this week in music

CHICAGO UNDERGROUND DUO

Chad Taylor and Rob Mazurek will go aboveground at ISSUE Project Room on September 8

ISSUE Project Room
The Old American Can Factory
232 Third St., third floor, Brooklyn
Wednesday, September 8, $10, 8:00
718-330-0313
www.myspace.com/chicagoundergroundmusic
www.issueprojectroom.org

On their fifth album, BOCA NEGRA (Thrill Jockey, August 2010), their first since 2006’s IN PRAISE OF SHADOWS, the Chicago Underground Duo prove that experimental jazz is still alive and well. Brazil-based Rob Mazurek (Exploding Star Orchestra), who plays cornet, keyboards, and laptop, and Brooklyn’s Chad Taylor (Iron and Wine), on drums, mbira, guitar, and vibraphone, team up for ten sound structures that move in and out of melody and beat, playing with time and space like avant-garde sculpture. From the opening horn trills of “Green Ants” to the sweet, subtle melody of “Vergence,” the duo combines for thrilling sonic creations, both composed and improvised. Experimentalism abounds on “Left Hand of Darkness” and a seven-and-a-half-minute foray through Ornette Coleman’s “Broken Shadows,” on which Taylor plays drums and vibraphone simultaneously, while the duo holds down the rhythm on the energetic “Confliction,” which also features organ, and “Spy on the Floor,” which is centered around a noirish bass groove. And they get downright spacey on “Quantum Eye.” The duo will be playing songs from their new release, the first they recorded in Brazil instead of Chicago, and others from throughout their twelve-year career Wednesday night at the ISSUE Project Room in the Old American Can Factory in Brooklyn.

WORKS & PROCESS 2010

The Guggenheim will offer a sneak peek at Kaija Saariaho’s MAA before its run at Columbia’s Miller Theatre (photo by Richard Termine)

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
1071 Fifth Ave. at 89th St.
September 20 – December 20, free – $35 (most events $30)
212-423-3500
www.guggenheim.org

Tickets are now on sale for the Guggenheim’s Works & Process fall series, consisting of advance sneak peeks at upcoming music, dance, and theater productions in the city, with the cast, crew, and/or creators on hand to discuss their work. The series, which tends to sell out relatively quickly, begins September 20 with “MAA: A Ballet by Kaija Saariaho,” an inside look at the collaboration between the International Contemporary Ensemble and choreographer Luca Veggetti, who are mounting a production of Saariaho’s only ballet, at Columbia’s Miller Theatre September 22-25. On September 23, the Gotham Chamber Opera takes the stage at the Peter B. Lewis Theater, performing excerpts from Xavier Montsalvatge’s EL GATO CON BOTAS (PUSS IN BOOTS), which will later hit the New Victory Theater, followed on September 26 with the New York City Opera offering selections from Leonard Bernstein’s A QUIET PLACE. October events include choreographers Jessica Lang and Pontus Lidberg premiering new pieces for Morphoses, set to the same music by David Lang, and “Voices and Dance Within the Americas,” which features further inventive pairings of composers and choreographers, chosen by Ballet Hispanico artistic director Eduardo Vilaro. November brings ABT’s new version of THE NUTCRACKER and an unrealized project from Vertical Opera, while December events range from Brian Turner and Bruce Weigl’s “Poetic Responses to War” to Isaac Mizrahi narrating the New York City Opera’s PETER & THE WOLF, with the season ending, as always, with a pair of free holiday concerts in the rotunda.

WEST INDIAN AMERICAN DAY CARNIVAL

Spectacular costumes are only part of the fun at annual West Indian American Day Carnival celebration on Labor Day (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Eastern Pkwy. from Schenectady Ave. to Flatbush Ave. Ext.
Monday, September 6, free, 11:00 am – 6:00 pm
718-467-1797
www.wiadca.com
www.carnaval.com
2009 parade

Every year we look forward to this fabulous event, now in its forty-third year. We’ve been going for more than fifteen years, and it never lets us down, although it continues to get more and more crowded every Labor Day, with an expected crowd of more than three million in 2010. The festivities begin at 2:00 am with the traditional J’Ouvert Morning, a precarnival procession featuring steel drums and percussion and fabulous masquerade costumes, from Grand Army Plaza to Flatbush Ave. and on to Empire Blvd., then to Nostrand Ave. and Rutland Rd. The Parade of Bands begins around 11:00 am, as truckloads of blasting Caribbean music and groups of ornately dressed dancers, costume bands, masqueraders, moko jumbies, and more march down Eastern Parkway to Grand Army Plaza, soon to be joined by the glad-handing local politicians. Don’t eat before you go; the great homemade food includes ackee and codfish, oxtail stew, curried goat, jerk chicken, fishcakes, and lots of rice and peas. The farther east you venture, the more closed in it gets; by the time you get near Crown Heights, it could take you half an hour just to cross the street, so take it easy and settle in for a fun, colorful day where you need not hurry.

