this week in music

BOB DYLAN IN THE 80s

RECORD RELEASE SHOW
Music Hall of Williamsburg
66 North Sixth St. between Wythe & Kent Aves.
Monday, March 24, $18-$20, 9:00
80sdylan.com
www.musichallofwilliamsburg.com

Over the course of his fifty-plus-year career, Robert Allen Zimmerman has released more than thirty studio albums, many of which are among the best and most influential in the history of popular music. But when was the last time you put on Saved, Shot of Love, Infidels, Empire Burlesque, Knocked Out Loaded, Down in the Groove, or Under the Red Sky and listened to them all the way through? The 1980s were not very kind to Bob Dylan, who tried to stay relevant in the MTV age while still exploring his relationship with God and religion. But each of those LPs had at least one shining nugget, which are given the tribute treatment on Bob Dylan in the 80s: Volume One (ATO, March 25). Conceived by producers Jesse Lauter and Sean O’Brien, the album features covers of seventeen songs originally recorded by Dylan between 1980s Saved and 1990s Under the Red Sky, with 1989’s critical comeback, Oh Mercy, passed over. Built to Spill takes on “Jokerman,” Reggie Watts reconfigures “Brownsville Girl,” Craig Finn faithfully renders “Sweetheart Like You,” Elvis Perkins offers “Congratulations” (from Dylan’s stint with the Traveling Wilburys), and Carl Broemel promises “Death Is Not the End.” Dawn Landes and Bonnie “Prince” Billy team up for “Dark Eyes,” Marco Benevento shuns the lyrics to “Every Grain of Sand,” and Yellowbirds frolic through “Series of Dreams.” (You can currently stream the disc here; a portion of the proceeds from album sales will go to the international education charity Pencils of Promise). On Monday, March 24, many of the participants in the project will gather together at the Music Hall of Williamsburg for a record release party, featuring appearances by Perkins, Landes, Langhorne Slim, John McCauley and Ian O’Neil of Deer Tick, Spirit Family Reunion, Yellowbirds, Hannah Cohen, members of Tea Leaf Green, and others, playing Dylan’s 1980s oeuvre and more.

THE HITCHCOCK NINE: THE RING

Alfred Hitchcock boxing picture sounds the bell at Film Forum as part of massive festival celebrating the Master of Suspense

THE RING (Alfred Hitchcock, 1927)
Film Forum
209 West Houston St.
Sunday, March 23, 3:00, Monday, March 24, 7:30, and Sunday, May 4, 3:30
The Complete Hitchcock: February 21 – March 27
The Hitchcock 9: February 21 – May 4
212-727-8110
www.filmforum.org

When one thinks of Alfred Hitchcock, such psychological thrillers as North by Northwest, Psycho, Vertigo, Notorious, and Rear Window come to mind, not The Manxman, Easy Virtue, The Pleasure Garden, and The Farmer’s Wife. But it is these early, British silent films that are the focus of Film Forum’s “The Hitchcock 9,” which is part of the larger series “The Complete Hitchcock,” consisting of every other picture Sir Alfred made, including those abovementioned films. The dual festival features DCP restorations of nine romantic melodramas made by the Master of Suspense, each one with live musical accompaniment by pianist Steve Sterner. The series continues with 1927’s The Ring, a tantalizing tale of a love triangle set in the world of boxing, a favorite sport of Hitchcock’s. When Bob Corby (Ian Hunter) shows up at a county fair and takes a liking to Mabel (Lillian Hall-Davis), who sells tickets to see her fiance, “One-Round” Jack Sander (Carl Brisson), battle all comers for a cash prize, Corby decides to get in the ring with Sander to impress Mabel; little do they know that Corby is a professional. Soon the two men are also fighting outside the ring, to win the heart of their beloved. Comic relief is supplied by Gordon Harker as Jack’s trainer, who makes some very funny faces throughout. One can see Hitchcock’s visual style emerging in The Ring, as he employs little dialogue in favor of dramatic montages, ghostly superimpositions, and shadowy lighting. The intriguing work, produced at Elstree Studios and the first film to be released by Gainsborough Pictures, also deals with issues of class and financial success, themes that will become prevalent in much of Hitchcock’s oeuvre.

