Since we're starting with the lists already, might as well point out this fun one from Chicago's Jim DeRogatis who writes stuff like:

"This is what happens if you cross the insufferably cute Zooey Deschannel with the Natalie Portman of Black Swan," I wrote in my original review. But that sounds way more interesting than the actuality of this bad modern Disney soundtrack.

Continue reading "Jim DeRogatis lists the 'biggest turkeys of 2011'"

84 year old Tony Bennett w/ a 27 year old Amy Winehouse

The great Tony Bennett has a new album of Duets, titled Duets II, coming out on September 20th. The 17-track CD features boring names like Michael Buble, John Mayer and Sheryl Crow, and some interesing names like Willie Nelson and Lady Gaga, but most notably includes a duet with Amy Winehouse who unfortunately never had the chance to realize her full potential due to a sad past few years and her untimely death today (7/23/2011).

In a video interview (that you can watch HERE), Tony says "Amy Winehouse was my favorite to perform with on the whole album." He compares her to Dina Washington and says she had the butterflies and nervousness that all the greats like Frank Sinatra and Duke Ellington had. He talks about how they clicked and says he thought she really loved to perform (though you might not know it from recent live videos) (too much butterfly medicine). RIP Amy.

Winehouse hasn't released an album since 2006 hit "Back to Black". The album won five of six Grammys it was nominted for including Record of the Year (and Best New Artist). She also won at the Brits that year. She was nominated for the UK's Mercury Prize twice. In 2004 "Frank" lost to Franz Ferdinand. In 2006 she lost to the Klaxons (check out who was nominated this year). Whether or not Amy has any other unreleased material remains to be seen, though there were rumors that she also recently recorded a track with Cee Lo Green.

Speaking of duets, in Amy Winehouse's too-short career she also performed with Mick Jagger, Mos Def, Mark Ronson, sort of Ghostface, and probably others I missed.

The full tracklist and cover art for Tony's "Duets II", and a video of Amy performing with The Rolling Stones, below...

Continue reading "Amy Winehouse appears on soon-to-be-released Tony Bennett 'Duets' album, Tony loved working with her"

photos by Chris La Putt

I don't know how Lady Gaga is going to make it to her shows with Scissor Sisters at Madison Square Garden tonight (2/21) and tomorrow (2/22) - not because of the snow, but because I watched Gwar kill her with my own eyes at Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn last night (2/20).

More pictures from the Gwar show coming, but in the meantime more from the Lady Gaga skit (NSFW?) (and videos from past shows where they did the same thing), below...

Continue reading "Lady Gaga (and Gwar) @ Music Hall of Williamsburg -- pics"

"who is this arcade fire band?" - Erik

"Am I the only one who doesn't know who "Arcade Fire" is?????" - Reisa

Arcade Fire just won "Album of the Year" at the Grammys. WEIRD.

P.S. The Black Keys won best alt-album.

Video below...

Continue reading "Who is this Arcade Fire? (Album of the Year Grammy winners) "

And the nominees for "Album of the Year" are:

* The Suburbs by Arcade Fire
* Recovery by Eminem
* Need You Now by Lady Antebellum
* The Fame Monster by Lady Gaga
* Teenage Dream by Katy Perry

Also funny: Mumford & Sons are up for Best New Artist against Justin Bieber (and Drake, Florence & The Machine, and Esperanza Spalding)

Robyn is up for Best Dance Recording against Lady Gaga (and Goldfrapp, La Roux, and Rihanna).

Arcade Fire are also nominated for Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals against Muse, Kings of Leon, The Black Keys, and... Jeff Beck & Joss Stone.

The Black Keys also landed in the "Best Rock Instrumental Performance" along with... Dave Matthews.

The Black Keys and Mumford & Sons and Kings of Leon and Muse are also all in the "Best Rock Song" category.

