this week in music

CMJ BEST OF THE FEST: CLOSING NIGHT

DOM will be back at the Bowery Ballroom on the final night of CMJ (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Bowery Ballroom
6 Delancey St. between Bowery & Chrystie St.
Saturday, October 23, $18, 4:00
www.cmj2010.com
www.boweryballroom.com

It’s the last day of CMJ, and you can get just about the best summary of what it’s all been about at the Bowery Ballroom tonight, where a stellar lineup of bands from New York, Florida, Virginia, Maryland, and California cover the musical spectrum of the current indie world. The fun, frantic Static Jacks get things going at 4:30 with their fourth show at the festival, followed by MA.Mentor, Braids, Fake Problems, Lord Huron, and Lia Ices. Things kick into high gear with the Lower Dens at 9:15, who were impressive Thursday night at Santos Party House, concluding most songs with strong experimental meanderings. At 10:00, Jack Tatum’s one-man band, Wild Nothing, takes the stage, with DOM up next, who have been proving at CMJ that they’ve grown tremendously since their Siren set this past summer. The evening finishes up with the dreamy double bill of Neon Indian at midnight and Surfer Blood at 1:00, two of the hottest bands on the indie scene. Be sure to show up early and just stay cemented in your spot, because it’s gonna be packed.

Also
Oberhofer, Bruar Falls, 7:00
Shark?, Spike Hill, 7:15
Gringo Star, Ace of Clubs, 8:00
Sherlock’s Daughter, Piano’s, 8:00
Superhumanoids, Santos Party House, 8:00
The Golden Filter, Webster Hall, 8:00
Screaming Females, Maxwell’s, 8:15
Heavy Cream, Knitting Factory, 10:30
Turbo Fruits, Knitting Factory, 11:20
Marnie Stern, the Delancey, 12 midnight
School of Seven Bells, Santos Party House, 12 midnight

CMJ BEST OF THE FEST: DEAN & BRITTA

Friday, October 22, NYU Skirball Center, 566 La Guardia Pl., $20-$30, 8:00
Friday, October 22, Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey St., $15, 11:30
www.myspace.com/deanandbritta
www.cmj2010.com

Dean Wareham and Britta Phillips will be doing double duty on Friday night at CMJ, first holding the final New York City performance ever of “13 Most Beautiful: Songs for Andy Warhol’s Screen Tests” at 8:00 at NYU’s Skirball Center before heading over to the Bowery Ballroom for “Dean Wareham Plays Galaxie 500.” Two years ago, the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh commissioned Dean & Britta to compose scores for screen tests that the silver-haired artist shot at the Factory from 1964 to 1966; they searched through hundreds of the black-and-white films (each four minutes and sixteen seconds in length) until they decided on Lou Reed, Nico, Edie Sedgwick, Dennis Hopper, Paul America, Susan Bottomly, Ann Buchanan, Freddy Herko, Jane Holzer, Billy Name, Richard Rheem, Ingrid Superstar, and Mary Woronov. The result is a stunning collection of gorgeous instrumentals (“Silver Factory Theme,” “Incandescent Innocence”), covers (Bob Dylan’s “I’ll Keep It with Mine” and the Velvet Underground’s “I’m Not a Young Man Anymore”), “Knives from Bavaria” from the Dean & Britta record L’AVVENTURA, and other trippy tracks, including the phenomenal “Teenage Lightning (and Lonely Highways),” that the duo, accompanied by Anthony Lamarca and Matt Sumrow, will perform live at the Skirball while the screen tests are projected behind them. Then it’s off to the Bowery Ballroom, where Dean and Britta, who have been partners on- and offstage ever since Phillips joined Luna in 2005, will play songs from the brief tenure of the much-missed Galaxie 500, which released the Rough Trade albums TODAY (1988), ON FIRE (1989), and THIS IS OUR MUSIC (1990) once upon a time. Also on the bill are Crocodiles, Wakey! Wakey!, Brian Bonz & the Major Crimes, James Vincent McMorrow, and Young Buffalo.

