this week in music

CONFLUX FESTIVAL

Urban historian and guerrilla photographer Steve Duncan will give keynote address at seventh annual Conflux Festival (“Sewer, NYC” photo © Steve Duncan)

NYU Barney Building
34 Stuyvesant St.
October 8-10, $5-$9
www.confluxfestival.org

More than seventy-five digital artists will converge on the East Village and the Lower East Side for the seventh annual Conflux festival, which focuses on “contemporary psychogeography, the investigation of everyday urban life through emerging artistic, technological, and social practice.” The festivities begin Friday night with the keynote address from urban historian and guerrilla photographer Steve Duncan, followed by a live multimedia performance of “Ulysses Syndrome” by the Soundwalk collective. Saturday’s activities include a sermon and walking tour with Reverend Billy and Savitri D and the panel discussions “FlowSlow,” “Super G Residency,” and “Public-Space Art and Foursquare,” ending with a live performance by Fall on Your Sword. There will be more panel discussions on Sunday, including one hotly anticipated gathering of Duncan, Moses Gates, Julia Solis, and twi-ny fave Miru Kim, in addition to a live “Forwards/Backwards” performance by Mike Rugnetta and Patrick Davison. Another cool aspect of Conflux is a group of site-specific installations, workshops, and performances, including “Tone Garden” by Stephanie McCarty and Andrew Siu, “Barcode Cinema” by Kristin Lucas and Lee Montgomery, “I cannot compete with this” by Rebecca Nagle (in Times Square), “Six Degrees of Attachment” by Nathaniel Lieb and Sarah Nelson Wright, “Love Box” by Sabine Gruffat and Bill Brown, “Urban Hobo” by Betsy Davis, “Public Utility Trail Network” by Katarina Jerinic, “Knish Alley Revival” by Laura Silver, and “Telepresence” by Derek Lerner, among dozens of others.

NEW YORK COMIC CON & ANIME FESTIVAL

Comic Con will team up with the New York Anime Festival this weekend at the Javits Center (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Jacob K. Javits Convention Center
11th Ave. between 34th & 39th Sts.
October 8-10
Weekend Pass: $50 (Friday Pass $30, Saturday Pass $40, Sunday Pass $30)
www.newyorkcomiccon.com
www.newyorkcomiccon.com/en/NYAF

This year New York Comic Con teams up with the New York Anime Festival for a three-day party of the best in comic books, graphic novels, superheroes and villains, animated shorts and features, artists, writers, filmmakers, video games, collectibles, live music, and so much more. A lot of the fun comes from just watching your fellow attendees, many of whom show up in elaborate costumes. Among the many guest on hand to sign autographs (some free, some ticketed, some paid) and/or participate in panel discussions, concerts, and sneak-peek screenings are Adrien Brody, Michelle Forbes, Bruce Campbell, Joyce DeWitt, Cary Elwes, Lou Ferrigno, Maggie Q, Morgan Spurlock, Boom Boom Satellites, J. Michael Straczynski, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Seth Green, VAMPS, Stan Lee, Todd McFarlane, Frank Miller, Puffy AmiYumi, M. Knight Shymalan, Tricia Helfer, Eric Bana, Priscilla Barnes, William Katt, Tara McPherson, Noah Wyle, Echostream, and James Marsters. (Sorry, folks, but Gil Gerard canceled.) Below are just a handful of recommended events by day.

You never know what or who you’ll enounter at the annual New York Comic Con and Anime Festival (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Friday, October 8: Oyama X Nitta Shamisen Concert, Room 1E09, 2:00

Friday, October 8: Remembering Harvey Pekar, with Jeff Newelt, Dean Haspiel, Peter Kuper, Rick Parker, Joseph Remnant, and Danny Fingeroth, Room 1A22, 4:30

Friday, October 8: Robot Chicken, screening and panel with Seth Green and Matt Senreich, IGN Theater, 6:45

Friday, October 8: MUTANT GIRLS SQUAD, Room 1E02, 7:45

Friday, October 8: Dash Shaw and Chip Kidd in Conversation, Room 1A14, 8:15

Saturday, October 9: MTV Geek with Stan Lee and Bill Plympton, Room 1A08, 11:00 am

