this week in music

77BOADRUM

77BOADRUM (Jun Kawaguchi, 2010)
IndieScreen
285 Kent Ave. at Second St.
Wednesday, September 1, $10, 8:00
www.indiescreen.us
www.myspace.com/film77boadrum

Two years ago, on August 8, 2008, at 8:08 pm, we watched as 88 drummers, led by Gang Gang Dance, performed for 88 minutes in East River State Park along the Williamsburg Waterfront. It was a magically spiritual, wholly uplifting experience that would go on three hours later in California, led by Japanese noise specialists Boredoms, who had held a similar gathering thirteen months earlier. As we were leaving, we were kicking ourselves for having missed the previous year’s event, when Boredoms led 77 drummers playing for 77 minutes on July 7, 2007, at 7:07 pm in Brooklyn’s Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park. Thankfully, plenty of other people were there to witness it, and director Jun Kawaguchi has documented it all on 77BOADRUM, using original footage he shot as well as clips he found on YouTube and other sites. Combining the performance itself with behind-the-scenes action and interviews, Kawaguchi has created an eighty-nine-minute film that will make you feel like you were there too. In advance of the DVD release from Thrill Jockey on September 7, which will come with special photo postcards, the film will be shown for one night only at IndieScreen in Brooklyn. Part of the fun of watching the 8/8/08 event was being in the midst of a crowd, all being lifted by the beautiful percussive sounds floating through the air, so watching it in a theater with other like-minded people is the next-best thing.

FRANZ NICOLAY

Franz Nicolay will be playing various different types of shows all over town in September (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Thursday, September 2, Highline Ballroom, 431 West 16th St., $10-$12, 8:00
Wednesday, September 15, the Tank, 354 West 45th St., 7:00
Sunday, September 26, Vivo in Vivo, 215 East Fourth St., $25, 8:00
www.myspace.com/franznicolay
www.sinkingshipproductions.com

In a recent interview with novelist Peter Bognanni for InDigest magazine, Brooklyn musician Franz Nicolay mentioned “restlessness” as one of the reasons why he never stays too long in one band and keeps trying new things. He is one restless dude, because over the last ten years or so he’s been part of the art collective Anti-Social Music, the World/Inferno Friendship Society, Against Me!, Guignol, and, most famously, the Hold Steady. He plays the piano, accordion, guitar, mandolin, saw, and harmonica. He wears funky hats and has a weird mustache. And he makes a lot of great music. His solo work has included the January 2009 full-length MAJOR GENERAL and the October 2009 EP ST. SEBASTIAN OF THE SHORT STAGE, and he and Guignol teamed up with Philly’s Mischief Brew on the outstanding FIGHT DIRTY, packing them in at Shea Stadium (the tiny Brooklyn club) for a great night of Gypsy punk last December. This month, Nicolay will be all over the place, celebrating the upcoming release of LUCK AND COURAGE (October 12, Team Science/Sabot), a terrific concept album about a nation of two that we’ve been listening to a lot more than we have the last few Hold Steady records. Influenced by Kurt Vonnegut, Cormac McCarthy, and Nicole Krauss, the literary-minded Nicolay, who also writes short stories for InDigest and participates in the Bushwick Book Club mash-up of books and music, called in lots of his friends to contribute to LUCK AND COURAGE, including drummer Brian Viglione from the Dresden Dolls, bassist Yula Be’eri from the World/Inferno Friendship Society, and pianist Maria Sonevytsky from the Debutante Hour, in addition to Gutbucket saxophonist Ken Thomson, Demander guitarist Jared Scott, Son Volt pedal steel guitarist Mark Spencer, Lazarus Quartet trumpeter Ben Holmes, and Pearl and the Beard cellist Emily Hope Price. Nicolay & Major General will be at the Highline Ballroom on September 2 with Eddie the Gun and Yula Be’eri; Nicolay will then be doing Talking Heads covers with puppets at the Tank’s Puppet Playlist on September 15 before playing a solo gig September 16 at the wine salon Vivo in Vivo. And who knows what’s next…

WYE OAK

Baltimore duo Jenn Wasner and Andy Stack do not really hope you die (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Mercury Lounge
217 East Houston St.
Wednesday, September 1, $12-$14, 7:30
212-260-4700
www.myspace.com/wyeoak
www.mercuryloungenyc.com
wye oak at the siren festival

Indie legend Lou Barlow, who has played with such groups as Sebadoh, Dinosaur Jr., and the Folk Implosion and is currently touring with his band the Missingmen behind his latest solo album, GOODNIGHT UNKNOWN (Merge, October 2009), may be the main act at the Mercury Lounge on September 1, but we highly recommend you get there in time to catch openers Wye Oak, who impressed at this year’s Siren Festival. Hailing from Baltimore, lead singer/guitarist Jenn Wasner and drummer Andy Stack play an enchanting blend of shoegazing indie country folk, their songs moving sedately between beautiful harmonies, Americana roots rock, and sudden bursts of noise. Their debut album, 2008’s IF CHILDREN, featured the majestic “If Children Were Wishes,” while their 2009 follow-up, THE KNOT, held such gems as “For Prayer” and “Siamese.” Earlier this summer they released a terrific five-track EP, MY NEIGHBOR / MY CREATOR (Merge, June 2010), another hard-to-pin-down collection of songs and sounds that range from the lovely harmonies and closing spacey trip of “My Neighbor” to the harmonica-laden “Emmylou,” which would have felt right at home at Woodstock, to the sweetly titled “I Hope You Die,” which ends with an eerie sax outro. And then things get downright funky on the Mickey Free remix of “That I Do.” Merge labelmates Barlow and Wye Oak should make for one heckuva cool show.

