New York City has been a mecca for popular music going all the way back to Harlem's Cotton Club and greats like Duke Ellington and Miles Davis, Elvis on The Ed Sullivan Show, the rise in popularity of rhythm and blues, the folk rock movement of the early 1960s, spurred largely by Bob Dylan, followed by The British Invasion (The Beatles, Rolling Stones, The Kinks) and Fillmore East and psychedelic rock, the advent of funk and soul, disco and Studio 54, and successive waves of the punk, pop, rock, rap, hip hop, indie and the list goes on and on. Whatever music genre you're looking for - from acid jazz to shoe gaze, Mississippi blues to garage rock, city-slicked bluegrass to Broadway musicals, New York, the world's music capital, has it all.

From The Velvet Underground to The Ramones, Billie Holiday to Simon and Garfunkel, The Strokes to Animal Collective the list of iconic New York musicians and bands is mind-boggling, but not more so then the sheer number of songs recorded in the past nearly 100 years that reference New York in some way, either in the track title or song lyrics.

In this first installment of three special playlist mixes, IRC features some of our favorite songs about NYC. This mix is an extension of the popular State of Music playlist mixes, an on-going series that has focused mostly on songs that are about the 50 states. In time, there will be more mixes of songs about cities around the U.S. and the world. But right now it's New York time.

"NYC, Gone, Gone" - Conor Oberst from Conor Oberst (2008)

"Walk On The Wild Side" - Lou Reed from Transformer (1972)

"New York State Of Mind" - Billy Joel from Turnstiles (1976)

"Hello Brooklyn" - Jay Z and Lil Wayne from American Gangster (2007)

"New York City Heat" - Dead Heart Bloom from Chelsea Diaries (2007)

"The Last Tango In Brooklyn" - Frightened Rabbit from TLB4 CD2 (2009)

"Piazza, New York Catcher" - Belle & Sebastian from Dear Catastrophe Waitress (2003)

"Fairy Tale Of New York" (Pogues Cover) - Stars from Your Ex-Lover Is Dead (2005)

"Brooklyn" - Creaky Boards from Brooklyn is Love (2008)

"New York, New York" - Cat Power from Jukebox (2008)

"New York City" - They Might Be Giants from Factory Showdown (1996)

"Harlem Sunrise" - Rainbow Arabia from Kabukimono (2009)

"Chelsea Hotel" - Leonard Cohen from So Long, Marianne (1999)

"New York, I Love You But You're Bringing Me Down" - LCD Soundsystem from Sound of Silver (2007)

"Brooklyn" - Blue Train from No Free Lunch (2002)


Stay tuned for more New York and other geographic-specific playlist mixes.

Labels: Indie Playlists, Songs About New York

Since last winter when IRC named Florida indie band Blind Man Colour's a "band to watch" (and our post was linked to by Kayne West) BMC has had quite a trip. With Kayne's endorsement, the 19-year-old duo of Kyle Wyss and Orhan Chettri, quickly became a buzz band on the web and within weeks signed a record deal with Kanine Records.

The guys recently announced that they will release their debut album, Season Dreaming, August 18. The album title is the original title of BMC's self-produced and released demos that I had the pleasure to hear earlier this year. The song "Cloud Hustle" is a blast and perfect for a summertime playlist. Enjoy.

"Cloud Hustle" - Blind Man's Colour from Season Dreaming (2009)

Bonus Track: "Jimmy Dove"

Labels: 2009 Indie Songs

There will be tens and hundreds of thousands of tributes worldwide to the memory of Micheal Jackson in the coming days and weeks. Whether you loved him, were not sure about him or plain hated him*, that's totally fine.

This video, featuring the You Tube semi-celebrity Sungha Jung, is a fitting tribute to the memory of The King of Pop. This is a live instrumental performance of "Billie Jean" recorded this past April at Church Glessen in Rodgen, Germany.

Also, check out Coverville - Podcast featuring Micheal Jackson cover songs

Labels: Michael Jackson Tribute

Michael Jackson is dead. Above is authentic video from Hollywood.TV of ambulance taking Michael Jackson from his Bel Air home today shortly before he was pronounced dead. Micheal Jackson entertained hundreds of millions of people around the world from Jackson 5 to the biggest selling album ever - Thriller. It sold more copies worldwide than any record in history.

Update (6/26/09 10:11 am PST): The 911 call that Michael Jackson was unconscious and not breathing.

Update: Watch A Tribute to The Memory of Michael Jackson by brilliant guitarist Sunghu Jung performing an acoustic instrumental cover of "Billie Jean".

Jackson was to start a sold out 50 show comeback in London on July 13. The special 25 year re-issue of Thriller by Michael Jackson, featuring remastered tracks and added other popular Jackson hits collection is #1 right now on Amazon.

How Michael Jackson died will not be official until the coroner and toxicology reports are released. Toxicology reports can take up to three weeks to complete. The address of where Jackson was living is 100 N. Carolwood Dr., Bel Air, Los Angeles, Ca. 90077.



Micheal Jackson's body has just been airlifted by helicopter (see video below) to the coroner's office for autopsy.

Check back later for updates. Wow, TMZ scooped the world media more than an hour before the official press - like Associated Press and LA Times - that Michael Jackson had died.

