Blogs
September 20, 2010
At Other Music on Sunday
Superchunk
Bowery Ballroom
Saturday, September 18
Better than: The entire genre of chillwave.
Let's start with "Driveway to Driveway," the first song of Superchunk's first of two encores this Saturday night, and overwhelmingly triumphant for a onetime landmine that seem ... More >>
Music
September 15, 2010Rejecting nostalgia on the majestic Majesty Shredding
Voice Choices
September 8, 2010Voice Choices
September 8, 2010Blogs
September 7, 2010Are these kids at a Phish show or an Animal Collective show? You'll never know. Photo by Max Herman. Over the weekend, the Washington Post suggested that a shift was underway in the indie-rock community. As the headline went: "For indie rockers, 'jam band' increasingly no longer a shameful te ... More >>
Blogs
September 2, 2010They do a mean "Keep the Car Running," honest. More pics below. The Williamsburg Salsa Orchestra
Cameo Gallery
Wednesday, September 1
It's tremendously cheering to see that people actually dance during Williamsburg Salsa Orchestra shows -- unadulterated, mildly erotic, not at all ironic sals ... More >>
Blogs
August 30, 2010Surfer Blood play Cake Shop during last year's CMJ. Photo by Rebecca Smeyne.Hey, remember last year, when we predicted that the stresses of Surfer Blood's twelve different CMJ shows would cause the band to self-destruct? Um, that's not at all what happened. Instead, the Florida band rode thei ... More >>
Voice Choices
August 25, 2010Built to Spill try not to sink the ship
Blogs
August 20, 2010Run Tila, run! Photo by Nate "Igor" Smith.In the week one of us went to the Gathering of the Juggalos and came back with what is increasingly looking like Stockholm Syndrome, we witnessed Tila Tequila (and Method Man) battle a pack of angry ICP fans and--shortly after she took her top off--lo ... More >>
Blogs
August 19, 2010If MGMT's stupendously bizarre new Congratulations was designed to alienate everyone, it failed miserably -- the boys just wrapped up a two-night stand at Radio City, with Tuesday's opening night documented in full by NYC Taper.
Blogs
August 18, 2010He'll probably buy you a beer if no one else will. Pics by Rob Trucks, more below.B.o.B/Yelawolf/Playboy Tre
Irving Plaza
Tuesday, August 17
Every single person at this show was underage and/or drunk, present company excepted. Multiple amorous young couples took turns making out in various ... More >>
Blogs
August 18, 2010
Yeah, so their sales got cut in half and they only retained the #2 spot by the grace of one of the slowest release weeks in the entire year--but Arcade Fire are still mostly on top! (On top of the Disney Channel's Camp Rock 2: the Final Jam, but whatever.) The indie band sold 52,000 copies their s ... More >>
Blogs
August 12, 2010This accordian kills fascists. Photo by Kim Erlandsen.Though some of us here at SOTC may be somewhere between "agnostic" and "hater" when it comes to the all important subject of the Arcade Fire, there is one thing we can all agree on: it's been a hell of a week for the band's label, the vene ... More >>
Blogs
August 11, 2010AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!If the band Spoon can be trusted, then Billboard is about to announce (and here we are!) that the Arcade Fire and their label, Merge, have the #1 record in the country. (They've already done it in the UK.) The Suburbs sold 156,000 copies its first week out, ... More >>
Blogs
August 5, 2010Farewell, 4AD logoNorth Carolina indie titan Merge is having a good week. Two days ago, the long-awaited third Arcade Fire record, The Suburbs, came out to tremendous acclaim, some consternation, and one hell of a New York show last night at MSG. And today, the label announced two new signing ... More >>
Blogs
August 3, 2010Look, we're trying here, OK?There is a thing where people get on the internet and express a strong, contrary opinion in the interests of getting other people angry. This is not that thing. There is a thing where a person sees a lot of other people getting excited about a cultural phenomenon a ... More >>
Film
June 15, 2010Blogs
May 18, 2010
Tonight, find Mr. Johnny Rotten aged to post-punk perfection with Public Image Ltd. at Terminal 5, where you'll catch the ex-Sex Pistols frontman wailing about "Death Disco," songs that aren't love songs, and the like. At Mercury Lounge, discover a couple of Christopher R. Weingarten-approved acts ... More >>
