this week in music

JOE BOYD AND ROBYN HITCHCOCK: CHINESE WHITE BICYCLES

LIVE AND DIRECT FROM 1967
(le) poisson rouge
158 Bleecker St.
Friday, March 11, $25-$30, 6:30
212-228-4854
www.robynhitchcock.com
www.joeboyd.co.uk
www.myspace.com/lepoissonrougenyc

Since the mid-1970s, acerbic singer-songwriter Robyn Hitchcock has been regaling the world with philosophical, intellectual, and downright funny tales as a solo performer and with such bands as the Soft Boys, the Egyptians, and the Venus 3. His live shows, documented in Jonathan Demme’s 1998 documentary, Storefront Hitchcock, are always unusual and immensely entertaining, anchored by his often hysterically rambling between-song chatter in addition to his immense talent at writing a damn good tune. Always up to something different — in June he’ll team up with the Imaginary Band to play a one-off UK tribute to the recently deceased Captain Beefheart, performing the seminal album Clear Spot in its entirety — he’ll be at (le) poisson rouge on Friday night with longtime friend Joe Boyd, the legendary American producer who has worked with everyone from the Incredible String Band, Pink Floyd, Fairport Convention, Nick Drake, Bob Dylan, and Kate and Anna McGarrigle to Toots and the Maytals, Richard Thompson, Billy Bragg, R.E.M., and ¡Cubanismo! Hitchcock and Boyd are in the midst of a brief tour dubbed “Chinese White Bicycles: Live and Direct from 1967,” in which Boyd reads passages from his recently rereleased memoir, White Bicycles: Making Music in the 1960s (Serpent’s tail, December 2010, $14.95), Hitchcock plays songs by the groups mentioned in the book, the music that influenced him when he was growing up in London, and the two just talk about stuff. “Joe had a hand in creating a world that revolutionised mine,” Hitchcock notes on his website. “If he is Dr Frankenstein, then I’m his monster. Or one of them…” Get ready for what should be one very groovy night.

Robyn Hitchcock gets down to the Lovin’ Spoonful’s “What a Day for a Daydream” at (le) poisson rouge show with Joe Boyd (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Update: It did indeed turn out to be one groovy night, as Joe Boyd told great stories about hanging out with such seminal figures as Zal Yanovsky and Joe Butler of the Lovin’ Spoonful, Robin Williamson and Clive Palmer of the Incredible String Band, Paul Butterfield (with Boyd suggesting he add Mike Bloomfield to the Blues Band), Nick Drake (not looking forward to his songs being overproduced), and Fairport Convention (as they decided to eschew American folk rock and turn to the English tradition after fearing they could never create something as special as the Band’s Music from Big Pink). He talked about putting together a Syd Barrett tribute that ultimately involved Pink Floyd, about losing out on a one-night stand to Bob Dylan, and about Maria Muldaur and Eric Muldaur falling in love. He gave the show a decidedly New York bent, mentioning many of the haunts they used to go to that were just around the corner from (le) poisson rouge; “This is the beating heart of the sixties,” he said of the city. He also apologized for convincing LPR that he and Robyn Hitchcock should perform in the round, resulting in their backs to much of the audience, which boasted Rufus Wainwright. After each tale, Hitchcock introduced and played a song by the respective musicians, including the ISB’s “Way Back in the 1960s,” Dylan’s “All I Really Want to Do,” the Spoonful’s “What a Day for a Daydream” (flat on his back), Fairport Convention’s “Reynardine,” Drake’s “River Man,” and the Floyd’s “Bike.” The encore was a riveting tale of Boyd being at the center of Dylan going electric at Newport, as the evening concluded with Hitchcock offering up Bob’s spiteful “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue,” followed by Boyd and Hitchcock signing books, CDs, and posters. (For a slideshow of the event, click here.)

MI AMI

Now a duo, Mi Ami’s Daniel Martin-McCormick and Damon Palermo will play a series of DJ sets and bands shows this month (photo by Lili Schulder)

Thursday, March 10, Shea Stadium, 20 Meadow St.
Friday, March 11, Pianos, 158 Ludlow St., $10, 11:00
Saturday, March 26, Glasslands, 289 Kent Ave. $8-$10, 8:00
Sunday, March 27, Public Assembly, 70 North Sixth St.
www.myspace.com/miamiamiami

