Blog: BrooklynRocks: NYC Music Blog

Miss Guy - established DJ and front-man for the recently reunited glam-punk band Toilet Boys – just released his first solo disc, "Dumb Blonde". Miss Guy has been a fixture in the downtown NYC rock scene for over fifteen years, co-written songs with Deborah Harry ("Charm Alarm") and Boy George ("Stay Away from Pretty Boys") and is now stepping out under his own name with the release of this new EP (and he has a follow-up EP readied for later this year). Miss Guy always showcased a wide range of musical styles when DJing and his new [...]

DOWNLOAD : Pearl and the Beard - "Sweetness" " Neverland's got nothing on the whimsical world constructed by Pearl than the Bear. The N.Y.C. based trio carries listeners on their backs through a DIY dreamland that is unpredictable yet safe and warm like the comfort of one's own bed. " - Bust Magazine Pearl and the Beard is three voices, one cello, one guitar, one glockenspiel, one melodica, several drums, one accordion, ninety-six teeth, and one soul. Pearl and the [...]

All I can say is "d*mn" - life is complicated enough without having to deal with serious illnesses. The Buddies' drummer, Kim Collins, has been diagnosed with breast cancer. Her band leader, Coley Kennedy, has set up an online fundraiser to help with medical and living expenses. Our friend, Kim Collins, was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. Please help us offset/assist with medical/daily living expenses to alleviate the financial burden. Kim plays drums, sings, and plays the accordion in our band, The Buddies. She's the pretty one. Kim is also the [...]

I'm both impressed and glad to see Harley back in action... Harley Flanagan, bassist/vocalist of Cro-Mags and Harley's War fame, has officially signed with Southern Lord for several upcoming releases! Southern Lord owner Greg Anderson released the following statement regarding this new alliance with Harley's newest endeavors: " Harley Flanagan is one of the most revered, controversial and infamous musicians of the last 25 years of underground music. His resume and reputation speak equal amounts of vitriolic decibels as does his bass stack blaring in your face. I have personally been a huge [...]

This disc is being sold by major retailers as a Japanese EMI import but is allegedly a Russian bootleg. Regardless, it is a beautiful package and the two live shows on this disc document what a powerful live act Queen was early in their career. Both shows are sourced from radio broadcasts and are bookended around the release of the band's under-appreciated Queen II album. The first show captures the band a month after Queen II was recorded but six months prior to the album's release. During this show, the band [...]

While I've been able to identify the (with reasonably certainty) the dates and location all of the previous "Live on Air" releases that I've reviewed, Van Morrison's Live on Air release had me stumped until I realized it was a compilation. The disc's set list makes this disc look like it is from Van's 1973 show at the Rainbow Theater with the Caledonia Soul Orchestra. While there are a number of tracks from that show included on this disc, a few tracks are sourced from different live shows that span Van's career. Like most [...]

Former Luna Lounge co-owner, Rob Sacher, has a brand new book, Wake Me When It's Over , a story of his life as a New York club owner filled with stories about meeting, partying, or working with many iconic bands of the alternative and indie rock world. Rob's last club was Luna Lounge, which started out on the Lower East Side, and the bar featured the first shows from some awesome bands that have gone on to be some of the world's most important and successful music artists. Luna was the room were The Strokes first [...]

Pray For Rain by Mutts Chicago's Mutts have been called a cross between Tom Waits and Nirvana...while I can hear the Tom Waits comparison, I think the band's music is sounds closer to 70's blues-rock though the band can quickly switch from a psychedelic head-nodder with a pulsing bass and drums beat to a mellow number driven by an acoustic piano and Mike Maimone's vocals. Regardless, this is great stuff and the inability to put an exact label on the band's music is a complement to their [...]

" I always thought artists like Fred Astaire were very cool. Writers like Harold Arlen, Cole Porter, all of those guys - I just thought the songs were magical. And then, as I got to be a songwriter I thought it's beautiful, the way they made those songs. " – Paul McCartney (Photographer: Mary McCartney) On Feb. 7th, Paul McCartney is releasing his first new disc in five years, Kisses on the Bottom . The disc takes its name from a lyric in the Fats Waller [...]

Local NWOBHM band(and recent Earache signee) Natur is kicking off a Spring mini-tour at Public Assembly on March 1st. The band is playing alongside Windhand (Richmond doom/stoner-metal), Pilgrim (Black Sabbath/St. Vitus influenced power trio) and Magic Circle (features members of Mind Eraser, The Rival Mob and The A-Team); tickets are $10 and the show starts at 8:30PM. Formed in 2008, Natur channels the old school, high energy sound reminiscent of legendary artists Judas Priest, Mercyful Fate, and Motorhead with New York intensity. The band has already achieved cult status among Brooklyn's [...]

