Slideshow

Live, Slideshow

Governors Ball, Sunday, June 7th, 2015: Line Up With Set Times

If Saturday was all about leaving early, Sunday is all about arriving late/. The show doesn’t start proper till Sturgill Simpson at 3pm, and, if you wanna be difficult, skip him and arrive really late for A-TRAK, but once you reach there is a whole lotta tough choices. War On Drugs or weird Al? Noel Gallagher is a gimme, but Hot Chip or Flying Lotus or Lana Del Rey or the Black Keys?

Charts, Slideshow

10 Songs: Thursday, May 21st, 2015

The Kids Are Alright – The Who – There is a plaintiveness about this song, maybe more so now than 50 years ago, but the word kid reverberates and the sense of a scene in movement is also partly a scene closing down forever. “I don’t mind…” is suh a loaded line – A+

Elliott Smith, News, Slideshow

Not With The Band: Looking For The Truth Has Nothing To Do With Misogyny

The tiresome theory in this piece is that, blaming Courtney Love for the death of Kurt Cobain and Jennifer Chiba for the death of Elliott Smith is pure misogyny. I know his language,… people who express their skepticism are just ‘murder conspiracy theorists’ or ‘murder monomaniacs’ and he goes on and on, throwing in the text a few references to Greek mythology to make it sound more intellectual

News, Slideshow

Robert Christgau: In The City

Which leads me to Christgau the rock critic, who once wrote of Costello “all wordplay as swordplay” –a phrase I still use. As is this one, which only I own since he said it in reference to a pan of Visage (more or less –I think I was a little ambivalent) I’d written for the Voice: “They aren’t invading Poland”…. A phrase I’ve used ever since whenever somebody is over reacting. And… MICK JAGGER SHOULD WRAP UP HIS PENIS AND GO HOME.

Charts, Slideshow, US Top 10 Albums

US Top 10 Albums: 5-30-15

Three albums in the top five are soundtracks and I bet more to come as the days roll by: ever since “Twilight” realized it could connect with the youngsters via indie bands, mainstream poppers have been circling the soundtrack compilation and now the eagle has landed. The result? While you might enjoy EDM pop moves on a single, or on a dance floor, one after another for 40 minutes? Not so much. Incubus? I’m a pass.

Live, Slideshow

Governors Ball Friday June 5th, 2015, Line Up With Set times

So here we go, sixteen days and the nyc festival of the year hits and I will take a closer look at each day. It sure seems to me, the big draw closers on Friday should be a repeat of Skrillex versus Jack White last year, Drake is going to have 75% of the attendants. Me? I haven’t seen MMJ since New Year’s Eve 2008 and I saw Drake twice last year…

Live, Slideshow

Tanlines At Amoeba, Tuesday May 19th 2015, Reviewed

I can’t hide that these songs could have afford a bit more enthusiasm, should I say that a lot of people were enjoying the beats and the mellow ambiance, even dancing between the CDs rows? The last song, ‘Real Life’ off their 2012 album ‘Mixed Emotion’ had more Brazilian, or at least exotic, beats and brought more fun, although it reminded me about something Moby could have done may be?

Live, Slideshow

City Parks Foundation Summerstage 30th Anniversary Featuring Tedeschi Trucks band At Central Park, Monday, May 18th, 2015, reviewed

Trucks just keeps on firing; and at Summerstage, in what amounts to mostly a business as usual gig, his explosive playing whether quiet vibey or loud guns afire, was what we were there for. Trucks, with his long goatee and skinny studied intensity is more like one of the more minor Old Testament Prophets then a rock star, looked to have just joined the big leagues of guitar heroes last night

Recorded, Slideshow

Be Here Now: New Album Reviews, May 19th, 2015

Blurryface – Twenty One Pilots – Fueled By Ramen pop band rap and sing their way through an album with a shifting center of gravity. It is hugely ambitious, it feels like an old fashioned big album, and if an album with songs as strong as “Ride” and “Going Local” can be considered a failure, it fails. But it fails only on its own ambitious terms – ALBUM OF THE WEEK – B+

News, Slideshow, Video Review

Julian Casablancas Announces A Series Of Special Screenings For ‘Human Sadness’ Video Across The US

Julian Casablancas + The Voidz have released a 38 second-clip of their upcoming video for ‘Human Sadness’ (off their last year’s album ‘Tyranny’) and they will be screening the 11-minute long video in a series of theaters across the US. There are also screenings in New York, Brooklyn, Chicago, Denver, Washington DC, Boston, Miami, Nashville, Montreal, from Wednesday 20th to Tuesday 26th, and may be not all of them are sold-out?

News, Slideshow, Upcoming Concerts

The Rolling Stones May Play The Fonda On Wednesday?

There is currently a rumor, the Rolling Stones may be playing a surprise and intimate show on Wednesday in Los Angeles… What? After all, they did it before, a few years ago they announced a surprise show at the Echoplex, I got on line very early in the day, but never got a ticket because it was a stupid lottery! However, the other day, I met someone who was lucky enough to get in, ‘I could have resold my ticket for thousands of dollars’ she told me… yeah, but she didn’t!

