In an expansive mood midway through a performance Wednesday at the Masonic Temple in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, singer and guitarist Alex Chilton opened his arms wide and stepped to the microphone to address an audience shouting requests. “Speak your minds, as if it were a Tea Party,” he cracked. It was far more congenial than [...]
November 19, 2009 at 9:36 am | Share |
4 Comments »
It’s not every day that you walk into Brooklyn Academy of Music’s gorgeous Howard Gilman Opera House expecting to hear the chants and cheers of a ball game. But that’s precisely what happened. Twenty minutes before the start of ”The Long Count,” a multimedia collaboration by musicians Bryce Dessner and Aaron Dessner (of The National) and [...]
November 5, 2009 at 9:05 am | Share |
2 Comments »
Brought together by a mutual appreciation for the work of Jack Kerouac, Jay Farrar and Benjamin Gibbard discovered a musical affinity as well on “One Fast Move or I’m Gone,” a soundtrack they recorded for a Kerouac documentary of the same name. (Farrar discusses the project here.) Their rapport is no fluke, as the pair [...]
October 29, 2009 at 12:09 pm | Share |
No Comments »
Sometimes a hearty does of stoner rock just does a body good. In this case, it was a few dozen bodies who turned up to see Dead Meadow perform Wednesday night at Daniel Street in Milford, Conn. The Los Angeles (by way of Washington D.C.) trio obliged with a set of sludgy, psychedelic tunes wreathed [...]
September 17, 2009 at 11:30 am | Share |
No Comments »
Until Michael Buble makes his Elvis tribute album, Imelda May will likely remain the contemporary singer with the best chance of selling rockabilly music to soccer moms. That’s not a diss: May, a native Dubliner with a great voice and even greater look, doesn’t present herself as some kind of hardcore rock-a-betty genre artist. It’s [...]
September 16, 2009 at 10:00 am | Share |
No Comments »
If there’s one thing Brooklyn rockabilly fans like more than drinking Pabst Blue Ribbon, it’s throwing cans of said beverage at performing musicians. Assuming this is a sign of approval—no one seemed to be aiming for the genitals or face—the 3rd Annual Psychobilly Luau, held Saturday at the Bell House in Brooklyn, was a resounding [...]
July 19, 2009 at 11:39 pm | Share |
No Comments »
If Bob Dylan can tour minor-league ballparks all summer long, why not Wilco? Evidently, the Chicago band sees it the same way, and they’ve gone all out on their mini-stadium mini-tour with a baseball-style program (including a set-list score card), baseball caps at the merch booth and by posting the starting lineup on the scoreboard [...]
July 12, 2009 at 8:00 am | Share |
No Comments »
OK, so Listen, Dammit, really digs the Hold Steady. We’ll try to keep the gushing under control and not oversaturate with coverage, but the band’s show Tuesday night at the Bowery Ballroom is worth mentioning. First, the set list included all of the group’s 2005 album “Separation Sunday,” which came as a pleasant surprise given [...]
June 10, 2009 at 12:27 pm | Share |
No Comments »
Not only does Art Brut sing a lot about the democracy and community of rock ‘n’ roll, the band actually seems to live it. For example: Instead of waiting backstage for their turn to perform Tuesday at the Mercury Lounge in New York (part of a five-night stand), members of the band hung out in [...]
June 3, 2009 at 11:00 am | Share |
No Comments »
In the spirit of democracy—and perhaps staving off requests from drunken audience members—the pioneering Los Angeles punk group X has made its latest tour a request-only affair. The process is simple: Fans go online and vote for the songs they want to hear, and even if, in the estimation of singer and bassist John Doe, [...]
May 31, 2009 at 11:55 am | Share |
No Comments »