Kanye West Performs at The Museum of Modern Art

Kanye West performs at New York City's Museum of Modern Art, May 10, 2001

Kanye West performed a 45-minute set of hits (featuring a cameo from Jay-Z) at The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City last night, during the museum's annual Party in the Garden benefit. The New York Times Arts Beat blog has a full recap, and you can see the rest of the images at my Flickr set.

Kanye West performs at New York City's Museum of Modern Art, May 10, 2001

Kanye West performs at New York City's Museum of Modern Art, May 10, 2001

Kanye West performs at New York City's Museum of Modern Art, May 10, 2001

Hot Chip's Al Doyle

Coachella Hot Chip, a photo by Jason Persse on Flickr.

Just posting a pic of Al Doyle as a tribute to his amazing work during the past week of LCD Soundsystem farewell shows. Of course, this would be a more fitting depiction if Al were shirtless.

SXSW 2011 in Photos

Dax Riggs at Emo's, SXSW, March 16, 2011

South by Southwest 2011 was fun, hot, and extraordinarily tiring. You can read about it somewhere else, but here's a bunch of pretty pictures. To see the full batch, check out the Flickr set.

John Taylor of Duran Duran at Subb's Bar-B-Q, SXSW, March 16, 2011

Duran Duran at Subb's Bar-B-Q, SXSW, March 16, 2011

Keith Morris of OFF! at the East Side Drive-In, SXSW, March 17, 2011

2010 in Concert Photos

Alexis Krauss of Sleigh Bells, Coachella, April 2010 (full set)

Thomas Mars of Phoenix, Coachella, April 2010 (full set)

Romy Madley Smith and Oliver Sim of The xx, Coachella, April 2010 (full set)

Matt Bellamy of Muse, Coachella, April 2010 (full set)

Polvo and Les Savy Fav at Northside Festival, Newtown Barge Park, Greenpoint, Brooklyn, June 27, 2010

Another Northside Festival has come and gone. Polvo served up a hot plate of start-stop-quiet-loud rock with tons of complicated chord changes. It was a late-nineties indie explosion!

Band of Horses with Grizzly Bear and Karen Elson, Williamsburg Waterfront, Brooklyn, June 20, 2010

Band of Horses headlined a very not-free show at the Williamsburg Waterfront (which will ostensibly be the home of another slate of free summer shows at some point in the near future). You can check out the schedule of remaining paid shows over at (ironically enough) FREEwilliamsburg. The state police were out en masse to enforce the downright byzantine alcohol and crowd-control rules. It was all a bit like running through a maze, but your only reward at the end was a tiny cup of $6 beer.

Karen Elson (aka Mrs. Jack White) and her band—all dressed in matching peach-colored outfits—started the show with a nice set of easy, country-fried rock, which ended with a cover of Donovan's "Season of the Witch."

Yeah Yeah Yeahs Play New York's Museum of Modern Art, May 25, 2010

Karen O and Nick Zinner of Yeah Yeah Yeahs at MoMA Two thirds of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs played an acoustic set at my place of work last night as part of The Museum of Modern Art's annual Party in the Garden benefit. Along with a three-piece string section, Imaad Wasif played guitar and Jon Spencer Blues Explosion's Russell Simins took over for usual YYYs drummer Brian Chase, who, according to Karen O, was "in Australia playing jazz drums."

The band was introduced by a noticeably tipsy Hugh Jackman, who I'm guessing just happened to be the biggest celebrity in attendance:

Hugh Jackman and MoMA Director of Special Events Nicholas Apps introduce Yeah Yeah Yeahs
A picture of the full setlist is available over at Brooklyn Vegan. More pictures after the jump, and there are plenty more in the full Flickr set).

LISTMANIA 2009: The Top 15 Songs of 2009

15. Daniel - Bat for Lashes
The talent for moody, arresting singles that gave the world "What's a Girl to Do" in 2008 clearly hasn't abandoned Natasha Khan. She can still work spooky magic with a drum machine.

14. Young Hearts Spark Fire - Japandroids
A bittersweet song about drinking your way through the anxieties of growing older. "I don't wanna worry about dying. I just wanna worry about those sunshine girls."

13. Standing on the Shore - Empire of the Sun
Riding the crest of Australia's current dance-pop wave (which also includes Midnight Juggernauts and Cut Copy), Empire of the Sun wields a sleek and breezy sound that seems custom-made for high-end marketing campaigns. (The band's "We Are the People" already soundtracks a recent Vizio ad.) But being slick isn't always a bad thing. Pour yourself a tequila sunrise and let the pre-party begin.

12. When I Grow Up - Fever Ray
Not to be confused with the 2008 Pussycat Dolls song of the same name, Fever Ray's first single is a slow-burn epic of mind-boggling Euro-art. The video, in which a refugee from the "Love Is a Battlefield" video makes a swimming pool boil, is something to behold.

