NEW YORK, NY—Cibo Matto’s back for the first time in a decade, and they’re seemingly making up for lost time. Since reuniting last spring, the trip-hop duo of Miho Hatori and Yuka Honda have participated in three charity concerts from March to June, toured the country in July, and…

NEW YORK, NY—It was unseasonably warm for an October day in New York City, with temperatures in the 70s. Kay Hanley credited her band, Palmdale, for bringing the balmy weather from their native Los Angeles.

Palmdale’s stop at the Mercury Lounge kicked off their first-ever tour. The band, composed of…

A few years ago, punk-cabaret queen Amanda Palmer asked herself where she was going to head and what she was going to do next. “I can say to myself honestly now I don’t care too much about my next project bringing me success or money,” she says. “What I really,…

NEW YORK, NY—The name Utada doesn’t ring a bell in the United States, and the Japanese-American singer’s two English-language albums have sold just a few thousand copies each in North America. Yet both albums were big hits in Japan, where Utada is a multi-million selling singer-songwriter, stadium-size star and one…

For the past decade, exuberant Japanese new-wavers Polysics have worked non-stop. They’ve released a stream of synth-rock albums, EPs, and singles heavily reliant on the contrasting styles of their two lead musicians, the wild Hiroyuki Hayashi and stoic Kayo.

That is about to change.

Kayo will quit Polysics…

BROOKLYN, NY—Amanda Palmer strolled onstage to introduce her backing band for her current U.S. tour, Nervous Cabaret, just before they opened the concert with a solo set. Though it was unusual to see a headliner steal her own thunder, that’s how Palmer is: Down-to-earth and eager to help out her…