Sigur Ros Settles Down Uptown Sigur Ros played two nights up at The United Palace Theater this week. While the Icelandic group is often known for their overwhelming live shows, sometimes featuring dozens of performers on stage at once, this time around they've stripped down mostly to a core quartet. The atmosphere was somewhat restrained from your typical show, as the swooning and soaring accompaniment was minimized for the most part. For anyone familiar with......

EVENTS: Both Open House NY and The New Yorker Festival are upon us. You can check out more of OHNY's event here, and The New Yorker Festival here. Some picks: The New Yorker Festival hosts a conversation with Errol Morris tonight. He'll be talking with staff writer Philip Gourevitch about Abu Ghraib, with clips shown from Standard Operating Procedure -- his new film is a study of the prison-abuse scandal. Friday // 8pm // Directors......

Not too long ago Ronen Givony started the Wordless Music Series, which is pretty much just what it sounds like it would be. Sonic worlds collide and fuse classical with indie, jazz with electronic and listeners with instrumental-only music. In the next week audiences will enjoy the sounds of Do Make Say Think and Beirut from an intimate setting for just such an experience. How did you come up with the idea for the Wordless......

Tibet Rocks Last Monday at Carnegie Hall there was a Hall of Fame reunion of sorts to support The Tibet House New York. Rock icons such as Ray Davies, Debbie Harry, Lou Reed, Patti Smith and Michael Stipe teamed up with more of-the-moment stars Sigur Ros and Ben Harper to celebrate Tibetan culture. The show was a great success, from all reports, including some duets and surprise arrangements from the legends on hand. Them aside,......

One of the first Carnegie Hall shows we went to, years ago, was the Tibet House Benefit. The President of Tibet House is none other then Uma's dad, Robert A.F. Thurman. The annual show he has help put on is now in its 17th year, and this time around will take place on February 26th. The lineup has been confirmed (why the press release is giving Ben Harper top billing is beyond us) and some......

Now that you're finished pretending you care about football, it's time for the music version of Monday-morning quarterbacking: What are you going to do with your week? To the videotape.... We're going to do things a little bit differently this week, just in case you can't be arsed to read the whole post, and start things off with what we consider to be the show of the week, the absolute don't-miss if you're a rock......

A few times a week, Gothamist publishes music reviews by our contributor Jeff Baum. The opinions below belong entirely to the author. I had read about The Earlies a few months back, when Arctic Monkeys fever was sweeping through downtown Manhattan. Some had claimed that these guys would be the next "band of the month" that everyone would go balls out crazy for once the hype had moved on. They certainly have the set up......

Any good suggestions with what I should do with my folks this weekend? They come into town enough where normal touristy/guest things have long been done. My mom will go anywhere, eat anywhere, etc. The issue is my dad. See, he's kind of weird. Like, his favorite bands are Mogwai, Godspeed You Black Emperor!, and Sigur Ros, and he is always telling me about obscure indie-ish bands that I should listen to. Tries to only......

Even though Suffolk County has denied their permit, promoters claim the Field Day Festival, the two-day concert with acts like the Beastie Boys, Radiohead, Beck, and Liz Phair, will still go on. Schedule for June 7-8, the concert is to be held at a former Grumman U.S. naval facility in Calverton, NY. The accusations/excuses the town of Riverhead faces are that roads wouldn't be able to handle the traffic, the land would be irrevocably damaged,......