Slideshow

Live, Slideshow

Dennis DeYoung, Eisemann Center, Richardson, Texas, Thursday, April 23rd, 2015 Reviewed: Styx And Stones…

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The current version of Styx does a much better job of replicating the band’s recorded output than DeYoung’s group, which had a decidedly Vegas sound. Both the guitarists had extended solo turns throughout the night, displaying every cliché in the 1970’s I’m-a-shredding-hot-poop-guitar-hero arsenal. This is a show that someone could enjoy for pure camp for about half an hour, but that’s only 25% of the evening.

News, Slideshow, Tribute

Are You Ready For Mexrrissey?

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When checking upcoming shows on the Echo/Echoplex page, I was intrigued by this one: ‘Mexrrissey, Mexico goes Morrissey’; it’s happening at the Regent Theater on Monday May 11th, and yes it is an homage to Morrissey by Latino musicians!

Charts, Slideshow

10 Songs: Friday, April 24th, 2015

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The Separation – Ceremony – I missed this single a coupla weeks ago and catching up now, it is a little quiet for this form of music: more goth than punk, or hardcore. The one time I saw em live, Pissed Jeans blew em off stage (plus they had this weird -Bthing where everybody surged on stage), any way: this isn’t bad but it is a bore – B

Recorded, Slideshow

Oldies But Goldies: Lou Reed’s “Lulu” Remembered

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the reviews have been brutal. Pitchfork gave it a 1 out of 10. And Rolling Stone gave it three stars but that’s one star if they weren’t angling for the next Metallica front cover exclusive interview. I despise consensus opinion, it seems to be an affront to freedom (freedom is always the freedom to dissent). Nothing is that black and white.

News, Slideshow

Joan Jett: Rock and Roll, Powerful And Strong

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” It is something that is powerful and strong. And it is something that can be used to fight ‘ people have injustices, and you can declare them and fight for it. I think rock & roll is a brash sort of medium, so you’re allowed to say what you want and what you mean”

Charts, rock nyc top 10 songs, Slideshow

rock nyc Top 10 Songs Week Of April 20th, 2015

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Week in, week out, year in, year out, I have no problem finding ten very good new songs, which means by the end of any given year I have over 500 songs I really love MINIMUM. This week is no different: Sam Lewis is a complete revelation, if Alabama Shakes the album needs a little time, this song is an immediate winner, and if Tyler’s album isn’t very satisfying “OKAGA, CA” is a killer track: a little Frank Ocean-y. To underscore all of this, I had to turn it up to 11 if I wanated to shoehorn Jesse in.

Live, Slideshow

Forest Hills Stadium’s Rockin’ Summer

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Of those I am seeing, Ed is always a blast live and should have no problems rocking the joint. I do wonder if he has an actual band yet? James Taylor I had tickets at MSG last winter but found myself in Florida instead, and Alabama Shakes have a terrific new album, so, yeah, let it rock.

Charts, Slideshow

US Top 10 Singles 5-2-15

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The US Singles chart is the most intensely conservative thing ever. How conservative is it? So far this year there has been a total of two songs at #1. Watching a record break is like watching dripping water on a rock, it takes money and it takes forever and it is the last absolute major label game in town.

Live, Slideshow

Lee Ann Womack At City Winery, Monday, April 20th, 2015 Reviewed

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It was all strategic. Playing a bigtime media gig at New York City Winery , Monday night, with a bad cold, a hacking cough, a million miles from the high notes, and the media, including Billboard, out in numbers to watch her present her fine 2014 album The Way I’m Livin’, the only way Lee Ann Womack could get through the set without capsizing into fits or losing her voice was through a strategy

Charts, Slideshow, US Top 10 Albums

US Top 10 Albums 5-2-15

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I can’t see or, more to the point, hear the pleasure in Shawn Mendes. I thought he was OK but slight at Jungle Ball in December, and, opening for Taylor Swift this summer, it is not possible for him to bring the one band stuff the way Ed Sheeran did in 2013. Amway, what a Halestorm of mediocrity.

Lists, Recorded, Slideshow

25 Philadelphia (or Philly Inspired) Soul Classics from the 1970s

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What was the most important and influential U.S. city in terms of 1970’s music? A strong argument could be made for Philadelphia. Producers Kenny Gamble, Leon Huff, and Thom Bell created a silky soul sound that resulted in a string of hit records early in the decade and the disco beat was popularized by MFSB drummer Earl Young. Listed below are 18 tracks that were Philly creations, then several more inspired by the same sound and production techniques

News, Slideshow

Sgt Pepper On Howard Stern

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Stern is a happy man and on the occasions I listen to his show I don’t regret it, so a happy man who didn’t sell out. But he is also a minor player. He has removed himself from the zeitgeist and has stopped being an innovative force I the world of radio. He is rich and smart, but he isn’t powerful and he isn’t a force of life. America may have talent but it doesn’t have genius.

