“My bootstrap of austerity’s / a service sector BFA / in post-industrial malaise,” Pujol declares on “DIY2K,” the opening track of his debut full-length album, United States of Being (June 2012, Saddle Creek). On the record, Nashville-based Daniel Pujol sings and plays guitar, piano, and drums, receiving help from such friends as Stewart Copeland, Mitch Jones, Jack Lawrence, and Dillon Watson on a dozen tracks in which he tries to find his place in contemporary America. The more abstruse the lyrics, the more successful Pujol is, particularly on such songs as “DIY2K,” “Mission from God,” “Providence,” and “Reverse Vampire,” which incorporate elements of surf punk, 1960s melodies, Joe Walsh bombst, and Bob Mould fury. (You can stream the album for free here.) “My old man he used to say / I do a good thing like every day,” Pujol sings on “Keeper of Atlantis.” You can do a good thing on Thursday by checking out Pujol headlining the early show at Mercury Lounge on October 11 with Little Racer opening up or on Monday, October 15, when they’ll be at Death by Audio with Nude Beach and Strip Mall.
this week in music
FIRST SATURDAYS: MICKALENE THOMAS’S ORIGIN OF THE UNIVERSE
Mickalene Thomas, “A Little Taste Outside of Love,” acrylic, enamel and rhinestones on wood panel, 2007 (© Mickalene Thomas)
Brooklyn Museum
200 Eastern Parkway at Washington St.
Saturday, October 6, free, 5:00 – 11:00 (some events require free tickets distributed in advance at the Visitor Center)
212-864-5400
www.brooklynmuseum.org
The Brooklyn Museum will celebrate Brooklyn-based artist Mickalene Thomas in the October edition of its free First Saturdays program. Thomas, who explores the concept of female beauty and power in sparkling works that incorporate rhinestones, acrylic, and enamel into 1970s-style tableaux, recently received the Asher B. Durand Award from the museum, along with Martha Rosler and Amy Sillman, for their contribution to Brooklyn culture. The First Saturdays programming is built around Thomas’s “Origin of the Universe,” her first museum exhibition, which continues through January 20. Visitors are encouraged to come dressed in 1970s clothing as they check out musical poet Candice Anitra; a multidisciplinary performance by Latasha Diggs, Beatrice Anderson, and Jaime Philbert, followed by a Q&A; an artist talk with G. Lucas Crane, who will create a live sonic collage and place it in context with Thomas’s work; a curator talk by Eugenie Tsai about Thomas’s painting “A Little Taste Outside of Love”; an art workshop showing how to make a Thomas-like collage; an interactive performance and discussion with poet and conceptual artist Harmony Holiday; “Betty’s Story,” a musical tribute to Betty Mabry Davis (Miles Davis’s ex-wife and singer in her own right) by Nucomme and the Curators; and a fashion show, open to all, hosted by Raye 6, Marcus Simms, and Gizmovintage Honeys Beeline.
DEAN AND BRITTA — 13 MOST BEAUTIFUL: SONGS FOR ANDY WARHOL’S SCREEN TESTS
Dean & Britta will reprise their audiovisual Andy Warhol tribute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on October 6 (photo by twi-ny/mdr)
