this week in music

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.

VIDEO OF THE DAY: “AIN’T THE ONLY ONE HAVIN’ FUN” BY THE TURBO FRUITS

We’ll have more to say about the Turbo Fruits and their great new album, Butter, which was released on Tuesday, when they head back to New York City in October for CMJ. In the meantime, you definitely don’t want to be the only one not havin’ fun tonight, as the Nashville-based garage rockers will be at Mercury Lounge with Roomrunner. Butter, the first release on Kings of Leon’s Serpents and Snakes label — and also available as a special limited-edition hot-butter vinyl LP — was recorded in eight days and features such groovin’ tracks as “Where the Stars Don’t Shine,” “Harley Dollar Bill$,” “Sweet Thang,” “Colt 45,” and “Ain’t the Only One Havin’ Fun.” We’ve been waiting for this one for three years, since 2009’s awesome Echo Kid (“Naked with You,” “Mama’s Mad Cos I Fried My Brain”), so we’re psyched that TF head Jonas Stein has at last settled on a full-time lineup — with Dave Tits on bass, Kingsley Brock on guitar, and Matt Hearn on drums — that sounds better than ever and is forging full-speed ahead. Tonight should be one helluva sweet thang indeed.

BIKE-IN MOVIES: SHUT UP AND PLAY THE HITS

James Murphy says farewell to LCD Soundsystem in multifaceted concert documentary

SHUT UP AND PLAY THE HITS (Dylan Southern & Will Lovelace, 2011)
The Well
272 Meserole Ave.
Saturday, September 15, free with RSVP, 7:00
347-338-3612
www.thewell.com
www.shutupandplaythehits.com

On April 2, 2011, after ten years of building a devoted following that was still growing, electronic dance-punk faves LCD Soundsystem played its farewell show at Madison Square Garden. Directors Dylan Southern and Will Lovelace, who previously documented the British band Blur in No Distance Left to Run, capture the grand finale in the often bumpy, sometimes revelatory concert film Shut Up and Play the Hits. The movie is divided into three distinct sections that take place before, during, and after the massive blowout, with Southern and Lovelace weaving between them. There is extensive footage of the event at the Garden, including performances of such LCD classics as “Dance Yrself Clean,” “All My Friends,” “Us v Them,” “North American Scum,” and “Losing My Edge.” Although the multicamera approach tries to make you feel like you’re there, onstage and backstage with front man James Murphy, keyboardist Nancy Whang, bassist Tyler Pope, drummer Pat Mahoney, and various special guests, it lacks a certain emotional depth, and the sound, primarily during the first songs, is terrible, although that could have been the fault of the tiny theater we saw it at more than the film itself. The second section features music journalist Chuck Klosterman (Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto) interviewing Murphy at the Spotted Pig in the West Village a week before the concert, asking inane, annoying questions that Murphy strains to answer. But the most fascinating part of the film by far, and how it starts, involves Murphy the day after the show. He allows the camera to follow him everywhere, from waking up in his bed with his dog to carefully shaving with an electric razor to visiting the DFA offices for the first time in a year. It’s hard to believe that the night before he was a grandiose rock star but now he is walking his pooch, sitting on a bench in front of a coffee shop, and spending most of the day alone. The camera literally gets right into his face, showing every gray hair, zooming in on his puffiness and his deep-set, nearly dazed eyes. The film would have benefited from less time with Klosterman and more with Murphy as he contemplates his past, present, and future. It also would have been interesting to hear from the other members of the band, but Shut Up and Play the Hits is specifically about Murphy, who, at forty-one, suddenly doesn’t know what to do with his life, having left an extremely successful gig that was only gaining popularity. The film is having a special showing on September 15 at the Well’s outdoor space in Brooklyn on a thirty-foot screen as part of the “Bike-In Movies” series and will kick off with a set by DJ Dubspot. Admission is free with advance RSVP, and the bar and kitchen will remain open throughout the event.