10 Songs: Monday, August 31st, 2015
Dooo It – Miley Cyrus – Still working my way through And Her Dead Petz, it deflates half way through, however this first single, a self help call to unbridled hedonism is unimpeachable – B+
Slideshow
The Best Of 2015: Concerts Through August 31st, 2015
A beautiful evening with beautiful songs by a man at the peak of his powers at 67 years of age. Given all the ways James Taylor’s life might have gone, his brother Alex, sweet baby James pop, died of a drug overdose decades ago, that James could have lived through it all and reached this place better than ever? It is a testament
That Was The Week That Was: August 28th, 2015
On the cover of Sunday’s paper, they had a report Amber Jamieson go, ahem, undercover, and work as one of those topless painted women who pose for pictures on 42nd street and decided, accurately,that it was entirely harmless. Not only did the Post make the Mayor look like a putz, they made their nemesis the Daily News look like irrational, puritanical maniacs.
Kanye West Announces He Will Be Running For President in 2020
I know that people are gonna say it was epic, but it was mostly nonsense randomness. Then, out of the blue, he announced he had decided to run for president in 2020… WTF? And why not? Kanye was joking right?
VMA Awards 2015 When Kanye West And Taylor Swift Made Up
Kanye West says he is running for President in 2020 during his never ending speech and Taylor won a ton of awards though nothing much compared to Michael Jackson’s heyday of course.Nothing as exciting from Miley as when I saw her tweaking. At least until the end when she announced you could get her free new album NOW.
The Best Of 2015: Songs Through August 31st, 2015
Sure, this is all over the damn place but that’s because there is no centrifugal force in pop, it is all on the fringes with pop EDM , country and hip hop vying for the charts and EDM winning by a hair. Later on I’ll figure favorites among the favorites but in pure pop for now people form? The Weeknd is unbeatable.
US Top 10 Albums 9-12-15
Admittedly. I don’t much care for the Disturbed album but it is lengths better than that terrible Bryan album. Bryan is the sort of guy Bob Lefsetz points to as the future of popular music because he sells a lot of copies and channels Toto. Having said that, is it worth noting that after a 30 plus year old album and Taylor Swift, a country album is my fave of the week.
These Days: Thursday, August 31st, 2015
The great neurologist and author Oliver Sacks died yesterday at the age of 82. You may remember him from “Awakenings”, which was made into the popular Robin Williams movie in 1990. Or “The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat”, stories of neurological disorders so strange and devastating, it made an atheist out of Sacks and for good reason: if your entirely personality can change due to a blow on the head, what exactly is your personality?
Not With The Band: The Dematerialization Of Music
America is all about capitalism, materialism and owning stuff, nevertheless people are currently falling for streaming services? In a way, streaming is the equivalent of renting your music, you don’t own anything anymore, and you share it with everyone. Isn’t it weird America?
10 Songs: Sunday, August 30th, 2015
I Don’t Like Who I Was Then – The Wonder Years – I’ve had problems with all three new songs but for some reason I’d had the volume kinda low and if you blast it, there is a moment of revelation when it becomes a great anthem of mesed up emotional smash grab – A-
Let’s Active: rock nyc Concert Picks Week Of August 31st, 2015
They met at the New England Conservatory and then made a U Turn to cover Youtube cover band extraordinary and last time I saw em they were wowing us at Town Hall as part of T Bone Burnett’s neo folk rave up.
The Worst Rock Band Of All Time: The Police
I walked out on the Sting-Simon gig in 2014, I walked out on The Police reunion gig at MSG in 2008, I walked out on a Sting solo gig in the 1990s and a big league Police gig in the 1980s, and I am sure I’d have walked out on them in the 1970s if I’d seen them
rock nyc Top 10 Songs 8-28-15 – 9-3-15
Oddly enough, the week in songs doesn’t hold together as well as the week in records, my top three records goes Yo La Tengo, The Weeknd, and either Beal or Monk Parker, The Weeknd has so many strong SINGLES in it it could take over this list but a great single is not a great album. The dark alt country band Mnk Parker are a complete revelation.
Jean Michel Jarre Announces An All-Star Electronica Double Album
‘I’ve wanted to tell a story for a while regarding electronic music history and its legacy from my point of view and experience, from when I started to nowadays. So I planned to compose for and collaborate with an array of artists who are, directly or indirectly linked to this scene, with people I admire for their singular contribution to our genre, that represent a source of inspiration for me over the last four decades I have been making music, but who also have an instantly recognizable sound. At the outset, I had no idea how this project would evolve, but I was delighted that everybody I reached out to accepted my invitation.’
