this week in music

CMJ 2013: DAY TWO

No, Jamaican Queens has nothing to do with changing trains on the LIRR. Instead, it’s a Detroit-based duo that has numerous CMJ gigs scheduled this week; you can catch Ryan Spencer and Adam Pressley and their “satanic doo wop” October 16 at Pianos at 6:00 and Webster Hall’s Marlin Room at 9:20, followed on October 17 at Muchmore’s at 3:00 and at Littlefield at 7:00. See below for our other top picks for CMJ Day Two.

KEXP Live Broadcast: Bear Ceuse, 10:00; Cub Sport, 12 noon; Weekend, 2:00; the Helio Sequence, 4:30

“The New Curators,” with Kenna, David Adams, and Matthew Perpetua, NYU Kimmel Center, room 802 Shorin, 12:30

Kanine Records and SESAC’s Trick or Treat Party: the History of Apple Pie, 2:00; the Valleys, 2:45; Joanna Gruesome, 3:30; Beach Day, 4:15; Eagulls, 5:45; Eternal Summers, 6:30, Pianos, 158 Ludlow St.

Julia Weldon, Alphabet Lounge, 104 Ave. C, 7:00

Glenn Tilbrook, with the Fabulous Miss Wendy and Awake, Stage 48, 605 West 48th St., 8:00

Tijuana Gift Shop: Amy Lynn & the Gun Show, 8:30; These Animals, 9:20; Mia Dyson, 10:10; Firehorse, 11:00; Wake Island, 11:50; Pool Cosby, 12:40, Bowery Electric, 327 Bowery

NME showcase: Theo Verney, 8:45; Porcelain Raft, 9:30; Courtney Barnett, 10:15; Eagulls, 11:00; Yuck, 12 midnight, Tammany Hall, 152 Orchard St.

Duck Down/Javotti showcase: Black Moon LIVE backed by Phony Ppl (Enta Da Stage 20-year anniversary set), Cory Mo, DJ Set by Meka of 2dopeboyz, Res of Idle Warship, Smif N Wessun Reggae Jam Session, T’Nah Apex (Pro Era), Talib Kweli, the Underachievers, Children of the Night, F. Stokes, Music Hall of Williamsburg, 9:00

Au Revoir Simone, Highline Ballroom, 431 West 16th St., 10:30

Megafauna, Left Field, 87 Ludlow St., 10:45

CMJ 2013: DAY ONE

The CMJ Music Marathon begins on October 15, kicking off five days of live music, panel discussions, talks, and other special events. Below are our suggestions for the first day, including the annual New Zealand showcase, Mark Lanegan (Screaming Trees, the Gutter Twins), and a gig by the recently reunited Bongos, whose “Numbers with Wings” appears above, from the Maxwell’s farewell concert.

“How to Survive as a Musician in 2013,” with Mike Fordham, Seth Kallen, Travis Morrison, Josh Roth, and Joe Vesayaporn, NYU Kimmel Center, room 905/907, 12:30

What Blog?!: Owel, 1:00; Traumahelikopter, 1:45; Conjjjecture, 2:30; the Box Tiger, 3:15; Beach Day, 4:00; Ghost Wave, 4:45; Milagres, 5:30; Pianos, 158 Ludlow St.

Niall Connolly, 2:00, Rockwood Music Hall, 196 Allen St.

The Outlet Collective: Ula Ruth, 4:30; Whale Belly, 5:10; Poory Remy, 5:50; Tam Lin, 6:30; Cold Blood Club, 7:10, Bowery Electric, 327 Bowery

NZ@CMJ: Tiny Ruins, 6:00; Black City Lights, 6:35; Eden Mulholland, 7:10; Streets of Laredo, 7:45; Ghost Wave, 8:20, (le) poisson rouge, 158 Bleecker St.

Oh My Rockness: Big Ups, 7:00; Greys, 8:00; Ovlov, 9:00; PUP, 10:00; Kirin J Callinan, 11:00; Hunters, 12 midnight, Cameo Gallery, 93 North Sixth St.

The Bongos, 8:00, the Living Room, 54 Ludlow St.

Mark Lanegan, 9:45, Gramercy Theater, 127 East 23rd St.

Banners CMJ Party: Bored Nothing, 9:00; Total Slacker, 9:15; Honduras, 9:45; Spires, 10:00; How Sad, 10:30, Pianos, 158 Ludlow St.

Radical Dads, 12 midnight, Muchmore, 2 Havermeyer St.

