rock nyc

rock nyc

The Soundtrack To Your Funeral

don’t know how you can have a song, or a playlist, represent your life. The song that meant the most? That reflects your very being? A state of mind or (hopefully) transition. A farewell and Amen, or a celebration?

rock nyc

Must See? Jay-Z's Philly Fest Has Some Line Up

On Memorial Day Weekend, September 1st and 2nd, at Fairmont Park (incidentally, the same time as Rock The Bells is at PNC) the show will come on and the line up is on the impressive side. What catches my eye is D’Angelo, and I am hoping this is a prelude to an nyc gig around that time. I haven’t seen the top soul man in over ten years and unless he has lost his skills, it is enough to make me wonder whether it is

rock nyc

Simple Plan and The Human Trafficking Documentary

Really if Simple Plan is going to teach us about human rights, they really have to get creative with their approach and it better be good. I don’t think I’ve seen a more idiotic protest than Lady Gaga’s ‘don’t ask don’t tell’ bullshit. Yeah, its easy to take someone who dresses in cow seriously..

rock nyc

Lenny Kravitz Hyprocite Shoe Designer?

Splattered with his lyrics of “Let Love Rule”, cute huh? Yeah I’m sure they will look great and guess what!? These shoes are part of Toms “Vegan” shoe line. AWESOME! I love the attention that veganism is getting- even if it is from Toms brand. It’s nice that its actually becoming a smidgen less fringe.

rock nyc

Kinky At The Silverlake Jubilee, Saturday May 26th 2012

The five guys threw about everything in their electronica-techno-rock-en-Espanol, and this is without talking about their exhilarating presence on stage, full of sexy dance moves,… well they have to live up to their moniker! Yeah, these Mexican guys are not really into traditional mariachi, fuck no!

rock nyc

Listen Up: 5-29-12

Richland Woman’s Blues – Mississippi John Hurt – Recorded in 1928, a strummed guitar, a finger picked guitar and an easy going vocal as Hurt channels his inner woman. Grade: A+

rock nyc

Pitbull "Back In Time", Reviewed

I understand that Mr. Worldwide is quite lucky with the ladies but I personally just like watching him bust a move. Those of you lucky enough to have caught him on the Today show last Friday got to see the awkward shyness he has that is so contradictory to his audio swagger.

rock nyc

Decoded At AMPLYFI, Thursday May 24th 2012

Their music was a classic example of melodic-heavy-guitar-foot-tapping pop-rock songs, modeled after the masters, as I could hear influences from the Foo Fighters to Weezer. If the music was upbeat, it was also built around a few classic-rock solo guitars, and big sing-along hooks

rock nyc

Television Lite: May 28 – June 2, 2012

Yo, Iman! Check it out, your boy Rufus on the Ellen show!! That should be killer, or not and hey since its a holiday you can actually kick back and watch it! Other than that we got the Kaiser Cheifs (who are awesome) Evanescence (who totally suck) and Lee Brice (who the hell is that?).

rock nyc

Gotye Painting sells for $15000.

Did you see when Gotye was on Saturday Night Live how the guys did a parody of the painting from the video for “Somebody That I Used To Know”? Now THAT was freakin hilarious. I loved how it showed true fanaticism. Sorta creepy but in a cool way.

rock nyc

Active Viewin' Week Of May 28th, 2012

I haven’t seen Radiohead on stage since (gasp!) the Kid A tour… where they sucked. Prior to that, I saw them every time they hit town. So this Friday at Prudential Center is a homecoming for a band I love to hate…. and who I’ve been warming to over the years.

