One of New York’s most iconic rock clubs may be making a comeback, as the New York Post reports this morning that the legendary punk club is expecting to reopen in a new location.

The club, founded by Hilly Kristal in Manhattan’s Lower East Side in 1973, had been the launchpad for a number of bands such as the Ramones and Blondie.

The establishment closed in 2006 and subsequently became a John Varvatos clothing store.

Kristal’s daughter Lisa recently sold the rights and memorabilia to a group of buyers. They plan to announce plans to reopen the club in a new location in the coming weeks.

Television producer Don Cornelius, who produced and hosted the television staple, “Soul Train,” is dead at 75 according to multiple reports of an apparent suicide from a gunshot wound.

Police tell celebrity website TMZ that Cornelius was found dead in his Los Angeles home early on Wednesday.

Cornelius created “Soul Train” and hosted the show in national syndication from 1971 to 1993. It was the first real venue on American television for soul music, and as the show’s writer and producer, as well as host, Cornelius played a vital role in bringing stars like James Brown, Aretha Franklin and Michael Jackson to a wider audience.

Some have described the show as “a black American Bandstand,” though Cornelius was not a fan of that comparison.  As the host, he was known for the catchphrase with which he closed each episode: “I’m Don Cornelius, and as always in parting, we wish you love, peace and soul!”

“Soul Train,” which ceased airing in 2006, also spun off the Soul Train Music Awards and the Soul Train Lady of Soul Awards.   Its most famous theme song, “TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia),” by MFSB became a massive pop hit in 1974.

Legendary singer Etta James, in which her song “At Last” most recently defined the inauguration of President Barack Obama, is dead at the age of 73.

James had been terminally ill with leukemia for at least the last year, but had suffered health woes for years stemming from past drug addiction and weight problems.

James died in Los Angeles, Calif.

According to the Associated Press:

James performed well into her senior years, and it was “At Last” that kept bringing her the biggest ovations. The song was a perennial that never aged, and on Jan. 20, 2009, as crowds celebrated that – at last – an African-American had become president of the United States, the song played as the first couple danced.

But it was superstar Beyonce who serenaded the Obamas, not the legendary singer. Beyonce had portrayed James in “Cadillac Records,” a big-screen retelling of Chess Records’ heyday, and had started to claim “At Last” as her own.

An audio clip surfaced of James at a concert shortly after the inauguration, saying she couldn’t stand the younger singer and that Beyonce had “no business singing my song.” But she told the New York Daily News later that she was joking, even though she had been hurt that she did not get the chance to participate in the inauguration.

James did get her accolades over the years. She was inducted into the Rock Hall in 1993, captured a Grammy in 2003 for best contemporary blues album for “Let’s Roll,” one in 2004 for best traditional blues album for “Blues to the Bone” and one for best jazz vocal performance for 1994′s “Mystery Lady: Songs of Billie Holiday.” She was also awarded a special Grammy in 2003 for lifetime achievement and got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Her health went into decline, however, and by 2011, she was being cared for at home by a personal doctor.

She suffered from dementia, kidney problems and leukemia. Her husband and her two sons fought over control of her $1 million estate, though a deal was later struck keeping Mills as the conservator and capping the singer’s expenses at $350,000. In December 2011, her physician announced that her leukemia was terminal, and asked for prayers for the singer.

In October 2011, it was announced that James was retiring from recording, and a final studio recording, “The Dreamer,” was released, featuring the singer taking on classic songs, from Bobby “Blue” Bland’s “Dreamer” to Guns N’ Roses “Welcome To the Jungle” – still rocking, and a fitting end to her storied career.