Also
UME, Mercury Lounge, 7:00
Bad Rabbits, Pure Volume House, 8:00
Four Tet, Webster Hall, 8:30
Fishbone, (le) poisson rouge, 9:00
MiniBoone, Crash Mansion, 9:30
La Strada, Bruar Falls, 10:00
Shinobi Ninja, Sullivan Hall, 10:30
Takka Takka, Bruar Falls, 11:00
Hypernova, Cameo Gallery, 11:30
We Are Country Mice, Cake Shop, 11:50
Lower Dens, Rockwood Music Hall, 12 midnight
Nada Surf, Mercury Lounge, 1:00 am

FUV LIVE AT ZANKEL

Rita Houston is back for the sixth season of FUV Live at Zankel (photo by Lynda Shenkman Curtis)

Zankel Hall, Carnegie Hall
Fifty-seventh St. at Seventh Ave.
Indigo Girls: Saturday, October 23, $42-$48, 10:00
Series continues through April 8
www.carnegiehall.org
www.wfuv.org/event/zankel

True New York City institutions Carnegie Hall, WFUV, and Rita Houston are teaming up again for their sixth season of FUV Live at Zankel, which in the past has featured such performers as the Cowboy Junkies, Shelby Lynne, Suzanne Vega, Rosanne Cash, Richie Havens, and Jorma Kaukonen playing intimate gigs at Zankel Hall. The series is curated by longtime radio host and FUV music director Houston, who selects the acts by thinking, “Who’s going to sound really good in this room?” Making its first appearance ever at Carnegie Hall, the Indigo Girls will play the downstairs listening room on October 23, followed by Martin Sexton’s Solo Holiday Show on December 11, the indefatigable Richard Thompson on March 19, and Edie Brickell introducing her new band, the Gaddabouts (with Steve Gadd on drums, Pino Palladino on bass, and Andy Fairweather Low on guitar), on April 8. The diverse group offers a good idea of the range of artists who can be heard on Fordham’s sixty-year-old station, home to such programs as “Woody’s Children” with Bob Sherman, “The Grateful Dead Hour,” “Sunday Breakfast” with John Platt, “Mixed Bag” with Pete Fornatale, “Vin Scelsa’s Idiot’s Delight,” and “The Whole Wide World with Rita Houston.” Get your tickets now to these Zankel Hall shows, because they will sell out.

CMJ BEST OF THE FEST: FLECK PR SHOWCASE

Kerry Davis and Two Tears will be serving up plenty of tasty garage rock and punk with Gringo Star, Howlies, and other bands at Fleck PR Showcase

Fontana’s
105 Eldridge St. between Broome & Grand Sts.
Thursday, October 21, 8:30
www.cmj2010.com
www.fleckpr.com

This is the one we’ve been waiting for. Many of the shows at the CMJ Music Marathon, which features more than 1,200 bands playing some one hundred venues, are sponsored by music magazines and websites, public relations firms, beverage companies, and other music-related businesses. On Thursday night, Fleck PR, which specializes in garage rock and punk, will be presenting seven of their artists, including three that help make this one of the best lineups of the festival. The evening begins with L.A.’s Nightmare and the Cat, followed by NYC’s Two Tears, Atlanta’s Gringo Star, Brooklyn’s hunters, Atlanta’s Howlies, Brooklyn’s Stalkers, and the Lower East Side’s Doppelganger. We’re particularly looking forward to seeing Two Tears, Gringo Star, and Howlies. We first fell for Gringo Star and their punk-injected southern garage rock with a twist at the 2008 CMJ, where they played songs from their debut disc, ALL Y’ALL; they’re headed back to the studio to record a new album, and it’s about time. (They’ll also be playing the Cameo Gallery on Friday night and Ace of Clubs on Saturday.) Last month we raved about former “one lady band” Kerry Davis, now known as Two Tears, who blasts short bursts of experimental bluesy garage punk with such titles as “Eat People,” “Die Tonight,” and “Shit Fucking Job.” Howlies have just followed up their February 2009 debut, TRIPPIN’ WITH HOWLIES, with the stunningly awesome five-track EP STUNNED, the illegitimate child of mid-’60s Stones and late-’70s Ramones, with bold dashes of southern rock and surf punk thrown in for very good measure. (Howlies will also be at the Living Room and Union Hall on Thursday night before the Fontana’s gig, followed by shows Friday afternoon at the Heartland Brewery and Friday night at Piano’s.)

