Drake, SBTRKT & Sampha @ Wrongbar - 7/8/2011

As you might know, Drake remixed/rapped over the SBTRKT track "Wildfire" which otherwise features Little Dragon's Yukimi Nagano on vocals. Last night (7/8), SBTRKT played a show at Wrongbar in Toronto. As we mentioned, a super special guest was expected in addition to SBTRKT vocalist Sampha. Guess who that was? Videos below.

SBTKRT plays PS1 Warm Up in NYC TODAY (7/8) and then DJs or plays at Coco66 afterwards. (SBTRKT DJ'd at Glasslands on Wednesday night).

Continue reading "Drake & Sampha played w/ SBTRKT in Toronto (video)"

Kanye West & Big Sean @ Irving Plaza Tuesday (Joshua Laboy)

Maybe it was all the excitement of summer finally arriving, but for whatever reason, NYC shows have been pretty heavy on the special guests lately. Here's a few we know about.

Reggie Watts was the secret guest that joined Glenn Kotche and Buke & Gass during 'Wilco weekend' at NYU for the Jab Abumrad's Radiolab Concert on Saturday (6/18). Reggie was a secret because of the two Summerstage shows he's playing this week including the one in Red Hook Park TONIGHT (6/24).

Reptar was a secret guest at the Thee Oh Sees Brooklyn Bowl show on Saturday (Reptar played Governors Ball earlier that day). And as predicted, Thee Oh Sees themselves were the secret headliner at Death by Audio the previous night (6/17).

Reptar, who also opened for Art Brut at Music Hall last night, will open for Foster the People at Terminal 5 on September 27th. The only mystery here is how Foster the People are big enough to headline Terminal 5 already! Tickets are on sale.

Ted Leo showed up as a special guest at the Eleanor Friedberger show at Europa during Northside. Bradford Cox was in the Audience. Catch Ted again at the free South Street Seaport kickoff party for the 4Knots Festival that Eleanor plays at the South Street Seaport a week later. It was just announced that Eleanor will also open for Deerhunter at their Webster Hall shows in August. (Deerhunter frontman Bradford Cox must have really liked her set) Tickets for both Deerhunter shows are still available.

As also recently mentioned both Clams Casino and Neon Indian (DJ) were added as last minute surprises guests to the Northside show at Cameo on Sunday (6/19). The show was one day after Neon Indian played Governors Ball. Monday night Cameo hosted semi-secret DJ sets by YACHT, The Miracles Club & Midnight Magic, all who played MHOW on Sunday.

Kanye West showed up at Big Sean's Irving Plaza show on Tuesday (6/21), the same night Big Sean appeared on the Bon Iver episode of Fallon. Despite two of Kanye's friends being on Fallon on the same night however, Kanye did not make an appearance on the show (not even backstage). Videos from Irving Plaza below.

Justin Vernon did not show up at the S. Carey/David Bazan show at Bowery Ballroom on Wednesday (6/22), as we hoped he would. S. Carey is a member of Bon Iver's band and played with Justin the two days previous on both Fallon and Colbert.

Speaking of Fallon, Bob Mould (who DJs his Blowoff party at Highline Ballroom tonight) showed up and surprised people by playing a Sugar song backed by the Roots on the show. Mould recently performed live with the Foo Fighters during their set at Sasquatch. Video of that special guest appearance is below.

Lenny Kravtiz's daughter Zoë Kravitz and her band Elevator Fight played Southpaw with J*Davey on Tuesday (6/21). Lenny showed up to watch his daughter, but he wasn't the only crowd member blowing up Twitter. Drake was also in the audience to catch the show. FADER grabbed him outside the Park Slope venue for a quick video interview which you can watch below.

Flying Lotus & Just Blaze @ Music Hall (via the Comedian)

Flying Lotus headlined two Brainfeeder showcases (his label) this week. The first was at Bowery Ballroom on Monday (6/20) and the second at MHOW on Wednesday (6/22). Apparently trippy instrumentals aren't the only thing FlyLo digs when it comes to hip hop producers, because Just Blaze (Jay-Z, T.I.) showed up to play with him at the MHOW show. Flying Lotus also surprised NYC by playing a free late show at Le Poisson Rouge too.

