Thanks for donating your dollahs. You guys are a-ma-zing

A look back on the year in busk. From the first Art|Everywhere, which kicked it into motion, to the second, which kicks it into law.

The weather outside may be frightful, but the things you can do are delightful. So whether it rains or snows, don’t let this weekend f-un go.

Thinking about it now still shatters my brain. Things make so much less sense when you watch real live people spin like violent cyclones one minute and then suddenly they’re gliding through the air like a wind-plucked dandelion tuft.

I didn’t cut and burn my fingers on countless kitchen hazards to scoop out giant sandwiches and give a camera a come-hither stare that seems to say, “Hey there, Tiger, this big sandwich? It’s all yours.”

Jeff McLaughlin spills about where the band name came from, their local musical role models, and what they’re doing to support the local Red Bull and smokeless tobacco economy.

If you’re into Japanese Punk Rock, cake, puppies, women, anime, the 1960s, art, guns, easy money, festivals, bikes, photography, pottery, women, movies, drinks, great food, dancing, or even fairy tales, then there’s a good chance the perfect activity awaits you this weekend.

Grace Potter and The Nocturnals prove that amazing showmanship and substance go hand in hand. The woman powerhouse that is Grace Potter lacks neither with eight years of touring experience under her mini-skirt.

Local music act Carousel plays a private concert on her patio and answers questions about music, Norfolk, and carousels.

Good country rock from good ol’ country boys.

“Over The Ocean has set themselves on a path to attain a refreshingly pure invisibility.” – Mae’s Zach Gehring.

From Dragons to Skaters, Gothic Barbers to Green Happy Hours, and Nadastrom to laser shows, this weekend has a little something for everyone.

Curt Wynn sits down with Drive-By-Truckers’ Patterson Hood to chat about touring, Virginia, and Letterman.

The 757′s favorite jammers return to Ntelos Pavilion for a special Father’s Day concert.

Circuital’s ten tracks provide an incredibly diverse and complete effort from a band firing on all cylinders

It’s hot as H, E, double hockey sticks outside. But don’t worry, there’s still a lot of exciting things to do this weekend. From ways to beat the heat, to ways to give back to others, and ways to create. There’s no excuse to not hang out.

The ins & outs of shooting a local music video. Plus, the end result.

A chat with PJ Morton about being a PK, playing with Maroon 5, and his mix tape.

[It felt] like you were at a family gathering listening to great granddad tell stories from his youth

I am a servant of the public servants. I am a drummer in the Newport News Police Pipes and Drums.

Lot going on here for all you art lovers, from the one and only Kat.

James Delisco was a foster child who didn’t speak until his was five years old. Then he saw Michael perform.

“It was the morning show for the hungover and unemployed, so it started at four in the afternoon.” –Alfredo Torres

Star viewing party at Mount Trashmore. Plus an interview with astronomer Chuck Dibbs about those crazy shiny things in the sky.

Be it recording, performing, or even being around family and friends, they all contribute to the best Tommy can give you. The episodes to come will show you the creative process and pursuit of success of Tommy Fly Guy.

Feminist punk, misogynist rap, the end of LCD Soundsystem, the beginning of The Mirrors. We’re kind of all over the place this week, and we kind of love it.

Don’t let my awful Rebecca Black reference fool you, this weekend is jammed pack with fun things to do! From Sci-fi conventions, to Puck crawls, art shows, play openings, and dirty dancing – there is a little something for everyone!

The reason our country is in the condition it is today is not because of corrupt politicians. It’s because of good people who are too lazy, arrogant, and/or self-important to think that someone could actually want to do the right thing.

First in the web series that will make you laugh, cry, and have a latte.

His is a story of the American Dream; of being haunted by depression, disease and death; and being inspired and spiritually fulfilled despite it all.

Weed can be good. Guns can be bad. At least there’s unstoppable hip-hop tonight.

The first thing you can do is respect her. Even when she’s being a ninny, even when she’s being a bitch, especially when she’s feeling simple or low or like a loser.

Generally regarded as the opera most performed in the U.S., it was great to see such a well performed and innovative production right here in Norfolk.

“For some, having no ‘formal’ art training is an advantage because no boundaries have been set and their palette is limitless (i.e., milk jugs, bottle caps, model airplane enamel, tin roofing, etc.)”

Once known as The Wave’s DJ Android, Andra Rosenberg has evolved into a multi-faceted artist, while facing responsibilities she never imagined.

The Tide needs to reach out to Gen X’ers and younger. Call it “The Party Train.” It’s a simple way to make our region safer, cooler, and to help ensure The Tide’s success.

The production never really seems to find its focus and many moments are problematic, but the high energy approach keeps the two-and-a-half hours interesting.

