this week in music

THE BIRTHDAY MASSACRE

The Birthday Massacre will be partying at the Highline Ballroom on September 10 (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Highline Ballroom
431 West 16th St. between Ninth & Tenth Aves.
Friday, September 10, $12-$15, 7:00
212-414-5994
www.highlineballroom.com
www.myspace.com/thebirthdaymassacre

Chibi, Rainbow, M. Falcore, Rhim, O.E., and Owen, better known as the Birthday Massacre, will be at the Highline Ballroom on September 10 celebrating the impending release of their latest album, PINS AND NEEDLES (Metropolis, September 14). On the new record, the Toronto-based band rocks harder and louder than ever, letting loose with big-sounding power pop on such anthemic tracks as “Pale” and “Control,” heavy synths melding with blasting guitars over and under Chibi’s sly vocals. Tunes such as “Midnight,” “Sleepwalking,” and “Pins and Needles” threaten to explode at any moment — and then do. TBM also knows how to rock out live; just don’t be put off by the gothic metal makeup, black costumes, black hair, tattoos, and demonic signage. At heart, they’re just a bunch of pussycats. Well, maybe. To get a feel for what you’re in for, check out their video for the album’s first single, “In the Dark”; don’t say we didn’t warn you. Twitch the Ripper and Black Tape for a Blue Girl open the show.

TWI-NY TICKET GIVEAWAY: THE NEW COLLISIONS

After taking the 2009 CMJ by storm, the New Collisions are back in New York, highlighting tunes from their upcoming debut album at the Mercury Lounge on September 13 (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Mercury Lounge
217 East Houston St.
Monday, September 13, $8, 8:00
www.myspace.com/thenewcollisions
www.mercuryloungenyc.com

We’ve been singing the praises of the Cambridge-based New Collisions since we first heard the opening notes of their exciting 2009 debut EP, INVISIBLE EMBRACES, which features such fabulous forays into ’80s new wave as “Beautiful and Numb,” “No Free Ride,” the eminently groovy “Parachutes on the Dance Floor,” and the gorgeous ballad “Afterglow.” Then we saw them at last year’s CMJ Festival, where they blew us away with their infectious charm; we weren’t the only ones to name them one of the best of the fest. Formed in the spring of 2009 and already declared Best Boston Band twice, lead singer Sarah Guild, guitarist Scott Guild, bassist Alex Stern, and drummer Zak Kahn are now ready to release their next outing, THE OPTIMIST, on October 5. Produced by Sean Slade and Paul Kolderie and recorded live in less than ten days, the album is another nonstop collection of triumphant rave-ups, nine killer tunes that speed by in less than thirty minutes but will leave a lasting impression, your body still moving to the synth groove of “In a Shadow,” your head still buzzing with the “Wa-ah-ah wah-ah-ah-ha wo-oh-oh” of “Over,” which you’ll not want to end. On “Seven Generations,” Sarah asks, “Are we happy yet?” Oh yeah, we’re happy, especially with the band coming to the Mercury Lounge on September 13 for an industry showcase gig at 8:00. (Also on the bill are Pablo Sebastian at 7:00, Analog Fire at 9:00, and Pie Boys Flat at 10:00.)

The New Collisions are so excited about their return to New York City that Scott and Sarah have contacted us directly, generously offering to give away a pair of tickets to the event to twi-ny readers. To be eligible to win, send your name and daytime phone number to contest@twi-ny.com by Friday, September 10, at 12 noon. All entrants must be at least twenty-one years of age, and the winner will be chosen at random. See you there!

OVAL

Markus Popp will make a rare area appearance as Oval at ISSUE Project Room on September 9

ISSUE Project Room
The Old American Can Factory
232 Third St., third floor, Brooklyn
Thursday, September 9, $20, 8:00 & 10:00
718-330-0313
www.myspace.com/markuspopp
www.issueprojectroom.org

Berlin-based electronic music pioneer Markus Popp is back recording as Oval, the seminal noise band he formed in 1991 with Sebastian Oschatz and Frank Metzger, who have both long gone on to other projects. But Popp has returned to reinvent the electronic music genre yet again, first releasing a limited-edition EP, OH (Thrill Jockey, June 2010), consisting of fifteen tracks totaling twenty-five minutes that reveal Popp to be just as much a musician as a technician, incorporating guitars and drums into the sonic language he creates using a four-year-old stock PC with standard software and plug-ins. The glitch master has followed OH up with a double CD, simply titled O (Thrill Jockey, September 7, 2010), comprising another seventy songs, with twenty on disc one, fifty on disc two, ranging from thirty-two seconds (“Lonely”) to 4:42 (“Dolo”), mostly with one-word titles, such as “Ah!” “Shhh,” “Sky,” “Cry,” “Cinematic,” “Dyamo,” “Pomp,” “Blinky,” “Emocor,” “Voilà,” and “Goodbye.” Popp works inside and out of structure and melody, emitting engaging sounds that are as experimental as they are intoxicating. While O’s second disc has more going on sonically, both offer respite for music fans with ADD as well as those who are tired of the same old thing. Popp will be playing two sets at Brooklyn’s ISSUE Project Room on September 9, at 8:00 and 10:00, giving adventurous audiophiles a rare opportunity to see a legendary figure in the world of electronic 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.