Following in FlyLo's footsteps, Ivan & Alyosha gave NYC a gift in the form of a last-minute free late show at Mercury Lounge.

Crowded House frontman Neil Finn played with Eddie Vedder at Beacon Theatre on his tour with Glen Hansard.

And while opener Glen Hansard (Swell Season, the Frames) helped Vedder recreate "Sleepless Nights," the tender duet the pair shared on "Ukulele Songs," and the crowd found their voices and their feet for several of he night's tunes -- "Porch," "Unthought Known" -- the biggest roar erupted when Vedder invited Crowded House/Split Enz frontman Neil Finn to the stage for an impromptu collaboration Vedder jokingly called an "unrehearsed collision." With longtime friend Finn on organ, the twosome blended delicate harmonies on Hunters And Collectors' "Throw Your Arms Around Me." Finn took up a guitar and sat down next to Vedder to trade verses on Finn's Split Enz hit "I Got You," which found Finn playfully calling out chords to Vedder during the bridge. "It turns out we play that song differently," Vedder quipped, "But since he wrote it, he's right."

Decked out in a trio of long white lab coats, Finn (organ) and Hansard (guitar) returned with Vedder for the second encore, the rousing "Big Hard Sun" from "Into The Wild." [Billboard]

As you know, Stephen Colbert was the special guest with The Black Belles on his own show last night (6/23). He performed with the band and also recorded a single with them which is now on sale via Third Man Records. Jack White actually also appeared on the show this time for his third and final appearance during StePhest Colbchella '011 and then appeared with Colbert again today (6/24) at The Lot at the High Line. Jack and the Black Belles were also spotted last night (6/23) bowling at Brooklyn Bowl. According to Questlove (who was DJing the venue), he "has bowling game."

Tonight (6/24) is the another Doveman show at LPR. Lisa Hannigan (who played 3 sold out NYC-area shows this week) and Mike Doughty are billed as openers, but according to Doveman, some secret special guests will be showing up as well (as usual).

Last but not least, as hinted, and confirmed earlier today, Fucked Up are the special guest at 285 Kent Saturday (6/26) with JEFF the Brotherhood and Iceage. Tickets are on sale at Record Grouch. Iceage also played a secret show at 538 Johnson while they were in town for Northside.

Any special appearances we left out?

Videos below...

Continue reading "This Week in Special Guests (Kanye West, Reggie Watts, Reptar, Neil Finn, Drake, Just Blaze, Doveman & more)"

The masked UK Producer SBTRKT (pronounced 'subtract') is scheduled to play Camp Bisco (7/7) and a PS1 Warm Up event on July 9 with Four Tet, FaltyDL, Matthewdavid, and others. You don't need to head upstate or stand in the sun to see him though because he's also scheduled a Brooklyn show at Glasslands on July 6 with Shigeto and Mux Mool. Exactly what formation SBTRKT will take at the Brooklyn show (DJ, full band, some mix of both, etc) is still TBD, but Glasslands tickets are on sale now. Camp Bisco will be a DJ set and PS1 will be "live set w/guest vocalist". What does "live" look like? It looks like THIS.

His self titled debut LP comes out June 27 in the UK and June 28 in the US via XL's Young Turks imprint, and it's streaming now on Hype Machine. We posted the track "Wildfire" (feat. Little Dragon) earlier this month, which you can grab here. Drake has since remixed the track and contributed some of his own vocals to it. Check that out, along with album tracklist and all tour dates, below...

Continue reading "SBTRKT is coming (dates), album streaming now"

by Andrew Sacher

"expect absolutely nothing from me..." - The Weeknd

Readers of this site should be very familiar with Weekend, who just played a BrooklynVegan SXSW party and who we just interviewed. Their tour with Wire hits New York this Tuesday (4/5). Tickets are still on sale for the MHOW show, and for Weekend's show at Mercury Lounge the next day.