Sneak Peaks: 9-4-15 – 9-10-15
This is one of the more interesting weeks of music, Iron Maiden, Public Image Ltd, Travi$ Scott, should all have something of value coming down. A little further in, Against Me! live album has sounded great so far, but it seems to me to be a toss up between happy punks Fidlar and voice of a generation punks The Wonder years. I am going with the Katter despite not being crazy about any of the songs I’ve heard because… well, because they’re the voice of a generation.
10 Songs: Saturday, August 29th, 2015
Under You – Willis Earl Beal – We all make mistakes and I make my biggest around 9am on Friday mornings after spending hour upon hour absorbing and reviewing new releases. I think my ears sometimes go wonky and that is definitely the case with this guy who I dubbed a “black Scott Walker” last night, which he is definitely, but then I decided this was a bad thing. How I came up with that assumption I can’t tell you, it isn’t, it is a wonderful thing – A-
Quitapenas, Isaac Rother & The Phantoms And Fool’s Gold At The Echoplex, Thursday August 27th 2015 Review
Red Bull was having one of its Sound Select show at the Echoplex, and it is always a cheap way to spend a night of music, while discovering 3 bands… so why not going? Because it is general held on a weekday,… but who cares, it’s almost the weekend anyway. The whole show was colorful and on the ethnic side, something always pleasant and prompt to remind you that summer is not over yet.
These Days: Saturday, August 29th, 2015
I once had my fortune told, I was maybe 15 years old, not much of it was happy, and every thing she said came true. Of course, as CG Jung was mentioned, if 100 billion people have lived, the fact that one has dreams that come true isn’t foresight, it is blind luck.
Singles Going Steady: New Singles Reviewed 8-28-15 – 9-3-15
What Do You Mean – Justin Bieber – I never bought Bieber as the anti-Christ, just a garden variety teenage brat with a whole lotta power to wield his brattishness. But I never much cared for him musically either, so his post teens, post Diplo/Skrillex exercise in grown up EDM, this first single off his upcoming fourth album is an low key and pretty calypso flavored synth track that does the job. Good move – B
Medium Cool: Best Talk Show Guests For The Week Of
Not much going on here, I think I’ll go go with Vince Staples, the Odd Future star, on Fallon, or maybe, nah the Brian Wilson on Conan is a repeat. PS I wonder why Fallon doesn’t have the week off? The Wednesday Fallon? Justin Bieber and Salman Rushdie, as my buddy Drake would put itL you’ve got to love it.
Grizzly Bear Slams Taylor Swift On Twitter, Then Capitulates
‘My advice to those that are butthurt? Sit on the bidet and let it wash the shit away…‘Honestly I was treated like shit for no reason by the monster and thusly I’ve been called every disgusting slur there is #1989’… ‘Tired of everyone sucking up to the power. Just stop feeding the monster! Goodnight’… after a few more tweets he disappeared from Twitter, deleting his account.
10 Songs: Friday, August 26th, 2015
What Went Down – Foals – This song is so great it gives people the wrong idea about the band, we think they’re better than they are because right here they’ve managed a gigantic riff into a whirlwind of sound – A
UK Top 10 Albums: 8-28-15 – 9-3-15
If you can get past the godawful name, you are left with an album probably as inconsistent as the songs we’ve heard from Jess Glynne this year. Incidentally, and then there was one from 2014, only Sam is left to represent. Incidently, far be it for me to kick at children but if I was to I’d start with Bars And melody.
UK Top 10 Singles 8-28-15 – 9-3-15
I just listened to Rachel one more time to make absolutely certain it is the piece of absolute garbage I believe it to be. The cupidity is bewildering and the heartstring manipulations are all so stupid, I can’t believe people take it seriously. Fight Song? Life Song? Awful
These Days: Friday, August 28th, 2015
Is there anywhere New York feels comfortable with topless women? We don’t want them breastfeeding in parks, we closed down all those topless clubs in Time’s Square back in the 1990s. and now we are back to chasing them from Times Square? Lemme tell ya, anywhere a 14 year old boy can see bare tit for twenty bucks is a good place as far as I’m considered. Hell, screw buying records, I’d have spent my last dime there when I was a teen.