The UK Guardian has just published a 50 photo spread of Micheal Jackson featuring photos of the King of Pop from childhood to recent.

Labels: Michael Jackson Ambulance Video, Michael Jackson Last Photo

Montreal's Bad Flirt play high-energy pop rock that some critics have said put them on track to challenge Metric's reign as the city's top female-vocalist fronted band.

Bad Flirt had some big-time help for their latest album, Virgin Talk, bringing on producer Howard Bilerman (Arcade Fire, Wolf Parade) to help guide the band's sound and recording.

Armed with an acoustic guitar, some drum loops and a Greyhound bus pass, Bad Flirt was once just a solo project for singer/songwriter Jasamine White Gluz. She dove into the burgeoning Montreal scene in 2002 quickly, a then small but vibrant community. This was during the same embryonic period that yielded the scene's indie pop ambassadors Arcade Fire, The Unicorns and Stars.

Bad Flirt has opened for bands like The Thermals, Paramore and The Kills. Last year, the band headlined Toronto's Virgin Fest alongside MGMT and Foo Fighters. Bad Flirt will be performing at a number of festivals in July, including Rock The Coliseum Festival in Mississauga, Le Cercle (Festival D’Ete De Quebec) and Le Téléphone Rouge (off Fete Du Lac Festival).

Although Virgin Talk is a keeper LP, it's not the blockbuster release needed to truly threatened Metric's throne as Montreal's top female-vocalist fronted band. Still, the album contains some standout tracks such as "Hiroshima" and "Mad, Mad Madeleine World". The former song, with over 30K plays on the band's MySpace page, is the most requested song from Virgin Talk so far.

"Hiroshima, Mon Frere" - Bad Flirt from Virgin Talk (2009)

"Mad, Mad, Madeleine World" - Bad Flirt from Virgin Talk (2009)

Every once and a while a band blasts out of Australia and lands on U.S. soil to make their mark on the rock scene. Melbourne's Children Collide first blazed a smoking trail on rock radio Down Under that is still smoldering. Now, as they wrap up their first-ever, and from all accounts, successful, U.S. tour this month, the band is gearing up for next month's Australian tour with Jane's Addiction.

The band's new album, The Long Way, was released last month in the U.S. Children Collide got their first real exposure in the U.S. at 2007's South By Southwest conference in Austin. The band has been compared to Nirvana, Fugazi, Sonic Youth and The Vines, among other popular rock bands.

The Long Way was produced by Dave Sardy (Dandy Warhols, Oasis, Wolfmother, Jet) and so far its lead single, "Social Currency", has been played more than 125,000 times on the band's MySpace page. Children Collide's publicist describes the "disco-political" track as "a slap in the face to the pseudo-cool club kids with a dose of rock-n-roll reality." Other notable songs on the album include the riveting "Chosen Armies", the catchy "Brave Robot" and the dark appeal of "Skeleton Dance". The album was originally released in Australia last fall.

While alternative rock has suffered a setback in recent years - partly due to the saturation of indie pop - band members Johnny MacKay (vocals/guitar), Heath Crawley (bass) and Ryan Caesar (drums) are doing their part to keep it alive and kicking.

"Social Currency" - Children Collide from The Long Way (2009)

"Chosen Armies" - Children Collide from The Long Way (2009)

Check out Children Collide on MySpace and a new 'how-you-want-to-see-it' video of "Chosen Armies" from the official website for Children Collide.

The band's upcoming shows:

June 26 - Philadelphia, PA - Khyber
June 27 - Allston, MA - Harpers Ferry
June 28 - New York, NY - Mercury Bar
June 29 - Washington, DC - DC9

Children Collide - 'Social Currency'

Note: Yes, it is true, according to the band's MySpace page, that they are signed with a major label. As I have made clear in the past, sometimes there are great bands and musicians who are a product of, or a purchase of, a major label. It is not logical to simply toss away a great band for that reason alone (yet it's still like 'ah, duuuuuude.'). Now that the major label's are creating or funding dozens of smaller, "independent" labels, it will become harder and harder to make this distinction.

That said, at the end of the day, the best music, in my opinion, is created by independent labels and unsigned musicians and bands. Rarely do they does it stay that way once outsiders start meddling and dictating. Part of this blame goes to the bands and artists themselves; for example, The Decemberists. So, again, it's a complicated issue all around. Few things in life are ever "all good".

Labels: Alternative Rock, Indie Artist/Group Profiles

Coma League is a Charlotte indie band consisting of singer and guitarist Ben Gelnett and drummer Kevin Markie. The duo began playing together last year and the style that emerged is a metamorphosis of garage rock, blues, lo-fi, alternative and folk as evidenced by their debut EP, This Could Be The Night on Kinnikinnik Records. Bassist Blake Raynor of The Stone Figs recently joined the band to play live gigs and work on the band's first full-length album.

Coma League's sound reminds me of The Format and even Modest Mouse, which isn't much of a surprise since they list the latter as one of their main musical influences, in addition to Elliott Smith and Bug Hummer. When performing live, Gelnett likes to classify the band's genre of music as "crunk punk".

"Pros and Cons" - Coma League from This Could Be The Night EP (2009)

"Kiser Rolls" - Coma League from This Could Be The Night EP (2009)

Labels: Bands to Watch 2009, MP3s