Dan Aquilante
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Bruce Apollo blastoff
“Wrecking Ball” is the title of Bruce Springsteen’s new album and tour that opened last night in Harlem at the Apollo Theater, but it could also be a metaphor for...
Boss throws a ‘Ball’ for fallen Big Man
Album of the Week BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN “Wrecking Ball” **** Bruce Springsteen might be one of the wealthiest men in music, but he shows no love of money on today’s release,...
License to trill
Like an addict in recovery, Andrew Bird admits he is powerless over his most unusual form of expression — whistling. “Whistling is an involuntary thing with me,” he says. “It...
It’s been awhile for Lyle
Album of the Week LYLE LOVETT “Release Me” ★★★ AFTER nearly 25 years at Curb Records, Lyle Lovett’s last album for his longtime label is a kitchen-sink CD featuring a...
Return of Diamond Dave
With David Lee Roth back on the mike, Van Halen’s legendary career has “come full circle,” the singer says. Two weeks ago, the revamped quartet broke a 27-year drought, releasing...
After 50 years, still chief ‘Voice’ of Irish music
Album of the Week THE CHIEFTAINS “Voice of Ages” ★★★ 1/2 WITH yin-yang balance, the Chieftains mark their 50th anniversary as a band with an album of collaborations with some...
Blowin' for the big man
Clarence Clemons. The Big Man. A rock ’n’ roll legend so large that it’s gonna take two men to replace him. The revered sax player’s last recordings with Bruce Springsteen...
Aretha to sing praises
Aretha Franklin will pay her final respects to her beloved goddaughter, Whitney Houston, by singing at her funeral. Franklin will join other members of music’s elite at the services tomorrow...
Tennis serves an ace
Album of the Week TENNIS “Young & Old” ★★★ After last year’s hit CD “Cape Dory,” when this husband-and-wife band Alaina Moore and Patrick Riley found melodic and romantic inspiration...
‘Know’ her is to love her
There were other songs on Whitney Houston’s debut album in 1985 than “How Will I Know.” But it was that simple track, about true love, that made you fall head...
Oldies Beachy keen
The Grammys are usually about the latest and the loudest voices in music, but this year, the ceremony was in many ways owned by Whitney Houston. The night should be...
Rufus rocks the opera
In the cult-fave cartoon “All the Great Operas in 10 Minutes,” animator Kim Thompson deadpans that opera “is just a lot of people in costumes, falling in love and dying....
Early Valentine from Paul McHeartney
Album of the Week PAUL McCARTNEY “Kisses on the Bottom” ★★★★ MOST romantics rely on chocolate and roses to express love on Valentine’s Day, but a week ahead of Cupid’s...
It was a Madge of honor
At the biggest, most important performance Madonna has ever mounted, the Material Girl was loud and over the top in her 12-minute, too-much-is-just-enough spectacle — like the Super Bowl itself....
Pixie dust in Queens
Iceland’s eccentric musical pixie, Bjork, bridges the science of the natural world with the magic of music in her latest project, “Biophilia,” that made its US concert debut in Queens...
A little Rey of pop-star sunshine
Album of the Week Lana Del Rey “Born To Die” ★★★ Off the strength of her “Video Games” single, which has been enjoying unabashed praise over the past six months,...
Christmas hits & Navi-duds
Holiday music is a double-edged sword. A Christmas carol can be as welcome as a souped-up iPad or as reviled as wool oven mitts crocheted by Aunt Sadie. With just...
Uncommonly brilliant raps
Album of the Week COMMON “The Dreamer/The Believer” *** 1/2 WITH “The Dreamer/ The Believer,” Chicago rapper Lonnie Rashid Lynn Jr., a k a Common, dodges the gimmicks of hip-pop...
Ke$ha cashes in on ‘Sleazy 2.0’
Download of the Week KE$HA “Sleazy Remix 2.0 Get Sleazier” 4 STARS Call it slow burn 2.0. It’s an unusual song that gets released in 2010 to little notice and...
The Roots dig up a gem
Album of the week THE ROOTS “undun”4 stars When you spin “undun,” the Roots’ 10th and best studio album to date, there’s more than music in the revolution. This brief...