"Best Alternative Album" category:

* The Suburbs by Arcade Fire
* Infinite Arms by Band Of Horses
* Brothers by The Black Keys
* Broken Bells by Broken Bells
* Contra by Vampire Weekend

Other names that got nominated: Cee-Lo, Janelle Monae, Big Boi, John Legend & The Roots, Jay-Z, Darcy James Argue's Secret Society, Flight of the Conchords, Devendra Banhart (for "Best Recording Package"), Oh No Ono (ditto), Anais Mitchell (ditto), Danger Mouse, Gorillaz, and Carol Burnett. Full list at the Grammys site.

photos by Andrew St. Clair

Kate Nash @ Terminal 5 - November 19, 2010

Lady Gaga @ Terminal 5 - May 2, 2009

Visual similarities to Lady Gaga aside, Kate Nash headlined Terminal 5 in NYC on Friday night as part of a North American tour, with excellent UK band Peggy Sue, that ended at Wellmont Theater in NJ one night later. Trachtenburg Family sideproject Supercute! opened the NYC show too. You might remember they also opened for Kate at Bowery Ballroom. Except back then, the youngsters were a trio. They recently lost a member and are looking for a new one (hide your kids!). I quote...

"In yet another of their trademark twists on the cliches of the music business, teenage indie-bubblegum sensations SUPERCUTE! (opening for Kate Nash at Terminal 5 this week!) have just lost a founding member of the band, but they didn't lose the member for the usual reasons.

Fourteen-year-old JUNE LEI is not out of the band for her heroin addiction!

She's not out of the band because she's always late (due to her heroin addiction)!

She's not even out of the band over 'creative differences' (about heroin addiction)!

JUNE LEI has quit the band because she thinks her PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION (she's a freshman in high school) is more important than SUPERCUTE, or touring the world and making money and appearing in the NYTimes and many other periodicals.

(Maybe she wants to see how Cosmopolitan's boss Cathie Black "runs" the schools as NYC's new Schools Chancellor!)

(Evidently June NEEDS the extra schooling, because anyone who thinks an American diploma is worth more than a soiled donut in an alleyway is farrrrrr behind the curve!)

And while many college graduates have tried to explain to June that college is a waste of time and (a LOT of) money - it's like a full-time job YOU pay $50 an hour to work at! - and you learn a lot more in real life, she's stuck in the gutter of life's bowling emporium, trusting that rut and enjoying that "groove"!!

WE HERE AT EMPIRE GOODNESS cannot understand her position but to each, his or her own.

But we are very sad to see her, the George Harrison of the band, walk away from such great chemistry.

99% of musicians will never get paid to tour the world and goof off and make art with their friends, but June thinks she can just go right back to that in the future if she likes. She doesn't realize how lucky she was to be touring the world at age 14, without even trying!"

Continue reading "Kate Nash, Peggy Sue & Supercute! (who are looking for a member) played Terminal 5 (pics) "

Scissor Sisters at Terminal 5 (more by Diana Wong)

Scissor Sisters visited NYC's Terminal 5 twice in late August in support of their new album Night Work, and are set to kick off a tour with fellow New Yorker Lady Gaga in February which will have them performing two more times in their hometown (2/21 & 2/22), but at the much larger Madison Square Garden and as the opener. Both MSG shows are sold out, as are probably most of the dates along the six week long trek that ends with a string of California shows at the end of March.

And now the band have announced a series of headlining shows that will take place before, during and after the Gaga tour including a gig at Montclair, NJ's Wellmont Theater on February 18th. Tickets for that one go on sale Friday (11/18) at noon.

Scissor Sisters are currently gearing up to play Santiago, Chile as part of a trio of South American dates that precede a UK tour. All dates (including on sale date for all new shows) and some videos below.

