Long before we debated what real punk-rock was, what true hip-hop was, or what made indie-rock authentic, jazz heads grappled with what is and isn’t jazz music. Now, the debate is whether jazz is dying off or not.

America’s jazz audience is not only shrinking, it’s aging. Attendance at jazz performances has dropped 30% since 2002. The median age of concert patrons in 2008 was 46; in 1982 it was 29.

But jazz is not dead, yet. Among other groups, Skerik’s Syncopated Taint Septet is proof:

The full blog post, on the status of Jazz in 2009, is at INTELLIGENT LIFE.

At a recent show at London’s 100 Club, a crowd of about 60 people huddled right in front of the stage and danced almost in unison as Ponytail drove aggressively through each song. Molly Siegel, the lead singer, bounced her way through the set, more fitness instructor than punk star. (Before the show a friend wrote: “Don’t look that girl in the eyes or she’ll trap you in her insane stares and flailing.”)

The full interview with Ponytail’s lead singer at INTELLIGENT LIFE

The band Banjo or Freakout sounds like a slow-cooking soup at a constant simmer. Alessio Natalizia, the hand behind these Mac-generated songs, takes the melodic, echoey drone of Panda Bear, mixes in the urgent, Afro-pop rhythms synonymous with Vampire Weekend and Abe Vigoda, and seals it together with Sonic Youth-inspired tension and repetition that never subsides into something recognisable, like a chorus or a verse.

This recipe could lead to a total mess, but doesn’t. It is slow-building, confusing, and sometimes irritating; but rarely boring. At a Tuesday night performance at Madame Jo Jo’s in London’s Soho district, Banjo or Freakout didn’t simmer, it steamrolled.

Full blog post at INTELLIGENT LIFE.