The Black Keys' "El Camino" Reviewed
El Camino’ will probably be on everybody’s 2011 best album list, but by trying so much in only 11 songs, Dan Auerbach and Pat Carney may have lost part of their identity
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Christofer Drew, "Unwinding" Reviewed
This kid actually cracks me up. First in what I presume to be a series of "Bedroom Tapes", is Chris Drew of Never Shout Nevers self love on an unmade
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Titus Andronicus Covering Coldplay Is Cool For Cats
It is a crazy one, Stickles is a funny guy, let’s just say that he takes some liberty with the lyrics, and he exaggerates the yeeaaahhhs so much, I thought I was hearing some cats in heat
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New Years Rockin' Eve 2012
It’s on and on and huddled masses in Times Square and the dumb hats and well.. its just stupid. Those of you who have stood in those animal pens can attest to it- that aint fun its just cool to say you’ve done it
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"Sleazy Remix 2.0 Get Sleazier", Kesha Might Be Back
But if the MC’s own it- it could be the coolest thing in a long time. Maybe Kesha should have just gone to fetch sandwiches instead,or better yet maybe her only contribution is an occasional girl giggle or something.
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Michelle Shocked Reaches Across That Burning Bridge
” it says they’re proud of her, and affirms the choice she made, and speaks to the emotional power of rock n roll. And, it’s just a great, affirmative story song about two old friends who went their separate ways, but the emotional bond is still there”
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A Reasonable Proposal for U2's Money
With his $736 million U2 could almost finance one year of research on HIV vaccine, not negligible, or at least, they could rectify that drop in the funding these recent years.
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Must See Concert: Craig Finn At Mercury Lounge April 8th
There is an Amex presale at noon and onsale is friday at noon. There is also an artist presale. So good luck with all that but beg steal or borrow, get there.
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"I Melt With You" Reviewed (More Or Less)
As an examination of male bonding or male angst it beggers the imagination, and while I should have probably disliked it more, it has a sort of visceral power and I enjoyed the mens affection for each other, I didn’t really enjoy it.
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Sneak Peaks Week Of December 12th, 2011
Wow, talk about a crappy week of music. Boils down to Snoop and Charlotte. Snoop and Wiz is a buncha of songs about rolling blunts and Charlotte a live album. The Smiths tribute not available on Spotify
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MFT 12-13-11
“Let it be known that I was who I am” is a better benediction than peace on earth or good will to all men. It is nearly impossible to be who you are, how wonderful if you could be.
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Eric Contractor Going For Baroque
Baroque pop” is an obvious claim, but his own “bel-canto art-rock” is better. How about this: imagine 1980’s band the Associates Billy Mackenzie singing Broadway tunes arranged by Burt Bucharah… ?
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PETA's "Libby Awards", Nominees
I think I can safely say that we a compassionate lot, and regardless of our politics appreciate the kind treatment of our fellow creatures.
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Heartless at Vacation Vinyl, Friday, December 9th, 2011:
Heartless’ frontman was walking in a more destructive way, like a force of nature in pain determined to destroy and crash the universe. They were hardly stopping between the songs
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the Tetrafol Is A New Instrument Invented By Fol Chen
The Tetrafol is a hand-held tangible electronic sound toy. Circuits enclosed by a wooden tetrahedron detect orientation and motion-gestures to modify the playback
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Gary Numan "Dead Son Rising" Reviewed
So this is a potpourri of weirdness and clicks filled with periodic nasal belows and the clomping of what i believe to be a coconut shell on a cookie sheet.
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This Providence's, "All I Want For Christmas Is You" Reviewed
There are some humongous migraine inspiring bags of crap covers- churned out so the teens will drop a buck on iTunes for a ‘cool’ holiday song.
