Check out this fun video of Dave Grohl at Amoeba Records Hollywood shopping for some vinyl as they check out his purchases. Some of his picks include Boredoms ,No Means No, L7, Bad Brains, Alice Donut, Alternative Tentacles and Scream. It's pretty cool.



DaVe Lipp

Even though they are an acoustic leaning folk sounding trio—Good Old War isn’t a political message. In fact, it’s how the band views the song writing process. I was able to chat with Keith Goodwin (guitar/vocals) by phone while the band was at home on some down time.

Thanks for taking the time to talk to us.

No problem.

First off, congratulations on the success you guys have had so far—I’d actually like to start with that—how does it feel, what are your thoughts?

It’s all happened so fast…

Yeah, the album came out

Nov. 4 and its been constant touring since.

Let’s backtrack—how’d all this get started?

Myself and Tim (Arnold, drums) had been in a band called Days Away —and it wasn’t really working out how we wanted it to, and were looking for something else. So when it came to a close, I wanted to do something pretty much totally opposite of what Days Away had been. Our manager Cathy wanted me to do something acoustic/solo, which sounded good—I have a pretty soft voice and found it harder to sing over the full band type thing anyway. I knew Dan (Schwartz, guitar/vocals) from home, and I can’t play guitar like he can, and thought making music with him would be pretty sweet, and he also was looking for something new. We really just wanted to make the best music possible and felt this was the best way to do that. So we actually went on tour with Anthony Green, who we’d known from high school, and we were his band, and also opened for him, which was alot of fun.

How was that?

Great—playing the full 2 hours is really great, we love making and playing music, and when you’re on tour, you sort of get bored, as you see the same bands every night, so this kept us busy, and got our chops up. It was fun as we got to play a totally different type of music—I even did some keys.

How about the recording process?

Yeah, we actually demoed the songs 3 different ways and ultimately decided just to do the album live with one mic and our instruments—we were three guys with our instruments, we didn’t want to make a massive sound we couldn’t recreate live. It was the most painless recording process I’ve ever been a part of. We put 13 tracks down in 5 days.

You’re about to hit the road with Gaslight Anthem and Heartless Bastards…

Yeah, we’re looking forward to that.

How’d that come about?

Gaslight approached us and we were all about it. So far, I’m really into Heartless Bastards.

What’s next?

Well we were up in the mountains and put together an EP, which we’re sending off to get mixed.

Summer’s a great time to tour, any summer tour plans?

I was wondering that myself—no one’s told me yet I’m sure there are things in the works.

You say no one’s told you yet—how’s that feel, I mean you reach a point in your career, where someone else organizes all this for you?

It can be a really good thing if you trust the people behind you. We have a really great manager, who we’ve known since our time in Days Away. Before her in Days Away we went through alot of really bad managers and labels, we met her when we were opening for Rx Bandits, and have been working with her ever since.

Thanks so much for taking the time to talk to me, and best of luck.

No problem, thanks.

TJ Olsen

Location: Lower East Side, NYC
Bands: Mixed Change
Show time: 9 PM
Venue: B Side Bar
Food: Clinton Street Baking Company & Restaurant
Drink: Verlaine
Miscellaneous: Gus’s Pickles

Mixed Change is a monthly mixtape exchange party and a great way to find new music and meet new people on the cheap. The concept here is simple and fun: make a mix using the provided theme, this month’s being b-sides, bring it to the party, and exchange it for someone else’s mix. With cheap drink specials, free admission, and a DJ set by Cassetenova, how can you pass this one up on a Tuesday? For din-din, check out Clinton Street Baking Company & Restaurant. Serving up sandwiches, omelletes, and baked goods for breakfast and lunch, for dinner expect the likes of Pan Seared Halibut with sweet corn succotash, herb roasted tomatoes, and summer squash ($19). Named after the poet Paul Verlaine, the bar offers an asian food and drink menu. While you can’t order the absinthe that probably helped kill the poet, you can order drinks like the El Chupacabra, which is better tasting with a kick of its own. If you like pickles, Guss’ Pickles has been around since 1910, it’s a landmark spot, and still makes a great pickle.

