The Independent was set up for a sit-down show with candlelit tables on the main floor.

Your fantastic Friday night: ► GV30 — the Goldenvoice/Gary Tovar celebration of 30 years of Los Angeles punk — kicks off three big night at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium with Social Distortion, X and the Adolsecents. ► Guitar virtuoso Charlie Hunter (pictured), on tour with drummer Scott Amendola, starts a two-night stand at the Mint behind his new release "Public Domain," a collection of his interpretation of classics dating back to the 1930s and beyond. ► Two L.A. indie-rock bands that figure to show up prominently on the 2012 radar, [...]
We just got hit with the first snowfall of the season here in NYC. Even though the weather's starting to chill out, the live shows are keeping up the heat. Check out my preview of the week's shows with some videos of my top picks, including Ween, Battles, and Steve Kimock & Friends. Monday's all [...]
This week in NYC shows is a crazy one, with the CMJ Music Marathon officially taking over a good chunk of NYC's clubs and venues.

I'll admit it, until about two weeks ago, I thought this was a Elvis Costello original. Often times a cover can be so well known that people often mistake if for the original, but in the case of Nick Lowe's (What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding, there is an extra wrinkle in the mix - Elvis Costello actually recorded his cover under the name of Nick Lowe & His Sound . Talk about confusing. Anyways, it's a frequently covered song and we've narrowed it down to six must-hear covers this week. Have a listen and place your [...]

This week's NYC Concert Calendar seems a tad quieter than last week's....which makes it seemingly a perfect week to highlight a bunch of smaller, intimate shows that are going on in town. In last week's post I already flagged Music for Money , specifically for fans of Battles and Tortoise. Those guys continue their run of NYC shows this week. But if you're looking for another interesting instrumental band, I'd also hit Delicate Steve et al at the Morgan....those dudes are all over the map sonically, but a lot [...]

Cut Copy @ Pitchfork Music Festival 2011 NYC 's live music scene continues to bang on through the heat & humidity with an interesting mix of shows this week. We've got some well-known, genre-crossing singer-songwriters like Bon Iver and Bob Dylan ...you may have heard of him. If you're more into dreamy synth-based rock that harkens back to 80s, there's Cut Copy at Prospect Park or Small Black 's more intimate (and FREE) gig at Mercury Lounge. For something a little jammy, Zach Deputy 's doing [...]

Photo by WHITperson As spring's finally starting to heat up, I can already see the concert calendar swelling in size. This week is a great example with lots of killer shows in NYC to check out. MONDAY, APRIL 25 Smith Westerns w/ Unknown Mortal Orchestra @ The Bowery Ballroom Tame Impala w/ Yuck @ Webster Hall TUESDAY, APRIL 26 Greensky Bluegrass , Spirit Family Reunion @ Brooklyn Bowl (Brooklyn) [...]

Filed under: All About Jazz Every year, I come away from the NYC Winter Jazzfestival galvanized. The relatively inexpensive two-day event at five clubs in the heart of Manhattan's Greenwich Village featured upward of 60 groups this year, offering sets from 6PM until sometime more than nine hours later. I joined 2,000 other jazz fans (happily -- most of whom seemed college age or just after) on Saturday night to do my best to catch as much music as I could. But like other [...]