Saturday, October 9: Mort Walker and Beetle Bailey, with Mort Walker and Tom Spurgeon, Room 1A15, 1:00

Saturday, October 9: Spotlight on Dean Haspiel, with Dean Haspiel, Walter Simonson, Nick Bertozzi, Joan Hilty, and Jonathan Ames, moderated by Christopher Irving, Room 1A23, 2:45

Saturday, October 9: Minori Chihara Concert, IGN Theater, 7:30

Saturday, October 9: Roddenberry Is Back! with Eugene “Rod” Roddenberry Jr. and Trevor Roth, Room 1A23, 9:00

Sunday, October 10: Castles, Forests, and Bath Houses: The Worlds of Hayao Miyazaki, Room 1E13, 11:00 am

Sunday, October 10: Welcome to the Space Show, Room 1E03, 1:00

Sunday, October 10: The Walking Dead on AMC, with Andrew Lincoln, Jon Bernthal, Sarah Wayne Callies, Laurie Holden, Steven Yeun, Frank Darabont, Robert Kirkman, and Gale Anne Hurd, IGN Theater, 2:15

Sunday, October 10: Voice and Art — Veronica Taylor and Misako Rocks!, Room 1E12, 3:00

Sunday, October 10: Bruce Campbell Spotlight, with Bruce Campbell, Room 1A08, 4:00

INTERROGATIONS: WORDS OF THE ZEN MASTERS

Yoshi Oida will perform solo tour de force at Japan Society Oct. 8-9 (photo © William Irwin)

Japan Society
333 East 47th St. at First Ave.
October 8-9, $23-$28, 7:30
212-715-1258
www.japansociety.org
www.yoshioida.com

Paris-based Japanese actor, director, and writer Yoshi Oida, who has worked with Peter Brook over the course of five decades, makes his first appearance in New York City in twelve years with his widely acclaimed one-man show, INTERROGATIONS, at Japan Society for two very special performances October 8-9. Accompanied by German experimental musician Dieter Trüstedt, Oida, mixing dance and comedy, plays a Zen master teaching a student (the audience) by asking Rinzai Zen koans that have no specific answers but are part of the continual journey toward enlightenment and, in Oida’s words, “a moment of shared delight [and] a living theatre.” As Oida explains on his website, “In this case, there is no spiritual or philosophical objective, only an entertainment based on the gap between word and thought. Obviously, there is no need for anyone to find the ‘right’ answer, but the questions act as a thread linking the audience with the two performers.”

JOHN LENNON 70th BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION

New York City will be celebrating what would have been John Lennon’s seventieth birthday with a plethora of events this week (photo © Bob Gruen)

Multiple venues
October 6-9 (and beyond)
www.johnlennon.com

It’s hard to believe that in December it’ll be thirty years since John Lennon was murdered by Mark David Chapman in front of the Dakota on Central Park West. On October 9, the cool Beatle, who had fallen in love with his adopted home of New York, would have turned seventy years old. The city will be celebrating that never-reached milestone with a series of events all over town this week. Starting today and running through December 31, the Paley Center will be presenting “This Boy . . . John Lennon in Liverpool,” comprising rare photographs from John’s early years. On Thursday night at 7:00, the Paley Center will screen the American Masters film LennonNYC (Michael Epstein, 2010) as part of DocFest 2010, followed by a panel discussion with Epstein, Susan Lacy, Dick Cavett, and Dennis Elsas. In addition, the Paley Center has scheduled showings of IMAGINE: JOHN LENNON, WHAT’S HAPPENING! THE BEATLES IN THE U.S.A., THE U.S. VS. JOHN LENNON, and GIMME SOME TRUTH: THE MAKING OF JOHN LENNON’S IMAGINE ALBUM through the end of the year. On October 9, City Winery will be celebrating with “A John Lennon 70th Birthday Party,” featuring a VIP dinner and “Imagine Wine Flight” and performances by Kimya Dawson, Anais Mitchell, Freedy Johnston, Jesse Malin, the Chapin Sisters, Lisa Bouchelle, the Kennedys, and Tony Scherr; proceeds benefit the Food Bank of New York City. Also on October 9, LennonNYC will be screened for free at Central Park SummerStage at 7:00 (but you better get there a lot earlier). And finally, at the Morrison Hotel Gallery on Bowery, Julian Lennon’s photographs are being displayed for the first time, through October 10. Happy birthday, John!