Blogs
April 22, 2010This week's album chart has in its first two positions the two biggest stories in pop music last week. Once again, the pole position was assumed by Canadian teenager Justin Bieber, whose first full-length, My World 2.0, sold 92,000 copies--only the second time this year that the No. 1 album h ... More >>
Voice Choices
April 20, 2010Blogs
April 16, 2010It's that special time of the year again: Record Store Day, which is like Teacher Appreciation Day for independent record stores. Saturday, to celebrate their tenacity, among other things, record stores around the city are holding performances, releasing exclusives, and offering once-in-a-blu ... More >>
Blogs
April 14, 2010MGMT. You're wearing two different socks, dude. Photo by Josh CheuseIn this week's Village Voice, Rob Harvilla on the gleeful self-sabotage of MGMT, Francis Davis looks back on the work of jazz's Paul Motian, and Theon Weber reviews David Byrne and Fatboy Slim's Here Lies Love tribute to Imel ... More >>
Music
April 13, 2010On Congratulations, which isn't quite as terrible or career-suicidal as it tries to be
Blogs
April 6, 2010Featuring the odd return of 1995, in the persons of Soundgarden and Green Day, modern arena-rock surrogates the Strokes, Arcade Fire, MGMT, Phoenix, the National, and the Black Keys, and who else but Lady Gaga? Music is a befuddling tapestry in which Cypress Hill will always have a home. Comp ... More >>
Voice Choices
April 6, 2010Rejoice for Freelance Whales!
Voice Choices
March 24, 2010Blogs
March 22, 20107:42 p.m.
Trio of women standing at the Fork in the Road table eating sliders from Purple Yam. Another woman sips a beer and eats some of the Tiffin Wallah spread, which looks bountiful, stomach-filling, and quite wonderful.
Crowd is large but not out of control. People wander around with happy, ... More >>
Voice Choices
March 9, 2010Zun Zun Egui puts the heat on Brooklyn
Music
January 19, 2010Arguing about mellow indie rock, Lady Gaga, and the real grizzly bears
Blogs
January 4, 2010In 2009, we began the weekly Local Top 10, a series we hoped would prove that New Yorkers were far too stubborn to let the record store go. The series ran until last month, when we literally ran out of stores to cover--not the best sign for the future of music retailing in New York City. Befo ... More >>
Blogs
December 21, 2009Matthew Perpetua posts the numbers behind one of the more visible/influential year-end lists out--so what do they mean? Well, for one thing, the once and future Brooklyn triumvirate of Animal Collective, Grizzly Bear, and Dirty Projectors really sold records. About 300K of them, to be exact-- ... More >>
Blogs
December 17, 2009Yeah, that's right, we're talking about you, Rostam. Scans via StereogumWill Vampire Weekend lose their unofficial Polo endorsement? Is this the end of MGMT's scarf, headband, and sunglasses-sponsorship deal with Beacon's Closet? Will Beirut's Zach Condon lose his humble gypsy cred by standin ... More >>
Music
October 20, 2009We shouldn't have to tell you this, but we'll try
Voice Choices
September 22, 2009Music
September 8, 2009Voice Choices
September 8, 2009Voice Choices
September 8, 2009Psychedelic lineup ushers back ATP
Music
September 1, 2009In honor of next weekend's fete upstate, some wistful reminiscences and trash talk
Blogs
July 31, 2009
Big gigantic music festivals featuring people with names that even those living deep in the Amazon forests or on the wild, wild plains of New Zealand have heard of tend to suck up most of the cultural airspace when they come to town--All Points West being no exception here. But this is an ex ... More >>
Voice Choices
July 28, 2009Blogs
July 23, 2009Indeed. Earlier this week came the terrible news of Adam Yauch's cancer diagnosis and the subsequent cancellation of all upcoming Beastie Boys tour dates -- including their opening-night headlining spot at next week's All Points West festival in Jersey City. Their replacement: Jay-Z, making "his U.S ... More >>
Voice Choices
June 17, 2009Voice Choices
May 27, 2009Voice Choices
April 22, 2009Your favorite compilation is now a live show
Voice Choices
April 1, 2009Voice Choices
March 25, 2009Voice Choices
March 11, 2009Department of Eagles put their new video in good hands
Voice Choices
March 4, 2009- More >>
