Blog: The Village Voice: Sound of the City

Dolorean Stuy Town Oval Wednesday, July 7 It certainly didn't hurt that Spain beat Germany yesterday to progress to the World Cup final: hot weather, a Spanish band, a Spanish victory, Thai iced... Continue reading "Live: Delorean Take Up Residence at the Stuy Town Oval" >

It's Big Boi's world this week, the praise for Sir Lucious Left Foot near-ubiquitous out in the Internet ether, so nothing left to do but perform perhaps the record's best song for the Internet'... Continue reading "Watch Big Boi Do "Shutterbug" For Jay Leno" >

True, most YouTube concert videos are shoddy, not terrifically engaging affairs, but this one has a certain elegant brutality, does it not? Whatever you were doing last night -- tracking Lebron ... Continue reading "Here Is A Disconcertingly Intense 30-Second Sampler Of The Wolf Eyes Show At Secret Project Robot Last Night" >

Here we have three artist-curated mixes to guide you through this apocalyptic heat: Given that DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince's "Summertime" remains the almighty jam (it is too hot to even argue... Continue reading "Battle Of The Summer-Themed Mixtapes: The Morning Benders Vs. Jens Lekman Vs. DJ Jazzy Jeff & Mick Boogie" >

The-Dream's Love King--by our own Rob Harvilla's estimation, the r&b auteur's "third-straight deliriously triumphant solo album"--debuts at #4 on the Billboard charts this week, selling 58,000 cop... Continue reading "The-Dream Sold 58,000 Copies of Love King" >

Mike Patton may've teased the sold-out crowd at Monday night's Faith No More show by calling us "hipsters," but the malnourished layabouts who normally sashay down Bedford Ave really weren't the s... Continue reading "How One Williamsburg Bar Welcomed All Those Faith No More Fans: Hey "Nerds That Never Got Over High School"" >

In this week's Village Voice, our cover story is on the Nitrous Mafia, the gas-fueled drug gang that is terrorizing music festivals up and down both coasts. Elsewhere, Rob Harvilla talks with OutK... Continue reading "This Week's Voice: The Nitrous Mafia, Big Boi, Kelis, Oneohtrix Point Never, June Jazz Festivals, and More" >

According to popular myth, a young Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta wrote in her Convent of the Sacred Heart high school yearbook that her career goal was to perform at Madison Square Garden. L... Continue reading "A Twitter Guide to Surviving Lady Gaga's Three Sold-Out Shows at Madison Square Garden " >

And like that, you can hear the record you've been reading reviews of since May. M.I.A. is streaming her third LP at MySpace right now in advance of its release next Tuesday-- we're partial to Dip... Continue reading "Stream the New M.I.A. Record, /\/\/\Y/\" >

The question: "What's your favorite non-hip-hop pursuit?" Diddy's answer, after a meaningful, somewhat bewildered pause: "happiness." ... Continue reading "Live: Diddy Holds Forth On Biggie, Mary (The Biblical One), And His Own Ambition At 92Y Tribeca " >

Total Slacker, Red Romans, Ava Luna Union Pool Tuesday, July 6 Last night in the freezing (yessss) back room of Union Pool, three Brooklyn acts gave startlingly fresh performances. The bill--Red... Continue reading "Live: Total Slacker, Ava Luna, and Beach Fossils Side Project Red Romans Turn on the Air Conditioning at Union Pool" >

Well, if you ever get tired of exercising to Sleigh Bells, I guess this is the next logical step: wrestling with them on your new mixtape. As have Atlanta's own Hollyweerd on a bonus track to thei... Continue reading "Listen: Atlanta Hip-Hop Quartet Hollyweerd Attempt To Rap Over Sleigh Bells' "Infinity Guitars" " >

So last week, as you recall, we announced plans to find the single worst band name in this fair city -- a difficult task indeed, given the comment-section opprobrium heaped on the Ball of Flame S... Continue reading "The Worst Band Name In New York: We're Putting It To A Vote " >

The Rub has been at Southpaw longer than your grandma's had dentures. So this past Saturday, Cosmo Baker, DJ Ayres, and DJ Eleven celebrated their eighth anniversary in the Slope with EMPD's DJ... Continue reading "Photos from The Rub's Eighth Anniversary at Southpaw" >

The Rub has been at Southpaw longer than your grandma's had dentures. So this past Saturday, Cosmo Baker, DJ Ayres, and DJ Eleven celebrated their eighth anniversary in the Slope with EMPD's DJ... Continue reading "Photos from The Rub's Eighth Anniversary at Southpaw" >

"I don't think the true Sugar Hill Records story has ever been told because there's so much skull-duggery attached to it," says Keith Le Blanc, the one-time in-house drummer for Sugar Hill Records... Continue reading "The Real Sugar Hill Records Story: In-House Drummer Keith Le Blanc on the Myths Surrounding Rap's First Label" >

Yes In My Backyard is a semiweekly column showcasing new and emerging MP3s from local talent. "I mean good sounding stuff sounds great, but personally, I love that quintessential indie sound," sa... Continue reading "Download Knight School's Gleefully No-Fi Summer Jam "I'm Your Band"" >

• Knight School, "I'm Your Band" » 5024612.0.mp3

M.I.A.'s complicated relationship with hip-hop has always been fascinating: Kala, her last record, was hard on rap (see: the Rick Ross-immolating "Hussel," or the Timbaland judo-chop "Come Around... Continue reading "M.I.A. Collaborates with Nicki Minaj, Talks Jay-Z's "XXXO" Remix: "It Was Good To Hear Him Say the Word 'Metrosexual'"" >

• M.I.A., "TEQKILLA (Lost my fone out wiv ... » 5024428.0.mp3

We have long been fascinated with the theoretical exercise potential in the music of the cheery, epic Brooklyn pop duo Sleigh Bells. So has SOHI Fitness guru Megan Clark, who first used the band'... Continue reading "There Is A New Sleigh Bells Workout Video" >

On Saturday, lizphair.com suddenly had a new album available via download for a mere $5.99, with one streaming track as a sample, or maybe a warning: "Bollywood" features our heroine rapping in di... Continue reading "Liz Phair Returns With Internet-Only Funstyle, Rhymes "Genius" With "Peen-ius"" >