CBGB FESTIVAL IN TIMES SQUARE

James Murphy will be rocking Times Square with a DJ set as part of free CBGB outdoor festival

Times Square
Saturday, October 12, free, 10:00 am – 7:00 pm
www.cbgb.com

Back in the day, no one would ever have equated CBGB — the punk club that helped launch the careers of such seminal musicians as Patti Smith, Talking Heads, and Television — with Times Square, particularly the new, Disney-fied Crossroads of the World. But this is a different era, as the CBGB bathroom was even re-created for the recent Met Costume Institute exhibit “Punk: Chaos to Couture,” although it wasn’t quite as we remembered it. But on Saturday, October 12, the second annual CBGB Festival will take over Times Square, with five stages of live music along Broadway. Between 11:00 am and 2:00 pm, the Wallflowers and Lisa Loeb will be playing on the South Stage, while Divine Fits and up-and-coming bands will be playing on the North Stage. After 4:00, LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy (DJ set) and My Morning Jacket will take over the South Stage, with Grizzly Bear on the North Stage. The food court will include such favorites as DBGB, Luke’s Lobster, BGR the Burger Joint, Crif Dogs, House of ’Que, and Ho’brah Taco. Among the special activities are an Animal BMX ramp, a rock-climbing walls a Two Boots pizza-eating contest, an art commune creating a CBGB mural, a Smashing Pumpkin tent with professional pumpkin carvers, an enormous interactive touch screen, and a CBGB salon offering punk makeovers.

CBGB FESTIVAL: DAVID BROMBERG UNSUNG TREASURE

David Bromberg talks about his life and sings the blues in illuminating documentary

DAVID BROMBERG UNSUNG TREASURE (Beth Toni Kruvant, 2012)
IndieScreen
289 Kent Ave.
Saturday, October 12, 9:00
347-227-8030
www.cbgb.com
www.goodfootageproductions.com

The delightful documentary David Bromberg Unsung Treasure sings the well-deserved praises of a rather unusual character — a white, Jewish bluesman from ritzy Tarrytown, New York. For more than forty years, masterful guitarist and songwriter David Bromberg has been singing his entertaining brand of the blues and bluegrass, either solo, with his Big Band, or with the Angel Band. A consummate musician, engaging raconteur, and outstanding live performer, he trained with the Rev. Gary Davis before going on to play with such superstars as Bob Dylan, Jerry Garcia, George Harrison, Jerry Jeff Walker, and a litany of others. A big man with an ever-present beard, mustache, and glasses, Bromberg is an utterly charming figure, speaking honestly and openly about his life and career, often mentioning how deeply he was affected by the way he was raised and how that helped instill the blues in him. Beth Toni Kruvant (The Right to Be Wrong, Heart of Stone) traces his early years through wonderful archival footage and old photographs, then delves into his departure from playing music in the late 1980s and 1990s, when he and his wife, singer Nancy Josephson, moved to Wilmington, Delaware, where he established a well-respected violin-making business and worked tirelessly to help resuscitate the city. But in 2007, Bromberg began a comeback with the solo record Try Me One More Time, followed in 2011 by Use Me, featuring collaborations with a diverse group of musicians, including Vince Gill, Dr. John, and Keb’ Mo’, who appear in the film and talk about the affable, engaging Bromberg with great affection. Unsung Treasure is indeed about an American unsung treasure, a gregarious, giving, and humble man who plays the blues like nobody’s business. The film is screening October 12 at IndieScreen as part of the CBGB Festival, which includes such other music-related films as The Librarian and the Banjo, Autoluminescent, Babe’s & Ricky’s Inn (with live performances by Bobby Brown), and Brothers Hypnotic.

TWI-NY TALK: MARY ZADROGA / CBGB FESTIVAL

Hilly Kristal and Mary Zadroga take a break during the 1997 Warped Tour on Randall’s Island (photo by Tracy Almazan)

CBGB FESTIVAL PRESENTS FUTUREX
Hank’s Saloon
46 Third Ave. at Atlantic Ave.
Friday, October 11, free, 7:00
Festival continues through October 12
www.cbgb.com
www.exitfive.com/hankssaloon

