New York Music

Music Features

Lou Reed: 1942-2013

By The Village Voice

That unmistakable sound you heard Sunday afternoon was the city's collective sigh. Lou Reed was dead; the transplanted liver he'd received back in April never quite took. It would be hard to... More >>
On Surfing Strange, Swearin' Establish the Facts and Dig In

By Devon Maloney

There's something magical about Coney Island in September. The heat of summer, the neighborhood's lifeblood, is trickling away; cool air wafts down the boardwalk and through hotdog stands.... More >>
Baby DJ School Isn't as Ridiculous as It Sounds

By Harley Oliver Brown

'Let's say we're DJing at a party and everyone's getting bored, and you need to pick it back up," says musician and teacher Natalie Elizabeth Weiss—a recent fellow with the Brooklyn... More >>
Best of NYC® 2013: A Return to Excess

By The Village Voice

Soda bans, smoking bans, fast-food shaming—having a guilt-free good time in New York City has been as difficult as finding a french fry cooked in trans fat. But with Mayor Bloomberg's... More >>
Songwriter Cass McCombs Offers His Best Work to Date With Big Wheel and Others

By Aaron Frank

Art can often be a constant process of refinement, but Cass McCombs has finally perfected his approach. This week, the 35-year-old singer-songwriter is set to release his most ambitious project... More >>
Hey Ho, Let's Go!: The CBGB Festival

By Katherine Turman

"I certainly didn't love every band that played CBGB, but I did love to encourage them to do their own thing, to challenge the establishment," asserted late CBGB founder Hilly Kristal. "I've... More >>
Rapt.fm: Like Chatroulette Fueled by Hip-Hop, With Significantly Fewer Dicks

By Jonah Bromwich

You enter the room and they're already there. Some of the names you recognize: Randa the Rhyma (45 wins), Gig@ntic (48 wins), and Novice Raps (53 wins). You've checked the boards obsessively, but... More >>
Duane Pitre Gift Wraps His Compositions With a Bow on Top

By Ray Cummings

Nature's effects are often contemplated on a macro level: tsunamis submerging islands and totalling nuclear plants, wildfires scorching acres of Idaho forest. Comparatively speaking, the... More >>
Bun B and Shea Serrano's New Rap Coloring Book Is (Not Really) For the Children

By Brian McManus

If you've spent any kind of time on the Internet, chances are something Shea Serrano has written, drawn, or created has made you smile. The 32-year-old inner-city teacher from Houston, Texas,... More >>
Girls Against Boys Version 2.0

By Michael Alan Goldberg

The last time I heard Scott McCloud's voice on the other end of the phone it was in 2002. The Girls Against Boys singer-guitarist was in middle America, on tour behind that year's ominously... More >>