This Week's Music Picks
We hope your Fourth of July experience in Battery Park was better than ours. At least we saw a Turkey. (Zelda the Turkey to be exact.)
One of our favorite groups of right now is Cloud Cult from Minneapolis. Their latest album has been described as "melding folk, electronics, Arcade Fire emo, and quasi-hippie hoobajoo" [Pitchfork]. We haven't been able to stop listening since we got our copy. For that reason, we can't wait for their headlining show at Knitting Factory this Sunday with Low Flying Jets, Hero Pattern, Richard Sims and The Sleeplab Ghost, and Todd Merrell. Tickets are on sale, and check out MP3s and more info. on Cloud Cult.
What's happenin' Butterfly? One of our favorite groups from twelve years ago is Digable Planets. "Though they were not the first to synthesize jazz and hip-hop, Digable Planets epitomized the laid-back charm of jazz hipsters better than any group before or since." [VH1] News of their reunion and new album has us waxing nostalgic. Decide if they should of stayed in their cocoon this Thursday at Irving Plaza. (Show still not sold out.) In the meantime, dust off Reachin' (A New Refutation of Time and Space)
And now the day by day...
Tuesday - 5th
"Was lucky enough to catch a set by The Diggs last night at The Delancey. Pure emo bliss done to perfection. I mean, watch that intro for their website! Is there anything that could make you more want to be an angst ridden suburban teenager?" [Central Village] (@ Mercury Lounge)
Langhorne Slim and Kimya Dawson are both listed as tentative performers at Cake Shop tonight. We hope they show up, but Reverend Jen, Brer Brian and Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players don't really need their help to make it a benefit show worth seeing. The cause is Norman Siegal - a politician that doesn't like the cabaret laws. Look for more Trachtenburg shows at Lambs Theatre the rest of the week.
Cross Pollination is a free weekly series at Pianos. Every Tuesday night two singer-songwriter types get together for separate, and then combined, sets. This week features Andy Badac & Joe of the popular-ish Jersey emo duo called Feeling Left Out perform.
Cake Shop (Benefit for Norman Siegal) - Reverend Jen, Brer Brian, Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players, Kimya Dawson (tentative), Langhorne Slim (tentative)
Pianos - Zaire, Unisex Salon, The Harlem Shakes, Stylofone
Pianos - Cross Pollination with Andy Badac & Joe of Feeling Left Out
Knitting Factory (Old Office) - Erik Friedlander
Knitting Factory - Black Sheep, Medina Green, JUST - ICE, Dirty Nichols, Tom Chase, Kim Fontaine, + Special Guests
Rothko - Aberdeen City, Levy, Hail Social, Christmas (formerly Cause for Applause)
Maxwell's - The Soundtrack of Our Lives, The Ribeye Brothers
Ft. Greene Park - Omar (free)
APT - Ge-Ology record release party
Mercury Lounge - The Diggs
The Living Room - Emma Peel, Freedy Johnston, Teddy Goldstein
Wednesday - 6th
Rothko - Bonobo (DJ set), Blockhead
Bowery Ballroom - Rachid Taha, The Exit
Cake Shop - EEZEE TIGER, La Flange Du Mal, Child Abuse (members of El Guapo, ex-X27)
Northsix - The City on Film, Rescue, Lakota, Sam Sarah
Scenic - Autumn Thieves, If When, Dedelectric, Cetacea, So L'il
Brower Park - Jaguar Wright, DJ K., Lifewalks (free)
Lambs Theatre - Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players
BB Kings - UFO
Madison Square Park - Vienna Tang (free)
WORLD LEADER PRETEND
Thursday - 7th
"From the swampy, shambled, drunken, broken, blues- and jazzfest-ridden streets of New Orleans comes the most romantic, stately and, hell, best band to come out of the South since R.E.M. (from whose 1988 song this band takes its name)." [The Pitch] Go see World Leader Pretend (who we interviewed in May) play in between Dan Dayer and Von Bondies at Pier 54 for free.
