Follow the link to hear songs from Spoon’s eighth studio album played live and a conversation with the fab Alisa Ali and enjoy a flashback to the fellas at Governors Ball (as well as The Strokes) in this video…
Rock
Here’s a peek back to Robert Plant’s killer show at BAM in September. The mighty re-arranger never fails to satisfy. Zeppelin? We don’t need no stinkin’ Zeppelin!
Jack White is the 21st century riff-meister! Here’s a flashback to his Governors Ball performance in June – About 100 seconds of the instrumental track High Ball Stepper from Lazaretto.
Ho Ho Ho! Here’s some suggestions if you’d like to give (or receive) the gift of music this holiday season whether it is boxed or unboxed.
British rocker Nick Lowe put out an appealing Christmas album last year called Quality Street and he’s bringing his Quality Holiday Revue back to the Bowery Ballroom tonight (Sunday the 14th of December 2014) and the Music Hall of Williamsburg next Saturday 20th of December 2014. Here’s a look back […]
The Hold Steady have become an essential New York band since coming together in Brooklyn about eleven years ago. Three of the guys live in Greenpoint within a few blocks of each other with the remaining members in Manhattan and Memphis. I spoke with Craig Finn and Tad Kubler (pronounced […]
Cool event last night at the intimate Marlin Room (capacity 500) at Webster Hall with Thurston Moore. It was a free show presented by Norton Antivirus and Pandora that you had to RSVP for and it featured an open bar – really! The former Sonic Youth guitarist/singer is now living in […]
The Orwells’ frontman Mario Cuomo told me he really didn’t like the process of recording albums very much. What he loves is playing live. Despite that being the case, the young quintet from outside of Chicago copped a spot in my top ten album list for 2014. They’re in a TV […]
Holiday Cheer for WFUV is a brilliant annual event – the last 5 years of its 10 year life at The Beacon Theatre – that raises dough for non-commercial New York City rock radio station WFUV, as well as her sister The Alternate Side. The last few years have featured […]
The Super Soul Revue last Thursday through Saturday at The Apollo was an excellent reminder at the tremendous talent found on Daptone Records. As I’ve been spending some time recently with the outstanding Burnt Offering by The Budos Band, I was keen to capture a taste of their performance and […]
The Figgs have been doing it right for 27 years. Here’s a peak at their recent CMJ Music Marathon show at The Rock Shop. They will be back in NYC Friday 12/12/2014 at Bowery Electric.
When the new album from The Decemberists, What A Terrible World, What A Beautiful World comes out in January – it will have been just over four years since their last release so there was a lot to talk about with Colin Meloy. The singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist has hardly been idle. He wrote […]
Robert Randolph & The Family Band were back at it last night at the Brooklyn Bowl. Their annual residency is up there with turkey and pumpkin pie in the delights of late November. Here’s a look at Randolph wailing on pedal steel and a flashback to our conversation from last […]
Ace Frehley, who is touring behind his new disc Space Invader showed off his old tricks – and a few new ones – to the delight of a packed house at BB Kings.
Stephin Merritt topped an impressive lineup at Le Poisson Rouge in the West Village and offered a handful of Magnetic Fields’ faves to celebrate the release of the third issue of Radio Silence, a San Francisco based magazine whose stock in trade is the cross-fertilization of authors and musicians. It’s […]
When The Wytches’ Kristian Bell tested his microphone before this interview and session for WFUV’s The Alternate Side in The Bronx, he said “We Have Assumed Control!” Evidently this is KB’s preferred phrase for checking levels because he applauded me as the first person who recognized that he was referencing the […]
Here’s a peek at ex-Grateful Dead veteran Phil Lesh and his musical Friends doing their thing at The Capitol Theatre! This weekend the lineup is John Kadlecik, Keller Williams, Jason Crosby and Joe Russo. Next Weekend (the 28th and 29th) it’ll be Anders Osborne, Marco Benevento, Stu Allen, Joe Russo and special […]
Eric Johnson & Mike Stern are, of course, tremendous guitar players with chops of doom – but they are also great listeners and intuitive partners – who are thrilled to be teaming up on stage and on their rewarding new album Eclectic.
The Allman Brothers played their last show this week – at The Beacon – after 45 years of kicking ass. It was a three set tour de force that ended well after 1 AM. Here’s what Warren Haynes and Derek Trucks had to say about their beginnings in the group […]
Blues singer and guitarist Jr. Mack resides at Terra Blues in the West Village when not frying bigger fish.
While raising dough for Little Kids Rock, a nonprofit music education charity, Cheap Trick, Billie Joe Armstrong, and Alice Cooper lead an astonishing parade of artists singing the songs of Joan Jett – sometimes with JJ herself.
Gary Wright has really had an extraordinary ride – from child actor on Broadway to Spooky Tooth then his mid 1970’s smashes. It’s all in his new book Dream Weaver: Music, Meditation, and My Friendship with George Harrison which highlights his friendship with George Harrison. Gary spoke to me about it at […]
The Orwells are as young, intense, and exciting a rock band as you’ll find. I spoke with singer Mario Cuomo (no relation to the former governor) and guitarist Matt O’Keefe about the album Disgraceland and how they approach live shows.
The Kooks have a new drummer, Alexis Nunez, who has brought a dance-a-bility factor. That’s according to Luke Pritchard, the very naturalistic rock star who sings and writes the songs. The band‘s fourth record Listen is dramatically different than its three brothers. Peek at their show at The Paramount in Huntington on […]
Cat Power headlined the Modern Sky Festival NYC in Central Park on Sunday. The festival in Central Park was the first American version of China’s Modern Sky Festival. Also featured were The Both composed of Aimee Mann and Ted Leo as well as Stars. Sets were short as it was an all-day hootenanny and […]