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium
1000 Fifth Ave. at 82nd St.
Saturday, October 6, $35, 7:00
www.metmuseum.org
www.deanandbritta.com
Two years ago, at the CMJ Festival, Dean & Britta announced that they would play “13 Most Beautiful: Songs for Andy Warhol’s Screen Tests” for the last time ever in New York City at the Skirball Center in October 2010. Well, it seems that the Met has gotten them to change their mind, as they will once again be performing their outstanding set piece on October 6 in the Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, in conjunction with the new exhibit “Regarding Warhol: Sixty Artists, Fifty Years.” In 2006, the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh commissioned Dean & Britta to compose scores for screen tests that the silver-haired artist shot at the Factory from 1964 to 1966; they searched through hundreds of the black-and-white films (each four minutes and sixteen seconds in length) until they decided on Lou Reed, Nico, Edie Sedgwick, Dennis Hopper, Paul America, Susan Bottomly, Ann Buchanan, Freddy Herko, Jane Holzer, Billy Name, Richard Rheem, Ingrid Superstar, and Mary Woronov. The result is a stunning collection of gorgeous instrumentals (“Silver Factory Theme,” “Incandescent Innocence”), covers (Bob Dylan’s “I’ll Keep It with Mine” and the Velvet Underground’s “I’m Not a Young Man Anymore”), “Knives from Bavaria” from the Dean & Britta record L’Avventura, and other trippy tracks, including the phenomenal “Teenage Lightning (and Lonely Highways),” that the duo, accompanied by Anthony Lamarca and Matt Sumrow, performs live while the screen tests are projected behind them. Dean, who was previously in Luna and Galaxie 500, introduces most of the songs/films with a little historical detail about the subject, adding both nostalgia and, unfortunately, tragedy to the proceedings, as most of the people being shown on the screen are no longer with us.
VIDEO OF THE DAY: “BLACK & WHITE MOUNTAINS” BY SNOWBLINK
“The sages of antiquity did not treat those who were already sick but those who were not sick,” explains the Huangdi Neijing, an ancient Chinese medical text also known as The Inner Classic of the Yellow Emperor. “When a disease has already broken out and is only then treated, would that not be just as late as to wait for thirst before digging a well, or to wait to go into battle before casting weapons?” With that in mind, even if you’re not sure you’re hungry for Inner Classics (September 2012, Arts & Crafts), Snowblink’s follow-up to 2010’s Long Live, you are sure to benefit from its many healing qualities. The nine songs on the album are highlighted by lead singer Daniela Gesundheit’s extraordinary voice, which ascends into the heavens, floating on clouds and flying through the ether, backed by Dan Goldman’s harmonies, guitars, and keyboards and such special guests as Barbara Gruska, Ryan Driver, Thom Gill, Misha Bower, and Caley Monahon-Ward. (Yes, her name is Gesundheit; insert your own sneeze joke here, because we won’t.) Originally from California and now based in Toronto, Snowblink takes listeners on an otherworldly journey on Inner Classics, which includes such tracks as “Pray for Surf,” “Best Loved Spot,” “Black & White Mountains,” and “Inner Mini-Mississippi.” Snowblink also has a thing for Michael Jackson; you can check out their unusual covers of “Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough,” “Human Nature,” “P.Y.T.,” and “Thriller” here. And continuing Gesundheit’s unique unpredictability, on the band’s website she offers anyone the chance to have her call them or a friend and sing a song just for them through her Book a Treatment program, which she calls “a complimentary new-age singing telegram.” But you won’t have to wait for her to call you back on October 4, when you can see her and Goldman in person at the Bell House, where Snowblink plays with Great Lake Swimmers.
RAQUEL CION: GILDING THE LONELY
Joe’s Pub
425 Lafayette St. by Astor Pl.
Thursday, October 4, $15, 9:30
212-967-7555
www.joespub.com
We’ve been following the exciting transformation of Raquel Cion’s cabaret show Gilding the Lonely over the past few years, as it has traveled from the crowded confines of the Dixon Place lobby to the intimate stage at Joe’s Pub, each performance turning it into something more. For Thursday night’s encore presentation at Joe’s Pub due to popular demand, Cion (Cou-Cou Bijoux: Pour Vous) is promising another big step up. “Gilding the Lonely’s move to Joe’s Pub has been a huge joy. It’s such a beautiful room, and it has given us the chance to expand the show musically and theatrically,” Cion told us in a follow-up to June’s twi-ny talk. “The space itself is playful and can be very expansive while still being very intimate. The skill of the technicians and the staff allows artists to play and be free, and you know you’re lit and heard.” Among the songs people will hear in the show, which is directed by Amanda Duarte, are uniquely interpreted covers of David Bowie, Prince, the Rolling Stones, Dwight Yoakam, Tom Waits, and others, accompanied by Zecca Esquibel (Get Wet) on piano, Bill Gerstel (3 Teens Kill 4) on drums, and Ken “Kenball” Zwerin (Gigi & Pop) on upright bass. “So we can do grand gestures, like crawl on pianos, have hot men in gold hot pants, and give prizes to the audience — for August’s show they gave everyone in the audience birthday cake,” Cion notes. “We can be supremely glittery, silly, and showbiz while still opening one’s heart and making you feel like you are in conversation with each and every person in the audience. It is pure joy!”