Continue reading "Scissor Sisters touring w/ Lady Gaga & headlining shows too"

most photos by Josh Darr

Dodos w/ special guest Neko Case / The Antlers

"There were no special effects during Soundgarden's performance on the last night of Lollapalooza -- no lasers, no costume changes, no props or hydraulics. Even the video screens switched over to black and white. But the band didn't need any added visuals: Soundgarden delivered an explosive set of classic '90s songs in front of their biggest audience since their breakup 13 years ago. Chris Cornell underplayed the band's return, suggesting their decade-plus break was more like a few years. "It's good to be back!" said Cornell, who's grown his hair back out to its late-'80s length. "We just took a little break, but now we're back."" [Rolling Stone]

Continue reading "Lollapalooza 2010 - Day 3 in pics, Soundgarden setlist, videos"

most of the photos by Josh Darr

The Strokes

Lady Gaga & Semi Precious Weapons (pic via Krista Davis)

Phoenix

"Lollapalooza wheeled out some big headliners in its sixth year on the Chicago lakefront, as a record 240,000 people poured into Grant Park over three days to see 130 performers, including Lady Gaga, Green Day and reunited grunge-era icons Soundgarden.

Size matters at Lollapalooza, as the festival expanded its reach westward by shutting down Columbus Avenue and spreading eight stages across 110 acres, up from 80 acres in previous years. Columbus Avenue was converted into a giant sidewalk lined with portable toilets, a simple but effective improvement that allowed fans to avoid the dreaded Buckingham Fountain bottleneck that had turned previous festivals into human traffic jams. The festival topped its previous three-day record of 225,000, reached the last two years.

Still, there was little room during some performances at the northernmost stages on Butler Field, where fans jostled shoulder-to-shoulder for space to see performances by Metric, Phoenix and Arcade Fire. Note to Austin, Texas-based promoters C3 Presents: How about widening the southern entrance to Butler Field or moving one of the stages onto Columbus Drive to relieve what is becoming an annual problem? It's only going to get worse if the festival approaches its new capacity of 95,000 a day in future years." [Chicago Tribune]

Continue reading "Lollapalooza 2010 -- Day 1 & 2 in pics "

tonight in NYC
* Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival
* Nominon, Evoken @ Bowery Electric
* Tony Malaby's Novela @ The Stone
* Lady Gaga @ Madison Square Garden
* Katzenjammer, Um @ Mercury Lounge
* Prince Rama, La Big Vic @ Glasslands
* She & Him, Eugene Mirman @ Terminal 5
* B-52s, Supercluster @ Highline Ballroom
* Beirut, Woom @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
* The Nels Cline Singers @ (Le) Poisson Rouge
* Cary Brothers, Greg Laswell, Harper Blynn @ Maxwell's
* The Felix Hernandez Rhythm Review @ Soundview Park
* Liturgy, Child Abuse, White Suns, The Dreebs @ Death By Audio
* Milkfat, HolidayHoliday, Fredericks Brown, The London Souls @ The Cameo
* Ed Kowalczyk (of Live) @ the 2nd Annual Hudson Square Music & Wine Festival

Now that tonight's B-52's show is sold out and about to be over, maybe they'll announce who the special guest is for the August 19th show in Coney Island.

Liturgy is NOT playing Death By Audio tonight. Greg is sick and they had to cancel.

She & Him play Termoinal 5 tonight. Maybe you caught them on the 4th of July on Governors Island.

New Books video for "A Cold Freezin' Night", below...

"amanda palmer getting filmed in a bathtub for the "No Surprises" radiohead ukulele video" below...

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Tuesday?"

Tickets go on sale at noon for two February 2011 Lady Gaga shows at MSG.

Tickets go on sale at 10am for the Alice in Chains/Mastodon/Deftones show at MSG.

Tickets are also now on sale for Pavement, Grizzly Bear, Gayngs and other recently-announced shows.

DJ Lance Rock @ Brooklyn Bowl Thursday evening (dada_rocks)

Tickets are on sale at noon for Pavement's Brooklyn show at Williamsurg Waterfront.

Tickets go on sale at noon for the Grizzly Bear/Walkmen/Gang Gang Dance show at Governors Island.

Tickets go on sale at noon for the Jim James (actually Yim Yames, Ben Sollee and Daniel Martin Moore) show at Music Hall of Williamsburg. My Morning Jacket has upcoming shows too.

