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      How Do You Preserve a Vanishing Music Scene?

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      Five recent books collect photographs, memories and ephemera from the hardcore band Agnostic Front, the mysterious dance artist Aphex Twin, the rap collective Odd Future and more.Memories fade. Documentation disappears. Scenes vanish.When you’re busy creating a world, you don’t always think about how to preserve it for history. So old fliers and magazines get brittle and crumble, photos get lost, publications go out of business and websites get deleted. It falls to archivists — sometimes from a scene itself, and sometimes an avid follower — to fight that slipperiness. Each of these worthy and memorable books is the product of such work. What’s most startling is that the worlds they rescue are of the surprisingly recent past. Which means that even in this age of hyperdocumentation and rapid technological advancement, evanescence is always a threat.Roger Miret with Todd Huber, ‘Agnostic Front — With Time: The Roger Miret Archives’Roger Miret and Todd Huber; via American Made KustomThe early years of Agnostic Front, the scene-shaping New York hardcore band, were chaos incarnate: a Lower East Side life of ramshackle apartments, rumbles on the street and birthing an explosive, aggravated, pugnacious new sound. Somehow, amid all this, the frontman Roger Miret — who was picked to join the band thanks to his ferocious behavior in the pit — managed to hold on to everything. “Agnostic Front — With Time: The Roger Miret Archives” is part photo essay, and part documentation of ephemera primarily from the band’s tumultuous breakout period from 1982-86.There are oodles of fliers from bills shared with Reagan Youth, Murphy’s Law, Suicidal Tendencies, Youth of Today and more. Some were scrawled by hand and some pasted pastiche-style; some featured illustrated skinheads in suspenders, tight pants and stomper boots; and some memorably gory ones were mailed in from an Oxnard, Calif., illustrator named Chuy.Miret’s collection also includes margarine-yellow T-shirts, test presses of the band’s earliest recordings and show announcements from the Village Voice listings pages. And brief personal recollections from Miret and his bandmates capture the mayhem of the time: getting shows shut down by the police, then slapping stickers on their cars; and assembling copies of the debut Agnostic Front EP by hand, cutting covers from a large roll one by one and gluing them to order after shows.‘Liquid Sky’via Emperor Go!We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Hackers Stole $635,000 in Taylor Swift Ticket Scheme, Queens D.A. Says

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      Two people stand accused of taking hundreds of tickets from StubHub to redirect them to others who resold them, prosecutors said.Two people accused of stealing and reselling more than 900 tickets to the Taylor Swift Eras Tour and other marquee events are facing criminal charges for their role in the scheme, New York prosecutors said.Several people were involved in hacking into the computer system of the online ticket-sales platform StubHub starting in the summer of 2022, the Queens district attorney, Melinda Katz, said in a news release on Monday. They then resold the tickets on the same platform for a profit, which added up to $635,000.Tyrone Rose, 20, of Kingston, Jamaica, and Shamara P. Simmons, 31, of the New York City neighborhood of Jamaica, Queens, were arrested and arraigned on Feb. 27 in Criminal Court in Queens. The lawyers listed for them in court documents did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Mr. Rose and Ms. Simmons were both charged with second-degree grand larceny, first-degree computer tampering, fourth-degree conspiracy and fourth-degree computer tampering.Mr. Rose worked for an outsourcing company in Kingston, Sutherland Global Services, which was contracted by StubHub, according to the criminal complaint.Mr. Rose and a co-worker, who has not been arrested or publicly identified, used their access to part of StubHub’s ticketing system to find a way into a secure part of the network that they were not authorized to use, where information about ticket orders was stored.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Chris Jasper, Who Helped Revitalize the Isley Brothers, Dies at 73