If it’s not already readily apparent from the news and recession-sales popping up all over the city, the economy isn't exactly in it's healthiest state. However, just because the economy is currently under-the-weather doesn't mean our skin has to take a toll as well! Thankfully Alberto Culver Multicultural Brands offers wallet-friendly products (all are under $10!) including hair and skin-smoothing moisturizers whose quality definitely exceed their less-than-$10 market value!

Soft and Beautiful Moisture Soft Hand Cream is made of replenishing almond butter and conditioning cocoa and shea butters. Despite this reviewer's fear of overpowering scent, the product proved to be pleasantly aromatic and not overpowering in the slightest. My only objection is that it does leave a somewhat greasy coating after application.





Soft and Beautiful Moisture Soft Body Butter resembles the line's hand cream insofar as it similarly exhibits a light, tasteful scent; however, unlike the moisture cream, the body butter comes in a small tub and is a very thick consistency (read: this one means business). Just a few finger-tip-fuls of this product applied to any scaly patch of skin is guaranteed to be instantly moisturized and protected from winter's harm for at least 24-hours. Those looking for a serious moisturizer that is budget-friendly and not likely to scare off your significant other need not look further!

Soft and Beautiful Hair Gloss is a triple-hydration oil made up of olive, shea and safflower oils that combine to protect against damaging split ends and create an overall glossy, frizz-free look. Fortunately, despite being made up entirely of oils, the results do not appear greasy (probably only as long as the user abides by the "less-is-more" approach to application). Use either before or following a hair straightener for best results.

Jessica Stein

Photo by Marina Chavez




Location: Union Square, NYC
Bands: The Hold Steady
Show time: 8 PM
Venue: The Fillmore at Irving Plaza
Food: Yama
Drink: 119 Bar
Miscellaneous: Barnes & Noble (Union Square location)

With a new double disc live album + DVD called A Positive Rage coming out on April 7, The Hold Steady are doing just fine these days. But check this Brooklyn based riff heavy band out live cause that’s where they shine. One of the best Japanese restaurants in the city, Yama, serves up some of the hugest and freshest portions of sushi, while not being as expensive as you think. Close to Irving Plaza, 119 Bar is one dive where you can get cheap drinks, play pool, and hang with friends while not standing out or being bothered when you’re a sweaty mess from dancing after seeing Shadow and Chemist perform, and I mean that in a good way! If you’re bored and early for the show, head over to the four floor Barnes & Noble to look through magazines and get a cup of coffee.

On this day in rock and roll history: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band play a rare gig at the Asbury Park conventional center and I'm lucky enough to be there. It's akin to be seeing the Beatles at the Cavern - and the fabled Asbury Park boardwalk is alive with die-hard Bruce fans who have come from all over America to be up-close and personal with their hero in the lonely seaside town where many of Bruce's hopes, dreams and heartaches were born and distilled into the most quintessentially American rock and roll of the last 25 years.

Many times the chance to see a rock and roll hall of famer in such a small venue is a thoroughly sad and inglorious affair – witnessing an old legend taking their last musical gasp at the state fair because they have no other choice. But not Bruce. The quest for rock and roll glory, relevance and musical evolution has kept the Boss full of artistic vitality and power. He may not play four-hour rock marathons anymore, perhaps only because he fears for the health of older band members like Clarence Clemmons and his aging audience. For godsakes, I expected to see the vendors walking around, yelling “Get your E-street t-shirts and canes!” Still, age has not diminished the raw power and big sound that his band delivers. From opening with “Badlands” up to “Born to Run,” the band plays with the hunger and energy of a world-class rock orchestra at the height of their power. Drummer Max Weinberg even sat out for a few songs and let his son rock the crowd with a kick-ass performance worthy of Dave Grohl.

My only real complaint about the show: At times, the desire to rock the house with every number loses the subtlety and emotional longing that is so key to Bruce's power. A super-happy upbeat version of “Johnny 99” left me confused and longing to listen to the dark and dreary original version. Every great concert needs a crescendo of emotions from pleasure to pain and back again. Still the moment in time is not lost on me. I am witnessing an icon of American music and literature whose three-minute records have taught me more about life, love, and longing than I ever learned in school.

Adam J. Rodriguez

Towelhead
Directed by Alan Ball
(Warner Home Video)






Directed and written by the writer who penned American Beauty, this intense drama ranks as one of the more difficult films I’ve watched in the past few years.

