this week in music

NORTHSIDE FESTIVAL 2012: DAY TWO

LIssy Trullie will be looking for love and more at Northside tonight (photo by Cory Kennedy)

The third annual Northside Festival heads into day two with its biggest show, an outdoor concert in McCarren Park featuring of Montreal, Jens Lekman, the Thermals, and Beach Fossils that should be hipster central. But don’t pass up the smaller, cheaper events at such venues as Bar Matchless, Cameo Gallery, Europa, Glasslands, Music Hall of Williamsburg, the Knitting Factory, Public Assembly, and Legion. Tonight’s promising roster includes St. Lucia, French Horn Rebellion, Lissy Trullie, Buke and Gase, and a record release party for These United States. In addition, Northside Art begins, with dozens of artists opening up their studios to visitors, and Northside Entrepreneurship continues with such panel discussions as “Fundraising for Niche Startups: Lessons from Urban Agriculture Innovators,” “Make Things Not War,” and “GZA on the Spirit of Disruption and Brooklyn.”

of Montreal, Jens Lekman, the Thermals, Beach Fossils, McCarren Park, $33.50, 5:00

Northside Art: Katie Nielsen, “Many Conversations” group show at Present Company, opening reception 6:00 – midnight, “Space Half Empty” group show at Fowler Arts Collective, opening reception 7:00 – 10:00

Neon Gold Records present: St. Lucia, French Horn Rebellion, Black Light Dinner Party, Slowdance, Lovelife, Nini Fabi, Chrome Canyon (DJ), Cameo Gallery, $15, 7:00

These United States (album release show), Grand Rapids, Your 33 Black Angels, Knitting Factory, $15, 8:00

The Whatever Blog presents: LUFF, Gold Streets, the Planes, Crazy Pills, Alyson Greenfield, Legion, $5, 8:00

PopGun presents: Lissy Trullie, the Young Rapscallions, Motive, Glasslands Gallery, $10, 8:30

NORTHSIDE FESTIVAL 2012: DAY ONE

GZA will be performing his 1995 classic, LIQUID SWORDS, on the opening night of Northside

The third annual Northside Festival gets under way tonight, expanding to eight days of special programs and events throughout Greenpoint and Williamsburg. Hundreds of bands will be playing Northside Music June 14-17, from name groups to local newcomers. Overlapping the music section will be Northside Art, comprising more than fifty open studios, group shows, and art walks June 15-17, as well as Northside Entrepreneurship on June 14-15, consisting of more than three dozen panel discussions and seminars on the business of entertainment. The festival continues next week with Northside Film, with more than sixty shorts, features, documentaries, and animated works being screened June 18-21. We’ll be posting our daily recommendations through the first part of the festival, so keep checking back as we narrow Northside down to its key ingredients. For Thursday’s opening night, the highlights include the psychedelic White Hills, the experimental Dustin Wong, eclectic duo Eternal Summers, dance funksters Aabaraki, and Wu Tang genius GZA.

Monarch presents: Pass Kontrol, Aabaraki, Mitten, Scott Matthew, Bar Matchless, $8, 7:00

NYCTaper presents: Pontiak, White Hills, Rhyton, EULA, 285 Kent, $12, 9:00

Kanine Records & Terrorbird Media present: Class Actress, Eternal Summers, Bleeding Rainbow, Beach Day, Zambri, Air Waves, Knitting Factory, $15, 7:30

GZA performing Liquid Swords, Orchestra Grupo Fantasma, Brownout (early show only), Music Hall of Williamsburg, $30, 7:30 & 11:00

Strange Victory Touring Co. presents: Mucca Pazza, Chain and the Gang, Magik Markers, M.A.K.U. SoundSystem, Starring, Dustin Wong, Dope Body, Public Assembly, $14, 10:00

TASTE OF TIMES SQUARE 2012

Live music and a wide variety of food are on the menu at annual Taste of Times Square

46th St. between Broadway & Ninth Ave.
Monday, June 11, most dishes $2-$6, 5:00 – 9:00
www.timessquarenyc.org

The international culinary flavor of the Times Square area will be on display tonight at the annual Taste of Times Square, where more than fifty local restaurants will be serving their signature dishes on West 46th St. The menu lineup, with most dishes costing between two and six dollars (purchased with dollar tasting tickets), incudes blackened tenderloin tips from Shula’s American Steakhouse, pork and bean sausage with Tori’s buffalo chips from Ca Va Brasserie, beef sliders from the Library at the Paramount Hotel, salmon caviar blini and chicken Kiev from Firebird, traditional spinach and feta cheese spanakopitas from Hourglass Tavern, chicken pot pie from O’Lunney’s, empanadas from Nuchas, sliced steak sandwiches from Gallagher’s, Memphis pork ribs from Virgil’s, lobster rolls from Snackbox, paella from Meson Sevilla, doners from Dervish, pulled pork sandwiches from Joe Allen, steak frites sushi hand rolls from Mr. Robata, penne alla vodka from Carmine’s, crespelle alla Savolarda from Barbetta, and yellowfin tuna, pickled enoki, miso aioli, and ginger soy glaze from Nios. For dessert, there’s the classic Junior’s original cheesecake, Le Rivage’s bread pudding with crème Anglaise, flan from Sangria 46, strawberry sundaes from Blue Fin, gelato from Salume, and shaved ice from Rickshaw Dumpling Bar. Free live entertainment will be provided by Paul Mueller, the Ebony Hillbillies, the Baby Soda Jazz Band, Mariachi Real de Mexico, Moses Josiah, Alais Lucette, Don Witter Jr., the Jazz Collective, and George Gee and the Jump Jive n’ Wail Swing Orchestra.

