Oh BORIS! Atsuo, Takeshi, and Wata otherwise known as BORIS shot off sonic swirls of drone defined by neither riff nor fuzz on Wednesdsay, November 1st. Their show, from the lighting to the dry ice to the gestures, is too big for Madison Square Garden so Warsaw, the 1,000 person […]
Live Music
The death of Tom Petty this week leaves a hole in my heart that only his music can fill. As is always the case when we lose an artist that made the world a better place, I am trying to celebrate the life and the music more than bemoaning the […]
Thievery Corporation kissed off September of ’17 with a spirited performance at the Ford Amphitheater on the Coney Island Boardwalk Saturday night as part of the Temple Of I & I tour. As is the Corporation‘s standard operating procedure, the crew born in DC in the mid 90s had a […]
The only sensible response to The Pixies frequent touring since 2004 is to gluttonously consume all the shows it is possible to attend! The quartet with roots at Umass Amherst added a sequel to their Cap show of 2014 last night and followed up on the three New York shows […]
Catch them if you can at The Capitol Theatre tomorrow night & The Gramercy Theatre on Monday Little Steven (AKA Steven Van Zandt and Silvio Dante among other things) is touring behind the undeniable Soulfire album – his first as a bandleader since ’99. That record, Born Again Savage was garage-y […]
What a band, what a night! Last night Prophets of Rage celebrated the release of their debut album at the Apollo Theater. The self-titled disc will be unleashed on Friday. The video above is the band’s official video for Radical Eyes directed & edited by D.J. Sing. Before the pictures […]
The News: Walter Becker who, along with Donald Fagen, was half of the core duo of Steely Dan, died last week. It was only last October when The Dan played a glorious ten night stand at The Beacon. Footage from the video that reported on those shows was gathered […]
The News: Chuck D and DJ Lord of PE will perform at the Apollo on Tuesday, September 12th as members of Prophets of Rage with support from Living Colour. There’s no one who is more important from what’s come to be known as the golden age of hip hop than […]
The News: Rakim has been celebrating the 30th anniversary of Paid In Full by performing the album in its entirety. The enduring power of the album was remarked upon with some love in the New York Times recently. So I collect my cash then slide, I got my back, my gun’s on […]
The News: The new Andre Betts produced Living Colour album Shade was unleashed today! Living Colour is supporting Prophets of Rage at the Apollo Theater on this Tuesday. Prophets of Rage members are Tom Morello, Tim Commerford, and Brad Wilk along with DJ Lord and Chuck D of PE, and B-Real of Cypress […]
The News: Ethan Iverson is leaving the band. This is, of course, unwelcome news but the change certainly seems to an amicable one as he is finishing out the live dates scheduled for this year. As it is the end of an era, The Bad Plus shows at Village Vanguard […]
The News: The new Antibalas record, Where The Gods Are At Peace , will be out September 15th! Catch them on the 14th at Gramercy Theatre. Antibalas has been an essential NYC band since they came together around the turn of the century. In February of 2016, in a monthly […]
The News: Talib Kweli unleashed a new single on his site She’s My Hero this week and will play a DJ set at Brooklyn Bowl on Thursday, October 26th. As anyone vaguely aware of Talib Kweli knows, the man can spit with the best of ’em and arguably offers more […]
Some of The Black Angels’ publicity shots are trippy as befits the band. They are clearly at the head of the contemporary psychedelic rock class and arguably leading this year’s rock charge regardless of sub-genre. They are by no means passe trippy-dippy nor do their sounds feel like they […]
When Boston, Mass came out in 1985, it became one of my favorite records of my high school experience in Pepperell, Massachusetts. I connected with it sonically, locally, and emotionally. I still do. Five years ago, the Del Fuegos indulged me with an interview and session at WFUV as part […]
Tina Guo, the exciting and accomplished cellist and erhu player, turned up in New York this week. Her first love as well as her first training was in the classical realm but Guo’s playing evinces an enthusiasm for music across a wide array of genres. The Shanghai born, California raised and based […]
Judith Owen is on road with Bryan Ferry but she managed to steal a few minutes in front of a camera while the tour bus sat idle this week. In the Spring of 2014, I had a chance to speak to Judith Owen at her Slipper Room show. She […]
Raul Midón landed in town, showed off his chops, and shared some winning new tunes in two appearances last week. On the album Bad Ass And Blind that came out Friday, he offers a glimpse into his sightless world on Sound Shadows and his mantra for living on Pedal To The […]
Ladysmith Black Mambazo elevated the spirits of those in attendance at BB Kings on March 8th with a show that featured generations of singers. The passing of the torch from the elders of the group to younger members is evidenced by the title of their most recent album, last year’s […]
In December of 2015 Dawes played The Beacon as part of the Holiday Cheer for WFUV show which included Brandi Carlile, Sharon Jones and The Dap-Kings, and Lucius. While on stage, Taylor Goldsmith of Dawes remarked it would be cool to come back and headline the theatre on their own. […]
A tremendous lineup headed by Patti Smith and Iggy Pop has been unveiled for this year’s Tibet House benefit concert happening Thursday, March 16th at Carnegie Hall. Laurie Anderson, Alabama Shakes, and Sufjan Stevens as well as Bernard Sumner, Phil Cunningham, and Tom Chapman of New Order will all perform […]
The Zombies will make a pair of appearances in New York this month as their mighty Odessey & Oracle approaches its fiftieth birthday. The brilliant rock and pop outfit from St Albans, Hertfordshire in England are experiencing an amazing phase in their career that began in 1961. I was fortunate enough […]
Antibalas will be the house band and twenty artists will perform the songs of Aretha Franklin on Monday, March 6th at Carnegie Hall in the 14th annual tribute concert to benefit music education programs. Here’s the lineup: Melissa Etheridge, Kenny Loggins, Ann Wilson, Todd Rundgren, Sarah Dash, Glen Hansard, Rhiannon Giddens, […]
As anyone vaguely aware of Talib Kweli knows, the man can spit with the best of ’em and arguably offers more thought-provoking words per song than anyone in the game. The lyrics of Palookas from 2011’s Gutter Rainbows – “You ain’t gotta verse better than my worse one” – would […]
The Chili Peppers doing a pretty killer show at The Garden is hardly surprising. The Chili Peppers doing three distinct pretty killer shows however may be eyebrow-raising. They busted out covers like Simon & Garfunkel’s The Only Living Boy in New York and Search & Destroy by Iggy and The […]