Not that the project was painfully miscast or uninteresting, just the opposite, but the subject matter seems intended to raise issues that will make the majority of viewers very uncomfortable. Some might argue that this should be what a good film is supposed to do: to get an audience out of their comfort zone. Towelhead achieves that handily and the story, though clocking in at two hours, did have a way of sticking in my mind for days afterwards.

Centering around the half Lebanese Jazira, a thirteen year old attempting to discover an inkling of her identity while her body matures faster than her mind or emotions, the narrative raises issues of what life is like to be an Arab-American female growing up in the U.S. The story follows the young girl as she’s kicked out of her Mother’s house and her move to early 1990s Texas, to live with her traditional minded Lebanese father. Once in Texas, Jazira becomes entwined with the all-American father of the boy she baby-sits, a relationship that quickly becomes inappropriate and finally sexual. The remainder of this dramatic film dappled with comedy portrays the story of how this young girl loses her girlhood innocence.

The film should not be considered so one sided and is very multi-layered. Well represented by Summer Bishil, Jazira internalizes the cultural role of what it means to be a sexual object of male desire. Indeed, Jazira seems almost participatory in fulfilling the fantasies of males in her life. The film quickly pushes the girl’s ethnicity to the side in favor of exploring these much deeper issues of sexuality.

Obviously, this is a film for mature audiences and many scenes are difficult to watch. In the end though, this film does address an issue often swept under the rug: the hypersexualization of increasingly younger adolescent females and their construction of self-image through the view of male desire.

Kenneth Joachim

Ladysmith Black Mambazo Live!
(Heads Up)





Ladysmith Black Mambazo has sold more records than any group of African musicians in history. Anyone who has had the privilege of seeing them in concert knows exactly why. For those who haven't, their new DVD Ladysmith Black Mambazo Live! is as close to the real thing as you can get. The group's beautiful harmonies and dynamic stage presence make their concert a breathtaking experience.

Joseph Shabalala formed Ladysmith Black Mambazo in 1964 after hearing the beautiful harmonies of isicathamiya (the traditional music of the Zulu people) in a series of dreams. Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal is the town from which Shabalala's family comes; Black is the color of the black ox (the strongest animal on a South African farm); and Mambazo is the Zulu word for axe, picked due to the group's ability to chop down their local competition.

While most people credit Paul Simon for Ladysmith's long and successful career, they have earned every bit of success they've experienced due to their commitment to their traditions and electric stage presence. They were a local sensation before Paul Simon introduced them to the world, and they have opened doors and ears for lesser-known African musicians.

Ladysmith Black Mambazo Live! captures the beauty and magic of their live performance, but the real thing is even more magical. If you ever have the opportunity to see them live, do yourself an enormous favor and go see them. They represent what's beautiful in the world.

Marc Amigone

Friendly Fires make electro rock that will blow your mind and make your booty shake! Photo by Catherine Losing





Friday March 27

Location: Lower East Side, NYC
Bands: Friendly Fires + White Lies Get Tickets Here
Show time: 8 PM
Venue: Bowery Ballroom
Food: Social
Drink: 151
Miscellaneous: Bereket

Two smoking hot bands: The Friendly Fires who sound like DEVO on crack and White Lies, a synth heavy rock act join forces to rock the Bowery Ballroom. If you haven’t caught the buzz on either one, they both put out really great music! Joining them is The Soft Pack. To start a night that will no doubt rock, you may want to go straight to the bar, and that bar would be 151, where happy hour is 7 days a week from 6pm till 10pm and includes 2 for 1 drinks. For those that don’t want a liquid dinner first, check Social for comfort food including the Mac & Cheese (Macaroni covered in Three Cheese Truffled Mornay Sauce & topped w/Seasoned Bread Crumbs). For a late night eat, a favorite spot of mine is Bereket for falafels and to watch drunks succeed at spilling their food all over themselves and failing at picking up chicks. Not for the faint of heart!