Weekend is not to be confused with the Canadian hazy electro-R&B artist Abel Tesfaye who records under the moniker The Weeknd (in part because he spells it "Weeknd" and not "Weekend"). He's currently all the rage due to his nine-song mixtape House of Balloons which he released last week for free on his website. Hype wars are only adding to the attention. A Pitchfork Best New Music tag and praise from the Village Voice are in controversy with an article from The Guardian which insists "indie-leaning music critics are once again getting R&B spectacularly wrong." Rolling Stone calls the Weeknd an "Artist To Watch" ("mama if you can hear me... i did it.. i'm a rolling stone now..", The Weeknd Tweeted). NY Mag highlights a funny new "PBR&B" subgenre name people are using on Twitter to describe the "hipster R&B" category that also includes artists like How to Dress Well and Odd Future associate Frank Ocean.

Like recent albums by James Blake and How To Dress Well, The Weeknd's mixtape is constantly crossing the lines between indie and R&B. With two Beach House samples (The Weeknd says their management is "cool as fuck"), a Siouxsie and the Banshees sample, and synthy beats that would feel far more at home at Electric Zoo than on an R. Kelly record, The Weeknd (whether he's ruining R&B or revolutionizing it) is certainly up to something worth listening to.

The Weeknd also has support from fellow Canadian Drake, who tweeted lyrics and linked to a song download before the mixtape was fully released. According to The Boombox who say Drake broke the new artist, it's rumored that The Weeknd, Drake and producer Noah "40" Shebib will be working together in the near future.

House of Balloons is available for free download on The Weeknd's website, but if you want to hear a couple songs first, check out the Beach House sampling "The Party & The After Party" and the album opener which contains the disclaimer, "You wanna be high for this," below...

Continue reading "Weekend vs. The Weeknd (get his free PBR&B mixtape now)"

photos by Brook Bobbins

Fool's Gold held a holiday party at the new Tammany Hall (ex-The Annex) on the LES on Friday night (12/17). DJ sets came from Mannie Fresh, Just Blaze, The Brothers Macklovitch (A-Trak & Dave1), Sammy Bananas, and special guest Drake. More pictures from the event, below...

Continue reading "Fool's Gold had a holiday party @ the new Tammany Hall -- pics (A-Trak, Dave 1, Drake, Just Blaze & more)"

photos by Chris Gersbeck, words by BBG

"Oh ps we are at radio city for the second night of drake ahows" -thefader

"@thefader SO JEALOUS IM NOT THERE" -bestcoastyy

Just before Small Black took the stage at the sold-out Bowery Ballroom tonight, Best Coast's Bethany Cosentino was Tweeting (what else?) about how she wished she were at the Drake show instead. Sounds about right. She doesn't seem to take her band, or its success, especially seriously. You get the sense that her prolific output in the past two years is less a result of creative urgency than just writing down the first thing that pops into her head...

Given her priorities, it's hard to fault her for giving a lackadaisical performance. She did a grateful little speech about going from disgruntled New School student to Bowery Ballroom headliner, but if Cosentino is otherwise excited about her new place in the world, she didn't show it. There was a lot of staring dead-eyed into the middle distance and laughing at the minor antics of guitarist Bobb Bruno, the hardest-rocking member of Best Coast mostly by virtue of how much hair he has. -[Village Voice]

Of the three bands, Best Coast's tour-mates Male Bonding left the strongest impression on Chris (who took these photos). He says they "knocked people's socks of for 35 minutes". Male Bonding is also on board to play tonight's show, along with Alex Bleeker & the Freaks.

The Drake show last night was the second in a row at Radio City for the pop star. Jay-Z, Birdman, Fabolous, and Trey Songz all made guest appearances, performing songs they recorded with the crooner/MC. TeamYee reports that Baby, J. Cole, Young Jeezy, Tyga, and Mack Maine all showed up the night before. Bethany missed out.

