this week in music

CROSSING THE LINE 2010

Ryoji Ikeda’s “datamatics (ver. 2.0)” kicks off FIAF’s Crossing the Line festival on September 10-11

FIAF FALL FESTIVAL
French Institute Alliance Française and other locations
Florence Gould Hall, 55 East 59th St. between Madison & Park Aves.
Le Skyroom and FIAF Gallery, 22 East 60th St. between Madison & Park Aves.
September 10-27, free- $45
212-355-6160
www.fiaf.org/crossingtheline

The fourth annual Crossing the Line Festival, a multidisciplinary international celebration consisting of cutting-edge music, dance, film, theater, art, photography, lectures, and even a fair, will take place September 10-27 at FIAF as well as such other venues as the Joyce, the Invisible Dog Art Center, 3rd Ward, the Red Hook Community Farm, Dance Theater Workshop, Columbia University, the ISSUE Project Room, and Anthology Film Archives. Ryoji Ikeda kicks off the festival with “datamatics [ver. 2.0],” in which the Japanese artist and composer uses computer data, an electronic score, and strobes to present a visually dynamic performance; Ikeda’s multimedia installation “the transcendental” will be on view in the FIAF Gallery for free from September 11 through October 16. There will be a pair of exciting site-specific performance pieces, with locations to be announced, with Arthur Nauzyciel’s HETERO running September 11-14 and Daniel Pettrow’s THE SEA MUSEUM scheduled for September 18-19. Former Pina Bausch dramaturg Raimund Hoghe and Congolese dancer-choreographer Faustin Linyekula team up on September 16-18, Buddhist monk and teacher Matthieu Ricard sits down with Philip Glass on September 13 to engage in a “Conversation on Contemplation and Creativity,” and Willi Dorner will lead “Bodies in Urban Spaces,” a pair of free performance walks in Lower Manhattan scheduled for sunrise on September 27 and sunset on September 27. In addition, “Farm City: Where Are You Growing?” will explore urban agriculture around the city with a fair, film screenings, a farm tour, and an afternoon forum. The festival will also include performances and appearances by Jérôme Bel, Bertrand Bonello, Bouchra Ouizguen, Richard Garet, and Eliane Radigue. Tickets for the 2010 edition of Crossing the Line are on sale now; please note that some of the free events require advance RSVPs.

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.