Hometown post-punk heroes Sonic Youth played a free show for approximately 7,000 fans in Battery Park on July 4th as part of the River to River Festival. The decades-old band started the set with a spellbinding, spacey rendition of “She is Not Alone,” followed by the Kim Gordon-led classic “Bull in the Heather.” By the third song, a blistering “Silver Rocket,” 50-year-old frontman Thurston Moore seemed to have had enough of the photographers separating his......

Don't let the name fool you, The Muggabears aren't creating cute, cuddly pop tunes. (In fact, their songs are peppered with profanities...gasp!) The trio has been garnering attention over the past year for their sound -- something akin to a lo-fi love affair with noise rock. They're not short on comparisons to Sonic Youth and Pavement, so if you like what you hear -- come catch 'em live tonight when they play Galapagos. How did......

Did contemporary art and music come together for the first time in New York? The holy (or unholy -- if you're not a Velvet Underground fan) union can be traced back to, where else, Andy Warhol's Factory scene. So why is the Sympathy for the Devil: Art and Rock and Roll Since 1967 exhibit being housed all the way in Chicago? The NY Times takes a look at the Museum of Contemporary Art (Chicago) show,......

Battles vs. Deerhunter by the Sea A fine way for the Seaport Music Festival to send off the summer, with two of the year's biggest breakout bands on a lovely evening. We were taking in both Battles and Dearhunter for the first time last Friday and were massively impressed by both bands. Deerhunter, down a man and with their usual shtick toned down, sounded like a young Sonic Youth or stripped down Broken Social Scene.......

Sonic Youth are performing their 1988 album "Daydream Nation" in its entirety this summer at McCarren Park Pool. Don't want to spend $34 + fees for a ticket? Don't worry, we have you covered. The show is part of the All Tomorrow’s Parties “Don’t Look Back” concert series and takes place on July 28th. To get the pair of tix, email GothamistContest (a) gmail dot com, and answer us this: the lyrics to lead......

We here in the Ist-A-Verse know that we're sensational, but it's very rare that we get a chance to be sensationalistic. This week, we've decided to have ourselves a little fun and try our hand at tacky tabloid headlines, using nothing more than our favorite posts from this week. Torontoist Special Report: Rosie to Trump: "Fire 300 Bicyclists for Fraud!" On DCist: Students Go Wild for Slogans, Secrets and Sexual Harassment The action was thick......

(AKA The It doesn't feel like Friday and we're still hungover from SXSW edition) NY indie institutions hold it down @ SXSW Last weekend wrapped up South By Southwest, and the final day of festivities focused around the NY2LON day party, which was the collaboration of +1 Management, Brooklyn Vegan and Le Tigre. The stacked lineup was unfortunately without top draw Amy Winehouse, who had to pull out of several recent performances, but featured sets......

READING: John Sellers will be reading from his book, Perfect from Now On: How Indie Rock Saved My Life, tonight. Idolizing bands like Joy Division, Sonic Youth, Pavement and Guided by Voices, the book outlines how he developed his taste in music. It reads more like a blog, than a book, which makes sense since Sellers has one. 7pm // Barnes & Noble [675 6th Ave] // Free MUSIC: Todd P brings The Thermals (pictured......

Spring appears to have, er, sprung, at least temporarily, in most of the Ist-A-Verse, so naturally, we're all feeling pretty good. (Yes, we know that spring doesn't officially start till later this month. Just let us enjoy our weather!) And that makes us that much more eager to share all of the nifty things we're up to... Over at Sampaist, spring has more than sprung: it's sweltering! But, as everyone knows, museums are an ideal......

Remember that smart-alecky retort, “It’s a free country”? That's the brazen spirit behind Radical Living Papers: A history of the free, alternative, counter-culture and underground press, 1965-75. Situated in the Passerby bar, it no doubt will inspire many fervent debates about freedom of the press. The rag-tag collection of zines promotes everything under the sun: politics, revolutions, evolutions of the planets, freak-outs, love-ins, support of green politics, gay liberation, power to the people, the peace......

On the cusp of November, Music is a Better Noise opened up at P.S.1. The exhibit brings together musicians who make art and (you guessed it) artists who make music - or at the very least, use music as a creative motivator in their art. The exhibition is broken up in to two parts. The first part explores New York-based artists and musicians who emerged in the city during the mid-1970s to early 1980s, and......

There are plenty of videos on YouTube of the concerts that have been happening at McCarren Park Pool this summer. Forget brunch and the Sunday Times, the almost apocolyptic feeling abandoned pool parties have become a Sunday ritual for many (the crowd yesterday was insane, we're sure there are plenty of missed connections). Here are some New York bands we like that have graced the stage: Sonic Youth More after the jump.........

The Head Set is: Jordan Blaugrund (vocals, guitar), Brett Sherman (bass), Michael Blaugrund (drums), Eliot Wadsworth (guitar) Gothamist is not unfamiller with The Head Set. Back in the fall of 2004, we ran an interview with the band right before they were set to open for Sonic Youth at an Irving Plaza CMJ kick off party that year. It is a pleasure to state that, 2 years later, the band is till going strong and......

We're at the home stretch! Sunday was a bit of a quieter day for us, but by no means did the music disappoint. The plan was to make it a short day and get back to civilization that night, but due to some travel miscalculations we ended up sticking around till they kicked us out. Very glad we did. The day started with Nashville teenage kids done good Be Your Own Pet at the That......