News, Slideshow

Oldies But Goldies: Muse At MSG In 2013

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It has been two years, April 15th, 2013, to be precise, since Muse played Madison Square Garden but now, with the band performing two local shows in May, to which none of us will be able to get in, perhaps it is time to remember the last time we saw em, on today’s Oldies But Goldies

Charts, Slideshow

10 Songs: Wednesday, April 22nd, 2015

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Shoegaze – Alabama Shakes – What gives with these guys? This is a fuzzed out indie rocker of the first order and while we miss Brittany Howard really wailing, what we get in return is Shakes go indie with the sort of song TVOTR would sneak by us from time to time – A

News, Slideshow, The Big Huerta

The Big Huerta Meets The Big Hurt

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It doesn’t go away. It never will. Death is a game changer. Death of a spouse changes one’s entire future, ones plans, ones goals; every waking minute is different these days. I see things in entirely different ways now. It doesn’t seem fair but at least I was blessed with the time and memories that we had together

Lists, Recorded, Slideshow

Twenty Five British Classic Rock Tracks from the 1970s

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After the British Invasion took America by storm in 1964, U.S. radio listeners long remained fascinated with U.K. musicians, who often were simply updating the Delta and Chicago blues traditions with a better sense of style. The U.K. bands represented below range from the traditional hard rock and metal of The Who and Led Zeppelin to the more progressive rock styles of The Moody Blues and Pink Floyd

Slideshow

Last Call: Week Of April 13th, 2015

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Do You Wanna Dance – Jessie Baylin – If you dismissed her out of hand simply for being married to a King Of Leon, well, that’s understandable, but this dreamy cover of the old Bobby Freeman may go a long way in getting you to forgive her – A-.

News, Slideshow

The American Country Music Awards Goes Pop

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At the start of the year I’d have absolutely embraced my inner Miranda Lambert ( “Thank you so much for allowing me to live my dream. I love you so much, thank you”) and been happy she walk away with album, female vocalist and Milestone awards, but after a lousy live show, I am seriously less thrilled .

News, Slideshow

Sir David Bowie? “No”

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You might think Aldous, or maybe Harold Wilson, or God knows John Lennon, who returned his MBE “…as a protest against Britain’s involvement in the Nigeria-Biafra thing, against our support of America in Vietnam and against ‘Cold Turkey’ slipping down the charts.”, would turn down a Knighthood but Bowie?

Charts, Slideshow

10 Songs: Monday, April 20th, 2015

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Still Want You – Brandon Flowers – I don’t have much hope for the album but man is the song sticky, it has been on heavy rotation all week and after the disappointing song, the witty, 80s synthful hookiness of it all is a sweetheart of a song – A-

Charts, Slideshow, UK Top 10 Albums

UK Top 10 Albums 4-26-15

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Just in time for his upcoming tour of the the UK with Sting (I saw it when Iit played New York and liked it fine for what it’s worth… at least the Paul segment), this 19 song ultimate collection is Paul’s first # 1 since 1990. It is pretty darn good as well, a coupla S&G for taste and heapings of Graceland. That should do it, right?

Charts, Slideshow, UK Top 10 Singles

UK Top 10 Singles 4-26-17

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England is a different country, they do things differently, which is the only explanation I have for reggae singer Omi’s catchy “Cheerleader” hitting the charts three years after the fact. The “deep and chilly” German DJ’s Felix Jaehn remix is certainly a beauty, and it caught on fast forcing the remix to be rush released. No kick from this quarter.

Charts, Slideshow

10 Songs: Sunday, April 18th, 2015

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Tearing Me Apart – Robert L. Ross – rock nyc writer and power pop fiend Ross, gets this Pete Shelley sound alike so perfect, especially the bridge which is almost a blueprint for what the Buzzcock leader has done for years, you’d think (as I did) that there is a song in his catalog you’d misplaced – A

Live, Slideshow

Panda Bear At The Roxy, Friday April 17th 2015

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Noah Lennox was not even hiding this time, still standing behind what it looked like a very complex soundboard, connected to a million electric threads but gloriously playing in front of colorful video projections, bigger and more kaleidoscopic than ever… may be he has read all these critiques calling his music, precisely, a kaleidoscope of sounds,

News, Slideshow

Gun Owner Tim McGraw To Play Sandy Hook Benefit

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The thing about gun control is it makes more sense in suburban living, with miles between people, when, really, self-protection may be an issue. And while the “if there are stringent gun controls only the bad guys will have em” is a little on the specious side, please help me find the flaw.

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