this week in music

DUAL VIDEO OF THE DAY — FREEZEPOP: “DOPPELGANGER”

Doppelgängers tend to be ghostly doubles of living people, but in the case of electronica popsters Freezepop, it’s a case of audio duality as well. On their new EP, Doppelgänger (Archenemy, June 22), the Boston-based quartet has revisited one song from their 2011 album, Secret Companion, and three tracks from their 2010 release, Imaginary Friends, including four remixes of “Doppelgänger,” on which Liz Enthusiasm repeatedly points out, “She looks like me, she looks just like me / Why don’t you see it / She dances like me, dances just like me / Why don’t you see it.”

The band, which also features Sean Drinkwater on keyboards and guitar, Christmas Disco-Marie Sagan on keyboards, vocoder, and theremin, and Bananas Foster on keyboards and drums, even continues the doubling theme with two interchangeable videos for the endlessly bouncy “Doppelgänger,” which you can flip between here. Freezepop will be holding a synth-heavy EP release party June 22 at the Knitting Factory, on a bill with Lifestyle and Kitten Berry Crunch, followed by a gig at Water Street in Rochester on June 24 with Lifestyle and Silent Auction.

MAKE MUSIC NEW YORK

Amateur and professional musicians will gather all over the city for annual Make Music New York festival (photo courtesy NYC Guitar School)

Every June 21, Make Music New York celebrates the longest day of the year with a full slate of free concerts in limitless genres throughout the five boroughs, in parks, libraries, restaurants, stores, plazas, and out on the street and aboard party buses. Not only can you check out some great shows but you can also participate; Mass Appeal once again features nearly two dozen performances in which everyone is invited to bring their own instrument and join in, with accordions in Sheridan Triangle, bagpipes in Herald Square, cellos in Flatiron Building Plaza, clarinets in Washington Square Park, double reeds in Bleecker Playground, flutes on Central Park’s Great Hill, guitars in Union Square and at the 92nd St. Y, harps in Urban Plaza, mandolins in Theodore Roosevelt Park, ouds in Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza, ukuleles in McCarren Park, and violins on Cornelia St., among other gatherings. And you don’t need an instrument at all to take part in humming in the DUMBO ConEd Farragut Substation and singing in Times Square. Some of the more unusual shows include Alvin Curran’s “Maritime Rites” played by eighty musicians on rowboats on the lake in Central Park at 5:00, a gospel parade with the Lafayette Inspirational Ensemble in Park Slope at 6:30, improvisational jazz on the High Line at 6:30, and Erik Satie’s eighteen-hour “Vexations” continuing through midnight on the corner of Broad & Wall Sts.

VIDEO OF THE DAY — THE VAN ALLEN BELT: “OUT TO LUNCH”

On albums such as 2007’s Meal Ticket to Purgatory and 2010’s Superpowerfragilis: Or How I Learned to Stop Caring and Love the Drug, Pittsburgh four-piece the Van Allen Belt has created engaging psychedelic pop rooted in 1960s melodies and harmonies, albeit with an edge reminiscent of the Fiery Furnaces. Led by singer Tamar Kamin’s dreamy vocals and multi-instrumentalist B. K. Ferris, the band continually offers up surprising diversions, throwing in a touch of Las Vegas lounge here, some progressive rock there, with even a little military march for good measure. The band has a very simple reason for being: “We stand for the advancement of human civilization. You can try to stop us, but you will fail.” The Van Allen Belt is coming to New York this summer for a series of shows beginning June 21 at Goodbye Blue Monday and June 22 at Lit Lounge, then will be back July 8 at Pianos and July 9 at Cameo Gallery. “I know it’s been a while / Since I showed my mug around these parts,” Kamin sings on “Lovely in Akron,” continuing, “I think I’m gonna smile / And that’s like a good start / So tragic is this city / But I wouldn’t know / When I’m in it with you.” You can be in it with them in this none-too-tragic city on a tour that should highlight songs from their upcoming album, Heaven on a Branch, along with original animations and paintings by Peter Luckner.

NORTHSIDE FESTIVAL 2012: DAY FOUR

Welsh alternapunks Future of the Left headline Europa on last night of Northside Festival

The music section of the third annual Northside Festival comes to a close on Sunday with a small lineup that begins in the late afternoon, but there are still some key bands to catch. Among the groups to look out for are Avan Lava, Hard Nips, Future of the Left, Violens, and Amen Dunes. On Monday, Northside Film begins, with four days of dozens of films being shown at indieScreen, Nitehawk Cinema, and Union Docs.

