31 October 2006

Photo: Boo!


It's Halloween, so I thought I'd throw some cute at you, loyal readers. That's "Boo! The Ghost Boy" on the left and "Wonderella."

What you do on Halloween is a real indicator for where you are in life. When you're a kid (see candy-addled preK-types above), it's all about getting candy, 100%. Eventually at you become image conscious, the costume becomes important, too. Shortly thereafter, Halloween means being out by yourself with friends after dark and somehow shaving cream and toilet paper serve as metaphors for the absolute ridiculousness of teenage suburbia.

For me, Halloween took on its full import when I went to college and was fully immersed in seeing live music. That started a good decade long endeavor of seeing some absolutely amazing live shows on and around Halloween. For a lot of people, this is when Halloween started to mean getting wasted and potentially getting laid, but for me it meant scraping together the dimes for trips to Atlanta, Chicago, New Orleans and similarly exotic locales:

In fact (if I may reminisce), appropriately it was 10 years ago tonight that I saw what may very well have been Phish show #1 of 128 for me -- the Remain In Light show at the Omni in Atlanta. Amazingly, this was one show where "Front Row Ned" was just about as far from the stage as you could get. I remember straining to see what was going on during the Overload (pictured to the right), because there was some wacky shit going down. Something about this show, the T-Heads set in particular was just so above and beyond what the previous Halloweens had done -- as sick as those were, from the front row especially. This is pretty much the show that launched the deep funk for Phish the next couple of years. 10 years, damn!!

Of course, after that phase, things kind of come full circle with a twist when you start bringing your own kids out trick or treating. Which is what I've been doing the past couple years. This time around I hope to mix a little chocolate with my peanut butter and do a little T-or-T > live music (MMW/Sharon Jones). If I make it to the city, full report, of course.

29 October 2006

Shows of the Week

Crazy assed week of music -- Halloween smack in the middle, CMJ taking up most of the rest. In honor of Tuesday, this SOTW is dressing up as "Slutty SOTW."

I've likely missed a whole slew of CMJ shows in the process, so check the site for a more complete picture of what's going on. A lot of the shows below are showcase type shows (usually anything with an "et al" on there is 5+ bands on the bill).

As always, this info is not for betting purposes, confirm on your own.

Trick or treat!!

Upcoming shows

Monday (no picks, stay home and rest up for the rest of the week!):
Karl Denson Trio @ Blue Note (early/late)
Aaron Comess et al @ Googie's Lounge
The Rapture @ Webster Hall
Earlimart @ Mercury Lounge (early)
Oz Noy Trio @ Bitter End

Halloween:
The Benzos, The Ruse @ Mercury Lounge (early)
Zappa plays Zappa @ Theater at MSG
*Medeski, Martin & Wood (Sharon Jones + Dap Kings open) @ Hammerstein Ballroom
Cypress Hill @ Nokia Theater
Papa Mali @ Lion's Den
Suzanne Vega, Keren Ann @ Hiro Ballroom
Karl Denson Trio @ Blue Note (early/late)
Prince Paul @ BB King's
Kris Kristofferson, George Jones @ Carnegie Hall
Witch, Hopewell, et al @ Northsix (Brooklyn)
Gutbucket et al @ Tonic (early)
Jenny Scheinman @ Barbes (Brooklyn)
Miho Hatori et al @ Living Room
Jay Bennett w/ Death Ships @ Joe's Pub
Rolling Stones @ Beacon Theater
World Inferno Friendsihp Society @ Temptress Cruise Ship
Ratdog @ Westbury Theater (Westbury, LI)
Toubab Krewe @ Mercury Lounge (late)
Lou Donaldson @ Village Vanguard (early/late)
The Misfits @ Starland Ballroom (Sayreville, NJ)

Wednesday:
Alice In Chains @ Nokia Theater
Steve Earle @ Southpaw (Brooklyn)
Elton John @ Nassau Colesium (Uniondale, LI)
Ben Lee @ Irving Plaza
Susana Baca @ SOB's
*Marco Benevento/Mike Gordon @ Tonic (midnight)
The Slip, The Mosquitos et al @ Tonic
The Brakes, Rosewood Thieves @ Ace of CLubs
Tapes N Tapes, Cold War Kids, Dr Dog, etal (CMJ) @ Bowery Ballroom
Lou Donaldson @ Village Vanguard (early/late)
The Benzos et al @ Happy Valley
Mute Math @ BB King's
Figurines, Mobius Band et al @ Mercury Lounge
Adam Deitch, E. Krasno, S. Kininger et al @ Club Europa (Brooklyn)
Ratdog @ Westbury Theater (Westbury, LI)
Dave Holland @ Birdland (early/late)
The Knife @ Webster Hall (early/late)

Thursday:
John Medeski meets Kid Koala @ Merkin Concert Hall
Alice In Chains @ Nokia Theater
*Califone et al @ Tonic
Julian Velard @ Rockwood Music Hall
Jessica Lurie @ Spoken Words Cafe (Brooklyn)
Dave Holland @ Birdland (early/late)
J Dimenna @ Fat Baby
Doug Wamble @ Barbes (Brooklyn)
Bill Buford's Earthworks @ Iridium (early/late)
Peanut Butter Wolf, Madlib et al @ BB King's
Lou Donaldson @ Village Vanguard (early/late)
Roots Tonic et al @ Lion's Den
IV Thives, Sam Champion @ Southpaw
Neal Casal, Kaki King et al @ Living Room
Cold War Kids @ The Apple Store
Silversun Pickups et al @ Piano's
Ryan Montbleau Band @ Mexicali Blues (Teaneck, NJ)
The Shins et al @ Bowery Ballroom
Elton John @ Nassau Colesium (Uniondale, LI)

Friday:
*The Decembrists @ Hammerstein Ballroom
Meowskers @ Pete's Candy Store
Dave Holland @ Birdland (early/late)
Secret Machines @ Warsaw (Brooklyn)
The Black Keys @ Nokia Theater
Mew, The Grates et al @ Bowery Ballroom
Architecture In Helsinki @ Irving Plaza
Richard Buckner, Portastic et al @ Knitting Factory
Deerhoof et al @ Hiro Ballroom
Lou Donaldson @ Village Vanguard (early/late)
My Brightest Diamond et al @ Rebel
Bill Buford's Earthworks @ Iridium (early/late)
FREE The Decembrists @ The Apple Store (1pm)
The Benzos @ White Rabbit
George Clinton et al @ Crash Mansion
Al Green @ BB King's

Saturday:
Mitch Stein, Rodney Holmes et al @ Mexicali Blues (Teaneck, NJ)
Secret Machines @ Warsaw (Brooklyn)
Benzos et al @ Annex
Al Green @ BB King's
Silversun Pickups, Oh No! Oh My! et al @ Northsix (Brooklyn)
Kevin Federline @ Webster Hall
*The Mooney Suzuki, The Dansettes et al @ Rebel
Shooter Jennings, The Watson Twins et al @ Irving Plaza
Bill Buford's Earthworks @ Iridium (early/late)
FREE Silversun Pickups et al @ The Annex (noon)
Lou Donaldson @ Village Vanguard (early/late)
Dave Holland @ Birdland (early/late)
Andy Statman @ Barbes (Brooklyn)
The Fall et al @ Hiro Ballroom
The Wood Brothers @ Joe's Pub

Sunday:
Greg Brown @ Irving Plaza
Lou Donaldson @ Village Vanguard (early/late)
Guns N Roses @ Continental Arena (E. Rutherford, NJ)
Barenaked Ladies @ Radio City Music Hall
Kinky @ Bowery Ballroom
Hypercolor @ The Stone (early)
*Piers Faccini, Jonah Smith @ Southpaw (Brooklyn)
Bill Buford's Earthworks @ Iridium (early/late)
Stephane Wrembel @ Barbes (Brooklyn)
Melvin Sparks Band @ Lucille's
The New Cars @ Nokia Theater

Upcoming shows

27 October 2006

26 October 2006

Links: SnailTube


Do you like David Cross? Have you seen his new show on Comedy Central: Freak Show?

Check it out, totally Cross-style "God, this country sucks" humor in an old-school animated setting. Too rich, too rich. Any show that has a character that's named The Bearded Clam is certainly worth giving a shot, don't you think?

While I'm at it, some more TV I'm watching these days. The DVR has made it too easy to get hooked on semi-crappy shows, and getting hooked on crappy shows is one of the few things I'm good at.

Capsule reviews of some new shows I'm watching these days... usually 5-10 days after the fact.

Heroes: Lost has spurred too many wannabes, but if you throw enough shit into the bowl, some of it is liable to stick and Heroes tops that list of this season's hopefuls. Of course, the quality of a new show is so tenuous that it could easily suck by the end of the month... but that wouldn't stop me from watching it. This is like a dark, moody prequel to a Hall of Justice type situation. The scene where the cheerleader character wakes up on the autopsy table is a nominee for scene of the year.

Jericho: On the other end of the spectrum we have Jericho which takes a reasonably entertaining premise and comes out as prime time diarrhea.

Friday Night Lights: Quite simply the best hour drama on free television right now. I could see so many ways in which this show could be a crapmuffin, and not one of them is true of it. This is a drama in the truest sense of the word and the football is just a backdrop for some really good television. Highly recommended.

Studio 60: I was a big fan of Sports Night, didn't watch a second of West Wing and am back for this one. Somehow I feel invested in it after only 3 or 4 episodes, but we'll see how long it lasts. I'm sure I'll keep watching it if only because the Big Squeeze likes it.