Castle Clinton- Clem Snide (free)
Living Room - Gary Lucas, Randy Kaplan, Danya Kurtz, Nicole Atkins, Biirdie
Pier 54 (Hudson River Park) - Von Bondies, World Leader Pretend, Dan Dyer (free)
Knitting Factory (Tap Bar) - The Nein, The Close, Finian McKean, Michael Tamburo
Mercury Lounge - The Kin, Second Dan, Jealousy Curve, Fluttr Effect
Bowery Ballroom - Acquiesce, Flylow, Marwood, Vitamen
Magnetic Field - Detachment Kit, Mussels
Sin-e - The Classifieds, The Kelly Affair, The Kites
Cake Shop - Lake Trout
Irving Plaza - Digable Planets, J Live, Masauko
Maxwell's - Bettie Serveert, Begushkin
Northsix - Panthers, Immortal Lee County Killers, The Little Killers, Fireball
Wagner Park - John Hammond (free)
South Street Seaport - Graham Parker, Mike Gent (free)
Central Park Summerstage - Ben Munisteri Dance Projects, Marta Renzi & The Project Company. (free)
Lambs Theatre - Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players
Pete's Candy Store - Charlie Bissell of the Wrens solo
Rocks Off Cruise - Virginia Coalition
GABRIEL CONTINO
Friday - 8th
Hello Nurse "is an upbeat and catchy power pop rock band from New York City." (@ CBGB with The Rinse, Locksley, and Kid Casanova)
"Baltimore's indie heartthrob, Cass McCombs, is a crooner in the purest sense. A singer/songwriter with a slurring and swooping register, McCombs mixes dark humor, surrealism, and a hint of tenderness into his work to create songs that manage to be quirky while retaining focus and clarity." [Oh My Rockness] (@ South Street Seaport tonight & Northsix on Saturday)
"One of the most popular (and controversial) rappers in Brazilian hip-hop, Gabriel Contino, a.k.a. “Gabriel the Thinker,” first emerged in during the early ‘90s with songs that mixed pop production with witty and caustic observations of Rio’s wealthy youth subculture." (@ Summerstage)
Pianos - JR & Sons, Dutch Kills, Pile of Face, Anathallo, The Battlecats, Olivia Greer
South Street Seaport - The Double, Cass McCombs (free)
Arlene's Grocery - Zod, The Dead Popes, Measure My Sexy, Jody Shelton, Edward Gorch
CBGB - Hello Nurse, The Rinse, Locksley, Kid Casanova
Knitting Factory (Old Office) - The City on Film
Sin-e - The Ashford Breaks (ex-Amber Smith), Ism, NYC Smoke, The Savage Juliet
Tonic - Vietnam, Tomorrow's Friend, The Winter Pageant, Bear in Heaven
Mercury Lounge - The Constantines, Oxford Collapse, Get Him Eat Him
Bowery Ballroom - GBH, The God Awfuls
Northsix - Imaginary Johnny (ex-Jawbox)
Scenic - The Redcoats Are Coming, Antonius Block
Trash - An Albatross, Fresh Kills, Team Robespierre, Detonations, Dirty Novels, WLWL
Brooklyn Fireproof - Electric Turn to Me, Nozomi Phoenix
Prospect Park Bandshell - Prodigal Son with DJ IXL, DJ Excess, Illstyle and Peace Productions (free)
Bryant Park (Good Morning America) - Missy Elliot
Central Park Summerstage - Brazilian Art & Film Festival of NYC Gabriel O Pensador, Maria’s Place (Bendito O Fruto) from director Sergio Goldenberg. (free)
Webster Hall - Mindless Self Indulgence
Saturday - 9th
"Like a folkrock lounge explosion, The Undisputed Heavyweights are a sexy Tom Jones meets Bob Dylan experience not to be missed." - Jenyk.com. JAYMAY, Derek James and Paula Valstein are also on the bill at Rothko tonight.
