this week in music

LOU REED AND LAURIE ANDERSON VALENTINE’S DAY DUO

Laurie Anderson and Lou Reed will team up for a special Valentine’s performance February 15 at the Stone (Photo by Guido Harari)

The Stone
Ave. C at Second St.
Tuesday, February 15, $40, 8:00
www.thestonenyc.com

Together since 1995, Laurie Anderson and the ubiquitous Lou Reed finally tied the knot in April 2008. During their domestic partnership, they have collaborated on record, but they rarely have performed live as a duo. This month they have been curating the calendar at the Stone, with free open houses every Sunday. On February 15, the longtime couple will take the stage for two special shows, at 8:00 and 10:00, with Buke and Gass (Arone Dyer and Aron Sanchez) opening up. Admission is forty bucks, and if you’re wondering why it isn’t sold out, that’s because the Stone sells no tickets in advance, only at the door the night of the performance. But get ready for some very long lines. Anderson will be back February 23 playing with guitar legend Fred Frith; other highlights through the month include Marc Ribot on February 17, Rob Wasserman on February 18, A. M. Homes on February 22, Greg Cohen on February 24, and Ryuichi Sakamoto on February 26.

THANK YOU

You’ll thank us for recommending you check out Baltimore trio at Death by Audio tonight

Death by Audio
49 South Second St., Brooklyn
Saturday, February 12, $7, 8:00
www.myspace.com/deathbyaudioshows
www.facebook.com/pages/Thank-You

The Baltimore trio of Jeffrey McGrath, Michael Bouyoucas, and Emmanuel Nicolaidis, who make up Thank You, get credit for each playing “everything” on the group’s third album, GOLDEN WORRY (Thrill Jockey, January 2011). The follow-up to 2007’s WORLD CITY and 2008’s TERRIBLE TWO, their latest release contains six tracks that weave and wind their way through a multitude of sounds, with McGrath primarily on guitar, Bouyoucas on bass and organ, and Nicolaidis on drums, with lots of other instruments and vocalizations thrown into the massive mix. GOLDEN WORRY blasts off with the powerful “1-2-3 Bad,” which shoots out in all directions at a fast and furious pace, followed by the more melodic, steady, almost New Agey — um, make that spacey — “Birth Reunion,” which features a fab, freaky finale that works as a great lead-in for the full-force funk attack that kicks off “Pathetic Magic,” which was part of a 2009 twelve-inch with GOLDEN WORRY’s chant-filled “Strange All,” which really gives newcomer Nicolaidis a chance to strut his stuff, taking over for original Thank You drummer Elke Wardlaw, and works well with the great squealing on “Continental Divide” and some high flying on the closer, “Can’t/Can,” so there are no worries that Thank You is worth thanking again for another compelling disc. Yes, that sentence left us breathless too, but from what we’ve heard, that’s what Thank You’s live shows will do to you as well. They’ll be at Death by Audio tonight with Math the Band, Ed Schrader, and labelmate Dustin Wong, who also knows how to weave and wind his way through awesome sounds.

THE MUSIC OF NEIL YOUNG AT CARNEGIE HALL

Carnegie Hall
Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage
881 Seventh Ave. at West 57th St.
Thursday, February 10, $45-$250, 8:00
www.neilyoungcarnegie.com