11. Zero - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
In 2009 YYYs made the big-room synth album no one knew they wanted to make, and "Zero" is the floor-filling A single, replete with prodigious use of the phrase "shake it."

Lollapalooza, Grant Park, Chicago, August 7-9, 2009

Snoop Dogg
After three days of pouring rain, scorching heat, immense crowds, late-night after parties, and endless drinking, some exhaustion is to be expected. Another Lollapalooza has come and gone (followed by an extra two days in Chicago), and I must say I'm simultaneously saddened and relieved. Some of our festival coverage (along with images by yours truly) can also be found over at Spinner.com, including my Crystal Castles coverage, and Kim's coverage of Ida Maria and the Raveonettes.

Below are some choice shots, in no real order. (More images are up in the [still-in-process] Flickr gallery.)

All Points West Music Festival, Liberty Park, New Jersey, July 31-August 1, 2009

To say that these photos represent the All Points West experience would be...misleading. That's because the All Points West experience involved being ankle-deep in mud. To be honest, the rain was so heavy on Friday that we left after seeing roughly 1.5 sets. Saturday was beautiful, although the festival grounds had been turned into brown soup. And Sunday? Well we skipped Sunday in order to see No Age, Dan Deacon, and Deerhunter play the Williamsburg Waterfront. That show, unfortunately, was canceled due to—you guessed it—rain. Luckily, they played an impromptu late-night set at a local bowling alley. I declined to lug my camera to that show, however, so you'll just have to use your imagination.

A shot also shows up in Kim's Arctic Monkeys recap at Spinner.com, and there are a few of mine in the Tour Tracker concert photo roundup as well. SEE THE FULL SET AT FLICKR


The National

Jarvis Cocker at Music Hall of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, July 30, 2009

I was standing WAY too far from the stage for my poor little prime lens to do any good, but I still stole a few decent shots of a terrific show. As always, Jarvis was witty, theatrical, and crazy as a shithouse rat. (A "full" set is available over on Flickr.)

Siren Festival, July 18, 2009, Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York

Yet another sunny, rockin' Village Voice Siren Festival has come and gone. This one was something special, though, as the fest is basically on borrowed time these days. In fact, last year was supposed to be the last year, but the economy and various city council disputes have slowed Coney Island development plans.

And it's a damn good thing, too. 2009 standouts were Future of the Left, Thee Oh Sees, and Japandroids, although there wasn't a disappointment in the lot this time around. And be sure to catch Kim's pre-show interview with the Raveonettes (featuring a photo by yours truly) over at Spinner.com.

Anyway, here's some pics (LOTS more images over at the Flickr page)...

Art Brut at Mercury Lounge, June 4, 2009:"DC Comics and Chocolate Milkshake"

Art Brut put on yet another fantastic show at Mercury Lounge last night (the third in a five-night residency).

Get the full skinny over at Kirby Krackle.

The Best Live Shows of 2008Listmania Late Edition

2008 is already a distant memory, but I had so many concert shots from this year lying around it seemed a shame not to do a quick roundup of the year in live music. Since it's hard to rank this kind of thing (especially when music festivals are involved), this year I'm sticking with chronology. Plus it's a great way to chart the gradual development of my photography skills (by which I mean "incremental camera upgrades"). [Also, check out some highlights from the year in outdoor concerts.]



The Best Live Shows of 2008

1. Dead Meadow
Bowery Ballroom, Manhattan, Jan. 16

[flickr set]

LISTMANIA!The 20 Best Albums of 2008

(If you haven't already, be sure to check out the runners up and the best songs of 2008.)

2008 is over. Shall we raise some hosannahs to the sky? In all fairness, I shouldn't add to the chorus of bellyaching; economic collapse aside, I still have a job and my loved ones all seem to have their health. Besides, 2008 ended up being a pretty good year for music. The top end was especially loaded, with no less than three albums with legitimate claims to the top spot. Still, if the Highlander movies have taught us anything (and they have taught us so much), it's that there can be only one.

We've also learned that, just as 2006 was a great year to have "wolf" somewhere in your band's name (Wolfmother, Wolf Parade, etc.), 2008 was the year of "crystal," with fantastic albums from Crystal Castles, Crystal Antlers, and Crystal Stilts. And we've discovered that it was a terrific year to be Bradford Cox, who released not one, not two, but three albums (technically) that made the *bitter defeat* top 20. That's fairly impressive. Finally, we've learned that young, noisy bands playing in warehouses and backyards are still the most exciting game in town, from "elder statesmen" like Jay Reatard, Fucked Up, and No Age to up-and-comers like Ponytail, Vivian Girls, Crystal Antlers, Pissed Jeans, and Abe Vigoda.