BLUE NOTE JAZZ FESTIVAL

The legendary Jimmy Scott will be part of the second annual Blue Note Jazz Festival this month (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

The Blue Note, 131 West Third St., 212-475-8592
Highline Ballroom, 431 West 16th St.
B.B. King Blues Club & Grill, 237 West 42nd St., 212-997-4144
June 1-30
www.bluenotejazzfestival.com

Last year, the Blue Note celebrated its thirtieth anniversary with the inaugural Blue Note Jazz Festival. The musical celebration is back June 10-30, with more than fifty shows at various New York City venues. Things take off in a big way on June 10, with Kate Davis playing the Blue Note Brunch, the Harlem Gospel Choir hosting its regular Sunday brunch at the B.B. King Blues Club, Béla Fleck and the Marcus Roberts Trio at the Blue Note, and Curumin and Céu at the Highline Ballroom. Among the plethora of exciting highlights are the Legendary Jimmy Scott at the Blue Note on June 11, Savion Glover with such special guests as McCoy Tyner, Jack DeJohnette, and Roy Haynes at the Blue Note June 12-17, Bootsy Collins at B.B. King’s on June 13, Little Richard at B.B.’s and Yasiin Bey (Mos Def) at the Apollo Theater on June 14 [ed. note: The Yasiin Bey show has been moved to October 28], Kathleen Battle with Cyrus Chestnut at the Blue Note June 19, Toshi Reagon & Allison Miller Present “Celebrate! The Great Women of Blues and Jazz” at the Highline Ballroom on June 21, Africa/Brass: McCoy Tyner & Charles Tolliver Big Band at the Blue Note June 21-24, the Rolling Stones Project ft Tim Ries with Bernard Fowler & Darryl Jones of the Rolling Stones at the Highline on June 22, An Evening with Leon Redbone at the Abrons Arts Center on June 23, Stanley Clarke & George Duke at B.B. King’s on June 26, Meshell Ndegeocello at the Highline on June 28, Cassandra Wilson at the Blue Note June 28-30, Sierra Leone’s Refugee All-Stars at the Highline on June 29, and the Adam Deitch Project closing things out as part of the Blue Note’s Late Night Groove Series on June 30.

EGG ROLLS & EGG CREAMS FESTIVAL ’12

Annual Egg Rolls & Egg Creams fest flies into the Lower East Side on June 10

Museum at Eldridge Street
12 Eldridge St. between Canal & Division Sts.
Sunday, June 10, 12 noon – 4:00 pm
Admission: free
212-219-0302
www.eldridgestreet.org

The twelfth annual Egg Rolls & Egg Creams block party will bring together the Jewish and Chinese communities of the Lower East Side on June 10 for what is always a fun day of food and drink, live music and dance, history, culture, and lots more. Among the highlights of the festival are the kosher egg creams and egg rolls, yarmulke and challah workshops, tea ceremonies, a genealogy clinic, Yiddish and Chinese lessons, Hebrew and Chinese calligraphy classes, mah jongg, cantorial songs, Jewish paper cutting and Chinese paper folding, face painting, and free tours (in English and Chinese) of the wonderfully renovated Eldridge St. Synagogue, which now boasts the East Window designed by Kiki Smith and Deborah Gans. In past years, the festival has included performances by the Chinatown Senior Center Folk Orchestra, Qi Shu Fang’s Peking Opera, the Shashmaqam Bukharan Jewish Cultural Group, Ray Muziker Klezmer Ensemble, and Cantor Eric Freeman, some of whom will be back again for this year’s multicultural party.

BIG APPLE BARBECUE BLOCK PARTY

Jon Langford will kick off the musical festivities at the tenth annual Big Apple Barbecue Block Party (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Madison Square Park
23rd to 26th Sts. between Fifth & Madison Aves.
Saturday, June 9, and Sunday, June 10, 11:00 am – 6:00 pm
Admission: free; $8 per plate of barbecue, $4 per dessert
www.bigapplebbq.org
www.madisonsquarepark.org

