LCD Soundsystem's vintage disco party

Contrary to what themed frat parties across America would have you believe, the disco world in the '70s was actually a defiant, experimental scene celebrating racial and sexual minority cultures with righteous jubilance. LCD Soundsystem's James Murphy is embarking on a DJ tour to help correct the socio-historical record while grinding today's club kids into the ground. Special Disco Version is the pet project tour from Murphy and LCD drummer Pat Mahoney, where they'll crack open the same crates of obscure remixes and lost 12-inches that yielded their awesome disco-heavy "Fabriclive" mix.

The tour comes to the Roosevelt Hotel on Sunday, but if, like so many of us at the Board, you're banned from the Tropicana Bar for past indiscretions (or just can't get in, as is often the case), there's a warehouse show Saturday at 647 Lamar St. in downtown L.A. Tickets are at blackdisco.net, and leave the paste-on sideburns and chest hair at home, thanks.

-- August Brown

Photo of Mahoney and Murphy by Ruvan Wijesooriya 

When I met Sean Nelson in his now-hometown of Seattle in 2001, the L.A. native had already peaked as a pop star.

His band, Harvey Danger, had one big hit perched atop the Modern Rock charts 10 years ago -- “Flagpole Sitta,” a lovely burst of poison sunshine that perfectly captured alt-rock’s transition from grunge-era heaviness to Death Cab-style cheerful neuroticism. (You remember it: “I’m not sick, but I’m not well,” Sean sang, his choir-boy tenor cracking on the high note. If you've forgotten, this YouTube video should jar your memory.)

“10 years ago (pretty much exactly), we had the number one song on KROQ, and sold out the Troubadour, The Roxy and The Viper Room during the summer. Next week we'll play in front of 60 people. And we're happy,” Sean wrote in a recent e-mail announcing Saturday’s acoustic Harvey Danger show at Largo.

If you don't listen to KROQ (and we know many of you don't), you might not know about tonight's KROQ-sponsored Scars on Broadway show at Union Station downtown. Scars principals Daron Malakian and John Dolmayan (from System of a Down) will surely scare the bejesus out of late arriving or departing commuters caught unawares this evening via performing such loud and politically charged tracks as "They Say" inside the historic building's impossibly ornate lobby beginning at 9:25 p.m.

If you're a fan of the oft-referenced golden era of rap or you just want to see what's up with L.A.'s fertile rap scene, check out Inglewood's U-N-I tonight and Saturday. The young duo, above, is part of a buzz-gathering collective of West Coast emcees, with music less reminiscent of the Game or Ice Cube and more like Dilated Peoples and the Pharcyde in their casual subject matter and jazz-infused style. They were set to open for EPMD tonight at Crash Mansion but some last-minute legal snafus, according to one insider, led to the cancellation of tonight's entire show (for the second time).

For those who walked out of theaters this spring wondering which came first, “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” or the puppet musical that closes the film, the truth is now revealed.

“The whole thing was, [Jason] Segel actually had a Dracula musical and he put it into his script,” says Peter Salett, who worked with Segel and British comedian Russell Brand on songs and music production for the movie, and the musical within.

Salett’s no stranger to comedy -- he also wrote songs for David Wain’s sketch-driven “The Ten” -- but he’s hardly a joker off-screen. He’ll be at M Bar on Thursday night to celebrate the release of his fourth solo album, “In the Ocean of the Stars,” his latest collection of serious-minded country-folk. It’s an attitude that can’t help but carry over to his funnier material.

Under the Influence of Giants is no longer under the influence of Island Records, which is why you'll find the L.A. quartet manning the Monday residency this month at Spaceland. With the paperwork on the band/label divorce being finalized, the foursome -- with new management and new songs -- got back to business last week, bringing its Bee Gees-on-steroids dance-rock to Silver Lake and almost filling the room.

When the book is written on England's top soul singers of all time, Alison Moyet's throaty growl will surely be in the proverbial mix. The voice of Yaz, who just dropped her seventh solo record Tuesday and performs tonight (the last of three shows at the Orpheum Theatre in downtown L.A.) with Vince Clarke as one half of the acclaimed electropop duo Yazoo, as they are known in the U.K., hasn't lost a step when it comes to hitting all the right notes with her primal-yet-sensual vocalization.

And while Moyet was the chanson-influenced R&B voice of the 1980s, we were curious what the "Situation" singer thought of England's current voice-of-the-moment: Amy Winehouse.

