Tom Breihan

The Week in Music Writing: The Way We Make Hit Songs Now

We present this free compilation of music writing that Voice writers are into this week, all by writers we presume were paid for their efforts. If you have a story you'd like to see here, drop us a line.

The Hold Steady Stay in the Key of E Street

The bar band looks to rebound after first stumble

Katy Perry Covers Jay-Z And Kanye West, Adds Rapping To List Of Things She Is The Worst At

Off the top of my head, I can come up with more "controversial" stances Katy Perry has taken than I can count on one hand: "Ur So Gay" being mean, homophobic, and seemingly aimed at Fall Out Boy's Pete Wentz; "I Kissed a Girl" being shock-Sapphic and heteronormative; "You / PMS / Like a bitch / I wo ... More >>

Local Writer Says Farewell

​In 2005, the Village Voice's music editor, Chuck Eddy, its web editor, Nick Catucci, and their intern, Nick Sylvester, had the novel idea that the Voice's music section might become something more than a once a week proposition. The eventual result of this idea was something called Riff Raff, ... More >>

Week in Review: Arcade Fire Won A Grammy And All We Got Was This BMX Bicycle Helmet-Cam

Santiago Felipe​And so it came to pass that a sleepy 2011 all of a sudden woke up and went crazy, as Arcade Fire won a Grammy, spawning a thousand think pieces (or two, anyway). Then Odd Future played Santos Party House! And Fallon! Many people said the word "swag." But just as the internet t ... More >>

The Fame Cookie: 2011 Grammy Awards Live Blog

It's the return of the most talked-about Grammy Awards live blog--a collection of quips, blips, and arguably insightful observations that dares to match the actual Grammy telecast in terms of pure spectacle and Justin Bieber mentions. Please join our hosts Tom Breihan and Ryan Dombal below, and keep ... More >>

Week In Review: Confirming Kanye's Inevitable Victory

​So we put out Pazz & Jop this week. We're pretty happy with it. As are Kanye West and Cee Lo Green, hopefully. Lots of essays and lists and numbers to absorb there, so spend some time if you haven't yet, and if you have, please enjoy our bonus post-mortem analysis: some context for Kanye's re ... More >>

Pazz & Jop 2010 Is Live. (Spoiler: Kanye Won.)

​It will come as no great surprise that Kanye West's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy reigned supreme in this year's edition of Pazz & Jop, the Voice's 38-year-old critics' poll, this year welcoming 708 voters who emphatically agreed on both the year's best album and the best song (that'd be ... More >>

Week In Review: Stop Looking At My Moms

​In the week we continued counting down the worst songs of 2010, noting atrocities from Susan Boyle, Liz Phair, Christina Aguilera, Jackyl, and NeverShoutNever, and Die Antwoord, we also began our overall year in review, listing the 10 biggest music stories of 2010, our 10 favorite concerts, t ... More >>

The Year In Hardcore Circa 2010, Featuring OFF!, Trash Talk, Fucked Up, and More

On top of our growing 2010 year in review coverage, we've asked some pals to help out, too. Below, Pitchfork/Status Ain't Hood writer Tom Breihan looks back at the year in hardcore. OFF! at L.A.'s 6th St. Warehouse. Photo by Sean Peterson.​Let's talk for a minute about this idea: Hardcore in ... More >>

The Gaslight Anthem And My Chemical Romance, Together At Last, At Roseland

Not My Chemical Romance​'Tis the season for super-goofy, radio-station-helmed holiday shows that corral together often wildly disparate acts in the name of yuletide cheer and forced promotion, and while Z100's Jingle Ball is the mother of them all (could a preview of the Dream/Kardashian music ... More >>

Is It Possible to Sell Out in 2010?

