this week in music

TWI-NY TALK: ROSCO BANDANA

Gulfport, Mississippi, septet is off to quite a beginning, winning Hard Rock Battle of the Bands and releasing debut album

Thursday, September 27, the Rock Shop, 294 Fourth Ave., 718-230-5740, $10, 8:00
Friday, September 28, Mercury Lounge, 217 East Houston St., 212-260-4700, $10-$12, 6:30
www.roscobandana.com

Americana folk rockers Rosco Bandana introduce themselves with a shot of brash, bold honky tonkin’ on “Time to Begin,” the title track of their just-released, same-named debut album. Singers Jason Sanford, Jennifer Flint, and Emily Sholes trade vocals while the rest of the band plays hot grooves behind them, coming together to declare over and over, “Yes, it’s time to begin.” Indeed, it’s quite a beginning for the seven-member Gulfport, Mississippi, group, whose first record also includes the country-blues “Woe Is Me,” the infectious story-song “Radio Band Singer,” the ballad “Long Way Down,” the jaunty “Tangled Up,” and the foot-stompin’ “Black ’Ol Water” (which features a curiously placed apostrophe). Formed by childhood friends Sanford and drummer Barry Pribyl Jr. along with Sanford’s former girlfriend Sholes, the band added Flint, Josh Smith, Jackson Weldon, and Patrick Mooney at wine-bar open mic sessions. Rosco Bandana will be at the Rock Shop in Brooklyn on September 27 with Sasha Pearl and Mail the Horse and at Mercury Lounge on September 28 with Arit and Food Will Win the War. Sanford recently discussed the group and its origins in our latest twi-ny talk.

twi-ny: You’re the first band signed to Hard Rock Records. How did that come about?

Rosco Bandana: We won the Hard Rock Rising Battle of the Bands, and they decided they wanted us to be the first band on the label. They saw something in us that they found promising.

twi-ny: Are you worried about being labeled as a corporate rock band?

Rosco Bandana: No, we will always stay true to our roots.

twi-ny: There are seven members of your group, including three singers. What are the songwriting and recording processes like?

Rosco Bandana: Jason writes the songs. The recording process was a learning experience in which we grew tremendously. Greg Collins is the first professional producer we have worked with.

twi-ny: On your Facebook page, you mention that one of your influences is “other people’s music.” What “other people’s music” have you been inspired by?

Rosco Bandana: Elliott Smith, Wilco, Fleet Foxes, Fleetwood Mac, Avett Brothers, Mumford and Sons, John Harper, Luther Dickinson.

twi-ny: You’re going to be in Brooklyn on September 27 and the Lower East Side on September 28. What kind of expectations do you have for these NYC shows?

Rosco Bandana: We expect a good response, since new York is notorious for launching newer, uprising bands.

twi-ny: Dare we ask where the name came from?

Rosco Bandana: We wanted something symbolic of America. That’s where we got Bandana. We got Rosco from a Midlake song [“Roscoe”].

EP OF THE DAY: SHY AROUND STRANGERS

In “Victorian Ghosts,” Shy Around Strangers lead singer Emily Powers throatily purrs, “Boys touch me down / Girls love to play with my hair / We are everywhere.” In actuality, they’re not quite everywhere, at least not yet; right now it’s extremely difficult to find out much about the New York-based trio — there are no videos on the internet depicting the band and a lone publicity photo, revealing only the three members’ eyes — but they’re on the verge of breaking out of their shell with the release of their excellent eponymously titled debut EP and hosting a live release party at the Grand Victory in Brooklyn on September 26 with Bikini Carwash and Primes. Shy Around Strangers consists of Powers, who is also part of Eva & Her Virgins and Elliott Has Powers and has just self-published her first book, Rich People Don’t Eat Unripe Bananas, a collection of personal writings and drawings; drummer Mike Dawson, who has written such graphic novels as Troop 142 and Freddie & Me: A Coming-of-Age (Bohemian) Rhapsody and runs Elohino Productions; and Peruvian-born multifaceted guitarist, composer, and producer Darko Saric. The three have decided to let their music do the talking for them, and that choice more than holds up throughout the EP’s five tracks, which combine elements of Goth rock with eighties postpunk alternative, along with homages to such forerunners as Blondie and Bob Dylan. “Pretend you’re someone real / Peel off your inhibitions,” Powers proclaims on “It’s Alright” shortly after space-age sounds take off behind her. “You’re gonna do it right / Stand up, hold it tight / Smile and wave and give them what they want.” On this introductory EP, Shy Around Strangers seem to know just how to give people what they want.

