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Gnarls Barkley is perhaps the most notable one-hit wonder of the internet era, so it's fitting that they played a couple free geek showcases at the tail end of NYC's poorly defined "internet week." On Sunday they were at the Fillmore/Irving to play the 150th Free MySpace show to a group of fans who started lining up a good 7 hours before showtime. Then on Tuesday they hit up the Apple store in Soho to play a stripped down mini set to the people who prefer to download, rather than steam their tunes. Gnarls may never be able to escape the shadow of the mega-breakthrough success of Crazy, but it won't be for lack of effort or fan service. They have never masked their intentions to embrace the internet to further the band's success, so these shows really did feel like they were giving back, in a way, to the culture that made them a household name in the first place. more ›

Last night we sent photographer Raymond Haddad to the I'm Not There concert at Beacon Theater. Calexico, The Roots, My Morning Jacket, J Mascis, Yo La Tengo, Mason Jennings, Joe Henry, Mark Lanegan, Lee Ranaldo & the Million Dollar Bashers and many more were on hand to celebrate the soundtrack, the film and of course Bob Dylan himself (who, in fact, was not there). The soundtrack is a double-discer that's been getting praise from... more ›

Happy first weekend of September - and happy Labor Day weekend, too, for our American cities! Let's take a look at what's been happening around the Ist-a-verse. more ›

What started off as an excellent concert lineup just got better and better as the date approached. The additions of Spoon's Britt Daniel and Kevin Drew were a bonus treat. Music, reading and charity aside, perhaps the biggest wow moment was show headliner Jim James' new closely cropped haircut. The My Morning Jacket front man sheared his trademark Muppet locks since the last time we've seen him about. Not that it affected the music in any way, which nearly stole the show from some other very capable performers. Check out more thoughts and pics at BV and Stereogum, and check out our interview with 826NYC's Sarah Vowell. (pic via Muzicspy's flickr) more ›

, humorously chronicled her pilgrimage to locales connected to three slain American presidents (Lincoln, Garfield and McKinley). Vowell will be appearing this Sunday as part of a fundraiser for 826NYC (tickets); she’ll be talking “with/to/about” comedian Eugene Mirman. (Demetri Martin hosts the event, which also features musicians Grizzly Bear, Jim James of My Morning Jacket, and Feist, among others.) Gothamist recently spoke with Vowell about 826NYC, politics and gluten. more ›

After GBH announced that Courtney Love was to play a free show at Hiro Ballroom, the biggest question besides what she'd sound like or how badly would Hiro screw up the crowd control, was what type of raucous scandal would Love cause during the set. Would she be trashed? Would she get into a fight? Would she show at all? Well, to the pleasant surprise of any real fan, the show went on without a hitch, and Love played a solid set of some old favorites as well as a bunch of new songs, many of which were co-written by professional hitmaker Linda Perry. Check out Freshbread for some pics (like the one above), and Ephemerist and Productshop for some more reviews. more ›

"If you will it, it is no dream." Four years ago Scott Shuffitt and Will Russell were just a couple of bums the square community didn't give a shit about, trading dialogue from the Coen brothers' comic masterpiece The Big Lebowski, when they decided to found a festival in honor of all things Duder. (Others have since gone on to make it their religion; called "Dudeism", adherents describe it as "your answer to everything".) more ›

Horray, more music! Day 2 of Bonnaroo got off to a great start with Dungen at the That Tent. It's quite a trip to hear thousands of people singing along in a language they don't actually understand. Lots of people knew the words, few actually knew what they were saying. Regardless, the energy and presence of this band always impresses, and they left the early risers in high spirits to take on the day. After them were Gothamist pals Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, who played to what we assume was the largest crowd they've been in front of that was the most unfamiliar with the songs. We actually had people ask us "Who is Clap Your Hands whatever whatever?" For the first time in over a year. This touches on one of the great things about the festival. Even though the lineup skewed more towards the indie scene than in previous years, the majority of the crowd was still there for the major jam bands. This put bands like CYHSY in a position to show off their talents in front of musically open minded people who may not have otherwise have gone to see them. Their set was marred with technical difficulties, which was a shame cause it hindered the flow a bit, but nonetheless, once the songs came out, the crowd was bouncing along and enjoying themselves as expected. That’s what we always like to see. more ›

Gothamist headed down to Manchester, Tennessee with over 80,000 other music fans from across genres and across the world to take in Bonnaroo 2006. Three days of some of the best bands around from Jam to Jazz to Rap to Rock. We were up bright and early Friday morning to get the weekend off to the right start. more ›

What? No New Year's plans? Leaving it a bit late, no? Forget the overcrowded bars, the swarms of amateurs, the lame-o house parties. There are a ridiculous number of shows happening around town, some of which are worth your time and some of which not so much. Many of them are sold out, but it's highly possible you could score with the scalpers. Let's have a little look-see, shall we? more ›

If you like quiet music, you can't beat the CMJ-sponsored lineup at Living Room tonight (Tuesday). Jose Gonzalez, making his U.S. debut, is a superstar in his home country of Sweden. You'll know why if you listen to his songs at Myspace. Doveman plays the show too. You might remember them from their appearance at Gothamist's Movable Hype and BroolynVegan's pre-CMJ concert. Up-and-comers Mike Wexler and Emm Gryner are also on the amazing (and amazingly cheap) bill. If that's all too laid back, there's always the faster and louder show right door at Pianos where Other Passengers continue their residency with special guest Saints & Lovers. Run upstairs between bands to see whats going on at Cross Pollination. It's free. more ›

[Ed: Yet another edition of Coolfer's Music Picks...definitely check out the wealth of shows and legal MP3's he recommends.] more ›

Scratchy voiced Alan Light and John Rollins (Gothamist doesn't know anything about Rollins' voice, only Light's because he'dcomment on ANYTHING on VH1) bring a new music magazine offering with Tracks, oriented to more adult readers. The Times' David Carr looks at this venture, which seems to follow the music industry's realization that older consumers will buy, versus download, music, but the older consumers are simply not being spoken to. One doubtful industry expert, wondering if there are adults obsessive enough to shell out some change for a magazine about the music they like, says, "My experience has been that the people who like to listen to Bonnie Raitt and Phil Collins do not have music as a primary interest." Well, duh. If any magazine had a editorial mission to simply cover Phil Collins, it would only be good as a money laundering scheme. But this sounds just like the original business plan for VH1, so expect a couple issues down the road for it to be all about the 80s. Or the Fabulous Life of Sharon Osbourne. more ›