Disorganized thoughts about music and science and film and philosophy and literature and…
Artists: Talib Kweli, Urban Sophisticates
Venue: Cat’s Cradle, Chapel Hill, NC
Date: July 14, 2006
Having been to very few rap shows before, I was curious to see what the audience for Talib Kweli would be like — although since this was Chapel Hill, I knew it wouldn’t be as one-sided as it might have been in NYC […]
Artists: Camera Obscura, Georgie James
Venue: Cat’s Cradle, Chapel Hill, NC
Date: July 11, 2006
Whenever I see a show at the Cradle, I always feel a tinge of regret for all the shows I must have missed during high school. Oh well, I guess my 1-show-a-week schedule in New York is really making up for lost time.
But […]
Artist: The Walkmen
Venue: Webster Hall, NYC, NY
Date: May 24, 2006
My last show for a while started off rather disappointingly. The opener was Mazarin (explicitly stated as being “of Philadelphia” — who knows where the one is from, or why neither has changed their name). In any case, their sound was a little too ordinary (with […]
Artist: Pretty Girls Make Graves
Venue: Irving Plaza, NYC, NY
Date: May 13, 2006
It’s always exciting when I manage to convince friends to go to shows with me, although I must admit I feel more than a little pressure as well — my reputation as a recommender of “good music” is at stake everytime we go together.
With […]
Artists: Edan, Prefuse 73
Venue: South Paw, Brooklyn, NY
Date: May 7, 2006
In hip-hop, you have an MC and you have a DJ. The MC raps and the DJ spins the records. There is no concept of ‘live music’ because the DJ is usually not mixing anything more complex than a jazzy hook and a danceable drum […]
Artists: The Books, Todd Reynolds
Venue: North Six, NYC, NY
Date: May 5, 2006
Essentially a repeat of their earlier performance, this show offered only 2 highlights compared to last time: the opener Todd Reynolds (Bang-On-A-Can member, violinist, and ‘technology-driven-composer’) was interesting to hear live (much more so than his recorded work) and he performed with the Books […]
Artist: Dave Douglas Quintet
Venue: The Village Vanguard, NYC, NY
Date: May 3, 2006
Going with a new friend of mine from Columbia’s EE department (who’s doing research in digital music analysis), this was my first jazz show in the city, at one of the most famous venues ever. Going on his recommendation of the saxophonist in the […]
Artist: Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Venue: Roseland Ballroom, NYC, NY
Date: May 2, 2006
After what seems like forever, I finally got to see my very dear Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and they put on as good of a show as had been promised to me by my sister (who saw them, along with about a bazillion other bands, at […]
Artist: Mates of State
Venue: Bowery Ballroom, NYC, NY
Date: April 12, 2006
After being blown away by these guys the last time, I managed to drag Rob and Sheila out to the show this time. Not really much to say, except that this show rocked even harder than the last time because they performed stuff from their […]
Artist: She Wants Revenge
Venue: Irving Plaza, NYC, NY
Date: April 4, 2006
See below for my first exposure to SWR. I went to the show already fearing the worst, since I had by now listened to their album a few times and realized that they were completely a one-trick pony, that was itself ripped straight from Interpol’s […]
Artist: Kieran Hebden & Steve Reid
Venue: Mercury Lounge, NYC, NY
Date: April 1, 2006
Considering the lackluster performance of Kieran (Four Tet) last year, I was a little bit nervous about seeing him again, albeit in a duo-performance with great jazz drummer Steve Reid. I didn’t even buy tickets beforehand, deciding to go only at the last […]
Artists: The Books, Death Vessel, Jose Gonzalez
Venue: Bowery Ballroom, NYC, NY
Date: March 24, 2006
Holy shit I think that as a whole show, this one might take the cake for ‘best evening of music, ever’. I heard a few tracks by each of the openers online and decided that they were worth checking out–and indeed they […]
Artist: Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins
Venue: Irving Plaza, NYC, NY
Date: March 19, 2006
Possibly as a reaction to the glut of indie rock music I’ve been listening to recently, I find myself feeling slightly jaded by much of the “traditional” indie rock, and getting more interested in other (related) areas, such as some folk-country. Thus, […]
Artists: Sufjan Stevens, Philip Glass
Venue: Carnegie Hall, NYC, NY
Date: March 1, 2006
My first Carnegie Hall performance, this benefit event for Tibet House featured a wide variety of performances, including my faves Sufjan and Glass, but also others ranging from Antony (from ‘Antony and the Johnsons’ singing his brand of off-kilter folk music) to Nawang Khechog, […]
Artist: Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
Venue: Webster Hall, NYC, NY
Date: February 18, 2006
If this was a record review, then I would feel a great need to reference Jesus and Mary Chain in every other sentence, just like every other site, but fortunately, this is just a live review and so I don’t have to (which […]