Comebacks?, Lists
Golden Girls: Five Elderly Singers Who Deserve The Betty White Treatment
Amy Rose Spiegel :: Wednesday, June 9th, 2010 3:30 pm
Betty White has become a Golden Girl in more than one sense of the word, which is to say that her recent career relaunch has confirmed her status as America’s most beloved octogenarian. She gets tons of press, she has a new television show, Hot in Cleveland, debuting this month, and she has been quoted as wanting to get down and dirty with Robert Redford. Basically, she’s untouchable. People fall all over themselves to celebrate her lengthy and accomplished acting career, and rightly so. But what about the ancient musicians of the world? Don’t they deserve some recognition, or at least, a few Facebook campaigns? Below, a list of the elderly songbirds we’d like to see get the Betty White treatment. MORE »
News
Homeland Security Fail - Rene Gagnon Not A Terrorist
Amy Laviero :: Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010 2:00 pm
Street artist Rene Gagnon’s self-portrait has been making appearances all over the world since 2005, although his most recent cameo at Reagan National Airport in Arlington, VA, has caused quite a stir among the Department of Homeland Security. After one of Gagnon’s stickers was found on a trashcan in the airport, DHS sent out an e-mail with a photo attachment, asking anyone with information to “please contact [a] local InfraGard Cooredinator and/or DHS SA.” Government Security News ran an article describing the sticker as “highly unusual,” with “a man clad in a long black jacket, all black pants, shirt, boots and baseball cap with his arms outstretched, his gaze pointed upwards and a bomb prominently attached to his chest.” Gagnon responded to the incident on his website: MORE »
Live Reviews
Caribou: Live At The Music Hall of Williamsburg 5/7
Nick Nicoludis :: Tuesday, May 11th, 2010 2:30 pm
Some people think that you can judge the quality of show by the people attending, like how you can judge a book by its cover. Just as the latter statement is false, so is the former. When I arrived at the Music Hall of Williamsburg, an eccentric array of people were outside smoking between sets. This, and Caribou’s drastic musical metamorphosis had me excited and curious as to what the show would look and sound like. Would it just be Dan Snaith up there with a computer and some electronic gadgets or would they perform as a full band? After I decided not to hold any preconceived notions about what I was about to see, I entered the venue just minutes before Caribou took the stage. MORE »
Film, Trailers
Mogwai To Release Live DVD/CD This Summer
Nick Nicoludis :: Friday, April 30th, 2010 5:55 pm
The seminal Scottish post-rocker group Mogwai have joined together with directors/film makers Vincent Moon and Nat Le Scouarnec to create a groundbreaking audio/visual project. The collaboration manifests itself as a live CD and DVD. The combined release, Burning being the DVD portion and Special Moves the CD portion, is footage from three live shows shot in Brooklyn during their 2008/2009 American tour. The film premiered at the Glasgow Film Festival this past February, and has a proper release date of August 2010. But don’t scoff so quickly at the idea of a concert film, because this is nothing like any other concert DVD you’ve seen before. Watch the trailer and get more info after the jump MORE »
Live Reviews
Review: Washed Out at Music Hall of Williamsburg 4/10
Amy Rose Spiegel :: Wednesday, April 14th, 2010 2:20 pm
When my friend and I arrived at Music Hall of Williamsburg on Saturday night, we groaned at the sign we saw posted on the will-call window: Washed Out, the one-man musical project fronted by Ernest Greene, wasn’t due to play until midnight. I don’t normally come off as quite so elderly, we were really just impatient to see how the only “chillwave” artist actually worth getting excited about would translate live. We predicted ambient jams, shivery loops and bass, and, with any luck, lots of dancing. Fortunately for us and the rest of the audience, we were correct. MORE »
Bands, Break Ups, News
Is Animal Collective Finished?
Nick Nicoludis :: Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010 3:55 pm
Ok, don’t break out your tissues and bottles of sleeping pills just yet. Let me make this clear: Animal Collective is NOT officially breaking up so there is no need get all boozy and sadly reminisce about seeing them in Prospect Park this past summer. According to a BBC 6 interview with Noah Lennox, aka Panda Bear and Animal Collective member, the band is not breaking up, just taking a well deserved break. The famed experimentalists and hipster forefathers, whose eighth full-length album Merriweather Post Pavilion made it to the US top 20 chart, are “exhausted” after touring for most of 2009, and plan to “lay low” for a while. MORE »
News
New Neon Indian Song, “Sleep Paralysist,” Produced by Grizzly Bear’s Chris Taylor
Amy Laviero :: Wednesday, March 10th, 2010 2:20 pm
Green Label, a record label aimed at pushing independent artists has just put out a new track by Neon Indian entitled “Sleep Paralysist.” The label, which also got its hands dirty with indie-rock artists Matt & Kim, Chromeo, Holy Ghost!, Flosstradamus, The Cool Kids, and Solid Gold, to name a few, has posted Neon Indian‘s new single on its website, where you can listen to and download the track for free. MORE »
Bands
Everybody’s Working For The Weekend: Neon Indian, Titus Andronicus, And More!