Craig Wedren (of Shudder to Think) is the highlight of the bill tonight at Tonic which features his Baby-bandmate Amy Miles doing her own solo thing, and the pretty-popular emoish singing-songwriting Kevin Devine.
"Under the direction of its late front man Chico Science, Nação Zumbi was one of the first bands to pioneer the mangue beat in the early ‘90s. Basically an embrace of all things contemporary, mangue beat bands incorporate hip-hop, funk, British acid rock, free jazz and much more into more traditional forms of Brazilian music." (@ Summerstage)
"Do Make Say Think hail from the same city in which I live (Toronto, Ontario), but it took me until last year's magnificent & Yet & Yet to finally hear their beautiful mixture of ambient, experimental post-rock and free-jazz." [Coke Machine Glow](@ Bowery Ballroom)
Rothko - The Undisputed Heavyweights, Jaymay, Paula Valstein, Derek James (flyer) (free)
169 Bar - Lacona, EZ Machine, Spielerfrau, Weird Owl, Nightingale
Magnetic Field - Monumentals, The Anabolics, Scotty Brooks Campaign
Sin-e - Go To Town, Lolita Bras, Track Rabbit, Monument, Garrett Klahn
Southpaw - The Constantines, Oxford Collapse, Get Him Eat Him
Tonic - Kevin Devine, Amy Miles, Craig Wedren (ex-Shudder to Think)
Mercury Lounge - Rye Coalition, Bishop Allen, We Are Scientists, American Minor
Knitting Factory (Old Office) - Johnny Cage Is A Fake, Bleeding Kansas, The Post Office Girls, Locked in a Vacancy
Maxwell's - Cheaper Faster, Nic Armstrong & The Thieves, Eames Era, Audio Fiction
Northsix - Cass McCombs, Love as Laughter
Scenic - The Mugs, Todd Deatherage, Acquila Rose
Bowery Ballroom - Do Make Say Think, Blame Game, Mobius Band
Central Park Summerstage - Brazilian Art & Film Festival of NYC Nacao Zumbi, The Owner of History (A Dona da Historia), directed by Daniel Filho (free)
Jones Beach - Donna Summer
Webster Hall - Mindless Self Indulgence
Sunday - 10th
"Those who were ushered into junior high by Gorilla Biscuits, into college by Quicksand, and into adulthood by Rival Schools are all too familiar with what Walter Schreifels can do with an aggressively tuned guitar and a chest full of angst. The blister-hooks of those past efforts still make an appearance here and there in his latest band (also featuring a journeyman from Salt Lake City and a freelance underwear designer — viva la difference!), but Walking Concert showcases Schreifels expanding his horizons into areas more melodic and, dare I say it, quietly retrospective. He’s grown up, and growing up still sounds just right." [3hive] (@ Maxwell's)
Knitting Factory (tap bar) - Cloud Cult, Low Flying Jets, Hero Pattern, Richard Sims and The Sleeplab Ghost, Todd Merrell
Knitting Factory (Main Space) - Circa Survive, Emmanuel
Rothko - Excepter, The Peppermints, Grizzly Bear, S.T.R.E.E.T.S., Nightshades
Glasshouse Gallery - Sir Richard Bishop (of Sun City Girls), Akron/Family, Double Leopards
Maxwell's - Walking Concert, Space Mtn
Cake Shop - Emperor X, Face Powder, Rio de la Muerte, So Many Dynamos
Pianos - Eames Era, Hartley Goldstein
Central Park Summerstage - Blind Boys of Alabama, Citizen Cope, and The Royal Wylds. (free)
Mercury Lounge - Blowfly
Webster Hall - Mindless Self Indulgence
Randalls Island - Reggae Carifest with Matisyahu, Murasaki, Buju Banton, Luciano, Elephant Man, Bounty Killer, Supa Chile, Causion, Merciless, I-Wayne, Bascom X, Bunji Garlin, Assassin, Kafu Banton, El Feco and Marlon Asher
What did we miss?