HEAVY CREAM

Heavy Cream will be spilling all over the city for the next week (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Wednesday, September 1, Union Pool, 484 Union Ave., 10:30
Thursday, September 2, Cake Shop, 152 Ludlow St., $8, 8:00
Monday, September 6, Rock Shop, 249 Fourth Ave., $10, 4:30
Tuesday, September 7, Death by Audio, 49 South Second St., 8:00
www.myspace.com/heavycreamband
heavy cream rocks off slideshow

It could be a bummer of a summer if you don’t catch Heavy Cream before fall takes over. The Nashville garage punks tear through Ramones-like originals that clock in around two minutes or less, ripping it up with such fast-paced tunage as “Run Free,” “Hawkwound,” “Watusi,” “Heart of Darkness,” “Tina,” and “Lava Lamp,” which actually borrows liberally from “Rock ‘n’ Roll High School.” Oh, and there’s also “Summer Bummer.” The band is on the road with their debut record, DANNY (August 2010, Infinity Cat), which was produced by Jake Orrall of the awesome Jeff the Brotherhood. Heavy Cream recently opened for the Detroit Cobras aboard the Half Moon Rocks Off Concert Cruise, and perhaps what was most impressive was how lead singer Jessica, bassist Daniel, and guitarist Mimi kept their balance while the boat rocked from side to side; at least drummer Melissa could sit behind her drum kit. Jessica wandered through the crowd and, at times, got down on the floor as she sang it loud. Heavy Cream will be at Union Pool with Boogie Boarder and Sweet Bulbs on September 1, at Cake Shop with Unnatural Helpers on September 2, at the Rock Shop’s all-day Labor Day BBQ with Pterodactyl, Dinowalrus, and Shingles on September 6, and at Death by Audio with Hunters on September 7.

JIMMY SCOTT: 85th BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION

Jimmy Scott wowed the crowd at the Charlie Parker Jazz Festival on Sunday in Tompkins Square Park (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Blue Note
131 West Third St.
August 31 & September 1, bar $20, table $35, 8:00 & 10:30
212-475-8592
www.bluenote.net
www.jimmyscottofficialwebsite.org

Born in Cleveland in 1925, Jimmy Scott started singing as a young child. At thirteen, he developed Kallman’s syndrome, which stunted his growth and left him with a high-pitched, feminine voice. He eventually grew eight more inches, but his voice never fully matured — and has been dazzling jazz fans for decades. On Sunday at the Charlie Parker Jazz Festival in Tompkins Square Park, Scott, who turned eighty-five in July, treated a packed crowd to splendid versions of such standards as “It Had to Be You,” “Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child,” and “Embraceable You,” which he had performed with Bird himself back in 1950. Although he is now confined to a wheelchair and can’t hit or hold the notes like he used to, Scott still displays his uncanny knack for vocal phrasing and emotional power, and his sense of humor was evident in his delightful between-song patter. However, in one poignant moment during “Motherless Child,” Scott looked up to the sky after singing, “I’m ready to go home.” Scott, backed by the excellent Jazz Expressions — T. K. Blue on alto sax, Alex Minasian on piano, Hillard Greene on stand-up bass, and Dwayne Broadnax on drums — will be celebrating his eighty-fifth birthday in style at the Blue Note with four shows over two nights, featuring special guest Gregoire Maret.

BAM NEXT WAVE FESTIVAL

Don’t get washed out of getting tickets to see Pina Bausch’s VOLLMOND at BAM (photo by Laurent Philippe)

Brooklyn Academy of Music
BAM Howard Gilman Opera House, 30 Lafayette Ave.
BAM Harvey Theater, 651 Fulton St.
September 23 – December 19, $20-$85
718-636-4100
www.bam.org