Friday March 27

Location: Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Bands: New York Tropical
Show time: 10 PM
Venue: Glasslands Gallery
Food: Relish
Drink: Radegast Hall & Biergarten
Miscellaneous: Zebulon

Hosted by Durty Artz, this Tropicalia party sees plenty of tropical, dancehall, house, and cumbia being spun by Matt Shadetek, Kingdom, Uproot Andy, and Geko Jones, with a special appearance by Argentineans La Yegros! Though Relish looks like a 50s diner or an even larger version of an L train car, this restaurant offers up some gourmet treats for dinner. With influences from all over the globe, Relish features diner classics like burgers and onion rings, and step it up with the likes of Blackened Yellow Fin Tuna ($21). Williamsburg’s first beer garden, Radegast, has a beautiful all-wood interior, an enclosed outdoor backyard, and 12 German/Austrian beers on tap and more than 30 bottles. Another great bar in the area, Zebulon offers free live jazz and afrobeat. The drinks here are inexpensive, and I’ve never seen a bad show here before.

Saturday March 28

Location: Midtown West, NYC
Band: Juan De Marcos & the Afro-Cuban All Stars Get Tickets Here
Show time: 8 PM
Venue: Town Hall
Food: Empanada Mama
Drink: Circus
Miscellaneous: Vintage

Join Juan De Marcos, who was one of the architects of the Buena Vista Social Club, and some of the top Cuban musicians who combine the sound of old Cuban rhythms with the new sound coming from the countries top performers. Though small, Empanada Mama packs a hefty punch with more than 40 kinds of empanadas. Choose from a wheat or corn flour shell to start as ingredients include basic rice and beans to what they have dubbed “Viagra,” a wheat flour empanada stuffed with shrimp, scallop, and crab ($3). Appropriately, at Circus, you’ll get free hot dogs, peanuts, and popcorn without the animals, screaming babies, and clowns at this Rudy’s Bar spin-off that has beer just as cheap and a neighborhood feel. If cheap beer ain’t your thing, Vintage has a wine list with over 200 wines by the glass or bottle from most of the boutique wineries in Long Island and Upstate New York.

Saturday March 28

Location: Lower East Side, NYC
Band: Oscartienealas
Show time: 11 PM
Venue: Fontana’s
Food: Katz’s Deli
Drink: Nurse Bettie
Miscellaneous: Ludlow Guitars

Making their first appearance in NYC, Spanish indie rockers Oscartienealas bring the party mixing Latin and rock to make some great music that’s more than easy to get your dance on to. They will be performing at Fontana’s alt-Latin dance party Nacotheque and best of all there will be open bar from 11 to 12 courtesy of Svedka and gift bags for the first 130 people. If you’re starving, I mean really starving, head over to Katz’s Deli. This old school deli packs on the pastrami a mile high. The portions are huge and the place is classic NY. For drinks, Nurse Bettie is a chic looking bar with exposed brick walls, paintings of 50s pinups, and offers an excellent cocktail menu. Stop by Ludlow Guitars if there’s time and peruse through some magnificent rare and new music equipment from inexpensive to guitars that you will have to save dearly to afford.

Sunday March 29

Location: Long Island City, NYC
Film: Kenneth Anger
Show time: 9 PM; Through September 14, 2009
Venue: P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center
Food: Sripraphai
Drink: Saints and Sinners
Miscellaneous: Baruirs

P.S. 1 presents the first major survey of avant-garde filmmaker Kenneth Anger’s work in more than a decade, focusing on his early films which critique Hollywood, reference pop icons in occult settings, and depict the violent and erotic counterculture. Anger’s work has inspired fellow filmmakers including Martin Scorsese, Gus Van Sant, and Guy Maddin. Being that you’re in Queens anyways, you HAVE to take the 7 train to Sripraphai, one of New York’s top Thai restaurants. What makes it better than most is the fact that the ingredients are fresh, and instead of choosing your entree with a choice of meat, they offer a novel sized menu with pics of every dish, most under $10. Once a heavily Irish neighborhood, Saints and Sinners is one of the best looking Irish bars left. Grab a Guinness at the bar or traditional Irish food. If you can, head over to Baruir’s in Sunnyside for one of the best cups of coffee in Queens.