LISTMANIA 2008The Best Albums of the Year: Honorable Mentions

Only twenty candidates made the cut this year, but there were quite a few excellent albums lingering at the edge of the bubble...like Syracuse on the NCAA tourney selection special. Some simply weren't top-twenty material, while others I could only hear briefly or piece-by-piece via free downloads, but all are worth picking up if you have the means (or a Limewire account).

I would also like to mention a few albums I wanted to listen to, but never got to hear in their entirety: TV on the Radio - Dear Science; Guns & Roses - Chinese Democracy; Boris - Smile; Kanye West - 808s and Heartbreak; Earth - The Bees Made Honey in the Lion's Skull; Spiritualized - Songs in A & E; and Hot Chip - Made in the Dark.

(Don't forget to check out the 40 Best Songs of 2008!)

Here, in no real order, are the Listmania 2008 runners-up.

LISTMANIA 2008The 40 Best Songs of the Year, Part 2

Fleet Foxes at Sasquatch!, May 24, 2008

Although time constraints have prevented me from providing any commentary thus far in the Listmania season, rest assured that the 2008 Album List will, in fact, contain actual written content. What can I say? As you all know, 2008 has been a total bitch. In the meantime, here are the top 20 songs of 2008.

Don't forget to check out nos. 40–21 first!

NOTE: All streaming audio has been removed due to bandwidth issues.

Songs 20–1

20. "Midnight Vignette" – Evangelicals

19. "L.E.S. Artistes" – Santogold

18. "Recent Bedroom" – Atlas Sound

17. "Where Do You Run To" – Vivian Girls

16. "Always Wanting More" – Jay Reatard

15. "We're Gonna Rise" – The Breeders


14. "Strange Times" – Black Keys

13. "No Future" – Titus Andronicus

12. "Daddy Needs a Drink" – Drive-By Truckers

11. "A Thousand Eyes" – Crystal Antlers

10. "Cold Son" – Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks

9. "The Rip" – Portishead

8. "Knots" – Pete & The Pirates

7. "Nothing Ever Happened" – Deerhunter

6. "Electric Feel" – MGMT

5. "A Milli" – Lil Wayne

4. "Fools" – The Dodos

3. "Keep Your Eyes Ahead" – The Helio Sequence

2. "In the New Year" – The Walkmen

1. "White Winter Hymnal" – Fleet Foxes

LISTMANIA 2008The 40 Best Songs of the Year, Part 1

Islands at Siren Fest, July 19, 2008

After a long holiday layoff, *bitter defeat* returns with the first installment in the 2008 edition of LISTMANIA. We begin with the 40 best songs of the year, a list that says far more about the author than it does about the actual musical landscape. Of course if you try to cover the actual musical landscape, you end up with something like Rolling Stone's mind-bendingly schizophrenic Top 50 Albums of 2008 list, which includes No Age, the Jonas Brothers, Jackson Browne, B.B. King, Metallica, and (SHOCKER!!) Bob Dylan. No single publication should attempt to simultaneously appeal to me, my mom, and my (imaginary) 11-year-old sister. Still, there is something to be said for balance, and I'll be the first to admit that I failed once again to really delve into hip-hop and "urban" music this year. Lil Wayne aside (and let's be honest here... Lil Wayne is this year's Hip-Hop Artist that White Indie-Rock Fans Like), my tastes ran to white, blogger-approved, guitar-driven indie music.

Admissions of White Liberal Guilt aside, there remains the usual raft of disclaimers, qualifications, and guidelines that go into any respectable year-end list. To begin with, for the sake of variety I decided to limit entries to one per artist. In addition, although most of these songs were, in fact, released as singles, that is in no way a requirement; album tracks are just fine. Additionally, a couple of tthese may technically have been released as singles in 2007, but if I first heard the song in 2008 and it was included on an album released in 2008, then it bloody well counts. Conversely, if the song was on an album released in 2007, but was released as a single in 2008...then give me a fucking break. In other words, no Radiohead songs came out this year, so Radiohead has no place on any 2008 best-of lists.

Since this intro was so damned long-winded, I'll also forgo lengthy commentary on songs 40 through 21.

School of Seven Bells at Mercury Lounge, December 15, 2008

My ears are still ringing like a television tube after last night's excellent School of Seven Bells show at Mercury Lounge. It's amazing how much noise you can make without bass or drums. Plenty more shots in the Flickr gallery.

Rock Alter Egos

al•ter e•go
noun
a person's secondary or alternative personality.
• an intimate and trusted friend.
ORIGIN mid 16th cent.: Latin, ‘other self.’

I have a feature on rock and pop alter egos up over at Spinner. Check it out.