Stage Invasions, Deadlock, Vanilla Ice, Pineapples, this week's X Factor had it all. Especially the bloody deadlock. Six weeks in, five deadlocks. It's getting bloody ridiculous. Just as ridiculous as that stupid noise when it goes to Deadlock. It's not tense the fecking fifth time! Anyhow, on with the show review. This week was Queen Week, so Brian May and Roger Taylor were celebrity mentors (yay! The mentors are back). So every song was a cover of a Queen song. Well, except one. But if Simon can bend the rules, certainly Louis can too! (Oh and I predicted [...]
As close as possible to bringing Chicago home to you when you can't get there yourself.

*MP3: Ke$ha - "Tik Tok" (Fred Falke Remix) Ke$ha's "Tik Tok" has been killing it as of late and I surely it expect it to be hitting top ten soon enough. Here's a Fred Falke remix of the jam. Props to Window Waves on the find. (Ian Anderson)
Cerrando uno de los años más prolíficos en lo que a visitas musicales se refiere, uno de los referentes vivos más importantes de la guitarra avant-garde en el mundo anunció su segunda visita a Chile para finales de este año: el inglés Fred Frith se presentará en solitario el próximo jueves 17 de diciembre en el Teatro Oriente, con valores que fluctúan entre los $10 mil y los $13 mil pesos. Iniciador junto a Henry Cow del corto pero influyente movimiento RIO (Rock In Opposition) -que surgió [...]
Another year of (mostly) daily tunes here at Doklands, and I have to say I'm still having fun with this. I considered winding this up after hitting 1,000 tracks because really, how much is there left to say? Glad I didn't, though. Nik Bärtsch's Ronin - Modul 38-17 Miriam Makeba - Jol'inkomo Bishop Allen - Psycho Killer Oysterband - Road To Nowhere MGMT - This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody) Geoffrey Oryema - Listening Wind The Staple Singers - Life During Wartime The Staple Singers - Slippery [...]
The press release below doesn't actually list all the acts performing at CMJ this year, so you're probably better off checking out cmj.sched.org to get a true idea of what's happening during this year's marathon. Of course, sched.org is a little confusing too and it doesn't list unofficial events and day parties (as far as I know), so you'll have to wait a little bit longer for info to trickle out from the blogs and other unofficial sources. Lastly, even though the press release says the schedule is "final", you can pretty much bet that things will shift [...]
Music at its freest and most abandoned and the chance to hear it played by one of the masters.
Not sure the right description of the Gavin Friday and Friends event at Carnegie Hall last night. An eclectic mix of performers for sure. Like Gavin, it ranged from punk rock to cabaret. The guests ranged from sober to not very. It worked, it didn't work, the girl next to me reading her program wanted to know who this 'Goo- Jee' is anyway, the security guards may or may not have been slightly scared when Dik Evans began making a piercing noise with his guitar and Guggi and Gavin stomped around the stage screamingsnarling at the crowd and each other. [...]
Gavin & Courtney @ Carnegie Hall ( aphrodite-in-nyc ) Rufus, Scarlett & Gavin @ Carnegie Hall ( aphrodite-in-nyc ) Gavin & U2 @ Carnegie Hall ( aphrodite-in-nyc ) Sunday, October 4th was the "Hal Willner Presents: An Evening with Gavin Friday & Friends" show at Carnegie Hall. The whole night was a benefit for (RED), a charity directed toward AIDS in Africa . The night's advertised [...]
Last night Carnegie Hall hosted the biggest assortment of megastars this side of the Orpheum for a (RED)NIGHTS charity show, benefiting the Global Fund 's efforts against the African AIDS epidemic. The night was billed as "Hal Willner Presents: An Evening With Gavin Friday and Friends," and it turns out that the erstwhile Virgin Prunes frontman Friday has a great friend in Bono, and by extension, some of the music world's most iconic faces. It was the night of a thousand collaborations, some likely (Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson), some not so much (Rufus Wainwright, Scarlett Johansson, [...]
Hello everybody and welcome to Navel Gazing : your look back at the week in Punknews . I'm Adam White and I'll be your guide through some of the most popular, notable, and otherwise attention getting stories of the past seven days. Each and every Punknews story is built from tips contributed by you fine folks, and here's what got the community talking this week... The People Must Have Something Good To Read On A Sunday This week's most popular stories [...]
A friend remarked before a Freddie Hubbard tribute at the Madame Walker Theatre Friday night that it took four trumpeters to fill in for Hubbard. I think that's probably true. But the trumpeters who stood in for the Indianapolis-born jazz legend played fabulously. Randy Brecker, Nicholas Payton, Pharez Whitted and Derrick Gardner started blowing hard from the start, trading solos on "Byrdlike," Hubbard's homage to fellow trumpeter Donald Byrd. They had a lot of help, particularly from James Spaulding, one of Hubbard's oldest friends and collaborators, who coaxed some magic out of both his saxophone and his flute. [...]
Friday morning jazz: 1) Odean Pope Saxophone Choir: "Prince Lasha" 2) Archie Shepp: "Shazam" 3) Denis Stilke Quartet: "Silence" 4) Steven Bernstein's Millennial Territory Orchestra: "All You Need is Love" 5) Fred Anderson Quartet: "Bombay (Children of Cambodia)" 6) 8 Bold Souls: "Odyssey" 7) Nathan Davis: "Mister E" 8) Scott Gordley Trio: "My Babe" 9) Coleman Hawkins: "Wishing and Waiting" 10) The Three Sounds: "Why Am I Treated So Bad?"