Is it possible to Tweet a sigh of disappointment? If so, look for one later today. More pictures and the setlist from the Bowery Ballroom show, and Drake's setlist from the first night at Radio City, below...

Continue reading "Best Coast played Bowery Ballroom w/ Male Bonding & Small Black (pics), missed Drake & Jay-Z @ Radio City Music Hall"

Best Coast @ South Street Seaport in July (more by Chris La Putt)

today in NYC
* Ted Poor @ The Stone
* El Guincho @ Santos Party House
* Drake, Tyga @ Radio City Music Hall
* LCD Soundsystem @ Angel Orensanz
* Mark Olson, Vandaveer @ The Rock Shop
* Loren Stillman and Bad Touch @ The Stone
* Williamsburg Salsa Orchestra @ Cameo Gallery
* Unearthly Trance, Suma, Pharoah @ Union Pool
* The Clean, Dump, Vermillion Sands @ Maxwell's
* Rogue Wave, Midlake, Peter Wolf Crier @ Webster Hall
* Howard Fishman, Will Holshouser Trio @ Le Poisson Rouge
* Best Coast, Male Bonding, Small Black @ Bowery Ballroom
* Golden Ages, Dinosaur Feathers, Post Post @ Death By Audio
* Shy Child, Your Youth, The Stationary Set, Dead Stars @ Pianos
* The Gay Blades, Chappo, Data Dog @ The Studio at Webster Hall
* Juliana Hatfield & Evan Dando, The Shining Twins @ Mercury Lounge
* The Sundelles, Bottle Up And Go, Shark?, The Senors of Marseille @ Glasslands
* Margot & The Nuclear So and So's, The Lonely Forest, Cameron McGill @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
* The Great Valley, Procedure Club, DILIAN, In Buenos Aires, Philip Seymour Hoffman @ Shea Stadium

Drake is in the middle of a run of shows at Radio City Music Hall. Check out the interview Drake gave Nardwuar earlier this year, in the video below...

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Wednesday?"

by BBG

"Yankee Stadium was #EPIC last night. Performances by JayZ,Drake,Kanye West,Eminem,G-Unit,Dr.Dre,Nicki Minaj,B.O.B & Eminem all on one stage!" -ThisIsChi_JEG

"Apparently a Coldplay concert broke out in the middle of Jay-Z's Yankee Stadium set last night. Can safely say no one saw that coming." -BarthDoesThings

"I've been trying to find a word to explain the Jay-Z/Eminem Yankee Stadium show.. I got it.. WOW!!!!!" -DJCK_BROOKLYN

Jay-Z & Chris Martin on stage @ Yankee Stadium

Jay-Z and Eminem tore down Yankee Stadium last night (9/13), the first of TWO shows that the pair of MCs will play in the Bronx. And there were guests... Kanye was present. Chris Martin of Coldplay dropped in. Beyonce had her say. Dr Dre was there. 50 Cent too. Not to mention Drake, Nicky Minaj, D12, B.O.B, Swizz Beatz, Lloyd Banks, and many others.

"The concert lasted well past midnight, and a few thousand in the crowd started to make their way to the exits while Jay-Z was still rapping to beat the after-concert rush. But most stayed behind, sensing what Jay-Z told them. ''This is historic: They ain't never gonna be another night like tonight.''

Well, maybe one more night -- the pair has another show at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday." [NY Times]

The madness continues tonight (9/14) at Yankee Stadium. A bunch of videos and both setlists (with guests listed) from last night, below...

Continue reading "Jay-Z & Eminem & lots of special guests played Yankee Stadium (night 1 videos & setlists)"

not-Drake @ The South Street Seaport (more)

Another Drake show in New York has been nixed before the rapper even got a chance to take the stage. Drizzy was in talks to play a free outdoor show July 16 as part of ABC's "Good Morning America" summer concert series. However, the Drake show has been squashed and the cast of Broadway's "American Idiot" will fill the upcoming slot instead.

