Chicago quartet Archie Powell & the Exports play infectious garage pop rooted in delightful 1960s and 1970s melodies. On their sophomore full-length, Great Ideas in Action (Good Land, October 16, 2012), the follow-up to 2010’s Skip Work, they deliver eleven sparkling tracks bursting with life. “The lights are on but, babe, nobody’s home / And it looks like I’ll sink like a stone,” singer-guitarist Powell explains on “You Might Be Cruel (Or I Might Be Dumb),” but with songs like this, there should be no sinking for the band, who will be at the Rock Shop on October 17 playing the Let’s Get Messy! CMJ showcase with Laura Stevenson and the Cans, Twin Tigers, Pretty & Nice, Trapper Shoepp & the Shades, Roomrunner, and Fantasy Rainbow. If you miss this gig, you can catch them October 21 at the Lone Wolf and October 23 at Piano’s. In addition, you can check out Great Ideas in Action for free here.
twi-ny recommended events
CMJ MUSIC MARATHON 2012: DAY TWO
Touring behind their second full-length, TIGER TALK, Canadian indie rockers Yukon Blonde will be pull into Webster Hall on Wednesday night for CMJ
Multiple venues
October 16-20
www.cmj.com/marathon
The 2012 CMJ Music Marathon continues Wednesday, the second of five days of hundreds of bands from all kinds of genres playing venues all over the city, in addition to panel discussions and conferences on the state of the industry. This year there is no film-festival component, which is too bad, but there are plenty of concerts, and you don’t have to have a badge to get in; the majority of CMJ shows are less than ten bucks for the general public, and badge entry is often limited. There are not as many major acts as there have been in recent years, as the marathon is getting back to its purer, more indie roots, although the legendary Johnny Winter will be at B.B. King’s. Here are our recommendations for Wednesday, October 17.
Let’s Get Messy! Showcase: Fantasy Rainbow (7:30), Trapper Scheopp & the Shades (8:15), Laura Stevenson & the Can (9:00), Roomrunner (9:45), Pretty & Nice (10:30), Archie Powell & the Exports (11:15), Twin Tigers (12 midnight), the Rock Shop
The Demos, the Delancey, 7:45
Yukon Blonde, Webster Hall, 8:00
Hey Rosetta!, Webster Hall, 8:45
Johnny Winter, B.B. King’s, 9:00
The Virgins, Brooklyn Bowl, 10:00
SEE IT BIG! PREVIEW SCREENING: THE LONELIEST PLANET
Nica (Hani Furstenberg) and Alex (Gael García Bernal) experience a moment that changes everything in THE LONELIEST PLANET
THE LONELIEST PLANET (Julia Loktev, 2011)
Museum of the Moving Image
35th Ave. at 36th St., Astoria
Wednesday, October 17, $15, 7:00
718-777-6800
www.ifcfilms.com
www.movingimage.us
The first half of Julia Loktev’s second feature film, The Loneliest Planet, is a dazzling tour de force, as young lovers Alex (Gael García Bernal) and Nica (Hani Furstenberg) revel in all that life has to offer. Shortly before getting married, they have decided to go on a hiking trip through the Caucasus Mountains in Georgia, led by a guide named Dato (real-life mountaineer Bidzina Gudjabidze, in his first acting role). Alex and Nica are fresh and alive, their eyes filled with wonder, their faces in perpetual, infectious smiles as they make their way through spectacular landscapes gorgeously photographed by cinematographer Inti Briones. In several shots, the three hikers are barely visible walking in the distance as Briones focuses on breathtaking views of the lush green mountainside and vast Central Asian landscape (as well as, in close-up, Furstenburg’s dazzling red hair). What little dialogue there is doesn’t really matter; in fact, much of it is hard to hear, more like background noise, and what is spoken in foreign languages isn’t even translated. But when the travelers run into three locals, something happens that upends the dynamic and severely changes the relationship among Alex, Nica, and Dato, something that requires the kind of split-second decision that one can never take back, resulting in a return journey that is much darker, the smiles, laughter, and romance disappearing in a stark moment. Based on Tom Bissell’s short story “Expensive Trips Nowhere,” The Loneliest Planet recalls such seminal works as Mikhail Kalatozov’s The Letter Never Sent, Andrei Tarkovsky’s Stalker, John Boorman’s Deliverance, Akira Kurosawa’s Dersu Uzala, and Roberto Rosselini’s Voyage in Italy, in which location serves as a character of mystery and potential danger. Loktev, a visual artist who previously made the 1998 documentary Moment of Impact, which details her family’s very personal experiences after her father was hit by a car, and her 2006 narrative debut, Day Night Day Night, about a female Palestinian suicide bomber, has crafted a mesmerizing tale built around small subtleties and the tender, fragile nature of human relationships, in which one misstep can have shattering consequences. Mexican actor García Bernal and New York-born Israeli star Furstenberg make a terrifically believable couple, so vibrant in the first half, so tentative and subdued in the latter sections. The Loneliest Planet is having a special preview screening on October 17 as part of the Museum of the Moving Image’s “See It Big!” series, with Loktev and Furstenberg on hand to talk about the film, which opens October 26 at the IFC Center.
