this week in music

HIROMI: SOLO PIANO

Japanese jazz superstar Hiromi will be playing solo at the Blue Note August 17-22 (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Blue Note
West Third St.
August 17-22, bar $20, table $30, 8:00 & 10:30
212-475-8592
www.bluenote.net
www.myspace.com/hiromimusic

With her exciting live concerts and award-winning albums, including ANOTHER MIND, BRAIN, SPIRAL, and TIME CONTROL, Japanese pianist Hiromi Uehara has become one of the most popular jazz musicians in the world, pounding away on her keyboards while both sitting and standing, playing solo and with her group, Sonic Bloom. The thirty-one-year-old international star is coming to the Blue Note for a dozen intimate solo shows August 17-22, which are being filmed for an upcoming DVD release. In June, Hiromi revved up the SummerStage crowd with her explosive virtuosity, joining the Stanley Clarke Band for an evening of thrilling contemporary jazz. Her run at the Blue Note promises to be special as well.

SALUTE INDIA: CELEBRATING THE SPIRIT OF INDIA

New York will salute India at thirtieth anniversary parade and festival on August 15

2010 INDIA DAY PARADE
Madison Ave. from 38th to 28th Sts.
Sunday, August 15, free, 11:00 am – 6:00 pm
www.fianynjct.org

The world’s largest India Day Parade takes place on Sunday, August 15, as thousands of marchers and spectators will gather along Madison Ave. between 28th & 38th Sts. to see the floats, check out live performances, taste Indian cuisine, and take in special cultural programs and activities marking the event’s thirtieth anniversary. This year’s grand marshal is Bollywood actress Preity Zinta, who has starred in such films as ARMAAN, SALAAM NAMASTE, KABHI ALVIDA NAA KEHNA, and HEAVEN ON EARTH.

SEAPORT MUSIC: THE WEDDING PRESENT / SAVOIR ADORE

The Wedding Present will close out summer season of free shows at the seaport

River to River Festival
South Street Seaport, Pier 17
Friday, August 13, free, 6:00
www.myspace.com/theweddingpresent

While River to River’s Seaport Music festival specializes in bringing buzz bands and rising stars of the indie music scene to Pier 17, over the years they have also reintroduced such old-timers as Wire, Suicide, and Superchunk. This Friday, their ninth season closes with quite a gift, British legends the Wedding Present. For twenty-five years, the Wedding Present has gone through constant change, with band members joining, quitting, rejoining, getting fired, and, as a whole, taking a long sabbatical. But founder, guitarist, and lead singer David Gedge has always been front and center, through such albums as GEORGE BEST (1987), BIZARRO (1989), SEAMONSTERS (1991), WATUSI (1994), SATURNALIA (1996), and TAKE FOUNTAIN (2005). (Gedge also made several records as Cinerama beginning in 1998.) The band’s most recent official release was EL REY (Manifesto, May 2008), and the current touring lineup consists of Gedge along with in-and-out guitarist Simon Cleave, bassist Terry de Castro, and drummer Graeme Ramsay. The Wedding Present’s songs are filled with great guitar-laden hooks, melding pop, punk, and alternative that you’ll swear you’ve heard before and probably have — or else you’ve heard their licks stolen by just about any indie band you can think of.

Savoir Adore will open final Seaport Music show of the summer (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Deidre Muro and Paul Hammer claim that they started a band as an “accident,” that they were fooling around with some songs, shared them with friends, and eventually became a little more serious about it. Briefly known as Les Frogs, Muro and Hammer renamed themselves Savoir Adore and are touring in support of their debut full-length, the lush, adventurous IN THE WOODED FOREST (Cantora, September 2009), joined by David Perlick-Molinari (who, with Hammer, is part of YouTooCanWoo Prod.), bassist Sasha Brown, and drummer Tim McCoy (who leads the Papercuts). A mix of pure pop delights and sweet instrumental-heavy tunes that walk the fine line between nature and technology, the infectious album features two of the best-titled songs of last year, “The Scientific Findings of Dr. Rousseau” and “Transylvanian Candy Patrol,” but Savoir Adore is about a lot more than just unusual names (even though their first EP was called THE ADVENTURES OF MR. PUMPERNICKEL AND THE GIRL WITH ANIMALS IN HER THROAT). “We Talk Like Machines” has a hook most bands would kill for, with the chorus of “Early Bird” right behind it. “The fires burning bright, everyone’s out tonight! 1 and 2 and 3 and 4, the starry night’s our disco ball!” Muro declares on MERP, which is a good description of Savoir Adore itself.