And might I add: Good God! I watch a lot of television... if you ever want to talk turkey, this is my slate:

  • How I Met Your Mother (my guilty "yes, I'm a married man" show)
  • The Amazing Race (best reality show out there, especially if looking to not only hate Americans but most of mankind... except for Kuwaitis, somehow they are the nicest folk on the planet)
  • Survivor (why? I don't know... I guess I can't look away)
  • Numb3rs (who can resist math and overly sentimental subplots? not me... but I'm a card-carrying dork)
  • Lost (is this show getting better? or worse? I don't know|I don't care. The less it makes sense the better, as far as I'm concerned.)
  • The Office (this show actually makes me laugh out loud on a weekly basis -- enough said)
  • My Name Is Earl (this show makes me smirk on a weekly basis)
  • America's Next Top Model (no comment)
  • Of course: The Simpsons, South Park, The Family Guy (I look forward to the day I can pass on The Simpsons to my daughter on the day of her Bat Mitzvah the way it was handed to me)
...and how could I forget: Harvey Birdman Attorney At Law -- perfectly pitched zany animation. Worth 10 minutes of your time every week, no doubt.... a sampling:





Poop.

25 October 2006

Review: Jenny Lewis & The Watson Twins


(images from the show pilfered from Steven Hopson -- check out his stuff!)

Stubb's, Austin, TX, 23 October 2006

Took a quick work-related trip to Austin Monday > Tuesday. In my brief and limited trips to the place, I must say, I've fallen in love with the city of Austin. The ubiquity of amazing barbecue and a sick ass live music scene make for a tantalizing combination. Despite being in town for little more than 24 hours, I was able to take advantage of both.

A true test for a city's live music viability has to be the one I gave Austin this week -- random Monday night, watchoo got? The options were limited, but strong and I settled on Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins at Stubb's BBQ. While leafing through the listings though, I noted an incredibly amazing 2 weeks of music in Austin starting with that gig. Even the most slovenly pathetic Universtiy of Texas student could go see over the next 14 days: Lewis, The Decembrists, Broken Social Scene, Trey Anastasio, Robert Randolph, Dirty Dozen Brass Band, THREE nights of Widespread Panic, Primus, etc., which isn't to mention any local music or the fact that most of those shows are outdoors in late October/early November. Senor Austin, you had me at pregame brisket/ribs combo.

There were three bands on the bill and being solo and full-bellied, I was able to enjoy them all with the aid of $3.00 16oz cans of beer (it's like bizarro Manhattan down there). Stubb's has got to be one of those dream venues. It's the backyard of a pretty darn good BBQ joint; great location, outside, good sound, great vibe, good sightlines, good sound... one of those near-perfect venues. I guess the big drawback is that shows end promptly at 10:30 pm there due to sound issues, I suppose [but, when you're in town for work on a Monday night, these things can also work to your advantage].

I'll probably end up spending a large bulk of the rest of this review talking about the first "act" -- "The Blow." This was the type of set that sends my meat-addled mind into a never-ending loop of existentialism and metaphysics. Basically The Blow was one woman on stage with a microphone. The sound guy would start a track of music that she had obviously put together on her Mac at home and she would sing over it and dance. It was like the ultimate evolution or de-evolution of music. I'm not sure the songs were even that good or that her voice was even worth listening to, but it was mesmerizing in a real metamusical way. More than that, it's like the next step in lip synching. When I was a kid, you'd put on your favorite music and lip synch and do embarassing dance moves in your room in front of the mirror. If someone caught you, it was embarassing. Now with YouTube, the mirror has turned into a camera uplinked to the internet and instead of being embarassed, the hope is that as many people as possible will look. Well, the woman in the Blow was like that except on stage in front of a live audience. The music was like completely plagurized bad 80's pop, wiped clean of vocals and replaced with lyrics that were probably just as inane. I'm sure each piece was nearly 100% original, but does it really matter? It's wonderful how technology -- software, internet, etc -- is making the whole art-making process much more democratic, but maybe all the intervention by "the man" actually account for something, actually filter out something. And part of me was completely annoyed and put off by the whole thing, but mostly I was completely mesmerized.

Along the same lines, Will Sheff was the second act. He is the lead-man from Okkervil River who is from Austin, so I guess that explains the billing, but.... He was solo with an acoustic guitar and he was nothing special, his voice was a bit half-assed and he didn't have songs that were anything special. The set did gain some strength as it went on, but it's all a bit relative, ain't it?

Finally after too long a break (sucks to know before the main act has hit the stage that they'll be back off again in an hour), Jenny Lewis, The Watson Twins and the rest of the band hit the stage. Defintely worth the wait. The first song was completely a cappella and set the tone for the rest of the set. This is country music, with a heavy bent toward the gospel influences on that genre. And in a way, it perfectly exemplifies the somewhat duel nature of some gospel -- the delicate balance of religious purity and wanton sexuality. Lewis is less than 6 degrees separated from Loretta Lynn. On looks alone, she cuts an image of Gwenyth Paltrow playing Sissy Spacek playing Lynn or something like that and perhaps her presence fits that description as well. The Watson Twins are the backup singers and sort of posse for Lewis and they are either really tall or Jenny is really short, I really couldn't figure out which, Regardless, they have a sort of imposing presence on the stage and their voices and backup-singer dance moves are more sweetly awkward than sexy or sultry, like a 6 foot woman navigating high heels. The strength of the show is undoubtedly the band which consisted of a lead guitar, a lap steel/keyboardist, bassist and drums. Usually I would find a drummer superfluous in a band like this and in some ways, they were unnecessary here. But, the drummer was probably the most talented musician in the band and was able to make himself as unnecessary as whipped cream on an ice cream sundae... which is to say: very much needed indeed.

The music was pretty much y'all-come-back-now fantastic from top to bottom. The bulk of the music came from the Rabbit Fur Coat release from this year and the set has obviously been choreographed and honed from touring over the course of the year and so the too-quick 50 minute set was more like a well-oiled full-fledged show than just a bunch of songs strung together.

Each member of the band was given room to shine and they operated under a sort of controlled looseness. The songs were arranged such that it was obvious that a lot of care went into each little sound that came from the stage, whether it be well-timed twangs from the pedal steel or just a cowbell beat down by on of the sisters. I read David Byrne's "review" of the show at Town Hall where he complained a bit about the vocals not being loud enough -- I noticed this a bit, too, at first, but actually liked it as a device. A diva might insist that she be turned up louder than everyone, but Lewis seemed to intentionally sit back comfortably with her band, she was one of them and knew that the music was nothing without them -- plus she was always loud enough when she had to be.

The music ranged from straight country and rock to a couple a cappella tunes, etc. I liked how it wasn't really all over the place and kept its focus on the strength of songwriting and execution. At one point the ladies left the stage while the band kind of vamped it's way through introductions, building up to a little boogie woogie rocker with the ladies coming back in shiny sequinned outfits which they wore the rest of the show and which kind of amped up the energy at the perfect spot. The last tune of the set worked similarly with the ladies leaving and the band kind of drifting into something that wasn't quite a jam, but close enough. They kind of faded out each instrument on its own, each guy walking off by themselves ultimately leaving the drummer to a short, well-deserved solo. I kinda hate it when an artist goes all eponymous on their act when at least half its strength is the band backing them. There was no doubt that Lewis had a lot of love and respect for the guys behind her and it showed.

The encore was a powerful nearly-solo take on the title track from the album -- the first song she wrote of that bunch, she said, and then they did a newer tune (one of a handful through the night) which was equally as outstanding. Finally they finished out with a Traveling Wilbury's cover which had me wondering how many people in the crowd remembered that somewhat-super-group?

Then I started feeling old because I was tired and bloated and wishing I could stay another two weeks.

In conclusion, four random observations:

  1. there was a surprisingly large number of openly gay couples at the show which means that either Austin is wonderfully progressive or Jenny Lewis has some sort of Melissa Ethridge thing going on and no one bothered to tell me.
  2. no exaggeration, Austin has better BBQ in its airport than most cities have in their best spot. A delicious chopped brisket sandwich wolfed down from the Salt Lick storefront before taking off was the best thing I've eaten in a while.
  3. Travelin' light on the LIRR> AirTrain> JetBlue is the only way to fly. Made it feel like Austin was just a long subway ride from Long Island.
  4. perhaps a semi-unknown fact about Jenny Lewis is that she was Ben's first kiss on Growing Pains. I don't know that that's such a big deal as the major surprise that I can't find a clip of it on YouTube! This will have to do.

Photo: Whatchoo talkin' bout turkey?


Gonna stick with visions of yumminess for now. This was an apple-brined & smoked turkey I did this past weekend. All things considered, it was incredibly moist, much easier than I would have imagined and tasty... still, not the best thing I've done, if only because I'd rather be eating beef and pork. That would make a good bumper sticker, actually. But can you beat that photo -- has a turkey ever looked so appealing?

Leftovers tonight...

22 October 2006

Shows of the Week

Rocktober quickly coming to an end... get out there and see some music!

Remember: * = Ned's picks, # = new additions, if you or someone you know wants this listing in their inbox every week, go here and click "Join List."

Let me know
what I'm missing.

Enjoy!

