We remember Z100 fondly. It was our morning listen for much of elementary school, and for better or worse, has stuck to the same broadcasting formula for all this time. The annual Jingle Ball is a fun tradition, if for nothing else, as a convenient year end recap of all the biggest pop hits of the year we might have missed. Getting all these names together for one night only is no easy feat. They had your Fall Out Boys and Backstreet Boys, Alisha Keys and Avril Levine, Timbaland's bizarre soft-rock crossover protégées and many more. They all got a slot to perform their one hit wonders to the obsessed, shrieking masses. The biggest story coming out of the concert may have been the state of Ashley Tisdale's schnoz, but the music itself was a perfect storm of mainstream glitz that just seems fitting for this crazy season. (pic via Z100.com) more ›

(directed by Quentin Tarantino) more ›

In 2005 fans of heavy metal were darker than usual when their mecca, L'Amour, closed up shop after a teenager was killed while diving into the mosh pit. The club had been going strong for two decades throughout which time they booked many rising stars - Metallica, for one. Any metal band worth their weight in black jeans and double-neck guitars soon stopped by to play, even after they had made it big (like KISS). more ›

We've survived the sirens for many years, and if this truly was the last Siren Fest ever, it certainly went out with a bang. Coney Island was packed full of thrifty music fans for the 7th annual Siren Festival this weekend. Despite the current trend of awful weather for every worthwhile free outdoor concert this summer so far, nobody could complain about the perfect day at the beach this past Saturday. more ›

We can't possibly choose only one music event for the weekend, so check out OhMyRockness for the jam packed weekend listings. We will say, however, that one of the openers for Snowden at Maxwell's tonight...is We Are Scientists, trying out some new tunes. Though closer to home are The Clientele and Beach House at Bowery Ballroom. Listen: Apple Orchard.mp3 - Beach House more ›

A few weeks ago, Columbia students reeled from the news that Golden Globe-nominated, Saturn Award- and SAG Award-winning actor Matthew Fox was chosen as the class day speaker. Bwog wrote about Fox's second banana performance in We Are Marshal, which starred Matthew McConaughey: "Our Class Day speaker got upstaged by the smelliest-looking man in show business." more ›

A couple of weeks ago we mentioned Pool Aid and their efforts to "keep the pool in the hands of the community". In their mission statement they focus on wanting "to see everyone in the neighborhood attending events at the pool, not just hipsters." Which makes one wonder why they chose hipster-approved bands Nada Surf, Giraffes (et al) to record their "We Are The Pool" song. Check out the video below: more ›

THEATER: The Scene, a black comedy by Theresa Rebeck that premiered at this year’s Humana Festival in Louisville, is now in previews at Second Stage. The satire is about an out-of-work New York actor (Spenser: For Hire’s Tony Shalhoub) — married to a news producer (Alien Nation veteran Patricia Heaton) — who has an affair with a fresh-faced Ohioan ingénue. Rebeck’s stated intent with The Scene is to skewer America’s “cultural collapse into narcissism”. - John Del Signore more ›

LAist is flashing a sad peace out to their editor Carolyn Kellogg with one hand and bumping knuckles with their new head typist L.A. blogger king Tony Pierce with the other. more ›

No, not ex-Unicorns Islands or former BOTW'ers Foreign Islands, but simply, The Isles. The local quartet has been busy this year, playing shows all over town and impressing all along the way. NME has apparently stated that "New Yorkers have never sounded as English as they do on this," which is exactly the type of brazen hyperbole we've come to expect from our favorite music news source across the pond. These guys seem to have the chops to back up the big words however. We hope to catch them when them open for We Are Wolves at the Canal Room this Friday. more ›

With KEXP in town there's a lot more music than usual. Check out their in studio shows online while you're at work this week. Off the airwaves there's a lot to see, hear and enjoy as well. Tonight and tomorrow night, Angels and Airwaves and I Am The Avalanche play Bowery Ballroom. If you walk by the venue to see a cluster of pierced tweens waiting to get in, it may help to know that the former band is Tom from Blink 182. Goldfrapp is also in town, playing Irving Plaza tonight. more ›