SCREAMING FEMALES

Marissa Paternoster led Screaming Females as they sent out a blast of punk power at last month’s Siren Festival (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Friday, August 13, Maxwell’s, 1039 Washington St., Hoboken, $8-$10, 8:30
Saturday, August 14, Death by Audio, 49 South Second St., Brooklyn, 8:00
www.myspace.com/screamingfemales

One of the stand-out bands of last month’s Siren Festival in Coney Island was Screaming Females, a New Brunswick trio that played a torrid set of searing indie punk rock. The group features Jarrett Dougherty on drums, King Mike on bass, and the titular screaming female, Marissa Paternoster, on guitar and vocals. The pint-size Paternoster ripped off screaming guitar solos along with some mighty impressive screaming vocals, winning over the crowd instantly. The threesome, who recently teamed up with Miranda Taylor of Full of Fancy and Black Wine and Angie Boylan of Cheeky and Little Lungs to form Noun and release HOLY HELL (Don Giovanni, June 15, 2010), made an impact last year with POWER MOVE and is preparing for the release of their latest disc, CASTLE TALK (Don Giovanni, September 14, 2010), which includes the propulsive “I Don’t Mind It” along with “Boss, Normal,” “Nothing at All,” and “Wild.” An up-and-coming must-see who are not far removed from playing Jersey basements, Screaming Females will be at Maxwell’s on Friday night with Black Wine and Byrds of Paradise and at Death by Audio on Saturday night with Big Soda.

RIVERROCKS: DEERHUNTER / REAL ESTATE

Bradford Cox and Deerhunter will be rocking the river on Thursday night (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Hudson River Park, Pier 54
West 14th St. & the Hudson River
Thursday, August 12, free, doors at 6:00, concert at 7:00
212-627-2121
www.riverrocksnyc.com
www.myspace.com/deerhunter

Just to clear up any possible confusion, Thursday night’s free RiverRocks double bill on Pier 54 is not the Dear Hunter with Sunny Day Real Estate, nor is it Deerhoof with the Real Estate Agents, and it certainly isn’t Deer Tick with the Department of Real Estate. In fact, it’s Atlanta’s Deerhunter with New Brunswick’s Real Estate. Atlanta psychedelic garage band Deerhunter has been making a name for itself over the last three years, playing free outdoor NYC shows with such groups as No Age, King Khan, and fellow Georgians the Black Lips. Led by the tall, gangly Bradford Cox (who has Marfan syndrome), Deerhunter specializes in trippy guitar-based music, releasing a steady stream of highly touted full-length albums and EPs, including 2007’s CRYPTOGRAMS and FLOURESCENT GREY, 2008’s MICROCASTLE, and 2009’s RAINWATER CASSETTE EXCHANGE. On Thursday, expect the foursome to preview material from its upcoming disc, HALCYON DIGEST (4AD, September 28, 2010), which includes the dreamy “Helicopter,” the hard-driving “Fountain Stairs,” and the groovy “Revival.” As always, the line can get rather long for Pier 54 concerts, so get there early — and if you don’t bring a bag (which would need to be searched by security), you can usually go straight to the front. After the show, Deerhunter will be heading over to Brooklyn for a DJ set at Glasslands.

