Blogs
April 14, 2013An air-tight revue with classic songs presented as theatrical set pieces, with a minimum of superficial chatter in between them. That's not what Motown The Musical is. Instead, the story of how Berry Gordy Jr. created a dazzling black sound that managed to be upbeat, despairing, and socially relevan ... More >>
Blogs
January 18, 2013What was supposed to be a simple inauguration for President Obama's second term is turning into the concert of the year.
Kelly Clarkson will do "Breakaway."
Usher's crooning "Something Special."
Katy Perry will belt "Firework" one more time.
John Legend is set to perform "Ordinary People."
Voice Choices
October 17, 2012Voice Choices
September 26, 2012Voice Choices
July 25, 2012Blogs
July 13, 2012Two of my "best bashes in history" were casino galas that were outrageouly lavish and star studded, just the way events in a glitzy gambling temple should be.
First of all: The opening of the Mohegan Sun Hotel and spa in Connecticut in 2002
How's this for a gala weekend?
Friday night in the bi ... More >>
Voice Choices
June 6, 2012Voice Choices
May 9, 2012Because Stevie is the sunshine of your life
Blogs
February 17, 2012This is the biggest must-see tragic viewing since Michael Jackson's memorial (though her family wants quite a different feeling -- something smallish and intimate).
It will be poignant, tearful, and filled with people who loved and felt for Whitney, as well as some who probably asked too much of he ... More >>
Blogs
November 9, 2011Courtesy Young Money EntertainmentWhen I spoke with Drake last Friday, it turned out I was just missing the chance to fully discuss his album Take Care, which leaked over the weekend. But this left lots of time to dig into other topics, from his Canadian perspective on racial identity to his ... More >>
Blogs
November 7, 2011Pop-chart record-keeping can be as contentious as baseball's, and we've got quite the steroids-style asterisk forming atop Billboard's Hot 100. On the most recent chart, the most pervasive radio star of the last half-decade brushed past a couple of legends into the hall of fame. And like Barr ... More >>
Blogs
October 28, 2011The lady sitting atop both of Billboard's major lists this week has made enough news in 2011 that I'm tempted to rename this column "This Week in Adele." The British thrush is certainly making enough sad news these days, canceling her tour and preparing to undergo much-needed throat surgery. ... More >>
Blogs
September 30, 201120. Tom Petty, Into The Great Wide Open
19. Skid Row, Slave To The Grind
18. Teenage Fanclub, Bandwagonesque
17. Prince & The New Power Generation, Diamonds & Pearls
Voice Choices
September 14, 2011Blogs
August 5, 2011In case you missed it, President Obama threw a "hip-hop barbecue" yesterday for his birthday, which somehow failed to create jobs. Or so shrieks this headline from Fox Nation, Fox News' aggregation organ. Non-hip-hop artists Stevie Wonder and Herbie Hancock performed while "Rome burned" (look ... More >>
Voice Choices
April 27, 2011Blogs
March 25, 2011Casey Abrams, in the jaws of a shark. Photo by Michael Becker / FOX. A pretty goddamn dramatic results show! First off, a few dozen comments-section psychopaths must have lost their minds when Thia Megia turned up in the bottom three. But Thia didn't lose, which is good for me, since whipping ... More >>
Blogs
March 24, 2011This person has no idea what Motown is. Photo courtesy Michael Becker/ FOX. Since last we spoke, Karen Rodriguez has gone back to MySpaceLand, Steven Tyler's wardrobe has grown impressively more absurd, and Jacob Lusk has bodied the fuck out of Heart's "Alone." I missed the last week of Ameri ... More >>
Blogs
August 25, 2010Jazz pianist Vijay Iyer's trio disc Historicity was the consensus 2009 pick for album of the year (says the Voice's own poll, anyway); if not the highlight, his spry cover of M.I.A.'s "Galang" is certainly the first thing to jump out at you. Now, the inimitable Wayne and Wax has taken the li ... More >>
Voice Choices
April 27, 2010Ariel Pink sees the future
Music
April 6, 2010A cross-section of young/old and avant/traditional gets drunk on everything
Blogs
April 2, 2010
Canadian teenpopper Justin Bieber bows at the top of this week's Billboard 200 with My World 2.0, which sold 283,000 copies in its first week at stores. The persistent Twitter trend and walking advertisement for blowdryers is the latest sheepishly grinning guy to hoist the teen-idol mantle, althou ... More >>
Voice Choices
March 2, 2010Blogs
January 25, 2010
It took braver men than us to sit through the entirety of the "Hope for Haiti Now" telethon--our taste for artist self-martyrdom/self-aggrandizement is minimal, and since we have no desire to talk to George Clooney or Stevie Wonder personally on the telephone by way of giving money to a desperatel ... More >>
Blogs
December 10, 2009Original caption: "The Author"Clip Job: an excerpt every day from the Voice archives.
