Laura Marling Charms NYC's Mercury Lounge

Last week I had the pleasure of seeing Laura Marling for the first time at Mercury Lounge. The tiny room was packed with people, mouths agape, practically hanging on her every note. She was truly enthralling live and after warming up to the crowd a bit, came across really warm and personable. At her age, I think she qualifies as a prodigy. The New Yorker and NY Times are fans.

Her backing band played double duty by playing the opening slot as well and are called Mumford and Sons. Despite hailing from London, these fellas very clearly play alt-country, folk, Americana music. If you're in London, I recommend checking out their record release party on 7th July at the lovely Luminaire in Kilburn for debut EP out on Chess Records. They were a featured "new band of the day" on the Guardian online back in April. Read article HERE.

«More photos of Laura Marling at Mercury Lounge June 18»

Cold War Kids to Play Free Show in Prospect Park

Friday, June 27, 7 p.m.

Unleashing “cave-stomp drums, barroom piano and chiming post-punk guitars,” (Rolling Stone) Cold War Kids eschew preciousness for grit. Live, they’re all smoldering energy and raw power.

Joining them are local favorites Elvis Perkins in Dearland with their dream-like folk rock “drenched in equal parts sunshine and cloudy grey skies,” (Drowned in Sound) and the tuneful but hard hitting Sam Champion, “an absolute force of nature.” (Sterogum)

$3 suggested donation. At the Bandshell.

Hospital Beds:


More info here

Make Music New York

Make Music New York is NYC's largest music event, with 850 free concerts on streets, sidewalks and parks, all on the first day of summer. TONY has partnered with MMNY to create this special channel to help you make the most of this essential summer event.

The event takes place this Saturday, June 21st. Click Here for more information

Secret Modest Mouse Gig Tonight!

I am super bummed that I unfortunately acted 10 minutes too late...but congrats to whoever was able to jump on this one! "A Morning with Modest Mouse" tickets went on sale at noon today right after this show was announced. This show will take place at the Music Hall of Williamsburg at 1AM, after their show with REM at Madison Square Garden.

I went and it was AMAZING...pics and details coming soon!

New Last Shadow Puppets Video

It's going to take all of my energy to refrain from gushing here but this video is solid gold. I swear. The Last Shadow Puppets released the video for latest single, Standing Next To Me, on Friday. The aesthetic of the video captures perfectly the song's influences (Scott Walker, The Beatles) and has just enough tongue-in-cheek silliness (dancing girls, sunglasses) to prove Alex and Miles don't take themselves that seriously.

The video was shot in London by Richard Ayoade of The IT Crowd and Mighty Boosh fame. The single is released July 7th. Enjoy.

It's Been Two Long Years: Sigur Ros Return

Happy Sigur Ros day for all who got their pre-order download of Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust at sigurros.com today, one week before official release. And very happy Sigur Ros day to all those lucky souls who scored tickets to tonight's Grand Ballroom concert in New York. I for one cannot think about anything else and cannot contain my excitement no matter how hard I try! Full report on the show in coming days. In the meantime, all Sigur Ros fans eager to see the band again keep their fingers on the refreash button at eighteen seconds before sunrise - word has it the full North American autumn tour will be released today.

Upcoming London day-fest: Picnic Rocks

The Picnic Rocks festival takes place Saturday, July 5th in Clapham Common, London. Every penny from ticket sales goes to the Action Against Hunger charity which fights hunger and malnutrition worldwide. Only 3,000 tickets available! Support a great cause and purchase tickets through Ticketmaster.
Line-up includes: The Noisettes, Amy MacDonald, The Holloways and TLC favorites, THE METROS.

The Kooks at Terminal 5 and Rooftop Acoustic Set

I FINALLY got to see The Kooks this week over at Terminal 5. Was my first time seeing the band and going to this venue. I was once again shocked at how many kids were there! I think it's really great that there are all ages shows in the city now...I remember being near tears too many times at the doors of the Bowery Ballroom in my teens. Out of all the British indie acts at the moment, I'd have to say, based on what I saw at this show, The Kooks are arguably the most successful in the US.

The Brighton boys were super impressive live and played a nice mix of songs from both albums including a treat of acoustic songs from Luke with Seaside being the highlight for me. Terminal 5 is in a kind of out of the way location, but a good size and a welcome diversion from the usual Bowery, Irving, Roseland grind.

«More photos of The Kooks at Terminal 5»

I was also really lucky to attend a rooftop acoustic set from the Kooks on the beautiful day that was Wednesday. Luke and Hugh played a few favorites like and Always Where I Need to Be, Ooh La and Naive.

