this week in music

TWO TEARS / GRINGO STAR

Kerry Davis will lead the Two Tears into Cameo Gallery on September 13

Cameo Gallery
93 North Sixth St.
Monday, September 13, 8:00
www.myspace.com/thetwotears
www.myspace.com/cameogallery

After stints in Paris and Dubai, former “one lady band” Kerry Davis is now based in New York City, where she’ll be playing a hometown gig September 13 with her group the Two Tears. Davis, on guitar and vocals, will be joined by Des Roar bassist Ryan Spoto, and Mutilation Rites drummer Justin Ennis as they blast short bursts of experimental bluesy garage punk that is not nearly as cannibalistic as you might think from such titles as “Eat People” and “I Like Your Face” nor as depressing as indicated by such titles as “Die Tonight,” “OOooo I’m Blue,” and “Shit Fucking Job.” In “Senso Unico,” Davis declares, “I hate my life,” but you won’t hate hers when she and Two Tears perform at Brooklyn’s Cameo Gallery on September 13 with Atlanta’s Gringo Star, one of the standouts at the 2008 CMJ Music Marathon. Gringo Star, which plays punk-injected southern garage rock with a twist, is about to go back into the studio to record their follow-up to their debut disc, 2008’s ALL YALL, with producer Ben Allen. Opening up are two Brooklyn bands, the whispery, lo-fi Caveman and the minimalist Soft Black.

FERRAGOSTO 2010


Belmont’s Little Italy
Arthur Ave. between East 187th St. & Crescent Ave.
Sunday, September 12, free, 12 noon – 7:00 pm
www.facebook.com

At last year’s annual Ferragosto in the Bronx, some seventeen thousand people celebrated New York City’s Italian heritage, with food, live entertainment, specialty vendors, and much more. This year’s festival takes place on September 12, featuring performances by the Bronx Wanderers, the Caleps with Gino Venuto, Commedia Dell’arte, Dominic Chianese, Christopher Macchio, Maria Fraccola, and Moreno Fruzzetti as well as a tribute to the Three Tenors, sponsored by the Belmont Business Improvement District.

NEW YORKER FESTIVAL

Justin Timberlake and Jesse Eisenberg will kick off the New Yorker Festival with a screening of their new film THE SOCIAL NETWORK, which will be followed by a Q&A with the two stars and screenwriter Aaron Sorkin

Multiple venues
October 1-3
Tickets: $25-$150 (most events $25-$35)
www.newyorker.com/festival

And they’re off! The race to get the hottest tickets to this year’s New Yorker Festival will begin September 10 at 12 noon, as literary snobs, wanna-be writers, and the glitterati battle it out to see conversations, lectures, book readings, live music, panel discussions, film screenings, and other events featuring such stars as Steve Carell, James Taylor, Justin Timberlake, Lorrie Moore, Yo-Yo Ma, Stephen King, Regina Spektor, Paul Goldberger, Ian Frazier, Neil Gaiman, Patricia Clarkson, Michael Chabon and Zadie Smith, David Simon, mumblecore masters Andrew Bujalski, Greta Gerwig, and Joe Swanberg, and many others. Good luck getting tickets for “Living History,” in which Peter Carey, E. L. Doctorow, and Annie Proulx share their thoughts with moderator Simon Schama; Paul Reubens talking about life, with Susan Morrison; Werner Herzog telling tales with Judith Thurman; Calvin Trillin’s annual tasting walk from Greenwich Village to Chinatown; a private tour of the Frick with Peter Schjeldahl; and “The Cartoon Caption Game,” in which audience members participate in a live caption-writing contest in the Condé Nast executive dining room.

HOWL! FESTIVAL 2010

Live painting surrounds Tompkins Square Park during Howl! Festival (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Tompkins Square Park
Ave. A between Seventh & Tenth Sts.
September 10-12
Admission: free
www.howlfestival.com

The on-and-off Howl! Festival, celebrating the seminal work by Allen Ginsberg, is back in Tompkins Square Park this weekend, with free events September 10-12 on two stages, beginning with the group reading of “Howl” on Friday at 5:00, featuring Anne Waldman, John Giorno, Jennifer Blowdryer, Steve Dalachinsky, Mariposa, and many more, emceed by Bob Holman. Saturday and Sunday will include live art installations, yoga, a circus, Butoh dance, performance art, a musical tribute to Arthur Russell, poetry readings, and other very cool events, culminating with the “House of Howl!” variety show and “Low Life 4: Beat Girl.”

BROOKLYN BOOK FESTIVAL

Former honoree Paul Auster will talk with 2010 BoBi award winner John Ashbery during Brooklyn Book Festival (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Multiple locations in Brooklyn
Sunday, September 12, free, 10:00 am – 6:00 pm
www.brooklynbookfestival.org

The fifth annual Brooklyn Book Festival takes place on Sunday, September 12, with a host of literary events at such locations as the Borough Hall Courtroom, St. Francis College Auditorium, and the Brooklyn Historical Society. The festival opens at 10:00 in the morning with the promising “It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll (But I Like It),” with Steve Almond, Jennifer Egan, and Colson Whitehead reading from music-inspired writings, followed by a Q&A, as well as Stewart O’Nan, Siri Hustvedt, and T Cooper discussing “How Things Shake Out.” Jon Scieszka, E. Lockhart, and Mac Barnett will team up for “You’ve Got to Be Kidding,” Paul Krugman and Robin Wells will converse about “The Economic Crisis and What to Do About It,” Naomi Klein, Kurt Andersen, Jordan Flaherty, and Paul Reyes will get serious for “The Culture of Disaster: How Crisis Defines America,” while Kate Christensen, Sam Lipsyte, and Rakesh Satyal will get personal for “Me . . . in the World.” Amy Goodman and David Zirin will lead a tribute to the late Howard Zinn, Paul Auster will talk with 2010 BoBi award winner John Ashbery, Sarah Silverman will get down and dirty with David Rakoff, and Cristina Garcia, Steven Millhauser, and Peter Straub will delve into “Hallucinations of Your Neighbors.” Among the dozens of other participants are Dennis Lehane, Bernice L. McFadden, Michael Connelly, Francine Prose, Matthew Sharpe, Jacqueline Woodson, Phillip Lopate, Kristin Hersh, John Hodgman, Kristen Schaal, Adam Haslett, Kate Milford, Ben Katchor, Jessica Abel, Melvin Van Peebles, Mona Simpson, Pete Hamill, Venus Williams, Charles Fuller, and many, many more. Although all programs are free, some require advanced tickets, which will be distributed an hour before the presentation. There will also be a bevy of “bookend events” held September 10-12 at Light Industry, Greenlight Bookstore, Coco 66, the Bell House, powerHouse Arena, BAM Rose Cinemas, St. Ann’s Warehouse, and other spots, featuring film screenings, flash readings, live music, cocktail hours, and pizza; highlights include Rob Sheffield chatting up TALKING TO GIRLS ABOUT DURAN DURAN, Carolyn Kellogg in “An Intimate Conversation with John Waters,” Russell Banks discussing Atom Egoyan’s 1997 adaptation of his novel THE SWEET HEREAFTER after a screening of the film, live performances by Mountains and Lymbyc Systym, and a free showing of COSMOS: A PERSONAL VOYAGE in Brooklyn Bridge Park, complete with telescopes.

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!