Buzz Rant & Rave

The penultimate show of Conan O'Brien's Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television tour sold out Radio City Music Hall last night with an interesting mix of comedy and music. The audience was a mix of real-life enthusiasm against the typical coldness of a New York crowd. Both adoring and jaded, the crowd could be simultaneously under and over-enthusiastic in that way that only New York City crowds tend to be.

The understated comedy highlight of the show, for me at least, was Andy Richter strolling out to the dulcet tones of Eduard Anatolyevich Khil (aka Trolololo Guy) and his narration of an "advertisement" for New Yorks third-best Grey's Papaya ripoff.

The Vilcek Foundation hosted an exhibit of items from Lost, including props, costumes and photographs. The gallery played some of Giacchino's score. Here are some photos from the exhibit:

More photos follow after the time skip

With "Full Measures," Breaking Bad wrapped up its third season confident of its place as the best drama on television all year. With one of the most focused and intense episodes, season three concluded with a bang.

Check the temperature of your tea and enter spoiler country after the break...

The Heavy brought their US tour to the Bowery Ballroom for the first of two shows in New York City this week and the energy was consistently high. Supplementing their core quartet with loops and samples as well as a pair of backup singers and some Dap King horns, The Heavy tore through a fun, danceable set of songs, closing the set with "How You Like Me Now," which has become a fixture on the airwaves, largely as the soundtrack to a Kia commercial.

Besides a deep love of soul music and impeccable influences, The Heavy makes its mark largely on the charisma of frontman Kelvin Swaby, who controls the stage with presence. Even though the group had a lot of energy, I'm not sure that the band grooved less than they might have because of the drum loops and samples that anchored a number of the songs.

After a brisk two song encore (closing with the high energy "Oh No, Not You Again"), the band left the stage again with the lights low and the audience applauding for an encore. But after a couple of minutes anticipation the house lights and music came up, indicating that the show was in fact over.

Of all the shows that I've seen over the last decade or so at Bowery Ballroom, this was one of the only ones where the sound was less then impeccable. The room sounded boomier and less crisp than usual. Openers The Black Hollies played with a mix that emphasized the guitar and minimized the vocals and bass. This was all very out of character for Bowery, which is typically the best sounding room in the city.

The Heavy will be back at Bowery on Wednesday, although it is already sold out. More photos follow after the break.

Previously: Heavy Indicia.

The House That Dirt Built: Vinyl CD MP3

Soil & "Pimp" Sessions is as inscrutably Japanese as natto, but their style of death jazz is a unique combination of bop and badassery:

Lost's sixth season felt more aimless than previous ones. in large part, this was probably because the show is far better at raising questions than doing anything else. But the need to preserve a sense of mystery made the pacing of the whole season feel off. Parts of the plot felt completely stagnant, while other elements felt rushed and glossed over. And even though the season contained many good story elements, another pass might have made everything fit together better so that all of the pieces mattered.

And before we get into the details, I'll reiterate that Lost remains one of my favorite shows of all time. So here are a few thoughts about the overall structure of the sixth season and questions the series left unanswered, slapped together after the jump...