Eliot Sumner's second studio album Information was strongly influenced by Krautrock. She's currently on the road, including a stop at Governors Ball Music Festival. Source: Eliot Sumner: An Adrenaline Junkie…
Coeur de Pirate discusses her new album Roses, her soundtrack work and her love for television during a chat before a show in New York. Source: The Heart Evolves: An…
2015 was a great year for new music in all genres. Near the end of 2014, one of what would turn out to be my favorite albums of 2015 leaked onto the internet — The Decemberists What a Terrible World… But January, on the same date, saw the release of another great album, the comeback record No Cities to Love from Sleater-Kinney. But I don’t keep track of release dates really, I keep track of upcoming shows and events. So I can’t say for sure when I discovered other albums save for Grimes’ Art Angels which released near the end of the year. Both Grimes and Decemberists received slightly higher points when I was doing my Pazz & Jop tabulations for Village Voice given how much play both those albums received.
I did try to pick albums that were from a wide variety of genres which is perhaps why this site statistical site Furia considered me a “Centrist” for 2015. But I would have thought I was less centric — however I did select many of the titles that made the Top 10, I haven’t perused the site too much, the amount of data is crazy to review in the few minutes I am taking to get this post up. 
Anyways, check out my best/favorite albums and songs of 2015 after the jump. Click the album cover to visit Amazon and purchase the disc, watch the videos for the singles and be my friend on Spotify. Hopefully 2016 is half as good as 2015 for music.
RIP David Bowie.
The band Savages are set to release their new album Adore Life on January 22nd. They recently dropped the video for the second single from that album, “Adore”, online and you can stream that below. But first, I must catch up on unpublished photos. Last year the band had a residency in NYC with nine shows across a few venues. I caught them at Baby’s All Right on January 19th and hadn’t posted any of the photos till now for whatever reason. Enjoy some more pics below the jump and plan to see them when they return to the States (dates at the bottom).
In 2015, John Brandon of San Fermin, Ty Taylor of Vintage Trouble, Colm Querney, Kellindo Parker (who plays with Janelle Monáe) and Al Kooper (who plays with Bob Dylan) were among some of the musicians I photographed who sent me personal messages to let me know they appreciate my work. It’s a great feeling to have the artists themselves find your work. And though I didn’t hear from her, even Mariah Carey probably saw my work on the Village Voice.
One up and coming band, Secret Weapons, found my photos and reached out, inviting me to come check out their show. After seeing them a few times and getting to know Danny and Gerry, it was great to hear they signed to a label before the year was out. Congrats fellas.
In the same period, I’ve gotten my work published (even if it was just once) in more places, including in and on Noisey, Pancakes & Whiskey, Fangoria, ReverbNation, Rockin’ On, Open Ears, the Sundance Institute and who knows where else.
It helps that I’ve been seeing a lot of music. Although I don’t have an auditor, I try to keep track of what I’ve seen in a year. Returning to the Newport Folk Festival and seeing a ton of great music in Fort Adams State Park was one of the highlights. I look forward to going again in 2016.
Everest Awakening, is a new organization ” founded in light of the recent earthquake to bring together musicians, artists, writers, poets, activists, politicians, and scientists in an effort to raise awareness and funds for Nepal and neighboring territories of the Himalayan region. Using our skills and various platforms, we are doing what we can to spread awareness and hope, using our voices and resources to keep people informed and educated, and to help others to direct their efforts and donations to where they are needed most.”
Founded by Jesse Paris Smith, the organization hosted a benefit event on May 17th at City Winery in NYC to raise funds for victims of the two recent devastating earthquakes in Nepal. The event featured Jesse’s mother Patti Smith along with Loudon Wainwright III, Michael Stipe, Kaki King, Shyam Nepali and more. Pictures from the afternoon show are below the jump. Michael Stipe read a poem, he did not sing because of allergies. Loudon Wainwright III performed a few goofy numbers. Kaki King brilliantly played her guitars, one of which sounded like a kyoto with a simple modification. Patti Smith did one song, followed by a cover of “Everybody Hurts” (with the writer, Stipe not far away), then a new poem about the tragedy in Nepal (accompanied by Jesse on the piano) and then finally with almost all the musicians back on stage, she did “People Have the Power” for the finale.
Please make a donation to this organization or any organization of your choice and help provide relief to the victims. Pick up a few songs that were generously contributed to Everest Awakening by various artists as well via the stream below.