Tickets go on sale at noon for both of the just-announced Gayngs (Justin Vernon Included) shows in NYC.

Tickets are on AmEx presale for the Yo Gabba Gabba shows at Radio City and elsewhere. The picture above is from the private party Yo Gabba held at Brooklyn Bowl yesterday from 4:30-6:00 pm to celebrate/promote the tour announcement.

Cyndi Lauper is playing Town Hall on July 21st. Tickets go on sale at noon.

Lady Gaga now has a total of five MSG shows coming up. Only fake tickets are left for the shows in July, but real tickets to the February shows go on sale Saturday at noon (with one of those two 2011 shows on presale now).

Tickets are still on Citi and Internet presale the Alice in Chains/Mastodon/Deftones show at MSG. General sale starts Saturday at 10am.

Langhorne Slim is playing Brooklyn Bowl on July 15th. Tickets go on sale at noon.

Tickets are on sale at noon for the Minus the Bear show at Webster Hall.

Tickets to the Two Door Cinema Club show at Webster Hall go on sale at noon.

Tickets are on sale for the newly-added Unrest show at The Bell House.

Tickets go on sale at noon for the Maps & Atlases / Cults show at Mercury Lounge.

Pee Wee Herman tickets are on sale.

Fake Lady Gagas

"Nina Liotta bought what she thought was a legitimate pair of tickets to Lady Gaga's sold-out July 9 concert at Madison Square Garden, according to news channel Fox 5 (video embedded below). Only after the cash transaction occurred -- totaling $300 -- did Liotta notice that the tickets were fakes." [Ticket News]

Continue reading "girl buys fake Lady Gaga tickets, Fox News reports"

Tinariwen @ Highline Ballroom (more by Benjamin Lozovsky)

Lady Gaga is playing Madison Square Garden on July 6th, 7th, and 9th, and now February 21st too. Tickets for the 2011 one go on Citi presale at 10am (you can try code 546616).

Tinariwen will return to the Bell House in June (they played there in February) for a show (6/27) the day after they play Summerstage (6/26) . Tickets are on sale.

Tickets are on sale for tonight's Ui (featuring Sasha Frere-Jones) show at the Bell House.

Tickets are on sale for the Eli "Paperboy" Reed show at the Bell House.

Tickets are on sale for the Big Takeover 30th Anniversary shows at the Bell House.

Tickets are on sale for the New Model Army shows at the Bell House.

Tickets are on sale for the Van Dyke Parks show at the Bell House.

Tickets are on sale for the two rescheduled Chapterhouse/Ulrich Schnauss shows at the Bell House.

The pop star-heavy schedule for this year's free Toyota-sponsored Today Show concerts that bring screaming fans and tourists to Rockfeller Plaza on Friday mornings at 7am, has been announced. The shows kick off with Sting on May 14th (that one should be fairly subdued), and continue with people that include Maroon 5, Maxwell, Lady Gaga, Ke$ha, Justin Bieber (this one will be completely nuts), ....Full lineup, more info and and other Sting shows below...

Continue reading "2010 Today Show Rockefeller Plaza concert lineup, Sting, etc"

"The 2010 Lollapalooza line-up is official: Soundgarden, Green Day, Lady Gaga, Arcade Fire, The Strokes, and Phoenix will headline, joined by Social Distortion, MGMT, Jimmy Cliff, Hot Chip, and The Black Keys. With 130 bands on this year's bill, its sure to be a weekend long feast for the ears.

It's a monumental year for Lollapalooza, filled with homecomings, reunions, and first-times. Soundgarden, 1992 and 1996 Lollapalooza alumni, return to the Lollapalooza stage for their first performance since 1997. Green Day will rock Grant Park sixteen years after their first Lollapalooza appearance. While Lady Gaga will headline the festival only three short years after playing the BMI stage at Lollapalooza 2007.