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Craig Finn's "Honolulu Blues" b/w "Rented Room" Reviewed
Now you and I are free to believe what we feel but the truth is, people either have faith or don’t. Much like being in love, you can’t fake it
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Best Tracks 2011 #41 – #60
Ohio – The Black Keys – You are probably too young to remember the scratch and sniff album cover of the Ohio punk compiliation in the 1970s. It smelled of burning rubber. Only a local like Chrissie Hynde or the Black Keys could romanticize the State and get away with it
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Full of Hell at Vacation Vinyl, Friday, December 9th, 2011 Reviewed
I am pretty sure any Justin Bieber’s fan would have been terrified to death and would have crawled under the next vinyl bins at Full of Hell’s first riff,… I think you get what I mean.
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Pick Concerts Week of December 12th, 2011
Sold out MSG on Friday in a Facebook presale, Swedish House Party recently added a set at Roseland later that night. These guys are the monsters of House and the most eagerly awaited concert for dance denizens this season
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MFT 12-12-11
Danny’s Song – Loggins And Messina – This is soft rock, it floats on a cloud of mellow and all these years later I bet someguy somewhere is singing it to his wife.Full of the hope in young marriage and family at the beginning of a journey. Loggins wrote it for his brother and I wonder how it worked out..
2.
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Iman and hel Do SNL: Robyn
A twitterbug techno thumper who I simply cannot connect with. In research for tonights big event I learned alot- and not much to really care about.
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Caveman at the Echo, Thursday, December 8th, 2011, Reviewed
Listening to them on record actually gives a tamed perception of their music played live, the dreamy psych landscape is there, but live, they certainly played their gentle, soft pop at a higher level of reverb and distortion, with a lesser or greater extend, depending on the songs.
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Foster the People’s “Don’t Stop (Color on the Walls)”, Reviewed
The band Foster the People, of “Pumped Up Kicks” fame (Iknow, totally overplayed right?), has released a new music video for their song “Don’t Stop (Color on the Walls)” and
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JayZ At Carnegie Hall
The rappers foundation has been in process since 2003 with a mission of helping individuals facing economic hardships further his or her education at institutions of higher learning
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Races at the Echo, Thursday, December 8th, 2011 Reviewed
With their long introductions, their slowly installing psych pop and especially their soaring vocal harmonies, Races is a band I have seen two times with the same in-awe-state-of mind when they play
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Fit Wit Fitty
Mr Cent certainly appears prison yard buff- what type of regime he will mentor should be interesting, but bet theres no trip to the “Candy Shop”
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My Fave Tracks Of 2011 #21 – #40
Video Games – Lana Del Rey – Internet hype will only get you so far, a song as good as this will get you a lot further. Smart as a whip romance. She sounds down in love.
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Bon Iver And The Grammys
I kinda felt like going up there and being like: ‘Everyone should go home, this is ridiculous. You should not be doing this. We should not be gathering in a big room and looking at each other and pretending that this is important’
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Singles Going Steady, Week of January 5th, 2011
Speak Now – World Tour Live – Taylor Swift – Fan only momento except three covers in the middle, I wish the “I Want You Back” was longer. If they had any imagination, they’d release another album just covers. The DVD is the show on video. Grade: B
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MFT 12-11-11
On The Floor – J Lo and Pitbull – When not tooling around L.A. and pretending it’s the Bronx, or wasting her time on American Idol, J Lo can occassional kill it. as in this track with the incomparable PR PB.
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Z100's Jingle Ball 2011 At MSG, Friday, December 6th, 2011, Reviewed
All the action was on the Top 40 and the Top 40 was ruled by dance, which made last nights “Jingle Ball” the most consistent night of live music this year. 10 artists and everybody at the top of their game
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Ryan Adams' Intimate Performance in LA filmed for KCRW
The intimate solo performance of Ryan Adams recorded at Apogee Berkeley Street Studios in front of a live audience is now available on KCRW’s webpage, and you can watch Ryan perform acoustically songs from his new album ‘Ashes & Fire’, alone with his guitar and harmonica.
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Jagger and Richards, Fifty Years of Satisfaction?