A new photographic exhibit at New York City's Morrison Hotel Gallery offers a glimpse of rare recording session images from Columbia Records' legendary studio on 30th Street. Among the artists captured on film are Billie Holiday (left), Bob Dylan and Miles Davis (see those two after the jump). Johnny Cash, Leonard Bernstein, Tony Bennett, Thelonious Monk and Ella Fitzgerald can be seen as well. And you don't need to be in New York to look at the photos.

Five years ago, Jay-Z performed on a track called "Beware of the Boys," a remix to the bhangra song "Mundian To Bach Ke," by the hugely popular Indian artist Punjabi MC. Although this type of fusion between rap/hip-hop beats and traditional Indian folk-dance music had been around at least 5 years prior to that song, and gaining steam in the dance clubs of London and NYC, it didn't really make that huge a dent elsewhere.

Before setting out to make their mark on the post-punk landscape, Leonard Jackson and Ian Schaeffer --  pals from their day jobs at Guitar Center -- left their marks on plenty of bottles of beer. “We were drinking buddies first, and we’d sit around and philosophize about how things should be,” Jackson says. “Once we’d created our utopian band model, we realized there was no other solution but to do it.”

Now, singer-guitarist Jackson and bassist Schaeffer, along with guitarist Greg Smith and drummer Tom DuPree III, have moved forward as the Forward. Their debut album, “Nothing But Teeth” (due Sept. 9), showcases the quartet’s quick-hitting guitars, agitated rhythms and the wry, literate songs Jackson conceived during long hours of hawking merchandise that helped other artists realize their dreams.

Sean Nelson of Harvey Danger: There's life after a one-hit wonder

When I met Sean Nelson in his now-hometown of Seattle in 2001, the L.A. native had already peaked as a pop star.

His band, Harvey Danger, had one big hit perched atop the Modern Rock charts 10 years ago -- “Flagpole Sitta,” a lovely burst of poison sunshine that perfectly captured alt-rock’s transition from grunge-era heaviness to Death Cab-style cheerful neuroticism. (You remember it: “I’m not sick, but I’m not well,” Sean sang, his choir-boy tenor cracking on the high note. If you've forgotten, this YouTube video should jar your memory.)

“10 years ago (pretty much exactly), we had the number one song on KROQ, and sold out the Troubadour, The Roxy and The Viper Room during the summer. Next week we'll play in front of 60 people. And we're happy,” Sean wrote in a recent e-mail announcing Saturday’s acoustic Harvey Danger show at Largo.

If you don't listen to KROQ (and we know many of you don't), you might not know about tonight's KROQ-sponsored Scars on Broadway show at Union Station downtown. Scars principals Daron Malakian and John Dolmayan (from System of a Down) will surely scare the bejesus out of late arriving or departing commuters caught unawares this evening via performing such loud and politically charged tracks as "They Say" inside the historic building's impossibly ornate lobby beginning at 9:25 p.m.

If you're a fan of the oft-referenced golden era of rap or you just want to see what's up with L.A.'s fertile rap scene, check out Inglewood's U-N-I tonight and Saturday. The young duo, above, is part of a buzz-gathering collective of West Coast emcees, with music less reminiscent of the Game or Ice Cube and more like Dilated Peoples and the Pharcyde in their casual subject matter and jazz-infused style. They were set to open for EPMD tonight at Crash Mansion but some last-minute legal snafus, according to one insider, led to the cancellation of tonight's entire show (for the second time).

For those who walked out of theaters this spring wondering which came first, “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” or the puppet musical that closes the film, the truth is now revealed.

“The whole thing was, [Jason] Segel actually had a Dracula musical and he put it into his script,” says Peter Salett, who worked with Segel and British comedian Russell Brand on songs and music production for the movie, and the musical within.

Salett’s no stranger to comedy -- he also wrote songs for David Wain’s sketch-driven “The Ten” -- but he’s hardly a joker off-screen. He’ll be at M Bar on Thursday night to celebrate the release of his fourth solo album, “In the Ocean of the Stars,” his latest collection of serious-minded country-folk. It’s an attitude that can’t help but carry over to his funnier material.

Under the Influence of Giants is no longer under the influence of Island Records, which is why you'll find the L.A. quartet manning the Monday residency this month at Spaceland. With the paperwork on the band/label divorce being finalized, the foursome -- with new management and new songs -- got back to business last week, bringing its Bee Gees-on-steroids dance-rock to Silver Lake and almost filling the room.

