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)
Gothamist's Week in Rock, Volume 51
Loving L'Amour...in Staten Island
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).
The Sirens Sing Us to Coney Island for Another Year
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.
Pencil This In
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
Pencil This In
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
Elsewhere in the Ist-a-verse
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.
Gothamist Music Picks
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.
KEXP NYC
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:
The Pita's Weekly Music Picks, Secret Edition
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.
The Pita's Weekly Music Picks, Pre-Holiday Edition
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.
Opinionist: We Are Scientists @ Bowery Ballroom
A few times a week, Gothamist publishes music reviews by our contributor Jeff Baum. The opinions below belong entirely to the author.
Movable Hype 5.0 Update
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:
Upcoming
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.

