Blog: BrooklynRocks: NYC Music Blog

With the release of the New York Dolls' DVD Looking Fine on Television , I went back to check out some of the Dolls/Thunders releases that I've missed over the years. These first of the discs that I dropped on was Johnny Thunders Who's Been Talking which is a live DVD of one of Johnny's last concerts. This show was filmed at Club Citta in Osaka, Japan on April 3, 1991 and this is the last known recorded show that Johnny played as he was found dead in New Orleans on April 23rd. The [...]

DOWNLOAD : Meat Puppets - Live @ Variety Arts Center, Los Angeles, CA 1-22-88 Always a prolific band, The Meat Puppets followed the April 1987 release of the very accessible Mirage with Huevos , which came out just six months later. This time out, the band are going for a bluesy, riff-rock power trio sound akin to the James Gang or ZZ Top. In the liner notes for the reissue, Derrick Bostrom said: " At this stage of our career, we weren't punk enough [...]

" The legendary and infamous New York Dolls at their best! Amazing rare live clips and interviews filmed by Bob Gruen and Nadya Beck in the heady days of the band's ascension in the 70s. Footage from early shows in NYC all the way to the TV studios, clubs and swimming pools of Los Angeles. Black and white film was never so colorful! Includes ripping versions of "Personality Crisis," "Who Are the Mystery Girls?" "Babylon" and more. See the incredible early days of the band that influenced generations of punks and rockers. " -- Press Release I'm the [...]

DOWNLOAD : Lissie - "2000 Miles" (Live - not on Live at Shepard's Bush Empire CD/DVD) Happy holidays! I wanted to share my version of the Pretenders' '2,000 Miles' from a show I did last year in London! I hope it's a nice complement to your holiday season and helps ya to feel festive! I also hope you all have a very happy holiday surrounded by loved ones and delicious food! Love, Lissie Links : [...]

• Lissie - "2000 Miles"

The Magnetic Fields' Love at the Bottom of the Sea will be released by Merge Records on March 6. The band's tenth full-length album is their first release of new material with Merge since 1999's highly acclaimed 69 Love Songs . The band will celebrate their new album with a North American tour that passes through the SXSW Music Showcase in Austin, Texas. After putting out three synthesizer-free albums, The Magnetic Fields are returning to the signature mix of synth and acoustic sounds they established in the 90s with Merge releases such as The [...]

DOWNLOAD : Meat Puppets - Live @ KCRW Studios, 1-16-86 (contains live versions of many of the songs from On My Way ) The Meat Puppets' Up On the Sun (1985) was a staple of my college radio days and there was a rumor circulating at the time that the popularity of the disc was going to lead to the Pups signing to a major label. At this point in the band's career, Curt's songwriting had significantly matured, leaving no trace of the speedballing freaked-out [...]

Toward the end of last month, The Fall released their 29th studio disc Erstaz GB (Cherry Red Records / MVD Audio). Longtime champion of the band John Peel said that " The Fall are always identifiably The Fall, but they do seem to evolve " and there is no mistaking Mark E. Smith's garbled stream-of-conscious, sing/speak vocals on Erstaz GB which are interwoven into a dense layer of frenetic punk riffs, rumbling dirge and crashing heavy metal chords that collectively end up not too far from the music on The Fall's last two discs. [...]

Only kidding about the later portion of the title but…Tracii has swapped out Jizzy Pearl's replacement, former Rock Star: Supernova contestant, Dilana Robichaux after just two months with the band. Tracii has had a revolving cast of vocalists over the years but Dilana's departure has to set the record for the shortest tenure. Dilana's replacement is Tony West, who played with the band Blacklist Union (never heard of him or the band…but I never heard of Chris Van Dahl either before or after his tenure in LA Guns). According to Blabbermouth, Dilana [...]

After getting fairly annoyed / disappointed with the recent series of major label "deluxe reissues" (Nirvana, Pink Floyd, etc.), Deep Purple's The BBC Sessions 1968/70 is a welcome change - along with being a great addition to the band's extensive catalog. It isn't quite fair to call this 2CD set a "deluxe reissue" but about half of these tracks had circulated previously on various compilations and reissues. This is the first time though that ALL of Deep Purple's BBC session that were recorded between 1968 – 1970 have been released in chronological running order. [...]

Confessions of a heretic…I went to last week's Clap Your Hands Say Yeah show to see WATERS as I really had no idea what CYHSY sounded like. I watched the energy of the sold-out crowd explode when the band took the stage but, for whatever reason, the band's music just wasn't my cup of tea. I was trying to get a feel for the band's music [...]

