Slideshow

Recorded, Slideshow

10 Songs: Saturday, June 27th, 2015

/

I belong to a secret group on Facebook, invite only, called “For The Love Of Music” and all we do is share songs off YouTube, it shouldn’t be this much fun but it is. Run by Beiruti musician Peter Abela and with the great Salim Haddad and regulars like Tala Barrage and Zeina Misu, they lose me when they go prog rock but are excellent with European pop and Salim posted this terrific track, which is neither, yesterday. One of the great blues tracks I’ve never heard the original of – A+

News, Slideshow, These Days

These Days: Saturday, June 27th, 2015

/

Patrick Ewing left the Knicks in 2000 and these guys are still rebuilding. After their worst season, how about a win now strategy? The Knicks aren’t rebuilding, they are a bad organization who can turn any one into losers with a toxic culture. Fourth round pick, Latvian 19-year-old, 7-foot-1 project, center forward

News, Slideshow

Listen To Sun Drug’s Debut EP And Attend Their Release Show On Saturday

/

Sun Drug’s debut EP has an expansive sound, which seems to have the ambition of arena bands such as the Strokes caught on a dark day (‘Easy in Your Attitude’) or U2 snapped on a triumphant moment (‘Wildman’). The 5 tracks have a big, epic sound built around guitars and synths, moving move from sinister dance-floors (‘Soaked’) to dreamy-psychedelic balladery (’John Fante’), with a gloomy mood floating around giant hooks and bold vocals, aggressively dominating the inventive soundscapes.

Recorded, Slideshow

10 Songs: Friday, June 26th, 2015

/

I Think It’s Going To Rain Today – Randy Newman – He sounded like Mel Torme with a cold and the piano playing was so quiet and the downbeat of the down beat so down beat, it was hard to tell when he was joking and when he had stopped. On this song as well, where the emotions are written so large and small at the same time, it is hard not to take Randy seriously, I always took it as a break up song, other people claim homelessness – A

Medium Cool, News, Slideshow

Medium Cool: Best Talk Show Guests Week Of June 29th, 2015

/

We have to start taking National holidays off here at -stories are so damn few and far between. Everybody has ta taken the week of for Independence, which is fine for the boys: Jimmy, Jimmy, James and Seth and the girls Wendy, Meredith, Ellen, Queen Latifah. Yup, apparently their Union mandates it: we get a day (actually, we work through it), they get a week. So let’s celebrate all the Talk Show Host because where would be without them? Well, more or less exactly where we are now.

News, Slideshow, These Days

These Days: Friday, June 26th, 2015

/

The Supreme Court upheld the right to gay marriage in the US. Certainly, during Gay Pride week, I don’t know who would disagree that this is a great thing that should have never been an issue. Congratulations (or maybe I mean sympathy) to all homosexuals now legally ale to do what they did anyway. On a personal level, what I liked most about homosexuality was the indiscriminate sex men had before AIDS destroyed the fun. Just the entire constant seeing all over the places with tens, dozens of partners. Of course, it wasn’t marriage that killed it, but I am sure marriage will be the straw that leaves those days of glorious promiscuity to just a distant memory

News, Slideshow

Did Michael Bublé Steal Rhett Miller’s Song?

/

“You know, in a restaurant you can’t really hear what’s happening. I thought, “Yeah, that’s my song. That sounds like ‘Perfume.’” Which was the single off the 97’s Grand Theatre Vol. 2 in 2011. And as the song went on I realized, wait, there’s a pre-chorus section; that’s not in the song. And then it hit the chorus, and the chorus was different from my song, but weirdly, the lyrics in the chorus were the lyrics in my song. And so I Shazam-ed it, of course, and I figured out it was the Michael Bublé song called “It’s A Beautiful Day.”

Live, Slideshow

Brian Wilson, Verizon Theater, Grand Prairie, Texas, Wednesday 24th June, 2015, Review

/

Wilson is a sympathetic figure, even more so do to the recent biopic Love & Mercy, and with his personal tragedies and triumphs, it’s impossible not to root for the man. He was in good spirits on this evening, giving brief song introductions (“This one’s in the key of E,” “Let’s hear the girls yell,” “This one rocks like hell!”) and punching the air for emphasis

News, Slideshow

Knitting With Your Brainwaves On Music… Is This the Future Of Clothing?

/

‘We have plotted brainwave activity into a knitted pattern. Using a wearable, non-invasive EEG headset, we recorded users’ affective states while listening to Bach’s ‘Goldberg Variations’, concretely the aria and its first seven variations. The audio was about 10 minutes long and we downsampled each second of the signal coming from the 14 channels of the EEG device. Three main features were measured: relaxation, excitement, and cognitive load.