The weather is not looking great for the first day of the tenth annual Big Apple Barbecue Block Party, but maybe that will help cut down on the ridiculously long lines that surround Madison Square Park. This year’s menu features baby back ribs from Mike Mills (Las Vegas), western Tennessee-style whole hog from Patrick Martin (Martin’s Bar-B-Que Joint in Nashville), pulled pork shoulder from Garry Roark (Ubon’s Barbecue in Yazoo City), St. Louis-style ribs and fried pies from Joe Duncan (Baker’s Ribs in Dallas), beef brisket and sausage from Scott Roberts (Salt Lick BBQ in Driftwood, Texas), whole hog from Ed Mitchell (Raleigh), smoked sausage from Drew Robinson (Jim ’N Nick’s Bar-B-Q in Birmingham), pulled pork shoulder from Chris Lilly (Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Q in Decatur, Alabama), beef brisket from Myron Mixon (Jack’s Old South in Unadilla, Georgia), whole hog from Rodney Scott (Scott’s Bar-B-Que in Hemingway, South Carolina), St. Louis-style ribs from Tommy Houston (Checkered Pig in Danville, Virginia), pulled pork shoulder from Jimmy Hagood (BlackJack Barbecue in Charleston), baby back ribs from Mike Emerson (Pappy’s Smokehouse in St. Louis), and ’cue from New York City joints Dinosaur Bar-B-Que, Blue Smoke, Hill Country, and Rack & Soul. The excellent music lineup begins with the Mekons’ Jon Langford on Saturday at 1:00, followed by JC Brooks & the Uptown Sound at 2:45 and Southern Culture on the Skids at 4:30 (check out our interview with SCOTS here); on Sunday, Roadside Graves takes the stage at 1:00, the Revelations featuring Tre Williams at 2:45, and Alejandro Escovedo and the Sensitive Boys at 4:30. Among the seminars, workshops, demonstrations, and film screenings are “Easy Ideas for Summer Staples” with Allie Lewis Clapp and Dawn Perry, “Signature Southern Dishes” with Norman King, “Ready, Set, Grill” with Billy Strynkowski, and “The Oyster Is Our World” with Chris Hastings. As always, our advice is to go with a large group of people, split up and wait on various different lines to get a wide range of food, then meet up at the music tent and enjoy.

TWI-NY TALK: SOUTHERN CULTURE ON THE SKIDS

Southern Culture on the Skids will be serving up culinary delights at the annual Big Apple Barbecue in Madison Square Park

Friday, June 8, Maxwells, 1039 Washington St., Hoboken, 201-653-1703, $15, 9:00
Saturday, June 9, Big Apple Barbecue, Madison Square Park, free, 4:30
www.scots.com

For nearly thirty years, Chapel Hill’s Southern Culture on the Skids has been keeping southern culture alive, serving up its unique brand of rockabilly surf country punk on such records as Voodoo Beach Party, Dirt Track Date, Plastic Seat Sweat, Liquored Up and Lacquered Down, and The Kudzu Ranch. Its latest swampy, bluesy collection, Zombified (September 2011, Kudzu), continues the band’s wicked sense of humor and playfulness, featuring such songs as “Undertaker,” “Bloodsucker,” and “Idol with the Glowin’ Eyes.” Guitarist Rick Miller, drummer Dave Hartman, and bassist Mary Huff will be at Maxwell’s on Friday night, followed by a hotly anticipated free performance at Saturday’s Big Apple Barbecue Block Party in Madison Square Park. Miller recently filled us in on some of the band’s culinary plans for the weekend.

twi-ny: The Big Apple Barbecue is famous for its ridiculously long lines, and host Danny Meyer is perhaps equally famous for making everyone, including his relatives, wait on lines and get no special treatment. Do you have any idea what the food situation will be for you?

Rick Miller/SCOTS: I don’t know. We usually get a free lunch ticket and are left on our own to wander about. Hard to take a dip in the meat fountain before you play, though. Those smokey burps halfway into the set can slow a fellow down!

twi-ny: You’re from North Carolina, which will be represented by smokemaster Ed Mitchell and his whole hog. Is that where we’ll find you before or after your set? What other barbecue are you planning on checking out at the block party?

SCOTS: Oh yeah — in the Carolina Q is where we’ll be. When it comes to the other smoking meat — brisket is the ticket!

twi-ny: You’ll be playing to an enormous crowd on Saturday, most of whom will be covered in dripping sauce and stale beer and stuck on long lines away from the music area. Do you plan on tailoring your set to this very different kind of devil’s stomping ground?

SCOTS: Might start with “Come and Get It (Before It Done Gets Cold)” or “Too Much Pork for Just One Fork.” “Pig Pickin’” will be on the table as well, and of course “8 Piece Box” for the fowl fans. And for dessert we’ve got “Day Old Banana Puddin’.” Don’t forget to bring your wet naps and moist towelettes — it might get messy!

twi-ny: You have a smokin’ new album out called Zombified. What kind of southern food and drink goes best with it?

SCOTS: Deviled ham and moonshine!

twi-ny: You’ll also be at Maxwell’s in Hoboken on June 8, where you’ll be playing to a smaller but more SCOTS-dedicated audience. What have you got planned for that show?

SCOTS: We will prepare a rock-and-roll hot bar! A buffet of greasy grooves — the surf-and-turf sounds for downwardly mobile socialites!