This week in NYC live music brings another interesting and eclectic mix of shows, including a week-long run by Richard Thompson, an all-star cast at the Tibet House Benefit Concert, lots of New Orleans-style funk/soul/jazz, plus shows by Big Gigantic, Mates of State, Yellowbirds, and Zola Jesus, among others. Read on for the weekly highlight reel and show listings...
The NYC concert calendar chills out a bit this week. But there's still plenty of action, including a jam-packed weekend of shows that's going to set up some tough decisions....
Bumbershoot 2011 Day Two (September 4th, 2011 - Seattle, Washington) **Atari Teenage Riot Maybe it was a mistake to kick-off the second, glorious, sunny day of Bumbershoot (a fun, colloquial way of saying umbrella), Seattle's annual international music and arts festival, by arriving at 6pm after seven hours on an airplane, and walking straight into the dark pit of the Exhibition Hall music stage. Watching Anti-Flag rage incoherently about social injustice to a group of half-interested, disaffected, fans who couldn't be convinced to mosh or crowd surf despite the [...]
Bumbershoot 2011 Day Two Photographs (September 4th, 2011 - Seattle, Washington) All photographs taken by Steven Smith The Kills Carbon Leaf Butthole Surfers Toro y Moi [...]
More awesomeness that is Bumbershoot. Pictures and narrative from Day 2 includes shots of Atari Teenage Riot, The Kills, Tennis, Carbon Leaf, and Jessica Lea Mayfield.

This just in: A partial lineup for 2011 XPoNential Music Festival—WXPN and Camden County Board Of Freeholders' annual three-day festival (running from Friday, July 22, to Sunday, July 24, at Wiggins Park on the Camden Waterfront)—has been announced. So far, the confirmed list of performing acts includes Ben Folds, Booker T., Shemekia Copeland, North Mississippi Allstars Duo, Ted Leo And The Pharmacists, Hayes Carll, Ra Ra Riot, Carbon Leaf, and Jukebox The Ghost; local acts include Susan Werner, Sun Airway, Johnny Miles And The Waywards, David Uosikkinen's In The Pocket, Nicos Gun, Hezekiah Jones, Andrew Lipke, Matt Duke, Kuf [...]
A run-down of five good covers of Ozzy Osbourne's classic heavy metal hit "Crazy Train."
Yup, that's Katy Perry... via Mel

[The man born Richard Starkey, whom you know as Ringo Starr, turns 70 today. That don't hardly seem possible. Happy milestone.] Top 4 ways to service my midweek power-pop jones: ☛ Halsted [pictured], the nom de tune of Bay Area-based singer-songwriter Ryan Auffenberg, hits the Silverlake Lounge behind his sophomore disc "Life Underwater." Comparisons: Mellow side of Matthew Sweet, Jason Falkner. Yeah, that's good enough for me. ☛ See Green plays the Bootleg Theater with International Tennis [...]

Here's another band that I discovered through music blogs. Carbon Leaf was featured on quite a few sites that I frequented... some of these blogs are gone, sadly enough, so I'm unable to give credit to where credit is due. For those unfamiliar with Carbon Leaf, they're out of Richmond, Virginia, and have been around since the early 90's. They started off in college parties, then moves into clubs, and eventually scoring a song ("The Boxer") for Pontiac Vibe commercials on MTV and VH-1. Come to think of it, I believe "The Boxer" [...]

2009 the Year in Music Welcome! You have just found one of the most exhaustive and well-considered lists of quality, new music available in 2009. We don't promise to have everything that's out there but what is comes in one easy-to-digest package ! Read on below: Ultimately, we consider this to be an A-Z shopping list (we have great confidence that any and all of these belong in your permanent collection) is a reflection of [...]

Carbon Leaf : Banish Misfortune [ purchase official Carbon Leaf releases here ] One of the joys of seeing a band live is hearing them tackle a tune that they haven't recorded. Carbon Leaf, in their early days, were known for the Celtic folk influence in their music. But they never made an official recording of Banish Misfortune. This is a traditional Irish tune, but it is also found in the repertoire of many American folk artists, especially in the South. Carbon Leaf gives it a light rock touch, while retaining [...]

Winter is upon us, and so far, it's been an interesting one here in Vermont. No snow, then lots of snow, then freezing temperatures. I'm thrilled that we have the white stuff here, and the fall to spring period of the year is easily trumps summer for me. Winter Birds - Ray LaMontagne [...]

While there have been a number of albums that have been absolutely incredible, music is remembered by the songs that top everything else that you go back to time and time again. This year has been no exception. Runner Up, 11 - Empire State Of Mind (Part II) Broken Down - Alicia Keys This was a song that I hadn't heard up until a couple days ago. Keys is not an artist who usually pops up [...]

11 - Yeah Ghost , Zero 7 Zero 7 is back with their fourth album, Yeah Ghost . While I still think that their best album is their first, [...]

I saw Carbon Leaf earlier this week, with a fun lineup with Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers, along with Dawn Landes. I didn't take down a set list, because I've done that quite a few times already, but there is one part of the concert that I wanted to pass along to the greater internet population. One of the new songs on their latest album, Nothing [...]

I kind of lucked into this interview. I had seen the name Stephen Kellogg come up in my email a time or two, but I didn't really know too much about the guy and his band Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers, so I didn't pay too much attention. It took a friend at a concert in Iowa sending me text upon text of: "This is the greatest band ever," "OMG. Best live show ever," and then "I will kick you if you do not interview this band or do something for them. So amazing." [...]
Technically, the archive hosts the biggest collection of covers, but they've got all those original tunes in there, too. I cut through the bullshit and give you the goods. One cover from several of my favorite bands with collections in the archive. Dig it. When the Levee Breaks (Led Zep)-John Popper (of Blues Traveller) Somewhere Over the Rainbow-Jefferson Starship Never Tear Us Apart (INXS)-John Mayer Gimme Some Lovin' (Spencer Davis Group)-G Love and Special Sauce [...]