JASON AKIRA SOMMA: PHOSPHENE VARIATIONS

“Phosphene Variations” performance series will bring together live dancers and performance artists with their holographic versions

Location One
26 Greene St. between Grand & Canal Sts.
Exhibition runs Tuesday – Saturday through October 3, free; weekly Wednesday or Thursday performances, $10
212-334-3347
www.location1.org

Premiered as an experimental work-in-progress in December 2010 at the Watermill Center and later presented at the National Theatre of Paris, Brooklyn-based Virginia native Jason Akira Somma’s “Phosphene Variations” is now on view at Location One in SoHo through November 17. [Ed. note: Due to technical difficulties, the exhibition was forced to close on October 3.] The interactive exhibition features free-floating holograms of such dancers and performance artists as Robert Wilson, Laurie Anderson, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Carmen DeLavallade, Bill Shannon, Frances Wessells, Jirí Kylián, and Joan Jonas, who seemingly react when “touched.” In addition, there will be weekly live performances ($10, 7:00) Wednesdays in September and October and Thursdays in November in which several of Somma’s subjects will be on hand to improvise live with their holographic image, with real-time video feedback provided by Somma and live music by electro-acoustic cellist Christopher Lancaster. Curated by dance artist Luke Miller, the schedule includes Flexors on September 26, Miss Dirty Martini, Julie Atlas Muz, and Monstah Black on October 10, Brian Brooks on October 17, Jeanine Durning and Manelich Minniefee on October 24, and Susan Marshall & Company, Bill Shannon, and Vanessa Walters on November 8, concluding on November 15 with Phosphene Redux, a closing party highlighted by the return of various of the artists who previously performed. [Ed. note: The October 10 performance will be the last one, with the others canceled as a result of the unfortunate shutdown of the exhibition.]

VIDEO OF THE DAY: “PURPLE” BY CALIFORNIA WIVES

No, California Wives is not the latest reality show about a group of self-obsessed women living in West Coast luxury and airing all their dirty laundry in public. Instead, California Wives is a Chicago-based quartet that has just released its debut full-length, Art History (September 4, Vagrant), which is currently streaming for free on their website. However, they do have something to say about Valley vanity. “I know your deep past / I watch you walk with the wrong crowd / I watch you fake it to the end / And you’ve been waiting for so long / On the day you wore the dress,” lead vocalist and keyboardist Jayson Kramer sings on “Los Angeles,” continuing, “You wore a flower to impress / A little more, a little less / Socialites now they talk, talk.” Started in 2009 by child classical pianist and former premed student Kramer, California plays smooth-flowing, sweet-sounding indie pop with lilting guitars, layered harmonies, rising synths, and infectious hooks that reveal an ’80s sensibility on such tracks as “Blood Red Youth,” “Purple,” “Tokyo,” and “Marianne.” Kramer, guitarist Graham Masell, bassist Dan Zima, and drummer Joe O’Connor will be celebrating the release of Art History on September 22 in the Grand Ballroom at Webster Hall on a bill with Stars and Diamond Rings.

ATP: I’LL BE YOUR MIRROR

ALL TOMORROW’S PARTIES USA 2012
Pier 36
East River between Manhattan & Brooklyn Bridges
September 21-23, $60-$75 per day, three-day pass $199
www.atpfestival.com

At long last, after more than ten years, the ATP festival is finally coming to New York City. All Tomorrow’s Parties, the international music festival that has taken place in the UK, Australia, Asbury Park, and the Catskills, will be presenting I’ll Be Your Mirror this weekend at Pier 36 on the East River between the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges. Past ATP festivals have been curated by the likes of Sonic Youth, Pavement, Portishead, Mogwai, the Breeders, Matt Groening, Modest Mouse, the Flaming Lips, and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds; taking the reins at IBYM 2012 is Greg Dulli, leader of the recently reunited Afghan Whigs, who has invited friends and colleagues to participate from all over the musical map. Things get going on Friday with Frank Ocean, Philip Glass and Tyondai Braxton, Janeane Garofalo, Lightning Bolt, Lee Ranaldo’s “Hanging Guitar,” Hannibal Buress, DJ Edan, and Kurt Braunohler. Saturday’s schedule includes the Afghan Whigs, the Roots, José González, the Mark Lanegan Band, Dirty Three, the Antlers, JEFF the Brotherhood, the Dirtbombs, Scrawl, Emeralds, Vetiver, Afterhours, Charles Bradley and the Extraordinaires, Joseph Arthur, and DJ Questlove, while Sunday’s roster consists of Godspeed You! Black Emperor, the Make-Up, Hot Snakes, the Magic Band, Autolux, Thee Oh Sees, Lee Ranaldo, the Album Leaf, BRAIDS, Quintron and Miss Pussycat, Tall Firs, Blanck Mass, the Psychic Paramount, Endless Boogie, Demdike Stare, and DJ Jonathan Toubin. In addition, Criterion and Dulli have come up with a great selection of films that will be shown during the weekend, with Quadrophenia on Friday, The Night of the Hunter, Something Wild, The King of Marvin Gardens, and Dazed & Confused on Saturday, and Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me, Paul Fejos’s Lonesome, The Royal Tenenbaums, Eating Raoul, and Harold & Maude on Sunday. Dulli has also recommended a handful of books, some of which will be highlighted on the Lapham’s Quarterly Literary Stage: James Ellroy’s The Black Dahlia, Steve Toltz’s A Fraction of the Whole, Denis Johnson’s Nobody Move, Katherine Dunn’s Geek Love, and Joan Didion’s Play It as It Lays, with Evan Michelson and Mike Zohn of Oddities talking about Geek Love on Saturday and Julie Klausner of How Was Your Week discussing Play It as It Lays on Sunday. To get in the mood, you can check out Dulli’s festival mixtape here.