An inspiring interview with local high student Connor Norton, and the dirt on some upcoming shows and performances. You don’t want to miss the “lesbian Jimi Hendrix,” right?

And more in today’s If You Read the Paper for Thursday, March 17.

From a legendary photographer to surviving in the woods and reacquainting yourself with classic tales, this weekend is going to bea-u-ti-ful!

Poems from the Park Place Child Life Center, and Mary’s story of following through.

The one who challenges the power of automobiles, standing boldly in street centers.

I believe that God loves each and everyone of us, good or bad.

The Shake By Shantel, 15 Can you hear what I hear? Do you feel what I feel? I think about the Shake. I awake from my dreams. Can you help me? Do you ever feel like you can’t get out, when the Shake is all that you hear? You hear about God. Let me know [...]

What’s to stop other people with lots of time and money to bully their City Council into doing whatever they want at the expense of the little guy?

With an ever-changing city like Norfolk, I’m not sure this guide will ever be complete. But then again, isn’t that what makes a city great?

Dancing in underwear and having the ability to move with no restrictions or limitations must be so freeing.

In today’s If You Read the Paper for Tuesday, March 15th.

Virginia is called the mother of presidents, but her lineage of groundbreaking hip hop stars may eventually be what truly puts this state on the map.

“I think I was maybe 11 when I said I wanted to be a singer like Diana Ross and The Supremes. I wanted to BE Diana Ross.”

The turns allowed them to drag their toe and create a long continuous sound; the higher kicks and swinging arms provided momentum for more powerful hits to the floor, increasing the volume.

The Decemberists’ new album, The King Is Dead, became available this week. Here’s our review of this anticipated release.

Ten songs. Don’t overthink it. No taking out a notebook and honing it. Just the first ten you think of and what they mean to you.

Yo, dudes, seriously…don’t sleep on the Britpop legacy. To evoke Richard Dreyfuss in Close Encounters, this means something. This is important. Click to get the hysterical British music press. Also, Lennon and McCartney ain’t got shit on Albarn and Coxon. Just sayin’.

New Claire Hux mixtape. These are the compulsively entertaining Baltimore Club baby powder enthusiasts who rocked the Boot recently.

1826 This is something Brendan Kennedy hipped me to. First off, what a wonderful phrase, “long dark night of the soul.” Lit majors, enlighten me: where did that come from? I know great dance nights have made a great moniker by stripping an article. Would anybody show up besides me if 24SevenCities committed to a [...]

Go ahead, listen to him…

The Max Mega mixtape.

Did any appropriations of the past ruin a work for you when you became aware of them?

Follow your muse and don’t let anybody make you feel bad about it.

For five bucks, its a great chance to see a band likely to get a lot bigger in the next few years at one of the best small venues in town.

Click here to read Nathan Rabin getting disillusioned by one of his favorites disappointing him with an out of nowhere homophobic manifesto.

Springsteen gets the Super Bowl, so he can probably deal with my lack of interest in his latest release.

Bpitch Control seems to be having a good year. They already released my favorite recent album, Telefon Tel Aviv’s Immolate Yourself, and the hints I’ve heard from this record have been tantalizing as well.

The Yellow Snow Mix is 50 minutes ranging from droll hip hop to avant downbeat electronic to jazz. I could make up more specious and legitimate musical descriptors, but it would make more sense just to click here and cop it.

This is a net label. I think they also have physical records for purchase, but more importantly they give everything away digitally on their site here. They also do the favor of pointing towards several free bits of web culture that do not suck. The focus is on contemporary experimental hip hop. Their Bag of Nothingness collection is anything but, collecting underexposed progressive instrumental hip hop from around the globe.

He’s everybody’s local hero, and he can rap too. Swagger to slay robot dragons with. Clickedy click to download “Tumbling Down” from Ced Hughes. It “features” Keane, which is a cute way to acknowledge samples. Rocks well.

If you’re looking for a totally legal way to sample their delicious, laidback platter, you can download “Alright With Me” here.

If you’re curious, go ahead and take a listen to El Michels Affair on their version of “C.R.E.A.M.”

The new Del The Funky Homosapien release will be available on his website starting April 7 for the low, low price of free. Go ahead and click that last sentence just to get yourself excited.

Twilight in Paris (via the internet).

So I got a tip from BFF/Nemesis Ty Bliss to check out the Spitzwell Brothers. NC hip hoppers who are chummy with the Rebel E kids, I was suspicious for no good reason. You know when your friend who knows you well and has a great taste in music recommends something? Do you just assume [...]

New free mp3 from Rebel E emcee Max Mega

…is Karin from the Knife on a solo tip.