PARKED FOOD TRUCK FESTIVAL

Joyride is one of more than ten food trucks that will be pulling into Colonel’s Row on Governors Island on September 5 (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Colonel’s Row, Governors Island
Sunday, September 5, free, 12 noon – 5:00 pm
www.meanredproductions.com
www.govisland.com

Back on Memorial Day, the folks at Mean Red Productions kicked off the summer season with Parked, a gathering of many of the city’s best food trucks, all anchored at BKLYN Yard on Carroll St. To close the season, Parked will travel to Governors Island on September 5, where people can partake in the delicious delights of such mobile food servers as the Jamaican Dutchy, Rickshaw Dumpling, Green Pirate Juice, Joyride, Red Hook Lobster Pound, Van Leeuwen Artisan Ice Cream, Halo Berlin, Cinnamon Snail, Kelvin Natural Slush, and Hermelinda Mexicana. There will also be local craft beer, live music, DJ sets, and other activities. So forget about checking all those websites and twitter feeds to figure out where your favorite food truck is; on Sunday, it’s most likely on Governors Island.

POP TARTS SUCK TOASTED RELAUNCH PARTY

Brooklyn trio Your Youth helps welcome back Pop Tarts Suck Toasted at Piano’s on September 3

Piano’s
158 Ludlow St.
Friday, September 3, $10, 8:00
212-505-3733
www.ptst.org
www.pianosnyc.com

After having experienced various problems including alleged copyright infringement, the gang over at Pop Tarts Suck Toasted are celebrating the official launch of their latest iteration with a very cool show at Piano’s on September 3. As Staten Island–based PTST founder Patrick Duffy explains on the new site, “In 2010 the internets have not been kind to Pop Tarts Suck Toasted. February saw the deletion of the site from Google’s Blogger format, destroying the archives that had been built up over five years in the click of a button. Later in the year the domain name, poptartssucktoasted.com, was sold off without warning and I took the blog into retirement seemingly forever.” But now they’re back, at www.ptst.org, where you can find out the latest in new music releases and show listings — after first having checked twi-ny, of course. The night begins with Bermuda Bonnie at 8:00, who play lo-fi electronica with a girl-group groove. At 9:00, MiniBoone take the stage, a bunch of “Cool Kids Cut Out of the Heart Itself”; we loved how they ended their Northside Festival gig at Spike Hill with an infectious reckless abandon. At 10:00, AJ, Sean, and Miles, who make up the Brooklyn trio Your Youth, will do what they want as long as they don’t get caught, as they declare on “Diamond,” one of the songs from their engaging debut EP, ALOHA. Coney Island seven-piece Ava Luna will get orchestral closing the show at 11:00.

BRAZILIAN DAY

Everyone will be Brazilian at annual festival in Midtown (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Saturday, September 5, 11:00 am – 6:00 pm
Sixth Ave. between 42nd & 56th Sts. 46th St. between Madison & Seventh Aves.
Admission: free
www.brazilianday.com

Although everyone wearing the green, yellow, and blue wish they had at least one more reason to party this summer — unfortunately, the Netherlands defeated Brazil in the World Cup quarterfinals back in June — more than 1.5 million people are expected to attend Brazilian Day on September 5, celebrating Brazil’s independence from Portugal in September 1822. This year’s festivities will be hosted by Luciano Huck and feature performances by Zezé de Camargo & Luciano, Carlinhos Brown, and Margareth Menezes. Brazilian Day is always one of the loudest, most crowded, and entertaining street fairs of the summer season; be prepared to get your fill of pao de queijo da mamae, bolo de goiabada, arroz farofa, guarana, empadinha, melhor que churros, enroladinho presunto e quiejo, and the country’s national dish, feijoada. The day before, on September 4, the Lavagem da Rua 46 will take place, the ritual Bahian cleansing of 46th St., with dignitaries, folklore performances, the Musa do Brazilian Day pageant, arts and crafts, food vendors, and more.

ELECTRIC ZOO

The Chemical Brothers anchor a strong lineup on first day of electronic music festival this weekend on Randall’s Island

NEW YORK’S ELECTRONIC MUSIC FESTIVAL
Randall’s Island
Saturday, September 4, and Sunday, September 5, $96/day, two-day pass $157, 11:00 am – 11:00 pm
www.madeevent.com/electriczoo

Many of the world’s mostinnovative and popular electronic musicians will bring their laptops, turntables, and other methods of sharing booty-shaking noise to Randall’s Island this weekend for the annual Electric Zoo festival. Such acts as the Chemical Brothers, Major Lazer, Pete Tong, Armin van Buuren, Diplo, John Digweed, the Glitch Mob, Sleepy & Boo, Victor Calderone, DJ Mehdi, and more than fifty others will play four stages over the course of two ear-shattering days. Each night will be followed by an official after-party at Pacha on West 46th St. as well.