When the book is written on England's top soul singers of all time, Alison Moyet's throaty growl will surely be in the proverbial mix. The voice of Yaz, who just dropped her seventh solo record Tuesday and performs tonight (the last of three shows at the Orpheum Theatre in downtown L.A.) with Vince Clarke as one half of the acclaimed electropop duo Yazoo, as they are known in the U.K., hasn't lost a step when it comes to hitting all the right notes with her primal-yet-sensual vocalization.

And while Moyet was the chanson-influenced R&B voice of the 1980s, we were curious what the "Situation" singer thought of England's current voice-of-the-moment: Amy Winehouse.

A new photographic exhibit at New York City's Morrison Hotel Gallery offers a glimpse of rare recording session images from Columbia Records' legendary studio on 30th Street. Among the artists captured on film are Billie Holiday (left), Bob Dylan and Miles Davis (see those two after the jump). Johnny Cash, Leonard Bernstein, Tony Bennett, Thelonious Monk and Ella Fitzgerald can be seen as well. And you don't need to be in New York to look at the photos.

Five years ago, Jay-Z performed on a track called "Beware of the Boys," a remix to the bhangra song "Mundian To Bach Ke," by the hugely popular Indian artist Punjabi MC. Although this type of fusion between rap/hip-hop beats and traditional Indian folk-dance music had been around at least 5 years prior to that song, and gaining steam in the dance clubs of London and NYC, it didn't really make that huge a dent elsewhere.

Before setting out to make their mark on the post-punk landscape, Leonard Jackson and Ian Schaeffer --  pals from their day jobs at Guitar Center -- left their marks on plenty of bottles of beer. “We were drinking buddies first, and we’d sit around and philosophize about how things should be,” Jackson says. “Once we’d created our utopian band model, we realized there was no other solution but to do it.”

Now, singer-guitarist Jackson and bassist Schaeffer, along with guitarist Greg Smith and drummer Tom DuPree III, have moved forward as the Forward. Their debut album, “Nothing But Teeth” (due Sept. 9), showcases the quartet’s quick-hitting guitars, agitated rhythms and the wry, literate songs Jackson conceived during long hours of hawking merchandise that helped other artists realize their dreams.

Scars on Broadway catch the 9:25 at Union Station

If you don't listen to KROQ (and we know many of you don't), you might not know about tonight's KROQ-sponsored Scars on Broadway show at Union Station downtown. Scars principals Daron Malakian and John Dolmayan (from System of a Down) will surely scare the bejesus out of late arriving or departing commuters caught unawares this evening via performing such loud and politically charged tracks as "They Say" inside the historic building's impossibly ornate lobby beginning at 9:25 p.m.

If you're a fan of the oft-referenced golden era of rap or you just want to see what's up with L.A.'s fertile rap scene, check out Inglewood's U-N-I tonight and Saturday. The young duo, above, is part of a buzz-gathering collective of West Coast emcees, with music less reminiscent of the Game or Ice Cube and more like Dilated Peoples and the Pharcyde in their casual subject matter and jazz-infused style. They were set to open for EPMD tonight at Crash Mansion but some last-minute legal snafus, according to one insider, led to the cancellation of tonight's entire show (for the second time).

For those who walked out of theaters this spring wondering which came first, “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” or the puppet musical that closes the film, the truth is now revealed.

“The whole thing was, [Jason] Segel actually had a Dracula musical and he put it into his script,” says Peter Salett, who worked with Segel and British comedian Russell Brand on songs and music production for the movie, and the musical within.

Salett’s no stranger to comedy -- he also wrote songs for David Wain’s sketch-driven “The Ten” -- but he’s hardly a joker off-screen. He’ll be at M Bar on Thursday night to celebrate the release of his fourth solo album, “In the Ocean of the Stars,” his latest collection of serious-minded country-folk. It’s an attitude that can’t help but carry over to his funnier material.

Under the Influence of Giants is no longer under the influence of Island Records, which is why you'll find the L.A. quartet manning the Monday residency this month at Spaceland. With the paperwork on the band/label divorce being finalized, the foursome -- with new management and new songs -- got back to business last week, bringing its Bee Gees-on-steroids dance-rock to Silver Lake and almost filling the room.