MARINA ABRAMOVIC IN CONVERSATION WITH MARCO ANELLI
Marco Anelli photographed every person who sat opposite Marina Abramović during her marathon staring sessions at MoMA (© Marco Anelli)
The Strand Book Store
Third Floor Rare Book Room
828 Broadway at 12th St.
Tuesday, October 16, 7:00 (must buy copy of book or $10 Strand gift card)
212-473-1452
www.strandbooks.com
www.marcoanelli.com
In the spring of 2010, Yugoslavian-born performance artist Marina Abramović sat in a chair in MoMA’s atrium for seventy-eight days, staring deeply into the eyes of individual visitors as part of the retrospective “The Artist Is Present.” It was a powerful sight to see, filled with energy and emotion. Earlier this year, Matthew Akers documented the immensely popular event in a film also titled The Artist Is Present, going behind the scenes of Abramović’s creative process. Now Italian photojournalist Marco Anelli, who specializes in photographing long-term projects, has published Portraits in the Presence of Marina Abramović (September 2012, Damiani, $40), which captures every single person who sat across from Abramović and includes the amount of time they did so. (People were allowed to sit for as long as they wanted, from several minutes to many hours.) The book also features pieces by Abramović and curators Klaus Biesenbach and Chrissie Iles. On Tuesday, October 16, Abramović and Anelli, who pulled off quite a feat of duration himself, will discuss the project in a special presentation at the Strand. You must purchase a copy of the book or a $10 Strand gift card in order to attend what should be a fascinating discussion.
CMJ MUSIC MARATHON 2012: DAY ONE
Dave Wakeling will be playing both acoustic and full-band sets on the opening day of CMJ (photo © Eugene Iglesias)
Multiple venues
October 16-20
www.cmj.com/marathon
The 2012 CMJ Music Marathon begins Tuesday, kicking off five days of hundreds of bands from all kinds of genres playing venues all over the city, in addition to panel discussions and conferences on the state of the industry. There are a few main ways to go about attending CMJ, especially for those who have either gotten a ShowPass ($149), a Student Badge ($325), or a Full Badge ($549). One is to scout out a specific location, say, the Lower East Side or Williamsburg, and then just wander from club to club, checking out groups along the way. Another is to pick one hot showcase and just hang out there all night long. But you don’t have to have a badge to get in; the majority of CMJ shows are less than ten bucks for the general public. There are not as many major acts as there have been in recent years, with the marathon getting back to its purer, more indie roots, although day one features both an acoustic and full-band set by Dave Wakeling and the English Beat, who still put on quite a show. Here are our recommendations for Tuesday, October 16.
