What You Might Have Missed: Living Days At Pianos

Living Days: June 15 @ Pianos, New York, NY

If you weren't at Pianos on Wednesday night, then you missed Living Days shaking things up. Front-woman Stephonik Youth was a playful vixen, romping around the stage and going into the audience several times to sing to the crowd. It was my first time seeing the band and they were a lot of fun. Check them out if you haven't already.

More photos HERE

What You Missed & Can Still See: Jump Into The Gospel At Pianos

Jump Into The Gospel: June 15 @ Pianos, New York, NY

Where were you on Wednesday night?! Well, if you weren't at Pianos, you missed Jump Into The Gospel bring their "A" game to the stage. After that performance, I have officially dubbed them rock stars. Everyone looked to be relaxed and having fun and they were musically in the zone ... the best show I've seen them do.

Fret not folks. If you missed that show, you can catch them this coming Wednesday, June 22 at Pianos. They're on at 10PM. Joining them on the line-up that evening will be, The Rassle at 9PM and Brick + Mortar at 11PM. It'll only cost you $8!

Look what you missed this past Wednesday...

This is what they played...
More photos HERE

And, this is what it looked like...

Seun Kuti & the Egypt 80 To Release New Record, 6/21 + MP3

This Tuesday, June 21, Seun Kuti & the Egypt 80 will be releasing their new record, From Mighty Africa With Fury: Rise. The record was produced by Brian Eno, John Reynolds and Kuti with additional production by Godwin Logie. It was mixed by John Reynolds and Tim Oliver.

Put this on your list of albums to check out this summer.

MP3 Grab: "Rise"

What You Missed Tuesday Night: Adam Taylor

Adam Taylor: June 14, 2011 @ Mercury Lounge, New York, NY

Tuesday night, Adam Taylor and his band took to the Mercury Lounge stage. I've been telling you folks you should go see this guy, he's really good. Well, if you didn't listen to me, you missed out! Had you been there you not only would have heard great music, but you would have also witnessed him onstage with his brother guitarist Chad Taylor (founding member of Live and his new project The Gracious Few) for the first time! While it was their first time on stage together, it's not their first time working together as Chad produced Adam's latest record No Poet as well as his debut record.

The band, rounded out by Kate Young (vocals/percussion), Mike Giblin (bass/vocals) and Jason Hoffheins (drums) kicked things off with "Oliver" and rocked, rolled and charmed the audience. Always an upbeat performer, Taylor seemed to be having even more fun than usual which was contagious for those on stage and off. With big brother adding a bit of slide to the mix, many of the songs took on a more bluesy tone which worked nicely and gave a nice punch to "Painting Leprosy." It has also become clear that "Whiskey" is a crowd sing-a-long favorite with everyone shouting out that one line particularly loud!

While the entire set was terrific and as always, with top notch vocals. I'd have to say the highlight for me was the blistering, blues rock song "New York." If there's a recording of that performance out there, someone should send it my way! Not that I advocate bootlegging...

The set ended with Adam and Kate singing the wonderful "Cat's Cradle," albeit with a bit of giggling. Taylor's a diverse singer/songwriter and once again proved live that he's the read deal. In the span of one show, he and his band covered all bases ... folk, straight ahead pop, tossed in a little jazz flavor, some rockabilly, a pinch of blues, got funky and did it all with a little bit of a punk attitude. It's not something that everybody can pull off and certainly not as well as the Adam Taylor Band.

The show was loads of fun. If you weren't, you really should have been there!

More photos HERE

TONIGHT: The R's at Pianos + MP3

Head on down to Pianos TONIGHT, June 16 at 8PM to catch The R's! They're from Italy and we like Italian stuff. It'll cost you $8 which is way cheaper than a trip to Italy! So go partake in some cultural exchange.

MP3 Grab: "I Love My Family"

TAB the Band At Mercury Lounge This Friday, 6/17

Looking for a good live show to check out this Friday, June 17? Head on down to Mercury Lounge. You will catch TAB the Band and bonus music happiness, Red Wanting Blue is also on the bill. Both are terrific fun to see live. Doors are at 6:30PM and it'll cost you $10. See, look, now you have plans for Friday night!