Upcoming shows

Monday:
*Third World Love @ Tap Bar
Frank Black @ Irving Plaza
Joel Harrison w/ M. Feldman, L. Ellman et al @ Cornelia St. Cafe

Tuesday:
Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars @ SOB's
The Killers @ Theater at MSG
*E. Friedlander/S. Blumenkranz play Masada Book 2 @ The Stone
Amos Lee @ Town Hall
Mephista @ Tonic
Bill McHenry, Joy Askew et al @ Rockwood Music Hall
Jenny Scheinman @ Barbes (Brooklyn)
Dub Is A Weapon @ Old Office
High Times Stony Awards @ BB King's

Wednesday:
Madeleine Peyroux @ Town Hall
The Killers @ Theater at MSG
Third World Love @ Smalls
Manchado @ Parkside Lounge
*M. Cappelli, D. Wielselman et al @ Zebulon (Brooklyn)
Jamie Saft/Bobby Previte @ The Stone (early/late)
The Fray @ Hammerstein Ballroom

Thursday:
*BuzzUniverse (CD release) @ Lion's Den
Third World Love @ Smalls
Marah, Katy Pfaffl, et al @ Living Room
The Fray @ Hammerstein Ballroom
Benevento/Russo Duo @ SUNY Purchase (Purchase, NY)
John Ellis @ NYU
Wayne Krantz @ 55 Bar (early/late)
Stephane Wrembel et al @ Rockwood Music Hall
Alexa Ray Joel @ Piano's
Aaron Comess @ Nightengales

Friday:
Sonny Landreth @ IMAC (Huntington, LI)
*Benevento/Russo Duo (American Babies open) @ Bowery Ballroom
Secret Machines @ Warsaw (Brooklyn)
Cold War Kids @ Union Hall (Brooklyn)
DJ Spam & Le Spam Allstars @ SOB's
Adam Ezra Group et al @ Mercury Lounge
Petra Haden, Jason Trachtenburg @ Tonic
Third World Love @ The Rose (Brooklyn)
Miho Hatori @ The Stone (late)
Elliott Sharp @ Issue Project Space (Brooklyn)
Dr John @ BB King's (early/late)
Max Creek @ Mexicali Blues (Teaneck, NJ)
Teddy Thompson @ Monmouth University (W. Long Branch, NJ)
The Musical Box (perf. Selling England By The Pound) @ Starland
Ballroom (Sayreville, NJ)
BuzzUniverse @ Gaslight Brewery (S. Orange, NJ)

Saturday:
Derek Trucks Band (Susan Tedeschi opens) @ Nokia Theater
Skerik's Syncopated Taint Septet @ Tonic (late)
Railroad Earth @ Starland Ballroom (Sayreville, NJ)
Third World Love @ Tea Lounge (Brooklyn)
*The Dansettes et al @ Mercury Lounge
Chris Berry & Panjea @ Lion's Den
Dr John @ Blue Note (early/late)
Jonah Smith @ Joe's Pub (late/midnight)
Reed Foehl et al @ Rockwood Music Hall
The Head Set (covers Queen's "The Game") @ Piano's
Skerik's Syncopated Taint Septet @ Blue Note (late night)

Sunday:
*Rolling Stones @ Beacon Theater
Stephane Wrembel @ Barbes (Brooklyn)
The Dresden Dolls @ Starland Ballroom (Sayreville, NJ)
FREE Melvin Sparks @ Lucille's

Upcoming shows

20 October 2006

minimix:: New In 2006, Vol 2: Americana Edition

Here's some good ole fashion' 2006-style Americana for your Friday.

Download the mix (Sendspace)

[if you dig, buy it! click album to Amazon links]

01 Matrimony -- The Avett Brothers: Four Thieves Gone: The Robbinsville Sessions
02 My Good Gal -- Old Crow Medicine Show: Big Iron World
03 Maybe Sparrow -- Neko Case: Fox Confessor Brings The Flood
04 Ain't Talkin' -- Bob Dylan: Modern Times
05 Alone On The Homestead -- The Mammals: Departure
06 The Whistle Tune -- Béla Fleck & The Flecktones: The Hidden Land

19 October 2006

Links

Sorry, no review yesterday, unless you want a rundown of my runs-down. Bad stomach bug keeping me at bay.

In honor of that, here's some more culinary magic for you. Oh deep-fat-frying! Is there anything you can't do?

Also, check out the Cowboy's new music blog, Hidden Track over at Glide Mag.

17 October 2006

Photo: Meatgasm

I did promise pastrami, right? Been doing a lot of barbecuein' the past couple of years on my Weber Smokey Mountain with a major assist from the folks at Virtual Weber Bullet. I'll provide some baby pictures from time to time. The greatest Meatgasm is definitely the spicy, smoked, home-cured pastrami. Last time I did this I covered it in bacon before smoking. Here's some before and after photos. The bacon on top was an unbelievable appetizer and the pastrami was devine.

Bacon wrapped pastrami on the smoker.

About 6 hours later -- the finished product, don't that bacon look tasty?


Meatgina -- sliced and ready to go.

16 October 2006

The Nedar: Upcoming Shows

# = new additions (updated 3/14)

On the Nedar:
3/22 Fruit Bats @ Bowery Ballroom
3/22 Sheryl Crow @ Hammerstein Ballroom
#3/22 Deutsch/Cuadrado/Amendolo @ Barbes (Brooklyn) (early)
3/23 The Clientele @ Bowery Ballroom
3/23 Scott Amendola/Charlie Hunter Duo @ The Stone (late)
#3/23 Scheinman/Fulks @ Barbes (Brooklyn) (early)
#3/24 West Side All Stars, Chris Barron, Jaik Miller et al @ Brooklyn Bowl (benefit)
3/25 Some Cat from Japan @ Brooklyn Bowl
3/25-26 Kurt Rosenwinkel Standards Trio @ Jazz Standard (early/late)
3/25 Apollo Sunshine @ Southpaw (Brooklyn)
3/25 Marissa Nadler @ Littlefield
3/26 Miike Snow @ Music Hall (Brooklyn)
3/26 Spoon @ Radio City Music Hall
3/27 Miike Snow @ Webster Hall
3/27 Norah Jones @ WaMu Theater at MSG
3/27 Fareed Haque @ Blue Note (late night)
3/27 Charlie Hunter @ Jazz Standard (early/late)
3/29-30 She & Him @ Bowery Ballroom
3/30 Califone @ Bell House (Brooklyn)
3/30 Will Bernard Trio @ The Stone (late)
#3/30 Jenny Scheinman/Mary Halvorson @ Barbes (Brooklyn) (early)
3/31 Todd Sickafoose's Tiny Resistors @ Jazz Standard (early/late)
4/1 Drive-By Truckers @ Webster Hall
4/1 Rebirth Brass Band/Dumpstaphunk @ Highline Ballroom
4/2-3 Wilco @ Wellmont Theater (Montclair, NJ)
4/2 Rebirth Brass Band/Dumpstaphunk @ Sullivan Hall
4/5-6 Thom Yorke @ Roseland Ballroom
4/6-11 The Bad Plus @ Blue Note (early/late)
4/7-8 Midlake @ Bowery Ballroom
4/8 Janelle Monae @ Highline Ballroom
4/9 Janelle Monae @ Joe's Pub
4/10 Particle @ Bell House (Brooklyn)
4/11 Tim Sparks @ The Stone (early)
4/12 Ben Folds @ Town Hall
4/14 NOMO @ Union Pool (Brooklyn)
4/15 Sex Mob @ The Stone (late)
4/16 Low Anthem, Timbre Timber @ Bell House (Brooklyn)
4/16 Surprise Me Mr Davis @ Union Hall (Brooklyn)
4/16 Big Sam's Funky Nation @ Sullivan Hall
4/17 Surprise Me Mr Davis @ Mercury Lounge
4/19 The Flaming Lips @ The Wellmont Theater
#4/21 Jakob Dylan @ Town Hall
4/23-24 Elvis Perkins in Dearland @ Bell House (Brooklyn)
4/23 Elvis Costello @ United Palace Theater
4/23-24 Karl Denson's Tiny Universe @ Brooklyn Bowl
4/24 Krantz/Carlock/Lefebvre @ Highline Ballroom
4/28 Josh Rouse @ Bell House (Brooklyn)
4/29 Rodrigo y Gabriela @ Radio City Music Hall
4/30-5/1 Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings @ Apollo Theater
4/30-5/1 Ozomatli @ Highline Ballroom
4/30 U-Melt @ Mexicali Live (Teaneck, NJ)
5/2-3 Peter Gabriel @ Radio City Music Hall
5/4-9 Bill Frisell Trio @ Village Vanguard (early/late)
#5/5 Mick Taylor @ BB King's
5/6 Mark Knopfler @ United Palace Theater
5/6-7 Local Natives @ Bowery Ballroom
5/7-8 David Bromberg/Jorma Kaukonen @ City Winery
5/7 Broken Social Scene @ Webster Hall
5/7 Steve Kimock (solo) @ The Stone (early/late)
#5/7 Caribou @ MHOW (Brooklyn)
5/8-9 Jonsi @ Terminal 5
#5/8 Caribou @ Bowery Ballroom
#5/8 Broken Social Scene @ MHOW (Brooklyn)
5/10 Dave Douglas @ The Stone
5/11-16 Bill Frisell's 858 Quartet @ Village Vanguard (early/late)
5/15 Dr. Dog @ Terminal 5
5/18 King Sunny Ade @ Highline Ballroom
5/19-20 Josh Ritter @ Town Hall
5/19 Jenny Scheinman/Robbie Fulks @ Joe's Pub
5/20 Ween @ Starland Ballroom (Sayreville, NJ)
#5/20-21 Pearl Jam @ Madison Square Garden
5/22 Marco Benevento Trio @ Bowery Ballroom
6/2 Cyro Baptista's Banquet of the Spirits plays Masada @ The Stone (late)
6/3-5 Galactic @ Brooklyn Bowl
6/4 George Porter Jr. & Runnin' Pardners (Papa Grows Funk opens) @ Sullivan Hall
6/5 Martin Sexton @ Nokia Theater
6/5 Les Claypool @ Wellmont Theater (Montclair, NJ)
#6/8 Les Claypool @ Brooklyn Bowl
6/11-12 Leo Kottke @ City Winery
6/14 Rana @ Rocks Off Concert Cruise aboard the Half Moon
6/15-16 James Taylor/Carole King @ Madison Square Garden
6/15 John Butler Trio @ Summerstage
6/16 The National @ Radio City Music Hall
6/17 Keith Jarrett/Gary Peacock/Jack DeJohnette @ Carnegie Hall
#6/17-18 The Lee Boys @ Brooklyn Bowl
6/18 FREE Bitches Brew Revisited @ Prospect Park Bandshell
#6/19 Dan Bern @ City Winery
6/21 Medeski, Martin & Wood @ The Stone
6/23 Tortoise @ Le Poisson Rouge
6/23 The Punch Brothers @ Town Hall
6/24 Uri Caine @ The Stone (early)
6/24 Budos Band @ Rocks Off Cruise aboard the Temptress
6/25 Brothers Past @ Rocks Off Cruise aboard the Temptress
#6/25 Carole King/James Taylor @ Prudential Center (Newark)
6/26 Masada String Trio @ The Stone (early/late)
6/26-27 Furthur @ MCU Park (Brooklyn)
#6/30 Carole King/James Taylor @ Madison Square Garden
#7/9-10 God Street wine @ Gramercy Theater
7/13-19 Mischief & Mayhem: Scheinman/Cline/Black @ Village Vanguard (early/late)
7/15 Eric Krasno/Chapter 2 @ Rocks Off Cruise aboard the Temptress
7/16 BuzzUniverse @ Rocks Off Cruise aboard the Half Moon
#7/16-17 God Street Wine @ Fillmore
7/26 Flaming Lips @ Summerstage
7/27 The Black Keys @ Summerstage
7/27 The National @ Prospect Park Bandshell (Brooklyn)
7/28 Tom Petty @ Madison Square Garden
7/28 Willie Nelson (Levon Helm opens) @ Radio City Music Hall
#8/20 Bonerama @ Rocks Off Cruise
8/24 Tom Petty (My Morning Jacket opens) @ Izod Center (E. Rutherford, NJ)
9/15-16 Vampire Weekend @ Radio City Music Hall
9/18 Broken Social Scene @ Summerstage
9/21-24 Pavement @ Summerstage

