The key thing about the 4Knots Music Festival at the South Street Seaport, which was formerly known as the Siren Festival in Coney Island, is that you get to see — for free — a whole bunch of bands you’ve either never heard of or who are just beginning to catch some buzz. Over the years, the lineup has featured such groups as Black Lips, Sleater-Kinney, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Modest Mouse, Death Cab for Cutie, TV on the Radio, M.I.A., Superchunk, Guided by Voices, Matt and Kim, Oberhofer, Eleanor Friedberger, Titus Andronicus, and so many more, not all of whom were well known at the time. One of this year’s big surprises is likely to be Brooklyn’s Heliotropes, who blew people away recently at SXSW and CMJ and have now released the best album of the summer so far, their stunning debut LP, A Constant Sea (Manimal, June 18), which you can stream here. On the record, bassist Nya Abudu, drummer Cici Harrison, vocalist and tambourine player Amber Myers, and lead singer and guitarist Jessica Numsuwankijkul take listeners on an awesome sonic journey through psychedelic indie rock and punk, from the fuzz blast of the opening track, “Early in the Morning,” to the sweet harmonies of “Unadorned,” from the propulsive “Good and Evil” and “Ribbons” to “I Walk upon the Water,” which ends with a supersonic freakout. “One of these days I’m gonna jump right outta my skin,” Jess sings on “Quatto” — yes, it’s named for the creature in Total Recall — and Heliotropes is liable to have the crowd jumping out of its skin when they take the stage at 4Knots, which also includes Kurt Vile & the Violators, Marnie Stern, the Men, Parquet Courts, White Lung, Hunters, Reigning Sound, the Babies, Fat Tony, and Steve Gunn. And be on the lookout for Heliotropes’ killer cover of Roky Erickson & the Aliens’ “I Walked with a Zombie.”
this week in music
4KNOTS VIDEO OF THE DAY: “KV CRIMES” BY KURT VILE AND THE VIOLATORS
Lo-fi Philly CDR psychedelic indie rocker Kurt Vile and his band, the Violators, will be headlining this year’s 4Knots Music Festival at the South Street Seaport on June 29, highlighting songs from their latest record, Wakin on a Pretty Daze (Matador, April 2013). A former member of the War on Drugs, Vile has previously released such albums as 2008’s Constant Hitmaker, and 2009’s Childish Prodigy, building a loyal following and gaining a reputation for his wide range. Wakin on a Pretty Daze consists of eleven tracks totaling nearly seventy minutes, with one, “Goldtone,” cracking the ten-minute barrier. Vile and Violators Rob Laakso and Jesse Trbovich occasionally take off on hippie ramblings as Vile shares such thoughts as “I wanna live all the time / in my fantasy infinity / There I will never be abandoned / There I’ll have a handle against everything from ever happening to them.” 4Knots will take place on two stages from 1:00 to 8:00 and also includes performances by Marnie Stern, the Men, Parquet Courts, White Lung, Hunters, Reigning Sound, the Babies, Fat Tony, Heliotropes, and recent Violator Steve Gunn. Vile will also be at Rumsey Playfield on June 30 for the all-star SummerStage presentation of Big Star’s Third with Jody Stephens, Ken Stringfellow, Mike Mills, Sharon Van Etten, Marshall Crenshaw, Pete Yorn, Jonathan Donahue, Jane Scarpantoni, Reeve Carney, and a chamber orchestra, among other participants.
RIVER TO RIVER FESTIVAL: ANGELIQUE KIDJO
Angélique Kidjo will be performing a free show in Rockefeller Park on June 25
Rockefeller Park, Battery Park City
Tuesday, June 25, free, 7:00
www.rivertorivernyc.com
kidjo.com
Describing the music of prodigiously talented and world-acclaimed singer-songwriter and activist Angélique Kidjo involves such an astonishing list of styles, collaborators, and influences that it may be best to just go hear her at River to River and let your jaw drop. The Benin-born Kidjo attained renown in West Africa while still a teenager with a Miriam Makeba cover (“Les Trois Z”); she then moved to Paris in her early twenties and was soon signed to Chris Blackwell’s Island Records, where she recorded four highly successful albums with collaborators as varied as the Miami Sound Machine’s Joe Galdo, Branford Marsalis, Cassandra Wilson, and Carlos Santana. Fluent in four languages and numerous musical genres, Kidjo incorporates Brazilian, African American, African, Caribbean, and Latin American musical traditions in her work. She won a Grammy for Best Contemporary World Music Album for 2007’s Djin Djin, to which Ziggy Marley, Alicia Keys, Amadou and Mariam, and a host of additional artists contributed; was nominated for the same award for 2010’s Õÿö; and released a live album in February 2012, Spirit Rising, of her PBS special that included appearances by Josh Groban, Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig, Marsalis, and Dianne Reeves. A UNICEF goodwill ambassador for more than ten years who has spoken out about climate change, education for girls in developing nations, and basic human rights around the world, Kidjo, who lives in New York City, has sold out Carnegie Hall, but you can catch her for free on June 25 when she performs in Rockefeller Park at 7:00. The term “world music” can seem like a fuzzy catch-all for coffee-shop background buzz, but Kidjo truly is a world musician in a whole other sense of the word.