Be Here Now: New Album Reviews 8-28-15 – 9-3-15
Stuff Like That There – Yo La Tengo – This is exactly how I like my Yo La Tengo, a sequel of sorts to their masterpiece, 1990’s Fakebook , every song here has a reason for being and if none of them is “Did I Tell You” or “Oklahoma USA”, all of it as a whole has the tunefulness and character of the latter: a superb collection of covers, of theirs and others,performed to get every single melodic element out of every single song of those type of songs. And, hey, maybe “Friday I’m In Love” is as good as the Kinks. Their best album since 1997 – ALBUM OF THE WEEK – A-
Van Morrison’s Entire (Er, Nearly) Entire Catalog Is On Spotify And Apple Play Right Now
For those of you unaware of his 90s masterpieces, let me recommend the 1997 The Healing Game, and for completists The Philosopher’s Stone and for everybody else, call in sick and go Morrison crazy loveish!
Valley Shine At El Cid, Wednesday August 26th 2015 Review
I had the pleasure of seeing Valley Shine at El Cid yesterday night, and they didn’t need pedals and other equipment to blow the red velvet curtain of the small stage and make people dance as if it was Friday night.
Oldies But Goldies: Prince At MSG In 2010 -Not Half Bad
The worst time I ever saw Prince was also the last time I ever saw Prince and while time changes our memories, I guess it did a real job on mind. I coulda sworn he really sucked, but apparently he only kinda sucked. I’ve seen him so often and loved him so much and this wasn’t bad, apparently it was great, it just doesn’t remember that way. Now back to 2010….
10 Songs: Thursday, August 27th, 2015
1Train – A$AP Rocky – Great sample to kick it in, this is as clever as you can possibly get when it comes down to money and success with a virtual who’s who of first tier young rappers (I mean two years ago, of course): Kendrick, Action Bronson, Danny Brown… and a great great hook – A
The Big Huerta Takes Five
I painted the background with metallic spray paints, to give the portrait a shining golden look along with the sky blue to give it a nice positive feel. I used oil paints and the metallic still bled through that but I thought that gave it a cool look, so I left it like that, as if his spirit shined through the painting
These Days: Thursday, August 27th, 2015
If I had the time and money, y’ll know where I would be tonight? At the Beacon Theatre screaming for Fifth Harmony, the second year third place X Factor harmony band who are like One Direction if One Direction sang pop r&b, were female and there were five em so, yeah, not really BUT look at it this way: they have two good songs, the hit “Worth It” plus the current single “I’m In Love With a Monster”
Tyler The Creator Banned From The UK, In Mind Numbing Brain Boggling Move
Wait a second, Tyler doesn’t smoke or drink??? Since when??? Not even weed? Really, shouldn’t we expect a little more from our rock stars. And while I appreciate Christian’s concerns, the truth is who cares what the UK think, there is no reason to ban him if he wrote those lyrics last nights.
Foals Launches A World Wide Treasure Hunt For Their Album
Foals are giving away free cassette tapes of their new album – yes you read this correctly, cassettes are back! – but for this they have launched a world-wide treasure hunt, hiding cassettes at various locations, and sharing the GPS coordinates via social media. It’s cryptic stuff if you don’t know what they are talking about, stuff like 45.523047, -122.684571 #WhatWentDown,
AC/DC At Metlife, Wednesday, August 27th, 2015, Reviewed
With the exception of “You Shook Me All Night Long”, they don’t have a memorable tune to their name and all their lyrics are ephemera, the audience chant hooks but the hooks have no real meaning, so that frees the set up from expectation. Sure “Hells Bells”, “Back In Black” and a coupla others get an especially loud cheer, but really the set just goes from one great song to another to anothe
Nirvana’s ‘Smell Like Teen Spirit’ Is By Far The Most Popular Song Of The 90’s On Spotify
Of course there’s Spotify these days, and Daniels used this precious tool to produce the graph above and a few others, examining the popularity of the songs released from 1990 to 1999. Should we be surprised? Nirvana’s ‘Smell Like Teen Spirit’ is by far the most popular song of the 90’s getting more than 50 million play counts! Let’s hope Courtney Love doesn’t get any of this money.
The Cover Of The New Morrissey Novel
The cover looks like somewhere between a relay race and Tom Courtney is “The Loneliness Of The Long Distance Runner”, and the list, is that what he is handing off? It is all very virile man from the late 1950s early 1960s, being masculine with other men -a thrill ride if ever there was one.