One of our favorite stations to listen to all day is KEXP, run out of Seattle, and through the magic of online streaming - heard worldwide. This week they're in New York broadcasting (as they are twice a year), putting on some shows and having many in-studio guests. They're in Philip Glass' old studio which is now Gigantic Music, where their musical guests include: more ›

Today is "Day Without An Immigrant" day, as immigrants across the county will choose various ways to protest the country's possible immigration policy shift. While some are not going to work at all, in New York, workers are going to link their arms at 12:16PM for about 20 minutes. From the New York Immigration Coalition:

At exactly 12:16pm on May 1st, immigrant workers, business owners, and community members at several locations can take a few minutes out from their workday to join together in solidarity with immigrants across the nation, by lining up along major immigrant commercial thoroughfares and holding signs that read, “We Are America!” and “I Love Immigrant New York!” Immigrant workers and business owners will be available for interviews. more ›

For a long time we didn't listen to Wolfmother just because they had "wolf" in their name. We were sick it. Wolfmother, Wolf Eyes, We Are Wolves..."how could any of them be better than Wolf Parade?" we thought. more ›

Gothamist is feeling a bit under the weather today, literally and figuratively, so we'll just get straight to it, if you don't mind: more ›

Thank god the holidays are finally over and bands are getting back into the swing of things. Now we can sell off all our unwanted gifts on eBay (how much do you think we can get for a hypercolor "hip" bible?) and spend the cash on evil rock and roll, which is back with a vengeance in our fine, fine city. more ›

Pickings this week are slimmer than last month's turkey. If your Christmukkah party schedule allows, give yourself an early present and forage for some rock and roll scraps. more ›

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: more ›

Fact: Thunder Road is the greatest song penned by an American songwriter in the last 30 years. This is an unarguable, unassailable, unquestionable truth. If you don't believe us, check out the giant three-disc reissue of Born to Run that Columbia Records put out last week. Even McSweeney's loves Bruce Springsteen! Check out their list of "Bruce Springsteen Songs, If the Title More Accurately Reflected the Subject Matter:" more ›

A few times a week, Gothamist publishes music reviews by our contributor Jeff Baum. The opinions below belong entirely to the author. more ›

So we've been waiting to confirm our last band for Movable Hype 5.0 and we can now do so. Since we wanted to bring back 3 acts from previous shows we chose our favorites, one of which was so busy touring Europe with the Editors and We Are Scientists, playing shows with Maximo Park and hosting Mtv's Subterranean that it took them a while to fit us in, but alas, they finally have...so here's who you'll see on November 2nd: more ›

Air America's The Majority Report with Janeane Garofalo and Sam Seder will broadcast live from The Tank, which it also did during the Republican National Convention. This time the broadcast includes a live studio audience and guest Tim Robbins. more ›

Gothamist also liked this quote in the Times article:

In addition to his popularity among children, who watch his cartoon show, [Spongebob Squarepants] has become a well-known camp figure among adult gay men, perhaps because he holds hands with his animated sidekick Patrick and likes to watch the imaginary television show "The Adventures of Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy."

If you were like Gothamist Saturday night and stayed out too late at some bar on Ave C then you also missed the Austin City Limits that aired with Wilco and Bright Eyes. You also forgot to TiVo it. Luckily, it's airing again at midnight this Friday. So stop reading and go set your DVR's now. more ›

Admiration for the Greek coffee cup from NY Trash. And the Solo Cup Company gets orders for cups from production companies that want to give their set-in-NY movies or TV shows authenticity. [Updated:] Yes, there are even Greek coffee cup t-shirts and clocks at Tasty Inc.
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If you're an intense professional in a movie or sitcom, watch out. Because a relative will die, leaving to you care for their children (via some tragic incident). But at least comic antics will ensue. Last week, Kate Hudson agreed to star in a movie called Raising Helen, about a rising professional who suddenly inherits her sister's three children, when her sister dies. Today, it was announced that Lori Loughlin would star in a WB showabout a woman who inherits her sister's kids after the sister dies. Hmm. One of the best comedies on air now, The Bernie Mac Show, is about a man who takes care of his sister's three kids, because his sister is a crack addict. Other movies with a similar theme: Mostly Martha (sister dies, intense chef inherits her niece), Baby Boom (distant relatives die, leaving intense career woman to inherit baby girl), Evening Star (daughter dies, leaving intense grandmother to inherit three children), and countless others. more ›