Also
Savoir Adore, Public Assembly, 3:30; Bowery Electric, 7:15
New Collisions, R Bar, 8:00
Franz Nicolay, Coco 66, 8:15
French Horn Rebellion, the Studio at Webster Hall, 9:15
Hsu-nami, Fat Baby, 10:15
Reggie Watts, Comix, 11:00
Hypernova, R Bar, 11:00
Das Racist, Santos Party House, 11:30
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Music Hall of Williamsburg, 11:30
Drink Up Buttercup, Bowery Electric, 11:45

DANBERT NOBACON

Danbert Nobacon will be spreading anarchy in Brooklyn with new book and song cycle (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Word Brooklyn
126 Franklin St. at Milton St.
Saturday, October 23, free, 7:30
718-383-0096
www.danbertnobacon.com
www.wordbrooklyn.com
www.exterminatingangel.com

Anarchist, writer, musician, comedian, and activist Danbert Nobacon might not be dumping ice buckets on British deputy prime ministers these days (as he famously did to John Prescott in 1998), but that doesn’t mean the former Chumbawumba lead singer and keyboardist still isn’t fighting the power. Born Nigel Hunter in Leeds in 1959, Nobacon, now a father of ten-year-old twins and living in the quiet, rustic environs of Washington State, will be at the Brooklyn indie bookstore WORD on Saturday night, reading from his brand-new book, 3 DEAD PRINCES (Exterminating Angel, October 2010, $13), and performing songs from his latest record, WOEBEGONE (Verbal Burlesque, October 2010). Billed as “An Anarchist Fairy Tale,” 3 DEAD PRINCES follows the trials and tribulations of thirteen-year-old princess Alexandra Stormybald Wilson, who finds herself at the center of a potentially epic battle between the Oosarians and the Morainians after accidentally killing Mercurio, the future king of Morainia who, unfortunately for him, got way too fresh with the teenager known as Stormy. Ordered to protect her, the Fool takes Stormy on a magical adventure where she meets the Gricklegrack, the Witch in the Ditch, Giggle Monkeys, and various other smakobbed probbers, nymphemoms, quizzleprinks, blasfenemies, wangodmatists, and gatoriles with differing views on transkinkery, regaliocol, and other pompiffery. Accompanied by black-and-white illustrations by film director Alex Cox (SID & NANCY, REPO MAN), 3 DEAD PRINCES also manages to comment on religion, politics, evolution, and the environment in clever and playful ways and concludes with a fascinating Author’s Response that delves into the anarchist theories of Peter Kropotkin and scientist E. O Wilson and David Sloan Wilson, making it a fun read for adults and children alike.

Nobacon creates a much darker fantasy world in WOEBEGONE, a song cycle for a futuristic noir novel he hasn’t written yet. Traveling from 1620 Jamestown to 1993 Chicago to 2025 Leeds, Nobacon, joined by the Seattle Gothic folk band the Bad Things, tells the tale of poor Johnny Woebegone, who is “mixed up in the head” in a “natural world recoiling in horror,” as Nobacon describes in a short story that comes in the twenty-four-page lyrics booklet. Constantly besieged by the devil and his minions, Johnny shares his sad tale of woe in such songs as “Frank Woebegone’s Lament,” “Lilithiana Red,” and “Lost Lost Weekend,” with Jimmy “Pickpocket” Berg, Gregory “Captain Panto” Miles, Beau Stanislov “the Gypsy” Herbert, Austin “Mad Wilcox” Quist, “Lord” Steve Kamke, and Funi “La Fantastica” McLaughlin joining him on mandolin, organ, banjo, dobro, saw, accordion, sousaphone, and other instruments, resulting in a compelling atmosphere that mixes Kurt Weill with Tom Waits, all built around Nobacon’s gruff, throaty voice. But don’t let all the darkness and devilry scare you off; Nobacon is an excellent live performer with a wry sense of humor, if you couldn’t tell, so this rare appearance in Brooklyn should make for quite a night.

