Liberty City Radio Far Better Than Actual New York Radio In a jarring fictionalization of an otherwise believable New York City sim, the radio stations in Grand Theft Auto 4's Liberty City are...actually quite good! Despite New York City's long history of disappointing FM radio, the music selections in the latest crime epic are incredibly deep and nuanced. There's a little bit for everyone...L.C.H.C. is the Jimmy Gestapo hosted hardcore channel, K109 is Karl Lagerfeld's......

Coachella Lineup Announced Sure, with the All Points West Fest announced, Coachella may not have the same appeal for east coasters this year, but the lineup announcement is still an exciting annual event. Over the last few years, it has established itself as the granddaddy and standard bearer of the American festival circuit. Unfortunately, most people are finding this year's lineup is a bit of a dud. Coachella's been operating at such a high level......

Last week we were tipped off to a new, nearby festival temporarily dubbed Coachella East, because of it's relation to the mammoth west coast fest and their shared event producer. Now we learn the proper name, All Points West, and some more details from the press release:The three-day event is set for August 8, 9 and 10, 2008 at Liberty State Park in New Jersey. This historic location offers panoramic views of the Statue of......

Goldenvoice concerts, the people who bring the West Coast Coachella each year, are now planning a similar concert for us East Coasters. And it's set to be right in our very own backyard. Sort of. We're told the event will happen at an outdoor space that we are not allowed to disclose at this time, but we will say it's in Sopranos territory (and not Vineland). We hear you may just be able to reach......

Syd Butler plays bass for Les Savy Fav, who have been a staple in any good rock n' roller's iPod since before iPods were invented. Recently he's brought his baby on stag to share in the action, and even more recently (this past Tuesday) his band released a new album, Let's Stay Friends. Tonight they play Music Hall of Williamsburg, and tomorrow Bowery Ballroom (and in October, Randall's island with Arcade Fire). Let's get this......

Bonnaroo Has Begun While we couldn't make it down this year (a bit festivaled out between SXSW and Coachella and Sasquatch so far this year), Bonnaroo kicked off last night with a couple local favorites warming up the early arrivers. The National, Langhorne Slim and Apollo Sunshine among others took the stage for the Thursday night festivities. Much much more on the way for the rest of the week, including hometowners Sam Champion, El-P and......

Spankrock, Ghostface WTF the Highline We've never handed our tickets to the door guy at a show before and been asked if we wanted to get a table and buy a bottle. But this, I suppose, is what you get when you go see a show on 16th street and 10th ave. Our experience at the new High Line Ballroom felt as if we were living the opening scene of a Law and Order episode,......

There's so much going on across the Ist-a-Verse that it's almost impossible to keep track these days. Fortunately, we do it so you don't have to! Londonist took a walk through Oliver Twist's London, thanks to a gorgeous map layer for Google Earth. They also caught up with modern-day fictional London, with the Fantastic Four and 28 Weeks Later. It was a week of insanity over at DCist. They started the week off with......

The Rapture Kill at Coachella Sure, it always feels a little silly to travel 3,000 miles across the country to see a local band play to a crowd 10 times the size of what they normally play for. The Rapture, however, thrive in this type of atmosphere and took the chance to really show off how great a live band they've become. Following a disappointing set by fellow dance punk icons LCD Soundsystem to cap......

Faithless Return It's been something like 9 years since the last time Faithless played in New York. Considering that the band is one of the largest in England and the rest of the world, selling out soccer stadiums and headlining major music festivals year after year, their return to the States is a pretty big deal. Hitting a couple club dates on their way to Coachella, they stopped by Webster Hall earlier in the week......

Bright Eyes Twangs Out Bowery Remember those tense hours a few months back when nobody could get Bright Eyes tickets? The chance to see the folk-emo megastar at an intimate club like the Bowery Ballroom was a dream come true for hardcore fans looking to get a first listen at material off the upcoming album. This last Friday and Saturday were the days these kids have been waiting for, and Conor and Friends did......

Girl Talk get it right Last Friday, crowds packed into Studio B to see the NYC return of laptop mashup extraordinaire Girl Talk deliver his most satisfying local set to date. 90 minutes of ADD jamz that kept the capacity crowd moving the entire time. This might sound odd, the best parts of a Girl Talk set are the mixes that don't work perfectly. They're few and far between, but sometimes two songs just don't......

One of the most energetic and memorable concerts I've ever attended in New York City was Bloc Party at the Roxy for Motherfucker. They were just starting to emerge as the indie powerhouse they've become, and in a Presidents day snowstorm in Chelsea, the traditionally sour and indifferent crowd was more riled up than any I had ever experienced at a NY indie rock show. I still hear people wax poetic about how they wish......

Nick Zinner, Yeah Yeah Yeahs...

As soon as Bright Eyes (and the Faint) are finished hogging Webster Hall this week, former Conor Oberst label mate Rilo Kiley take over for a two day run. Former child actress Jenny Lewis leads this band of safe OC-ready indie pop-rockers. For a taste of Rilo, download MP3s of their entire Coachella performance. Portastatic and The Brunettes open both shows on Thursday and Friday. For something completely unsafe (slam dancing, ringing ears, and......

We couldn't help but notice the abundance of talented white male rockers invading NYC this week. New and old and originating from various corners of the Earth, the white boys of rock n' roll are invading. Let us be your guide. Last time they were here, they rocked NYC under the Brooklyn Bridge. The Irish international living rock n' roll legends, U2, are coming to a stadium near you. Tuesday and Wednesday at Continental Airlines......

If you aren't in Indio, California this weekend then you aren't seeing Nine Inch Nails, the Arcade Fire or Spoon. You also aren't going to be suffering from heat stroke in a desert and buying $8 bottles of water, so we think you made a wise decision to skip Coachella. This weekend in New York we say goodbye to April, which if the old saying is correct - no more rain! Right? So throw away......

Coachella confirmations are starting to appear, after many many rumors. This year, the 6th, will be held April 30th to May 1st at Empire Polo Field in Indio, CA (same venue as last year). The lineup is still unconfirmed but you can probably expect Coldplay, Franz Ferdinand and the Killers. Others asked to perform this year are the Futureheads, Snow Patrol, Keane, Bloc Party, Secret Machines, Hot Hot Heat, Phoenix, The Bravery and Radio 4.......