Choice Concerts
Ponytail's Molly Siegel explodes like a vigorously shaken can of pop let loose all over the stage. Her ecstatic shouts and whirs - she usually avoids singing actual words - punctuate the virtuosic two-guitar-and-drum attack of her band mates. But the group's intricate guitar work isn't without soul. The Baltimore
Choice Concerts
When that disembodied voice on the radio talks about "the hits of the 70's, 80's, 90's, and today," it's almost certain that "today" includes the All-American Rejects. The band lept to fame in the early aughts by way of "TRL"-climbing hit "Swing Swing" and the success of its platinum self-titled
Choice Concerts
The hot, dry air of Southern California tends to evoke a certain wistfulness in its musicians. The beach-side sunshine of Brian Wilson and the bourbon-soaked back-alley-ballads of Tom Waits have proven to be two such SoCal goldmines. In that landscape, Cold War Kids found their own musical niche, a blues-inspired
Choice Concerts
The connection between comedy and music is a natural one. Though it might seem like Weird Al Yankovich (or more recently, Zach Galifianakis) enjoys a corner on the market for funnyman songs, the truth is people have been sharing bawdy ditties at least since the ancient Greeks. So it's a
Choice Concerts
The Felice Brothers were birthed in a Catskills nest only about a half hour from Woodstock, NY. Even closer to their home is the spot where The Band laid the foundation for "Music From Big Pink." Of course, these are big bears for the young quintet to wrestle with -
Choice Concerts
One of my great surprises last year was finally catching Mother Mother live. I'd been hearing about the Canadian five-piece, but it took a friend dragging me to a late-night showcase at last year's CMJ festival to finally make it happen. While the industry-pumping fest tends to earn the cynicism
Choice Concerts
Mrs. Skannotto comes from a planet where slick dudes in porkpie hats shuffle into dance halls; on stage, superhero frontmen belt out tales of woe and last week's parties; oh, and the crowds dance. Skannotto verdantly carries the Third Wave torch - that's the mid-90's sing-along ska you wish they'd
CD Reviews
As far as charity benefits go, "Dark Was The Night" takes an approach diametrically opposed to that of "We Are The World." Instead of great musicians banding together for one cloying, repetitive song, the artists here band together for many uncloying, inspired, artistic, and beautiful songs. A swarm of the
CD Reviews
Americana-guitar whiz M. Ward spent most of the past two years recording and touring with songwriting partner and bonafide indie sweetheart Zooey Deschanel as She & Him. Now, finally, Ward settles down to wax his glimmering guitar and distant singing voice on a proper followup to 2006's "Post-War." If that
Choice Concerts
As one of Santa's original eight reindeer, Blitzen wasn't much help in the ice storm of '91 - I mean, you don't need a luminescent red nose to shovel out the mailbox. Or maybe I'm getting my stories mixed up. Both in name and sound, Portland sextet Blitzen Trapper fosters
Choice Concerts
When rapper Nasir Jones muses about our new commander-in-chief on "Black President," he doesn't pull punches. Nas taps into the back of our minds, hopeful but cautious: "When [Obama] wins will he really care still?" Uncomfortable declarations fill Nas's ninth, untitled studio album, originally set to be called "Nigger" before
CD Reviews
Animal Collective's latest effort is a pop album seriously bent on the atmosphere of a bustling natural world. Here, vocals most often resemble whale songs, while whirs and clicks, the layering of synths and machine-sound samples, evoke crumbling concrete empires. Pulling its name -- and I'm sure
CD Reviews
Appropriate that a man by the name of Bird chirps his way into an album called "Noble Beast." The rest is filled with rhythmic pulses and melodies that wouldn't be out of place in the Seneca Park Zoo aviary. The tender pizzicato pluck of Bird's violin arranges
Music Articles
For the synthesizer set, 2007 was a banner year. Its most public figure, Dan Deacon, and the rest of the Baltimore art and music community heralded in a new age of arty, dance-fused pop music that, guided by a DIY manifesto, replaced irony and posture with earnestness and fun. The
Restaurant Articles
In Edward Hopper's painting "Nighthawks," the late-night diner embodies the tensions of a country on the verge of the Nuclear Age; the lonely restaurant an eerie, doorless prison full of lost souls and cold coffee. For the most part Rochester's late-night eateries - what we'll call those open until 4
Nightlife Articles
Rock N' Bowl, Midnight Bowling, Xtreme Bowling - whatever you want to call it, bowling in a room full of neon light and blaring music is cool. Luckily, Rochester's got no shortage of accommodating establishments.If you've ever shown up at a bowling alley only to be told that it's league
Nightlife Articles
"There's mixed reactions to karaoke," says "Little Richard" Fantauzzo, who DJs karaoke Tuesdays and Wednesdays at Stooges (519 E. Ridge Rd, 266-9559). The club also offers karaoke/request night on Thursdays with live music on weekends. "There's people that love it, and there's people that hate it."Something about getting on stage
Nightlife Articles
The Monty's brand is small but fierce. Like twins separated at birth, its two flagships, Monty's Korner (355 East Ave, 263-7650) and Monty's Krown (875 Monroe Ave, 271-7050), have their similarities - comfortable atmosphere, friendly staff, well-stocked draught selection - yet vary unmistakably to match their surroundings.As one of the
Nightlife Articles
Hidden in the nightlife no man's land between the Saint Paul Quarter and the East End is Club NV (123 Liberty Pole Way, 454-7230), Rochester's best-kept secret - if you're me, anyway. Everyone else at the club, easily in the hundreds, seemed to know about it long before I stopped
Nightlife Articles
I always just called it The Piggly Wiggly. Oh, well. Now that the former Pig-N-Whistle, recently rechristened Bayou Billy's, is cutting out the Cajun food and losing the Hank Jr. logo (just kidding), it's also simplifying the name - from now on just call it The Pig (7 Lawrence St,