Okay, we have to admit that we’re confused here too. Tonight the Miami Dolphins are going to be at Shea Stadium, with a major roster change to boot. Oh, wait a minute; now we get it. Actually, the Baltimore duo Mi Ami, formerly a trio, will be playing a DJ set at the tiny Brooklyn music club Shea Stadium, the first of four area appearances this month. In February 2009, we wrote that on Watersports, guitarist Daniel Martin-McCormick, bassist Jacob Long, and drummer Damon Palermo “rail against the pervasive fear that lies at the heart of America’s psyche, offering a much-needed scream of release,” and in April 2010 we called their follow-up, Steal Your Face, “a thirty-seven-minute freak-out of massive proportions.” But now, with Palermo having left the band, Martin-McCormick and Long have delved deep into the techno-disco part of their sound on their new release, Dolphins (Thrill Jockey, March 15, 2011). Available in a vinyl-only limited edition of 750 copies (with free digital download), the record consists of four extended-length electronic dance tunes, “Hard Up,” “Dolphins,” “Sunrise,” and “Echo,” that take listeners on a space-age ride fueled by computer samples, drum machines, keyboards, and screeching vocals. Of course, by naming the album Dolphins, Mi Ami don’t do themselves any favors; search on “Mi Ami Dolphins” and see how long it takes before they come up. (And Steal Your Face was not exactly a unique name either, as Dead Heads are well aware.) Fortunately, they seem to have quite a sense of humor. The reinvented Mi Ami will be playing a DJ set with members of Jonas Reinhardt tonight (as DJ Magic Touch) at Shea Stadium on a bill with Sex Worker, Big Gold Belt, and Darius, followed by a live band performance March 11 at Pianos with Darius again, Innerglaze, and Wolff. Then they’ll be back in town March 26 for a full show at Glasslands with Laurel Halo and Psychic Reality and another DJ set March 27 at Public Assembly.

JIM JONES REVUE

The Jim Jones Revue returns to New York City this week to tear it up at the Knitting Factory (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Knitting Factory Brooklyn
361 Metropolitan Ave.
Thursday, March 10, $13-$15, 8:00
www.bk.knittingfactory.com
www.myspace.com/thejimjonesrevue
Jim Jones Revue slideshow

Last summer England’s Jim Jones Revue blew into town for three shows that tore the roof off the city. We caught them at the Mercury Lounge, where they played a blistering, frenetic set that filtered Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard through the Stooges and the MC5. They ripped it up with such punk R&B barnburners as “Hey Hey Hey Hey,” “Rock ‘n’ Roll Psychosis,” and “Cement Mixer” from their 2008 self-titled debut and “High Horse,” “Elemental,” and “Shoot First” from their September 2010 disc, Burning Your House Down. As fast and furious as they play, they also revealed a goofy sense of humor with “Dishonest John,” a song inspired by the villain in the old Beany and Cecil cartoons. Singer and guitarist Jones might have been front and center, but he had a crazed cohort in Elliot Mortimer, who sliced, diced, and banged away on his piano, sending out maximum thrills and chills. Just this week, however, it was officially announced that Mortimer has left the band to spend more time with his family, and he has been replaced by French-born keyboardist Henri Herbert, so it will be interesting to see how that change impacts this amazing band, which also includes Rupert Orton on guitar, Gavin Jay on bass, and Nick Jones on drums, as they return to New York City for a show March 10 at the Knitting Factory with local groups Freshkills and the hot Hollis Brown, which just sold out Brooklyn Bowl on their own late last month. “2010 was a busy old time for us with an obscene amount of gigs that took us across Europe and America in a blaze of rock n roll fury,” Jay recently wrote on the Jim Jones Revue blog. “Houses were burned down, roofs raised, and speakers exploded in our mission to bring noise, mayhem, and dancing to each and every one of you. And quite frankly, it’s a bit of a blur.”

AN EVENING WITH CINEMA 16

Psychic Ills will play commissioned scores live to avant-garde films on Tuesday night at Cinema 16 show at the Kitchen

The Kitchen
512 West 19th St. between Tenth & Eleventh Aves.
Tuesday, March 8, 410, 7:00
212-255-5793 ext11
www.thekitchen.org
www.cinemasixteen.com

Named after the seminal collective run by Amos and Marcia Vogel from 1947 to 1963, Cinema 16 keeps alive avant-garde films through special programs that have spread from New York City now to Austin, Chicago, Los Angeles, Portland, and Mexico City. Curated by Molly Surno, Cinema 16 heads into the Kitchen on Tuesday, presenting five short experimental silent films with specially commissioned scores by Psychic Ills. The New York-based trance band, which has released such records as Astral Occurrence, Catoptric, Telesthetic Tape, and the twelve-inch Frkwys Vol. 4, will play live to Raymonde Carasco’s Gradiva Sketch I (1978), Lichter Peter’s Light Sleep (2009), Ron Rice’s Chumlum (1964), John E Schmitz’s The Voices (1953), and Beryl Sokoloff and Crita Grauer’s Necromancia (late 1950s).

