7 Things I Had Forgotten …
… and Remembered While Watching Bloc Party at Roseland Ballroom [Photos by Andrew Parks] By Aaron Richter 1. That Silent Alarm is as fantastic today as it was when it first blew my mind in 2005. (Tonight the band nailed classics such as “Price of Gas” and “Banquet,” although “Like Eating Glass” felt clunky and […]
1MM: Nachtmystium @ Nokia Theatre, 9.18.08
Photos by Andrew Parks We get it now. And by it, we mean the appeal of defiantly progressive black-metal acts like Nachtmystium. While their records sound like a hazy descent into Blake Judd’s own personal hell (self-titled likes to listen to Instinct: Decay when we’re closing an issue and in kill everyone mode), the Chicago […]
1MM: High on Fire @ Nokia Theatre, 9.18.08
Photos by Andrew Parks Not that it matters, but we’re pretty sure Matt Pike of High on Fire (and at one time, Sleep) would wreck our very being in a bar fight. Aside from the hints of madness in his droopy stoner eyes, Pike’s beer gut, filthy Rapunzel hair, and crooked teeth suggest a guy […]
OZZFEST, THE DANCE-ROCK EDITION: Cut Copy vs. The Presets @ Webster Hall
THE PRESETS pretend to be koala bears [Photo by Harold David] We ran pieces on the Presets and Cut Copy earlier this year to emphasize how much we dig their respective takes on danceable rock tunes. In the months since, self-titled has found the former’s Apocalypso album to have actual staying power due to such […]
S/T Survived … My Bloody Valentine Without Earplugs, While on Ecstasy
[Photos by Aaron Richter] By Andrew Parks Our ears aren’t ringing right now; not even a little bit. In fact, they’re still about as intact as they were before we stepped into the maelstrom that was Tuesday’s My Bloody Valentine concert at Roseland Ballroom. The reason? Quite simple, really: the self-titled staff wanted to hear […]
FREE ASSOCIATION: An Exclusive Listening Party (With Commentary!) For Dungen’s “4” LP
[Photos by Sahar Ghahari + Sarah Schmidhoff] “Dreamy” is one way of describing Dungen‘s new disc, 4, which comes out next Tuesday through Kemado Records. That and, well, “jazzy,” as if Gustav Ejstes’ band was performing at a bar rich with the scent of spilled whiskey and stale cigarette smoke. (Sure enough, Dungen performed a […]
1MM: Weezer @ Madison Square Garden, 9.24.08
Photos by Andrew Parks As we said on our Twitter account earlier, Wednesday’s Weezer show was basically the opposite of My Bloody Valentine’s endurance test the day before: loose and laidback, beginning with a raucous rendition of “My Name Is Jonas,” as howled by bassist Scott Shriner. (Frontman Rivers Cuomo spent the entire song prowling […]
We’ve Got Two Pairs of Superpitcher/Michael Mayer Tickets For Tonight!
Judged solely by their stark and stirring techno sets, Michael Mayer and Superpitcher aren’t exactly the types you’d expect to form a ‘fun-loving duo.’ Yet here they are, going so far as to construct comic book sleeves and sloppily-stitched puppets (see above) for their oft-surprising Supermayer project. To say we’re psyched about the pair’s appearance […]
THE S/T INTERVIEW: Danny Seim of Menomena/Lackthereof
[Photos by Alicia J. Rose] By Arye Dworken The following Danny Seim interview was conducted two months ago. We decided to hold it until now, however, because the Menomena drummer’s latest LP as Lackthereof, Your Anchor (Barsuk), is a fitting fall listen–at once melancholic and moody, hard-hitting and heartfelt. Or as Seim puts it, it’s […]