When did NPR become hip enough to cover black metal releases? The first track, "At the Mouth", from Lord Mantis' sophomore release, Pervertor , premiered on NPR's All Songs Considered Blog which was accompanied by an interview with guitarist Andrew Markuszewski (snippet below). NPR : What role does blasphemy and perversion take in Lord Mantis? AM : You'll find blasphemy and perversion in various states of practice in every member of this band. Pervertor comes straight from our beating black hearts. While I won't exactly [...]

The UK-based Music for Nations label put out some pretty cool indie-metal releases in the 80's and 90's and its artist roster included Metallica, Godflesh, Trouble and Warrior Soul. The label shuttered in 2004 after which many of its titles become hard to find but The End Records recently secured a deal to re-release over 50 of the label's titles. Physical copies of the first twelve titles were released on Jan. 31st. The first title that I picked up off this new stack of releases is the third release by blackened Swedish thrash band Witchery, [...]

After a quiet couple of years, Flipper has resurfaced in 2012! The band is playing a local warm-up show in Oakland on March 2 with East Bay Way & the Killer Smiles which is a precursor to playing SXSW in March and Europe in April. Flipper's last studio disc Love came out in 2009 on MVD Audio. " LOVE, the brand new studio album from the incredible Flipper was recorded with the great Jack Endino at the helm, known for having recorded many of Seattle's greatest Grunge albums, including Nirvana's Bleach. [...]

I was excited by this release as Lou Reed – Live Performances 1972 & 1974 is the first live recording from Lou's Sally Can't Dance tour to be commercially released. The first video segment shows Lou and his band recorded live at the Paris Olympia on 5/25/74. This segment, which was originally broadcast on French TV, captures the first six songs of Lou's thirteen song set. The second segment contains four tracks that were recorded in Brussels in May 1974 and the final track is from Lou's reunion with John Cale and [...]

This album is heavy as f*ck and will melt your face off! I always wanted to write a review that says absolutely nothing about the music on the disc (trying Googling "heavy as f*ck" or "melt your face off" and see how many times these phrases have been used in CD reviews). Most reviews that I've read of The Doors' 40th Anniversary edition of L.A. Woman use most of their inches talking about the disc's original release in 1971. With this disc having now been out 41 years, is there anyone out [...]

DOWNLOAD : Meat Puppets - Live at City Gardens, Trenton, NJ 5/9/87 ( Part 1 and Part 2 ) In April of 1987, the Meat Puppets released their fifth disc, Mirage . This disc was the band's first that sounded intentionally geared toward commercial accessibility and Derrick Bostrom has referred to the disc as the Pups "psychedelic epic". This is a transitional disc for the Pups, which catches them between the blissed-out country-punk of Up on the Sun and the pre-grunge alt-rock of [...]

STREAM : Wino & Conny Ochs - "Heavy Kingdom" (title track from forthcoming album) Earlier this week, the folks at The Obelisk posted the title track, "Heavy Kingdom", from the forthcoming collaborative album from Wino & Conny Ochs. This new LP is confirmed for North American release via Exile On Mainstream Records on March 13th. Wino & Conny Ochs have also confirmed their first full tour in support of Heavy Kingdom , set for performances across Europe for all of March and through mid-April. More dates [...]

I've never figured out why there seemed to be a mainstream backlash against Quiet Riot. When Quiet Riot last came though New York (they played the St. George Theatre in Staten Island in 2006), I asked some of my friends who have mainstream musical tastes (i.e. Nickelback and Poison fans) if they wanted to go with me to the show and they gave me looks like I asked them if they wanted to see (i.e.) The Wiggles open for Miley Cyrus. My friends missed a fabulous show – Rehab (which the band was touring behind at [...]

The Residents' Rivers of Hades is currently available as a CDR which Ralph is selling through its eBay store . The band describes this release as " music conceived as an aural art piece to accompany the release party of The Residents toy figures recently designed by Steve Cerio. The original music was conceived to utilize two DVD players that were programmed to randomly play abstract bits of music. They would play 5.1 surround audio and each would play different things. The project (which required 12 speakers placed in a circle around the gallery) was entitled [...]

To call The Residents "prolific" would be an understatement as the band seems to releases new and archival releases almost monthly. If you follow the band closely though, there are a number of themes that reemerge across the years and most of the band's recent projects first surfaced on 2009's Ten Little Piggies compilation (see previous review ). The Residents will be releasing a new CD next month, Coochie Brake , which is the second release under "THE UGHS" concept so I thought this would be a good time to go back and review [...]