4KNOTS VIDEO OF THE DAY: “IMMORTALS” BY MARNIE STERN
“Give me a sign,” Marnie Stern sings on “Proof of Life” from her latest album, the awesomely titled The Chronicles of Marnia (Kill Rock Stars, March 2013), continuing, “I am something / I am someone.” The New York based guitarist with the uniquely high-pitched voice should find plenty of proof that she is indeed someone on Saturday, when she plays the free 4Knots Music Festival at the South Street Seaport along with Kurt Vile & the Violators, the Men, Parquet Courts, White Lung, Hunters, Reigning Sound, the Babies, Fat Tony, Heliotropes, and Steve Gunn. The new record, the follow-up to 2010’s eponymous disc and 2008’s This Is It and I Am It and You Are It and So Is That and He Is It and She Is It and It Is It and That Is That, includes such other tracks as “Year of the Glad,” “Hell Yes,” “Nothing Is Easy,” and “East Side Glory,” featuring hyperactive instrumentation highlighted by Stern’s virtuoso guitar work and philosophical, poetic lyrics. Expect lots of east side glory on Saturday when Stern gets revved up at Piers 16 & 17 for the fest, which takes place on two stages and runs from 1:00 to 8:00.
RIVER TO RIVER FESTIVAL: JAMES MADDOCK
James Maddock will be playing a pair of free hometown shows this week as part of River to River Festival (photo by Seth Neuffer)
Tuesday, June 25, Brookfield Place Plaza, 220 Vesey St., free, 5:30
Thursday, June 27, One New York Plaza, free, 12:30 pm
www.rivertorivernyc.com
www.jamesmaddock.net
British-born, New York City-based singer-songwriter James Maddock will be playing a pair of free shows this week as part of the River to River Festival, June 25 at Brookfield Place Plaza at 5:30 and June 27 at One New York Plaza at 12:30. The fifty-year-old Maddock, who made a name for himself with his band Wood and their 1999 album Songs from Stamford Hill, will be featuring songs from his upcoming record, Another Life (Jullian, July 23), which was completely funded through donations via PledgeMusic. The follow-up to 2010’s Sunrise on Avenue C and 2011’s Wake Up & Dream, the new disc is an intimate collection of acoustic-based rootsy Americana songs dealing with love and loss and facing the second half of one’s life. “My future’s uncertain / My back starts hurting / as soon as I get out of bed / I listen to the news station / Trouble in the whole nation / Airplane passes by / Gotta be a mile high / Reminds me that I’m not a bird,” Maddock sings on the title track. Accompanied by Larry Campbell on guitar, violin, and mandolin, Tony Scherr on bass, Oli Rockberger and Raymond Angry on keyboards, Bashir Johnson on percussion, and Kenny Wolleson on drums, Maddock’s raspy voice evokes the likes of Rod Stewart and Tom Waits, his melodies reminiscent of Paul Simon, Cat Stevens, and even a touch of Bob Marley. On “Better on My Own,” Maddock tries to convince himself that he can survive a breakup. “Better on my own / Better on my own / I tell myself as I’m walking home,” he sings. “Better on my own / better on my own / I don’t know how to stop or how to carry on.” Most of the songs are of a personal nature, but Maddock takes on the controversial topic of PTSD on “That’s Heavy,” which features an Irish flourish. And album closer “Making Memories” goes even further, liberally borrowing from the Waterboys classic “And a Bang on the Ear” as Maddock confidently declares that “a better world is possible.” In fact, Maddock is friends with Waterboys leader Mike Scott; the two cowrote “Beautiful Now” on Wake Up and Dream, and Scott and Waterboys violinist Steve Wickham joined Maddock onstage this past November to sing Scott’s “Fisherman’s Blues” at Rockwood Music Hall. Maddock will also be at Swing the Teapot in Floral Park on June 28 before heading off on a brief Italian stint and returning for the Great South Bay Festival on July 20 and a gig at the Cutting Room on August 1.