A spokesperson for ABC confirmed that a potential Drake show was in the works. "We were interested in having Drake perform, but he was never officially booked," an ABC rep told MTV News. In addition, a spokesperson for the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation told MTV News that concert organizers had simply decided to go with another act. "There was an open date on the calendar for July 16, but they decided to feature the cast of the Broadway show 'American Idiot,' " a rep said. [MTV]

by Andrew Frisicano

Drake "at" South Street Seaport (more by Leia Jospe)

After a concert at the South Street Seaport last week was canceled when an over-capacity crowd for the rapper Drake and the pop band Hanson became rowdy and aggressive, the Seaport's owner has canceled two more planned concerts there, including a show by Kesha, the pop singer who has one of the biggest songs of the year.

In a letter to Community Board No. 1 of Manhattan sent on June 16, the day after the show, a representative of General Growth Properties, the mall operator that owns the Seaport, said that it had "chosen to cancel any forthcoming concerts in conjunction with Paper magazine," which organized the Drake concert, where seven people were injured and two arrested. In an interview with The New York Times last week, David Hershkovits, an editor and publisher of the magazine, said the magazine had planned for two more shows this summer, by Kesha, the "TiK ToK" singer, and the New York band Ratatat. [NY Times]

In related news, one of the "Play Me, I'm Yours" pianos is set up at the Seaport (and so far nobody has thrown it off a balcony or anything). Videos of people playing that (including J Roddy Walston and The Business) are below...

Continue reading "future Paper Magazine concerts not happening @ the Seaport"

people waiting for Drake @ The Seaport (more by Leia Jospe)

"The police are looking into the causes of the rowdy scene at South Street Seaport in Manhattan on Tuesday night when a way-overcapacity crowd turned out for a free concert by the rapper Drake and the pop band Hanson...

..."We're taking a hard look at it ourselves to see what the appropriate mechanisms or configuration of that area should be," [Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly] said. "We want to look at how this particular event was promoted. We want to learn from this."...

...[Paper Magazine's David] Hershkovits said Paper was intending to put on more free shows at the Seaport this summer. (Other promoters are responsible for Seaport Music, another free series there.) One of the scheduled performers is Kesha, the pop singer whose song "Tik Tok" is one of the biggest hits of the year, having sold 4.9 million downloads.

"I don't anticipate that happening for Kesha the same way," Mr. Hershkovits said. "I don't think this means anything more than what happened last night." [NY Times]

Continue reading "while police are looking into what happened @ the Seaport, Paper Magazine planning a free Kesha show there"

Larry Graham came to the audience to play the bass in our face!!! :) (StephenGHill)

As commenter knowYERbassGODS helpfully pointed out in Wednesday's WGO post, Larry Graham, someone who you might not know by name but definitely do by sound (slap bass? he invented it), played BB King's last night (6/16). He brought out one friend and collaborator, Prince, to cover another, Sly & the Family Stone (of which Graham is a founding member - he's also uncle to Drake, says Wikipedia).

Two videos of Prince and Larry Graham playing "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)" at BB King's, and another pic from the show, below...

Continue reading "Prince joined Larry Graham @ BB King's"

at the Seaport last night (HyperBeautiful)

Today (Wednesday, June 16th)'s free afternoon Sound Bites Lunchtime Seaport show with Ribbons has been cancelled. The reason is the weather, though, even if it was sunny out, it's probably for the best. The Seaport needs a rest after last night's hectic Drake/Hanson/Ninjasonik show where chairs were thrown, people scaled buildings, and nobody actually got to play more than a song. Some more videos from that chaotic scene below...