When Hilly Kristal, owner and founder of CBGB — Country Bluegrass Blues and Other Music for Uplifting Gourmandizers — passed away in 2007 at the age of seventy-five, a year after closing the club following a highly publicized rent dispute, Wives bass player Mary Zadroga posted an online tribute, writing, “When I first met him and started working with him, I was so scared and intimidated. I loved his voice, though, his deep, low baritone voice. He took good care of us, touring, practicing in CB’s basement, and coming up with all kinds of crazy schemes and plans for us. . . . We lost touch over the past eight years, but I would stop by, now and then, with the kids. Last time I saw him, he called my five-year-old a little monster (which she was), and he had that lovely smile on his face when he said it.” Kristal managed the Wives, which recently reunited the original lineup, with Sue Horwitz singing, for its twentieth anniversary, from 1996 to 1999. Zadroga will be playing this year’s CBGB Festival with one of her other bands, the fast and furious Futurex (which stands for Future Ex Wives), with Susan Horowitz on guitar and vocals and Paul Andrew on drums. They’ll be at Hank’s Saloon in Brooklyn on Friday night, along with other bands and crew members that have CBGB connections, including Drugstore and Brunch of the Living Dead. Zadroga, who has also been in such groups as Jane Lee Hooker, Celebrated Cherry Sisters, and Browniehead, recently discussed the seminal punk-rock club with twi-ny.

twi-ny: How did you feel when you first heard that CBGB was closing?

Mary Zadroga: Even though CBs was well past its prime, I felt nostalgic and sad. The floodgates were open once CBs was gone, of EV clubs disappearing. Hilly was sick by then, and I was worried it would do him in.

twi-ny: When you were in the Wives during the late ’90s, Hilly was your manager. What was that experience like? Was the Hilly who ran CBGB different from the Hilly who managed the band?

Mary Zadroga: He wasn’t nearly as grouchy with us. He liked our music, and us three as people: drummer Tracy Almazan, singer Zu Leika (Horwitz had moved on), and me. He sounded kind of addled sometimes, but he really wasn’t. Just round about how he got things done.

twi-ny: Who are some of the groups you either saw or played with at CBGB?

Mary Zadroga: New Bomb Turks, Iron Prostate, Wig Hat, Lunachicks, Sex Pod, Patti Smith, Tub, Molotov Cocktail, Ff, 7 Seconds . . . I don’t know, I have a terrible memory. Lots of bands: Helldorado, the Lone Wolves, Sea Monkeys, Rats of Unusual Size, Maul Girls, Sisters Grimm.

Mary Zadroga and Futurex will play Hank’s Saloon as part of second annual CBGB Festival (photo by Mark Reinertson)

Mary Zadroga and Futurex will play Hank’s Saloon as part of second annual CBGB Festival (photo by Gene Sturges)

twi-ny: What is your favorite CBGB memory?

Mary Zadroga: My favorite memory was of Joan Jett standing right in front of me while we were playing. I remember she was bald? I may be way off on that one.

twi-ny: How about your least favorite?

Mary Zadroga: The years of calling [CBGB booker] Louise [Parnassa Staley] to get a show. It was nuts. “Call me back in five.” “Call me next Tuesday.” “Call me after four.” Then, finally, we’d get a show! I was like a pit bull; I very literally would call exactly when she said.

twi-ny: Futurex will be playing Hank’s Saloon on October 11 as part of the CBGB Festival, with other CBGB survivors. How did that come about?

Mary Zadroga: Jme Gorman [guitarist for Brunch of the Living Dead] and his wife, Ellen, have been booking nights there for years. They both worked at CBs. Jme was sound and knew Wives. These Hank’s nights are amazingly good, a local underbelly of the scene, older bands. It’s interesting to see it dressed up as a CBs Festival night.

Are there any other venues out there that come close to capturing the spirit of CBs, or is that just impossible?

Mary Zadroga: CBs by far had the best sound system, and you could record your set and get a decent tape out of it. There were so many places to play: Spiral, Brownies (loved Brownies!), Space at Chase, Acme, Continental, Nightingale (my favorite!), then later 269 and Otto’s. . . . I never played Lakeside or Banjo Jim’s but loved going there. Um, now I don’t know great places to play. Wives just had a reunion at Delancey and that was decent. Fontana’s . . . Arlene’s . . . Nothing compares to CBs. Well, you know which does? With layout, and sound, and overall great vibe? The Shrine up in Harlem. It isn’t punk or rock n roll; it is more blues, soul, reggae, but that club has it going on.

