Indie Music Blog

Chick Corea: Artist of the Year? Is This Really 2009?

Anthony Medici — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 17:36:22 +0000

Time to get back to work. The holidays are mercifully over. I was able to use a lot of my unused leave at my real job (and just to repeat, I do not work in a record store, nor do I work for Princeton Record Exchange alas). I took last week off from blogging and [...]

Top Ten Musician’s List for 2008

Jeff Boule — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 22:49:28 +0000

Happy New Year to all! On my recent visit to the Princeton Record Exchange, the sheer volume of inventory overwhelmed me. The things that were available were equally astounding. Yes, I have been blogging about PREX site unseen until now. I can only further recommend getting down there and checking things [...]

Foo Fighters Too Big For Their Britches? And Other Fan Casualties.

Jeff Boule — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 17:02:28 +0000

Before you get mislead, no fans or audience members were harmed in the making of this blog. But it ain’t pretty. If you are a fan of the Foo Fighters you know about their recent DVD release Live At Wembley Stadium. Die hard fans knew about their pre-order offer where they included not [...]

The Year in Review: Highs and Lows, Including the 5 Worst Jazz Magazine Cover Stories

Anthony Medici — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 18:11:53 +0000

This is the time of year when we look back, take stock of what was, both the highs and lows, and look forward to what the new year brings. Let’s start with the Top 5 Worst Jazz magazine Cover Stories of the Year, shall we? Number 5: “Tony Bennett in a Holiday Groove”- Christopher [...]

Passing Ships and Cheesesteaks

Anthony Medici — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 12:00:55 +0000

This past Friday, your intrepid blogger set forth to face the challenges of I-95 from DC to Philly in order to attend the Ars Nova Workshop presentation of the Ron Horton Sextet performance of Andrew Hill’s Passing Ships. Since I love the music of Andrew Hill, I was more than willing to face the [...]

Throwdown: Downbeat v Jazz Times, Dec 08-Jan 09

Anthony Medici — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 03:26:20 +0000

I thought it might be fun, and perhaps even instructive, to make some head to head and round by round comparisons between our two heavyweight jazz mags, Dowbeat (DB) and Jazz Times (JT), as they compete for the hearts, souls, and dollars of jazz fans. JT clearly wants to lead the pack, as [...]

Turkies, Stuffing, and Thanksgiving

Anthony Medici — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 04:11:57 +0000

Sated with good food, good company, and plenty of music listening, it was not easy to put on my blogger’s mantle, but then I saw the cover of the just-issued Jazz Times and, well, I was roused to blog a bit. Our pals at JT seem pretty much determined to prove my point that [...]

David Byrne Brings His Strange, Wonderful World To The Tower Theater, November 8, 2008

Jeff Boule — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 23:38:51 +0000

For those of you not familiar with the name David Byrne, he was the strange man in the suit and horned-rimmed glasses chopping at his forearm in the Talking Heads “Once In A Lifetime” video. Talking Heads long-time producer, Brian Eno, has been a long-time collaborator of Byrne’s. The show was billed as [...]

SHERAZADA UPDATE!

Leigh Silbernagel — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 21:47:32 +0000

Last night i saw ADAM BIENER of SHERAZADA. He told me that they have a new bassist and drummer. They will have new merchandise available soon. they are heading back to the studio to start writing, recording and mixing, mastering and cutting new tracks. They have 4 shows coming up. -leigh Silbernagel addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.prex.com%2Fblog%2Fsherazada-update%2F'; [...]

KANYE: 808’s & Heartbreak

Leigh Silbernagel — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 21:23:23 +0000

Kanye West: 808’s and Heartbreak The songs that are not about heartbreak are your classic Kanye self-swagger tributes: powerful tracks with stylistically well-done use of an auto-tune that showcases Kanye’s impressive vocal range and control. Ranging from the resolved, empowerment-anthem: “Welcome to Heartbreak,” to the unexpected throwback early 90s beat “Paranoid:” Kanye knows what he [...]