VIDEO OF THE DAY: “ALL YOUR BASE” BY DALE EARNHARDT JR. JR.

You never know quite what you’re gonna get from Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr., which is exactly how the band likes it. From the curious appellation to their wide-ranging mix of EPs and LPs and live shows, Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr.’s Daniel Zott and Joshua Epstein have continued to defy classification, refusing to be pigeonholed into genre categories. DEJJ’s output is sprinkled with indie and dance pop, electronica, hip-hop, and more with a distinctly DIY aesthetic and a spry sense of humor, as evidenced by the 2013 LP, The Speed of Things, which, as Zott and Epstein explain, “centers around the accelerating pace at which ideas, feelings, trends, and communications seem to be moving these days”; it also slyly references the band’s namesakes, NASCAR drivers Dale Earnhardt and his son, Dale Earnhardt Jr. In addition, DEJJ recently released a crazy mixtape, Produce, that is all over the map, in a good way, including samples of Paul Simon, the Beach Boys, Paul McCartney, and Randy Newman while getting help from Quelle Chris, Chuck Inglish, Slim of 112, Asher Roth, Tunde Olaniran, and others; you can check it out here. And as seen above, even the duo’s videos are unpredictable and unusual. Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. will be concluding its spring tour on March 26 with a show at Webster Hall with Chad Valley.

VIDEO OF THE DAY: “SOMETHING MAY CATCH FIRE” BY CHUCK RAGAN

In his foreword to the 2012 book The Road Most Traveled, consisting of stories of life on the road by dozens of musicians, singer-songwriter Chuck Ragan wrote, “Despite the joy I have for playing music, despite the camaraderie that I surround myself with on the road, and despite traversing this planet, I do look forward to the end of the trail and taking off these boots.” Fortunately, the former member of Hot Water Music and the man behind the Revival Tour is not hanging up that footwear just yet. The folk troubadour, who has released a series of solo records, is now set to debut his first album with his band the Camaraderie, Till Midnight (SideOneDummy, March 25). Produced, engineered, and mixed by Blind Melon guitarist Christopher Thorn, the album features such songs as “Non Typical,” “Vagabond,” “Something May Catch Fire,” and “Bedroll Lullaby,” recorded with Lucero’s Todd Beene on electric guitar and pedal steel, Social Distortion’s David Hidalgo Jr. on drums, Jon Gaunt on fiddle, and Joe Ginsberg on bass, aka the Camaraderie. The group will be at Irving Plaza on April 18 with the White Buffalo and Jonny Two Bags; one dollar from each ticket and package purchase goes to the Wildlands Network, whose mission “is to ensure a healthy future for nature and people in North America by scientifically and strategically connecting networks of people restoring and protecting networks of wildlands.”

VIDEO OF THE DAY: “FUNKY CÉILÍ” BY BLACK 47

For twenty-five years, the Celtic rock band Black 47, named after the devastating mid-nineteenth-century potato famine in Ireland, has been a fixture on the New York City music scene, particularly come St. Patrick’s Day. But the party band is calling it quits this year, on November 15, as evidenced by the title of what the group has announced is its final album, Last Call. Their ferocious touring schedule is coming to an end as well, as they will be playing their last St. Paddy’s Day concert this Monday, at B.B. King Blues Club. (They will also be performing that day on VH1’s Big Morning Buzz Live and Jimmy Fallon’s Tonight Show.) The new disc features thirteen songs, including “Salsa O’Keefe,” “US of A 2014,” “Queen of Coney Island,” and “Shanty Irish Baby.” On “St. Patrick’s Day,” cofounder and guitarist Larry Kirwan sings, “Come dance with me, darlin’ / Don’t give it away / Those boys from the Bronx / Just want more of the same / The streets are explodin’ / (They’ll use you, abuse you) / But I’ll see you okay / If you hold on to me on St. Patrick’s Day / I’ll love you forever on St. Patrick’s Day / If you hold on to me on St. Patrick’s Day.” Black 47, which currently consists of Geoffrey Blythe on saxophone, Joe Burcaw on bass, Thomas Hamlin on drums, Fred Parcells on trombone and pennywhistle, and Joseph Mulvanerty on Uilleann pipes and flute, had its biggest hit back in 1991 with “Funky Céilí (Bridie’s Song),” about which Kirwan notes, “I remember the first time we did ‘Funky Céilí.’ It was in the Irish Arts Center on W. 51st Street. We had given it a run through immediately after setting up the PA. It sounded pretty good to me and I was keen to see how the audience would respond. They never even noticed the song that would soon change our lives but kept on dancing. I suppose that, in itself, was good. None of us had any idea that within a few years so many baby girls would be given so many versions of the name — Ceili, Kaylee, K-Lee, K-leigh, Kayleigh, Kayleey, Quaylee, and others.” Fans are sure to notice the song when the band plays it for the last time at a St. Patrick’s Day celebration Monday at B.B. King’s.

