Rock Band 2 Setlist Announced It certainly says something about the state of the music industry that perhaps the biggest music story of the week is the placement of some tunes in a video game. But what tunes! At the E3 conference out in LA, Harmonix announced the 80+ songs that will appear in the upcoming sequel to the plastic instrument rock sim. While the list overall is excellent, hitting many genres from the last......

Fleet Foxes Seem Nice Fleet Foxes came to town this week, riding a wave of slightly understated buzz into a sold-out Bowery Ballroom. The band was excellent, playing jams off their critically acclaimed record and constantly thanking the crowd for showing them so much love. Those in attendance were remarkably supportive of the act, especially considering the often indifferent attitude our local crowds often take. Between songs, they hooted and hollered from the first note,......

Every year we're drawn to the Coney Island shoreline by the sirens...or at least, The Village Voice Siren Festival. This year they seem a bit more on top of things, announcing their initial lineup today -- a full two months before the show! This year's fest, their 8th, is being held on July 19th and promises some big names (drum roll please):STEPHEN MALKMUS AND THE JICKS, BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE, THE HELIO SEQUENCE, BEACH HOUSE, TIMES......

The Sirens Return For One Last Year (again). Rumors of Siren's demise have been greatly exaggerated. The annual Coney Island music festival will be back for at least one more go this summer, despite rumors to the contrary that persisted all winter long. Coney Island is currently undergoing a major facelift, to help revitalize the area, so the old neighborhood may not look the same as you remember, but this, combined with at least one......

We've survived the sirens for many years, and if this truly was the last Siren Fest ever, it certainly went out with a bang. Coney Island was packed full of thrifty music fans for the 7th annual Siren Festival this weekend. Despite the current trend of awful weather for every worthwhile free outdoor concert this summer so far, nobody could complain about the perfect day at the beach this past Saturday. We got down there......

Yesterday the annual Siren Festival at Coney Island took place. We'll have a full report tomorrow, for now check out some photos of the day (taken by contributer John Del Signore). The first five are most definitely not PETA-approved. A chicken The Black Lips & a chicken Chicken feathers......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a motorcycle jacking at 230th Place and 148th Ave. in Queens, shots fired at police at Gates and Nostrand Aves. in Brooklyn, and multiple pedestrians struck at Coney Island and Ditmas Aves. in Brooklyn. State and city politicians broke ground in the Bronx yesterday on a new Metro-North station stop at the under-construction Yankee Stadium. It's hoped that the transit option will cut down on auto traffic from upstate......

Deacon Rules the Pool That's an awful, awful pun and we do apologize. These mini headlines aren't easy! The Pool Parties are officially in full swing, and we took a trip out to McCarren this weekend for the diverse lineup of OCDJ, Dan Deacon, Erase Errata and The Octopus Project. While all four bands put on a solid show, the standout was clearly Deacon, who set up his gadgets and widgets on a fold-out table......

If Justin Timberlake is being credited for bringing sexy back, then the Scissor Sisters can be credited for bringing disco, fun and colorful stage shows back. The (mostly) New Yorkers are back in town tomorrow night, taking the stage at MSG. Babydaddy recently took the time to answer some questions for us (he's the one in the pink pantsuit). Let's get this out of the way, where did your band name originate? Friend of Jake's......

EVENT: Help raise some money for the good fight with the Rude Mechanical Orchestra and Time's Up! Two long time allies are coming together to raise money and awareness for the environment. RMO is NYC's punk rock radical marching band and will lead the evening of music that includes Monkeyshine 9, Heavy Creatures, Quick Release and Phil Not Bombs. Also featuring DJ Suggested D's dance floor madness and the infamous blender bike. Time's Up!'s has......

It's hot, humid, and I want to go to the beach. What are my options? Well, Gateway National Recreation Area is right in our neck of the woods, extending in three New York City boroughs and into northern New Jersey. It is a good place to start your quest for the perfect patch of sand and cooling waters. Queens: Jacob Riis Park 2 to Flatbush Ave., Q35 Bus to Riis Beach Staten Island: Great Kills......