Tonight is a BIG night, TV-wise, so much so that we can't stand to DVR anything - we need to see it actual time. (Well, we are DVRing it so we can watch it over and over again, but you get the idea and urgency.) There's the Gilmore Girls finale, the Veronica Mars finale, and then a Kathy Griffin special on Bravo! (Okay, the Kathy Griffin special will probably repeat 10 times before the weekend,......

Unless you are in Sonic Youth...you probably love the Pixies. At the very least, you loved the song Where Is My Mind? after hearing it in the movie Fight Club. This Thursday author Ben Sisario will be reading from his new book called "Doolittle," as part of the acclaimed 33 1/3 series. The book takes a look at the 1989 release of the Pixies sonic masterpiece of the same name, gaining insight from the band......

As the holiday countdown continues, this part of Gothamist has noticed that the number of major national touring acts has dwindled. All those midwestern indie-rockers had to get back to the Mall of America and finish up their shopping. Luckily, this is New York, where there are no malls, but there are hundreds of bands eager to play for indifferent ears no matter the season. This week, here's who should be on your list: Instrumental......

FAIR: The WFMU Record & CD Fair is this weekend. Hundreds of music dealers will be there to help with your vinyl fix. Sift through obscurities and maybe you'll find what you've been searching for on eBay for the past 4 months. All Weekend // Friday 7-10pm, Saturday and Sunday 10am-7pm // Metropolitan Pavilion [125 W 18th St] // $5 ART OPENING: Lee Ranaldo of Sonic Youth collaborates with Leah Singer for Drift. Ranaldo brings......

Hey Kids, Got a guitar? We bet you do. Well, Gothamist wanted to give you a nice big heads up on the CMJ Battle of the Bands. CMJ looks For Brooklyn's Best on June 5 at Brooklyn's Grand Army Plaza presenting the Five-Borough Battle of the Bands. Ten music groups of any genre will be chosen to perform live. Five judges, including Adam Shore (Vice Records) and Danny Simmons (Def Poetry) will choose one Grand......

Do you truly appreciate this city? Where else in the world does a random Monday in April present the option of Sonic Youth, the Eagles, Devotchka, The Locust, Blues Explosion, M. Ward, and the Kills? Is there anywhere 'hip'per than NYC? This week, Widespread Panic will have the hippies dancin' in the streets before sittin' in their seats at Radio City Music Hall. Those unable to score a miracle should keep on truckin' to the......

Hello Gothamist readers. Allow me to introduce myself. Some of you may know me as the music-obsessed blogger over at BrooklynVegan.com. Now you'll also know me as the music-obsessed blogger here at Gothamist. I'll attempt to keep you informed of the shows you don't want to miss each and every week. I'll try my best not to miss anything, not make mistakes, and bring you as much variety as possible, but unfortunately I'm only human.......

This column used to be called Sets & The City, but we wanted to change it. So we're taking suggestions! For now we'll call it the Gothamist Band Interview. We digress, today's subject is Other Passengers. [Photo by Dum Dum Images] When your influences range from Bauhaus to early Pink Floyd to Sonic Youth it's a toss up as to what your sound will be like. Luckily Other Passengers pinpoint, expand upon and move past......

Trying to describe the Head Set we wanted to avoid the catch phrases that litter today's reviews. Post-punk, "the new Strokes"...you get the idea. It's hard though, with this band, because they are those things, in the best way imaginable. We don't usually do this, but listen to them right now, then come back and read the rest. So there you go, they're post pop and brit rock fused with what you might hear......

If you plan on hitting the clubs next week and taking part in the annual CMJ music binge, why not use the coming days to rest up, get some sleep and save your pennies? A week of rest woudln't hurt, would it? But it's not that easy. Not this week...though the shows are mostly big ticket events that will set you back a few bucks. The big names precede CMJ this year. Next week we'll......

Gothamist has retained its passes for the upcoming CMJ Music Marathon and is a bit overwhelmed by the schedule. Shows, lectures, panels and events we want to attend + time in the day is not equalling out very well, but we're going to load up on caffeine and do our best to attend and cover it all. Space-Time Continuum be damned, we'll be everywhere at once. Some highlights for us are going to be.........

Jay Brida, Publisher/Copywriter...

Gothamist loves movie soundtracks. Paying attention to them has led us to learning about new composers or new artists, whose own albums we realize we must rush out to buy. French critic and film director Olivier Assayas loves the music in movies too and he's programmed a series at BAMcin�matek of his favorite film soundtracks called "I Can Hear The Guitar: Selected by Olivier Assayas," which begins today. Starting out as a writer for the......

The first time Gothamist heard Asobi Seksu we didn't know what to expect, we'd heard them described as a more sultry Sonic Youth, a competant rock band reminiscent of My Bloody Valentine. Did they live up to their influences and comparisons? Yes, but they surpassed their reviews as they turned another corner to create their own unique sound. It isn't just the occassional Japanese lyrics that sets them apart but a layered effect that......

Just a reminder incase you didn't see this post last month: Gothamist has missed far too many sold out shows to know that buying tickets ahead of time is imperative. In that vein, every month or so we'll make it a point to update you with a list of shows we think may sell out. This way you can buy tickets ahead of time and avoid that last minute Craigslist surfing. Here is a list......

[Sets and the City is a new section for Gothamist Arts & Events written by Karen Ruttner, Jen Carlson and Janelle Gunther. Check back weekly for new profiles and interviews with the bands that make this city tick.] Madison Strays have been together a little over a year, and yet their drugged-up psycho-prom music already seems at home amidst the swirls of post-punk and new wave that are crashing through New York�s underground. Their......