Dispatches from CMJ, Day Two: Sister Suvi, Drink Up, Buttercup, Project Jenny, Project Jan, Women, Ane Brun, So Many Dynamos
Remember how day one of CMJ was all about the blogs? Well, day two was also sort of all about the blogs, or at least one in particular, NYC-based Ear Farm, offering up the most appealing daytime option with its free showcase of bands as eclectic as its voices and subjects. Arriving late, I unfortunately...
Dispatches from CMJ, Day One: Emmy the Great, the Sammies, Shearwater, Ponytail, Passion Pit, Gang Gang Dance
The first day of CMJ (or the College Music Journal’s Music Marathon, should you prefer to be proper) this year was all about blog showcases, with New York City’s music and pop culture scribes scurrying off to give press to their own, most popularly The Music Slut, Pop Tarts Suck Toasted, Brooklyn Vegan and Stereogum....
TV on the Radio @ Brooklyn Masonic Temple, Wednesday, October 15th
There are some bands whose God-like characteristics fade a bit in a live setting. Merely seeing that they’re human is enough. They have arms and legs and eyes and ears and a nose, just like you, they’re holding the instruments you’ve seen hundreds of times, and maybe even know how to play. They’re simply standing...
The Notwist @ Webster Hall, Monday, Oct. 13th
In their recordings, the Notwist might give off the impression of being a sleepy little electro-pop band, but don’t let that twist your notions of what their live show is like. Sure, they hide behind the gentle guise of glasses (four out of the five touring members wear them), but in a live setting, their...
Beck w/ MGMT @ United Palace, Wednesday, Oct. 8th
Beck could have been a more engaging performer at Wednesday’s United Palace show, but what he lacked in personality on stage, he made up for in song. The show was the opener of a three-day stand at the Washington Heights venue, and it was hard to tell whether he was tired from touring or simply...
Fleet Foxes @ Webster Hall, Sunday, Oct. 6th
It’s easy enough to say that live performance is the true test of a band. But there’s something that goes beyond that. Will a show that’s great once be great 10 times? In a culture prone to fanaticism, there should be things that interest the audience member who’s seen the band on every tour for...
T-Sides Exclusive: New Two Gallants Song (Live Recording)
Image courtesy flickr user FXR I’ve acquired a very good quality live recording of Two Gallants performing a new song at Bonnaroo. Yes, Bonnaroo was back in June. I must admit I’ve been sitting on it awhile because I’ve been trying to decipher the lyrics. I’m not sure of the title, but this particular unreleased...
8 Pictures, 88 Words, 8 Minutes & 8 Seconds from 88BOADRUM in NYC on 08.08.08
Drummers receive a lot of flak. Wild and tumultuous, bands go through drummers as a Lothario does women. They are compared to animals and stereotyped as stupid. Oh, come great 88BOADRUM, asking us to fall in love with drummers again! Coupled with an electronic composition, singer, guitarist and bassist, 88 drummers thumped into the night...
Wolf Parade @ Terminal 5, Thursday, July 31st
The first time I saw Wolf Parade, they were opening a secret Modest Mouse show at Webster Hall in 2004. I knew nothing about them, but they impressed me just as much as Modest Mouse had. Four years later, they’re still impressive: probably moreso than the band that fostered them into the spotlight. Terminal 5...
Billy Joel @ Shea Stadium, Wednesday, July 16th
In New York, baseball is akin to religion. To many New Yorkers, Billy Joel is, too. So it was no surprise when it was announced that Joel would play the last concert at the New York Mets’ Shea Stadium. And so, the themes of the night were, of course, New York and baseball, and Joel...
Fleet Foxes @ Bowery Ballroom, Wednesday, July 9th
When the Fleet Foxes performed at Bowery Ballroom last week, frontman Robin Pecknold had a cold. But unlike a downtrodden, silent Frank Sinatra, the audience might have never known it if no one had told us (either the Dutchess or the Duke – the openers – mentioned it in their stage banter, as did Pecknold...
Dengue Fever & Rachid Taha @ Central Park SummerStage, Saturday, July 5th
Of the many things that can be said about the performances of Dengue Fever and Rachid Taha at Central Park’s SummerStage, the biggest link between the two is a good performer’s ability to keep the audience entranced when they don’t speak the same language. Dengue Fever are American based, but to complement the group’s Cambodian...
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