Some great footage my friend Rachel took at the rooftop gig:

Virgin Megastore Times Square To Shut it's Doors in '09

This is truly a sign of the times--the music industry is HURTING. Virgin Megastore Times Square holds a lot of memories for me. I worked there for almost a year while I was finding myself in this crazy city during my undergrad years of college. I learned a lot about music, people, life, and to pretty much avoid this area at all costs.

Below is an article I grabbed from the Idolator:

Vornado will close the Times Square outpost of the Virgin Megastore during the first quarter of next year, in hopes of getting a rent much higher than the $54-a-square-foot rate being paid right now. "We bought the Virgin business to wind it down to get a hold of the real estate," Retail Real Estate Division head Sandeep Mathrani told Reuters. (Related, which holds the lease on the Union Square outpost of the store and co-owns Virgin Megastores with Vornado, hasn't announced its plans for that store yet, but the property's lease expires next February.)

What tenant will go in there next remains something of a mystery—especially when you think about how the space that once housed the Dave & Bustery video-game-bar Bar Code, which is right next door to Virgin, has been vacant for a few years now—

MP3: Madonna - Like A Virgin

M.I.A. takes over McCarren Park Pool

M.I.A's concert at McCarren Park Pool in Brooklyn kicked off the start of an amazing weekend of 25th birthday celebrations for me. Kala, released in fall 2007, was on HEAVY rotation to the point that I couldn't even listen to it anymore. When she played both London and NYC that fall, I missed her by a few days each but finally got the chance to experience one of her high-energy shows last week on June 6th.

Holy Fuck opened the show with an enjoyable set that mostly consisted of vocoder and instrumentation. They were followed by M.I.A. protégé, Rye Rye and much to my surprise Diplo who successfully got the crowd hyped up for the headliner. The show began with a video montage depicting a Japanese dictator running for president and exclaiming that "the only way to save this world is to destroy it," which sent the crowd into an eruption of cheering.

The sold-out show opened up with "Bamboo Banga," and from that moment on the dancing and lyric-chanting were unstoppable. The crowd was so into it, but a few times I deemed it necessary to push a few out of my personal space. It was definitely like one big party on stage, especially during "Boyz"when she called the audience to join her on stage. Tips for an M.I.A. show: Wear comfortable shoes, be prepared to be pushed, be hydrated, be prepared to party, and keep an eye out for random celebrities such as Susan Sarandon who was in attendance!

« Click to see More Concert Photos »


Enjoy the energetic performance below of Hussel:

Mystery Jets in Radio 1 Live Lounge

Jo Whiley welcomed the lovely Mystery Jets to the Live Lounge yesterday where they performed a version of their latest single, Two Doors Down, with a string quartet and a stunning cover of the ubiquitous Bleeding Love.

Listen here

the brilliant 80s pastiche video for Two Doors Down:

photo courtesy of BBC

Today Show and Good Morning America Concert Schedule

If you can make it out of bed early enough [6:00AM if you want a good view], check out these upcoming shows:
Good Morning America: Bryant Park
June 13: Cyndi Lauper
June 20: Boyz II Men
June 27: Maroon 5
July 04: Chaka Kahn
July 11: Artist TBA
July 18: Miley Cyrus
July 25: Feist
Aug 01: Cast of Broadway's Rent
Aug 08: The Jonas Brothers
Aug 15: Artist TBA
Aug 22: Artist TBA





Today Show: Rockefeller Plaza
May 26: B-52s (Special Memorial Day concert)
May 30: Donna Summer
June 06: Chris Brown
June 13: Kenny Chesney
June 20: Rihanna
June 27: Coldplay
July 04: Ashlee Simpson
July 11: Rascal Flatts
July 18: Natasha Bedingfield July 25: Miley Cyrus
Aug 01: Sheryl Crow
Aug 15: TODAY at the Beijing Olympics
Aug 22: TODAY at the Beijing Olympics
Aug 29: Paula Abdul

June MAC ATTACK: James McAvoy makes the rounds

Wanted is coming out on the 27th and pretty soon it's going to seem like James is everywhere. This is by no means a bad thing, BUT I'm not sure how I feel about this movie.....like, is this extremely commercial move good? it's probably his most high profile, mass appealing role to date.

James is currently the cover star of Mean Magazine and Complex Magazine:

Get Crafty!

Brooklyn's 4th Annual RENEGADE CRAFT FAIR will be held June 14 + 15 from 11am - 7pm at the McCarren Park Pool!

Check out the Vendor List to get a sneak peak at who will be participating in this year's event. Over 200 artists will be showing off their wares!

PLUS - Popshop DJ Squad will be playing tunes throughout the weekend, and tasty treats will be provided by: Lefty's Silver Cart, The Treats Truck, Wheeler's Frozen Desserts, Fizzy Lizzy, 1 Bite 7 Days and Mr. Softy.