Continue reading "today's afternoon Seaport show cancelled ++ more videos from Drake & Hanson last night"

photos by Leia Jospe

Drake show @ South Street Seaport (more by Chris La Putt)

Senseless violence marred a Drake concert at South Street Seaport Tuesday night, prompting police to pull the plug on the show before the rap phenom ever had a chance to grab a mic. "Everybody was pushing up, trying to get to the front," said Tamika Johnson, 31, of East New York, Brooklyn. Johnson and her 6-year-old daughter were among thousands who turned out for the free show, part of a publicity blitz marking the release of the up-and-coming Canadian rapper's debut album, "Thank Me Later." "People in the front started leaving because they were getting crushed," Johnson said. "Then they started throwing bottles from the balconies." Fights broke out as rowdies tossed flower pots from the upper floors of the Seaport down onto the crowd on the street, said Jasmine Arroyo, 23, of Brooklyn. Arroyo said the scene turned into "a madhouse" as people on the street began firing plastic bottles and "any object they could find" at the flower-pot-hurlers. [Daily News]

Continue reading "video of people throwing chairs from the 2nd level Pizzeria Uno into the Seaport concert crowd (and more pics)"

photos by Chris La Putt

"dear lord, i hope the Pizzeria Uno is ok" - Isfet

Chris La Putt was on hand to see Ninjasonik play less than one song at South Street Seaport this fine Tuesday evening (6/15). As previously mentioned, not counting Hanson's soundcheck, that was all the music the giant crowd got to hear. Headliners Hanson and Drake never got to perform as the cops quickly shut down the free show to be safe. They potentially either stopped or started a riot. Taking their lead, Chris ran right home. His pictures (mostly from the point of view of the photopit in front of the stage), including more of the Pizzeria Uno acrobat, and a video showing the chaos (which doesn't compare to the video that shows people throwing things), below...

Continue reading "pictures & video from the Ninjasonik, Hanson & Drake not-show @ South Street Seaport in NYC"

"Had to cancel the free NYC show today because of a crazy audience that was braking things at the mixing board. -Z" - Hanson (about 7:20 pm)

"Police are shutting down the show at South Seaport! I'm on my way anyways...Drizzy Hendrix Woodstock 2010" - Drake (about 7:30pm)

"Hope everybody is able to stay calm and that things don't get out of hand. Again we are sorry that we could not play! -Isaac" - Hanson (about 7:30 pm)

"NYPD will not let me go on stage tonight" - Drake (around 7:32)

South Street Seaport around 7pm - June 15, 2010 (AON_Boss_Casino)

Hanson is supposed to be on stage performing as I type this. Ninjasonik played half a song. Drake is... on his way to the show? Hopefully everyone remains calm. No riots.

Some more pictures of the action (update: HERE.. and) unfolding below....

Continue reading "too many people showed up to see Drake & Hanson @ the Seaport - show shut down by police"

Beach Fossils @ Market Hotel in March (more by Dominick Mastrangelo)

tonight in NYC
Dan Deacon & Lower Dens @ Red Hook Park
The Roots @ Highline Ballroom
Fred Eaglesmith @ The Rodeo Bar
Peter Wolf Crier, Joemca @ Pianos
The Rafiq Bhatia Collective @ Coco 66
Gaslight Anthem, Tim Barry @ Irving Plaza
Flowers, The Junkman Band, K Holes @ Zebulon
First Aid Kit, Samantha Crain @ The Bell House
Sally Seltmann, Ladybug Transistor @ Union Hall
Drake, Hanson, Ninjasonik @ South Street Seaport
Carole King, James Taylor @ Madison Square Garden
Handsome Family, Neutral Uke Hotel @ Mercury Lounge
Tuesday Night Disco w/ Sabbath Assembly @ Glasslands
Kashmir, Hypernova, Cruel Black Dove @ Bowery Ballroom
John Butler Trio, State Radio @ Central Park Summerstage
Warpaint, Beach Fossils, Mini Mansions @ Knitting Factory Brooklyn
Talibam!, G. Calvin Weston's Tribute to Ornette Coleman @ Bowery Poetry Club
Radio Happy Hour w/ Nick Diamonds & Islands, Eddie Kaye Thomas @ (le) Poisson Rouge
Erik Friedlander's Broken Arm Trio, Gerald Cleave/William Parker/Craig Taborn @ The Stone

Drake + Hanson + Ninjasonik are playing a free show at South Street Seaport tonight (where Ribbons will play the weekly Sound Bites Lunchtime series tomorrow at 1pm). Today's also the release date of Drake's official debut, Thank Me Later. The video for his song "Over" is below.