June 16, 1966, Vol. XI, No. 35
Pop Eye: Soundblast '66
By Richard Goldstein
Federico Fellini came to the Bronx last Friday night -- in spirit anyway -- when an assemblage of rock 'n' roll musicians took ... More >>
Blogs
October 30, 2009
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 25th Anniversary Celebration
Madison Square Garden
Thursday, October 29
The first half of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's two-night benefit concert and 25th-anniversary celebration lasted six hours, ended at 1:30 a.m. and featuring star-studded sets by curators Bruce S ... More >>
Voice Choices
October 27, 2009Film
September 8, 2009Voice Choices
August 18, 2009Blogs
July 22, 2009
Just a few hours after my fifth "when the hell is the new Battles record coming out?" conversation comes the answer: No idea, but you can hear scraps of it for the first time anywhere, as the press release boldly states, early in September at none other than Terminal 5. Brace yourselves for Warp20 ... More >>
Blogs
July 7, 2009The Michael Jackson all-star memorial concert at the Staples Center was so riveting I expected Michael to pop out of the shiny, silver coffin and do one last moonwalk. Janet and LaToya really turned it out fashionwise (and dignity-wise); old-time Motown legends like Berry Gordy, Stevie Wonder, and S ... More >>
Blogs
June 30, 2009
Concertgoers at Saturday's Glastonbury Festival got an epic New Jersey surprise when the Gaslight Anthem's Brian Fallon announced, three songs into a nine song set, "I think I can hear the sound of my hometown." Cue fellow Jersey boy Bruce Springsteen, who joined the band for a ridiculously convin ... More >>
Blogs
June 22, 2009As many of you know, our weekly dining and drinking newsletter features all the coolest epicurean events in the city. Sign up for it here!
Stevie Wonder Pairing: Songs for the cup of life
City Winery
June 24, 7 pm
If you're like us, then you like your love songs paired with a good glass of wine. Ci ... More >>
Blogs
May 15, 2009
Shades of the Stevie Wonder/Jonas Brothers Grammys debacle here--C'MON STEVIE! SHOW 'EM WHAT YOU GOT STEVIE!, etc. Back when Fallon's show started, we fretted about the eventual reality of the Roots--live rap royalty if there ever was such a thing--being forced to play hypemen for the Soulja Boys ... More >>
Blogs
March 26, 2009Sharyn Jackson is your American Idol host for season eight. This week: the Top 10!
Ray Mickshaw /FOXWow, this is ridiculous.
Last night's Motown show was another rough one. As Season 8 shapes up to have some of the worst singing we've ever seen on this show--and that's saying a lot--I'm not hopefu ... More >>
Blogs
February 9, 2009
Hahahahaha.
Contrary to my earlier skepticism regarding YouTubes of last night's bewildering festivities, it appears either the Grammy folks are allowing 'em, or at least very very slow in taking them down. So you haven't seen sheer ladybug pregnant M.I.A. yet, please do. But the Jonas Bros./Stev ... More >>
Voice Choices
March 25, 2008Blogs
February 22, 2008Music
May 22, 2007John Boutté is New Orleans' best-kept secret, and possibly its strongest voice
Music
April 10, 2007The unlikeliest (and wildest) of comebacks roars improbably on
Music
September 26, 2006Music
June 13, 2006Busta Rhymes pisses more grape seeds
Music
September 27, 2005Sophistipop at summer's end, remembering the global fusion of the '70s
Music
November 30, 2004Rod Stewart finds a brand-new batch of catchy and literate songs he can put his mark on
News
August 24, 2004Who and what went down at the MTV Video Awards
Music
July 6, 2004Prof's soul story subsumes civil rights and black power in gospel vision
NYC Life
December 17, 2002News
December 10, 2002Dance Music's Heavy-Spirit Zone Survives at Shelter
Columns
April 11, 2000Dance
September 14, 1999- More >>
