The Useless Critic 2.0

I say "recently" because there are a ton of dead people throughout time , and I doubt I will be writing about some singing bard from the Middle Ages. I was supposed to do this before Halloween. Sorry! Let's start with Amy Winehouse and her melancholic break-up anthem, "Back to Black." What makes his gut-wrenching is the decision to film it at a funeral. So watching it now when Amy has been dead for two years is unsettling, to say the least. Classic tale of substance abuse destroying a person full of potential.  Wilco's Jay Bennett- It's easy to gloss over Jay's death now, but Wilco is a great American rock band and Jay deserves to be remembered. Ah, man. Learning of Adam from the Beastie Boys' death was quite a shock. Hopefully, he's kicking it in the afterlife. There are a myriad of dead musicians, you know. So I'm trying to stay away from people like John Lennon and Kurt Cobain. Albeit, they are legends, it's ...

Oh yes, it's happening. See here: https://www.facebook.com/?ref=tn_tnmn#!/events/359454354134296/ August 15 everyone! Bring Your Friends! Should you have them..... >_>

he is adorable sometimes First of all, I didn't think I'd be enjoying a Rufus Wainwright record EVER AGAIN. I thought the dude peaked years ago....I heard everything after Want Two  and just lost total interest. Rufus broke my heart, in a way. I mean- "Greek Song, "California," "Vibrate," "In My Arms"- he's so crazy talented! but it seemed, the past several years, he had reached some baroque pop midpoint.  Well:  he hasn't! Enter Out of the Game , which finds Rufus channeling 1970s (almost typed 1870s.....good GOD what would that imply?!? chamber music? HARPS? JOANNA NEWSOM?) pop in a way that surprisingly works. Think David Bowie-esque (Bowie, of course, at his own poppiest) or even his own dad at intervals.  The standouts are the above track, "Montauk," "Rashida" and "Candles." I will break down WHY for you right now: - "Montauk":  Rufus just became a dad with his fiance...

WILCO just announced (WILCOOOOOO) that they will be hitting up Pittsburgh in April on the 11th. Now for me that's a pretty big deal. I'd put them up in like, near-Radiohead territory. I WANT to see that so hard. for reals. The Antlers will be playing in Akron come January 30th. Tickets are like 11 dollars. Hospice was Amazon's pick for the year! yeahhhhhhh. In February, Sondre Lerche will be in Pittsburgh on February 26th at the Club Cafe. he's very good live, worth a view if you haven't already! JBM will be opening again. Another performer that's very worth a trip to see is ST. VINCENT, who will be at Pittsburgh on Feb. 21, a Sunday. God. she's so like- mesmerizing live. she made me a big fan after witnessing her all-too-brief opening bit for Andrew Bird. Irish group The Guggenheim Grotto will be in Pittsburgh March 3. They're pretty up-and-coming and if you're a fan of Damien Rice or the like, you might appreciate them. WATCH NOW Then you have vet...

I can't check my email so that interview will have to wait. :( in the mean time: a.) I have a review up at Lolirock Entertainment: http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=450879788&blogId=501344803 regarding The Dead Weather's "Horehound." another article will be up in a few days about a local concert on Saturday you should check out. if you are in Erie, that is. b.) Arlo Guthrie! free tomorrow! bayfront! (err, later today) I was planning on this but then I made plans. oops. c.) what's the best American band, do you think? as of right now? still in their prime? I was thinking about this at work....I thought Radiohead's British, Arcade Fire's Canadian. so what does that leave us? my money, I think, is on Wilco. then I'd say R.E.M., Grizzly Bear, Animal Collective and the White Stripes. but what about No Doubt? they just haven't put out anything new since their "It's My Life" cover. so I think it's ...

I seem to attract a lot of Jessicas in my life. and I have good relationships with them. as opposed to say, Julies. do you ever notice that about certain names or am I just weird? anyway here's a the collaboration between Wilco and Feist off Wilco's latest album, "You and I." Two of my favorite voices blend together so nicely. http://www.sendspace.com/file/nia32x - Brittany RIP BILLY MAYS AND YOUR FABOLOUSLY HAIRY FOREARMS

I don't know how I let today go by without mentioning the fact that an ex-member of Wilco died in his sleep last night. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8066913.stm RIP Jay. I also don't realize how I just noticed there's a Feist/Wilco duet floating around out there. whoa. - Brittany