Coltrane for Christmas

Anthony Medici — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 22:45:29 +0000

Assuming you have any money left following our current economic downturn, or, almost as good perhaps, know someone who does, let me recommend a few gift ideas. I figure this is safer bet than slagging jazz magazines, or knocking a certain jazz radio station, but who knows. So, here are some ideas for [...]

KANYE: 808′S and HEARTBREAK

Leigh Silbernagel — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 21:28:45 +0000

The songs that are not about heartbreak are your classic Kanye self-swagger tributes: powerful tracks with stylistically well-done use of an auto-tune that showcases Kanye’s impressive vocal range and control. Ranging from the resolved, empowerment-anthem: “Welcome to Heartbreak,” to the unexpected throwback early 90s beat “Paranoid:” Kanye knows what he does best, and he delivers [...]

VALENCIA NEW VIDEO POSTED

Leigh Silbernagel — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 22:07:26 +0000

Valencia’s brand new video for “Where Did You Go?” is available now on their MySpace: http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.showvids&friendID=1736005&n=1736005&MyToken=a8bb9674-06c6-4067-b527-4c8ac2fb4b45&utm_medium=columbia-email&utm_source=valencia&utm_campaign=columbia-email|valencia|20081121 -leigh silbernagel addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.prex.com%2Fblog%2Fvalencia-video-posted%2F'; addthis_title = 'VALENCIA+NEW+VIDEO+POSTED'; addthis_pub = '';

If it’s a eulogy for a show, can it be categorized under “Honoring Lives”?

Melissa — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 01:14:28 +0000

As many know, the MTV show Total Request Live, known by its nickname TRL, ended its ten-year run on November 16. Many fans and musicians, who made their big breaks appearing on the show, attended the “Total Finale Live” special. I’m guessing millions more saw it on television. It was a poignant ending without the fact that it was the end of a [...]

Why Our Jazz Magazines Are Bad…And May Not Get Better

Anthony Medici — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 18:13:31 +0000

Well, it seems as if I have created a bit of a kerfuffle as a result of my post, “Why Our Jazz Magazines are Bad… and Bad for Jazz.” Who knew? It’s nice to know our little blogspot is getting some attention. In fact, Lee Mergner, editor of Jazz Times, on another website that I [...]

The Death Of Rock and Roll, and Progressive

Jeff Boule — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 00:33:41 +0000

I was asked why my blogs do not appear weekly. The simple answer to this question is: life. I am currently rehearsing my solo acoustic show, I am also participating in my company’s Christmas show, so I have to learn three X-mas songs. This should prove interesting, as I am not a religious person. But this [...]

New Arrivals

jon — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 20:35:04 +0000

Early November, 2008 Greetings from Princeton Record Exchange, Recently arrived: over 3,000 Jazz LPs! We have just bought a nice, large jazz LP collection. The majority of these records are 70’s pressings of bop and post-bop small combos along with some traditional and big-band. The records and covers are, for the most part, extremely clean. It is a [...]

Does Keith Jarrett Belong in the Hall of Fame?

Anthony Medici — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 16:15:21 +0000

So, yes, give Keith Jarrett an entry ticket into the Hall of Fame, but slap an asterick on it.

That Guitar Man from Central Park; David Ippolito

Leigh Silbernagel — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 00:02:02 +0000

That Guitar man from Central Park; David Ippolito Self-described as “Acoustic-storytelling like James Taylor might have written if heavily influenced by the Beatles and Broadway.” [The Music] The CD I reviewed was “The People on the Hill” My top two favorites were “Thank God for my Guitar,” and the acoustic version of “The Way you look Tonight” And [...]

Going Dutch in Baltimore

Anthony Medici — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 18:48:12 +0000

My pal and I traveled to An Die Musik in Baltimore, Maryland Saturday night to hear two groups: Trio Bramm, from Holland, and All Coda, all from the Baltimore area with the exception of New York-based saxophonist Tim Berne. There was exciting music on offer, all in a small (perhaps 80 seats), comfortable [...]