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      A classically trained pianist turned songwriter, he was a cornerstone of the soul group’s sound during its fertile second act in the 1970s.Chris Jasper, a Juilliard-trained keyboardist, singer and songwriter who brought an expansive musical vocabulary to the long-running R&B group the Isley Brothers, helping push them into a new hit-making era in the 1970s and ’80s with singles like “That Lady” and “Fight the Power,” died on Feb. 23. He was 73.His death was announced in a statement on his Facebook account, which noted that he had been diagnosed with cancer in December. The statement did not say where he died.Mr. Jasper, who was also a producer, started his decade-long run as an official member of the Isley Brothers in 1973. He added musical complexity to the long-running R&B group as it took on a richer, funkier style for a new decade.Looking back on the Isley Brothers’ sound in a 2020 interview with Rockin’ Hot Radio, a Delaware-based station, he said, “It’s R&B, of course,” but added that he borrowed “voicings that were used in classical music, and in particular the Romantic period, with composers like Debussy, even 20th-century composers like Gershwin.”Mr. Jasper, far left, with other members of the Isley Brothers in a mid-1970s publicity photo. Seated are Ronald, left, and Rudolph Isley; standing are, from left, Marvin, O’Kelly and Ernie Isley. T-Neck RecordsDuring his tenure, the group lodged more than a dozen singles on the Billboard Hot 100 and more than a dozen albums on the Billboard 200 — six of them in the Top 10, including “The Heat Is On,” which reached No. 1 in 1975.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Hamilton Leithauser, an Indie-Rock Hero in a Very Fancy Room

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      Even by Manhattan real estate standards, Café Carlyle is an intimate venue. The storied Upper East Side cabaret is just 988 square feet and seats 90 patrons, which means a performer can hear an audience member’s cutlery, not to mention their whispers.When Hamilton Leithauser first played there in 2018, that cozy ambience posed an unexpected challenge: He had to be not just a performer, but also an entertainer. That meant talking to the audience, something he hadn’t been inclined to do when onstage as the frontman of the indie-rock doyens the Walkmen, who relied on reverberating guitars and clever wordplay to catapult to the forefront of the early 2000s New York music scene.“People are right in front of you, and you want to talk to them between songs,” he said in a recent video interview. “I really wanted to let people in on what I was actually singing about, because I spend so much time on my words.” He’s been a fixture ever since.Leithauser returns to the Carlyle this month for the seventh go-round of what’s become an annual residency (he missed a year during the Covid-19 pandemic), playing a slate of 15 shows from March 6-29. This time, he has a new album, “This Side of the Island,” to trot out too. Compared to his last few solo releases, “This Side of the Island” sounds a bit more frenetic and urgent, which he is aware will bring an interesting dimension to the snug confines of the Carlyle, which was bought by Rosewood Hotels & Resorts in 2001 for $130 million and regularly hosts artists like Isaac Mizrahi and John Pizzarelli.“That room doesn’t see that much of that kind of music,” he said of his new songs. “I’ve got to do my own thing. I’m not ready to grow up fully, you know?”For the record, Leithauser, 46, is married to Anna Stumpf, an audio executive with whom he occasionally performs, and is the father to two daughters. Still, the sentiment stands: Leithauser has built a successful career largely by following his own instincts.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande Perform ‘Defying Gravity’ at Oscars

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      The stars of “Wicked” Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo opened the Oscars with a spirited tribute to the cinematic versions of Oz, culminating in a rendition in “Defying Gravity” from their nominated film.After a montage of classic onscreen Los Angeles moments — a nod to the recent fires — Grande emerged, singing “Over the Rainbow” from “The Wizard of Oz” in a sparkling red dress, evoking Dorothy’s ruby slippers. Erivo then took the stage, belting “Home” from “The Wiz.”Grande then returned for “Defying Gravity,” before Erivo brought everything home with her emphatic war cry. The crowd roared and gave them a standing ovation. The camera caught their co-star Michelle Yeoh in tears.While Grande and Erivo have been essentially joined at the hip during the promotional tour for the film and, of course, harmonize onscreen, they have rarely performed live together. They sang a duet at the 2024 Met Gala, singing “When You Believe,” an Oscar winner for the 1998 film “The Prince of Egypt.” That ballad, famously recorded by Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston, was written by the “Wicked” composer Stephen Schwartz.“Wicked” — a prequel to “The Wizard of Oz” that focuses on the character of the Wicked Witch of the West, otherwise known as Elphaba — has 10 Oscar nominations, including one apiece for Erivo and Grande, nominated in the leading and supporting actress categories, respectively.While the movie is not a best picture front-runner, it is the highest-grossing nominee, coming in fifth at the 2024 worldwide box office, just ahead of fellow nominee “Dune: Part Two.” Including a performance from “Wicked” in the ceremony is likely a draw for audiences who might not have seen, say, “The Brutalist,” which has been relatively difficult to watch as it slowly expanded its theatrical release.“Wicked,” directed by Jon M. Chu, became a phenomenon, in part because of the wave of merchandise it spawned as well as the viral moments it generated. Take, for instance, the interview in which a reporter told Erivo and Grande that people were “holding space” for the lyrics of “Defying Gravity.”Grande and Erivo’s appearance on the telecast is also a reminder that they may be back next year. “Wicked” only covers the first act of the Broadway musical on which it is based. The sequel, “Wicked: For Good,” is due out in November. More