HAPPY TALK

The Rubin Museum examines the pursuit of happiness with a series of cool programs through December

Rubin Museum of Art
150 West 17th St. at Seventh Ave.
September 23 – December 21, $20 – $35 (Love Songs $85, Cabaret Cinema free with $7 bar purchase)
212-620-5000
www.rmanyc.org

Rubin Museum genius programmer Tim McHenry is at it again, coming up with yet another unique and fascinating series at one of the city’s most exciting institutions. “Just how happy are you?” the man behind the perennially thrilling Brainwave festival asks. “The alleviation of suffering is central to Buddhist belief; the result is a form of happiness. The pursuit of happiness is cited as an inalienable right in the Declaration of Independence; the result is what, exactly? Are we talking about the same condition?” We all want to be happy, but happiness is different for every one of us. On September 23, Happy Talk kicks off with a series of inspired pairings, as artists from a variety of disciplines sit down with scientists, philosophers, and other big-time thinkers to discuss what inner and outer, personal and public joy is all about. That first session will feature entertainment legend Elaine Stritch with Duke Institute for Brain Sciences member P. Murali Doraiswamy and will be followed by such promising duos as performance artist Laurie Anderson and Harvard psychiatry professor Daniel Gilbert, meditation expert Sharon Salzberg and visual artist Josh Melnick, Dexter star Michael C. Hall and Cambridge research psychologist Kevin Dutton, playwright Neil Labute and singer-songwriter Aimee Mann, and award-winning actress Julianne Moore and Berkeley philosophy and psychology professor Alison Gopnik, among others. As a sidebar, the Rubin’s Friday-night Cabaret Cinema turns its attention to the theme of “Happiness is…,” with Dan Kleinman introducing Woody Allen’s Annie Hall on September 21, Molly Neuman discussing Alfred Hitchcock’s Strangers on a Train on September 28, and Lili Taylor talking about Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life on October 5; the series continues through December 21 with such other films that deal with various levels of unhappiness as Five Easy Pieces, 8½, The 400 Blows, Brief Encounter, South Pacific, and Grapes of Wrath. In addition, the Rubin will premiere Victress Hitchcock’s documentary When the Iron Bird Flies, which examines Tibetan Buddhism’s path around the world, October 19-24, with most screenings including special speakers. And finally, on December 7, Rosanne Cash will present “Love Songs,” an evening of music with a trio of happy musical couples: Cash and John Leventhal, Steve Earle and Allison Moorer, and Larry Campbell and Teresa Williams. Wanna know one of the things that makes us happy? Our regular visits to the Rubin Museum, which never fails to ignite our minds and put huge smiles on our faces.

VENDY AWARDS

Governors Island
Saturday, September 15, $45-$145, 12:30 – 5:00
www.streetvendor.org/vendys
www.govisland.com

We’re a bit spoiled when it comes to food trucks, as we work in a part of town where every day is a food truck festival, with as many as ten mobile eateries in relatively close proximity to the office. But the most important food truck festival of the year takes places this Saturday, when the eighth annual Vendy Awards will be handed out on Governors Island. Following public nominations, the finalists have been announced, with celebrity judges Kate Krader, Eddie Huang, Das Racist, Kelly Choi, and Julissa Ferreras in addition to citizen judge Sara Lipton and judge-host James Cunningham weighing in on the decision. Going after the Vendy Cup, won in past years by King of Falafel, Country Boys/Martinez Taco, Calexico Carne Asada, NY Dosa, Sammy’s Halal, and Hallo Berlin, are the Cinnamon Snail, Piaztlan Authentic Mexican Food, Hamza and Madina Halal Food, Uncle Gussy’s, Xin Jiang Prosperity Kebabs, and Tortas Nezas. Attendees participate in the voting for the other awards, including the People’s Taste Award; up for best dessert, captured previously by Kelvin Natural Slush Co., Wafels & Dinges, and the Treats Truck, are Imperial Woodpecker Sno-Balls, Coolhaus, Monsieur Singh Lassi, La Bella Torte, Melt Bakery, and Andy’s Italian Ices & Espresso Bar. The Best of Market Vendors nominees, for best nontruck street-food vendor at fairs and markets, are Mayhem & Stout, Baby Got Back Ribs, Parantha Alley, Lumpia Shack, and Pestle & Mortar. The Rookie of the Year candidates, following in the footsteps of Souvlaki GR and Schnitzel & Things, are Phil’s Steaks, Okadaman, Chinese Mirch, Cambodian Cuisine Torsu, Morocho, and Fun Buns. Ticket holders will get to sample food from all the nominees (but expect long lines), with unlimited beer, wine, and soft drinks, live performances, and a raffle, with a portion of the proceeds going to the Street Vendor Project, which advocates for street vendors as part of the nonprofit Urban Justice Center. In that spirit, halal vendor Sammy Kassem has been selected as the Most Heroic Vendor for battling against harassment and threats in Bay Ridge.