When Wild Beasts came to New York City last fall, they found themselves in the pressured position of having a lot to prove. They’d made only one US trek beforehand, to SXSW. Members of the press came out in droves to hear and see the UK foursome, now on their second album, Two Dancers, which [...]

Alternately titled: How I got in to Two Sold Out Yeasayer Shows in New York City, A Tale of Happiness & Triumph
One of the biggest challenges a music writer can face is writing about a band you adore. Sometimes you like something so much that the task of describing it is an overwhelming pressure. You [...]

Hey, look at that – we’re still alive! Complete truth: I meant to post this a good week earlier, but was having server troubles.
2009 was a rough year, personally, for your poor webmistress, but it would take quite something to stop the compiling of year end lists. Though, 2009 wasn’t such a competitive year for [...]

I’m truly sorry T-Sides and all related projects have been offline for so long. Chalk it up to summer, chalk it up to a quarter-life crisis, chalk it up to any sorry excuse for life taking us away from the things we love that require any amount of work. But let’s turn the focus on [...]

It’s Spring, and the album releases are heating up! Expect more of these coming soon.
Over at Popdose, I talk about the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ glitzy new album, It’s Blitz!…
I make a triumphant return to Bullz-Eye with a dissection of Cursive’s latest, Mama, I’m Swollen…
I stop in to the Contrast Podcast again to talk about one [...]

After seeing jam-freak-avant-folksters Akron/Family put on an incredible show at Brooklyn’s Union Pool in March, there was only one thing left to do: Go home, go online, buy tickets to see them again. After seeing Akron/Family put on an incredible show at Manhattan’s Bowery Ballroom last night, there’s only one conclusion that can be made: [...]

New York City living, with its ever-expanding list of options, presents a reoccurring problem: What to do when you need or want to be in two places at once? Given the opportunity to see both legendary crooner Morrissey at Webster Hall for free and up and coming hype bands the Grates and Micachu and the [...]

By now, most people who’ve heard (of) Les Savy Fav know their live show is more spectacle than concert. This is due in large part to front-man Tim Harrington, whose no-holds-barred antics could probably attract the same crowd sizes on their own. This isn’t to knock Les Savy Fav’s music, or their ability to play [...]

As promised, T-Sides is once again tapping the writing well. There hasn’t been much in the way of live shows to whip us into a frenzy, but new release season is finally picking up.
Quick-witted Lily Allen has a new one that doesn’t quite live up to the pop accessibility of her first, and there are [...]

There are a few miscellaneous honors from 2008 that we felt were worth mentioning, so here they are. Enjoy!
Best Album Cover:

Coldplay, Viva La Vida
As much as I hate to award Coldplay for anything, every time I saw the poster of this while walking in the subway, I thought, “That looks AWESOME!” I hoped it was [...]