Burbling and sputtering like a robot with six cents, a paperclip and a piece of chewing gum for a brain, Oh Astro's debut comes to life like the most good-natured pop deconstructor in the history of recorded music. Champions of Wonder takes every possible available pop influence—sing-a-longs, showtunes-esque hooks, wriggling beats and more—and knits them all together with the gaps between the edges intact; all the pieces of the puzzle don't naturally fit together, but Oh Astro holds them in...

It's been fourteen years since Nirvana did their lauded Unplugged in New York performance at Sony Studios in New York, and since then, every ounce of the minutiae surrounding the show has been so well documented that those things feel as if they've taken on the same amount of fame and infamy as the performance itself. Everything from Kurt Cobain's stage fright before going on that night to the dose of heroin that left him comatose until right before the...

Ahh, the oncoming awards season. It's a time when the heavyweights in the various entertainment industries get together to slap each other on the backs and congratulate themselves over a job well done with gift baskets, elegantly-dressed starlets and for some continuing reason, Andy Dick. With independent music long being the redheaded stepchild at the music awards shows (remember when Steely Dan won Album of the Year at the Grammys in 2001?), the PLUG Independent Music Awards was born to...

Globe-trotting foursome, Metric, have announced the release of their first-ever DVD, Live at Metropolis. Due out February 12 on Last Gang Records, Live at Metropolis features Metric's sold-out performance at Montreal's Metropolis concert hall last Fall, during the tour for their last album, Live It Out. Being known for their live performances, Metric has won great praise for their high-energy, big-sound shows, thanks in a large part to frontwoman Emily Haines. Though fans will have to wait ‘til February to...

As they wrap up a run of arena shows in the UK, Foo Fighters have announced the first several dates of what will be the first full American tour in support of their new album Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace. As on the warm up dates early this fall, the tour will feature additional Fighters beyond the core foursome – Pat Smear on guitar, Rami Jaffee on keyboards, and Jessie Greene on strings. Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace is Foo...

In the opening sequence of Scorsese's Taxi Driver, Travis Bickle drives through torrential Manhattan in restless circles as his windshield wipers flap away at the deceptions of his blurry, neon world. The accompanying score is jazz—ominous and persuasive—slinking through the credits and catching in Bickle's cagey glances at the rearview mirror. Like many musicians, Charles Mingus was writing and performing in New York City in 1963 when he composed his paradoxical six-part jazz ballet, "The Black Saint and the Sinner...

First there was Jimi Hendrix. Then Kurt Cobain, Eddie Vedder and Dave Grohl followed suit proving that the wild and cold winds that blow into Seattle off the northern Pacific Ocean foster the growth of intense and intelligent musicians. So tonight I anticipated greatness in hearing the much hyped, loved and praised band Minus The Bear at The Fillmore in San Francisco. Oh, and The Fillmore is the quintessential music venue in San Francisco. If you haven't been there before,...

I saw The Who this past spring. It was a great show, they can still rock hard. Yet I walked out of the show a bit disappointed. It wasn't a general disappointment, they had lived up to all my expectations. It wasn't any sense of "they're getting too old to do this" or anything like that. No, I had a very specific complaint about their show, one which actually applies to a number of concerts I see these days. One...

I saw The Who this past spring. It was a great show, they can still rock hard. Yet I walked out of the show a bit disappointed. It wasn't a general disappointment, they had lived up to all my expectations. It wasn't any sense of "they're getting too old to do this" or anything like that. No, I had a very specific complaint about their show, one which actually applies to a number of concerts I see these days. One...

The New York City trio, Secret Machines, have recently headed into the studio to record their third full-length album to be released on Reprise Records in 2008. The band is said to be continuing with their indie-rock meets art-rock sound, with legendary producer/engineer Brandon Mason (David Bowie and VHS or BETA) returning to helm the mixing board. Secret Machines has slightly changed shape since we last heard from them on Ten Silver Drops back in 2006. After the amicable exit...