Arcade Fire returns to Grant Park, having played the reincarnated Lollapalooza in 2005. This is the first Lollapalooza for The Strokes - and also their first show in four years. And making their Lollapalooza debut: Phoenix." - Lollapalooza

Continue reading "Lollapalooza actually announces 2010 lineup "

Lollapalooza is teasing people with a Wheel of Fortune style lineup-announcement. They've only filled in the O's. As the Daily Swarm points out, Soundgarden, Green Day, Lady Gaga, Arcade Fire, The Strokes, and Phoenix fit nicely into the top row. Tickets are on sale.

Vampire Weekend @ Bowery Ballroom in January (more by Bao Nguyen)

One. Two. Now THREE shows at Radio City Music Hall (the same number of shows Lady Gaga is playing at MSG, and one less than she played at Radio City).

Due to overwhelming demand, Vampire Weekend have added a third show at New York's Radio City Music Hall! The show is on September 17th, and will follow 2 sold-out nights on the 15th and 16th. Tickets will be on sale this Friday at 11am e.s.t.

The shows at Radio City Music Hall mark their first in their hometown since their three night run around the release of their new album Contra in January. Contra debuted on the charts at #1 and their self-titled debut album was recently certified gold. Since the album's release, the band has performed on Saturday Night Live, The Late Show With David Letterman, Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien, and The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. They are currently in the middle of a US tour in support of Contra.

"Just got off the phone with Julian Casablancas and he confirms that the Strokes will indeed be headlining Lollapalooza this summer as first reported here a few weeks ago.

He says he's pretty stoked about the band's string of festival dates this summer. "We're getting the biggest offers of our career," he says. "It feels great, because I remember people writing things like 'We'll see if they're still around in 10 years' when we first came out."

...Casablancas says the Strokes are wrapping up their fourth studio album, and first since 2006. "I think it'll be out in September," he says. "I've written a lot of melodies for it, but the other guys have also contributed a lot more: melodies, choruses, parts. It's way more collaborative. So it'll have a different feel than our other albums." [Chicago Tribune]

The show in Chicago can be added to the Strokes' upcoming gig at Isle of Wight Fest in England this June.

Julian's upcoming tour dates include a show at Irving Plaza in NYC and a March 30th show at Sayreville, NJ's Starland Ballroom.

Continue reading "Strokes confirmed for Lollapalooza, Lady Gaga still rumored"

Eclectic rocker Neil Young, who has made no secret of his disdain for the Grammys, finally won a coveted trophy on Sunday for the first time in a career spanning almost 50 years.

Fittingly, the Canadian singer/songwriter was honored for a long-delayed boxed set collecting more than 120 tracks from his early days.

"Neil Young Archives Vol. 1 (1963-1972)" won the Grammy for best art direction on a boxed or special limited-edition package. Young, 64, shared the award with fellow art directors Gary Burden and Jenice Heo.

"Thanks a lot, everybody," Young said as he accepted his statuette.

He also competed for best solo rock vocal Grammy but lost to Bruce Springsteen, whose career total rose to 20.

On Friday he was honored by the music industry at its annual MusiCares charity fundraiser in recognition of his annual concerts for the Bridge School for disabled children.

The 10-disc "Archives" boxed set has been in the works for years, with Young frequently delaying its release so that technology could catch up with his vision. It boasts studio and live tracks, demos, outtakes and other rarities, as well as videos and the first digital release of his directing debut, "Journey Through the Past."

Fans have the choice of three configurations: CD, DVD and Blu-ray -- the most expensive at more than $200. [Reuters]

Continue reading "full list of 2010 Grammy Award Winners (Phoenix, Stephen Colbert, Kings of Leon, David Byrne, Leonard Cohen & more) "