Shows of the Week

Upcoming Shows

Monday:

Old School Freight Train, King Wilkie @ Joe's Pub
*Adam Rudolph's Organic Orchestra @ Tonic (early/late)

Tuesday:
Red Hot Chili Peppers (Mars Volta opens) @ Continental Arena (E. Rutherford, NJ)
TV On the Radio @ Irving Plaza
DJ Shadow @ Webster Hall
Andrew Cyrille, Henry Grimes, Bill McHenry @ Jazz Standard (early/late)
Trevor Dunn/Shelly Burgon Duo @ The Stone (early)
*Jenny Scheinman w/ Kenny Wolleson @ Barbes (Brooklyn)
Tilly & The Wall, Northern State @ Bowery Ballroom
John Popper Project w/ DJ Logic @ Canal Room
Moby @ Tonic
Schemes of Omission @ The Stone (late)
Ladysmith Black Mambazo @ Carnegie Hall
Dub Is A Weapon @ Old Office

Wednesday:
TV On the Radio @ Irving Plaza
Gregg Allman & Friends @ Nokia Theater
Art Brut @ Warsaw (Brooklyn)
DJ Shadow @ Webster Hall
Red Hot Chili Peppers (Mars Volta opens) @ Continental Arena (E. Rutherford, NJ)
Club D'Elf w/ J. Medeski @ Tonic (early/late)
Tremolo of Joy @ Barbes (Brooklyn)
Black Hollies @ Knitting Factory
Manchado @ Parkside Lounge (late)
Andrew Cyrille, Henry Grimes, Bill McHenry @ Jazz Standard (early/late)
Rhythm Devils: Hart, Kreutzmann, Gordon, Kimock @ Starland Ballroom
(Sayreville, NJ)
*Beck @ Theater at MSG
Stefon Harris @ Zankel Hall
Dierks Bentley @ Hammerstein Ballroom

Thursday:
Art Brut @ Irving Plaza
Wayne Krantz @ 55 Bar (early/late)
Stephane Wrembel @ Rockwood Music Hall (early)
*Circus Mind @ Crash Mansion (benefit)
John Patitucci, Adam Rogers, Brian Blade @ Jazz Standard (early/late)
Mission: On Mars @ Kenny's Castaways
Travis Sullivan's Bjorkestra @ Merkin Hall
Emmylou Harris, Teddy Thompson @ SUNY Purchase (Purchase, NY)
Stanley Jordan @ Cutting Room

Friday:
Ben Kweller @ Webster Hall
moe. @ Starland Ballroom (Sayreville, NJ)
*PBS @ Mexicali Blues
Mojave 3, Tim O'Reagan @ Bowery Ballroom
Rosanne Cash @ Zankel Hall
Jamie Masefield et al @ Tap Bar (early)
The Radiators @ The Cutting Room
Brooklyn Qawwali Party @ Zebulon (Brooklyn)
John Patitucci, Adam Rogers, Brian Blade @ Jazz Standard (early/late)
Adam Deitch Project @ Blue Note (late night)

Saturday:
Beck @ Loew's Theater (Jersey City, NJ)
Scissor Sisters @ Grand Ballroom
*Paul Simon w/ Jerry Douglas @ Radio City Music Hall
moe. @ Starland Ballroom (Sayreville, NJ)
Ben Kweller @ Webster Hall
John Patitucci, Adam Rogers, Brian Blade @ Jazz Standard (early/late)
Mojave 3, Tim O'Reagan @ Bowery Ballroom
Alice Cooper @ Roseland Ballroom
The Radiators @ The Cutting Room
Ikue More/DJ Olive @ The Stone (early)
The Bridge et al @ Tap Bar
Cyro Baptista & Beat the Donkey @ The Garage Theater (Teaneck, NJ)
Pat Metheny, Kronos Quartet et al @ Carnegie Hall
Adam Deitch Project @ Blue Note (late night)
Supagroup @ Rebel

Sunday:
Stephane Wrembel @ Barbes (Brooklyn)
*Kang, Hideki, Weston @ The Stone (late)
Melvin Sparks @ Lucille's
John Patitucci, Adam Rogers, Brian Blade @ Jazz Standard (early/late)
Alice Coltrane Quartet @ NJPAC (Newark)

Upcoming Shows

13 October 2006

minimix: New in 2006, Vol. 1

The next few weeks I'll be doing mixes of music released this year, lumped together in some slightly coherent way. All is recommended so check out something new.

This week is some indie/pop/rock music that you may or may not have heard.

This is also available at weeklyned.blogspot.com if you know someone who may be interested in some new music.

Download the mix (via sendspace)

[let me know if you have any problems downloading or unzipping]

[click album links for Amazon]

01 Follow Me To Carthedge -- The Mammals: Departure
02 A Method -- TV On The Radio: Return To Cookie Mountain
03 High On A Summer's Tree -- Pinetop Seven: Beneath The Confederate Lake
04 Benton Harbor Blues -- The Fiery Furnaces: Bitter Tea
05 Ballad Of Bitter Honey -- Eef Barzelay: Bitter Honey
06 SOS -- Earl Greyhound: Soft Targets

12 October 2006

Links: Meat Them


It's postseason baseball time, I'm going to the freakin' game tonight!

For those of you (and by you, I mean the hypothetical person who might peruse this blog) who aren't Mets fans, I offer the complete hilarity of David Cross getting his Belushi on. If you're any kind of Cross fan, you should be well aware of his feelings toward Jim Belushi (see here for an example amongst others).

And here is a collection of Mets-related links.

Celebration Photos -- Pictures from the victorious locker room (including the one pilfered above) after the NLDS courtesy of Adam Rubin & Howard Simmons at the Daily News

MetsBlog
-- The go-to spot for Mets poop.

MetsTube -- YouTube filtered down just to some wonderful Mets moments throughout history.

Meet the Mets

Finally, a little YankeenFreude.

Let's get it on!

11 October 2006

review: Earl Greyhound | Stanton Moore


(photos pilfered from aeric meredith-goujon)

The Annex|Knitting Factory, 7 October 2006

Sometimes it has very little to do with the music and everything to do with everything else. Saturday night was a lot about the everything else -- the room, the people, and let's not forget the booze. It started with an afternoon party in Jersey, a LES bar with the Mets and then went proverbially downhill from there. The Annex is a sweet little bar/club with a quintessential Lower East Side address (i.e. Orchard b/w Stanton & Rivington). A DJ was rolling tunes when I walked in, the clock struck 10 and I quickly realized that there was some sort of open bar going on: free PBR until 11. As the crowd filtered in for a $5 cover, I slurped down 4 or 5 of those cold ones and checked the place out: cozy booths on the side, upstairs area, tight stage area with big clouds of "rock and roll brand" smoke rolling from the back of the stage. A sign near the bar said "No dancing by order of..." but that didn't stop the shake or the fist pumps once the music got going. Five bucks, free beer, sweet room, at this point the music was definitely an added bonus.

This is what going to see music in New York City is all about to me -- it's easy to get a ticket to at Webster Hall and sway with the hipsters. The thrill is really in the hunt: the unexpected room, trying to stay one step ahead of the crowd, the 150 people checking out and diggin' hard on something that most everyone else hasn't even heard yet.

I had very little to expect of the band -- Earl Greyhound, great name, by the way, like somehow says "royalty," "seedy dog track," "morning kick-start," (or as someone said: "hobo sleeping at Port Authority at 4am) and more all at once -- other than a few listens to a track or two on their myspace page... which was enough to get me there in the first place. There was a certain timid aspect to the beginning of the set, like they weren't really letting loose. Still, tight, rocking, just-enough-pop-in-em songs came one after another. It was a power trio, with a little more finesse than power at times. Still, female bass p
layers -- I love 'em, and this one, Kamera (pictured above) was alright with a nice strumming quality to her playing. Her vocals were more attitude than talent. The guitar player had a shredder's look to him, but he also seemed to hold back in the 70-85% range. The true power of the three was the drummer who both held it all together and propelled it forward and managed to constantly look cool doing it.


I've been battling this intense congestion the last two or three weeks to the point where my ears are almost completely clogged at times, like I just got off an airplane or spent too much time in the swimming pool and can't quite get the water out of my ear. The effect is that I'm trapped in my own head -- locked behind some phlegmatic wall. So, I don't know if the music really wasn't as in my face as I wanted it to be or if it was just me. Still, as the set went on, the band seemed to rev it up a little bit more and I started to get more of a feel of what I was looking for: that Wolfmother energy
without the derivative echoes. Good songs, 60/40 ratio of presence/talent, stripped-down rock and roll, chick bass player with an afro with a feather sticking out of it. Earl Greyhound has definitely got it and when they hit the road and start playing every night, I have a feeling they're going to figure out how to bring it out from the get-go. I give 'em a 6 for Saturday night and a 9 for potential brain melting next time around and recommend you check 'em out.