COTTON JONES

Cotton Jones will be at the Knitting Factory on October 6

Knitting Factory Brooklyn
361 Metropolitan Ave.
Wednesday, October 6, $10-$12, 8:00
347-529-6696
www.myspace.com/thecottonjonesbasketride
www.knittingfactory.com

Formerly known as the Cotton Jones Basket Ride, the Cumberland duo now simply called Cotton Jones is on the road, touring behind TALL HOURS IN THE GLOWSTREAM (Suicide Squeeze, August 2010), a tasty mélange of groovy indie Americana roots rock that follows last year’s highly praised PARANOID COCOON. Michael Nau, formerly of Page France, and Whitney McGraw share sweet vocals on the patriotic “Glorylight and Christie,” backed by some fine snare drumming, while Nau takes the lead on “Somehow Keep It Going,” which features the infectious chorus “C’mon, baby, let the river roll on.” The soothing, wordless “Soft Mountain Shake” sits in the middle of the album, in between the sixties-ish “Song in Numbers” and the fifties-ish “Place at the End of the Street.” Cotton Jones will be playing the Brooklyn Knitting Factory on October 6, with Pepper Rabbit and Beau Jennings opening things up.

THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS

THE TWO TOWERS will get the deluxe musical treatment at special Radio City performances October 8-9

Radio City Music Hall
1260 Sixth Ave. at 50th St.
October 8-9, $59-$150, 7:30
866-858-0008
www.theradiocitylotrconcert.com
www.lordoftherings.net

Middle-earth returns to Midtown in a big way as Howard Shore’s Grammy-winning score will be performed live October 8 and 9 by three hundred musicians while Peter Jackson’s second installment of the Lord of the Rings is projected on Radio City’s sixty-foot screen. Crowding the stage will be the 21st Century Symphony Orchestra, the Brooklyn Youth Chorus, the Dessoff Symphonic Chorus, and soprano Kaitlyn Lusk, conducted by Ludwig Wicki, following up last year’s deluxe presentation of THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING. In THE TWO TOWERS, Jackson continues J. R. R. Tolkien’s immortal tale as Frodo (Elijah Wood) is off to see the wizard (Christopher Lee) at Mordor, where he can destroy evil by throwing the Ring into a fiery volcano. In addition to loyal Samwise (Sean Astin), Frodo is joined by a creature called Gollum (Andy Serkis), which is what you come up with when you mix Yoda with Steve Buscemi. Throw in a bunch of Ents and Orcs, the kingdoms of Rohan and Gondor, and lots of great music and special effects and you have a three-hour film that surpasses the first part and paves the way for the gripping conclusion.

THE POSTELLES ARTIST RESIDENCY

The Postelles will begin three-week residency at Bowery Electric on October 6

Bowery Electric
327 Bowery
Wednesday, October 6, 13, 20, free, 10:00
212-228-0228
www.myspace.com/thepostelles
www.theboweryelectric.com

The Postelles are a quartet of college-age Upper West Siders who play feel-good garage rock steeped in sixties-era pop and soul. Lead singer and guitarist Daniel Balk, lead guitarist David Dargahi, bassist John Speyer, and drummer Billy Cadden will be celebrating the release of their eponymous debut CD (Astralwerks, October 12) with a free three-week residency at Bowery Electic, teaming up with Dinosaur Bones on Oct. 6, the Ambassadors and Jangula on Oct. 13, and the Rassle and Xylo on Oct. 20, the last one a CMJ showcase. On the new disc, Balk sings with a reggae lilt on such tunes as “White Night,” the record’s first single, and intones romantic teen angst on such tracks as “Stella,” “Hey Little Sister,” and “Blue Room.” You won’t be able to stand still to such songs as “1 2 3 Stop,” “Sleep on the Dance Floor,” and, well, “Can’t Stand Still.” Each night, the Postelles are scheduled to go on at 10:00. Oh, and did we say that the shows are free?