Email Author Vijith Assar

2011 Stories by Vijith Assar

• Jadakiss

  published November 30, 2011

  Generally speaking, this Bad Boy alum has aged well since his days with the LOX, even if his latest mixtape, an 11-track dedication to his fans,... More >>

• Bela Fleck and the Flecktones

  published November 9, 2011

  Former Flecktone sax man Jeff Coffin jumped ship for the Dave Matthews Band a while back, thereby opening the door for the current reunion tour... More >>

• Mastodon

  published November 9, 2011

  This fledgling decade's hottest new metal band certainly deserved their big breakthrough and all, but it's unfortunate that it had to come about... More >>

• Hall & Oates

  published November 9, 2011

  The iconic Yacht Rock duo is enjoying a bit of a tongue-in-cheek resurgence these days, but it's telling that both (500) Days of Summer and... More >>

• Goo Goo Dolls

  published November 2, 2011

  His songs might sound as horribly dated as you might expect from an alt-rocker in his mid-40s, but there's still something expertly manipulative... More >>

• 'Koyaanisqatsi'

  published October 26, 2011

  Philip Glass’s score for director Godfrey Reggio's 1982 film Koyaanisqatsi might not be one of the minimalist composer’s... More >>

• Medeski, Martin & Wood

  published October 19, 2011

  It's baffling why Medeski, Martin, and Wood sometimes seem to wish they were a jazz act, acid or otherwise—they're too funky, harmonically... More >>

• Deadmau5

  published September 28, 2011

  Six days in a row makes this the longest Roseland residency ever. And as much as we might have preferred that honor to have gone to Radiohead, in... More >>

• Helmet

  published September 28, 2011

  This reintroduction to these legendary ‘90s metalheads is actually somewhat timely, as their noisy slop-punk sometimes feels like what you... More >>

• Trentemoller

  published September 28, 2011

  The Danish electronic producer's bewitching compositions are built upon the most important lessons from IDM, house, and minimal techno, but... More >>

• John Williams and the New York Philharmonic

  published September 28, 2011

  Instead, let's just note that striking a metaphor between the characters he's written for and his own incalculable influence as a film composer is... More >>

• Foo Fighters

  published September 21, 2011

  Former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl's first batch of post-Kurt home recordings was greeted by such wild critical and commercial success that it's... More >>

• Jon Brion

  published September 14, 2011

  The acclaimed producer is best known as an accessory to other artists (Fiona Apple, Kanye West, and Michel Gondry, among others), but tonight... More >>

• Portishead

  published September 14, 2011

  Perhaps surprisingly, the reclusive Bristol trio that more or less controlled trip-hop's heart back in 1994 put together a wonderfully seductive... More >>

• Wilco

  published September 7, 2011

  The newest album from Jeff Tweedy's acclaimed alt-country machine starts with "Art Of Almost," an epic art-rock freakout which rightly parades... More >>

• Andrea Bocelli

  published August 31, 2011

  Rather than pristine operatic clarity, the famed Italian tenor's voice simultaneously exudes both masculinity and vulnerability, which is... More >>

• Paramore

  published August 24, 2011

  These days she may wail like a heartbroken teenage banshee, but it's still easy enough to see why singer Haley Williams was briefly on the pop... More >>

• Active Child+Com Truise

  published August 24, 2011

  Upstate bedroom electronic producer Seth Haley's debut EP sounded as if dude had swiped his keyboard patches from Boards Of Canada but learned... More >>

• St. Vincent

  published August 10, 2011

  Former Sufjan and Polyphonic Spree guitarist Annie Clark's spidery indie pop was markedly less self-indulgent on 2009's widely beloved... More >>

• The Dexter Romweber Duo

  published August 10, 2011

  The artistic lineage connecting the White Stripes to North Carolina's probable prince of guitar grime tends to be overstated, largely since the... More >>

• KE$HA

  published August 3, 2011

  Every generation gets the iconic party girl it deserves, and Kesha Sebert beats Paris Hilton any day of the week. Tik Tok deserved every... More >>

• Keith Urban

  published July 6, 2011

  It's honestly astonishing that Urban has never achieved the whole Twain/Swift mainstream crossover thing. He's well into his forties now, so don't... More >>

• 'Summerstage Festival: Slick Rick'

  published June 29, 2011

  In retrospect, the alternately sexual and sexist braggadocio that turned Rick the Ruler into one of the most attention-grabbing British rappers of... More >>

• Katy Perry+Robyn

  published June 8, 2011

  Pint-sized Swedish singer Robyn has had a remarkable career revival after a short-lived run as a late-'90s teen pop vixen, and it is built equally... More >>

• Coheed & Cambria

  published June 1, 2011

  King Crimson guitarist Adrian Belew may be on the bill, too, but headliners Coheed and Cambria actually do best when they dispense with the... More >>