We took the short walk to Tribeca and the Knitting Factory for Stanton Moore & Co. and now I'm remembering the quick nips of Beam on the way and it all starts to make a little bit more sense. Goodness me, I hate the Shitting Factory, but I feel like I'm one up on them after Saturday having very easily and pretty much unintentially snuck in without paying. I do remember seeing a lot of people through my Romper Room magic mirror that I was happy to see, dance with, blah-blah-blah to, I love you all, and there was probably a Maker's Mark or five in there.

Once again, it was either the music or it was me, but I felt like I was watching and listening to a band from inside a swimming pool. It wasn't jumping out at me, coming right up to the end of my nose, so to speak and forcing me to shake my bootilicious behind. Nah, it was darn good (when I was paying attention at least), and Skerik is pretty darn good and I was shocked, SHOCKED to see Cheme on stage (I *did* see Cheme, didn't I?), but it seemed like the band wasn't as much about funky party music as it was real good musicians playing stuff you need to listen to music... which was definitely best when it was just the core trio of Stanton, RWalter and Will Bernard. Also, being the Zeppelin cover whore that I am, I did enjoy that "When the Levees Break," which I guess is now an appropriately kick-ass NOLA theme song for better or worse.

Here's a short video of another classic rock cover courtesy of Super Dee



Stanton Moore has become quite comfortable as the bandleader/drumming god that he rightfully should be. Definitely going to have to check out his new one and get my hands on the Earl Greyhound CD they were celebrating the release of and not immediately give it away like I did on Saturday!

Oh, sweet brown, why have you forsaken me?

Until next time...

09 October 2006

Photo: Holy f'in matrimony


Columbus Day is one of the more ridiculous holidays on the calendar, up there with Administrative Professionals Day and maybe Arbor Day (unbelievably, but I just pulled those two out of my ass and then I looked it up: they are on consecutive freaking days), but I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for the quasi long weekend as it was 7 years ago that the Big Squeeze (hit her with some love, you know you want to) and I finally tied the knot. 3 of the next 5 Columbi we spent at very good and old friends' weddings, which makes it quadruply sweet. As far as nuptials go, I cannot recommend the weekend more.

It was on this day, 10/10, actually, and we missed 4 local Phish outings to make it happen, so it must have been love. Seven years is a pretty nice amount of time. If every year were a day of the year, that would make it Sunday, which can only mean football, so we've got that going for us, unless it means Sunday School, in which case, blech! I've been joking with her about the Seven Year Itch and then I somehow contracted a top five case of poison ivy [shakes fist at God, I didn't mean that literally] and Marilyn Monroe has not moved in upstairs from us, for better or worse.

So, a big huzzah for gettin' hitched. This photo pretty much captures what it felt like. I can honestly say, I've never looked better.

08 October 2006

Shows of the Week

Enjoy!

Columbus Day:
Lisa Marie Presley, Ryan Cabrera @ BB King's
Trey Anastasio @ Webster Hall
Rod Stewart @ Nokia Theater
Tong Mama @ Tonic (early)
D. Gilmore, R. Coltrane, J. Watts @ Joe's Pub (early)
*Edmar Castaneda, Pablo Ziegler @ Blue Note (early/late)
Bad Brains @ CBGB's
Babs @ MSG

Tuesday:
Bad Brains @ CBGB's
Uri Caine @ Joe's Pub (late)
Dub Is A Weapon @ Old Office
Brad Mehldau Trio @ Village Vanguard (early/late)
*Eef Barzelay @ Mercury Lounge
Indigenous @ BB King's
J. Scheinman, w/ D. Wieselman, K. Wolleson, G. Cohen, B. Shepik @
Barbes (Brooklyn)
Juana Molina, Adem @ Bowery Ballroom
Chris Thile, Hilary Hahn @ Housing Works
Etta James @ Blue Note
James Blunt @ Radio City Music Hall
Lily Allen @ Hiro Ballroom

Wednesday:
Brad Mehldau Trio @ Village Vanguard (early/late)
Silversun Pickups @ Mercury Lounge
Eef Barzelay @ Maxwell's (Hoboken)
Ima Robot, Pop Levi et al @ Rebel
Barbara Streisand @ Madison Square Garden
*Badly Drawn Boy @ Hiro Ballroom
Etta James @ BB King's
Wolleson, Haffner, Scherr @ Zebulon (Brooklyn)
Don Byron w/ D. Gilmore, R. Holmes et al @ Jazz Standard (early/late)
Travis Sullivan Quartet @ Iridium (early/late)
Cowboy Mouth, Jamie McLean Band @ Bowery Ballroom
James Blunt @ Radio City Music Hall
Randy Newman @ Carnegie Hall
Nick Lachey @ Nokia Theater
Bad Brains @ CBGB's

Thursday:
Badly Drawn Boy @ Hiro Ballroom
Jenny Lewis & the Watson Twins @ Town Hall
*Yonder Mountain String Band @ Webster Hall
Garaj Mahal @ Crash Mansion
Jenny Scheinman, Tony Scherr et al @ Living Room
Brad Mehldau Trio @ Village Vanguard (early/late)
Etta James @ BB King's
Peter Apfelbaum Quintet @ Zebulon (Brooklyn)
Cecil Taylor/Feldman & Courvoisier @ Merkin Concert Hall
Dwight Yoakam @ Society for Ethical Culture
Don Byron w/ D. Gilmore, R. Holmes et al @ Jazz Standard (early/late)
Silversun Pickups @ Bowery Ballroom
Wayne Krantz @ 55 Bar (early/late)
Xiu Xiu, Ribot's Ceramic Dog et al @ Mercury Lounge
Iron Maiden et al @ Nassau Colesium (Uniondale, LI)

Friday:
Dirty Dozen Brass Band @ BB King's (late)
*Jenny Lewis & the Watson Twins @ Town Hall
Del McCoury Band @ IMAC (Huntington, LI)
Iron Maiden et al @ Continental Arena (E. Rutherford, NJ)
Circus Mind @ Chesterfield's (Huntington, LI)
Brad Mehldau Trio @ Village Vanguard (early/late)
Violent Femmes @ Warsaw (Brooklyn)
Earl Scruggs @ BB King's (early)
John McNeil w/ Dave Douglas et al @ Cornelia St Cafe
Afroskull @ Parkside Lounge
Don Byron w/ D. Gilmore, R. Holmes et al @ Jazz Standard (early/late)
Indigo Girls @ Radio City Music Hall
Bettye Lavette @ Kean University (Union, NJ)
Licorice @ Tap Bar

Saturday:
Okkervil River @ Bowery Ballroom
Pet Shop Boys @ Radio City Music Hall
Brad Mehldau Trio @ Village Vanguard (early/late)
Touchpants feat. J. Fishman @ Knitting Factory
Don Byron w/ D. Gilmore, R. Holmes et al @ Jazz Standard (early/late)
Fro @ Groove
Debbie Harry et al @ CBGB's
Doveman et al @ Tonic
*Steven Bernstein, Dave Douglas et al @ Cornelia St. Cafe
Tea Leaf Green @ Irving Plaza
Peter Prince et al @ Living Room

Sunday:
Talib Kweli @ Nokia Theater
*Brad Mehldau Trio @ Village Vanguard (early/late)
Gwar @ Starland Ballroom (Sayreville, NJ)
Okkervil River @ Bowery Ballroom
Patti Smith @ CBGB's
Don Byron w/ D. Gilmore, R. Holmes et al @ Jazz Standard (early/late)
Jane Getter Trio @ 55 Bar
Allen Toussaint @ Joe's Pub (noon)
Melvin Sparks @ Lucille's
Joan Jett & The Blackhearts, Eagles of Death Metal @ Irving Plaza
Stephane Wrembel @ Barbes (Brooklyn)