​Today's New York Times brings a startling bit of news: the sneaker company Converse is opening a recording studio in the heart of Williamsburg, to be called Converse Rubber Tracks, where bands "deemed dedicated and needy enough" will be able to record for free. Artists selected to use the spa ... More >>

This Week in the Voice: Infiltrating the Gathering of the Juggalos

​Pop culture -- especially music -- has always had its own respectively fringe and seemingly misunderstood populations. From Phish Phans, to Justin Bieber's bloodthirsty teenage following, and beyond, there always seems to be a group of people deeply saturated in a culture of fanatic obsession ... More >>

This Week's Voice: The Gathering of the Juggalos, Pavement's New York City, Jay-Z and Eminem in Detroit, Sonny Rollins, and More

Jay-Z and Eminem kick-start Detroit's recovery. Photo by Kevin Mazur.​In this week's Village Voice, Camille Dodero reports live from Insane Clown Posse's Gathering of the Juggalos, Michael D. Ayers compiles an oral history of Pavement's New York City, Tom Breihan heads to Detroit to see the fi ... More >>

Bad Religion's Impending Three-Night Stand At Irving Plaza Sounds Pretty Awesome, Actually

​Per Brooklyn Vegan comes news of an elaborate 30-year (!!) birthday celebration for poli-sci pop-punks Bad Religion, taking the multi-night chronological approach favored by the Lucinda Williamses and My Morning Jackets of the world. To wit:

The Hold Steady Bring "Rock Problems" to the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson

Might as well watch these as they come in, since the band isn't playing in New York again until motherfucking October. Did you see that somebody finally asked Craig Finn about his newfound penchant of actually hanging around the microphone when his band performs? "We have been blessed in order to ... More >>

Week in Review: I Didn't Fill Out My Census

Definitely didn't fill out his census. Also has no idea about that Icelandic volcano.​In the week a gigantic cloud of ash and smoke and snow grounded flights all across Europe and wreaked havoc on a delicately balanced Coachella lineup, we rejoiced (for once) at being stuck in New York and, by ... More >>

Week in Review: Shut It Down

Scenes from MtyMx. Photo by Rebecca Smeyne.​In the week LCD Soundsystem's James Murphy told our own Michael Musto to "eat it" and Musto sensibly retaliated by telling him to "suck it" right back, we spent a good chunk of the week unpacking the twin out-of-state enterprises that were SXSW and M ... More >>

Week In Review: Rock 'n' Roll Is Here To Stay

My compatriots are either in Texas for SXSW or Mexico for MtyMx (reminder to Zach: Do not buy or sell drugs) at the moment, but it's beautiful out in NYC right now so I am surprisingly not bitter about being left here to recap a week marred, unfortunately, by the death of power-pop god Alex Chilto ... More >>

Week in Review: Michael Bolton is... JACK THE RIPPER!

Hey look, it's Michael Bolton. Photo by the intrepid Rob Harvilla.​In the week we attended a cocktail party at Michael Bolton's house, we learned that the god has a Kanye platinum plaque on his wall and the finest Scrabble board Toys R Us sells on his mantle. Our guided tour of New York's most ... More >>

Week in Review: Humming and Ready to Take Us On a Golden Ride Way Out Somewhere in the Yonder

​In the week we learned to our deep and lasting dismay what a Gummibar is, we counted down the worst songs of the '00s with the newly relocated F2K crew--peruse if you dare but do not blame us when you come in contact with something like "I Am Your Gummy Bear (The Gummy Bear Song)," or are ina ... More >>

Ted Leo Would Like a Word With You, Tom Breihan

​From Ted's website today, where he belatedly got around to announcing his new album and new single "Even Heroes Have To Die," about which Pitchfork's Tom Breihan wrote yesterday: "From the sound of that one, Leo may have been spending some serious time listening to fellow Jersey natives the G ... More >>

The Mountain Goats Get Biblical

More epic trauma from John Darnielle and some other, very unhappy people

Is Todd P "Getting His Own Place"?

