Taco, Burrito, What’s on Your Album Sleeve-o

Hey Playtonics,

Happy Monday! For your viewing pleasure, check out Album Tacos, a hilarious new tumblr featuring pictures of tacos superimposed onto classic album covers. 

Enjoy!

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Rock the Bells – Governors Island – August 28, 2010

(This review, in edited form along with pictures, will appear on The Bowery Presents The House List tomorrow)

With less than a month left in the summer, hip-hop’s living legends and cunning contemporaries assembled on Governors Island for the 7^th annual Rock the Bells. Thousands dressed in Wu-Tang Clan t-shirts and tank tops took the short ferry ride to the festival grounds where thousands more crowded around two stages to share in the American pastime of hot dogs, lemonade, and blunts. With so many great acts to see and ridiculous people to people-watch, the following is a list of the best moments at this year’s Rock the Bells:

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Rolling Stone Names “A Day in the Life” Greatest Beatles Song

The above headline says it all. Rolling Stone, the magazine that formerly brought you thought-provoking music journalism, continues to rank every conceivable aspect of music, this time with “The Beatles 100 Greatest Songs.” Unsurprisingly, the archaic publication chose Sgt. Pepper’s “A Day in the Life” as the fab four’s top track. This strikes me as both lazy and obvious given Rolling Stone’s track record and I hold that this piece is little more than populist fluff.

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Pop Goes Philosophy

Pop philosophy is on the up and up! Sophie’s World by Jostein Gaarder and Alain De Botton’s The Consolations of Philosophy have cracked the bestsellers list while the podcast Philosophy Bites boasts 7.5 million downloads.  Read more about the popularization of philosophy over at The Independent.

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Everybody Is Working For Good Friday

Regardless of your feelings about Twitter, Kanye West’s steady stream of 140 character or less messages are a treat.  Yesterday, West announced that he plans to give away a new song every Friday up until Christmas. See the thread of tweets below:

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Independence Spreads Like Wildfire

I can’t shut up about Arcade Fire. I’m also not the only one. Over at The New Yorker,  skillful and intelligent music journalist Sasha Frere-Jones wrote this piece on Arcade Fire and their independent approach toward creating music. It is worth reading both for its analysis of music industry and the use of the word perfervid (Adjective: Intense and impassioned).

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Legal Affairs Desk: Who Makes Your Money?

We here at the legal affairs desk think a lot about how money, music, and the law interact. Hell, we made a desk to sit at and ruminate on those  very topics! Well, last week The New York Times came out with this fascinating article on how licensing firms collect royalties. I whole heartedly recommend this article to anyone who is curious about intellectual property and the economics of the music industry. However, while the article provides a descriptive view of the individuals involved in collecting artist’s royalties, it does leave the reader wanting for an explanation of how musicians get paid when songs get played.

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August Shows

Afternoon Playtonics,

For those of you who don’t know, in addition to writing semi-daily for Playtonic Dialogues, I am also a contributing photographer and writer for The Bowery Presents The House List. Since moving to New York, I have written reviews for Animal Collective and Arcade Fire, as well as many other concerts produced at all New York venues currently booked by The Bowery Presents, including the Mercury Lounge, the Bowery Ballroom, Webster Hall, the Music Hall of Williamsburg, Terminal 5, the Brooklyn Bowl, and more… This month I will be contributing reviews for the following shows:

8/5: Arcade Fire, Madison Square Garden

8/12: Maps & Atlases, Mercury Lounge

8/21: Crystal Castles, Terminal 5

8/28: Rock the Bells, Governors Island

Look out for my reviews and photos which will be on The Bowery Presents The House List as well as this site.

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Arcade Fire – Madison Square Garden – August 5, 2010

(This review, in a slightly less edited form, appears on The Bowery Presents The House List)

Both physically and symbolically, Madison Square Garden represents the center of entertainment in New York City. Elongated posters of iconic images remind visitors of the venue’s historic past in sports, music, and, yes, the Westminster Kennel Club dog show. By the sheer force of its name, Madison Square Garden sanctifies all events it houses. So, when Arcade Fire booked not one but two headlining dates this August, expectations regarding their performance  abounded.

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