On the Nedar:
10/17 Red Hot Chili Peppers (Mars Volta opens) @ Continental Arena
(E. Rutherford, NJ)
10/17-18 TV On the Radio @ Irving Plaza
10/17-18 DJ Shadow @ Webster Hall
10/17 John Popper Project w/ DJ Logic @ Canal Room
10/17 Moby @ Tonic
10/18 Gregg Allman & Friends @ Nokia Theater
10/18 Art Brut @ Warsaw (Brooklyn)
10/18 Club D'Elf w/ J. Medeski @ Tonic (early/late)
10/18 Rhythm Devils: Hart, Kreutzmann, Gordon, Kimock @ Starland
Ballroom (Sayreville, NJ)
10/18 Beck @ Theater at MSG
10/19 Art Brut @ Irving Plaza
10/19 Circus Mind @ Crash Mansion (benefit)
10/20-21 Ben Kweller @ Webster Hall
10/20-21 moe. @ Starland Ballroom (Sayreville, NJ)
10/20 PBS @ Mexicali Blues
10/21 Scissor Sisters @ Grand Ballroom
10/21 Paul Simon w/ Jerry Douglas @ Radio City Music Hall
10/23 Henry Butler @ SOB's
10/24-25 The Killers @ Theater at MSG
10/24 E. Friedlander/S. Blumenkranz play Masada Book 2 @ The Stone
10/24 Amos Lee @ Town Hall
10/25 Madeleine Peyroux @ Town Hall
10/26 BuzzUniverse (CD release) @ Lion's Den
10/27 Sonny Landreth @ IMAC (Huntington, LI)
10/27 Benevento/Russo Duo @ Bowery Ballroom
10/27 Secret Machines @ Warsaw (Brooklyn)
10/27 DJ Spam & Le Spam Allstars @ SOB's
10/27 Petra Haden, Jason Trachtenburg @ Tonic
10/27 The Musical Box (perf. Selling England By The Pound) @ Starland
Ballroom (Sayreville, NJ)
10/28 Derek Trucks Band (Susan Tedeschi opens) @ Nokia Theater
10/28 Skerik's Syncopated Taint Septet @ Tonic
10/28 Skerik's Syncopated Taint Septet @ Blue Note (midnight)
10/28 Railroad Earth @ Starland Ballroom (Sayreville, NJ)
10/28 The Dansettes @ Mercury Lounge
10/28 Jonah Smith @ Joe's Pub
#10/29 Rolling Stones @ Beacon Theater
10/30-31 Karl Denson Trio @ Blue Note (early/late)
10/31 Zappa plays Zappa @ Theater at MSG
10/31 Medeski, Martin & Wood (Sharon Jones + Dap Kings open) @
Hammerstein Ballroom
10/31 Cypress Hill @ Nokia Theater
10/31 Papa Mali @ Lion's Den
10/31 Prince Paul @ BB King's
10/31 Jay Bennett w/ Death Ships @ Joe's Pub
#10/31 Rolling Stones @ Beacon Theater
#10/31 Toubab Krewe @ Mercury Lounge (late)
11/1-2 Alice In Chains @ Nokia Theater
11/1 Steve Earle @ Southpaw (Brooklyn)
11/1-2 Elton John @ Nassau Colesium (Uniondale, LI)
11/1 Marco Benevento/Mike Gordon @ Tonic
11/2 John Medeski meets Kid Koala @ Merkin Concert Hall
11/2 Califone et al @ Tonic
#11/2 Julian Velard @ Rockwood Music Hall
11/3 The Decembrists @ Hammerstein Ballroom
11/3 Secret Machines @ Warsaw (Brooklyn)
11/3 The Black Keys @ Nokia Theater
11/3 Architecture In Helsinki @ Irving Plaza
11/4 Sharon Jones & Dap Kings @ Maxwell's (Hoboken)
11/4 Mitch Stein, Rodney Holmes et al @ Mexicali Blues (Teaneck, NJ)
11/5 Greg Brown @ Irving Plaza
11/5 Guns N Roses @ Continental Arena (E. Rutherford, NJ)
11/8 The Black Crowes @ Starland Ballroom (Sayreville, NJ)
11/8-9 Death Cab For Cutie, Ted Leo @ Theater at MSG
11/8 Jon Spencer, Cody&Luther Dickinson @ Bowery Ballroom
11/8 Marco Benevento & Steven Bernstein @ Tonic
11/9 Dylan benefit w/ P. Smith, P. Lesh, Cat Power, Gov't Mule et al @
Avery Fisher Hall
11/9 Jason Moran @ Symphony Space
11/9 Califone @ Joe's Pub
11/9 Primus @ Roseland Ballroom
11/9-10 Musical Box @ Westbury Theater (Westbury, LI)
#11/9-10 James Taylor @ Beacon Theater
#11/9 Julian Velard @ Rockwood Music Hall
11/10 Cut Chemist, Lyrics Born @ Webster Hall
11/10 Bruce Hornsby solo @ Society for Ethical Culture
11/10 Particle @ Irving Plaza
11/10 Califone @ Southpaw (Brooklyn)
11/10 Tim Reynolds @ Canal Room
11/10 Guns N Roses @ Madison Square Garden
11/10 Scritti Politti @ Bowery Ballroom
11/11 Michael Franti & Spearhead @ Webster Hall
11/11 Method Man @ Nokia Theater
11/12 Imogen Heap @ Webster Hall
11/13 Bob Dylan (The Raconteurs open) @ Nassau Colesium (Uniondale, LI)
11/13-14 Panic! At the Disco @ Theater at MSG
#11/13 Modest Mouse @ Nokia Theater
#11/14-15 Modest Mouse @ Webster Hall
11/15 Marco Benevento solo @ Tonic
11/16 Papa Grows Funk @ Lion's Den
11/16 Bob Dylan (The Raconteurs open) @ Continental Arena (E. Rutherford, NJ)
11/16 Xavier Rudd @ Webster Hall
11/16 Twilight Singers @ Warsaw (Brooklyn)
#11/16 Amy Millan, Ollabelle @ Bowery Ballroom
11/17 Tin Hat Trio @ Symphony Space
11/17 Kid Koala @ Northsix (Brooklyn)
11/17-18 Centro-Matic @ Mercury Lounge
#11/17 Ben Folds @ Warsaw (Brooklyn)
#11/17-18 Modest Mouse @ Bowery Ballroom
11/18 Bill Frisell's Unspeakable Orchestra @ 92nd St Y
11/18 Ani Difranco @ Beacon Theater
11/18 Doc Watson @ Town Hall
11/18 OK Go @ Irving Plaza
11/19 David Grisman @ Mexicali Blues (Teaneck, NJ)
#11/19 Ben Folds @ Hammerstein Ballroom
#11/20 Ben Folds @ Beacon Theater
11/21 Brian Wilson (Pet Sounds) @ Beacon Theater
11/22 Wolfmother @ Hammerstein Ballroom
11/22 Marco Benevento w/ Russo, Previte, Dillon @ Tonic
#11/22 G Love & Special Sauce @ Nokia Theater
#11/22 Built To Spill @ Warsaw (Brooklyn)
11/24-25 Disco Biscuits @ Hammerstein Ballroom
11/25 Hot Tuna @ Beacon Theater
11/29 Marco Benevento w/ Matt Chamberlin & Reid Mathis @ Tonic
11/30 My Morning Jacket (The Slip opens) @ Roseland Ballroom
12/1-2 Umphrey's McGee @ Nokia Theater
#12/1 Victor Wooten @ Irving Plaza
#12/2 Marc Ribot's Ceramic Dog
12/9 Animation: Bitches Brew (w/ B. Laswell, DJ Logic et al) @ Merkin
Concert Hall)
12/12 Donavon Frankenreiter @ Warsaw (Brooklyn)
12/13 Corinne Bailey Rae @ Town Hall
12/29-31 Gov't Mule (Los Lobos, NMAS openers) @ Beacon Theater
#12/29 Greyboy All Stars @ Nokia Theater
12/30 moe. @ Irving Plaza
12/30 Silver Jews @ Webster Hall
12/30 Rebirth Brass Band @ BB King's
12/31 Gregg Allman & Friends @ North Fork Theater (Westbury, LI)
12/31 moe. @ Radio City Music Hall
#12/31 Clap Your Hands Say Yeah @ Hammerstein Ballroom
#12/31 Mates of State @ Knitting Factory
1/12 The Radiators @ BB King's
1/25 Mark O'Connor w/ Rosanne Cash @ Merkin Concert Hall
1/26 Tin Hat @ Symphony Space
2/1 David Byrne @ Zankel Hall
2/2 Devendra Banhart, Adem, CocoRosie et al @ Isaac Stern Auditorium
2/3 David Byrne @ Isaac Stern Auditorium
3/17 Chris Thile @ Zankel Hall
3/30 Uri Caine @ Symphony Space
4/14 E.S.T./Matthew Shipp @ Merkin Concert Hall

06 October 2006

minimix: pop quiz

Happy Friday.

What do these 6 songs have in common? First with the correct answer wins a prize, which may or may not be a punch in the nose.

Got a favorite track by someone unknown? Pass it on and we'll get it involved.

If you enjoy 'em, buy 'em:

Download the mix (sendspace).

01 What's Going On Marvin Gaye: What's Going On
02 I Am Trying To Break Your Heart Wilco: Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
03 Cloudburst Critters Buggin': Stampede
04 Dear Mr. Supercomputer Sufjan Stevens: The Avalanche
05 Immaculate Heart, Pt. 2 The American Analog Set: Set Free
06 Fly Like An Eagle Charlie Hunter & Pound For Pound: Return Of The Candyman

05 October 2006

Link(s) Of the Week

I've got two links under the subheading: I'm frightened for my children's future.

The first is Hip Hop Harry which I stumbled across the other morning. Usually my daughter, Lily, has a certain morning routine which involved certain morning television, of course all of it vetted by me. Her usual 7am show has been Magic School Bus on the Discovery Channel. But Monday morning we were disappointed to find out that we'd been co-opted by Mr Harry. It was a total rubberneck, but I couldn't look away no matter how I tried. It was so amazingly awful, it felt like some po-mo sketch comedy out of the Bob & David school, but alas, these kids were dead serious.

when I say 'dance!' you say 'circle!' , say dance!
circle!
dance!
circle!

You can picture the guys who came up with this -- "it's like a cross between Barney and Vanilla Ice, what could be annoying about that?" Make it go away, Mommy!

Second link is via BoingBoing which I post without commmmmmment.

(although I forgot to add the link, which means I am an idiot, but still... it's there now. "I would like your finest food stuffed with your second finest.")

04 October 2006

review: Sufjan Stevens|Strike


Town Hall|55 Bar, 29 September 2006

(note: MP3's from this show: here courtesy of Ryspace)

(photo from the show courtesy of sarahana, via Brooklyn Vegan)

OK, let's just start right off with the wings. There were at least 15 pairs of them, one for each of the musicians in the band; everyone wearing brightly colored butterfly wings (and sometimes matching masks or hats or thingamabobs) except their leader, Sufjan Stevens, who wore a wide set of technicolored bird wings which flapped themselves when he swayed just so, playing the guitar or banjo or even sitting at the piano for that matter. I call Stevens their "leader" because beyond the matching wings, the entire band wore matching grey two-piece outfits that bordered between asylum wear and cult-chic. The outfits had a stripe of color, maybe you'd call it a racing stripe, which was red for everyone except for Stevens, which was yellow. The band wore wings.

In essence, that's all you really need to know about the show. I could accept the wings on first sight, I really dig the music and wanted to see what it all meant tied together with wings in a live
setting. Many probably cannot and I can accept that, too. But what of that music? Well, let's use metaphor here, metaphor being one of the tricks of the writing-about-music trade and let me say that Sufjan's music is like a pair of wings. It's light and actually delicate, but somehow, someway they *do* fly... well most wings fly, let's discount the penguins and emus for now. And the music Friday night that described the music quite well, it's feathery and soft and fragile and yet it has some strength and flaps about and manages to soar every so often.