Amy Rose Spiegel :: Friday, March 5th, 2010 5:20 pm
Get ready for some good NYC weekend shows to fill the two-day gap before you have to go back to the office, or, like many of us, sleep in and surf Craigslist for a job!
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Should I Listen?
Obsession: Here We Go Magic’s “Everything’s Big”
Amy Rose Spiegel :: Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010 2:00 pm
Brooklyn band Here We Go Magic has completely taken over my iTunes lately. Their entire album, last year’s Here We Go Magic, released on Western Vinyl, is seriously brilliant. What stands out most, though, is the final track. It serves mostly as a well-structured vehicle for lead singer Luke Temple’s pitch-perfect voice, which is lovely as the ending note of an album focused on highlighted creative instrumentation. Temple is a well-known songwriter on his own, but my favorite incarnation of his work has to be this project.
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Events
Looking For Some Fun This Weekend? Look No Further!
Amy Rose Spiegel :: Friday, February 19th, 2010 5:45 pm
Common logic goes that there’s no reason to ever get bored in New York City, especially not on a weekend, and I think this is one of those cases where I’m inclined to agree. If you’re not sure what you’re getting up to, here are some promising shows taking place tonight and tomorrow.
Events
Review: El Perro Del Mar And Taken By Trees At The Knitting Factory
Amy Rose Spiegel :: Friday, February 19th, 2010 2:10 pm
Once upon a time, I was the recipient of a mix CD entitled “Scandimania!” It showcased up-and-coming bands from Sweden, Norway, and Finland - and trust me, in 2006, there were plenty to choose from. Alongside artists like Jens Lekman and Love Is All, I was especially impressed by a performer who went by the name “El Perro Del Mar.” When I saw her this past Wednesday, none of that initial excitement I had for her had faded, and rightfully so. In fact, it was the most skillful performance I’ve seen so far this year.
Comedy, New York, Video
Girls Night Out!
Danielle Johnsen :: Friday, February 19th, 2010 1:05 pm
As a recently engaged lady, the third most popular question from my friends, after when is the wedding and how did he propose, is what are we doing for the bachelorette party? Not quite the clubbing type, I would prefer just an all out fun fest with some great friends, accompanied with booze, food and will most likely get stuck carrying around a penis straw for part of the festivities. So I love the latest video from the folks over at Serious Lunch, an improv and sketch comedy troupe from Brooklyn. It stars a handful of funny ladies, including Emmy nominated Hope Davis and Ellie Kemper from “The Office”, enjoying their Ladies Night with a few drinks and a lot of screams. Poking fun at ridiculous rituals like this is exactly what the internet is for! So check out the video after the jump and please watch the entire thing or you might miss a hilarious Zach Braff-themed pop culture reference. MORE »
Events, Reviews
Review: Jeffrey Lewis At Glasslands
Amy Rose Spiegel :: Monday, February 15th, 2010 5:45 pm
Our friends at Stuff Hipsters Hate threw a soiree at Williamsburg venue and gallery Glasslands on February 12th. The high point of the evening was watching folk artist Jeffrey Lewis play his sticker-covered guitar and sing along with what he refers to as his “movies.” The movies aren’t really video projects - instead, Lewis breaks out an enormous sketchbook with “scenes” drawn on each page and flips through them, singing a narrative to match what’s happening in the elaborate comics.
News
Classic Movie Theaters: The Refurbished and Forgotten
Matt Kiebus :: Friday, February 5th, 2010 3:45 pm
Movie theaters have been an escape for generations of people, a place to forget about outstanding electric bills and minimum wage paychecks. There is something magical about seeing films at movie theaters, the arresting combination of moving pictures and music merge to create portal into a different world. During the 1920s and 30s massive theaters were built across the country, designed in Art Deco style and finished with flair. These theaters were most prominent throughout golden age of film, when men wore jackets and ties and women dresses to the movies. Over time these grand cinemas have fallen into disrepair, forgotten by the masses in favor of practical and profitable multiplexes. MORE »
Events
Fall In Love With Awesome Bands This Valentine’s Day
Amy Rose Spiegel :: Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010 1:10 pm
If you’re looking for plans on Valentine’s Day, there are tons of great shows that will surely impress the fine young music-lovin’ thing you’ve got your eye on. If you’re single, you could just take this opportunity to try and make some groupie-style, extra-heavy eye contact with that bassist you always thought was sexy. Who knows? Maybe it’ll lead somewhere.