I think I made a mistake not seeing WATERS when they came through in both June and October for shows at Mercury Lounge. In a live setting, the band's songs have a raw energy that wasn't fully captured on the band's debut CD and frontman Van Pierszalowski plays guitar with an intensity that reminds me of Evan Dando when The Lemonheads were first starting out. The band [...]

Know-It-All by Radical Dads DOWNLOAD : Radical Dads - "Skateboard Bulldog" " This song was inspired by a real canine I met at a skate park in Astoria, Queens. He tried to steal my board, then got distracted by someone else's board, then jumped back on his own and innocently cruised the concrete as if he hadn't just tried to kill the sesh. A quick Internet search will show that many types of animals are capable of riding skateboards, but only the bulldog can be bred to shred. " -- Guitarist [...]

• Radical Dads - "Skateboard Bulldog"

EMA - Angelo by souterraintransmissions EMA has announced the first dates of a spring North American headlining tour, which will launch on March 1st at the Rickshaw Stop in San Francisco, CA and continue through March 16th at the Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn, NY. Tickets for the show at MHOW go on sale on Friday, Dec. 16th at 12PM (EST) and are $12 in advance and $15 DOS. All of the announced tour dates are listed below. Year-end praise [...]

Flipper seemed to play the East Coast all the time in the early – mid 80's but I only remember one tour in the 90's (with The Dwarves, if memory serves). Given this, I was surprised when Flipper resurfaced for two "Save CBGB" shows in 2005 and followed this up with both a new studio, a live disc and another tour. Aside for a one-off show with the Dead Kennedys earlier this year and an archival DVD from MVD Video released last year, Flipper has been keeping a low profile. I recently found that I had [...]

Baltimore hardcore stalwarts Pulling Teeth are calling it a day. I hate seeing good bands "pull the plug" (and bad bands never do) but you have to give kudos to a band (or anyone, for that matter) who isn't afraid to acknowledge that they have accomplished what they set out to do and are ready to move on. The band said " As a band we have accomplished everything that we have set out to do. Life is short. It's time to move on and do other things. '" [...]

DOWNLOAD : Futurebirds - "nearsayefive" DOWNLOAD : Futurebirds - Live at Union Pool, Brooklyn 2-26-11 (posted to www.nyctaper.com) (Photo: Eddie Whelan) It is hard to put a label on Futurebirds' music as some of their songs fit perfectly alongside the music of recent touring partner J, Roddy Walston but other songs sound like something out of Explosion in the Sky's catalogue. 2011 has been a large year for Futurebirds. The Athens outfit has released [...]

• Futurebirds - 01 nearsayerfive (eddiethewheel)

Sweet Sour by Band of Skulls Southampton's Band Of Skulls have just posted the second track from their forthcoming sophomore disc Sweet Sour (out Feb. 21st on Vagrant Records). and the band is kicking off a US tour in March next year with shows at Webster Hall and Music Hall of Williamsburg. Sessions for Sweet Sour started in January of this year when the trio returned to the cradle of their first album, their home studio in Southampton. [...]

I saw Oasis on their 1994 club tour and, post show, wasn't convinced that it was worth the $8 cover. I came away thinking that the band couldn't decide if they wanted to be Paul Weller or John Lennon but, in either case, they weren't on par with either artist. Surprisingly, I liked Beady Eyes' debut disc, Different Gear, Still Speeding , as there was an energy and a sense of urgency in the songs that I hadn't heard in any of the later period Oasis material. Sadly, my opinion flipped back the [...]

Singer/songwriter, Sadie, who has toured as a backing vocalist for La La Brooks of The Crystals (Da Doo Ron Ron), will be releasing her debut EP "Waiting For The Moment" on Dec. 6th. The six-song EP features songwriting, instrumental assistance and production from Ted Mason, known for his work as member of multi-platinum group Modern English ("Melt With You") as well as president of Mi5 Recordings. Mason says, " I get a thrill out of developing and working with new artists. I have known Sarah "Sadie" Brummer for years and I had time between projects to jump in and give [...]

01 For All The Little Things by Fort Wilson Riot Indie dance-rock duo Fort Wilson Riot have a new EP, "Generation Complex", coming out Dec. 3rd. While on tour this fall, Amy Hager and Jacob Mullis teamed up with the LightBright group in Albuquerque, NM, to shoot a Freerange Show, an acoustic rendition of their lead single from the "Generation Complex" EP, "For All The Little Things". The result is an intimate look at the structure of the Fort Wilson Riot's [...]