THE VIEW UPSTAIRS
Max Vernon’s new musical theater piece recounts story of 1973 LGBT tragedy in New Orleans
MAX VERNON: THE VIEW UPSTAIRS
The Living Room
154 Ludlow St. between Stanton & Rivington Sts.
Monday, June 24, 7:00
212-533-7237
www.livingroomny.com
www.maxvernon.com
On June 24, 1973, during Pride Weekend, popular New Orleans gay bar the UpStairs Lounge was set on fire, leaving thirty-two people dead. Although it was believed to have been arson and many claimed to know who did it, no charges were ever brought against the supposed suspect, a hustler who later killed himself. On the fortieth anniversary of the tragedy, New York-based multidisciplinary artist Max Vernon will tell the little-known story in a staged concert performance of his new musical theater piece, The View UpStairs. Taking place on June 24 at 7:00 at the Living Room, it features Tony nominee Michael McElroy, Nathan Lee Graham, Katie Thompson, Blake Daniel, Doreen Montalvo, and MJ Rodriguez, with narration by Rania Salem Manganaro; the show is directed by Eric Hoff (Hit the Wall), with musical director Rona Siddiqui on piano, Hiroyuki Matsuura on drums, and Mike Rosengarten on guitar. “Oh, ain’t it great how far we’ve come since 1973 / The future is great there you are but you own / If I could take you back with me your mind will be blown / Being fabulous all the time can get a little pricey / The future is great . . . trust me,” Vernon sings in “The Future Is Great!” The production also includes such songs as “Waltz,” “Sex on Legs,” and “When Your Body Breaks.” “It’s shocking to me that most people have never heard of the UpStairs Lounge fire, given its significance,” Vernon (Wired, State Debate) said in a statement. “Even as a queer studies major, the fire was never mentioned in any of my classes. Now, with the recent violence and hate crimes occurring around NYC, it feels more important than ever to tell this story and reclaim this event.”
MERMAID PARADE 2013
There almost wasn’t a Mermaid Parade this year, but the community responded and it’s all set for June 22 at 1:00
Coney Island
Saturday, June 22, free, 1:00
Parade starts at West 21st St. & Surf Ave.
Mermaid Riverboat Ball: Queen of Hearts, $75, 8:00 – 11:00 pm
www.coneyisland.com
Back in early May, there was a chance that one of Coney Island’s signature events would not take place. A dispatch from Coney Island USA founder Dick Zigun announced, “We do not know whether there will be a Mermaid Parade this year. Don’t panic — we have a plan. But first I want you to understand were we are and what we’re up against.” Zigun described the growing size of the parade, new city regulations and restrictions, and the devastation wrought by Hurricane Sandy, but New Yorkers responded via a “Save the Mermaid Parade” Kickstarter campaign and a Red Hook Winery benefit, so the thirtieth anniversary celebration is a go. Whether you’re marching in it or just playing spectator, there is nothing quite like the Mermaid Parade. An annual tradition since 1983, harkening back to the Coney Island Mardi Gras, which was held from 1903 to 1954, the parade begins with classic antique cars before giving itself over to scantily clad sea creatures and very strange floats, making their way from West Twenty-First St. & Surf Ave. at 1:00 and winding east to West Tenth St., turning south to the boardwalk, and heading to Steeplechase Plaza, after which King Neptune and Queen Mermaid will lead their minions into the sea. This year’s regal pair, following in the footsteps of such famed New Yorkers as David Byrne, Roz Chast, Harvey Keitel, Queen Latifah, David Johansen, and Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson, are comedian Judah Friedlander and author Carole Radziwill. The Mermaid Riverboat Ball after-party ($75) will take place on board the Queen of Hearts, featuring members of the Coney Island Sideshow, burlesque performers (Little Brooklyn, Kita St Cyr, Sincerely Yours, Wae Messed, Heather Whatever), DJs (Fresh Prince of Darkness, Lemar Soulflower, Frank Clemente & Stereomike), live music (the Moto-Wrays, Amour Obscur, Labretta Suede and the Motel 6), and other bizarre participants and activities hosted by Adam Realman, with a cash bar along with free Two Boots Pizza, Dub Pies, and nonalcoholic drinks.