2009 Was The Sort of Year That Passed In One Month Increments

Music For Infants: My preliminary field notes indicate that babies, by and large, don’t give a shit about music. However, there are two exceptions in Vashti Bunyan and David Tibet, particularly Sleep Has His House. Weirds me the hell out, it does. Not because Sleep is a bad album, or because it is rightfully considered [...]

Boredoms @ Terminal 5 – 9/9/09

They played “Acid Police”!

Bonnie Prince Billy – Live @ The Apollo, May 21, 2009

The highlight of this evening was a deeply intimate version of “Blood Embrace” for which Matt Sweeney came out to play some guitar and sing a bit. Mr. Oldham paced, gestured, scowled and delivered in full a deeply moving performance, looking like a cross between a street preacher touched by the hand of god and [...]

Antony & The Johnsons – Live @ Town Hall, February 20, 2009

Many years back I knew a gay Buddhist who lived in the East Village. He was the first person to play Antony & The Johnsons for me, and at the time I had no way to process it. I wasn’t familiar with the whole faux cabaret tradition, the post-Klaus Nomi camp theatrics and all that [...]

Boris Live @ Webster Hall

Man, Webster Hall was gross as all get-go last night; a million sweaty beards glistened in the disco lights. We arrived too late to see Torche, whom I’ve heard described as a kind of stoner rock but I think is a bit more shopping at the mall than smoking t’weed. We also missed Clouds, whom [...]

Boredoms + Black Pus @ Terminal Five (March 30)

Terminal 5 used to be Club Exit, which I knew from radio ads and little else. Think a guido meat machine and you’re probably not too far off the mark – it’s not this venue in Greenpoint, though. It’s an interesting venue – loud but not too painful, cool and crisp and security was pretty [...]

Lightning Bolt – Hypermagic Mountain & Wonderful Rainbow

Do you like to yell?
Hands down the best live show I saw in 2006 in terms of intensity and insanity was Lightning Bolt opening for Boredoms. They stole the show from the dance floor of Webster Hall and drove my wife from the room. (Apparently earplugs make her dizzy; according to the internet this is [...]

Akron Family @ Tonic (1st Set) – September 24, 2006

I normally don’t say anything to hecklers at shows, especially when they’re drunk. But after the third or fourth outburst from this Scott Baio looking douchebag – he must have spent all week thinking up “how about less poise, more noise!?!” – even the band was gently insulting him. For whatever reason, on this night, [...]