grade: A-

rock nyc

John Anderson At The North Texas Fair, Saturday, August 25th, 2012, Reviewed

The setlist has remained largely the same since he had his last Top Ten country hit in 1994. Multi-instrumentalist Joe Spivey has played with Anderson for years and his mandolin performance on “An Occasional Eagle” and his frenetic fiddle sawing on “The Orange Blossom Special” were two of the highlights of the evening. Spivey and drummer Tommy Rivelli locked into a viciously wonderful boot stomping groove on “Wild and Blue.”

rock nyc

ParaNorman Reviewed, Sorta

I have a theory. Kids movies would be so much better if kids didn’t go to see them. The theater at quarter capacity house 2 sobbing babies and a little girl who kept asking questions. “daddy does he miss his mommy?’ ‘what is that what is that what is that’ until i literally wanted to whip my shoe

rock nyc

Jesse Leach of Killswitch Engage Babbles About Hate

Killswitch Engage has been around since about 2000. No young guns that’s for sure and they have never been ‘soft’ or ‘compassionate’ They scream they yell and they blow shit up. They are bad ass rockers from Boston no less and we all know how hardcore that scene is.

rock nyc

Sneak Peaks Week Of August 27th, 2012

I haven’t heard the new Alanis, but Nick Cave is all over the Bootleggers soundtrack, maybe because he wrote the screenplay, The Garfunkel is just a useful reminder of what we already know. Slaughterhouse is Eminem finds and the song with Eminem is killa dilla.

rock nyc

Listen Up: 8-28-12

Another Planet (With Chris Brown) – Jawan Harris – The powers that be were trying to position Jawan as a black Bieber, but he isn’t cute enough and he doesn’t have the songs. Except this songs, a very clever hard heart beat of a track that spooks itself out by the end – Grade: B+

rock nyc

The Essential Songs of the 1910s and 1920s, Part I

This article is the first of a three part series on the “Essential Songs of the 1910s and the 1920s.” The determination of what songs are essential is based on simple listening pleasure instead of historical relevance. Archeology has its own rewards, but in the words of modern day philosopher Gretchen Wilson, “We’re here for the party.”

rock nyc

Twitter Me This: Social Media In 140 Characters

Should a musician follow a fan you can bet your beans they’re going to shout it from the rooftop. Being followed by a band is better than a meet and greet, because now you show up on their feed. You’re practically best friends…or so you think.

rock nyc

Watch Lord Huron's Short Western For 'Time To Run'

‘A tragic tale of the foolish things a man might find himself doing for a woman, and the consequences that foolishness may bring upon him and those around him. It’s a tale as old as time — one which has and will be repeated endlessly. We tried to be as true as possible to George Ranger Johnson’s book.’

rock nyc

Liner Notes, The Missing Element

Today with all the digital and streaming we never really know if the band is thanking God, or the caterer or me for their success. Well, no band is thanking me for their success but it is a glimpse into the inner workings of bands that I certainly miss.

rock nyc

Muse Voted Most Exciting Live Act By NME Readers

Of course this new generation is going to pick Muse over the Clash, because they have never seen the Clash,.. or Pink Floyd, or Jimi Hendrix, or Led Zeppelin or even Nirvana and Queen!…. And what does exciting mean anyway? If we are talking about what bands can bring around their music, then the Flaming Lips should certainly win and they are not even in the list.

rock nyc

Active Viewin': Pick Concerts For The week Of August 27th, 2012

The day before the day before Labor Day Weekend, there can’t be a better way to celebrate Back To Schooldom than with the force of nature Fang Island at Music Hall Of Williamsburgh on Thursday. The Brooklyn based indie rock band’s new album, Major, is one of the best of the year, and their good news vibe “we want to sound like everybody high fiving each other” they told the Guardian, lives up to their professed desires.

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