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      David Johansen, Who Fronted the New York Dolls and More, Dies at 75

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      David Johansen, the singer and songwriter who was at the vanguard of glam rock and punk as the frontman of the New York Dolls, died yesterday at his home on Staten Island. He was 75.His death was confirmed by his stepdaughter, Leah Hennessey.Mr. Johansen revealed last month that he was suffering from Stage 4 cancer, a brain tumor and a broken back. He announced a fund-raising campaign through the Sweet Relief Musicians Fund to assist with his medical bills, saying, “I’ve never been one to ask for help, but this is an emergency.”Mr. Johansen was prolific in multiple genres, from blues to calypso, and achieved his greatest commercial success in the late 1980s and early ’90s with his pompadoured lounge-lizard alter ego, Buster Poindexter. But his 1970s heyday with the New York Dolls, a band of lipstick-smeared men in love with trashy riffs and tough women, had the most cultural impact, inspiring numerous punk, heavy metal and alternative musicians.One of those musicians was the singer-songwriter Morrissey of the Smiths, who first witnessed the band as a 13-year-old living in Manchester, England. It was 1973, and the BBC was broadcasting a Dolls show. As the young Morrissey watched the Dolls flail through “Jet Boy,” he had what he called his “first real emotional experience,” according to Nina Antonia’s 1998 book, “The New York Dolls: Too Much Too Soon.” Morrissey soon became the president of the band’s British fan club.The New York Dolls were notorious for transgressive behavior; they were especially notorious for cross-dressing. “Before going onstage, the Dolls pass around a Max Factor lipstick the way some bands pass around a joint,” Ed McCormack wrote in Rolling Stone in 1972.“We used to wear some really outrageous clothes,” Mr. Johansen said in the prologue to the 1987 music video for Buster Poindexter’s hit song “Hot Hot Hot.” “These heavy mental bands in L.A. don’t have the market cornered on wearing their mothers’ clothes.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      David Johansen: 15 Essential Songs