Handsome Furs @ Bowery in July (more by Alex Reside)

tonight in NYC
* benefit @ City Winery
* Ghostface & friends @ Knitting Factory
* Handsome Furs @ Maxwell's
* Blind Shake, Vaz, Loose Limbs @ Cake Shop
* Laurel Halo, Air Waves, A Rose Parade @ Zebulon
* David Sutton, 2673, Hikikomori @ Issue Project Room
* Charlotte Gainsbourg, Dinosaur Feathers @ The Bell House
* Lady GaGa, Jason Derulo, Semi Precious Weapons @ Radio City Music Hall
* Das Racist, Sonia's Party and Everyone's Invited, Junk Science @ Southpaw
* Reading Rainbow, Family Trees, Total Slacker, X-Ray Eyeballs @ Death By Audio
* Big Troubles, My Teenage Stride, The Sundelles, Lame Drivers @ LPR
* Freelance Whales, Animal Tropical, Still Life Still, Faces on Film @ Mercury Lounge

The four Haiti benefits at City Winery kick off tonight. The most updated lineup for this evening is: "Patti Smith, The Swell Season, The Antlers (Just added) John Wesley Harding,Carolina Chocolate Drops, Yo La Tengo, Young People's Chorus of New York City, Joshua Bell & Surprise Guest". General admission tickets are sold out, but $200 tickets are still available.

Ends up Handsome Furs didn't come all the way here to play just one show. They played a private CNN/Vice party at Public Assembly in Williamsburg last night.

CNN.com is throwing a party in Brooklyn [on 1/19] to celebrate new content partnerships with Vice magazine's video site and Seattle-based record label Sub Pop.

Every Wednesday, starting this week, CNN.com will feature a new web series produced by VBS.TV. The first feature, "Vice Guide to Liberia," follows Vice's founder Shane Smith as he travels through the the country's slums interviewing ex-war lords and residents...

...As for rock and roll bands, Sub Pop will also be contributing a series of documentary shorts to CNN.com, starting this Thursday. Handsome Furs, a Canadian husband and wife band on the Sub Pop label, used Flip cams to document their first tour across Asia in support of their second album release
, Face Control. CNN.com visitors will find those documentary snippets on www.cnn.com/IndieAsia. [Business Insider]

Lady GaGa is playing four shows at Radio City. You may have heard - Kid Cudi is no longer opening the tour. Opening will be Jason Derulo and Semi Precious Weapons. Witty banter and other clips from her Chicago show on Jan. 10th are below.

Kid Cudi instead plays shows at Irving Plaza starting tomorrow.

Spoon are at Mercury Lounge tomorrow.

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Wednesday?"

Lady Gaga has been seemingly everywhere lately -- on the road with her Monster Ball Tour, meeting the Queen of England, shooting an episode of Oprah Winfrey's show that airs later today -- and the pop star's demanding schedule may have taken a toll on her health. The singer was scheduled to play at Indiana's Purdue University last night, but canceled the show at literally the last minute. After openers Semi Precious Weapons and Jason DeRulo performed at the college's Elliott Hall of Music, the crowd was informed "Lady Gaga will not be able to take the stage this evening due to sudden illness."

"Due to exhaustion and dehydration, Lady Gaga collapsed and passed out before her show tonight in West Lafayette, Indiana," the singer's publicist tells Rolling Stone. "Her physician has advised her to take a few days off to rest." Lady Gaga's rep didn't specify how long she'll be out of commission; the Purdue show has been rescheduled for January 26th. [Rolling Stone]

Patti Smith @ Carnegie Hall in February (more by Tim Griffin)

tonight in NYC
* Sure Juror @ Pianos
* Slavic Soul Party @ Barbes
* Extra Life @ The Stone
* Steel Train @ Maxwell's
* David Johansen @ City Winery
* The Bad Plus @ Village Vanguard
* Daedelus, Two Fresh @ Highline Ballroom
* Disco Biscuits, Daedelus @ Nokia Theatre
* Patti Smith & Her Band @ Bowery Ballroom
* Dr. John and the Lower 911 @ Highline Ballroom
* Gogol Bordello, The Dillinger Escape Plan @ Webster Hall
* Lady Starlight, Emily Warren & The Betters, The Indecent @ Cake Shop
* Endless Boogie, Apollo Heights, Wolff, Degreaser @ Knitting Factory Brooklyn
* Cro-Mags, Razorblade, Death Threat, Last Call Brawl, H8 Inc. @ Santos Party House