Morrissey
Years of Refusal
(Lost Highway)







Only Morrissey can sing the words, “I'll slit their throats for you” and turn them into the most beautifully romantic lyrics I have heard in ages. Forever forlorn, this once underground icon of moody ballads and somber sentiments has continued to grow as an artist and refused to fade away quietly. It is a special thing to stay so relevant, so emotive and so spiritually dark when most of the original fans who grew up listening to his records in their angst-ridden college years have probably grown-up and become responsible and well-medicated adults. And yet Morrissey himself proves with his latest record that he has managed to stay artistically hungry and keep himself sealed in a wonderfully weary womb of loathing and despair.

In a day and age when young Emo bands and their shallow whining are all the rage, this new record is Morrissey's way of showing them who the master of true mourning is. If you are too young to remember The Smiths and how great it was to sit around your college dorm getting high and listening to Morrissey's soul bleed out in sad, symphonic ballads, then I suggest you begin a musical journey into the past recordings of this classic artist. And you can start with this record, because he has not lost his edge and has in fact turned the scars of his years into a more refined and evocative sound.

When Morrissey sings about his mother's suicide in the romantic and angry ballad, “Mama Lay Softly On The Riverbed,” he shows why he is the master of turning misery and sadness into something indescribably beautiful. He is also digging deeper into his own life and the memories of the past, which gives any fan a very intimate look into the birth of a great artist. Even though he may have began as “a small fat child in a welfare house,” he has certainly become a rock star for the ages. And who else can inspire you with the lines, “Life isn't much to lose.”

Adam J. Rodriguez

Through four movies, a host of real dangers as tricky and perilous as the supernatural ones, learning history while Harrison Ford smiles that slightly skewed grin, being introduced to a whole bunch of unforgettable ancillary characters, The Indiana Jones movies have thrilled, chilled and entertained and through the hair raising visuals and 40's Saturday morning serial like traps, John Williams has provided the music.

Raiders of the Lost Ark Soundtrack
(Concord Records)




On the Raiders of the Lost Ark CD (the first movie in the Indiana Jones series) Williams introduces us early on to his pallet of possibilities in the opening sequence: there’s some spooky, 'rattling bones'-like percussion in the opening track "In The Jungle," rat-scurrying type sounds on "The Idol Temple" and the big horn-filled "Escape From The Temple." One of the most recognizable themes in the Indiana canon (maybe in all of modern movie-dom), gets its first airing on "Washington Men/Indy's Home," the lush "Flight To Cairo" introduces some middle-eastern flavor and in "Basket Case" those recognizable recurring themes come through again. “The Fist Flight/The Flying Wing" has great daring-do-do big sweeps and "Marion's Theme/The Crate" a superb lead flute.

At the time of “Raiders” release big adventurous movie music had been out of flavor and I believe with this first Indiana Jones soundtrack Williams really created the genre anew.

Indiana Jones and The Temple Of Doom
(Concord Records)





The music for Indiana Jones and The Temple Of Doom is quite unlike that of its predecessor. The music on this CD is very interesting indeed, there's a great use of bells, slicing strings (I thought of Bernard Herrmann a lot) chanting on the track “The Temple of Doom” and even an actual Asian-flavored vocal on the opener, an inventive cover of “Anything Goes.” Along the way, we get Williams’ usual sweeping strings, that familiar Indy theme, some break-neck moving in "Slalom On Mt. Humol" and the romantic light "Nocturnal Activities." "The Scroll/To Pankot Palace" is really a high point here, a true piece of modern classical music. I have heard it argued that modern movie music is our modern-day classical music, and with this track, I think the argument could really be made for that claim.

It’s interesting to note here that although all three of these latest releases (keep your pants on, I’m getting to the last one!) have unreleased songs on them, Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom has the most.

Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade
(Concord Records)




Williams had a lot of ground to cover on Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade. As you might recall, we meet Indy’s dad in this third installment of the series, played by Sean Connery and a young Indy, played by the dearly departed River Phoenix in the opening scene. This start of the film, “Indy’s Very First Adventure” has some typical ominous Williams’ stuff and “X Marks the Spot” is another fine classical piece. I like best when I can hang my hat on those familiar Indy themes, which come in during “Scherzo For Motorcycle and Orchestra.” “Ah Rats!” employs the ol’ Williams’ trademark trick of plucking ‘scurrying’ strings (by this point in the three CD’s we’ve heard this representational sound effect used quite often) and for the first time in any of these movie soundtracks, things get downright “Disney”-fied on “Brother of the Cruciform Sword” and “Belly of the Steel Beast.” But just when I was losing hope in this soundtrack, Williams bounces back with great ending pieces like “The Canyon Of The Crescent Moon,” “The Penitent Man Will pass” and “The Keeper Of The Grail.”