Dan Deacon tonight is also free, at Red Hook Park.

Peter Wolf Crier have a three-show NYC run starting tonight at Pianos - they'll be back in July on their tour with Heartless Bastards.

Gaslight Anthem celebrate the release of their new album, American Slang, with a show tonight at Irving Plaza. That's sold out and tickets for their Radio City show go on sale soon.

new Flaming Lips video for "The Sparrow Looks Up At The Machine" below...

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Tuesday?"

UPDATE: this show didn't go as planned.

another free show at South Street Seaport this summer...

Continue reading "strangely, Drake & Hanson are playing the Seaport together"

Aziz Ansari's listed the following stuff on his 2009 Gummy Award Ballot....

BEST ALBUM
4. Raekwon - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... Pt. II
3. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz
2. Neon Indian - Psychic Chasms
1. Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion

BEST MUSIC VIDEO
G-Baby - "Welcome To Heartbreak" and Kanye West - "We Were Once A Fairytale" and Major Lazer - "Pon De Floor" (3 way tie)

INDIE ROCK CRUSH
This really hot girl I saw buying a hot dog at a Phoenix show

BEST NEW ACT
Drake

BEST ALBUM OF THE DECADE
In alphabetical order...
Clipse - Hell Hath No Fury
Interpol - Turn On The Bright Lights
Kanye West - Graduation
LCD Soundsystem - Sound Of Silver
Radiohead - In Rainbows
The Rapture - Echoes

BEST TV SHOW
Breaking Bad, Friday Night Lights, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Summer Heights High, Mad Men, Delocated, Eastbound And Down (7 way tie)

BEST MOVIE
Inglourious Basterds

BEST WEB VIDEO
David After Dentist

Continue reading "Aziz Ansari releasing a CD & DVD, schedules 'big' NYC shows (and other dates), lists his favorite stuff from 2009"

Passion Pit (more by Tim Griffin)

Not quite on the scale of their last NYC music event (that I know about), but Diesel Jeans's U:Music tour will visit NYC for a show at Webster Hall on Thursday, July 30th. The lineup for that includes The Roots (with a special guest), Drake, Cobra Starship (huh?), Passion Pit, Theophilus London, and contest winners (two bands won a contest to get on the bill) The Terror Pigeon Dance Revolt! (as seen HERE and HERE) and Heartsrevolution. "To get in, one has to appear at the store's participating NYC locations wearing a pair of Diesel jeans, though tickets are limited."

All Diesel fans will have a chance to witness this private event with a limited amount of invitations to be given away at participating Diesel stores. One must show up to participating stores in a pair of Diesel jeans to qualify...

Continue reading "Diesel throwing shows @ Webster Hall (Passion Pit, Roots, more), in their store & in their store window..."

Fucked Up @ Culture Shock '08 (more by Leia Jospe)

SUNY Purchase's annual Culture Shock Festival is taking place this year on Friday, April 17th and Saturday, April 18th.

Both headliners for the ninth annual fest will be hip-hop acts. Rapper/actor Drake will end Friday night's show, while Saturday's top act will be the Cool Kids (who are also playing All Points West).

You may remember 2008's Culture Shock as the festival where the mild mannered Canadians in Fucked Up "almost got arrested and their set got cut short" (as one commenter succinctly put it). Hopefully NYHC staples Murphy's Law will help make this year just as memorable (they are playing on Friday).

Culture Shock may or may not be open to the public/non-students -- a fact that sparked much debate last year.

The Tallest Man On Earth, currently on tour from Sweden (and in NYC as we speak), plays the fest on Saturday. Full 2009 line-up below...

Continue reading "SUNY's Culture Shock this weekend - here's the 2009 lineup "