“Hello Hello Baby Blue!  We are happy to announce the arrival of our beautiful daughter, Blue Ivy Carter, born on Saturday, January 7, 2012.” -Joint statement from Beyoncé and Jay-Z, Beyoncé’s website, 1/9/12

Immediately, the internet was aflutter with various theories for the meaning behind the name…

“Welcome Baby Blue!  They obviously chose to name her Blue because it has to do with power, sophistication, and loyalty.  The color blue is very rich and often comes in different shades, just like Beyoncé and Jay-Z themselves.” – Ms. Florence Gander, Art Department Head, Ben Franklin Regional High School, Maryland

“Blue Ivy is like, such a symbol for something familiar, yet super out of the ordinary. Extraordinary, even. Because like, Blue is a color, and like, Ivy is a plant. Ya know? Ohmigod, they can do no wrong!” – Jill Bean, President of the Blue Ivy Carter Fan Club

“It’s clearly a marketing ploy.  Beyoncé and Jay-Z are two savvy business people who know where the future lies. Blue Ivy Carter. BIC.” – Josef Camden, Marketing Coordinator, BIC Pens

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Actor-comedian Russell Brand and singer Katy Perry are calling it quits, just over a year after their October 2010 wedding in India, according to divorce papers filed by Brand and obtained by celebrity news website TMZ.

“Sadly, Katy and I are ending our marriage. I’ll always adore her and I know we’ll remain friends,” said Brand in a statement.

Brand had been recently been seen by moviegoers in 2010′s “Get Him to the Greek.” Perry’s career has skyrocketed since the release of “I Kissed A Girl” in 2008.

The divorce was filed in Los Angeles.

Louis C.K.’s brand new hour long stand-up special is available for streaming or download on louisck.net, for five measly internet dollars, which everyone knows is equal to fewer than zero real life dollars. I’m pretty sure paying five dollars through Pay Pal is the equivalent of being handed a free candy bar or something, so it’s hardly a price to pay for a joyous 62 minutes.  What I’m saying is just do it.  Just get it and watch it.  It will make your life better.

Louis C.K., who’s finally starting to become widely recognized as the most brilliant man alive, starts the special with a two minute stroll from the streets of NYC into the Beacon Theatre, through the crowd waiting outside to get into the show.  It’s basically the opening credits of Louie, but he walks up into the Beacon instead of down into the Comedy Cellar.  Because what Louis C.K. presents, in this special and in his show, is Louis, getting to places and performing comedy.  That’s all he needs to do, and we gladly follow him there, because there is simply no place else we’d rather be.

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Albany-based soul/hip-hop band MIRK released their long-anticipated follow up to “Love” on December 2 at the Washington Avenue Armory with a fan exclusive concert that featured King Dreams, the City Never Sleeps, Wordspit The Illest, and Eric Sosa.

The album, “GRIND,” doesn’t officially come out until March, but show attendees were able to receive an advanced copy of the album that has been in the works for nearly two years. Since the release of “Love,” MIRK released their critically-acclaimed “Love/Live: a 2 pt. trilogy” album in 2010. Unlike “Love” and “GRIND,” “Love/Live” was recorded live (as in each piece plays on the same layer), creating a replicate effect to their show performances.

With just over what looked to be 500 attendees, the concert – which lasted nearly six hours – was well worth the $15 admission price. In order to create a more intimate atmosphere and a feel that’s in line with the clubs the Josh Mirsky-led band is used to playing, the stage at the Armory was pulled up from the back of the 4,000-capacity arena to ensure fans got up close and personal with their hometown band.

The show began with the City Never Sleeps, an Upstate N.Y.-based jazz infused indie rock band, followed by New Haven, Conn.-based rapper King Dreams.

Wordspit The Illest, a hip-hop band out of New York led by rapper Christopher Dupree (a.k.a. “Wordspit), was an unexpected highlight. The group, which features a violinist, is one part-Estelle, another part-Rage Against the Machine, with a touch of Outkast, brought a ton of energy to the cavernous Armory.

The penultimate artist to MIRK was Eric Sosa, “a Spanish rapper from Queens” who followed the explosion of energy from Wordspit in equal fashion.

Close to midnight, MIRK took to the stage, starting off with their signature 2009 single, “Forbidden.” The band proceeded to perform a series of tracks from “Love” before performing a number of tracks from “GRIND” – including the fast-paced “Success” and the reflective “Beautiful Music” (the Michael Dispenza-directed music video for “Beautiful Music” featuring Grammy Award winning rapper Mr. Cheeks of the Lost Boyz).

Playing for a near continuous two-hour set, the band did not disappoint fans by coming back for a three-song encore.