There is no denying that Stevens is a songwriter of the 1st degree. He just flat out writes good songs and one of the good things about them is that they don't sound like anyone else. Sure, there are influences and the band, nearly a score of musicians, is like part string ensemble, part brass band, part acoustic pop trio and part rock and roll hit. But this all rolls together in an incredibly unique way -- Sufjan Stevens can be lumped with this sub-sub-genre or that one,
but there really isn't anyone doing what he's doing to the level he's doing it, and there's something to be said for that. The next step is to harnass that creative edge into a live show. Yes, the show was a good one, heck, maybe even a great one, but it lacked a certain oomph
that I thought might exist in the material.

So there's some power and there's a lot of vulnerability and so there is some sort of self-contradictory nature and that is Sufjan Stevens. There is no denying the self-importance of the music, between the wings and the serious nature of the songs and the big string section,
etc. And yet, I found a certain goofy, boyish good humor in the whole affair. No doubt there was a touch of tounge in that Sufjan cheek when he told his band to put those wings on. Sure there was some hipster irony when his stagehands through out 20 inflatable Superman
dolls during "The man of Metropolis steals our hearts" (off of "Illinois," about an actual town in Illinois that is obsessed with Superman), or repeating the trick with Santa Claus dolls during "The worst Christmas ever" off his upcoming set of Xmas music, but it *was* pretty funny in a make-you-smile kind of way. His anecdotes between some songs carry on this sense that while he takes the music maybe WAY too seriously, he doesn't necessarily feel that way about himself.

The contradictions abound. Even though there is such a large band and the music is filled with orchestral underpinnings, I realized last night that these are *small* songs. This is not necessarily bad. They have the power to soar, and yet maybe they are caged birds. This
is iPod music that strives to exist between the ears only and not necessarily flutter about in the big open spaces of a live show. Sufjan sings about a wide range of topics from the very broad big
ideas encompassed in cities like Detroit to personal tales of friendship, love, etc. to bible stories. And yet he can sing about a touching childhood anecdote with a cool detachment and make the whole city of Chicago feel like a very intimate experience. It was nice that he didn't stick to just one or two albums. Yeah, there was a heavy dose of "Illinois," but "Michigan" was represented and other albums, his upcoming Christmas record and even some quote-unquote "brand new" material.

There is a certain Chinese food quality of the music, like you don't long for it specifically, you enjoy the heck out of it immensely while digesting it in the present tense, and once it's gone it leaves little mark. In fact you may be quite hungry for a little something more shortly thereafter (see below). In short (HA HA!), the show was good, it didn't meet a certain level of majestic "happening" that you might expect, I'd go see him again, just not tonight.

A quick word about the opener, My Brightest Diamond, which was essentially a good half of Sufjan's ensemble (strings, guitar, drums, vocals) lead by his right-hand-lady, Shara Worden. There is actually so much I want to say about this set and almost all of it is bad, so in the vein of "...don't say it all" I should probably bite my lip. But I can't resist remarking on perhaps the most ill-advised cover I've seen in a while -- Bill Withers' "Use Me" -- maybe the whitest
version of a song you've ever heard. Amazing how the same musicians who performed quite admirably in the following set were so amazingly ugh under Worden's direction.

My chicken lo mein eaten and enjoyed, I let the train decide whether I would take an apertif and when the 1 arrived, I took the local down to the Village and the 55 Bar for some more of the goods. Now THIS is what I'm talking about. This was what live music in New York City is all about to me. It may not be the best club in the universe, but if you were coming to NYC and wanted to just randomly drop in on a venue for some music -- there is no place you should go except 55 Christopher. First of all, it is almost 100% local musicians and it is almost 100% top notch talent. I've been there mostly to see Wayne Krantz's Thursday gigs, but every time I've been there I've had a quintessential live music experience.

Friday night was an ensemble calling itself "Strike" -- Bobby Previte, Marco Benevento and Briggan Krauss. I arrived at 11:30ish for the midnight set. There were about 10 people in the room. The clock on the wall said 11:50, a good 15 minutes fast. The band started early because it felt ready to go. It was perfect. Perfect. Once the music started, I had immediate flashbacks to the early days of the Benevento/Russo Duo at the Tap Bar, free every Thursday. When I first
started going, it was always *after* another show and it was always empty and it always blew me away. The music started, I immersed myself in a Maker's OTR and the music and a couple minutes later I look up and there's the friend who I used to meet at the Tap Bar all those Thursdays (who isn't even living in the city at the moment). It was one of those freaky WTF's that life throws at you with the slyest of smiles.

Anyway, the music. Oh man, so very very intensely wonderful. It was pure improv, total "Tower of Babel makes sweet music" level stuff. Marco played exclusively on the electric piano (I forget, does he have a Rhodes or a Wurli or what?). Previte on drums. Krauss on alto sax.
It was like chaos theory, one of them was a butterfly flapping its wings in China and it affected the other two in deep profound ways, but not always in perceptible ones. Dark, funky, out there, it was late night heaven. Marco has a level of chemistry and communication with Bobby Previte that is developing at the same rate as he had with Joe Russo. Previte was a hummingbird of activity, constantly fluttering, hovering, quick darts here and there. Krauss layered on the top with a tasteful set of squeaks and squonks -- it was free form stuff of the most enjoyable type. Marco played low and deep and his left hand rivalled the best bass players out there. There were few solos and that wasn't what this was about, but Marco played, flat out, the best unaccompanied solo I've heard in this calendar year, a heaping spoonful of gorgeous groove.

After the set -- a pretty much non-stop 50 minutes of straight unrehearsed interplay the 10 or so of us sighed happily in unison. Marco came up to me and was like "like the Tap Bar, right?" Took the words right out of my mouth. There's a certain magic in that room, no doubt.

Postscript: So, I assume it's OK to start spreading this, but Marco also told me that Wednesdays in November he'll be doing a residency at Tonic which is another one of the great, great rooms in the city. The residency will be different every week and I don't remember all of
them (neither did he, exactly... there are 5 Wednesdays this November, by the way), but the first one is a duo with Mike Gordon doing a Benny Goodman (?) set. One week will be entirely solo, one will be a quartet with 3 drummers (!), which I forget. They all sounded delicious, to tell you the truth and he seemed very psyched about it. Should be a nice fall!

03 October 2006

Photo: My nano-verse




I'll try to mix it up with the photos, so you'll be getting pictures of my kids mixed in with other people's concert shots, etc. I'll also try to throw in some cool images from work. I always have a tough time with the "what do you do for a living" question. I work at the Center for Functional Nanomaterials at Brookhaven National Laboratory and one of the things I get to do is take a bunch of pictures of cool stuff with a scanning electron microscope. Today's picture is a close-up of a forest of carbon nanotubes which have been coated with a thin film of silver. Note the scale bar at the bottom and how freakin' small the tubes are as well as those small grains of silver (little bumps on the surface). Enjoy!
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01 October 2006

Shows of the Week

It's officially Rocktober, let's get it on

Monday:
Secret Machines @ Irving Plaza
*What Made Milwaukee Famous et al @ Pianos
Samantha Stollenwerck et al @ Living Room

Tuesday:
*Built To Spill @ Warsaw (Brooklyn)
Massive Attack @ Roseland Ballroom
Amy Millan @ Joe's Pub (early/late)
Secret Machines @ Irving Plaza
Bill McHenry solo et al @ Rockwood Music Hall
Sound of Urchin @ CBGB's
Kurt Rosenwinkel Quartet @ Village Vanguard (early/late)
Jenny Scheinman @ Barbes (Brooklyn)
Dub Is A Weapon @ Old Office

Wednesday:
J. Dimenna, Reno Bo et al @ Tonic
Massive Attack @ Roseland Ballroom
Built To Spill @ Irving Plaza
Nick Russo + 11 @ 55 Bar (early)
Beastie Boys et al @ Hiro Ballroom (benefit)
*Kurt Rosenwinkel Quartet @ Village Vanguard (early/late)
Easy Star All-Stars: Radiodread @ Bowery Ballroom
Gin Blossoms @ Nokia Theater

Thursday:
Built To Spill @ Irving Plaza
New Monsoon/Hot Buttered Rum @ Mercury Lounge
*Gomez @ Bowery Ballroom
Brazilian Girls (Miho Hatori opens) @ Webster Hall
Fro @ Groove
Doug Wamble Rodeo Trio @ Barbes (Brooklyn) (late)
Wayne Krantz @ 55 Bar (early/late)
Kurt Rosenwinkel Quartet @ Village Vanguard (early/late)
Branford Marsalis @ Jazz Standard (early/late)
Massive Attack @ Roseland Ballroom
Ian Anderson @ Rose Hall
The Tubes @ BB King's
Steel Pulse @ Canal Room

Friday:
Gomez @ Bowery Ballroom
Tool @ Continental Arena (E. Rutherford, NJ)
Jim Lauderdale @ Southpaw (Brooklyn) (early)
Kurt Rosenwinkel Quartet @ Village Vanguard (early/late)
Branford Marsalis @ Jazz Standard (early/late)
New Monsoon/Hot Buttered Rum @ Mercury Lounge
*KT Turnstall @ Webster Hall
Built To Spill @ Irving Plaza
Strangefolk @ Knitting Factory
Winterpills et al @ Tonic
Peter Brotzmann/Han Bennik Duo @ Clemente Soto Velez Theater
John Zorn's Improv Night @ The Stone (early/late) (benefit)
Brothers Past, Benzos @ Northsix (Brooklyn)
Moon Boot Lover @ Tap Bar
DJ Logic @ Blue Note (midnight)