When the book is written on England's top soul singers of all time, Alison Moyet's throaty growl will surely be in the proverbial mix. The voice of Yaz, who just dropped her seventh solo record Tuesday and performs tonight (the last of three shows at the Orpheum Theatre in downtown L.A.) with Vince Clarke as one half of the acclaimed electropop duo Yazoo, as they are known in the U.K., hasn't lost a step when it comes to hitting all the right notes with her primal-yet-sensual vocalization.

And while Moyet was the chanson-influenced R&B voice of the 1980s, we were curious what the "Situation" singer thought of England's current voice-of-the-moment: Amy Winehouse.

A new photographic exhibit at New York City's Morrison Hotel Gallery offers a glimpse of rare recording session images from Columbia Records' legendary studio on 30th Street. Among the artists captured on film are Billie Holiday (left), Bob Dylan and Miles Davis (see those two after the jump). Johnny Cash, Leonard Bernstein, Tony Bennett, Thelonious Monk and Ella Fitzgerald can be seen as well. And you don't need to be in New York to look at the photos.

Five years ago, Jay-Z performed on a track called "Beware of the Boys," a remix to the bhangra song "Mundian To Bach Ke," by the hugely popular Indian artist Punjabi MC. Although this type of fusion between rap/hip-hop beats and traditional Indian folk-dance music had been around at least 5 years prior to that song, and gaining steam in the dance clubs of London and NYC, it didn't really make that huge a dent elsewhere.

Before setting out to make their mark on the post-punk landscape, Leonard Jackson and Ian Schaeffer --  pals from their day jobs at Guitar Center -- left their marks on plenty of bottles of beer. “We were drinking buddies first, and we’d sit around and philosophize about how things should be,” Jackson says. “Once we’d created our utopian band model, we realized there was no other solution but to do it.”

Now, singer-guitarist Jackson and bassist Schaeffer, along with guitarist Greg Smith and drummer Tom DuPree III, have moved forward as the Forward. Their debut album, “Nothing But Teeth” (due Sept. 9), showcases the quartet’s quick-hitting guitars, agitated rhythms and the wry, literate songs Jackson conceived during long hours of hawking merchandise that helped other artists realize their dreams.

U-N-I will host party at Holy Grail sneaker shop tonight; performance Saturday at the Roxy

If you're a fan of the oft-referenced golden era of rap or you just want to see what's up with L.A.'s fertile rap scene, check out Inglewood's U-N-I tonight and Saturday. The young duo, above, is part of a buzz-gathering collective of West Coast emcees, with music less reminiscent of the Game or Ice Cube and more like Dilated Peoples and the Pharcyde in their casual subject matter and jazz-infused style. They were set to open for EPMD tonight at Crash Mansion but some last-minute legal snafus, according to one insider, led to the cancellation of tonight's entire show (for the second time).

For those who walked out of theaters this spring wondering which came first, “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” or the puppet musical that closes the film, the truth is now revealed.

“The whole thing was, [Jason] Segel actually had a Dracula musical and he put it into his script,” says Peter Salett, who worked with Segel and British comedian Russell Brand on songs and music production for the movie, and the musical within.

Salett’s no stranger to comedy -- he also wrote songs for David Wain’s sketch-driven “The Ten” -- but he’s hardly a joker off-screen. He’ll be at M Bar on Thursday night to celebrate the release of his fourth solo album, “In the Ocean of the Stars,” his latest collection of serious-minded country-folk. It’s an attitude that can’t help but carry over to his funnier material.

Under the Influence of Giants is no longer under the influence of Island Records, which is why you'll find the L.A. quartet manning the Monday residency this month at Spaceland. With the paperwork on the band/label divorce being finalized, the foursome -- with new management and new songs -- got back to business last week, bringing its Bee Gees-on-steroids dance-rock to Silver Lake and almost filling the room.

When the book is written on England's top soul singers of all time, Alison Moyet's throaty growl will surely be in the proverbial mix. The voice of Yaz, who just dropped her seventh solo record Tuesday and performs tonight (the last of three shows at the Orpheum Theatre in downtown L.A.) with Vince Clarke as one half of the acclaimed electropop duo Yazoo, as they are known in the U.K., hasn't lost a step when it comes to hitting all the right notes with her primal-yet-sensual vocalization.

And while Moyet was the chanson-influenced R&B voice of the 1980s, we were curious what the "Situation" singer thought of England's current voice-of-the-moment: Amy Winehouse.