With movie soundtracks, I think it’s damn hard, near impossible, to separate the tracks from the visual, even if you don’t remember the movie perfectly. I tried to listen to these CD’s for what they were, only consulting the track titles when I had to note their names, so as not to be influenced by a rush of remembered visuals. Given this, I’d dare say John Williams’ music for the Indy films, as with everything he does, is first-rate and indeed is modern-day classical. I’d rate these fantastic CD’s (each one has a great booklet as well) Indiana Jones and The Temple Of Doom the best of these three with Raiders of the Lost Arc next and lastly Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

Now, back to where we last left our hero…

Ralph Greco, Jr.

Photographer: Dugdale



Location: Midtown West, NYC
Band: The Prodigy
Show time: 9 PM
Venue: Roseland Ballroom
Food: Sullivan Street Bakery
Drink: Rudy’s Bar & Grill
Miscellaneous: The Shops at Columbus Circle

Looks like 90’s British Electronic band The Prodigy (Remember “Firestarter” and “Smack My Bitch Up” off The Fat of the Land?) are back with a new album Invaders Must Die. Their fifth studio album unites them with some new and some of the old sound that saw them voted by a British mag, one of the bands to see before you die. Arguably one of the top bread makers on the east coast, and good to get gourmet pizza’s and sandwiches, Sullivan Street Bakery makes exquisite food using ingredients you’d see on the Food Network! More bar than grill, Rudy’s is like going back to college, minus the books. The beer is cheap and by “grill,” they mean free popcorn and hot dogs. If you have trouble finding the bar, just look for the 6 foot tall fiberglass pig standing outside! To get out of the cold and see what an upper-class mall is like, stop by The Shops at Columbus Circle. Expensive restaurants like MASA and shops like Williams Sonoma are fun to browse through to see how the other half lives.

Check The Prodigy’s “Take Me to the Hospital” live from Big Day Out Australia 09:

Lot 49, an early 90s Alt-rock band from Santa Barbara, Southern California, who were together from 1993 to 1997 before breaking up, will release a lost album called Lonely Planet. Made up of Scott Killion-Malo (vocals/guitar), Kevin Serra (guitars), Josh Richards (bass) and Mike Pearl(drums), the band sound like a cross between The Smiths, The Chameleons and early David Bowie while maintaining a sound all their own. The seven songs that make up the album Lonely Planet were recently found after more than a decade in a storage locker in NYC and the first single off the album “Exponents” has just been released on Amazon and on iTunes, with the CD being released in May 2009.

LISTEN + DOWNLOAD
Lot 49 - Exponents
Lot 49 - Shake Out

DaVe Lipp

Yeah Yeah Yeahs
It's Blitz
(Interscope)







After our favorite Williamsburg rockers showed us their bones in 2006, they strike again, not by prowling on beer-drench stages as their doe-eye front woman makes love to her mic, but by heading to the clubs. Forget punk anthems, hormone-fueled sex rants, and orgasmic-induced screeching. The trio from Yeah Yeah Yeahs (YYY) takes it down a notch on their new album It's Blitz, expected to debut on March 31st, but already available in digital form thanks to their legions of impatient fans. Trust us, the wait is worth it because it's too grand and spectacular of an album that will be heard for decades to come. Whether you're getting high in Washington Square Park during a sudden warm winter or marching down the Brooklyn Bridge on a star-lit evening, It's Blitz is the ultimate New York soundtrack of the year and undoubtedly one of the best albums in 2009. Taking inspiration from the many nightclubs in the city, YYY goes heavy on synthesizers and less on guitars, while rebellious leading lady Karen O's vocals are more smooth than throaty. It's Blitz is a triumphant return that both fans and new listeners will savor all day and night.