Saturday:
KT Turnstall @ Webster Hall
Stanton Moore w/ R. Walter, W. Bernard, Skerik @ Knitting Factory
India.Arie @ Beacon Theater
Gomez @ Bowery Ballroom
Kurt Rosenwinkel Quartet @ Village Vanguard (early/late)
Tool @ Nassau Colesium (Uniondale, LI)
The Moonlighters @ Barbes (Brooklyn)
Steve Winwood @ Count Basie Theater (Red Bank, NJ)
Branford Marsalis @ Jazz Standard (early/late)
Los Amigos Invisibles @ Irving Plaza
*Earl Greyhound @ Annex
Marshall Allen, William Parker, Cooper Moore, Roy Campbell @ Clemente Soto Velez Theater
Judy Collins @ Society for Ethical Culture
Devon Allman's Honeytribe @ Ace of Clubs
Serena Maneesh, Dirty On Purpose et al @ Warsaw (Brooklyn)
Two Gallants @ Northsix (Brooklyn)
DJ Logic @ Blue Note (midnight)

Sunday:
Two Gallants @ Bowery Ballroom
Kurt Rosenwinkel Quartet @ Village Vanguard (early/late)
*Trey Anastasio @ Webster Hall
Laurie Berkner @ Town Hall (11am/1pm)
Melvin Sparks @ Lucille's
Branford Marsalis @ Jazz Standard (early/late)
Ballin' The Jack @ Barbes (Brooklyn)

On the Nedar:
10/9 Trey Anastasio @ Webster Hall
10/9-10 Bad Brains @ CBGB's
10/10 Uri Caine @ Joe's Pub
10/10-15 Brad Mehldau Trio @ Village Vanguard (early/late)
10/10 Eef Barzelay @ Mercury Lounge
10/11 Silversun Pickups @ Mercury Lounge
10/11 Eef Barzelay @ Maxwell's (Hoboken)
10/11-12 Badly Drawn Boy @ Hiro Ballroom
10/12-13 Jenny Lewis & the Watson Twins @ Town Hall
10/12 Yonder Mountain String Band @ Webster Hall
10/12 Garaj Mahal @ Crash Mansion
#10/12 Silversun Pickups @ Bowery Ballroom
#10/12 Xiu Xiu, Ribot's Ceramic Dog et al @ Mercury Lounge
10/13 Dirty Dozen Brass Band @ BB King's
10/13 Del McCoury Band @ IMAC (Huntington, LI)
10/13 Violent Femmes @ Warsaw (Brooklyn)
10/13 Indigo Girls @ Radio City Music Hall
10/14-15 Okkervil River @ Bowery Ballroom
10/14 Pet Shop Boys @ Radio City Music Hall
10/14 Touchpants feat. J. Fishman @ Knitting Factory
10/14 Tea Leaf Green @ Irving Plaza
10/15 Gwar @ Starland Ballroom (Sayreville, NJ)
10/17 Red Hot Chili Peppers (Mars Volta opens) @ Continental Arena
(E. Rutherford, NJ)
10/17-18 TV On the Radio @ Irving Plaza
10/17-18 DJ Shadow @ Webster Hall
10/17 John Popper Project w/ DJ Logic @ Canal Room
#10/17 Moby @ Tonic
10/18 Gregg Allman & Friends @ Nokia Theater
10/18 Art Brut @ Warsaw (Brooklyn)
10/18 Club D'Elf w/ J. Medeski @ Tonic (early/late)
10/18 Rhythm Devils: Hart, Kreutzmann, Gordon, Kimock @ Starland
Ballroom (Sayreville, NJ)
10/18 Beck @ Theater at MSG
10/19 Art Brut @ Irving Plaza
10/19 Circus Mind @ Crash Mansion (benefit)
10/20-21 Ben Kweller @ Webster Hall
10/20-21 moe. @ Starland Ballroom (Sayreville, NJ)
10/20 PBS @ Mexicali Blues
10/21 Scissor Sisters @ Grand Ballroom
10/21 Paul Simon w/ Jerry Douglas @ Radio City Music Hall
#10/23 Henry Butler @ SOB's
10/24-25 The Killers @ Theater at MSG
10/24 E. Friedlander/S. Blumenkranz play Masada Book 2 @ The Stone
10/24 Amos Lee @ Town Hall
10/25 Madeleine Peyroux @ Town Hall
#10/26 BuzzUniverse (CD release) @ Lion's Den
10/27 Sonny Landreth @ IMAC (Huntington, LI)
10/27 Benevento/Russo Duo @ Bowery Ballroom
10/27 Secret Machines @ Warsaw (Brooklyn)
10/27 DJ Spam & Le Spam Allstars @ SOB's
10/27 Petra Haden, Jason Trachtenburg @ Tonic
10/27 The Musical Box (perf. Selling England By The Pound) @ Starland
Ballroom (Sayreville, NJ)
10/28 Derek Trucks Band (Susan Tedeschi opens) @ Nokia Theater
10/28 Skerik's Syncopated Taint Septet @ Tonic
10/28 Skerik's Syncopated Taint Septet @ Blue Note (midnight)
10/28 Railroad Earth @ Starland Ballroom (Sayreville, NJ)
10/28 The Dansettes @ Mercury Lounge
10/28 Jonah Smith @ Joe's Pub
10/30-31 Karl Denson Trio @ Blue Note (early/late)
10/31 Zappa plays Zappa @ Theater at MSG
10/31 Medeski, Martin & Wood (Sharon Jones + Dap Kings open) @
Hammerstein Ballroom
10/31 Cypress Hill @ Nokia Theater
10/31 Papa Mali @ Lion's Den
10/31 Prince Paul @ BB King's
#10/31 Jay Bennett w/ Death Ships @ Joe's Pub
11/1-2 Alice In Chains @ Nokia Theater
11/1 Steve Earle @ Southpaw (Brooklyn)
11/1-2 Elton John @ Nassau Colesium (Uniondale, LI)
#11/1 Marco Benevento/Mike Gordon @ Tonic
11/2 John Medeski meets Kid Koala @ Merkin Concert Hall
#11/2 Califone et al @ Tonic
11/3 The Decembrists @ Hammerstein Ballroom
11/3 Secret Machines @ Warsaw (Brooklyn)
11/3 The Black Keys @ Nokia Theater
#11/3 Architecture In Helsinki @ Irving Plaza
11/4 Sharon Jones & Dap Kings @ Maxwell's (Hoboken)
11/4 Mitch Stein, Rodney Holmes et al @ Mexicali Blues (Teaneck, NJ)
11/5 Greg Brown @ Irving Plaza
#11/5 Guns N Roses @ Continental Arena (E. Rutherford, NJ)
11/8 The Black Crowes @ Starland Ballroom (Sayreville, NJ)
11/8-9 Death Cab For Cutie, Ted Leo @ Theater at MSG
#11/8 Jon Spencer, Cody&Luther Dickinson @ Bowery Ballroom
#11/8 Marco Benevento @ Tonic
11/9 Dylan benefit w/ P. Smith, P. Lesh, Cat Power, Gov't Mule et al @
Avery Fisher Hall
11/9 Jason Moran @ Symphony Space
11/9 Califone @ Joe's Pub
11/9 Primus @ Roseland Ballroom
#11/9-10 Musical Box @ Westbury Theater (Westbury, LI)
11/10 Cut Chemist, Lyrics Born @ Webster Hall
11/10 Bruce Hornsby solo @ Society for Ethical Culture
11/10 Particle @ Irving Plaza
11/10 Califone @ Southpaw (Brooklyn)
11/10 Tim Reynolds @ Canal Room
#11/10 Guns N Roses @ Madison Square Garden
#11/10 Scritti Politti @ Bowery Ballroom
11/11 Michael Franti & Spearhead @ Webster Hall
11/11 Method Man @ Nokia Theater
#11/12 Imogen Heap @ Webster Hall
11/13 Bob Dylan (The Raconteurs open) @ Nassau Colesium (Uniondale, LI)
11/13-14 Panic! At the Disco @ Theater at MSG
#11/15 Marco Benevento @ Tonic
11/16 Papa Grows Funk @ Lion's Den
11/16 Bob Dylan (The Raconteurs open) @ Continental Arena (E. Rutherford, NJ)
11/16 Xavier Rudd @ Webster Hall
#11/16 Twilight Singers @ Warsaw (Brooklyn)
11/17 Tin Hat Trio @ Symphony Space
11/17 Kid Koala @ Northsix (Brooklyn)
#11/17-18 Centro-Matic @ Mercury Lounge
11/18 Bill Frisell's Unspeakable Orchestra @ 92nd St Y
11/18 Ani Difranco @ Beacon Theater
11/18 Doc Watson @ Town Hall
11/18 OK Go @ Irving Plaza
11/19 David Grisman @ Mexicali Blues (Teaneck, NJ)
#11/21 Brian Wilson (Pet Sounds) @ Beacon Theater
11/22 Wolfmother @ Hammerstein Ballroom
#11/22 Marco Benevento @ Tonic
11/24-25 Disco Biscuits @ Hammerstein Ballroom
11/25 Hot Tuna @ Beacon Theater
#11/29 Marco Benevento @ Tonic
11/30 My Morning Jacket @ Roseland Ballroom
12/1-2 Umphrey's McGee @ Nokia Theater
12/9 Animation: Bitches Brew (w/ B. Laswell, DJ Logic et al) @ Merkin
Concert Hall)
12/12 Donavon Frankenreiter @ Warsaw (Brooklyn)
12/13 Corinne Bailey Rae @ Town Hall
12/29-31 Gov't Mule (Los Lobos, NMAS openers) @ Beacon Theater
12/30 moe. @ Irving Plaza
12/30 Silver Jews @ Webster Hall
12/30 Rebirth Brass Band @ BB King's
12/31 Gregg Allman & Friends @ North Fork Theater (Westbury, LI)
12/31 moe. @ Radio City Music Hall
1/12 The Radiators @ BB King's
1/25 Mark O'Connor w/ Rosanne Cash @ Merkin Concert Hall
1/26 Tin Hat @ Symphony Space
2/1 David Byrne @ Zankel Hall
2/2 Devendra Banhart, Adem, CocoRosie et al @ Isaac Stern Auditorium
2/3 David Byrne @ Isaac Stern Auditorium
3/17 Chris Thile @ Zankel Hall
3/30 Uri Caine @ Symphony Space
4/14 E.S.T./Matthew Shipp @ Merkin Concert Hall