Looking for a list of free summer shows in the city this summer? Check out Prefixmag's guide to free concerts. There's a lot to take in, here's what we'll be heading to: June 16 Charlier Hunter & Bobby Previte with special guests Elliott Sharp as Groundtruther, Matthew Shipp, Nils Petter Molvaer, and Sex Mob: Central Park Summerstage, 7pm. June 25 Feist, Buck 65, and Jason Collett: Central Park Summerstage, 3pm. * July 4 Belle and......

Last year everyone was all up in arms about this band called Dungen. No one pronounced their name the same way, but everyone proclaimed them "their new favorite band". At least for that week. They played at the Siren Festival and then to a packed room at Mercury Lounge back then, and now the Swedish rockers return to New York next week. We want you to be there. Seriously, it just wouldn't be the......

The Village Voice has announced some of the bands that will be playing at this years Siren Festival. We've enjoyed going to these for the past few years, and are always excited to start hearing about who's going to play. Here's what they've got so far: Stars Tapes 'N Tapes The Stills The Cribs Celebration She Wants Revenge Aside from those last two, that's the foundation for a pretty good lineup. Actually, we don't......

Shonali Bhowmik, Leader of indie band Tigers and Monkeys, member, Variety Shac...

It's time to get sweaty in the sand, surf and of course the long subway ride to Coney Island. Siren Fest is this weekend, and rain or shine we'll be there. But for those not up for the long haul and long day under the sun and stormclouds, there's always an alternative. Either way, it all seems to be about the surf this weekend... MUSIC: Tonight is Insound's 2nd Annual Pre-Siren Festival delivers The Ponys,......

Saturday: Partly to mostly cloudy with scattered showers and thunderstorms. Highs around 80 degrees. Lows in the low 70s. [via WNBC] Currently the weather isn't looking so great for tomorrow's Siren Festival. The image accompanying the forecast looks downright terrifying, but the actual forecast seems alright. We ain't scared of no thunderstorms! Look at it this way, a little rain will thin the crowd out and make the lines shorter. Not to mention cool us......

What a disaster yesterday was. After prominently featuring the Cloud Cult show at Knitting Factory last week, it ends up the show was never actually happening. If you bought tickets, contact Knitting Factory and/or Ticketweb and get your money back. The good news: we wouldn't have been able to talk about Cloud Cult on Gothamist otherwise, so hopefully you discovered a great new band (still haven't listened?). It's Siren time again. Every year the Village......

We're anxious to see if M.I.A.'s live show has improved since her last (and only) N.Y.C. show at Knitting Factory in February. Then again, we don't really care. After releasing one of the year's hottest albums, it's hard for the grimey Sri Lankan-born rapper to do any wrong. Diplo mans the decks Tuesday and Wednesday night at S.O.B.'s. You can also hear Diplo DJing at Rothko Tuesday night (after the M.I.A. show), and they'll......

Gothamist woke up early Tuesday morning. Very early. To meet with the pinnacle of early morning radio, John Richards (aka – John in the Morning). He is used to waking up early, we are not. Sitting in the makeshift studio on the 5th floor of the Museum of Television & Radio on 52nd Street (where John is broadcasting from all week), we asked if he is as chipper in the AM hours as he seems......

We successfully moved to a new server last weekend, thanks for Jake, so we hope that loading Gothamist has been faster and easier than ever. There may still be a few bugs, so please let us know if there's anything you think we need to address. - City Hall shooting: The chaos during, trying to understand, and the detective who got a promotion - Dirty thirty - Mel Gibson and his Jesus Christ - Brooklyn......

Kelefa Sanneh gives a backhandedly sorta positive review of this year's Siren Festival and basically says that it wasn't that adventurous but it was rather comforting with all these younger bands aping styles of the Rolling Stones, Liquid Liquid, and New Wave bands. He also notes that the Coney Island venue that offered daylight was something new for the bands and their fans: "dazed-looking hipsters, blinking in the sunlight." Among the performers Sanneh mentions:......