New York

I recently saw the band Swans live for the second time. They were promoting a stellar new album (The Seer) which essentially encompasses all of the varied and challenging music that bandleader Michael Gira has made under a few different monikers over the last thirty years. In the two years since I saw them last, I had gotten to know their oeuvre better, and coming to this show with a more educated ear paid off.… See more →

Plenty of obnoxious post-concert Barclays Center foot traffic on the block tonight. This does not bode well.

For a 6:30 p.m. show with five bands on the bill and no food for sale, you might want to reconsider your “NO RE-ENTRY” policy.

Thrill Jockey anniversary show last night was the most eclectic I’ve seen in ages. I loved Future Islands fans being made to endure Liturgy.

While I’m still probably not going to be a fan, holy crap does that Future Islands singer guy own the stage.

The day the Williamsburg Savings Bank Tower is no longer part of my morning will be a sad one.

I’ve been following Mike Birbiglia’s work for a few years now, which means I’ve heard this story several times before. Sleepwalk With Me had its origins in his stand-up act, which morphed into a one-man show, which became a book, which has now been adapted into a film. It’s a good story deserving of all these media, but it is still best told onstage with a microphone.

Birbiglia is a gifted storyteller, heartfelt and free… See more →

Tonight, my glasses spent about twenty seconds on the floor of a crowded and rowdy Bowery Ballroom. Then they were returned to me, unharmed.

Do you walk on the Manhattan Bridge bike path? Two questions:

1. Why would you do that?
2. Would you please stop doing that?

Scowling crust punk girl who just walked past the line for the Wussy show: “Is Cher playing tonight?”

If one thing eventually drives me out of NYC, it will be The Rumbler. youtube.com/watch?v=JZlsCt…

Sweet Jesus, La Guardia is a shit show. 4sq.com/MaXNtu

Today was a fine day in Coney Island with cherished chums, heated dogs, iced creams, and rollers of both the coaster and derby varieties.

Thought about getting tickets to one of Jay-Z’s inaugural Barclays Center concerts. All eight shows sold out instantly.

So who wants to go with me to see Def Leppard at Jones Beach tomorrow night? (Poison and Lita Ford are also playing, if that helps.)

Tonight’s edition of Summertime Brooklyn Decision Fatigue: free movie in the park (To Kill a Mockingbird) or free punk show (7 Seconds)?

This is the one day of the year that brings to the fore my sole regret in moving to NYC: its paucity of 7-Elevens. newsfeed.time.com/2012/07/11/fre…

Though he occasionally rises above it, Wes Anderson’s real great talent is in actively, counter-intuitively preventing an emotional connection between character and audience. I have never seen anyone work so hard to undermine his own ostensible goals. In spite of the delight his twee aesthetic elicits from his fan base, Anderson’s characters tend to be lifeless props populating meticulously constructed dioramas which were designed to be admired from the outside.

If being emotionally impenetrable truly… See more →

There are two things that make New York City one of the toughest markets in US Air Guitar:

1. The staggering amount of top tier talent, both local and imported, and
2. The Daily Show’s Jason Jones, whose commentary has reduced all but the most thick-skinned competitors to quivering heaps in the backstage bathroom.

Alongside ACLU lawyer Ben Wizner and music biz free agent Leigh Lust, Jones returned on Thursday night to his perch in the… See more →

Memorial Day. Baseball. America. @ Citi Field 4sq.com/LCiOup

Brooklyn, I love you, but can we talk about the wind?

Um holy shit Refused.

As of today, I have lived in Brooklyn longer than I lived in Cambridge.

My instincts need to work faster. It’s always too late by the time I realize the subway car is empty for a good reason.

Wish I could stay in Brooklyn for Christmas. This place is a ghost town and I could do with some time alone with the ghosts.

So @casey_malone asks if I saw the @MovingImageNYC Henson exhibit and I find they’re showing a newish Svankmajer film tonight. Yay internet!

Someone left $20 in the ATM, so I’m getting paid to see Jesse Sykes & The Sweet Hereafter and The Sadies tonight. I like this arrangement.

When music is great, there’s nothing better.

Believe the hype about Fucked Up’s live show.

Over three years ago, I won my first air guitar competition in Philadelphia. It had more of an impact on my life than I ever would have expected, introducing me to a bizarre and joyful underworld of free spirits who forced me to reevaluate what it means to experience music.

A few months later, and not entirely coincidentally, I accepted a job offer in Boston at what might be described as competitive air guitar’s above-ground… See more →

Best B-boy crew I’ve seen in awhile on the N train after a lovely afternoon with @beep, @drinkerthinker, @essl, and @VictoriaMia.

Staff at a new venue giddily pulled us off the street for the final moments of a Fred Frith performance. I ❤ Brooklyn. roulette.org