Reybee / Mezzoforte / A-Sides Showcase: Dave Wakeling acoustic (5:00), Luther (6:00), Glocca Morra (7:00), No Way Josie (8:00), Wild Adriatic (9:00), Brick + Mortar (10:00), Teen Commandments (11:00), Basement Batman (12 midnight), Spike Hill
The English Beat, B.B. King’s, 9:00
Live Stand-Up featuring Robert Kelly, Joe Derosa, Colin Quinn, Rich Vos, Keith Robinson, Comedy Cellar at the Village Underground, 9:20
The Mountain Goats, Bowery Ballroom, 10:00
The Ettes, Santos Party House Basement, 11:00
Alex Winston, Santos Party House, 11:15
TICKET GIVEAWAY: THE ACCIDENTAL PERVERT
Andrew Goffman describes, in humorously graphic detail, how finding his father’s porn stash changed his life in THE ACCIDENTAL PERVERT
THE ACCIDENTAL PERVERT
13th Street Repertory Company
50 West 13th St. between Fifth & Sixth Aves.
Fridays & Saturdays through December 8, $30, 7:00
www.theaccidentalpervert.com
It’s a seminal moment in the life of many a young boy: the discovery of Dad’s porn stash. Such was the case for Andrew Goffman, who has turned his experience of finding his father’s XXX VHS tapes at the age of eleven into the hit one-man show The Accidental Pervert. Goffman, a stand-up comic who has appeared in such productions as Grandma Sylvia’s Funeral, has been performing the ninety-minute show since 2005, entertaining audiences all over the country. “You don’t think of your dad having sex,” he says. “Your dad is supposed to have . . . naps.” Meanwhile, his mother calls out, “Don’t touch yourself down there or your hand will stick to it!” But it is not played simply for dirty yuks. “It’s really what all of, I think, everybody can relate to in growing up and how to deal with sex and how to deal with maturity,” he explains in a promotional video. “It’s really about having good relationships.”
TICKET GIVEAWAY: Tickets are selling out faster than a teenage boy’s first sexual experience for The Accidental Pervert, which can seat only sixty-nine people (really) a night at the 13th Street Repertory, but twi-ny has four pairs to give away for free. Just send your name, daytime phone number, and all-time-favorite porn title to contest@twi-ny.com by Thursday, October 18, at 5:00 to be eligible. All entrants must be twenty-one years of age or older; four winners will be selected at random.
NYC FOOD FILM FESTIVAL
Fleisher’s Grass-Fed & Organic Meats will cater Thursday night’s “Farm to Film to Table: Meat Your Butcher” at NYC Food Film Festival
AMC Loews Village 7 (unless otherwise noted)
66 Third Ave. at 11th St.
October 17-21, $50-$135
www.thefoodfilmfestival.com
The sixth annual NYC Food Film Festival takes the concept of dinner and a movie to a whole new level with five days of food porn this week. The festival combines film screenings with tastings and gourmet experts, all centered around the acts of eating and drinking. On Wednesday night at the New York Distilling Company in Brooklyn, chef Chris Rendell will host a sold-out benefit for the Food Bank for NYC that includes the U.S. premiere of Olav Verhoeven’s Whisky: The Islay Edition along with whisky and Scottish food pairings and two shorts. On Thursday, “Farm to Film to Table: Meat Your Butcher” is another benefit for the Food Bank ($75-$95), consisting of Suzanne Wasserman’s Meat Hooked!, Lindsay Blatt and Paul Taggart’s Farm to Table, and Dan Fisher, Becky Liscum, and Gail Grasso’s Farmer Poet, accompanied by a tasting menu from Northern Spy Food Co., Fleisher’s, and Dirt Candy (and Alobar, Alewife, Jimmy’s No. 43, and One Mile House for VIPs). Friday night’s I ♥ Japan event ($75-$95), which benefits the Food Bank and the Japan Earthquake Relief Fund, includes such films as Anne Madden’s New York Cooks for Tohoku and Michael McAteer’s Ramen Dreams and tastings courtesy of Michael Romano, Tadashi Ono, François Payard, Craig Koketsu, and Bill Telepan. Saturday afternoon’s “Edible Adventures: Sweets, Meats & Fun Buns” is sold out, but there are still ticketing options for Saturday night’s Food Porn Party and Awards Ceremony hosted by Cat Greenleaf, with eleven films and delicacies from chef Brad Farmerie, Top Pot Doughnuts, and the Brooklyn Star. The festivities come to a tasty conclusion on Sunday night at IndieScreen with the Lowcountry Oyster Roast ($95-$135), highlighted by festival founder George Motz’s The Mud and the Blood and an all-you-can-eat Bulls Bay oyster roast as well as dishes by chef Robert Stehling.