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      He was the frontman of the New York Dolls, an adventurous solo performer and the lounge act Buster Poindexter. Listen to highlights from his eclectic catalog.It’s a paradox that Staten Island, New York City’s most conservative borough, produced David Johansen, one of its most outrageous frontmen. Johansen led the New York Dolls, five bright-eyed boys who dressed flamboyantly and dreamed of sounding like the Shirelles crossed with a midtown traffic jam. He died on Friday, at age 75.The Dolls’ self-titled first album, released in 1973, peaked at No. 116 on the Billboard album chart. Dismal, but they never got any higher. The title of their second album, “Too Much Too Soon,” told the story: The Dolls’ ecstatic form of rock ’n’ roll is credited as a chief influence on punk rock, but at the time, they were dismissed as talentless charlatans in drag. Mick Taylor of the Rolling Stones supposedly called them “the worst high school band I ever saw,” and even if their A&R man Paul Nelson made up this quote, it summarizes a widely held opinion.Overwhelmed by rejection, the Dolls disbanded, and Johansen started a solo career that was distinguished by his bonhomie and panache. He took stylistic diversions that included disco, Latin music, folk and vaudeville, and in the late ’80s, he began acting in movies, including “Scrooged” and “Car 54, Where Are You?” He also performed as Buster Poindexter, a lounge singer whose taste in oldies was more cruise ship than Café Carlyle. Regardless of style or medium, his work retained a sense of humor, a love of individualism and a distaste for conformism.Johansen seemed to know every good song ever written, a breadth he displayed on Mansion of Fun, the weekly SiriusXM satellite radio show he began hosting in 2004. He didn’t distinguish between low and high art, or between kitsch and classics. In May 2019, he tweeted a reminder to tune in to Mansion of Fun, and added, “a passion for music is in itself an avowal. We know more about a stranger who yields himself up to it than about someone who is deaf to music and whom we see every day.”He yielded himself up to a passion for music as much as anyone who’s ever lived. Here are 15 of his best songs.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Bruno Mars Is Pop’s Most Reliable Male Star. Who Is He, Really?

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      A schmaltzy ballad. A bubble-gum pop song. A raunchy rap anthem. All three Hot 100 hits feature Mars, a blockbuster singer and songwriter who is largely a cipher.It’s a free-for-all on the Hot 100 chart right now. “Die With a Smile,” a slick, sappy Lady Gaga ballad destined for oldies radio rotation in about 20 years, has been hovering around No. 1 since summer. “Apt.,” a peppy new wave-inspired cut by Blackpink’s Rosé that speaks the rhythmic, hyperactive language of TikTok, is also in the Top 10. And a little further down, there’s Sexyy Red’s “Fat, Juicy and Wet,” the kind of raunchy, would-be strip club anthem that seems to float into the mainstream every few years. Nothing really links these songs — except for the fact that Bruno Mars appears on all three.Mars checks many of the boxes of an A-list pop star. But unlike those who usually occupy the top slot of Spotify’s most-streamed artist ranking — which the 39-year-old musician has for the bulk of 2025 — it’s not always easy to discern his specific viewpoint, or even a favored niche. Pop has long rewarded shape-shifters like Madonna, whose careers are marked by bold artistic reconfigurations, but Mars is a different beast: a performer with such a malleable identity at one moment that his name stands for little except its association with hits.Depending on your vintage, you might best remember Mars as a sappy adult contemporary crooner, thanks to his early No. 1s like “Grenade” and “Just the Way You Are.” On “Locked Out of Heaven,” certified diamond for 10 million sales, he was in full Sting drag, belting over shimmery new wave. Silk Sonic, his collaboration with Anderson .Paak that yielded a 2021 album, reveled in a kind of throwback sleaze, perhaps in tribute to his semi-adoptive hometown, Las Vegas, where he has held down a residency at the Park MGM for an astonishing near-decade.In one of his early guises, Mars was an adult contemporary-style crooner.Chad Batka for The New York TimesRather than try to distill his essence into one sound, Mars has remained stubbornly chameleonic — though rooted in old-fashioned music-making, the kind that employs acoustic instruments and appeals to Grammy voters (he has 33 nominations and 16 wins). “Die With a Smile” hearkens back to his days as a Jason Mraz-esque wedding song maestro; despite its title, the song is pure soft-rock schmaltz, finding both singers indulging their worst impulses toward lounge act cosplay. “Apt.” taps into the new wave pep of his 2012 “Unorthodox Jukebox” album, this time cribbing familiar elements of hits by the Go-Go’s, Blondie and Bananarama.Both songs came with their own distinct visual aesthetic — ’60s Americana, and a shambolic, pseudo-punk look — and were colossal hits on TikTok, radio and beyond. While “Apt.” was always intended for Rosé’s December 2024 debut album, “Rosie,” Gaga initially said that “Die With a Smile” was a one-off, and had nothing to do with her forthcoming album, “Mayhem.” Six months later, fans noticed the song had been tacked on at the end of the “Mayhem” track list; it’s hard to argue with some two billion extra streams.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More