She & Him @Webster Hall, Apr. 22nd

Actress Zooey Deschanel and her buddy, indie guitarist M. Ward, charmed the crowd tonight for a cute 50 minutes with songs from their collaboration, She & Him. Despite Zooey having lost her speaking voice, she managed to sound virtually flawless while singing and made up for the lack of banter with her winning smile. She did a great job, I thought. Reminded me a little bit of another actress-turned-singer, Jenny Lewis, but without the sultry.

As usual, M. Ward mesmerized us with his guitar work, but perhaps in a more accessible way than via his usual music given the framework of the sunny melodies.


Ola Podrida opened. I had caught them once before at Union Hall, in a smaller, more acoustic setting, and was curious how their act would translate to the larger Webster Hall. They did well, but the crowd unfortunately had very little interest in hearing them.


More pics here.

Jamie Lidell Remix

(Sorry I've been absolutely dreadful about posting. Something about the winter months that put me in a state of hibernation...I still have to post about my awesome trip to Chicago in February, thanks to Wilco.)

Jamie Lidell, the technie-electro knob-twiddler (hehehe), is not normally my cup of tea, but he posted a competition that a friend entered. My fellow Kung Fu Dork Alex Brouwer aka Mista Brouwah worked on a remix with his buddies, mother liQr and Philly, at Alex's shop Mix B Studios this past week under the moniker, No Shame, and even added beats courtesy of the tapping feet of another Kung Fu brotha, Chris Erk aka themoneyfoot.

Check out Jamie Lidell's bare vocals to "Little Bit of Feel Good" here, and download the most excellent remix the guys worked on here ("A Little Bit of Feelgood (No Shame remix)" mp3).

(Update 5/12) In case you missed the download, the guys threw it up on YouTube too:

GZA @Knitting Factory, Dec. 14th

After the crap time I caught the Wu-Tang Clan at Randall's Island this past summer, I was eagerly anticipating tonight's show which promised the GZA/Genius and his seminal album, Liquid Swords. Accompanied by my kung fu brother Randy, founder and president of 88HipHop.com, we braved the packed crowd with young'uns as wee as fourteen (where the hell were his parents, I want to know). The crowd sang along as GZA dropped a seamless mix pulling from Liquid Swords as well as the Wu catalog and a tribute to ODB with Dreddy Kruger helping out.

As he stated in "Auto Bio," GZA "was born, with the mic in [his] hand" and for a solid hour, he demonstrated rather amazing verbal prowess. They don't call him Genius for nothing.

Check out this fun clip featuring GZA done by 88HipHop that Randy sent me here.

Yo La Tengo @Music Hall of Williamsburg, Nov. 16th

Friday night after a fun, greasy barbecue meal at Fette Sau, Ste, Lora and I headed to the Music Hall of Williamsburg for Jersey's finest indie rock band, Yo La Tengo. This was my first visit to the venue formerly known as North Six; I quite liked the setup, which is akin to the Bowery Ballroom, except with more balcony space, and raised areas on the side, and nice bathrooms according to Ste.

When we got there, we happily discovered that the main floor was set up with rows of seats, so we plopped ourselves down in the center of the 3rd row. We sat through a sleepy opening set by this nervous trio called Metal Mountain (it could have been the barbecue-itis kicking in). Then, promptly at 10, our heroes got on stage for a lovely two hour acoustic set. The band played a loose set of songs from throughout their career, taking time to answer questions and tell stories.

While I love how much YLT can blow my eardrums to pieces, I enjoyed this gig immensely. It felt like a nice mix between the time I caught them at Prospect Park, and the time Ste and I were helicoptered into Jersey City to see them at the Loew's Theater. And despite it being mainly acoustic, Ira Kaplan, guitarist extraordinaire, still managed to use a distort pedal and rock out.

Here are a bunch of songs I videoed on my camera -- sorry about the guy's head sitting right in front of me!

"Deeper Into Movies"


"Tom Courtenay"


"Blue Line Swinger"



(And "The Summer," "Hanky Panky Nohow," "You Can Have It All," and "Big Day Coming.")

Luis Guzman, I hardly knew ye!

I love Luis Guzman, but seriously, man, WTF?

Patti Smith / The Black Crowes @United Palace, Oct. 31st

Last night for Halloween went up to Washington Heights to catch Patti Smith and the Black Crowes. This was my second schlep up to the funky venue up north -- last time was for Arcade Fire back in May.

I always look forward to seeing Patti. This time she was an opener, so she did not play a long marathon set, like when I caught her at the final night at CBGB. Instead, she and bandmates played a nice set with some cuts off her recent release, Twelve, including a growly cover of Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit," and closing with her seminal hit, "Gloria." Here's her song, "Beneath the Southern Cross":

The Black Crowes are a band I have always enjoyed seeing live. I may not own their records, nor do I know more than their biggest hits, but every time I have seen them, I have appreciated their amazing energy and ability to get a crowd on its feet, as well as their constantly shifting setlists. Perhaps the Crowes are the closest to a jam band I'll ever get -- I will always be game for their brand of rock 'n roll.

Morrissey @Hammerstein Ballroom, Oct. 23rd

I had to go again after last night's amazing opening show. This time I was on the floor for only $25. Ask me in the morning if my knee hates me, but tonight was worth it as well. We got a more energetic crowd, and "Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want," "The Boy With a Thorn in His Side" and a cover of the New York Dolls' "Human Being."

Here are the three final songs of the main set:

"Disappointed":

A gorgeous "Dear God Please Help Me" from his most recent album, Ringleader of the Tormentors:


And the classic "How Soon Is Now?":


And the now obligatory shirtless shot. Hottt...