THE GOLDEN FILTER

The Golden Filter will look into their crystal ball this week with a DJ set Thursday and live band gig on Friday

Thursday, August 12, W New York Oasis Lounge, 541 Lexington Ave., (RSVP here), 9:00
Friday, August 13, Glasslands, 289 Kent Ave., $10-$12, 9:00
www.myspace.com/thegoldenfilter

The Golden Filter enjoys being an enigma on the New York music scene, initially hiding their last names and still not allowing their faces to be seen in any publicity photos. For them, it’s the music that matters, which is fine by us, because their techno-disco house raves are endlessly groovy. The band features Penelope Trappes’s breathy, whispery vocals and Stephen Hindman’s experimental keyboards and programming, with Lisa adding drums at their live shows. The Golden Filter’s debut album, VOLUSPA, is now available as an import, consisting of such hot originals as “Solid Gold,” “Moonlight Fantasy,” and “Hide Me.” The band has also done cool remixes of Peter Bjorn and John’s “Lay It Down,” Cut Copy’s “Far Away,” Empire of the Sun’s “We Are the People,” and Little Boots’ “New in Town,” while a bunch of other artists have remixed “Solid Gold.” The Golden Filter will be playing a DJ set on Thursday night as part of the W New York’s Symmetry Spins series, then will head out to Glasslands on Friday for a live gig with How to Dress Well, Glasser, and Soars.

FILM COMMENT SUMMER MELTDOWN

Mick Jagger gives one weird performance in Cammell & Roeg flick that is part of Lincoln Center summer series

PERFORMANCE (Donald Cammell and Nicolas Roeg, 1970)
Film Society of Lincoln Center, Walter Reade Theater
165 West 65th St. between Broadway & Amsterdam Ave.
Friday, August 13, 2:00; Monday, August 16, 4:00; Tuesday, August 17, 6:15
Series runs August 11-18
All-Access Pass: $99
www.filmlinc.com/wrt/onsale/fcssummer.html

A British gangster on the run hides out with a psychedelic rock star in this strangely enticing film from Donald (THE DEMON SEED) Cammell and Nicolas Roeg (making his big-screen directorial debut). James Fox didn’t know what he was getting into when he signed on to play Chas, a mobster who finds sanctuary with mushroom-popping rock-diva has-been Turner, played with panache by Mick Jagger. Throw in Anita Pallenberg, a fab drug trip, and the great “Memo to Turner” scene and you have a film that some consider the real precursor to MTV, some think a work of pure demented genius, and others find to be one of the most pretentious and awful pieces of claptrap ever committed to celluloid. We fall somewhere in the middle of all of that.

PERFORMANCE is screening as part of Lincoln Center’s Film Comment Summer Meltdown series, eight days of movies by, about, or featuring rock stars and/or rock culture (complete with head trips). The music begins August 11 with the Who in Jeff Stein’s THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT (1979), Neil Young & Crazy Horse in Jim Jarmusch’s YEAR OF THE HORSE (1997), David Bowie in D. A. Pennebaker’s ZIGGY STARDUST AND THE SPIDERS FROM MARS (1973), and Gaspar Noé blowing your mind with the director’s cut of ENTER THE VOID (2009); Noé will also participate in a postscreening Q&A with Paz de la Huerta and Nathaniel Brown, moderated by Vice head Shane Smith. Codirectors L. M. Kit Carson and Lawrence Schiller will be on hand for the August 15 showing of their inside look at Dennis Hopper, THE AMERICAN DREAMER (1971), and Finders Keepers founder Andy Votel will play a turntable set prior to the August 13 screening of Sandy Harbutt’s Australian biker flick, STONE (1974). Other films feature such superstars as the Rolling Stones (STONES IN EXILE, GET YER YA-YA’S OUT), Sly Stone (COMING BACK FOR MORE), the Sex Pistols (THE GREAT ROCK ‘N’ ROLL SWINDLE), Ringo Starr and the Turtles (Frank Zappa’s 200 MOTELS), and a Pink Floyd soundtrack (ZABRISKIE POINT). Many of the screenings will be followed by a music-laced after-party in the Furman Gallery.