Back in 2007, Dispatch shocked the world when they reunited for three benefit shows at Madison Square Garden that sold out within hours of going on sale. The jam-pop trio, who originally disbanded back in 2002 followed by a handful of reunions over the the years, have been teasing their fans with a countdown clock on their website that recently revealed they will reunite for a six-date summer tour. The band, who will reportedly head into the recording studio prior to hitting the road, will kick off the tour on June 4 at the legendary Red [...]
Here's a typical conversation I had this week: Me: "I'm reviewing Norah Jones this week." Random Friend: "My mom likes Norah Jones." It doesn't sound much like an insult, because there are no harsh words or explicit judgments passed. Instead, rather underhandedly, people place themselves above an artist by defining them as an entity that sees heavy rotation in their mother's limited CD collection, the collection of a woman who, while loved and respected, surely has inferior taste in music. It's with Jones' newest release, ...Featuring Norah Jones , a compilation album [...]
Another day and another story about our favorite psychedelic rock band from Oklahoma, as The Flaming Lips have announced via their Twitter account that they will be playing their 1999 critically acclaimed break through album The Soft Bulletin in its entirety during their hometown New Year's Eve performance at the Cox Center in Oklahoma City. The Lips, who performed their version of Dark Side Of The Moon last year on NYE, will once again be joined by Stardeath & White Dwarfs, with tickets available for as low as [...]

Last night, I was able to finally check out one of Soulive's "Bowlive" shows, as a part of the band's 10-night residency at Brooklyn Bowl . My tickets came courtesy of the fine folks at Relix who drew my name for a free pair (thanks dudes!). Overall, the show was loose and intimate, featuring a rotating cast of characters for a variety of interesting sit-ins and lineups. The band welcomed Charlie Hunter as their main guest to show off his skills with his signature 8-string guitar as well as a [...]

March 1 Charlie Hunter 7:00 and 9:30 Buy Tickets "…a man who [has] built his badass reputation by conquering hairy bass lines and heady post-bop melodies simultaneously on custom eight-string instruments… Hunter is still a musical beast ." – Guitar Player With a career spanning 16 years and almost 20 albums, Charlie Hunter consistently ups his game as an innovative writer and bandleader. He has worked with the likes of Norah Jones, Mos Def, John Mayer, D'Angelo and countless [...]

The Sound Culture Podcast, TSC048: feat. Statik Selektah, In Flagranti, Panacea, Charlie Hunter, and more! 1. InContext "As the Sun Goes Down" (mp3) from "As the Sun Goes Down - Single" (Velcro City Records) Buy at iTunes Music Store More On This Album [...]

2010 has some great albums on the way, and some are already here. Charlie Hunter released his most recent effort on January 12th, the Disco Biscuits supposedly have their first studio effort in eight years coming in March and Drive-By Truckers also release a new disc that month. Check this piece to see what these bands and others were up to on the road last week. [Thanks to sonicsound for this week's photo] Artist & Title: The Brew - Chance Reaching Date & [...]
Charlie Hunter played guitar on one of the best albums of the last decade, Bobby Previte's The Coalition of the Willing . Clearly not a man to rest on past success, it looks as if he's laying an early claim to the best album title of this decade, with the release of his brand new disc Gentlemen, I Neglected To Inform You You Will Not Be Getting Paid . As a taster of it, here's the mercilessly tight r'n'b flavoured jazz of High Pockets and a Fanny Pack . [...]

by Andrew Frisicano DOWNLOAD: Charlie Hunter - High Pockets and a Fanny Pack (MP3) Charlie [Hunter] has wrapped up the recording of his next record titled 'Gentlemen, I Neglected To Inform You You Will Not Be Getting Paid.' The lineup includes Eric Kalb (Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, John Scofield) on drums, Curtis Fowlkes (Jazz Passengers, Lounge Lizards, Bill Frisell) and Alan Ferber (Don Byron, Kenny Wheeler) on trombone, and Eric Biondo (Antibalas, TV On The Radio) [...]

Last Sunday I took it real old school with Sade. It was part of the countdown but I didn't forget about Old School Sunday. This week I am re-birthing Charlie Hunter's 2001 release Analog Playground . This is the second album from legendary Jazz label Blue Note to make an appearance on the relatively new Old School Sundays. Blue Note was releasing a lot of progressive jazz, acid jazz, and jazz fusion at the beginning of this decade, which lead to some pretty amazing albums. This CD featured vocals from Mos Def, Theryl De Clouet, and Kurt Elling, but [...]