They’re not as lost as most, but lost more than they deserve. To my knowledge, Big Dipper records are out of print. Sporting alums of the Volcano Suns, the Embarrassment, and Dumptruck, Big Dipper’s never received the reissue treatment afforded those bands. After dropping two of the best mid-eighties indie pop records, the inimitable Heavens […]

Just saw the Long Blondes. When they come through your area, you’ll have few, if any, suitable reasons to miss them. Trust me. Bedtime.

All links removed at the request of money. I had one of those arresting thoughts this morning during the commute, the kind you don’t want to have, but have anyway: Would I still love the Replacements if I first heard them today, at my age, with all the music I’ve already enjoyed behind me? Yeah, […]

Saw a Real Fight in Manhattan this morning, although nothing came of it, no knockdown, just the spectacle of one Lost Soul wildly high-kicking another Lost Soul who, after throwing a few punches,( one landing) gave up in face of effective self defense and some gigantic dude who broke it up. Best was the looks […]

The Smiths on a kids’ show circa 1984. This is what you sometimes get when you type the names of bands into the search field at YouTube. The best track on Night Ripper, the mash-up set of the moment by Girl Talk, is “Summer Smoke.” I will post it tomorrow if the mood strikes. Recently […]

A report on the Os Mutantes show: Webster Hall has even worse sound than Irving Plaza. Like being at a High School talent show. First, when you have a set of musicians as expert as OM, you do not need to pump the volume to Gwar levels. Who’s going to talk during a set by […]

I think I previously mentioned that my favorite Long Fin Killie EP is Buttergut, which I orignally scored on vinyl; lucky for y’all I remembered my cd copy, picked up long ago for the ludicrous price of $1. Their first recording, from 1994, it includes the soon-to-be-on Houdini “Lamberton Lamplighter,” a nice narrative sung by […]

The new Sloan single is floating around out there. It’ll make your afternoon, but little else. And because I’m fully 25% Swedish, with living relatives there (can I please visit?), and she’s touring with my daughter’s fave, Jens Lekman, here’s something freshly delivered to J Frank’s gmail from Secretly Canadian: Frida Hyvonen — You Never […]

Even without Rita Lee, I’m excited about seeing Os Mutantes this Friday. And courtesy of Mr. Tapeworm, I will be doubling my live music pleasure in the next two weeks. He of the stomach parasite has scored entry to the Long Blondes show at the Knitting Factory next week, which is swell for two reasons […]

Let’s open the mail! Before that: J Frank apologizes to the rest of the (hotter) world for complaining about today’s heat, but the Big Apple threatens to hit 100 today, which means 125 if you’ll soon be standing on a breezeless corner near a backhoe lifting metal plates from the street. He is Off Kilter. […]