MP3: New Order- Krafty (Phones Reality Remix)

For a minute there, I lost myself...

I’ve been thinking about Radiohead A LOT lately, I’ve been listening to In Rainbows CD2 non stop for about 2 months now. Last night I had a dream that they played ‘Down Is The New Up’ in a really small venue. Best gig dream ever. I’ve also been listening to Pablo Honey loads too. I really want to see them in a few weeks but I’m so broke I don’t think it’s going to happen. When Becky walks through the door after the gig crying her eyes out about how amazing they were, my heart will just sink because I missed seeing the best band in the world right now. Anyways, finally got round to watching walk the line with the beautiful, immense and breathtaking Joaquin Phoenix. It’s a great film, never been a Cash fan, but last night I put Murder, God, Life and Love on my ipod and have been listening non stop. Also been listening to Sonic Youth. WOW. it has been a great week for discovering new and old music. Shola

The Bushwick Open Studios

Get ready for one big party this weekend as the annual Bushwick Open Studios takes over Brooklyn! Art, booze, BBQ's, parties, hot weather and hotties. The event begins today June 6th and ends Sunday June 8th, don't miss out.

Click here for: map of locations, list of artists

Apple In-store Performances

Visit the SoHo Apple Store located at 103 Prince Street for the following free in-store appearances:

June 9th 7 PM: Wyclef Jean
June 10th 7 PM: Gnarls Barkley
June 17th 7 PM: The Ting Tings
June 18th 9 PM: Steve Carell & Anne Hathaway
June 25th 6 PM: Talib Kweli

The Wombats Rock Blender Theatre at the Gramercy

The Wombats' show at Blender Theatre in NYC on Tues June 3 was really fun. I'd never been to that venue before and Gramercy is kind of a random area of Manhattan for a rock show, but this is a really cool place. Nice size floor section and also a GA seated bit at the back. I actually felt old at this show and was surprised to see so many young kids there especially considering how it seemed to me this show was kind of on the dl....not much hype or press really. So glad to see teenagers into this band...and it always brings back memories when I see all those kids meeting their parents at the back at the end of the gig. Precious! The Wombats are totally family friendly.

Last time I saw them a couple months ago at The Annex, the stage was a bit small for them and the whole thing was kind of cramped. This show was definitely better all around and the boys seemed a lot more confident and had lots of room to rock out.

Here's a great clip someone took at the show of b-side How To Pack Your Bags and Leave:

«More of my photos of The Wombats at Blender Theatre»

A really cute trio from Washington, D.C. called Jukebox The Ghost were the openers. They're a poppy drums, guitar and keyboard combo with a penchant for writing long rock-opera-esque songs with multiple movements more in the style of Weezer than Queen. They had witty on stage banter and are very talented musicians. The crowd was responsive to them and their clever songs are definitely worth a listen. Check out their Last.fm page.

This Week's US Release Highlights

Some stuff to look out for this Tuesday (June 3):

The Ting Tings - We Started Nothing

Exciting Mancunian dance-pop/dance-punk explosion.

The Futureheads - This Is Not The World

Former purveyors of inaccessible artsy fartsy pedantic Brit-punk make smart indie rock record.

Weezer - The Red Album

I guess red logically follows blue and green. Have they become caricatures of themselves? I'm worried.

Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes

Melodic West coast indie pop. Melissa loves them.

Control - The Miriam Collection DVD

FINALLY this DVD is coming out in the US! Stunning. Haunting. Poetic. You don't have to love Joy Division to love this movie.

The New York Times Lurvvves Coldplay

I haven't given a flying crap about Coldplay since A Rush of Blood to the Head which I maintain is a great album. I ended up becoming so enraged at their unfathomable fame which, most likely thanks to big industry backing and investments, enabled them to eclipse far more talented bands of the late 90s post-Britpop era like Travis.

I also never liked their band aesthetic with Chris Martin as the spastic (some might argue enigmatic) star and the others as replaceable, interchangable, anonymous figures. This is an issue today's New York Times article about the band grapples with and seems to argue that, on their new album (pictured above), each member has managed to carve out an individual, musical personality for themselves. This remains to be seen but there's no denying this article is extremely favorable of the band and the upcoming album's accomplishments in particular.

They might be on to something. Despite my perhaps unfounded vow to dislike this band, I was willing to make an exception if they evolved and made something truly worthy of all the fame and acclaim. I had only heard a bit of the song Viva La Vida from the iTunes commercial and didn't totally hate it and then I saw Coldplay's performance of the song on the MTV Movie Awards tonight and I must say I actually kind of like this song. ughhh. The lyrics are totally different and interesting and comprehensively constructed and I was impressed by the variety of musical instruments they used.

Viva La Vida at 2008 MTV Movie Awards:

Thoughts?