Blog: The Village Voice: Sound of the City

Oh, Rubulad. The low-rent Cosmic Cavern. The Burning Man of Brooklyn. The place NYU students write home about as what it's "like to be inside the brain of Lady Gaga." Well, the Bed-Stuy commun... Continue reading "Rubulad Gets a Fire Marshal Visit; Due To This "Ongoing Fiasco" Their Clinton Hill Future Is Uncertain" >

Well, this was entirely unexpected. Behold: a massive compendium of every celebrity ubiquitous Roots drummer and all around hero Questlove has ever met, complete with the story of how it happened ... Continue reading "Please Welcome the Best Website Ever, "Questlove's Celebrity Stories," Starring a Hilarious Canibus Dis and the Time He Met Will Smith" >

If you want to know how we got to this ecstatic, scientifically-engineered paradise of weaponized choruses and overwhelming female bombast, start with this piece right here, in which Sean Fennes... Continue reading "Celebrating the Fact That There Is a New Katy Perry Single, the Beach House-Shaming "Teenage Dream"" >

Sir Lucious Leftfoot and Teflon Don have (justifiably) monopolized the conversation in recent weeks, but there's at least one other new hip-hop album worth clearing earspace for: Pilot Talk, a so... Continue reading "Q&A: Curren$y and Producer Ski Beatz (and Damon Dash) Talk Pilot Talk, BluRoc, and Eating at Bubby's in Tribeca" >

If we're being honest, we've been refreshing YouTube all week in the hopes that someone might have uploaded footage of Marissa Paternoster's obliteratingly awesome guest turn on Ted Leo's "Woke ... Continue reading "Watch Ted Leo Perform "Little Dawn" and "Where Have All the Rude Boys Gone" Live at Siren Festival" >

Sleigh Bells, the Brooklyn duo of former school teacher Alexis Krauss and former waiter/Poison The Well guitarist Derek Miller, have a rather apocalyptic presence, as we've previously noted. H... Continue reading "Interview: Sleigh Bells Confirm That Treats is Good For Exercise" >

Because even though every one from P!nk to Marc Hogan to a decorated Boston media reporter/former colleague who is now a Northeastern University professor (!) has become compelled to weigh in, c... Continue reading "This Is Not a Best of #changehearttobuttsongs Post" >

Today, TMZ took a valuable couple minutes off of the Lindsay Lohan beat to procure the divorce papers served by The-Dream to his pregnant, deserted wife, Christina Milian. The major revelation? Th... Continue reading "Interview with a Divorce Attorney: Just How Badly Did The-Dream Treat Christina Milian?" >

Been a lousy summer for visa-issue concert cancellations, from Joao Gilberto to Buena Vista Social Club to any dancehall star you'd care to name. Your latest casualties: ska titans the Specials, w... Continue reading "Avast: The Specials' Central Park SummerStage Show Is Cancelled" >

"I was at M.I.A.'s secret birthday party two days ago when Drew Barrymore walked in," says a smitten-sounding Theophilus London, the much-championed young M.C. who, contrary to his rap name, hail... Continue reading "Q&A: Rapper Theophilus London Gives Tips For Remaining Cool and Fashionable at HARD NYC This Weekend " >

With Seth Rogen on drums! Dave almost wipes out on a water bottle right at the onset, and there's like a Super Mario Bros. power-up mushroom onstage for some reason, but otherwise this is a tota... Continue reading "David Byrne Jumped Onstage With Crowded House To Do "Once In A Lifetime" Last Night" >

Local guitar heroine Marnie Stern, whose great 2008 LP This Is It and I Am It and You Are It and So Is That and He Is It and She Is It and It Is It and That Is That seems like it came out way more... Continue reading "Marnie Stern Returns, Declares "Female Guitar Players Are the New Black"" >

Fresh off their triumphant Tunnel Bangers countdown comes another Complex.com list celebrating the glory days of New York rap, this one focused on Boot Camp Clik, Brooklyn's eight-man mid-'90s sup... Continue reading "Presenting "The 25 Greatest Boot Camp Clik Songs Of All Time," Another Fine (If Click-Intensive) Complex.com List" >

Burning Spear Rockefeller Park Wednesday, June 21 "Do you remember the days of slavery?" bellows Winston Rodney, a/k/a Burning Spear, and though a quick age/demographic sweep may suggest otherw... Continue reading "Live: Burning Spear, Toasting The Hudson River At Rockefeller Park" >

Fans of this blog's particularly half-assed antagonistic schemes will recall last week's electrifying conclusion to our annual (?!) Worst Band Name in New York contest, won in its inaugural (??!!)... Continue reading "Chink Floyd Are Upset They Didn't Win Our "Worst Band Name In New York" Contest, Which Is A Valid Point" >

There's a lot of anticipation in the New York air right now: John Mayer, unrepentant heartthrob, is coming to town. Marc Hogan's favorite crooner plays Jones Beach tonight; earlier today, he inv... Continue reading "Surveying the Ladies of John Mayer's Jones Beach Concert Tonight, Via Twitter" >

It's hard to imagine that this is anything but a disappointment for M.I.A.'s team, who got the promotional wheels rolling in full force all the way back in May, only to be derailed in June by Lyn... Continue reading "M.I.A.'s /\/\/\Y/\ Is the Ninth Most Popular Record In America Right Now" >

In this week's Village Voice, Ben Detrick profiles the post-Roc-a-Fella edition of Damon Dash as he haltingly embarks on a kinder, gentler comeback. Elsewhere, Sean Fennessey dissects the two hal... Continue reading "This Week's Voice: Damon Dash Resurrected, Best Coast and Wavves, Wayne Coyne, Rick Ross, and More" >

There are quite a few goofy faces, it's true, and the long shots, which make her look like an action figure or a candy bar or something, have a strange poignance. But overall "Your Love" just is... Continue reading "Nicki Minaj's "Your Love" Video: Too Much Fake Swordfighting, Too Few Goofy Faces" >

Bethany Cosentino, Kid Cudi, and Rostam Batmanglij Music Hall of Williamsburg Tuesday, July 20 It was just two weeks ago that Converse attempted to answer the "Hey, What if Kid Cudi, Best Coast... Continue reading "Live: The Preposterous Supergroup That Is Best Coast's Bethany Cosentino, Kid Cudi, and Vampire Weekend's Rostam Batmanglij" >