this week in music

BRIEN McVERNON

Australian rocker Brien McVernon will be at Rockwood Music Hall on Monday night

Rockwood Music Hall Stage 1
196 Allen St. between Houston & Stanton Sts.
Monday, April 18 free, 7:00
212-477-4155
www.rockwoodmusichall.com
www.myspace.com/brienmcvernon

Hailing from New South Wales, Australian rocker Brien McVernon will be making a stop in New York City on Monday night prior to being showcased on Thursday by his new label, Judy Collins’s Wildflower Records, at the Nashville Film Festival; his Wildflower debut will be released later this spring or summer. McVernon plays Brian Setzer-style rockabilly mixed with jump, jive, wail, boogie, surf, and swing, as shown on such albums as Camera, Lights, Action and Rockets from Oz with the Retro Rockets, who are not to be confused with North Carolina’s RetroRockets or California’s the Retro Rockets. McVernon is the band’s chief songwriter, turning out such great tracks as “Catalina,” “Hey El Diablo,” and the motorcycle song “Churro” while covering the likes of Link Wray’s classic “Rumble.” McVernon will be at Rockwood Music Hall on April 18 at 7:00, preceded by Marissa Hansson at 6:00 and followed by Joe Whyte at 8:00 and NLX at 9:00.

RECORD STORE DAY 2011

Multiple locations
Saturday, April 16
www.recordstoreday.com

Still spinning that black circle? Vinyl lovers can get their hands on all kinds of special discs today as the annual Record Store Day returns to New York and other cities all over the country and even across the pond. Look for limited-edition releases from 13th Floor Elevators, AC/DC, Adele, Akron Family, Bad Brains, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Built to Spill, Daft Punk, Deerhoof, Duran Duran, Foo Fighters, the International Submarine Band with Gram Parsons, John Doe & Jill Sobule, Lady Gaga, Matt & Kim, Nirvana, Ozzy Osbourne, Pearl Jam, Phish, Sonic Youth, Steve Earle, Television, the Decemberists, the Flaming Lips, and many others as well as early releases from Bob Dylan, Dengue Fever, New York Dolls, Robbie Robertson, Paul Simon, and more. In addition, Regina Spektor will be playing at Other Music, while Bow Ribbons and Angel Olsen will be appearing at Kim’s. Among the participating stores are Harmony Records and Records n Stuff in the Bronx, Earwax and Halcyon in Brooklyn, Breakdown in Queens, Majors on Staten Island, and Generation, J&R, Rebel Rebel, and Record Runner in Manhattan. The 45s and 33s go fast, so good luck!

SON OF GEORGE

Son of George, featuring empathetic Coney Island singer-songwriter Dave Doobinin, will be at Rockwood Music Hall on Saturday night

Rockwood Music Hall Stage 1
196 Allen St. between Houston & Stanton Sts.
Saturday, April 16, free, 10:00
212-477-4155
www.rockwoodmusichall.com
www.sonofgeorge.com

For his debut as Son of George, native New Yorker Dave Doobinin (skywriter) worked with Steve Schiltz of Longwave, the two of them playing all the instruments in a home studio in Queens. The result is a five-track EP of shimmering, poetic, ethereal songs, enhanced by using a 1970s Electra Delay pedal to treat Doobinin’s voice. A self-described “wandering spirit, hopeless romantic, world traveler, and artistic soul,” Doobinin, who lives in Coney Island, is an empathetic singer-songwriter; he actually visited a cemetery on City Island to help inspire him for the Potter’s Field song “Forgotten Ones,” in which he sings, “There’s a place / where ‘Hallelujah’ means nothing at all . . . / Is there a way / to shoot an arrow straight into the sun / Shine a light for all the forgotten ones.” He goes falsetto on “Hummingbird” and “Summertime,” the latter also featuring a fresh guitar line. Doobinin, who has also released such solo albums as 2004’s What Your Money Wants and 2008’s The Birth of Wonder, will be at Rockwood Music Hall on April 16 at 10:00 on a bill that also includes Sarah Jarosz (8:00), Tallahassee (9:00), Air Traffic Controller (11:00), and the Queen Killing Kings (12 midnight), among others.

TWI-NY TENTH ANNIVERSARY PARTY

Fontana’s
105 Eldridge St. between Grand & Broome Sts.
Wednesday, May 18, free, 7:00 – 9:30
212-334-6740
www.twi-ny.com
www.fontanasnyc.com

In April 2001, after being kicked out of an internet start-up that had promised the moon but instead delivered a pink slip, I took the two-week severance check and became a tourist in my own town, going to museums and galleries, independent films and lectures, and other cool events that make New York City what it is. I then wrote about my cultural journey, sending a short e-mail to a few dozen friends and relatives. Well, a couple of them seemed to enjoy it, including one person in particular, who convinced me to keep on doing it. Ten years later, here we are, celebrating the aluminum anniversary of This Week in New York: The Insider’s Guide to the City. On May 18, some of my favorite writers and musicians will be participating in a blowout party at Fontana’s on the Lower East Side, and every one of you is invited — and best of all, it’s free. Just sign up here to let us know you’re coming!