I've read several different autobiographies & biographies over the past several months. Bobby Womack. Sly Stone. Marvin Gaye. James Brown. Fred Wesley. They all had one name that recurred within their pages: Stevie Wonder. Across genres & decades, Stevie's music has sold literally tens of millions of copies chronicling many different emotions & experiences along the way. What many may not realize is Stevie's work as it pertains to others. Having written & arranged for so many artists, his musical fingerprint will remain a part of contemporary music for long after he's gone. To [...]
Welcome to my weekly roundup of inexpensive indie(ish) musical happenings in downtown Toronto, all for $10 or less. If I'm missing something you think I should list, or you have any comments, let me know. I star (*) shows that most interest me. Like this list? Join my Facebook group to get my weekly Toronto indie music listings. Subscribe to my weekly podcast (or download the episodes) here , or through iTunes . Or just listen to the latest [...]
Monday night jazz: 1) Blue Mitchell: "Missing You" 2) Dave Brubeck Quartet: "Maria" 3) Miguel Zenón: "Residencial Llorens Torres" 4) Rahsied Ali and Hayes Greenfield: "Ask Me Now" 5) Fred Anderson Quartet: "Three on Two" 6) Donald Byrd: "Night Flower" 7) Sonny Clark: "Lover" 8) Erroll Garner: "Serenade In Blue" 9) Charly Antolini Jazz Power: "Perdido" 10) Khan Jamal: "The Angry Young Man"

For many listeners, Fred P. was one of 2009's major discoveries. Less a young upstart than a veteran finally getting his due, Fred Peterkin has become one of the key players in New York City's resurgent house scene. His affiliations with Jus-Ed and Move D — both of whom are contributors to upcoming releases on Peterkin's Soul People Music imprint — hint at his elegant deep house style, but his releases for the past two years as Black Jazz Consortium have established his unique voice. Fred took off from working on his ever-expanding label and his own productions not only [...]

For many listeners, Fred P. was one of 2009's major discoveries. Less a young upstart than a veteran finally getting his due, Fred Peterkin has become one of the key players in New York City's resurgent house scene. His affiliations with Jus-Ed and Move D - both of whom are contributors to upcoming releases on Peterkin's Soul People Music imprint - hint at his elegant deep house style, but his releases for the past two years as Black Jazz Consortium have established his unique voice. Fred took off from working on his ever-expanding label and his own productions not only [...]

The fourth annual Brooklyn Book Festival will take place on September 13, 2009 at Borough Hall Plaza, Borough Hall Courtroom, St. Francis Auditorium and The Brooklyn Historical Society. This free event includes readings, discussions, and panels with such literary, comedic and musical luminaries as: Jonathan Ames, Paul Auster, Russell Banks, Dominic Carter, David Cross, Jonathan Coulton, Edwidge Danticat, Lupe Fiasco, Mary Gaitskill, Ben Greenman, A.M. Homes, Siri Hustvedt, Naomi Klein, Chuck Klosterman, Jonathan Lethem, Leonard Lopate, Phillip Lopate, Norman Mailer, Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth), Oliver Sacks, Melvin Van Peebles, Colson Whitehead and Mo [...]
Science vs. Religion is a debate that has raged for centuries, not least on our own shores. It's taken a back seat over the past decade or so as we've ridden the wave of liberalism that often accompanies economic progress, but it's reared its head once again in recent months with Minister Dermot Ahern's bizarre decision to re-introduce blasphemy laws to the statute book in spite of the fact that nobody had actually asked him to. It's always a little awkward to watch an organism slowly cannibalise itself, but Fianna Fáil's latest catastrophe has at least [...]