If you weren’t able to attend the Armory show, there are three more opportunities to catch MIRK before the end of the year. On December 10, the band will be playing at Graney’s Stout on Broadway. On December 17, they’ll be opening for legendary rap group Wu Tang Clan at Northern Lights in Clifton Park. On New Year’s Eve, they’ll be playing one of their “homeclubs” – Elda’s on Lark – to ring in the New Year.

Alta Mira, La De Les, Life Among the Trees, and Dirty Paris will be performing at Hudson River Coffee House at 227 Quail Street in Albany for back-to-back pre-Thanksgiving Day weekend shows.

Alta Mira has garnered solid regional standing with the releases of The Fables and Fabrications EP in 2007 and their self-titled full-length in 2009. The band has brought their tight and dynamic live performance throughout the Northeast, opening for acts as diverse as Ra Ra Riot, Lisa Germano and The New Deal.

La De Les is a Boston-based “shoegaze” band comprised of Cody Nicolas, Aaron James Nicolas, Jocelyn Nicolas and Sara Holbert. Finding their start in 2008 in Michigan, La De Les released “The New Jerusalem EP” and “Gadfly” this past summer.

Joining Alta Mira and La De Les is Life Among the Trees, an Albany experimental rock band.

Saturday’s headliners, Dirty Paris, have been influenced from 70′s progressive rock, cool jazz, trance, and world music; Dirty Paris has found their own unique stylistic blend. Dirty Paris dedicating all hours of the day for the purpose of dirtying their psychedelic city of sound.

Friday’s show starts at 8 p.m. and Saturday’s show begins at 10 p.m. There is no cover charge for the event.

First, the regular concert review-y stuff: The Childish Gambino show at Club Nokia in LA on Saturday, Nov. 12th was fantastic. However, the crowd was younger than I anticipated and exactly as plaid-clad as expected. The venue was sleek and clubbish. The place is brand new; it felt and looked untouched, which was okay. I usually find myself at venues with history: cracks in the walls, stories in the curtains, seats you probably shouldn’t sit on because they’ll break. So Club Nokia wasn’t much of a character, but it felt right in a way because Childish Gambino needs and deserves a freshly unwrapped space — what Donald Glover brings to the table is something totally brand new and complex, and he brought to the night all the personality it needed.

Now, as a real white girl, (I don’t mean real as in actual. I mean real as in the grammatically erroneous version of “very very very.”), I feel like sort of a poser, if that’s a term that people still use. I’m not usually a fan of rap, and I know nothing about “sick beats” (A tidbit of perspective: in the car on the way to the Childish Gambino concert, I got super excited and belted all the words to Carole King’s, “I Feel the Earth Move” when it came on the radio. I wish I was making that up.). I can’t tell you anything about DJ SoSuperSam, who played for about an hour before Childish Gambino took the stage. I don’t know “how she spins” or if she was good or bad or what. None of that is in my vocabulary. All I know is that I am an appreciator of great writing and clever pop culture references, and that is Childish Gambino. The music works for me because Glover’s words are witty and true and serious and nonsense and beautiful. In his raps he mentions Tina Fey and half the cast of Parks and Recreation and 400 Blows. And there was a violin, a guitar and a choir on stage with him, so I even hesitate to limit the genre to rap. The music is inventive; the wordplay is sharp and nonstop and eloquent. If you took every line Abed says in Community and mixed it with the tone and punniness of The Phantom Tollbooth, you’d get Childish Gambino. But it’s not just punny pop culture references. He consistently addresses several topics in his songs, most notably (get it? music!) life growing up as a nerdy kid who wasn’t ever “black” enough, his meta struggle to prove himself as a rapper, girls, and most importantly, whiskey.

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Musician Jed Davis will be performing at the Hudson River Coffee House at 227 Quail Street in Albany on Saturday, November 12 at 8 p.m. alongside performers Olivia Quillio, Plastic Party, and Bryan Thomas.

Davis has been on a musical journey that has included a stint as Jessica Simpson’s musical director, co-author of a musical with Ramones’ creative director Arturo Vega, and was the focus of a tribute album by Daniel Johnston. Davis has recently been profiled by Metroland’s music editor Josh Potter.

Jazz-folk artist Olivia Quillo, a veteran of performing at HRCH in the past, soul-rock performer Bryan Thomas, and groove bass/guitar duo Plastic Party, will open for Davis.

There is no cover charge for the event