Here's a compilation of various moments strung together from F. Stokes' recent performance at the Barrymore in Madison. He was opening up for Ghostface Killah. Tracks performed: 1) " Jeremiah (Remix)" 2) "Sparse Parts (Remix)" 3) "Blessings (Remix)" 4) "Sky High" 5) "So Into You" 6) "GO" 7) "Soul Clap (Remix)"

Come one come all to the magnificent and frightening Voodoo Experience 2009 Halloween spooktacular held deep in the swampy bayous of New Orleans at City Park! From outrageous costumes to glowing praying mantises, this year's Halloween celebration drew in an outrageous number of people to catch some of this year's hottest acts. Fans braved the freezing rain, which hailed all throughout the first day, and even withstood the muddy after effects on Saturday and Sunday. And all but one small setback (K'NANN canceled his performance last minute on Saturday) made this an exciting and fun filled weekend [...]
The era of thrash has seen an outrageous turn of comebacks this past two years: Megadeth finally brought us the apocalypse it promised for decades with Endgame , Metallica resurfaced with a Guitar Hero volume in their name and the missing link between Justice and Metallica known as Death Magnetic . While Scott Ian's infamous Anthrax sits on the back-burner for now, another "big four" club member seeks to continue its reign as Slayer presents World Painted Blood via executive [...]
Die musikalische Überwindung von Barrieren zwischen Israelis und Palästinensern - hier vertreten durch das Projekt 'Boogie Balagan'. BARRIER-BREAKING ROCK'N ROLL 'BOOGIE BALAGAN' BLENDS MIDDLE EASTERN VIBES WITH EXHILARATING ROCK'N ROLL TO CONVEY THEIR MESSAGE OF PEACE AND BREAK DOWN CULTURAL, LINGUSTIC AND PHYSICAL BARRIERS IN THE MIDDLE EAST. In the autoproclaimed Palestlsraeli duo Boogie Balagan, psychedelic rock'n'roll meets cool Middle Eastern vibes. Their first album 'Lamentation Walloo' is a message of peace and multiculturalism. First, imagine voices that combine Julio Iglesias drinking straight tequilas and Joe Strummer high on harissa. Then, imagine a Mediterranean Jimmy Page torturing his [...]
Does everyone remember last week when I posted the Young Galaxy song? It was the one that was set to the oddly intriguing anime video. Well I'm back on YouTube this morning, looking to see if anyone has uploaded today's Ryan Dahle track, and sure enough I find it... set to an oddly intriguing anime video. It appears that there is a YouTube user, with impeccable taste in music, creating these Canadian indie/Japanese anime mashups; I feel that I must meet this person. Anyways, as mentioned, todays track comes to us from the Canadian music veteran Ryan [...]

T is the season to be jolly that the Oscar-hopeful films are finally hitting theaters (at least in the U.S. -- we'll have to wait a few more months for them to cross the Rio Grande and crawl their way into South American theaters), and the predictions are finally getting juicy (see my first batch here ). Of course, every year a solid Oscar contender or two gets left out in the cold: Jack Nicholson for Batman . Glenn Close for Reversal Of Fortune . Juliette Binoche for Blue . Nicole Kidman for [...]

Well look at that, It's already that time of year again: C - M - J ! Version 2009 to be precise. And you know the last thing we want is to send you off into the trenches unprepared and indecisive, which is why we're back again with yet another comprehensive plan of action/preview/treasure trove of MP3s to help nudge you through the week ahead. Just as with prior CMJ and SXSW previews, we listed only one show for each recommended band. Most of the bands listed here are playing several – if [...]

BOAT who are poised to release their third album Setting the Paces this week are like one of those new and improved products: Now better sounding and with more pop hooks! Not that the old version was inferior by any stretch of the imagination, and not to worry long-time fans, Boat is still Boat. The animal imagery, falsetto choruses, and sincere yet over the top delivery is all still there, only now it sounds so much better. Setting the Paces is like a rush of sugar to the head. The band is now officially a four piece [...]

The best concerts are full of surprises. So when I read that Manchester's The Answering Machine would take the stage at 8 p.m., I hauled ass to arrive half an hour early. The band's set didn't start until past ten, however. The highly anticipated Friday night gig took place at The Borderline, a very intimate venue which is essentially an underground pub with a performing space tacked on. Hidden away down a small alley, there was no queue to speak of, and inside the venue it was essentially empty. [...]