7:00: Andrew Giangola, The Weekend Starts on Wednesday
7:15: Megan Reilly with James Mastro
7:45: Nova Ren Suma, Imaginary Girls
8:00: Paula Carino and the Sliding Scale
8:30: Dean Haspiel, Billy Dogma, Street Code
8:45: Kyle Smith, 85A
9:00: Evan Shinners

ELECTRONIC DREAMS: GIORGIO MORODER FILM + MUSIC

Disco king Giorgio Moroder is being honored this month at 92YTribeca

92YTribeca
200 Hudson St. at Canal St.
Select nights through April 30, $12 (closing-night screening and after-party $22)
212-415-5500
www.92YTribeca.org

Hansjörg “Giorgio” Moroder turns seventy this month, and 92YTribeca pays tribute to the 1970s/’80s synth-disco master with the booty-shaking series “Electronic Dreams: Giorgio Moroder Film + Music.” Moroder won Oscars for his contributions to Oliver Stone’s Midnight Express (1978), Adrian Lyne’s Flashdance (1983), and Tony Scott’s Top Gun (1986), the first two of which are part of the 92YTribeca series; he also composed scores and wrote original songs for Lyne’s Foxes (1980), Joel Schumacher’s D.C. Cab (1983), and Steve Barron’s Electric Dreams (1984), which are part of the fest as well. On April 28, a 35mm print of Moroder’s 1984 version of Fritz Lang’s 1927 silent classic, Metropolis, with songs by Billy Squier, Pat Benatar, Adam Ant, Bonnie Tyler, Freddie Mercury, and others, will be shown. The series concludes on April 30 with a screening of American Gigolo (1980) with director Paul Schrader on hand, followed by an after-party curated by Gordon Voidwell and featuring live performances by Emily Warren and the Betters and Chin Chin.

HA HA TONKA

Music fans should have no reservations about catching Ha Ha Tonka at the Mercury Lounge on April 13 (photo by Todd Roeth)

Mercury Lounge
217 East Houston St.
Wednesday, April 13, $12, 7:30
212-260-4700
www.hahatonkamusic.com
www.mercuryloungenyc.com

Ozark Mountain indie daredevils Ha Ha Tonka play good-time music that gets into your soul, mixing southern pop, gospel, bluegrass, country, blues, and rock on their intoxicating new album, Death of a Decade (Bloodshot, April 5). Singer-guitarist Brian Roberts, guitarist Brett Anderson, bassist Lucas Long, and drummer Lennon Bone have been developing their down-home style since changing their name from Amsterband five years ago and releasing Buckle in the Bible Belt in 2007 and Novel Sounds of the Nouveau South two years later. For Death of a Decade, they left their Springfield, Missouri, home for a two-hundred-year-old barn in New Paltz in upstate New York, where Felice Brothers producer Kevin McMahon helped shape such tracks as the jangling “Usual Suspects,” the shanty “Westward Bound,” and the propulsive “Problem Solver,” featuring plenty of mandolin and four-part harmonies throughout. Ha Ha Tonka is not content with the status quo; “We can blame it on the circumstances / At least we took the chances / We had to,” Roberts sings on “Lonely Fortunes.” On “Made Example Of” he explains, “They say that if you don’t change where you’re going / you’re gonna end up right where you’re headed.” Following a bunch of SXSW shows in March and a guest appearance on No Reservations with Anthony Bourdain that involved music, food, and target shooting at beer cans, Ha Ha Tonka is headed to the Mercury Lounge on April 13, on a bill with the Spring Standards, Lucius, and Alec Gross.

BELLEVUE’S FINEST

Bellevue’s Finest will be playing a Friday-night residency at Arlene’s Grocery this month

Arlene’s Grocery
95 Stanton St. between Orchard & Ludlow Sts.
Friday, April 8, 22, 29, $10, 9:00
212-358-1633
www.myspace.com/bellevuesfinestnyc
www.arlenesgrocery.net

Mixing ’70s-era Bowie glam rock and Ian Dury punk with the 1980s postpunk of PIL and the more recent electronic sounds of Hot Chip and Passion Pit, New York City band Bellevue’s Finest is an idealistic sextet that knows what it wants. “I don’t wannabe wanna be a wannabe,” vocalist Frans Mernick sings on the ridiculously catchy chorus of “Wannabe,” the opening song from their November 2010 eponymous EP, the follow-up to October 2008’s five-track 10010. (Both albums can be downloaded for free here.) The electro-pop band, which includes Adam J. Sontag and David Haken on synthesizers, David Fell on guitar, David Glickstein on bass, and Orlando Trevino on drums, adds a psychedelic touch to “Echo on My Mind” and begins “Homies on My Block” with a “Psycho Killer” riff that eventually leads to a surprise doo-wop ending. On the new EP’s closing track, “In My Dreams (ur texting me),” Mernick sings, “When I got home / frequently checked my phone / hoping for a LOL or OMG / But FML / vibration never felt / The pockets in my jeans are lifeless / hope she’ll BRB.” The new EP features a more mature sound than 10010, though the earlier EP is a heckuva lot of fun, with such crazy rave-ups as “Hey! Take These Pills,” “Hipsters,” and “Unpredictable You,” while Mernick channels Johnny Lydon on “Nakedbounce” and “So Eloquent.” Bellevue’s Finest will be playing a three-week Friday-night residency at Arlene’s Grocery this month, taking the stage at 9:00 on April 8, 22, and 29, so you have no excuse to miss them.