There are only 9 dates left for the latest installation of Shakespeare in the Park. The Twelfth Night is surely not to be missed. Log-in at midnight for a spot on the virtual-line the day of your desired day ~ and check back in ~ in the afternoon to see if you are invited..! For Free!
The players were recently on Leonard Lopate ~ it should be quite a treat.
James Chance was the saxophone-playing-funky-rowboat dancing-frontman of the Contortions, one of the original punk jazz groups of the New York No Wave scene of the late 1970's.
Matt & Kim play River Rocks at Pier 54 on July 9th. These shows are FREE but tend to start a wee early for the regular day laborer. This show is scheduled to start at 6pm ~ but if you don't get there by around 4.30/5pm, you can forget it. I cruised by last year when Blonde Redhead was scheduled, by 5.30 I think the line ended somewhere near Dinosaur Bar B Que.
But Pier 54 plays host to many rad happenings; here's the events page.
The first time I heard American Analog Set I thought I'd discovered the UK's version of Wilco. Turns out they were fronted by a Texan. huh.
Andrew Kenny has now formed ~ and is on tour with ~ The Wooden Birds. Their debut album Magnolia was released in May on Arts & Crafts and they play tonight at The Bell House in Brooklyn.
As unfathomable as it seems, Kenny's somehow achieved an even mellower sound ~ mellowerestest even ~ than his days with AmAnSet. wow. Well done, cowboy.
And here's a sampling from that aforementioned british wilco band:
Here are The Drums. They've made The Annex their home through June and will be there tonite with a host of additional NY dates yet this summer. Their EP Summertime is due out August 4th.
These guys have a buzz going for their live performances steeped in 50's surf rock with blended gloomy 80's pop. It's easy to say that the small, intimate venues won't be holding them for long.
Bjork has just released her latest project, Voltaic, to the masses. And rather than hit us with the next wave of sonic sounds of the Nordic persuasion, Bjork + band have offered more of a retrospective of their cannon.
Prior to touring their last album Volta, released in 2007, the group recorded live to tape selections from Medulla, Homogenic, Post, Vespertine and Volta. These performances are what make up the Voltaic release.
The Jamaican, black metal band Major Lazer is a collaborative musical project from DJ/Producers Diplo and Switch.
As if the video leaves any questions, Major Lazer is a Jamaican commando who lost an arm in a secret zombie war and has since replaced it with a highly rad and girthy automatic weapon. He fights vampires and various monsters, parties hard and rides a rocket-powered skateboard circa 1984.
Back on planet earth, the duo released their first album Guns Don't Kill People... Lazers Do on June 16th, 2009. Being a pretty big deal, tons of people collaborated on this album recorded at Tuff Gong Studios in Jamaica.
Diplo and Switch previously worked together to produce artists Sanitgold and M.I.A. ~ being nominated for a Grammy with M.I.A's song Paper Planes from her 2007 album, Kala.
Major Lazer is currently on tour. I think they were in NYC a week or so ago. Bummer to have missed it.
Led by The Strokes drummer Fabrizio Moretti, Little Joy released their debut, eponymous album in November of last year. The latest Stroke to venture out on a side project, Moretti met Rodrigo Amarante ~ singer/guitarist of Brazilian indie-rock outfit Los Hermanos and recent Devendra Banhart collaborator ~ at a festival in Lisbon, Portugal in 2006.
A year later, the group added a third member, multi-instrumentalist Binki Shapiro (now Moretti's girlfriend), and moved into Los Angeles' Echo Park, near a cocktail lounge which is now the band's namesake. The album was recorded with the help of another Banhart collaborator and instrumental wizard, Noah Georgeson.
This Canadian seven piece is currently on tour. It's third album ... And the Ever Expanding Universe will be released on July 14th on the Toronto based label Arts & Crafts. Here's a free download from the upcoming album: Heavens to Purgatory.
And this video from their 2005 debut album, Underwater Cinematographer.
It should be great to see how they all fit on the stage at Union Hall Saturday night. Get there early to squeeze in the basement for the show. Should be a goodie.
Founded in 1983 by Coney Island USA, the not-for-profit arts organization that also produces the Coney island Circus Sideshow, the Mermaid Parade pays homage to Coney Island's forgotten Mardi Gras which lasted from 1903 to 1954. Having been to a couple of these parades, I highly recommend checking it out. Escape the throngs by leaving Surf Ave for the boardwalk, beach and piers. If the rain clouds up, swing over to the NY Aquarium or head to Neptune Ave. for this italian joint if you have an umbrella while waiting for a table. A former mobster dive, check for bullet holes in the facade, but know they only serve it by the pie inside... no slice for you.
BLK JKS (pronounced "Black Jacks") are a South African rock band formed in 2000. Their EP, Mystery, was remastered for a March 10, 2009 release in the US on Secretly Canadian.
Alex Brown Church is the founding member of this traveling band of lit-spun pop. Signing with Dangerbird Records in 2007, Sea Wolf recorded demos in Seattle with producer Phil Ek (Band of Horses, The Shins, Fleet Foxes) that led to the EP Get to the River Before it Runs too Low and the album Leaves in the River.
They are currently in Omaha, NE finalizing studio work on their next album with Bright Eyes member Mike Mogis as producer. It is due out in September.
Today was the launch of mystical clock-wheel-water barge at the Gowanus Canal. Local artist Philip Simmons teamed up with 2 artists from Denmark, Hartmut Stockter and Katja Bjorn Jokobsen, to create a collaborative floating sculpture and video installation.
The ride went something like this once the sun went down:
Yeah, totally missed these guys on Monday at the Mercury Lounge. What a shame. Going under the name Brakes Brakes Brakes here in the US, this UK band - Brakes - released Touchdown on FatCat records April 20th, 2009. Check it.
That song's okay, but here is the link to the song Crush On Youfrom the aforementioned album. I like it better. Brakes Brakes Brakes is made up of ex-members of British Sea Power and Electric Soft Parade.
Okay, I totally love this band. The Helio Sequence is a duo out of Portland, Oregon. This is from their fourth album Keep Your Eyes Ahead, released Jan. 2008 on SubPop. The keyboardist/drummer is Benjamin Weikel, formerly of Modest Mouse. You should listen to this...
This song sounds like a score to an awesome video game:
They have a free show in Seattle tomorrow nite if you are in the area. It's only free if you have a drink, so have one for me.
So as noted, Pete's playing free at 7pm tonite in Soho. Here's a song about a burrito. I think he's metaphorically connecting a bite of a burrito to the love he has to offer. How sweet.
Pete is also known for writing the score to Me, Myself and Irene. While not knowing it at the time, thinking back it was a soothing score of a flick. And with that narration by this guy, it worked well. And was funny as shit.
Check out the Northside Music Festival in BK this weekend. Looks like it's everywhere and everyone will be there. It started on Wednesday and wraps on Sunday. Now get out there.
