It definitely wasn't Bruce Springsteen the Indie Rock Icon on display at the halftime show of Super Bowl XLIII: no Suicide covers, nothing from Nebraska, no unreleased deep cuts. And thank god for that. Instead, what we got was a rollicking miniature version of the E Street Band Rock'n'Roll Revue with enough corn to fill every Cracker Jack box i...

New York City photos by J Caldwell, Chicago photos by Lizz KannenbergMerriweather Post Pavilion is their most poppy album, but Animal Collective still aren't close to a pop band. At New York City's Bowery Ballroom on Wednesday, the crowd-- high on seeing a festival band at the relatively tiny 600-cap venue-- was ready to take communion in their ...

Was Animal Collective at Bowery Ballroom The Best Concert Of 2009? Far be it for me to pose such irresponsibly hyperbolic questions so early in the year. So Was Animal Collective at Bowery Ballroom Worth DVRing the LOST Premiere For? Well, obviously. This is a band that's now headlining (Pitchfork) music festivals, so making mincemeat of Bowery'...

NAME: RöyksoppPROGRESS REPORT: Wrapping up their third studio LP, Junior, recorded "all over the world."As reported here a couple weeks back, Norwegian duo Röyksopp just celebrated 10 years together. And like good friends (or an old married couple) do when they hit an anniversary, members Svein Berge and Torbjørn Brundtland exchanged gifts. "...

Portishead's third album Third deserves to chart high on various end of years lists, though only time (and more lists) will tell. If such a category exists, the Bristol trio should also receive comeback of the year. If you've listened to Third, seen them live, or watched the videos for "Machine Gun" or "The Rip," you know this. On the visual fro...