News, Slideshow, The Big Huerta

The Big Huerta Passes the Buck

/

The painting is pretty goofy looking. I don’t know why. Buck used to be pretty goofy onstage. I mean he threw out some great zingers at people that were dancing. He almost sounded like he had a few drinks in him, not sure, don’t need to know, but he was pretty dang funny. I also gave him some flowers just to gussy him up.

Recorded, Slideshow, Track Review, Upcoming Releases

Just In Time For The Season, Listen to Lael Neale’s New Song ‘Born In The Summer’

/

‘Born in the Summer’ is inspired by those early adolescent years of feeling awkward in your own skin and painfully self-conscious, yet knowing that someday those growing pains will recede, explains the press release.
The song is also the 8th track of Lael’s forthcoming album, ‘I’ll Be Your Man’, set to be released on July 10th

News, Slideshow, These Days

These Days: Thursday, June 25th, 2015

/

If “Summer Of ’42” happened in the “Summer Of ’15”, the war widow would be in jail right now because Oscy and Benjie (“I’m a dangerous man, I truly am” ) secretly filmed her and Hermie and posted it online and somebody (everybody) snitched to the cops -who took a break from frisking black male teenagers for loitering in their backyard, to bust her. We live in a sharp elbowed, intrusive, ill mannered, nosey, aggressive, and pointedly ignorant of human nature, age.

Charts, Slideshow, US Top 10 Singles

US Top 10 Singles 7-4-15

/

Heading into July, and Wiz has been at # 1 for ten weeks straight and there has only been three songs at # 1 all year… for the first time since 1996. All three songs have been nothing great, the Taylor “Bad Blood” was her weakest on 1989 and Bruno and mark have written a pastiche of funk. Wi is terrible but Charlie has a great voice. But the extreme conservatism of the charts is borderline babrbaric. PS not a single new song entered the charts this week.

News, Slideshow

Rock Criticism: The State Of The Art

/

Rock criticism in 2015 is in the crosshairs of forces beyond its control: of editorial dictates and the power of mass condemnation,of a type of music -EDM, that lends itself to technical jargon, and of an underpaid and undernourished set of writers that falls back fast on 21st century chitter chatter, of a social media filled world happy to attack at the slightest provocation, and an overwhelming humorless 2015 air of defeated populism

Charts, Slideshow, US Top 10 Albums

US Top 10 Albums 7-4-15

/

James Taylor’s first number one album ever. How wonderful for him and sure, 96,000 copies sold isn’t exactly the smash Sweet Baby James was 45 years ago, still you play with the hand you’re dealt and this hand finds a terrific album at the top of the charts!

Recorded, Singles Going Steady, Slideshow

Singles Going Steady: New Singles Reviewed For the Week Of June 22nd, 2015

/

If Radiohead are the Oxford upstarts who went hi-tech and Elbow the university boys most likely to stand a round at their local, Foals are the kid brothers who take themselves way too seriously… with predictable results. But any band with lines like “I fell for a girl with a port-wine stain, I knew her initials but never her name” are alright in my book and this blistering rocker is as good as Elbow at their best. A shocker – A-

News, Slideshow, These Days

These Days: Wednesday, June 24th, 2015

/

The prices are high for everything except dollar pizza, even Subway quietly bounced their prices by 20% and from your cable bill to your groceries honesty means getting away with as much as you possibly can. Which is the reason for this, of 120 grocery stores in the city, 70% put the wrong weight on food purchases thereby overcharging you. Wholefood -the most expensive is the most egregious and are about to get fined.

Slideshow

10 Songs: Wednesday, June 24th, 2015

/

Cash Money’s LA connection is a typical bragard on this from his new album, surprise release yesterday. but this is one long hook with as many amusing repeats of the title as you can live with and might I add, a pretty good voice as he advises you to take him literally – B

News, Slideshow

The Taylor-Swift-Is-A-Hypocrite Saga Continues

/

‘This contract is particularly egregious in that it not only contains an all out rights grab on the photographers’ work,’ said Goodman to Factmag, ‘whilst limiting their editorial control and ability to earn from that work — and does so without compensation — but because it does so under threat of criminal damage or destruction of property.’

News, Slideshow

The Loudness War Is Winning

/

As a result of the so-called loudness wars, mainstream pop releases are being pushed onto CD and into mp3 files at such high levels they’re technically much ‘hotter’ than some of the loudest acts in history, in an attempt to make them stand out from the competition

Lists, Live, Slideshow

Morrissey Is None Of Your Business

/

There is a sense of today about the setlist, it is so deeply buried in the present and personally if I had my choice only two of these songs would be on the setlist and that is why, if nothing else at all, Mo goes his own way and does his own thing. Morrissey Is None Of My Business…

Slideshow

10 Songs: Tuesday, June 22nd, 2015

/

What’s Up – 4 Non Blondes – remember when there were something like 3,000 bands with a similar name? This is the 1993 one hit wonders who sound like Edie Brickell fronting 10,000 Maniacs and paid it off nicely on this big but only smash. Gaga just performed it during Linda Perry’s induction into the Songwriters hall of fame – A

News, Slideshow

A Photographer Accuses Taylor Swift Of Hypocrisy

/

‘How are you any different to Apple? If you don’t like being exploited, that’s great.. make a huge statement about it, and you’ll have my support. But how about making sure you’re not guilty of the very same tactic before you have a pop at someone else?’ writes Sheldon. ‘Photographers need to earn a living as well. Like Apple, you can afford to pay for photographs so please stop forcing us to hand them over to you while you prevent us from publishing them more than once, ever.’