CMJ BEST OF THE FEST: WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 20

White Belt Yellow Tag is part of BMI Showcase Wednesday night at Bar Matchless (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

BMI SHOWCASE
Bar Matchless
557 Manhattan Ave.
Wednesday, October 20, $5, 6:00
www.cmj2010.com
www.barmatchless.com

Broadcast Music Inc., which collects and distributes licensing fees for musicians, composers, and publishers, is sponsoring several showcases during CMJ. Our favorite is scheduled for Wednesday night at Bar Matchless, with Atlanta’s Debutaunts getting things going at 7:00, followed by Nashville band Lesands at 7:45, Newcastle’s White Belt Yellow Tag at 8:30, Nashville group Heypenny at 9:15, Toronto’s Whale Tooth at 10:00, L.A.’s Vanaprasta at 10:45, and Brooklyn’s own Deluka anchoring the evening at midnight.

Also
French Miami, Union Pool, 7:00
Terrible Things, Gramercy Theatre, 7:00
Elon James White, Fat Baby, 8:30
Sherlock’s Daughter, Bell House, 9:15
Howlies, Trash Bar, 12 midnight

CMJ BEST OF THE FEST: TUESDAY, OCTOBER 19

Marissa Paternoster and Screaming Females will be part of MOG showcase Tuesday night with Yo La Tengo, DOM, and Dam-Funk (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

MOG @ CMJ
Brooklyn Bowl
61 Wythe Ave.
Tuesday, October 19, free, 8:00
www.cmj2010.com
www.brooklynbowl.com

MOG, the online music network that offers millions of songs on a subscription basis, is hosting one of the best shows of this year’s CMJ, and not just because it’s free. They’ve lined up a terrific quartet of acts that should kick off the festival in a phenomenal way. L.A. mixmaster Dam-Funk will get things going with a DJ set, making sure the funk is turned up damn loud. New Brunswick’s Screaming Females tore up the Siren Festival with their thrashing rock, led by lone female Marissa Paternoster, who plays a mean guitar and, yes, can scream like a banshee. Worcester by way of Madrid’s one-named DOM also was a highlight at Siren, although with a more subdued set, a pink guitar, and cool rock star ’tude. And you can never go wrong with the inimitable experimental trio of Ira Kaplan, Georgia Hubley, and James McNew, the ubiquitous and always interesting Yo La Tengo.

Screaming Females
Tuesday, October 19, Brooklyn Bowl, free, 8:00 (MOG Showcase with Dam-Funk, DOM, and Yo La Tengo)
Thursday, October 21, Music Hall of Williamsburg, $20.40, 9:30 (Brooklyn Vegan Showcase with the Blow, Suuns, Young Man, and the Pains of Being Pure at Heart)
Saturday, October 23, Maxwell’s, $16, 7:30 (with the Corin Tucker Band and Hungry Ghost)

DOM
Tuesday, October 19, Brooklyn Bowl, free, 8:00 (MOG Showcase with Dam-Funk, Screaming Females, and Yo La Tengo)
Wednesday, October 20, Santos Party House, $5-$10, 8:00 (Popgun/Stereogum Showcase with Evan Voytas, Houses, Lower Dens, Minks, Diamond Rings, Tamaryn, Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr., Apache Beat, Marnie Stern, Wlld Nothing, and secret headliner)
Thursday, October 21, Brooklyn Bowl, 5:30
Friday, October 22, Public Assembly, 5:30
Saturday, October 23, Bowery Ballroom, $18, 5:30 (VFW Group Showcase with the Static Jacks, Lord Huron, Fake Problems, Lia Ices, Lower Dens, Wild Nothing, Neon Indian, and Surfer Blood)

    Also

The Art of Shooting, Alphabet Lounge, 9:00
Your Vegas, Norwood Private Club, 10:00
The Golden Filter, Highline Ballroom, 10:15
Two Tears, Fat Baby, 10:15
Jean Grae, (le) poisson rouge, 12:10 am