A new photographic exhibit at New York City's Morrison Hotel Gallery offers a glimpse of rare recording session images from Columbia Records' legendary studio on 30th Street. Among the artists captured on film are Billie Holiday (left), Bob Dylan and Miles Davis (see those two after the jump). Johnny Cash, Leonard Bernstein, Tony Bennett, Thelonious Monk and Ella Fitzgerald can be seen as well. And you don't need to be in New York to look at the photos.

Five years ago, Jay-Z performed on a track called "Beware of the Boys," a remix to the bhangra song "Mundian To Bach Ke," by the hugely popular Indian artist Punjabi MC. Although this type of fusion between rap/hip-hop beats and traditional Indian folk-dance music had been around at least 5 years prior to that song, and gaining steam in the dance clubs of London and NYC, it didn't really make that huge a dent elsewhere.

Before setting out to make their mark on the post-punk landscape, Leonard Jackson and Ian Schaeffer --  pals from their day jobs at Guitar Center -- left their marks on plenty of bottles of beer. “We were drinking buddies first, and we’d sit around and philosophize about how things should be,” Jackson says. “Once we’d created our utopian band model, we realized there was no other solution but to do it.”

Now, singer-guitarist Jackson and bassist Schaeffer, along with guitarist Greg Smith and drummer Tom DuPree III, have moved forward as the Forward. Their debut album, “Nothing But Teeth” (due Sept. 9), showcases the quartet’s quick-hitting guitars, agitated rhythms and the wry, literate songs Jackson conceived during long hours of hawking merchandise that helped other artists realize their dreams.

(Not) Forgetting Peter Salett

For those who walked out of theaters this spring wondering which came first, “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” or the puppet musical that closes the film, the truth is now revealed.

“The whole thing was, [Jason] Segel actually had a Dracula musical and he put it into his script,” says Peter Salett, who worked with Segel and British comedian Russell Brand on songs and music production for the movie, and the musical within.

Salett’s no stranger to comedy -- he also wrote songs for David Wain’s sketch-driven “The Ten” -- but he’s hardly a joker off-screen. He’ll be at M Bar on Thursday night to celebrate the release of his fourth solo album, “In the Ocean of the Stars,” his latest collection of serious-minded country-folk. It’s an attitude that can’t help but carry over to his funnier material.

Under the Influence of Giants is no longer under the influence of Island Records, which is why you'll find the L.A. quartet manning the Monday residency this month at Spaceland. With the paperwork on the band/label divorce being finalized, the foursome -- with new management and new songs -- got back to business last week, bringing its Bee Gees-on-steroids dance-rock to Silver Lake and almost filling the room.

When the book is written on England's top soul singers of all time, Alison Moyet's throaty growl will surely be in the proverbial mix. The voice of Yaz, who just dropped her seventh solo record Tuesday and performs tonight (the last of three shows at the Orpheum Theatre in downtown L.A.) with Vince Clarke as one half of the acclaimed electropop duo Yazoo, as they are known in the U.K., hasn't lost a step when it comes to hitting all the right notes with her primal-yet-sensual vocalization.

And while Moyet was the chanson-influenced R&B voice of the 1980s, we were curious what the "Situation" singer thought of England's current voice-of-the-moment: Amy Winehouse.

A new photographic exhibit at New York City's Morrison Hotel Gallery offers a glimpse of rare recording session images from Columbia Records' legendary studio on 30th Street. Among the artists captured on film are Billie Holiday (left), Bob Dylan and Miles Davis (see those two after the jump). Johnny Cash, Leonard Bernstein, Tony Bennett, Thelonious Monk and Ella Fitzgerald can be seen as well. And you don't need to be in New York to look at the photos.

Five years ago, Jay-Z performed on a track called "Beware of the Boys," a remix to the bhangra song "Mundian To Bach Ke," by the hugely popular Indian artist Punjabi MC. Although this type of fusion between rap/hip-hop beats and traditional Indian folk-dance music had been around at least 5 years prior to that song, and gaining steam in the dance clubs of London and NYC, it didn't really make that huge a dent elsewhere.

Before setting out to make their mark on the post-punk landscape, Leonard Jackson and Ian Schaeffer --  pals from their day jobs at Guitar Center -- left their marks on plenty of bottles of beer. “We were drinking buddies first, and we’d sit around and philosophize about how things should be,” Jackson says. “Once we’d created our utopian band model, we realized there was no other solution but to do it.”

