Mike Wolf

Rihanna may be fun for the bachelorette party, but what will grandma think when the DJ starts spinning it at the reception? Deciding between a DJ and a live band for a wedding reception can be both thrilling and nerve-wracking.

Dust off your hacky sacks: On today’s Soundcheck Smackdown, we encroach on the religion of Phish-heads everywhere and debate the eclectic, free-form rock of jam bands like Phish, String Cheese Incident, and the Allman Brothers Band. Is jam band music ingeniously creative or tedious self-indulgence?

On the third installment of our monthly series "Who's On Top and Who Should Be," music critic Mike Wolf joins us to crack open the Billboard charts to see which albums were selling as people were voting.

Soundcheck blog: John Schaefer on the reign of AC/DC

Tell us: ...

For some, Labor Day weekend marks the end of summer, but there's still great music to be enjoyed in the final days of the sunny-weather concert season. Music writer Mike Wolf joins us for an overview.

Mike Wolf's picks for end-of-summer music:

Xiu Xiu + Evangelista
Bowery Ballroom, tonight

Oneida ...

Keeping up with the city's ever-evolving club scene is a part-time job. Joining us to give us the latest overview of who's in, who's out -- and who's moved -- are Time Out New York music editor Mike Wolf, Le Poisson Rouge co-owner David Handler, and Galapagos director Robert Elmes.

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Houses, galleries, restaurants, and other unusual spaces are moonlighting as the city's farm system for cutting-edge music. We talk with Time Out New York music editor Mike Wolf and longtime area DJ Jim "Small Change" Dier about the enduring appeal of off-the-radar venues. But what if you live next door ...