[ROCK] The competition is fierce, in all respects: thousands of submissions, many of remarkable quality, have inundated the offices of NPR Music for their Tiny Desk Concert contest. The popular video concert series has featured everyone from classic singer-songwriters like Jackson Browne to current superstars, ala Adele, to any number of impressive indie stalwarts and up-and-comers alike.
[ROCK] When Pink Floyd hit the stage in San Diego on their final tour in 1994, the Division Bell Tour, Tom Quinn devised the Pink Floyd Experience (PFX). The first Floyd tribute band on the West Coast, PFX won several San Diego Music Awards, before Annerin Productions approached them in 2003. Recognizing the musicality and passion of each PFX player, the Canadian-based producers supplied state-of-the-art special effects, aiming to drive PFX shows even closer to Floydian authenticity.
[COMEDY] Finding yourself naked and alone on stage is the classic premise of an anxiety dream, but for Tig Notaro it’s a challenge, and the objective is to refocus the audience with her moseying delivery and dry punchlines for the remaining 20 minutes. She went topless onstage in 2012 after undergoing a double mastectomy without any reconstructive surgery. Comedians often show their scars, but never quite so literally, and that’s the hallmark of Tig Notaro – she’s a revelation in the (male and female) comedy industry.
[DANCE PARTY] The history of soul music is deep and too seldom plumbed.
Sheldon Silver lost his speakership because he’s been indicted on corruption and bribery charges. So far, it’s been a banner year for antidemocratic and corrupt practices to be shown the light of day.
The common denominator is bad government, and why we elect horrible people.
Tell yourself
as it gets cold and gray falls from the air
that you will go on
walking, hearing
the same tune no matter where
you find yourself—
inside the dome of dark
or under the cracking white
of the moon’s gaze in a valley of snow.
Tonight as it gets cold
tell yourself
what you know which is nothing
but the tune your bones play
as you keep going. And you will be able
For the second year in a row, BuffaBLOG will hold their summer music and art festival, Herd Fest, in Allentown and beyond. This year the festival will be held in June, though exact dates have not been announced yet. For the second edition, the festival will expand from two days to four days, with 10 showcase events assembled by various curators.
[FOLK] Our first edition of The Public Presents, featuring Humble Braggers, Mic Excel, Cove, and Jeffrepeater was an outstanding mix of indie rock, pop, hip hop, and electronica. For the second edition, we’re going to bring you something completely different. Out of the ashes of The Andrew J.
The underlying goal isn’t unique to the Buffalo School District. Throughout New York State, tea party reactionaries have aligned themselves with the state government to bring about a simple equation.
1. De-fund the schools;
2. Cut electives and programs; fire teachers;
3. Break the teachers’ union;
4. Label schools as “low performing”;
5. Create “charter” schools;
6. Segregate better students into charters; exclude troubled, poor, and special education students;
I’m on the fifth floor of the Tri-Main building, surrounded by Tommy Nyugen’s interactive installation for “Me Plush You Long Time.” Artist Sean Louis, upon greeting me, picks up one of the colorful plush creations and hurls it at my face. A brief plush fight breaks out—bright designs and tentacles flying through the air. This is what it’s like being in the orbit of Lesionread.
“Y’all coming to the comedy show tonight?”
Ten minutes to showtime and Tyrone Maclin is, in his words, trying to “carny people in” as they pass by Milkie’s on Elmwood. With a drink in one hand, a cigarette in the other, wearing a forest green “Cosby sweater,” Maclin is all loungey charm. But he wouldn’t be outside in the cold yelling at strangers if he weren’t a little worried. He had a full house last week. Tonight is comparatively light.
Every time the so-called “Islamic State” releases a gory, vicious, inhuman snuff film, normal, civilized people who use social media call on everyone to not share the video or its images. Why? Lots of reasons. Snuff films aren’t exactly high art, worthy of sharing. Watching someone being murdered shouldn’t be reduced to rubbernecking or entertainment. It adds insult to the fatal, abhorrent injury — that is a person who had a family, love, hopes, and dreams.
I went to Detroit and instead of taking pictures of ruin porn and talking about dying cities in some sort of deep thinkpiece about Rust Belt revival, here are some pictures of pretty, shiny new cars.