Warpaint Here's our guide for next week's CMJ Festival in New York. Look for Warpaint, Rough Francis, Electric Tickle Machine, Sin Fang Bous, Japandroids, The Megaphonic Thrift, The Very Best, Speech Debelle and The xx to generate the biggest buzz. Air Waves (Myspace) Hometown: Brooklyn, New York Label: Catbird Records Air Waves - Knock Out Alec Ounsworth (Myspace) Hometown: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Label: Anti [...]

There's certainly no messing about on this soon to be released tape from Joey Chainsaw and Hoist Ghost , as you're instantly plunged into a churn-bucket of sonic bladed Suicide repetition. A symphony of manic, dot matrix printers recorded through a battered cassette deck, the horizon filled up with Casio fuzzed / gtr alarm. Emergency signatures stuck together with gluey fingers. Ivory stabs hit across the solid note pulse. Sprawling out like some spiky mutation, all that treble making you dizzy… The spectrum, a deliciously dirty lo-fi as strung out illuminations blink from underneath [...]

And chop it, did they ever. Junior Boys , from Toronto and the electronic blue abyss, put on a deft display of chilled electro ballads and thumping dance inducers Saturday night. This was my second time in their presence and they didn't disappoint. Lack of disappointment is inherent to their impassioned synthetic craft . Chop Suey, on the other hand, I've kind of come to loathe attending shows at given how headliners rarely take the stage before midnight. Which, fine, it's [...]
CMJ released the band schedule for its 2009 Music Marathon & Film Festival yesterday, which is about as good a sign of fall hitting New York as the return of apple cider at Greenmarket. The festival runs from Oct. 20 - Oct. 24 and includes various venues throughout the city, and the list of featured artists would probably take all four days to read through. But skimming the selection reveals a fairly equal distribution of well-known acts like Atlas Sound and Deer Tick , anonymous locals (including krautrock-y Jeff Buckley-channelers Pocketknife), twenty-two bands who [...]
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 [...]

I was introduced to Austin-by-way-of-Maine singer-songwriter and unmatched musical storyteller Slaid Cleaves at the turn of the century through local radioplay, and the subsequent purchase of then-new release Broke Down. But I was grateful to be reminded of Slaid's genius last week through a thorough and appropriately celebratory look back at Broke Down over at This Mornin' I Am Born Again , where fellow folkblogger and Star Maker Machine co-contributor Payton uses Slaid's setting of Woody Guthrie's lyrics as a namesake song. To the extent that anyone [...]
After 90 minutes of car chases, pregnancy scares and high strung drama you've shoot the villain in the head and gotten the girl - so what happens next? High fives? Sexy times? Celebratory protein shake? Nope you walk around like a schmuck while the end credits ruin your life. At least that's what happens in the Keith Schofield directed video for Justice and Lenny Karvitz's "Let Love Rule". You'd think Lenny Kravitz's pipes and Justice's bombastic stomp would soundtrack only the most uplifting of victories but after some amusing visual tricks the clip's protagonist breaks [...]
Like the Timex Social Club, I spend a lot of time lamenting the rumors that surround me every day. How do they get started? And where do they get crazy? In Truthmonger, I'll try to suss out the kernels of truth in the rumors that are taking up airspace in gossip columns, blogs, and our tips inbox. THE RUMOR: Despite defending the high-strung MC over his weeks-old Video Music Awards outburst , Lady GaGa has had it with Kanye is pulling out of her "Fame Kills" jaunt with Kanye West. [...]

Shawn Lee from the Bass + Kicks camp is a man of many trades. He's a blogger , DJ , graphic artist and promoter for the Cool Shoes monthly (just to name a few). Recently he's picked up yet another hat : dubstep production under the Sleek alias. Here's his fall mix of rugged, aggressive dubstep, complete with metal breakdowns and industrial motifs. Check for a bonus Sleek remix after the jump. It's quite an impressive little choon, especially for someone who's just taken [...]
This Chicago native has packed up and moved to a town that better suits her brand of high strung pop-filled take on country music. Tristen Gaspadarek is a fireball in the body of a pixie, and has spent the last year pacing the streets of Nashville and clearly absorbing the rich musical history. Despite her slight and slender appearance Tristen packs a big deep throated punch. She currently has a tour ep that can only be purchased at her show, but is hard at work on her debut LP currently called Charlatans at the Gate . [...]

L.A. folk-pop ensemble Eagle Winged Palace is finishing up work on its debut album "Where We're Coming From," and the first taste of the new music is available on their label's fall sampler. "Timber" is constructed of acoustic guitar and fragile, haunting harmonies. The rest of the Park the Van Records sampler includes tracks from the likes of Dr. Dog, the High Strung, the Spinto Band and Generationals. A nice mixture. ||| Download: Eagle Winged Palace's "Timber" ||| Or: Get the entire Park the Van sampler [...]