Maura Kennedy, one-half of the folk-pop mavens, The Kennedys, released her first solo album on Planned Effervescence Recordings on January 19, 2010. Parade of Echoes is a thirteen-song soliloquy to the light and dark sides of pop, cast in the brilliant sheen of her carillon harmonies and bell-like lead vocals.

AT SEA’s captivating audio presence can be likened to a conglomeration of Jeff Buckley meets Muse meets Pink Floyd. In the spirit of fun — the band is unafraid to explore new territory in all directions, creating both walls of sound and quiet ballads, and performing in various configurations, stemming from an intimate one-man unplugged gig to shows housing a full–band-with- occasional special-guests appearances. “In the end, it’s about taking the listener on a ride,” says Jason, lead vocalist and founding member.

Edward Rogers is a singer-songwriter, the East Village’s man about town and has a weekly radio show, Atlantic Tunnel, on East Village Radio. He has released two solo albums, working with George Usher; his new CD, “Sparkle Lane,” comes out on February 2, 2010. In fact, Pete, Don and Joe, the other comrades on this gig, all appear on “Sparkle Lane.”

How one welcomes the New Year varies in significance depending on who you ask. For some people it’s just another day on the calendar; whereas, others may view it as a precursor to how one plans on spending the rest of the year. Everyone at Roseland Ballroom on New Years Eve brought in 2010 with a monstrous countdown followed by a heart-pounding set by none other than New York favorite, Paul Van Dyk.

Uplifter is the ninth studio album by American rock band 311, released on June 2, 2009 by Volcano Records. It is the band’s first album in nearly four years, the longest gap between albums in 311′s career.

While getting hit by a “HA-DOU-KEN” or “SHYO-RYU-KEN” may land you in the hospital being pounded by a “SONIC BOOM” can leave you wanting more like it did for a packed Santos Party House when the Boom Boom Satellites (BBS) unleashed a barrage of audio mayhem on the big apple this past November.

Also known as the “Techno Capital of Norway,” Tromsø has produced many talented musicians like Bjørn Torske, Frost, Kings of Convenience’s guitarist/songwriter Erlend Øye, and most notably Röyksopp’s Torbjørn Brundtland and Svein Berge, who in late November lit up New York City’s Webster Hall brighter than Tromsø’s winter skies.

UnRated NYC caught bassist Geoff Council, drummer Jeff Olson, guitarist Andrew Burns, and lead vocalist/guitarist Jason Brody on stage at The Suffolk in late October performing tracks off their self-titled EP to a group of enthusiastic concert goers.

If her music is uncommon, so is Maiysha’s back story. Born to an attorney father and a TV journalist mother, Maiysha grew up as a self-described “Cosby kid-I have no shame about it,” she says, “to the extent that my parents even nicknamed me Denise, because I was a little quirky, with weird outfits and big hair.”

The Almost’s second album for Tooth & Nail /Virgin Records began taking shape just as soon as the band came off the road after touring for their 2007 debut, Southern Weather, including a stint on that summer’s Warped tour.

Chester Bennington may have found global success with Linkin Park, but just one day after the release of his new band’s debut album Bennington pumped New York City’s Blender Theatre full of rock mayhem. Out Of Ashes is Dead By Sunrise’s debut album, and on it Bennington also performs guitar and keyboard.

Good Evening New York City is a forthcoming CD/DVD double live album by Paul McCartney consisting of material performed over three nights as the inaugural concert at New York City’s Citi Field, July 17, 18 and 21, 2009, part of his Summer Live ’09 concert tour.

For fans, seeing U2 live in concert is a downright religious experience. But for those who haven’t been able to catch them on the 360 tour, the best way to describe it would be along the lines of “strikingly beautiful” or “gloriously splendid”.

Fashion Week is an excellent opportunity for American (and a few international) designers — ranging from Oscar de la Renta to Zac Posen — to show off their upcoming collections. The fashion shows are often entertaining, accompanied by loud, mood-setting music and changing lighting. But as soon as the glitz and glam of the runway go down its time to dance your ass off…

“When we started out we were afraid of sounding like other artists,” Erlend says. “But now we feel pretty much alone.” But the most striking thing about this album is how powerfully it reminds you that making music together is not a game, it’s not something to be undertaken lightly, this record is part of a much larger picture, a long and involved relationship that has had its good and bad times.