When Karen was first questioned about what audiences should expect from YYY's third album It's Blitz, she boasted, “It's something new that we've never heard before from ourselves. Less angst and more positivity, man!” That's exactly what the band features in their new collection of songs, especially in the album opener “Zero,” a cocaine-fueled disco where she commands “Shake it/Like a ladder to the sun.” It's a groin-thruster with throbbing guitars, insisting that you “get your leather on.” Getting the party started, “Zero” is an attention grabber that will make you listen until the final track. “Soft Shock” is tender with Brian Chase's steady drums, along with constant bleeps and blips emphasizing Karen's melodic, dreamy, vocals that have the magic of a summer romance.

Aside from heal-stomping beats, there are also some dark, haunting singles to keep listeners guessing. “Skeletons” is a slow, lingering melody that one needs an acquired taste for. The anticipation of the song suddenly going into a hit number disappoints, like a weak-performing lover that never reaches the dramatic climax that we yearn for. There's a hint of an oriental, mourning echo that's faint, but persistent, which perhaps touches on Karen's Korean heritage. In a delicate, breathy voice, she croons the tragic haiku, “Love left dry, frost or flame, skeleton me.” Fortunately, “Dull Life” rekindles our love for YYY with her aggressive warnings of nightmares from lies, Nick Zinner's guitar swivels that do the same for our hips, and the upbeat, gypsy garage beat that somehow makes us forget that the song is about a misleading beau.

YYY's It's Blitz may leave fans scratching their heads in confusion, not knowing what to make of their new sound that could easily tell the story of Donna Summer raving in Webster Hall on a Saturday night. It's a mixed bag that will leave people hating or loving it, but like a feel-good drug, you can't help but be hooked. Bring on the spandex and let YYY leave us wondering what the night will bring us next.

Stephanie Nolasco


U2
No Line On the Horizon
(Interscope)







“Not There Yet” might be a more apt title for U2’s new album “o Line On the Horizon because while it’s admirable that the band has chosen to venture again into a new musical direction, the songs don’t quite gel and the album feels incomplete in a larger sense. That being said, there certainly are some terrific songs on the album and it’s a good listen but it really feels more like an experiment than a final work.

The most interesting tracks on the album might be the Will.i.am produced track “I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight” which has a peppy tempo with a cool vocal melody that gives the song a great energy and “Unknown Caller” which sounds quite a bit like old school U2, so it’s not terribly innovative, but when it works, it works. Some songs such as “Moment of Surrender” offers interesting advances from the group that are very encouraging like digital looped electronic guitar sounds over moody tones and emotional vocals but contrast with songs like “Magnificent” which has a trancey, Talking Heads sounding intro but then reverts to sounding like U2 covering U2 which becomes formulaic and dull quick.

Overall, the album doesn’t work well as a musical artistic piece and feels more like a collection of unreleased b-sides but it’s always interesting to hear new material from U2 regardless. There are a couple of songs that will really grow on you and U2 does seem to be moving in an interesting direction, they just haven’t arrived at their destination yet. For a U2 fan, it’s a must buy and for a casual fan check out a few songs on iTunes.

Tim Needles

Serge Gainsbourg
Histoire de Melody Nelson
(Light in the Attic)






Serge Gainsbourg's Histoire de Melody Nelson is considered the first French rock concept album. Recorded in the late 60's, by a pop star who was as revered as he was reviled, this might be some of the most unique music you'll hear. Recorded with cracker-jack musicians of the day: Roger Coulam keys, Brian Odgers bass, Jean-Luc Ponty on electric violin, Dougie Wright drums and 'Big' Jim Sullivan and Vic Flick on guitar, "Melody" is basically a love story set to music. "Melody" the first tune, features Gainsbourg's odd talk/singing vocal, distorted guitar, loose bass and drums. "Ballade de Melody Nelson" picks up a bit with some backing female vocal and solid orchestra counterpoint and "Valse de Melody" has Gainsbourg singing fronting only the orchestra.

He gets his 'rock thang' going though with "Ah Melody," the truly smoking, "L'Hôtel Particulier" and the nearly instrumental "En Melody" (it has some naughty woman's laughter amongst all the electric lead playing and bass/drum groove).