Local label turns it up, brings the noise to the Boot.

Over the last week, nearly every music or pop culture site I’ve looked at has posted something concerning harsh words exchanged publicly (well, on the internet) between Wayne Coyne and Win Butler.

Serge Gainsbourg (Vie Heroique) will tell the lurid, elegant, sleazy, glamorous story of France’s finest and most adventurous pop star.

Today I’d like to specifically acknowledge the label that first got me into this kind of immaculate obscuria, Soul Jazz Records in London.

Stereogum has done us the favor of posting some entrancing clips from Kanye West’s recent performance on “vh1 Storytellers”, including an unaired clip of “Love Lockdown”.

…is the cheeky title of the forthcoming album from a few of my favorite frogs, Phoenix.

We don’t claim to be music experts—music is far too objective and vast to ever claim total understanding—we only claim to be music lovers. Obsessive compulsive music lovers who spend too much time over-analyzing and dissecting music so that you don’t have to. All you have to do is sit back and enjoy the tunes.

But Moutheater is more than just primal intensity and volume or I wouldn’t be pecking away at this keyboard for their sake. Moutheater is also a diligent and determined band with a work ethic to match their sound – fast and forceful. The local trio of Andrew Aircraft (guitars, vocals), Tim Gault (drums) and Aaron Fishaw (bass, backing vocals) haven’t been together quite two years yet and they’ve already debuted the Lot Lizard 7-inch with the legendary Steve Albini at the helm, inked a deal with Nashville-based Thrashed Records, released an insanely popular split 7-inch with German band Vegas and have amassed lots and lots of touring under they’re undoubtedly studded belts. Their full length, Ornament, is slated for a May 2009 release and an American tour is sure to follow.

The Scott Walker documentary is hitting our shores.

U2 is streaming the new album No Line On The Horizon on MySpace. I’m going to spend the next hour or so recording my first impressions, track by track.

In this decade, u2 has reverted to a quality they rarely possessed before: musical conservatism.

It could be the indie film Catcher in the Rye for the techno set. It could be the minimal Purple Rain. It could be the electronic Once (if that kind of thing can be repeated). It could be another gawky sub-mumblecore indie clusterfilm. I have no idea, and will probably have to wait until Naro Expanded Video gets their keen hands on it to find out.

One of the unfortunate ramifications of nobody buying physical music or going out to shows anymore is a decline in musical activism and charity. Somehow, this has not stopped the Red Hot Organization, which continues to produce some of the best new music compilations, charitable or otherwise, for the benefit of AIDS awareness and relief.

Pet Shop Boys have always been canny album artists, a rarity for dance acts spawned in the ’80s. They have continued to produce great albums, both contemporary and timeless, in the years since they stopped being a massive singles act.

Listen and fall into the good times without discounting the bad…or the aftermath.

Some records don’t hold up to their reputations, but Paul’s Boutique deserves every superlative accolade it has received.

…So, yea, turn down the lights, pour a glass of wine, negotiate the fees required for your particular “party” if necessary… and then turn on the music.

I was reading a Chuck Klosterman book Jerome lent me this morning when I got a completely novel idea invented by me alone that’s called “plagiarize Chuck Klosterman.”

As I was researching a review for the stirring new album Immolate Yourself by Telefon Tel Aviv, I came upon the very sad recent news of the death of Charles Wesley Cooper III, half of the electronic duo.

If you’re a glutton for punishment, or need a good laugh, go ahead and stream Wayne’s new “rock” song here. It is called “Prom Queen” and it is fairly terrible in no ironic way I can detect.

Now Urb.com has posted news of a side project called Deep Red including the talents of Nomi Ruiz, Morgan Wiley, and Andrew Raposo.

Saadiq has essentially recaptured the magic that made House of Music such a piece of work, while drenching The Way I See It even more in his innate, delectable soul syrup.

Koushik Out My Window Stone’s Throw If there’s a lullaby racket, Koushik could be running the game. Out My Window opens on a note of unmitigated, dreamy bliss, and that note is maintained throughout the album. The producer’s vocal contibutions are so airy they float above the tracks like a rainbow fog. Even this kind [...]

You may not know that my involvement in this brand new publication stretches back months, encompassing many clandestine meetings cleverly disguised to look like I was casually sharing a few (several) beers/coffees with friends at popular Norfolk watering holes. Anyway, I have several music reviews that I composed over the previous autumn and saved just [...]

Your interest in primitive art is apparent in much of your illustration and mixed media; some of it has a childlike innocence. Are you influenced by any kind of animated art? Yes, there are quite a few influences from Winsor McCay to PIXAR, not to mention children’s book illustrations, comics, and old magazine ads. It’s [...]