Music impresario Michael Dorf’s annual benefit honoring rock-and-roll icons this year turns to Canadian Hall of Famer Neil Young, after previously paying tribute to such megastars as Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, the Who, R.E.M., Elton John, and others. Dorf, the Knitting Factory guru who now runs City Winery, has once again put together a stellar lineup of musicians to play songs from throughout Young’s long, diverse career, which took off when Young was part of Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young in the mid-to-late 1960s, then exploded with the success of his early-’70s solo albums, AFTER THE GOLD RUSH and HARVEST. The ridiculously prolific anticorporate rocker has released more than thirty studio albums and eight live records (in addition to those with the Springfield and CSNY), ranging from acoustic folk and country to rockabilly and grunge, from electronic noise and the blues to environmental activism and antiwar screeds. The tribute, taking place at Carnegie Hall on February 10, raises funds for such music and arts programs for underprivileged youth as Fixing Instruments for Kids in Schools, Church Street School for Music & Art, the Pinwheel Project, Music Unites, the American Symphony Orchestra, and Young Audiences New York. The impressive roster of performers includes Patti Smith & Jesse Smith, the Roots, Nada Surf, Cowboy Junkies, Juliana Hatfield & Evan Dando, Bettye LaVette, Shawn Colvin, Bebel Gilberto, Aaron Neville, the Wood Brothers, Keller Williams, Joan Osborne, Jakob Dylan, J Mascis, Glen Hansard, Mason Jennings, DeVotchKa, Ben Ottewell, Pete Yorn, Joe Purdy, and house bandleader Larry Campbell, who will be hosting a sold-out live rehearsal of the show tonight at City Winery. In past “Music of” shows, the Boss and members of R.E.M. participated in their own tributes, so there’s always a chance that car and train enthusiast Young might be on hand, although we wouldn’t bet on it.

PATTI SMITH WITH LENNY KAYE

Patti Smith and Lenny Kaye will celebrate forty years since they first played together at the Poetry Project on Wednesday night (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

The Poetry Project at St. Marks Church-in-the-Bowery
131 East Tenth St. at Second Ave.
Wednesday, February 9, $15, 7:30
212-674-0910
www.poetryproject.org

“Everything changed after Lenny Kaye and I performed at St. Mark’s,” Patti Smith writes in JUST KIDS, her National Book Award-winning memoir about her life with Robert Mapplethorpe. That career-making event took place at the Poetry Project on February 10, 1971, as Smith read her work and Kaye played guitar. Kaye, a music journalist and record-store employee, would go on to play in the Patti Smith Group and the Jim Carroll Band, produce hits for the likes of Suzanne Vega, and put together the seminal Nuggets collection, while Smith went on to become one of the leading woman punk rockers and an influential poet who took nearly a decade off to raise two children with her husband, Fred “Sonic” Smith. Smith and Kaye, who have played together on and off ever since that historic moment, will be back at the Poetry Project on February 9, celebrating the fortieth anniversary of that initial performance in a benefit to raise funds for the nonprofit organization. They will be joined by poet, artist, and Jersey City native Janet Hamill for the special show; tickets are only $15 but available at the door only, not in advance, so be sure to get there early — and we mean early.

(Smith will also be at the 92nd St. Y the following Wednesday, February 16, at 8:00 for “An Evening with Patti Smith,” in which she will discuss her relationship with Mapplethorpe and JUST KIDS and sign copies of the book; although tickets [$29] are sold out, a limited number might be made available an hour before showtime.)

DEERHOOF

Deerhoof will battle evil at Europa on Tuesday night

Europa Club
98 Meserole Ave. at Manhattan Ave.
Tuesday, February 8, $16, 8:00
718-383-5723
www.myspace.com/deerhoof
www.europaclub.com

Deerhoof once again comes to the rescue of the stagnant music world with their latest album, DEERHOOF VS. EVIL (Polyvinyl, January 2011). Following in the footsteps of such previous experimental noise-pop records as THE MAN, THE KING, THE GIRL (1997), REVEILLE (2002), and FRIEND OPPORTUNITY (2007), Deerhoof — John Dieterich, Ed Rodriguez, Greg Saunier, and Satomi Matsuzaki — do what they do best, taking listeners on a twelve-song, thirty-three-minute journey through a multitude of crazy sounds, hard-to-decipher lyrics, and offbeat, ever-shifting melodies that delight while they confound. In songs such as the opener, “Qui Dorm, Només Somia” and “Hey I Can,” it’s as if they’ve added some toys to the mix. Spanish guitar is featured on “No One Asked to Dance,” while beautiful blasts of noise explode in “Behold a Marvel in the Darkness” and “Secret Mobilization.” “The Merry Barracks” goes through so many changes you’ll think your iPod is suddenly shuffling between different bands. Matsuzaki’s dreamy vocals are often more like another instrument, even when she intones, “I’m just a dream, you see” in “Must Fight Current.” The fuguelike “Almost Everyone, Almost Always” brings things to a close, marking the defeat of Evil. “Me to the rescue, me to the rescue,” Matsuzaki sings in “Super Duper Rescue Heads!” Deerhoof will continue rescue proceedings February 8 at Europa with Ben Butler & Mousepad, Buke and Gass, and Nervous Cop. Deeerhoof will also be part of the JapanNYC Festival, playing March 14 at (le) poisson rouge with special guests, including one-man band Ichi and Yuka Honda and Petra Haden of If by Yes.