​Depends on who you ask. NPR says yes, and pegs the opening date to this fall: Lately, Todd P has been spending a fair amount of time on the phone with lawyers. He's negotiating with investors so he can get a fully legit rock club up and running. While some may suggest that he's somehow sell ... More >>

The Dirty Projectors' "Stillness Is the Move" Video, Explained (Not Really)

Over at Pitchfork, your friend and mine Tom Breihan chats with Matthew Lessner, who sired the visually lush, emotionally/thematically somewhat wan "Stillness Is the Move" video, wherein the ladies dance and Dave Longsreth mopes around with a bunch of llamas. Any time you can ask "Were you nervous ... More >>

#Prettygoodsong: Tom Breihan Is on Twitter!

Flimsy excuse to run this again Baby in avatar, check. Ong Bak: Muay Thai Warrior wallpaper, check. At long last: Fuck with your friend and mine Tom Breihan on Twitter. This is gonna be so awesome.

Status Ain't Hood Loses the Asher-Roth-Sales-Figures Showcase Showdown, Spectacularly

Ivylise Simones, Photoshop QueenThe voluminous Internet discourse with regards to white rapper/frat-party sensation Asher Roth has reached a state of such bewilderment that I honestly have no idea whether or not bloggers are actually mad that the guy Twittered about hanging out with "nappy headed ho ... More >>

SXSW 2009: Here's Why You're Glad You're Not Going

Cleveland State: upset special. (Not really.) So here we are. Austin. Joined by like 30,000 bands, roughly 29,875 we've never heard of, the warm weather a splendid balm to the spirit, the tantalizing prospect of free beer/BBQ/Metallica/copies of The Fader always theoretically within reach. It's a ... More >>

Bun B Is Like A Wise, Caring Uncle

On the heels of the really solid interview that Tom Breihan conducted with Bun B this morning comes some satisfyingly on-point financial/spiritual advice from the Houston rapper: "Take a look at yourself and what you've been doing and how you've been living and see if that's who you really need to ... More >>

This Week in the Voice: Pazz & Jop!

Catch up on a year's worth of musicology with the Pazz & Jop Critics' Poll, now in its 36th year of goading the nation's top parsers to struggle over the higher meaning of sonic culture. Review the singles top-1,761 and albums top-1,693, see how your favorite critics voted, and attend the deep thou ... More >>

Pazz & Jop 2008: TV on the Radio Is #1; So Is M.I.A.

The 36th Annual Village Voice Critics' Poll, Pazz & Jop, has finally arrived, bringing with it the revenge of TV on the Radio (on Bob Dylan, among others) and of M.I.A. (on our insufficiently reverent 2007 singles poll). Read Andy Beta on TV on the Radio, Rob Harvilla on M.I.A., Estelle, and Beyo ... More >>

Thank God: Kanye Beard Status Update

Our buddies Tom Breihan and Sean Fennessey clear up the Kanye West graybeard/Benjamin Button's mystery. To wit, Vibe's music editor and author of the West cover story had strong words for those who can't distinguish between the telltale signs of a man aging in reverse and a mere "glisten": "Having ... More >>

Clipse Respond To Unfeeling, Heartless Pitchfork Critic

This Week's Voice: Chinese Democracy, Kanye West, New Column Lit Seen, Gus Van Sant's Milk, and More

Isaac Hayes Was No Expert Scientologist

SXSW Tip Sheet '08

The best NYC talent at Austin's annual wonkapalooza

CMJ: Meat Puppets @ Piano's

Breihan vs. Harvilla: Does Indie-Rock Need Rhythm?

Provincializm: Ben Lee Covers Against Me, Etc.

Cred Sheet

Stuff You Need to Know to Avoid Cultural Ostracism

M.I.A. Cleared To Play Siren on Saturday

Video: The Whitest Kids U Know

Stoned and Rethroned

Justin Timberlake reclaims his King of Arena Pop crown with nearly three hours of gleefully defied sexxlaws

Living With War

Letters

Letters

Letters