CBGB FESTIVAL: THE DEVIL AND DANIEL JOHNSTON

The unusual life and career of Daniel Johnston is examined in 2005 documentary

MUSIC DRIVEN: THE DEVIL AND DANIEL JOHNSTON (Jeff Feuerzeig, 2005)
Nitehawk Cinema
136 Metropolitan Ave. between Berry St. & Wythe Ave.
Saturday, October 12, 12:30, and Sunday, October 13, 1:00
Festival continues through October 13
347-227-8030
www.cbgb.com
www.nitehawkcinema.com

Jeff Feuerzeig’s The Devil and Daniel Johnston is a sad portrait of fame and folly. The mesmerizing documentary examines the life and career of Daniel Johnston, an outsider artist and musician who has a ravenous underground following. From the time he was a kid, Johnston was obsessed with recording his existence, making deeply personal audiocassettes and inventive Super-8 films, many of which Feuerzeig includes here, revealing Johnston’s curious, unique past. In the mid-1980s, Johnston recorded a pair of homemade tapes, Songs of Pain and More Songs of Pain, that detailed his unrequited love for an acquaintance of his named Laurie. His music quickly developed a cult audience, landing him on MTV and at the prestigious SXSW festival while gaining such fans as Kurt Cobain, Matt Groening, Sonic Youth, and the Butthole Surfers. All the while, he created comic-book-style paintings and drawings that began to be shown in galleries. But as Feuerzeig’s amazing mix of archival footage, home movies, and new interviews reveals, Johnston is also a manic depressive with severe mental problems who cannot survive on his own. At the time of the film’s release, Johnston was in his mid-forties, still living with his Christian fundamentalist parents, seemingly as childlike as ever, unable to understand the realities of his situation. While many people consider him a genius — at the beginning of the film, he is introduced at a live gig as the greatest songwriter in the world, and his art was part of the 2006 Whitney Biennial — it’s also easy to think that he’s being celebrated for all the wrong reasons and that this worship is doing him — and us — more harm than good. Favorite scene: Butthole Surfer Gibby Haynes talking about Johnston while sitting in a dentist’s chair getting his teeth drilled. The Devil and Daniel Johnston is screening October 12-13 at Nitehawk Cinema as part of the CBGB Festival (as well as the continuing Nitehawk series “Music Driven” and “Brunch Screenings”), which also includes such other music-related films as Searching for Sugarman, The Blank Generation, The Stone Roses: Made of Stone, and Twenty Feet from Stardom.

TICKET GIVEAWAY: DISASTER!

DISASTER! A 70s DISASTER MOVIE . . . MUSICAL!
St. Luke’s Theater
308 West 46th St.
October 14 – December 31 (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday), $39.50 – $79.50
www.disastermusical.com
www.stlukestheatre.com

Ah, those beautiful disaster flicks of the 1970s. With the country emerging from Vietnam and getting ready for Reaganism, Hollywood turned to star-studded epics loaded with death and destruction, on ground, sea, and air, with such classic fare as The Poseidon Adventure (Gene Hackman, Shelley Winters, Ernest Borgnine), Airport 1975 (Charlton Heston, Linda Blair, George Kennedy, Karen Black, Helen Reddy), The Towering Inferno (Steve McQeen, Paul Newman, William Holden, Faye Dunaway, Fred Astaire, O. J. Simpson), and Earthquake (Heston, Kennedy, Victoria Principal, Lorne Greene, Ava Gardner, Richard Roundtree, in Sensurround!), among a slew of other minor league efforts. With the country going down the tubes, the time is right to revisit those halcyon days, and Disaster! A 70s Disaster Movie…Musical! does just that, riffing on those popular movies along with period songs, including such unforgettable 1970s hits as Donna Summer’s “Hot Stuff,” Reddy’s “I Am Woman,” Gilbert O’Sullivan’s “Alone Again (Naturally),” Amii Stewart’s “Knock on Wood,” and ELO’s “Don’t Bring Me Down.” Written by Seth Rudetsky and Jack Plotnick, directed by Plotnick, and choreographed by Denis Jones, Disaster! originally ran at the Triad in early 2012 and is now back for an encore engagement at St. Luke’s Theatre, with a cool cast that features the ubiquitous Mary Testa, Tom Riis Farrell, Michele Ragusa, Jennifer Simard, and Rudetsky.

TICKET GIVEAWAY: Disaster! begins previews October 14 prior to a November 4 opening, and twi-ny has four pairs of tickets to give away for free. Just send your name, daytime phone number, and all-time-favorite disaster movie to contest@twi-ny.com by Friday, October 11, at 3:00 to be eligible. All entrants must be twenty-one years of age or older; four winners will be selected at random.