News, Slideshow, Video Review

Taylor Swift’s “Bad Blood” Video Reviewed

Two Lamar verses is something but a cast of thousands is something else for a song that is a hit at Katy Perry. Backstabbing all about eve featuring Selena Gomez, Jessica Alba, Lena Dunham, Ellie Goulding, Hayley Williams,and more, that was the fream. What I got was a Superheroe takedown as Bionic Taylor goes for revenge. No inside baseball here.

Charts, Slideshow

Billboard Music Awards 2015: We Weren’t There, We Didn’t Watch It, But We Still Have An Opinion

What Billboard have that other people don’t is the numbers to back up their awards, so the multi-platinum 1989 is a no brainer winner for this years awards. Billboard is all about the charts and as all about the charts go, it is where it is at. Which means the only award they didn’t hand to Taylor was Top New Artist (they gave it to Sam Smith instead).

News, Slideshow, That Was The Week That Was

That Was The Week That Was: May 11th, 2015

Azealia Banks didn’t just win the Twitter wars, she won the rap wars, both at the same epochal gig last Monday at Irving Plaza. A steaming hot, insanely crowded, perfect evening of hip hop. If there was ever any doubt, forget it folks. Azealia rules. Meanwhile, Shelby Lynne thought I was rude because of my mostly positive review of her gig at the Concert Hall.

Charts, Slideshow

10 Songs: Monday, May 18th, 2015

Always In My Head – Coldplay – When they write the book on great divorce albums, Coldplay won’t be in the top three, behind Dylan and Gaye, but that doesn’t make this understated song, a poorly articulated but haunting track, might get a footnote – B+

controversy, News, Slideshow

U2 Defend Their Tax Arrangements Once Again

‘And we pay a fortune in tax. Just so people know, we pay a fortune in tax; and we’re happy to pay a fortune in tax, people should. But that doesn’t mean, because you’re good at philanthropy and because I’m an activist, people think you should be stupid in business and I don’t run with that.’

Charts, Slideshow

UK Top 10 Albums 5-24-15

I know what you’re thinking: where the hell are Blur? I mean, after a month of non stop blather, w’appen? Don’t fret so, they are at # 11 BUT, just to get that in perspective, Taylor is into her 26th week, and Sheeran his 50th week, meanwhile, this damn band who we’ve had shoved down our throat non stop can’t stay in the top ten two weeks?

Charts, Slideshow, UK Top 10 Singles

UK Top 10 Singles 5-24-15

If I was a betting man, I’d go with Jess Glynne for song of the summer, but it ain’t over till Lunchmoney Lewis, who you probably remember from The Pinkprint, says it is. His dad is Ian Lewis, of reggae band Inner Circle, but “Nills”, a contender for song of the summer, is a bouncy and joy piano romp that should do him well here as well.

Recorded, Slideshow

Last Call: Week Of May 11th, 2015

Dark Bird Is Home – The Tallest Man On Earth – This guy is as interesting as his name but this song is a lovely folk track with a wonderful trill on the verse. A surprisingly fetching conclusion, God I hope I don’t have to reasses him – A-

Charts, Slideshow

10 Songs: Sunday, May 17th, 2015

Good Enough – Bonnie Raitt – From 1975, you know how some folks just don’t do it for you? O’ve never much liked Bonnie Raitt… no real reason, I quite get why other people do. Including Robert Christgau and Carola Dibble who consider this their song according to his memoir…. which I am reaching the end of – B+

News, Slideshow

Kanye West’s ‘Bound 2’ As A Children Book?

If you are a fan, you have realized that it is actually an adaptation of his music video ’Bound 2’, into a kids’ book, and you can see the whole story here. Tebbal will be soon graduating from New York’s famed School of Visual Arts, so he is a little chicken too, with, apparently, a lot of talent and humor.

Live, Slideshow

Let’s Active: rock nyc Concert Picks, Week Of May 18th, 2015

It is City Park Foundation’s 30th anniversary of Summerstage, the arts but mostly musical citywide free concert spectacular. They are kicking things with this early opening concert at Summerstage in Central Park on Monday, featuring one of the biggest jam bands around, the Tedeschi Trucks Band. Expect a lotta BB Kings covers… and for free.

Recorded, Slideshow, Sneak Peak

Sneak Peaks: New Album Releases Week Of May 18th, 2015

The Milk Carton Kids newbie is a drag as far as this philistine can tell, twenty one pilots is good not great, same goes for Joanna Gruesome’s big time sophomore effort. Ceremony? I’m a non believer. Jamie Foxx always sucks. Tanlines, Hot Chip, Total Babes -they could all go either way. That leaves it between the excellent Jim O’Rourke and the bad ass Thee Oh Sees. I’m going with Thee Oh Sees, in difference to my buddy Mike Long’s opinion

Medium Cool, News, Slideshow

Medium Cool: Goodbye To David Letterman

Will history remember David Letterman? Well, does history remember Johnny Carson, and he was much bigger? Put it this way, working late night television is like being a telivison columnist. Murray Kempton was one of New York’s best and when was the last time you heard his name? Letterman was great and then he wasn’t great and within a coupla years it will be all the two Jimmys and when they retire no one will remember them, indeed, they will remember them even less.

Charts, Slideshow

10 Songs: Friday, May 15th, 2015

Made Up Mind – Tedeshi Trucks band – I’ve never been covinced when it comes to this band, but when I saw Susan with the Allman’s last year (rememebr: Greg was out sick), they were better than the penultimate gig I caught. But this? Still not convinced – C+

Scroll to Top