Oldies But Goldies: Aretha Franklin Channeling Curtis Mayfield At Radio City In 2009
This was the first of three times I reviewed Aretha Franklin live for rock nyc. The very next time would prove to be the best show I’ve seen in the 21st century and this one? Pretty good, actually pretty good. maybe Curtis Mayfield was hovering nearby
Last Call: Final Songs Off New Albums 8-21-15 – 8-27-15
Burning Bridges – Bon Jovi – This isn’t cute or funny, it is a faux country sing-along, written so Panic At The Disco can accurately claim, they beat the Jersey nitwit senseless – D-
10 Songs: Wednesday, August 26th, 2015
Girls Talk – Dave Edmund – there is no finer expression of edmund’s genius than the way he manipulates costello nightmare relationship into a verse chorus verse rock and roll Rockpile jumped up pop song.. wait for the instrumental break… short but so strong…
These Days: Wednesday, August 21st, 2015
I wonder if the Authorities have them dead to rights, at first glance I can’t see what rentboy is doing that backpages isn’t, and they’ve been trying to close down backpages for years to small avail. rentboy.com has been shut down. so you’re on your own tonight.
Bieber, Diplo And Skrillex On How To Make An EDM Hit
This is the art of the art, this is how hits are made in 2015 and whether you or I think it is real music, it is really real hit pop. In 2015, at least in theory, on stage the likes of Skrillex will improvise to a setlist and in the recording stufio nothing is ever left to chance.
The FYF Fest 2015 In A Few Pictures
Despite the fact that I was not allowed to bring my camera inside the FYF fest, despite the fact that I had no access to the photo pit, I managed to take some pictures during the 2-day festival, mostly using my iPhone and a small camera. Here is a photo log of these intense 2 days, of course the big acts are missing because it was way too crowded to get close,… except for Morrissey! I was not really close but I found a spot close to a tree, a bit above the rest of the crowd, and it was not so bad…
Taylor Swift Nicer To Her Fans Than You Are
That is one of the more asinine comments in recent history, the truth is that $250 a shot, Avril should be ashamed she can’t even get within arms length of the poor girl and all Taylor did was like it. I am not an all Taylor all the time guy (at least not this year), but she is miles ahead of nearly everybody not the late great Davy Jones when it comes to the fanbase.
Sunday At The FYF Fest, I Wish Every Day Were Sunday, August 23rd 2015 review
Faithful to himself, Morrissey still wants to convince us with bravado and courage… and I love the fact that he is still trying, I am well aware that lots of people may have taken all this for bad propaganda, but did you see these giant middle fingers flipped by the queen? And I haven’t even mentioned that his musicians were wearing ‘Crapitol Records’ shirts…
Legacy Recordings Acquires Catalog of Music Legend Van Morrison YEESSSSSSS
Never before has a press release both spoken for itself so well or been so damn exciting… Van Morrison fans have been decrying the state of the catalog for years and years (hey, me too) and this is incredibly great news. Legacy are the guys behind all those great Elvis Presley re-releases and they will do a brilliant job on Morrison. Read on and cheer loudly!
HAMILTON – An American Musical: August 17, 2015 – Richard Rodgers Theater, Reviewed
At the center of the Hamilton’s story is the relationship between Hamilton and Burr. Burr’s motto was “smile more talk less … don’t let them know what you stand for” whereas Hamilton was an outspoken proponent for a strong central government and a modern economic vision and often in opposition with Jefferson and Madison. Hamilton became George Washington’s most trusted adviser and confidant while Burr’s political aspirations were repeatedly thwarted. Burr is often seen looking on contemptuously instead of being invited into “In the Room Where it Happened.”
Band I’d Most Like To See Reform? Rockpile
Since Dave will probably be touring behind On Guitar (it is great by the way) and Nick is always around, and since their music was more or less timeless rock and roll, and since Billy is still in the business, all they need to do is get Terry out of retirement for one more tour: cmon, guys, life is too short not to, there are indeed only seconds of pleasures
10 Songs: Monday, August 25th, 2015
“The sun’s not so so hot in the sky today, you know I can see summertime slipping away…” The end of the summer is maybe the saddest season of the year, it brings everything to an end: it is like the embodiment of the end of childhood. Taylor’s masterpiece catches it in aural terms – A+
These Days: Tuesday, August 25th, 2015
The Time Of Year: Late August is nostalgia in the form of date, school is back or coming back, working is picking up speed, vacations have ended, and the city has one grows a little older and could look back to an earlier time, just yesterday. To quote Lewis Carroll: “Dreaming as the days go by,dreaming as the summers die”