Last week there were a ton of shows going on due to CMJ, but I think I’m actually more impressed with this week’s selection. Here’s the quick rundown.

Amon Tobin’s doing his ISAM live show at the Brooklyn Masonic Temple for three nights (Tues-Thurs). On Tuesday, the Field will bring their hypnotic loop-based electro at LPR and Chris Taylor (of Grizzly Bear) shows off his side project (CANT) at the Bowery. Wednesday, there’s Dawes w/ Blitzen Trapper at Webster Hall, G. Love & Special Sauce at Irving Plaza, and the North Mississippi All Stars are at Brooklyn Bowl. Thursday, there’s some great indie/eclectic rock with Fanfarlo hitting Mercury Lounge and Cymbals Eat Guitars hit the Bowery. You can also get your World Music on with Zongo Junction at the Knitting Factory or check out the mellow, electronic stylings of Justin’s new fav Brandt Brauer Frick at Glasslands. Friday, the North Mississippi Allstars are back at Brooklyn Bowl, and the Pixies are set to rock the Asbury Park Convention Hall w/ Surfer Blood as the opener. Saturday continues with the awesome options. My suggestion, either dig the patented funky jazz stylings of MMW at Terminal 5 (w/ help from Antibalas), or go get a healthy does of jammy bluegrass at the Best Buy Theatre with Yonder Mountain String Band and The Infamous Stringdusters. Oh, and Fanfarlo swings back into town on Sunday night for a second show at Glasslands.

Man, and those are just the high points. Head on over to LMB for my full list of NYC show recs: LMB NYC: This Week’s Concert Calendar – Oct 24-30

No, Elvis isn’t playing the Apollo, but I can’t resist a good opportunity to post that photo. It’s so iconic. However, Elvis Costello is playing in NYC this week. He’s one of a few interesting artists playing shows in the NYC metro area….which is what I post over on Live Music Blog every week. Check it out:

LMB NYC: This Week’s Concert Calendar – Oct 3 – 9

Read on for the highlights as I see ‘em…

Early in the week, we’ve got Explosions in the Sky with the Antlers at the beautiful Wellmont Theatre (in Montclair, NJ). Elvis Costello — who I mentioned last week — continues to bring his “Spectacular Spinning Songbook” to the area, with a two-night stand at the aforementioned Wellmont. And Portishead – fresh off their weekend duties at the ATP festival this week – is also sticking around town, with two nights at the Hammerstein.

For some reason, the early part of the week seems to have a lot of the big highlights, with an especially bumpin’ Wednesday night that includes the following: Black Star, Mos Def & Talib Kweli @ Irving Plaza, Deadmau5 @ Roseland Ballroom, James Blake and Chairlift @ Webster Hall, Ted Leo at Knitting Factory, and the aforementioned Portishead show @ the Hammerstein. But personally I think I’m most interested in Wednesday night’s lineup at Le Poisson Rouge where Toubab Krewe’s sharing a bill with Zongo Junction and Superhuman Happiness. Long-time readers already know how much I love me some Toubab, but I’m also digging what I’m hearing from Zongo Junction and Superhuman Happiness. Another interesting Wednesday-night option is Fang Island at Glasslands, which is perfect if you’re more in the mood for some triumphant dual-guitar pyrotechnics.

Thursday, I’ve got my money on Ducktails at Glasslands, which I’d recommend for those who dig the droney, woozy psych-rock of bands like Real Estate, The War on Drugs, and Woods. But for something even more out there, I’d jump to Saturday night, when Anamanaguchi plays the Museum Of The Moving Images in Astoria. These dudes do an interesting form of 8-bit punk rock (no, seriously, they hacked some old NES gaming systems to make some rockin’ live video game music…surprisingly good times).

I just posted my weekly NYC Live Music round-up over at LMB, with a few notable heavy-hitters and plenty of solid club shows, including: Radiohead, Elvis Costello, Primus, Panda Bear, Bruce Hornsby, and American Babies. Check it out: LMB NYC: This Week’s Concert Calendar – Sept 26 – Oct 2

Plenty to choose from on the concert calendar this week, including a two-night run by Wilco at Rumsey Playfield in Central Park.

Dig in: LMB NYC: This Week’s Concert Calendar

After taking a week off last week for some much-needed vacay, I’m back in town and I had just enough time to finalize a little live music round-up for NYC shows. There are a ton of great concerts happening this week, and as usual, that includes a bunch of bands I’ve blogged about here on this site (including The Dodos, Greensky Bluegrass, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, & Washed Out).

Check it out: Live Music in NYC: This Week’s Concert Calendar – Sept 13 – 19

I just posted my NYC concert listings for this week over at Live Music Blog. A few highlights include bands/artists I’ve covered on this site before: Joe Russo, Marco Benevento, and Small Black.

Dig in: LMB NYC: This Week’s Concert Calendar – Aug 30-Sept 5

I just posted my NYC concert recs for the week over at Live Music Blog, including more Deerhunter shows and an old fav in the live, electronic improv space: Brothers Past.

Check it: LMB NYC: This Week’s Concert Calendar – Aug 22 – 28

I just posted my NYC concert recs for the week over at Live Music Blog. Lots of cool, intimate shows going on this week and plenty of bands I’ve flagged in my Song of the Day posts (including Yellow Ostrich and Deerhunter).

Check it: Live Music in NYC: This Week’s Concert Calendar – August 16-22

If you’re heading to Brothers Past @ Music Hall of Williamsburg, definitely give me a shout or come find me at the show.

Go See Live Music!

Luckily, we did our research and really honed in on a couple of key areas during a separate trip where we basically walked half of the city (well, maybe only a quarter, but it sure felt like half on Sunday!). It may have been a bit excessive, but I am really glad we made the scouting trip. Upon our return to the city, we were able to focus our apt. hunt on just a few areas of Brooklyn, including Cobble Hill, Boerum Hill, and Park Slope.

After two days of endless viewings, phone calls with brokers, and some serious pavement-pounding, we checked out a place on Smith St. that felt about right.

We liked the exposed brick, decent-sized rooms, and the old-school ornate ceilings, among other things.

The place itself was fine, but it was really the neighborhood and location that made it.  Smith Street is one of the main strips of the Cobble Hill/Boerum Hill area and offers tons of options for restaurants, stores, bars, etc…

The proximity to one of the city’s few Trader Joe’s stores was also a huge plus.

We were able to talk them down on the broker’s fee and the monthly rent, so that pretty much sealed the deal for the Smith St. place. Done and done. Once we signed the checks and the lease, we checked out some of the local fare at Chance, a nice little Asian/Sushi place a few blocks south of our new spot. The Chance lunch special and cold beers were a perfect way to finish out the apt. hunt:

All in all, I’d say the overall process with the multiple trips was long and a bit tiresome, but not as bad as I expected. It seems that we picked a good time to make the move to NYC. We recently made the official move — which was probably the most tiring part of this entire process — but I’ll spare those details from this account. We are now starting to really settle in to our apt., check out our new hood, and get used to the new digs. We can’t wait to really dig into all the NYC has to offer!

Check out the full photo set