News, Slideshow, These Days

These Days: Monday, June 22nd, 2015

/

Live: I woke up today to 100s of reads of Edward Huerta’s admittedly excellent, Brian Wilson at the Greek review from Sunday. A pleasant surprise but how did that happen, right? How about this: Brian Wilson posted it on his Facebook wall. Considering all the negative being thrown our way it was a pleasant change of pace. Congrats to Edward and I hope we passed the audition!

Recorded, Slideshow

10 Songs: Monday, June 22nd, 2015

/

Still Feeling Blue – Gram Parsons – There are two artists I will get on a jag for no apparent reason -this guy is one, and this first song off his first solo album is one, it resonates with a swing but a swing all about missing the swing. So overblown and true, just the sound of her name makes him want to die – A

Elliott Smith, Slideshow

Sign A Petition To Resuscitate The Investigation Into Elliott Smith’s Death

/

Elliott Smith died in 2003 and the case has since been left open by the police, the investigation is in limbo and the homicide detectives who have successively been in charge of the case, have basically been waiting for new information to come to them, without actively investigating.
At worst, this petition will be an outlet for our collective frustration, at best, who knows, it may reach a good number of signatures and attract the media’s attention on a case that has been forgotten for too long.

News, Slideshow

That Was The Week That Was: June 15th, 2015

/

A 21 year old white supremacist Dylann Roof entered “the historically black Emanuel A.M.E. Church in Charleston on Wednesday night, attending a prayer meeting for an hour and then murdering nine parishioners.” Jon Stewart couldn’t find anything funny to say about it, but apparently he hadn’t studied the guys haircut long enough. Personally, I think that’s enough of a reason to install the death penalty.

Charts, Slideshow, UK Top 10 Albums

UK Top 10 Albums 6-28-15

/

Fleetwood Mac just closed the Isle Of Wight Festival, which explains what this is doing here, and Simon played with Sting in London a coupla weeks ago. I guess something happened in the UK to bring the estimable Mr.Miller back on the charts. Before his life was tragically cut short on a plane ride to entertain the troops during WWII back in 1944. Pardon me boys if you know this, but Miller got his distinctive sound by moving a saxophonist move to clarinter and playing the saxophones part.

Live, Slideshow

Motopony At The Troubadour, Thursday June 18th 2015 Review

/

Their music was a bit all over the place, but certainly led by a sort of psychedelic pop-folk with a modern R&B-synth twist, very dance-y, and bringing this old hippies-with-tambourines feeling into a more modern setting. But it was for the most part epic and psychic, with song titles such as ‘Gypsy Woman’ – during which Daniel Blue invited a few girls on stage to dance their heart out – and the upbeat ‘1971’ which had a screaming poppy chorus with an almost Sgt. Pepper’s catchiness

Live, Slideshow

Brian Wilson at the Greek Theatre, Saturday, June 20th, 2015, Review

/

Set highlights included “This Whole World”, The Little Girl I Once Knew”, “Shut Down”, “Then I Kissed Her”, “Wild Honey” (with Chaplin singing and blistering guitar parts), “She Knows Me Too Well”, “Wake the World” and this is the first time I ever heard him do “Busy Doin’ Nothing” the bossa nova ode from 1968 Friends lp. You mix that in with the hits (California Girls, God Only Knows, In My Room, Lil Deuce Coupe….do I really have to list them???) and it was just a marvel

Recorded, Slideshow

10 Songs: Sunday, June 22nd, 2015

/

Ruby My Dear – Roy Hargrove – The best thing I’ve seen on stage in the past week was Roy performing with Ibeyi, the hard bop trumpeter is older and the sound is mellow without being dreary, especially on this Thelonious Monk ballad which dates from… the earliest moments of his career – A

Recorded, Slideshow

Anne Husick’s “Insomnia” EP Reviewed

/

People might have the opinion that all you have to do is be indie for me to love you but the truth is, I don’t review smaller labels if I don’t like their music so it only seems like that. However, so far I haven’t heard anything I don’t love on World Wide Vibe, and if the volatile Miss Husick wants to storm off stage any time soon I’d be happy to be there to see it.

Scroll to Top