Photo by Jeffrey Delannoy Cat Power October 22, 2007 Studio A Better Than: Finding out Syd Barrett still sings in honky tonks. The Review: The last time I caught Cat Power at Studio A, it was just her, her pain, her anger and her keyboard – and a crowd of…

James Blood Ulmer October 20, 2007 The Colony Theatre, Miami Beach Better Than: A back alley brawl between jazz and blues. The Review: Back when I first moved in New York, one of the greatest musical pleasures I had was catching James Blood Ulmer get all “avant-gutbucket” at a dingy…

Hot Hot Heat October 19, 2007 Culture Room Better Than: A B12 shot of mid-‘80s nostalgia. The Review: I hate beginning with a negative (there’s too much bad in the world already), but I will say this: if I never had to stand through another song by Bedouin Soundclash, my…

Guster October 14, 2007 The Culture Room Better Than: And egghead keg party 10 years after graduating college. Thank Zeus for huge favors: Last night Guster did not open for Barenaked Ladies or Toad the Wet Sprocket or Modest Mouse (as they have in the past), nor did they play…

Apples in Stereo September 28, 2007 The Culture Room Better Than: Eating a barrel of Count Chocula while in interstellar overdrive The Review: We dig The Culture Room, even if we’ve gotta drive about a million miles to get there. The joint’s dark, the sound’s swimming, and it’s run by…

Interpol singer Paul Banks Interpol September 19, 2007 BankUnited Center Better Than: The big bright dark of a full-on eclipse. The Review: Sure it’s nice to know people, but it’s really nice to know cool people, and at last night’s BankUnited Interpol show, cool converged in abundance. From the editor…

Kinky August 28, 2007 The Fifth, Miami Beach Better Than: Once Upon a Time in the West as fleeced by The Thievery Corporation. Or something. Else. Kinky lead man Gil Cerezo The Review: The seven-city Samsung/AT&T Summer Krush series swung into South Beach last night with a set so low…

OK, so John Fogerty won’t be there, but CCR’s original rhythm section will be. So will John Tristao, a ’60s one-hit wonder boy who actually opened for the original Revival way back when. And if you don’t know that Tristao once fronted the band People and had a hit with…