TICKET GIVEAWAY: MY MOTHER HAS 4 NOSES

Jonatha Brooke gets personal in poignant one-woman show, MY MOTHER HAS 4 NOSES

MY MOTHER HAS 4 NOSES
The Duke on 42nd St.
229 West 42nd St. between Seventh & Eighth Aves.
Thursday – Sunday through May 4, $55 – $75
646-223-3010
www.4noses.org
www.dukeon42.org

Three and a half years ago, singer-songwriter Jonatha Brooke put her career on hold as she cared for her mother, a poet and clown who had contracted Alzheimer’s. She has turned that experience into an album and a poignant new one-woman show, My Mother Has 4 Noses, which her failing mother encouraged her to write. “Almost daily she would say, ‘Boolie [my nickname], that’s good!’” Brooke explains on the show’s website. “‘Are you getting this down? We should make a play out of it!!’” Brooke, who has released such records as 10 Cent Wings, Steady Pull, and Careful What You Wish For, adds, “My Mother Has 4 Noses is my story, but it’s everyone’s story.” Among the songs Brooke wrote for the show are “My Misery,” “Superhero,” “Scars,” “Time,” “How Far You’d Go for Love,” and “What Was I Thinking?” all of which you can sample here.

TICKET GIVEAWAY: Directed by Jeremy Cohen, My Mother Has 4 Noses is running at the Duke on 42nd St. through May 4, and twi-ny has four pairs of tickets to give away for free for performances through March 30. (Saturday matinees in March will be followed by a talk back with Brooke and various specialists on dementia and caregiving.) Just send your name, daytime phone number, and all-time-favorite play or movie about a mother and daughter to contest@twi-ny.com by Monday, March 17, at 12 noon to be eligible. All entrants must be twenty-one years of age or older; four winners will be selected at random.

VIDEO OF THE DAY: “HENDRA” BY BEN WATT

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British musician Ben Watt is starting the next phase of his varied career with his first solo record in thirty years, Hendra (Unmade Road, April 29). The cofounder of Everything But the Girl with then-partner, now-wife Tracey Thorn, Watt has also been a DJ, promoter, record label owner (Buzzin’ Fly, Strange Feeling), internet radio host, and author of Patient: The True Story of a Rare Illness, which detailed his battle with Churg-Strauss syndrome. The new album, recorded with guitarist Bernard Butler, features such tracks as “Forget,” “Spring,” “Golden Ratio,” “Matthew Arnold’s Field,” and “The Heart Is a Mirror.” On his website, Watt describes Hendra, which was made following the death of his sister, as “‘a folk-rock album in an electronic age.’ Ten songs. Unsentimental. Impressionistic. Songs about close family and strangers, resilience and hope. All set in vivid landscapes where the outside comes inside and clings to the stories.” Watt and Butler will be at Joe’s Pub on April 1 and Rough Trade on April 2, highlighting songs from the new record. In addition, Watt’s second memoir, Romany and Tom, which focuses on his mother and father as well as himself, will be released by Bloomsbury in the U.S. on June 10. “We only ever see the second half of our parents’ lives — the downhill part,” Watt writes in the book’s preface. We are now fortunate to see what is essentially the third (or fourth? fifth?) part of Watt’s career, which appears to be far from going downhill.