Now in its twenty-eighth year, BAM’s Next Wave Festival is, as always, a terrific collection of productions scouted from around the world. Single tickets go on sale Monday, August 30, for Laurie Anderson’s phantasmagoric DELUSION and Pina Bausch’s VOLLMOND, an extremely strong one-two punch to get the season going, featuring a pair of longtime BAM favorites; we recently caught Anderson at (le) poisson rouge, and she’s still at the top of her game, while VOLLMOND is the final piece from the inventive, innovative, and endlessly entertaining Bausch, who passed away in June 2009, leaving behind a BAM legacy that included the thrilling BAMBOO BLUES, NEFÉS, and FUR DIE KINDER VON GESTERN, HEUTE, UND MORGEN, among other splendid shows. The rest of the series goes on sale September 7, with such highlights as Ralph Lemon’s HOW CAN YOU STAY IN THE HOUSE ALL DAY AND NOT GO ANYWHERE?, Stew’s BROOKLYN OMNIBUS, Julia Stiles in the Ridge Theater’s PERSEPHONE, Sasha Waltz’s GEZEITEN, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s version of Akira Kurosawa’s THRONE OF BLOOD, Thomas Ostermeier’s take on Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s THE MARRIAGE OF MARIA BRAUN, Gísli Örn Gardarsson and Nick Cave’s experimental exploration of Franz Kafka’s METAMORPHOSIS, and Mikel Rouse’s multimedia extravaganza GRAVITY RADIO. Subscription tickets are available right now; if you buy seats to four or more shows, you can save up to forty percent and receive such benefits as priority access to future seasons, flexible scheduling, and discounts for additional tickets.

GREATER NEW YORK/WARM UP

William Cordova’s “Laberintos (after octavio paz)” is set up like dominoes ready to come tumbling down at any moment (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

MoMAPS1
22-25 Jackson Ave. at 46th Ave.
Warm Up: Saturdays from 2:00 to 9:00 through September 4, $15 (free for Long Island City residents)
Greater New York: Thursday through Monday from 12 noon – 6:00 pm through October 18
Suggested donation: $10 (free with MoMA ticket within thirty days of MoMA visit)
718-784-2084
www.ps1.org
“pole dance” slideshow

MoMA PS1’s third quinquennial, their five-year survey of contemporary art in the metropolitan area, is an engaging and involving collection of multimedia work from approximately seventy artists. Taking on everything from environmentalism and racism to marketing and celebrity, the show moves along at a breezy pace. Various artists get their own relatively large galleries, including David Benjamin Sherry (yes, you can walk through the doors), Leidy Churchman, Vlatka Horvat, and Zipora Fried, while others get their own small rooms, like Conrad Ventur, who presents the history of Shirley Bassey singing “This Is My Life” as seen through rotating crystal prisms. David Brooks’s “Preserved Forest” installation comments on the deforestation along a new superhighway in Brazil, while Gilad Ratman’s two-channel video, “The 588 Project,” features a bubbling, muddy ooze seemingly coming alive. Visitors are encouraged to add colorful strips of tape to Franklin Evans’s “timecompressionmachine” and to play the strings of Naama Tsabar’s pair of speaker walls. One of the most powerful pieces is Hank Willis Thomas’s “Unbranded,” consisting of advertising photographs tailored to the African American community, organized chronologically from the 1960s to the present, in which all text and brand names have been removed, leaving just the central image to be judged on its own. In the same room, William Cordova’s “Laberintos (after octavio paz)” collects record sleeves from an Ivy League institution that borrowed 200 Inca artifacts from Peru in 1914 and refuses to return them; the albums are arranged in a perilous maze that appears likely to collapse at any moment. As usual, there’s art just about everywhere you look or listen at PS1; Nico Muhly’s specially commissioned sound piece loops in the elevator, and Aki Sasamoto collaborated with Saul Melman on “Skewed Lies / Central Governor” in the boiler room, where live performances are scheduled September 17-19 and October 15-17. Also downstairs, in the cinema, Ronald Bronstein’s FROWNLAND (2007) continues through August 30, with Bronstein discussing the film with Amy Taubin on August 28; future screenings include works by Dani Leventhal and Fern Silva as well as Tomonari Nishikawa and Redmond Entwistle, with upcoming performances by Andrew Lampert and Trisha Baga. In addition, Dutch artist Guido van der Werve will be presenting an orchestra performance October 2 & 9.

Solid Objectives — Idenburg Liu have installed the playful, interactive “Pole Dance” in the PS1 courtyard (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

The summer-long hot and sweaty Warm Up series has two Saturdays remaining, with Big Freedia, DJ Rusty Lazer, DJ Rashad, GHE20 GOTHIK DJs Venus X and Brenmar, and Traxx getting booties shaking on August 28, and House of House, DJ Mehdi, and a live set by Holy Ghost! ready to close out the season on September 4. The winner of this year’s Young Architects Program, Solid Objectives — Idenburg Liu (SO – IL), has filled the courtyard with large beach balls, overhead netting, hammocks, wading pools, and sand, where people can relax or toss around the balls while also getting sprayed with mist. Some of the poles in the section immediately to the right are linked to sound, so you can orchestrate your own concert or watch a show choreographed by Kyra Johannesen on August 28 at 2:30. You can also grab burgers, beer, and dogs at the regular Warm Up barbecue, but be prepared for some massive crowds. Summer Saturdays at PS1 have become a right of passage for New Yorkers, who are able to experience art, music, film, dance, food, sport, literature, and more, all in one fabulous setting.