NO MORE LOVE

Art, music, and more come together at all-night Brooklyn warehouse party

63 Woodward Ave. between Metropolitan and Flushing Aves., Brooklyn
Saturday, March 5, 6:30 – 3:30
Admission: $5 with RSVP to www.mememovement.com
www.facebook.com/event

As Saturday nights go, this is a big one in the art world, with more than a dozen fairs in town, many with special programs scheduled for tonight. But a very different kind of event is taking place in a large warehouse in Brooklyn, where the nonprofit arts collective the Meme Movement has curated an exciting evening of art and music. While beer from the Brooklyn Brewery flows all night long ($2 6:30 – 8:00, $4 8:00 – 3:30), Loren Alliston, Lindsay Wynn, D. Oscar Horner, and Taylor Marie Prendergast will display their photography and installation art. The band lineup, beginning at 8:30, includes the Nelsonvillains, Evan Shinners & the SUITS! (who are planning a special fog-filled multimedia set, with the opening song played in complete darkness), Shapes, Ghost Pal, Flowers for Reagan, and Sitting Ducks, with DJs Earl, Big Time DK’s, and BullwInkle filling in the gaps. In addition, there will be tattoos by Aris, a photobooth, body painting, video projections, and more. Admission is five bucks with RSVP to www.mememovement.com. It should all make for a pretty wild night.

SITE Fest and IonSound Music Festival

You never know what you’ll walk into at Bushwick’s Site Fest (photo: Sidewalk Dances)

Multiple venues in Bushwick
March 5-6, suggested donation $5 per event, $10 day pass, $15 weekend pass
www.artsinbushwick.org

Celebrating the burgeoning art, music, dance, and film scene in Bushwick, the third annual Site Fest will feature a bevy of performances Saturday and Sunday in conjunction with Armory Arts Week. Held at Chez Bushwick, Grace Exhibition Space, the Bushwick Starr, 3rd Ward, and numerous satellite venues, the festival will feature such participatory events at 3rd Ward as Gavin Campbell’s “Documentation of Flag,” which deals with his growing up on the Irish border; Hoyun Son’s “Social Shredding,” centered on a garment made of Korean funereal fiber; Stefan Adamski’s “Induction,” involving audience hypnosis; and Michael Freeman’s “Part 3: The Mnemonic Fool Series,” in which he interacts with the public while naked. The Bushwick Starr will host a series of text-based performances and installations (Jeremy Finch’s “Sketchbook,” Ari and Friends’ “Shake,” “vvitalny shares her thoughts w/ birds”), while Chez Bushwick will concentrate on experimental dance, including Laurel and Aya’s “Hand in Glove,” CJ Holm/Creature Theater’s “The Salad of the Bad Café,” and Michele Torino Hower’s “Merengue, as in Pie.” At Grace, Dr. Lisa will offer “Psychotherapy Live!,” Polaroica will be tattooing in “Tiempofaga,” and Meatspace will stage an interactive multimedia “Frankenstein Sweater Party,” where sewers can join in. Goodbye Blue Monday will be home to the IonSound Music Festival, with performances by Aimee Norwich, Bombs Making Bombs, Dear Comrade, Pezzettino, the Controversy, Rarefaction, Emilyis, and other music groups. The suggested donation for all hub space events and performances is a mere five bucks, with proceeds benefiting the nonprofit organization Arts in Bushwick. Our choice for best title: Kate Berlant’s “An Illustrative Colonoscopy into an Epistemological Kitty Cat.”

FIRST SATURDAYS — TIPI: HERITAGE OF THE GREAT PLAINS

Lyle Heavy Runner (Blackfeet), design owner and painter; Naomi Crawford (Blackfeet), tipi maker, “Blackfeet Tipi,” canvas, latex paint, wood, Great Falls, Montana, 2010 (photo: Jenny Steven)

Brooklyn Museum
200 Eastern Parkway
Saturday, March 5, free, 5:00 – 11:00 (some events require free tickets distributed at the Visitor Center)
212-864-5400
www.brooklynmuseum.org

The new Brooklyn Museum exhibit “Tipi: Heritage of the Great Plains” is the focus of the institution’s March First Saturdays program, a free night of art, music, talk, film, literature, and dance. The party begins at 5:00 with singer/songwriter/activist Martha Redbone’s unique blend of soul, R&B, and traditional Native American music. At 5:30, the Thunderbird American Indian Dancers will perform. James McDaniel’s 2003 film, Edge of America, set at a high school reservation, will screen at 6:00, the same time Brooklyn artist Yatika Fields will discuss the “Tipi” exhibit. The Hands-On Art workshop (6:30-8:30) will teach children and adults how to make the Native American pouch called a parfleche. At 7:00, Nancy Rosoff will lead a tour of “Tipi,” followed at 8:00 by a Young Voices talk in which student guides will venture through the exhibit. DJ Frame of the Redhawk Arts Council will be behind the turntables for the always smokin’ Dance Party (8:00 – 10:00). At 9:00, visitors have the choice of continuing to dance up a storm, checking out Joseph Marshall III talking about his latest book, To You We Shall Return, or participating in an interactive dance performance with the Redhawk Arts Council. In addition, the galleries remain open until 11:00, giving everyone ample time to check out such exhibits as “reOrder: An Architectural Environment by Situ Studio,” “Thinking Big: Recent Design Acquisitions,” “Lorna Simpson: Gathered,” “Norman Rockwell: Behind the Camera,” “Sam Taylor-Wood: Ghosts,” and “Body Parts: Ancient Egyptian Fragments and Amulets.”