Celebrated by modern day artists like Beck (he 'appropriated' Melody's orchestral arrangements and looping bass lines for his Sea Change album), there is no denying Gainsbourg's unique approach, his huge talent and his wry pop sensibility. This is a guy who was only ever described as 'ugly' yet bedded Brigitte Bardot and wrote a song about their affair that was as much a hit as it was banned. Gainsbourg died in 1991 and this is the first domestic release of his masterful concept album; Histoire de Melody Nelson is a gem.

Ralph Greco, Jr.


The Harlem Shakes
Technicolor Health
(Gigantic Records)






At times it’s hard to figure out why The Harlem Shakes is so bouncy and so joyful but with lines like, “we’ve got time to waste some time,” on “TFO” one just wants to join in. There is buoyancy to Technicolor Health, which is very much a light rock-sunshine pop album with a touch of an earthy, slightly blues feel. Each song has an effervescent ability to spin the listener into good times. Almost slightly reminiscent of REM’s 1998 Document album or a softer version of Soul Asylum, with the feistiness of The Bravery, Harlem Shakes has strong likeability. The band filters around the slightly off-kilter voice of singer Lexy Benaim. “Strictly Game” begins almost like an uplifting afrobeat tune, then folds into a catchy island jam of guitar and driving drum and totally worthy of major toe-tapping. Lexy’s voice sounds like a surf that runs through the length of this shoulder shrugging song beckoning for everyone to agree with the chorus “this will be a better year.” Indeed, it will be if The Harlem Shakes takes sole responsibility for adjusting everyone’s attitude.

Chanda Jones


Obits
I Blame You
(Sub Pop)






Rick Froberg, formerly of Pitchfork, Drive Like Jehu, and Hot Snakes, is the sandpaper-throated frontman of Obits, a band churning out such refreshingly meat-and-potatoes rock and roll it’s hard to imagine an emerging band of twentysomethings matching its commanding energy, let alone a group of Froberg’s fortysomething peers. But then again, in its perfect balance of trimmings-free, immediately catchy guitar riffage and commanding vocal delivery, punctuated by a persistent and supportive rhythm section, Obits may be peerless. Eschewing pretentious posturing and the increasingly common urge to fuse disparate influences into an unnecessary genre-hopping combination, Obits instead puts every bead of sweat and drop of blood into perfecting, and owning as their own, the craft of rock and roll. “Widow of My Dreams,” “Two-Headed Coin,” and “Talking to the Dog” are dead-certain crowd-pleasers, while tunes like “Lilies in the Street” and the album-closing “Back and Forth” evoke The Replacements’ jangly slice of the 1980’s. Showing allegiance to the roots of rock and roll, Obits even throws in a blistering cover of “Milk Cow Blues,” a legendarily oft-covered song originally recorded in the 1930’s by Kokomo Arnold. This album will not disappoint.

Toney Palumbo


Jeremy Jay
Slow Dance
(K Records)






Slow Dance, the new album by Jeremy Jay has definite traces of what made The Cure famous which makes the album really stick, though Jay refuses to ascend into total murkiness. With touches of eerie and winding synthesizers, weepy loner-boy poetry of a life in snapshots and soulful delivery through slowly sung vocals, Jay does a great deal of injecting a pleasurable amount of wistful optimism into his music. However, the music feels better appreciated and better heard in a dark room illuminated by candle light, Persian rugs over wood flooring and an opened window of nighttime. Each song pays homage to what feels like diary snooping, long-winding pop songs and Jay’s desire for a dance partner, more so, a lover. Even more, the singer’s yearnings are made exquisitely cool and hard to disengage from because of the music. Single vocals altered for a chorus effect, Jeremy Jay’s style is mostly lo-fi and sentimental. The endearing aspect is the heavy mid-tempo rock carpeting that kicks certain tracks into another space. “Gallop” has drum beats that mirror horses hoofs running alongside finger-snaps and a 70s pop guitar and a tapered low-end bass. Jay’s airy vocals are soft but atmospheric resembling Jim Morrison’s singing on The Doors tune “Crystal Ship.” The title track “Slow Dance” is a synthesized hazy soul tune that shimmers around like an 80s sweaty night club dance trance. Jeremy Jay’s saturation of mysterious and dark leanings infused with upbeat dejection makes the album enjoyable.

Chanda Jones