rock nyc

UK Top 10 Albums, June 2nd, 2012

So Emilie finally makes it to the top. I’m not much of a fan myself but at least it’s not Adele… who is at # 3. Pretty insane, right? I agree with the Washington Post critic who compared Adele with Beth Ditton (Ditto won)

rock nyc

Listen: 5-28-12

Damned for all eternity as the coke fiend who beat on Fannie Mae, with a resume everything else gets overlooked. Like, for imstance, he discovered Fannie Mae. And like this piece of boogie was the harbinger to a sea change in popular music – Grade: A+

rock nyc

The Rise And Fall Of The Clash, NYC July 5th 2012

I don’t really think I have ever cried watching a preview film trailer before. Yeah, cried. Like that drizzle sort of tear thingy chicks do, I totally just did it just on this couple minutes of splicey footage. I wasn’t crying over how really rough Mick is looking these days…

rock nyc

My Love-Hate Relationship With Beck

Beck’s styles are as diverse as Baskin-Robbins’ flavors and nevertheless all of them are totally his, you cannot miss a Beck song when you hear one, they all have his kid-in-a-candy-store’s magic touch, who can effortless sample, rearrange, and fool around with sounds

rock nyc

Summer of Ska Tour 2012!

This is the perfect start of summer concert to get you dancing and thinking happy thoughts. There is something about ska that just makes it impossible to be angry- no matter what the situation or the lyrics, its so happy and jaunty you just let it go. They should pump ska music in to prisons or something

rock nyc

Singles Going Steady Week Of May 21st, 2012

– Beth Ditto is probably the best disco singer of her generation, and if that’s enough, this is enough. But I am less keen on her songs, anonymous disco material, less synthetic than I am used to but not quite memorable enough. Exceptions to this rule abound and “Move In The Right Direction” -well, no need to wait for the remix there – Grade: B+

rock nyc

Listen Up: 5-27-12

If I Was A Bell- Emily Loesser – Yup, Jean Simmons was lipsynching on the movie version of “Guys And Dolls”… as she should have bee. Emily Loesser,Fran’s kid, did a stellar job, especially on this sexual awakakening masterpiece – Grade: A

rock nyc

Angels and Airwaves "Surrender" Video Review

The difference here is that its wonderful. Im not going to say its ‘amazing’ or ‘awesome’ but it is very pleasing to the ear and harsh contradiction to the frat boy Blink 182 alter ego. Live they are goose bump inspiring recorded they just make good sound,

rock nyc

Set It Off Cover "Im Not OK(I Promise)"

Unknown bands taking on cover tunes and making some waves. Its a very cool idea if you do it well. Set it Off does it very well. This video actually inspired me to go hear more of their work. Had they not done this cover and not been posted up on a slow news day I may never have given them the time of day..

rock nyc

Listen Up: 5-26-12

The House That Heaven Built – Japandriods – Hand clapping, footstamping, yelping hook, a raw rocker vocalist and a tune worthy of Superchunk – Grade: A

rock nyc

Bringin' Sassy Bach: The Specials

The slow thrust beat on this one was a fantastic pull up song. That is- you have your windows down and the ‘tape deck’ full blast so when you pull up to any destination you sound cool. Now its all ghetto crap, 1982 not many13 yr old girls with spiked hair and a nose ring around suburbia, let alone driving a car.

rock nyc

Sister Crayon At the Studio At Webster Hall, May 21st, 2012

Screeching like a banshee with her black hair flaying and three keyboards and a a sound loop around her, one guy on keyboards and guitar, another chick on keyboards, a drummer and Terra Lopez herself fiddling with nobs before moving her hands mid-air like a refuge from a Lew Grossman novel where the sun never sets though it damn well should.

rock nyc

Paul And Linda McCartney's "Ram" reviewed

Words of affection so personal, a whispered conversation between the two: “listen to your Daddy’s song, making love is wrong…” The song is adrift in time, it is like a hug between a father and child, “We believe that we can’t be wrong” is such a proiose for a happy, endless childhood. It makes me miss something that never happened to me.

rock nyc

"The Complete Beat", English Beat Box Set Soon!

If you have not seen this band live find a date and go. This is one group of musicians whose talent just keeps going strong. We saw them last year and I was shocked at how true and powerful their energy is. C’mon aren’t they supposed to be a bunch of geezers? Far from it

rock nyc

Listen Up – 5-25-12

I Want U Back – Cher Lloyd – Yup, another English chick singer, former X Factory, dance pop phenom. But Cher is really cool, she looks loke a pixie, the thumping keyboards is a first rate hook, and she has a great come one, “Remember all the things that we did first?” Grade: B+

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