The Deli Magazine presents: Avan Lava, Computer Magic, SAADI, Papertwin, Spacecamp, Osekre & the Luck Bastards, Cameo Gallery, $8, 6:00

Leda, Air Waves, Grooms, Hard Nips, Union Pool, $8, 8:00

Future of the Left, Bomb the Music Industry!, Me You Us Them, Europa, $15, 8:00

Suckers, Violens, Night Manager, Companion, Public Assembly, $12, 8:30

Sacred Bones presents: Crystal Stilts, Amen Dunes, Vår, Wymond Miles, Warthog, Glasslands, $12, 8:45

NEW MUSIC SEMINAR

Today the Moon, Tomorrow the Sun will be part of inaugural New Music Seminar, playing Pianos on Monday night (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Webster Hall (and other venues)
125 East 11th St.
June 17-20, registration $399 (students $249)
Individual concerts: free – $45 (most $20 and under)
212-353-1600
newmusicseminar.com

The inaugural New Music Seminar is dedicated to supporting all kinds of music based on talent and merit alone, “without regard to its financial resources or connections.” As its name implies, it’s a mix of live performances from up-and-coming bands in addition to workshops, lectures, panel discussions, and seminars. Taking place June 17-20 at Webster Hall and other venues, NMS ’12 gets under way Sunday afternoon with a pair of Songwriters Hall of Fame presentations, followed by an opening-night party with the Fiery Sensations, Samantha Slithers, Evan Shinners, the Pierces, Hoodie Allen, and others, along with DJ sets by Andy Rourke of the Smiths. Things get going early Monday morning with opening remarks by Tom Silverman of Tommy Boy Records and Michael J. Huppe of SoundExchange, followed by the keynote address delivered by Bob Pittman of Clear Channel and Sean Parker of Founders Fund. Over the next several days, Peter Asher will conduct “BMI Presents the Songwriters Movement,” with demonstrations by Desmond Child, Ammar Malik, Billy Mann, and Sandy Vee; Yancey Strickler will host “Kickstarter: Amanda Palmer’s Kickstarter Million and What We Can Learn from It”; various radio program directors and brand managers will team up for “The Gods of Radio: Going Beyond Simulcasting”; and ReverbNation’s Jed Carlson will address the question “How Do You Start a Buzz?” There will also be a Meet the Authors event on Tuesday featuring the writers of a dozen books about the music business. In addition to the special programs at Webster Hall, which require registration of $249 to $399, there are dozens of individually ticketed and/or free concerts, including Alice Smith at City Winery, Ziggy Marley and Bajah + the Dry Eye Crew at Irving Plaza, the Mingus Big Band and Terence Blanchard at the Jazz Standard, Rosie Flores, Mare Winningham, and Garland Jeffreys at the Living Room, Electric Sun at Cameo, Travis Porter at S.O.B.’s, the Great Apes at Cake Shop, NinjaSonik and the Dirty Pearls at Santos Party House, and Today the Moon, Tomorrow the Sun at Pianos.

NORTHSIDE FESTIVAL 2012: DAY THREE

Nashville quartet Turbo Fruits will bust it out at Knitting Factory (photo by Bekah Cope)

The third day of the third annual Northside Festival boasts perhaps the widest range of acts of the fest, from such great duos as Dean & Britta, Exitmusic, and Asobi Seksu to such powerful female-led groups as WOJCIK, Danielia Cotton, and Lily and the Parlour Tricks. Dean & Britta, formerly of Luna, will be part of a free show in McCarren Park with Red Baraat, Mas Ysa, and Hume beginning at 3:15. But we’re most looking forward to the crazy Nashville quartet Turbo Fruits, who will be going wild just before midnight at the Knitting Factory. Below are our five hot picks for Saturday.

Red Baraat, Dean & Britta, Mas Ysa, Hume, McCarren Park, free, 3:15

Windish presents: Asobi Seksu, Exitmusic, Ape School, Field Mouse, Brooklyn Bowl, $10, 6:00

Lily and the Parlour Tricks, Sonnyboy, Danielia Cotton, the Sons of Brooklyn, Them Damn Ninjas, the Paper Box, 8:00

The Whatever Blog presents: Clouder, WOJCIK, Starlight Girls, Bootblacks, Freshkills, the Spare Room at the Gutter, $5, 8:30

Panache Booking presents: Grass Widow, Turbo Fruits, the Black Belles, Gary War, Gap Dream, Snack Machine, Knitting Factory, 8:45

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