Now, singer-guitarist Jackson and bassist Schaeffer, along with guitarist Greg Smith and drummer Tom DuPree III, have moved forward as the Forward. Their debut album, “Nothing But Teeth” (due Sept. 9), showcases the quartet’s quick-hitting guitars, agitated rhythms and the wry, literate songs Jackson conceived during long hours of hawking merchandise that helped other artists realize their dreams.

Buzz Bands: Under the Influence of Giants gets a new start in Silver Lake

Under the Influence of Giants is no longer under the influence of Island Records, which is why you'll find the L.A. quartet manning the Monday residency this month at Spaceland. With the paperwork on the band/label divorce being finalized, the foursome -- with new management and new songs -- got back to business last week, bringing its Bee Gees-on-steroids dance-rock to Silver Lake and almost filling the room.

When the book is written on England's top soul singers of all time, Alison Moyet's throaty growl will surely be in the proverbial mix. The voice of Yaz, who just dropped her seventh solo record Tuesday and performs tonight (the last of three shows at the Orpheum Theatre in downtown L.A.) with Vince Clarke as one half of the acclaimed electropop duo Yazoo, as they are known in the U.K., hasn't lost a step when it comes to hitting all the right notes with her primal-yet-sensual vocalization.

And while Moyet was the chanson-influenced R&B voice of the 1980s, we were curious what the "Situation" singer thought of England's current voice-of-the-moment: Amy Winehouse.

A new photographic exhibit at New York City's Morrison Hotel Gallery offers a glimpse of rare recording session images from Columbia Records' legendary studio on 30th Street. Among the artists captured on film are Billie Holiday (left), Bob Dylan and Miles Davis (see those two after the jump). Johnny Cash, Leonard Bernstein, Tony Bennett, Thelonious Monk and Ella Fitzgerald can be seen as well. And you don't need to be in New York to look at the photos.

Five years ago, Jay-Z performed on a track called "Beware of the Boys," a remix to the bhangra song "Mundian To Bach Ke," by the hugely popular Indian artist Punjabi MC. Although this type of fusion between rap/hip-hop beats and traditional Indian folk-dance music had been around at least 5 years prior to that song, and gaining steam in the dance clubs of London and NYC, it didn't really make that huge a dent elsewhere.

Before setting out to make their mark on the post-punk landscape, Leonard Jackson and Ian Schaeffer --  pals from their day jobs at Guitar Center -- left their marks on plenty of bottles of beer. “We were drinking buddies first, and we’d sit around and philosophize about how things should be,” Jackson says. “Once we’d created our utopian band model, we realized there was no other solution but to do it.”

Now, singer-guitarist Jackson and bassist Schaeffer, along with guitarist Greg Smith and drummer Tom DuPree III, have moved forward as the Forward. Their debut album, “Nothing But Teeth” (due Sept. 9), showcases the quartet’s quick-hitting guitars, agitated rhythms and the wry, literate songs Jackson conceived during long hours of hawking merchandise that helped other artists realize their dreams.

‘Alf’ on Amy Winehouse: Yaz’s Alison Moyet passes the torch

When the book is written on England's top soul singers of all time, Alison Moyet's throaty growl will surely be in the proverbial mix. The voice of Yaz, who just dropped her seventh solo record Tuesday and performs tonight (the last of three shows at the Orpheum Theatre in downtown L.A.) with Vince Clarke as one half of the acclaimed electropop duo Yazoo, as they are known in the U.K., hasn't lost a step when it comes to hitting all the right notes with her primal-yet-sensual vocalization.

And while Moyet was the chanson-influenced R&B voice of the 1980s, we were curious what the "Situation" singer thought of England's current voice-of-the-moment: Amy Winehouse.

A new photographic exhibit at New York City's Morrison Hotel Gallery offers a glimpse of rare recording session images from Columbia Records' legendary studio on 30th Street. Among the artists captured on film are Billie Holiday (left), Bob Dylan and Miles Davis (see those two after the jump). Johnny Cash, Leonard Bernstein, Tony Bennett, Thelonious Monk and Ella Fitzgerald can be seen as well. And you don't need to be in New York to look at the photos.

Five years ago, Jay-Z performed on a track called "Beware of the Boys," a remix to the bhangra song "Mundian To Bach Ke," by the hugely popular Indian artist Punjabi MC. Although this type of fusion between rap/hip-hop beats and traditional Indian folk-dance music had been around at least 5 years prior to that song, and gaining steam in the dance clubs of London and NYC, it didn't really make that huge a dent elsewhere.