BODYART: LOFT
Erin Yokayama becomes a predatory bird in New York City premiere of BODYART’s LOFT (photo by David M. Burns)
Baruch Performing Arts Center
55 Lexington Ave. at 25th St.
October 4-6, $20, 8:00
646-312-5073
www.baruch.cuny.edu
www.bodyartdance.com
Founded by artistic director Leslie Scott in 2006, Astoria-based BODYART specializes in multimedia performances that meld the physical with the imaginative. This week the nine-member company will present two New York City premieres and one world premiere at Baruch, centered around Loft. On a stage covered in a snowlike material and with a row of small bright lights behind them, nine dancers (Rachel Abrahams, Madeline Day, Michele Jongeneel, Alexandra Karigan, Megan Krauszer, Stephanie Mas, Allison Ploor, Kathy VanDereedt, and Erin Yokayama) in black tutus move about the space like a flock of predatory birds to a live, contemporary classical score by W4 New Music performed by PUBLIQuartet. In addition, the world premiere of I want . . . features Abrahams in a solo piece, interacting with animated video by Adam Scher and illustrator Ryan Taylor. The evening also includes 2010’s Script, a piece for seven dancers commissioned by Denton High School in Texas and set to a Philip Glass composition that has been rearranged by the students.
DUMBO ARTS FESTIVAL
“Codex Dynamic” is a highlight of the sixteenth annual DUMBO Arts Festival
Multiple venues in DUMBO
September 30, free
www.dumboartsfestival.com
The sixteenth annual DUMBO Arts Festival concludes on Sunday, with another diverse collection of live performances, multimedia exhibitions, interactive installations, and more, continuing into the night. Musicians such as the Well-Informed, Joseph Brent, the Soulfolk Experience, Church of Betty, and WYATT will perform in Brooklyn Bridge Park. The White Wave Dance Company will lead a grand finale at Fulton Ferry Landing. Iviva Olenick turns people’s tweets and Post-it confessions into embroidered musings. Martin Janicek will play his unique Metal Bow. Visitors can participate in Wildbytes’ “Superhero,” making it look like they can fly across buildings. Nathaniel Lieb’s “Tidal Voyage” floats on the East River. Shaun El C. Leonardo and Gabriele Tinti present The Way of the Cross, their book about boxer Arturo Gatti. Leo Kuelbs and John Esnor Parker have curated “Codex Dynamic,” mapped projections that will be beamed onto the Manhattan Bridge Anchorage and Archway. Will Scott will play the blues, while Howard Brofsky will host the jazz program Dr Bebop and Glocals. Jimmy O’Neal and Rebecca Parker will clog around the neighborhood in “Transporting Location.” Frank Viva will read from his children’s book A Trip to the Bottom of the World with Mouse. Entasis Dance will incorporate sculpture into performance. Amisha Gadani will make her way around the area in “Animal Inspired Defensive Dresses.” Josephine Decker will be at the forefront of a fish-headed “School Evacuation.” The Friendly Falcons will roam about with musical architectural interventions. A simple touch sets Michael Rosen and Eszter Osvald’s “Neurime” instrument into action. Alan Ruiz’s “Heist” uses a red laser and mirrors to alter perception. Stacy Scibelli’s “Sabotage I, II, & III” invites people to wear tickle machines. And that is only some of what is going on at such locations as Brooklyn Bridge Park, Empire Stores, the powerHouse Arena, 111 Front St., Tobacco Warehouse, East River Cove, 81 Washington St., and galleries along Jay, York, and Adams Sts.