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 [...]

I’m not so smug as to think that I can pin-point the albums that will, in retrospect, stand out the most from the 2000s. Nor would it be accurate to argue that the albums that affected me the most on a personal level were “the best.” But if I were to completely take the personal [...]

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 [...]

Has it really been almost a month since I last posted? Time flies when it’s summer in New York City… though, truth be told, my professional life has been the focus, leaving little time for labors of love such as this one. But we’re not dead, so please don’t forget us. Just on a temporary [...]

An overwhelming 27,000 people showed up to see David Byrne play a free show at the Prospect Park Bandshell in Brooklyn on Monday night. The show was the opening of the 2009 Celebrate Brooklyn concert series. Celebration was easily the theme of the night, whether you were celebrating the fact that it didn’t rain, the [...]

Summer’s basically here. I can taste it. Spent my Memorial Day Weekend in the green bounty of Vermont. The minute my train rode into Vermont’s green border, the smile on my face couldn’t be removed. Managed to get a little work done while I was there, though –
Wrote an 8+ for Ear Farm on the [...]

Pattern Is Movement have certainly lived up to the Movement part of their name, touring relentlessly since the release of their excellent fourth album, All Together. Seeing them for the third time since October, Pattern Is Movement’s set at Webster Hall last Wednesday was yet another in a line of charged, exciting performances. The duo [...]

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 [...]