This Wednesday: The Twee + JITG + Living Days

Check it out ... Wednesday night, June 15 at Pianos ... go have a drink and hear some good music! Living Days at 9PM, Jump Into The Gospel at 10PM and The Twees at 11PM ... all of that for only $8.

Elbow Announces North American Tour Dates

Elbow will be hitting the road in the fall and they'll be making their way to NYC! They'll be at Terminal 5 on September 25. Tickets go on sale, this Friday, June 17. Doors are at 7PM and it'll cost you $32 advance/$35 dos.

See below for other dates.

September 18th:
ACL Festival, Austin, TX, U.S.A.
(On Sale Now)

September 20th:
Center Stage, Atlanta, GA, U.S.A.
(On Sale June 17th)

September 22nd:
9:30 Club, Washington, DC, U.S.A.
(On Sale June 16th)

September 25th:
Terminal 5, New York, NY, U.S.A.
(On Sale June 17th)

September 26th:
Paradise Rock Club, Boston, MA, U.S.A.
(On Sale June 18th)

September 28th:
Sound Academy, Toronto, ON, Canada
(On Sale June 18th)

October 1st:
The Greek Theatre, Los Angeles, CA, U.S.A.
(On Sale June 18th)

McCartney & McCartney II Reissues Out Tomorrow!

Continuing with their series of deluxe reissues, MPL and Concord Music Group will release Paul McCartney's solo efforts McCartney and McCartney II, tomorrow, June 14.

McCartney was originally released in 1970. This is the record that kicked off McCartney's solo career. There's a certain romance about this album. It has a certain warm homemade feeling about it ... a man creating musical interpretations of his world with his woman steadfastly by his side. Everything about McCartney screams, welcome, join us in a low-key way. This record has always felt like if you'd shown up at McCartney's house, he'd have been in the mist of recording one of these songs. That vibe, that hominess really shines through on the packaging.

McCartney's voice is in top form and the re-mastering highlights that. On previous versions, I've felt that "Maybe I'm Amazed" has sounded tiny and a bit tin'ish. Here the sound is much more lush, like the grand love song that it is.

The sound on these bookend reissues has been spit and polished giving them an air of freshness. McCartney even manages to maintain its vinyl charm through the re-mastering without the crackle and pops of course.

It has been a while since I've had a listen to McCartney II in its entirety. Normally I hear a song here and there as it comes into rotation on my music player. Listening to it in one full go, it sounds a bit dated in some spots. There is plenty of cutting edge (at the time) synth pop encased on this disc. While a great deal of fun, it doesn't hold up as well to me. It was originally released in 1980 and music wise, it generally sounds like it.

This of course is the album that has the insanely catchy "Coming Up" which frankly, never gets old. While listening to this package, I was re-introduced to "On The Way." It's a song that could have fit well on the first record. "Nobody Knows" is a country tinged, blues pop, stomp that sounds richer yet maintains it's fun, lo-fi quality.

McCartney sounds like a old friend you can't wait to catch up with. McCartney II, while it has its moments, just doesn't maintain the same charm.

I haven't seen the bonus DVD footage included on the reissues so I can't tell you about those. But, McCartney enlisted award-winning filmmaker Jack McCoy to create a music video for the previously unreleased track "Blue Sway." The song, written almost 20 years ago is available for the first time on the bonus audio/dvd of McCartney II. Check out the video at the end of the post.

New York, Sir Paul will be playing Yankee Stadium on July 15 and 16. Check HERE for tickets.

Photo Review: Terror In A Western Town

Terror In A Western Town: June 8 @ Pianos, New York, NY

When Matt Witte of Terror In A Western Town took the stage and kicked off the set solo and acoustic, I kept thinking, "how does he fit into this night of music?" The group right before had an amped up girl group sound ... think Shangri-la's and the band after was shake your booty synth rock. About halfway through the first song, I didn't care how he fit, I was just glad he was there. He reminded me of a cross between Johnny Cash and Neil Young ... more of the latter when the rest of the band joined him onstage.

By the end of the set, I had the urge to grab the band, a generator, some friends, a bottle of whiskey, find a swimming hole, make a bon fire and do a little swimming under the moonlight. Put Terror In A Western Town on your list of bands to check out if you haven't yet.

More photos HERE