"Throughout 2007, Lady Gaga collaborated with performance artist Lady Starlight, who helped her create her onstage fashions. The pair began playing gigs at downtown club venues like the Mercury Lounge, The Bitter End, and the Rockwood Music Hall, with their live performance art piece known as "Lady Gaga and the Starlight Revue". Billed as "The Ultimate Pop Burlesque Rockshow", their act was a low-fi tribute to 1970s variety acts. In August 2007, Gaga and Starlight were invited to play at the American music festival Lollapalooza. The show was critically acclaimed, and their performance received highly positive reviews. Having initially focused on avant-garde, and electronic dance music, Gaga found her musical niche when she began to incorporate pop melodies and the vintage glam rock of David Bowie and Queen into the mix." [Wikipedia]

Lady Starlight is at Cake Shop tonight.

Gogol Bordello finish their three night run at Webster Hall tonight. Pictures and review from Day One, HERE.

Patti Smith kicks off her three night run at Bowery Ballroom.

Dillinger Escape Plan open for Gogol tonight, and then play with Glassjaw & Thursday at Starland Ballroom on Wednesday.

What else?

Continue reading "What's Going on Tuesday?"

DOWNLOAD: Big Boi f. Gucci Mane, "Shine Blockas" (MP3)

In theory, she was an artist you want to root for-- all these ideas about art and celebrity and a flair for the dramatic. But the first few singles made the Lady Gaga project feel so presumptuous, her artsy entitlement overwhelming her songs' occasional strengths. "Bad Romance" was the moment where the music didn't just live up to the (self-inflated) hype, but surpassed it. The track is epic in construction-- by the time she gets to the bridge, more than three minutes in, the realization that there are hooks yet to come is thrilling. It helps that RedOne's production matches the songwriting's torrential drama; the churning, earth-shifting low-frequency synths are a programmatic reflection of the singer's unsteady, perhaps unwise, infatuation. But it's Gaga's performance, the wholly unapologetic fools-rush-in carnal energy, that commitment to emotional bravery in a context of increasingly twee chart pop, that makes "Bad Romance" feel so necessary. --David Drake [39. Lady Gaga "Bad Romance"]

Neon Indian is also on there twice, which is the the same amount of times they're playing Mercury Lounge (Tuesday and Wednesday night).

The video for the 21st best song, below...

Continue reading "Pitchfork's Top 100 Tracks of 2009"

As previously mentioned, Lady Gaga added two NYC shows at Radio City Music Hall making her grand total a crazy four nights in a row at the prestigious venue. Kid Cudi opens all of them. Tickets for the two new ones (1/23 & 1/24) are on sale (@ 10am).

Tickets are also on sale (@ 10am) for the upcoming Slayer, Megadeth and Testament show at the Izod Center in NJ - part of the "American Carnage Tour".

In somewhat related news, Paul Di'Anno (the original Iron Maiden vocalist) is playing BB King's on January 27th. Tickets are on sale.

Tickets are now on sale for the two upcoming Tinariwen shows in NYC: Highline Ballroom & The Bell House.

Tickets are also still on sale for the David Johansen show coming up at Highline Ballroom.

Popo played Le Poisson Rouge with Sleigh Bells last night. Popo has been added as opener on the December 13th Lee Scratch Perry show at Highline Ballroom. Tickets are still on sale.

Tickets are also still on sale for the Slits show happening at Highline Ballroom one day later.

Tickets are also still on sale for the Life of Agony show happening at the same venue one day after the Slits.

Blind Pilot and Laura Veirs play Friday night (tonight - 11/20) at the Bell House. Tickets are still on sale.

A video of Maiden performing "Phantom of the Opera" when Paul was still in the band, and the audio of Paul covering Megadeth, below...

Continue reading "Lady Gaga, Slayer/Megadeth/Testament, Tinariwen, and other tickets on sale"