WE LOYAL

Swiss rockers We Loyal will be playing five shows in nine nights on first New York City visit

Multiple venues
Monday, February 7, through Tuesday, February 15
www.myspace.com/weloyal

“Now we rush through the country / Our humming lips in a choir / We will lead across the land / With your hopes laid in our hand,” We Loyal declare on “Declare.” Not to be confused with Tokyo-based duo the Loyal We or Dubai hip-hoppers We Loyal Die Snitchen, the three-piece Basel-based We Loyal will be rushing through their first New York City visit this month with five gigs in nine days in support of their debut EP, 2010’s OBSTACLES. Produced by David Berger and Manuel Bürkli, the five-song disc features catchy Euro synth pop reminiscent of Interpol and Hypernova on such songs as “One Youth” and “Distant Heart.” Lead singer, songwriter, and guitarist Sandro Simon, bassist Ben Kuster, and drummer Fabian Trümpy, who all contribute synths as well, will be at the Trash Bar on Monday with Empty Chairs, Sunspots, and the Go Round ($7), Tuesday at Lit Lounge with Lohio and Donora ($6), Wednesday at Goodbye Blue Monday with Instinct Control, Delicate Sen, Lost Trail, and Meaghan Burke, Thursday at Fontana’s with Secret Country and Beneficial Tomatoes ($7), and the following Tuesday at Cameo Gallery with Chica Vas, Nihiti, and Hard Nips.

PRINCE: WELCOME 2 AMERICA

Prince’s Welcome 2 America tour pulls into the Garden for the fourth and final time on February 7 (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Madison Square Garden
31st to 33rd Sts. between Seventh & Eighth Aves.
Monday, February 7, $20.10-$179.50, 7:30
www.thegarden.com
www.3121.com

Prince’s Welcome 2 America tour returns to the Garden on February 7 for its fourth visit, after stops on December 18 and 29 and January 18 (in addition to a pair of shows at the Izod Center in New Jersey). His Most Purple Majesty’s first East Coast jaunt since 2004 has featured tunes from throughout his career, with the setlist changing every night, ranging from “Kiss,” “1999,” and “Take Me with U” to “Controversy,” “Baby I’m a Star,” and “She’s Always in My Hair,” from “If I Was Your Girlfriend,” “Little Red Corvette,” and “The Beautiful Ones” to “Adore,” “Scandalous,” and “Insatiable,” as well as some strange, offbeat covers (Sly and the Family Stone and the Time, sure, but Sarah MacLachlan?!). Each show also includes various special acts opening up and later joining him and the New Power Generation onstage; past guests have included Sheila E., Larry Graham and Graham Central Station, Esperanza Spalding, Cassandra Wilson, Maceo Parker, Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, Mint Condition, and Janelle Monae. For the February 7 show, Cee Lo Green of Gnarls Barkley and “Fuck You” fame will get things going before the Purple One ascends the unpronounceable-glyph-shaped stage in the center of the Garden floor. We caught the January 18 show, and it was plenty funkalicious, with Prince wailing away on the guitar, crooning to a woman from the audience, shaking his booty with Jones, and continuing through several lengthy sets of arena-rattling encores. There are tickets still available, so grab them as soon as you can and get ready to go crazy.