Before setting out to make their mark on the post-punk landscape, Leonard Jackson and Ian Schaeffer --  pals from their day jobs at Guitar Center -- left their marks on plenty of bottles of beer. “We were drinking buddies first, and we’d sit around and philosophize about how things should be,” Jackson says. “Once we’d created our utopian band model, we realized there was no other solution but to do it.”

Now, singer-guitarist Jackson and bassist Schaeffer, along with guitarist Greg Smith and drummer Tom DuPree III, have moved forward as the Forward. Their debut album, “Nothing But Teeth” (due Sept. 9), showcases the quartet’s quick-hitting guitars, agitated rhythms and the wry, literate songs Jackson conceived during long hours of hawking merchandise that helped other artists realize their dreams.

Historical Columbia Records photos on view

A new photographic exhibit at New York City's Morrison Hotel Gallery offers a glimpse of rare recording session images from Columbia Records' legendary studio on 30th Street. Among the artists captured on film are Billie Holiday (left), Bob Dylan and Miles Davis (see those two after the jump). Johnny Cash, Leonard Bernstein, Tony Bennett, Thelonious Monk and Ella Fitzgerald can be seen as well. And you don't need to be in New York to look at the photos.

Five years ago, Jay-Z performed on a track called "Beware of the Boys," a remix to the bhangra song "Mundian To Bach Ke," by the hugely popular Indian artist Punjabi MC. Although this type of fusion between rap/hip-hop beats and traditional Indian folk-dance music had been around at least 5 years prior to that song, and gaining steam in the dance clubs of London and NYC, it didn't really make that huge a dent elsewhere.

Before setting out to make their mark on the post-punk landscape, Leonard Jackson and Ian Schaeffer --  pals from their day jobs at Guitar Center -- left their marks on plenty of bottles of beer. “We were drinking buddies first, and we’d sit around and philosophize about how things should be,” Jackson says. “Once we’d created our utopian band model, we realized there was no other solution but to do it.”

Now, singer-guitarist Jackson and bassist Schaeffer, along with guitarist Greg Smith and drummer Tom DuPree III, have moved forward as the Forward. Their debut album, “Nothing But Teeth” (due Sept. 9), showcases the quartet’s quick-hitting guitars, agitated rhythms and the wry, literate songs Jackson conceived during long hours of hawking merchandise that helped other artists realize their dreams.

Bhangra-DJ dance party at Music Center tomorrow night

Five years ago, Jay-Z performed on a track called "Beware of the Boys," a remix to the bhangra song "Mundian To Bach Ke," by the hugely popular Indian artist Punjabi MC. Although this type of fusion between rap/hip-hop beats and traditional Indian folk-dance music had been around at least 5 years prior to that song, and gaining steam in the dance clubs of London and NYC, it didn't really make that huge a dent elsewhere.

Before setting out to make their mark on the post-punk landscape, Leonard Jackson and Ian Schaeffer --  pals from their day jobs at Guitar Center -- left their marks on plenty of bottles of beer. “We were drinking buddies first, and we’d sit around and philosophize about how things should be,” Jackson says. “Once we’d created our utopian band model, we realized there was no other solution but to do it.”

Now, singer-guitarist Jackson and bassist Schaeffer, along with guitarist Greg Smith and drummer Tom DuPree III, have moved forward as the Forward. Their debut album, “Nothing But Teeth” (due Sept. 9), showcases the quartet’s quick-hitting guitars, agitated rhythms and the wry, literate songs Jackson conceived during long hours of hawking merchandise that helped other artists realize their dreams.

Buzz Bands: The Forward’s new direction

Before setting out to make their mark on the post-punk landscape, Leonard Jackson and Ian Schaeffer --  pals from their day jobs at Guitar Center -- left their marks on plenty of bottles of beer. “We were drinking buddies first, and we’d sit around and philosophize about how things should be,” Jackson says. “Once we’d created our utopian band model, we realized there was no other solution but to do it.”

Now, singer-guitarist Jackson and bassist Schaeffer, along with guitarist Greg Smith and drummer Tom DuPree III, have moved forward as the Forward. Their debut album, “Nothing But Teeth” (due Sept. 9), showcases the quartet’s quick-hitting guitars, agitated rhythms and the wry, literate songs Jackson conceived during long hours of hawking merchandise that helped other artists realize their dreams.