Recent Articles in Live Reviews
Mew at Webster Hall, NYC, 12.04.09
Danish darlings Mew returned for a warm welcome at NYC’s Webster Hall on Friday. While the energy onstage was noticeably more subdued than that of their Music Hall of Williamsburg show in August, the crowd was no less captivated. The trio of Jonas Bjerre (vocals and guitar), Bo Madsen (guitars, vocals) and Silas Utke Graæ [...]
The Big Pink at Bowery Ballroom, NYC, 12.03.09
West London’s The Big Pink lived up to their wall of sound moniker, taking a live fast/die young approach to the epic power of love as it translates into live, looped out, shoegazery synth-verging-on noise rock. They took on downtown NYC, playing a short and sweet, though brutally explosive set to a sold-out room, [...]
The Mountain Goats at Webster Hall, NYC, 12.01.09
John Darnielle is, inarguably, one of the most revered and prolific storytellers in indie rock. Playing to a packed crowd, the Mountain Goats brought to life a medley of ditties that span an almost twenty-year career (with a back catalog so overflowing it would take paragraphs to gloat about).
Submarine Bells Find Their Element
Submarine Bells just solved your crime, made you a donut and cleaned out your consciousness: I feel strongly enough about this band that even though we have covered them before, that’s rarely a crime, I want to bring them up to your attention again. I’ve seen about six shows and with each one something important [...]
Sherlock’s Daughter at Piano’s, NYC, 11.19.09
Buzzworthy Sherlock’s Daughter scored a residency at Piano’s only a few weeks after arriving in New York from Sydney, Australia. On their second night at the Lower East Side venue, the band charmed the audience with their chic style, onstage playfulness and quirky set of electro-tinged, mystical, indie-pop songs.
With hints of 1960’s and 1990’s-tinged dream [...]
Kap Bambino and Sleigh Bells at The Studio at Webster Hall, NYC, 11.14.09
French electro duo Kap Bambino rocked the house at The Studio at Webster Hall Saturday night. With her punk fashion sense on full display, singer Caroline Martial charged onstage wearing a 2Pac T-shirt over a dainty floral print dress with a short leather jacket and ripped tights.
The Answering Machine at Bruar Falls, Brooklyn, 11.11.09
Who needs backing tracks when you have as much punch as Manchester, UK’s The Answering Machine, just wrapping up their post-CMJ stint with a second-to-last NYC-area show at Bruar Falls tonight. Though their set was plagued with minor technical difficulties (like the crapped out keyboard tracks as well as a vocal mic that went in [...]
The xx at Bowery Ballroom, NYC, 11.11.09
Despite only having one album, London’s The xx utterly captivated a sold-out Bowery (moved from Mercury Lounge) with their dark and fragile sound that reverbed throughout the dimly lit venue (so dim that frontwoman Romy Madley Croft had trouble locating her chords and asked to turn the mood lighting up a notch!)
The Mary Onettes at Mercury Lounge, NYC, 11.08.09
Sweden’s Mary Onettes wrapped up their brief US tour with a stop at New York’s Mercury Lounge on Sunday night. It was the third show in the city this week for the band, whose sophomore album, Islands, was just released on November 3rd.
Wolfmother at Terminal 5, NYC, 11.08.09
I’ve made a hearty racket around my friends over Wolfmother’s new record, Cosmic Egg. They’re all quite aware of my obsession with ’70s psychedelic and classic rock, and ’80s hair bands and cock rock. It’s where I come from, and nothing Animal Collective puts out will even remotely scratch the itch like Boston’s “More Than a Feeling,”…