“I think there’s a healing process waiting to take place. I think it’shappening now as we speak, but it has to be resolved,” Wood said, referring to Richards revealing details of Jagger’s anatomy in his biography
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Rolling Stones Best Albums Of 2011: Something For Everyone
complete mixed bag, trying to please everybody, with more ultra-popular music to indulge the crowds (Lady Gaga, Foo Fighters, Beyoncé), plenty of indie music to avoid alienating hipsters (the Decemberists, Wild Flag, Fleet Foxes, TV On The Radio, Feist, Bon Iver), some rap to look good and coo
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"On A Clear Day You Can See Forever", Harry Connick Jr on Broadway
wacked out sorta hipster New York show that now takes on new turns as its ‘conceptualized and reworked’, this means it’ll be more risqué’ then the 1965 play or 1970’s film. The show is being recreated by Michael Mayer of “Spring Awakening” and “American Idiot” fame- need we say more?
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All Time Low, "Merry Christmas Kiss My Ass" Reviewed
They offer up this holiday gift. The typical office Christmas along with Stuart the puppet. I do hope the puppet becomes a regular in their videos, I like it. He had credibility
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Drummer Ali Koehler Kicked Out Of Best Coast (apparently)
Best Coast drummer Ali Koehler is not part of the band anymore. Sure, it happens all the time, people leave a band and join another one
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Jessica Lea Mayfield At Carnegie Hall, Tuesday, December 6th, 2011 Reviewed
In red shoes and brown acoustic guitar at Carnegie Hall on Tuesday, Jessica Lea Mayfield did herself zero favors with her endless 20 minute opening set.
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MFT 12-10-11
James Baskett won a special academy award for his portrayal of Uncle Remus. But you wouldn’t know it because Disney refuse to release it on video, after claims that the movie, a retelling telling of Briar rabbits misadventures, perpetuated racial myths
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Exclusive Interview With Joe Steinhardt On Reforming For Science
The band broke up, when, truly way out of control, Slovan disappeared while tripping and the always unruly band, disbanded. Their last concert was a Don Giovanni Showcase in February 2009. Three years later they’re back.
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Girls at the Music Box, Tuesday, December 6th, 2011
The stage looked like an altar of flowers, as bunches of fresh lilies, tulips and other flowers were attached around each mic, on the keyboard table and around the mini-stage where singers Makeda Francisco, Skyler Lucas and Tracy Nelson were standing. You even could smell their odor during the show
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Everybody Talks about Neon Trees
The instruments are tightly woven together, really making the perfect back track for the clever lyrics. Everything’s so compact, tight, and radio worthy- and then the chorus comes.
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Warped 2012- Here Come The Bands!
I am thrilled for Memphis May Fire and Bayside, not so thrilled about Motionless in White (why are they not on this list and who really cares?)
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Helen Money At Vacation Vinyl, Monday, December 5th, 2011, Reviewed
Alison Chesley’s pedigree is truly impressive: she has a master’s degree in Cello performance from Northwestern University, released two albums (one was produced by Bob Mould) as the rock acoustic duo Verbow, has opened for numerous acts such as Frank Black, Bob Mould, Counting Crows, Live, Morrissey, Liz Phair and Brad
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Gwar Guitarist Corey Smoot, Coroners Finding
So many people consider any rockers death a drug overdose or a suicide. Here is the harsh reality- at age 34 you can die from a condition you may not even know existed.
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My Fave Tracks Of 2011 #1 – #20
my top 20 fave tracks of 2011. I have written about them so often I see no reason to write about these any more and will list more as time goes buys I’mi in the 105 track range but haven’t tried to jog my memory too much!
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Red Hot Chili Peppers: Emotional Boys Nominated To Rock N Roll Hall of Fame
‘It’s always been easy for me to pooh-pooh these awards — the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame too. But I inducted Metallica a couple of years ago, and it was really a beautiful thing to see as all these people were being inducted”
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Mark Stewart Of the Pop Group Is Back
Lead by Gang Of Four, the young Human League, but including bands like the Au Pairs, Throbbing Gristle, even the Fall and PiL, it and at the forefront was the Popgroup -a funky, skronky up against the wall ravishing tirade lead by Mark Stewart