this week in music

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.

JP, CHRISSIE & THE FAIRGROUND BOYS

Chrissie Hynde and JP Jones are taking the Fairground Boys from the studio to the stage, including shows August 9 at Rockwood Music Hall and August 10 at the Apple Store in SoHo

Monday, August 9, Rockwood Music Hall, 196 Allen St., $20, 8:30
Tuesday, August 10, Live at the Apple Store, 103 Prince St., free, 7:00
www.myspace.com/chrissiehyndejpjones

“His time is tomorrow / mine was yesterday,” Chrissie Hynde sings on “Perfect Lover,” the opening track of FIDELITY! (Rocket Science, August 24, 2010), the debut album of JP, Chrissie & the Fairground Boys. Two years ago at a London party, Hynde met JP Jones, a Welsh singer-songwriter who has played in such bands as Grace and Big Linda, and soon the pair were in Havana, writing songs together. They came back with (at least) eleven songs and formed the new group, which is on the road in support of the record, which comes out August 24. Reportedly, the fifty-nine-year-old Hynde and the thirty-one-year-old Jones are not a couple; as she sings, “I found my perfect lover / but he’s only half my age / He was learning how to stand / when I was wearing my first wedding band/ I found my perfect lover / but I’ll have to turn the page / I want him in my kitchen / and standing on my stage.” Among the other tunes on the album, which is filled with stories of unrequited love and love gone wrong, are “If You Let Me,” “Courage,” and “Leave Me If You Must.” Hynde and the gravelly voiced Jones are joined by Sam Swallow on keyboards, Patrick Murdoch on guitar, Vezio Bacci on bass, and Geoff Holroyde on drums, the latter three the aforementioned Big Linda. JP, Chrissie & the Fairground Boys will be making a free appearance at the Apple Store in SoHo on Tuesday, August 10, at 7:00, but they’ll be playing Monday night at the Rockwood Music Hall (stage 2) on Allen St. — and as of this posting, tickets are still available, believe it or not, and they are a mere twenty bucks.

ENLOU

Cincinnati quintet will let the music do the talking at two area gigs (photo by Becki Young)

Sunday, August 8, Piano’s, 158 Ludlow St., $8, 9:00
Monday, August 9, National Underground, 159 East Houston St., 9:00
www.myspace.com/enlouwasaman

Named after the phrase “in lieu of,” Cincinnati-based five-piece is heading to New York City in support of their third EP, the five-track BODY OF FRIENDS, BODY OF WATER (Lujo, July 2010), the follow-up to last year’s PASSING ISLANDS and THRESHING FLOOR. Drew Jacoby, Curt Kiser, Ben Rush, Robert Ritter, and James Bishop play ambient electronica with lush sounds that all come together on such songs as “Mountain Thoughts,” off the new disc. The quintet will be at Piano’s on August 8 with Old Monk and We Barbarians and at the National Underground on August 9.

Ambient electronica
It all comes together on “Mountain Thoughts.”
in lieu of
They’ll be at Piano’s on August 8 with Old Monk and We Barbarians and at the National Underground on August 9.

LAZER CRYSTAL

Lazer Crystal seeks to move beyond time and space with debut album and tour

Sunday, August 8, Cake Shop, 152 Ludlow St., $7, 8:00
Monday, August 9, Death by Audio, 49 South Second St., 8:00
Tuesday, August 10, Daddy’s, 435 Graham Ave., DJ set
www.myspace.com/lazercrystal

A love triangle isn’t enough for Chicago-based Lazer Crystal; instead, they opt for a “Love Rhombus” on their debut full-length, MCMLXXX (Thrill Jockey, April 2010). With Nicholas Read on electronics and vocals, Josh Johannpeter on percussion, and Mikale De Graff on vocals and electronics, Lazer Crystal pays homage to the synthesizer club sound of the 1980s with thumping beats, video-game noise effects, and occasional snippets of lyrics on such songs as “Lipp Service,” “National Handbag,” “La Rouche,” and “Hot Pink BMX.” Part of the trio’s stated mission is “to present a multicolored, polyphonic surf of sound and vision, set to the ritual nocturnal vibrations of its arsenal, to be played as an offering of respite.” They’ll be seeking to carry out that goal Sunday night at Cake Shop on a bill with Konichiwa, Roe Enney, and Ramona of Nite Jewel, then Monday night at Death by Audio, followed by a DJ set Tuesday night at Daddy’s.

SUMMER STREETS 2010

The people will take over Park Ave. for three successive Saturdays during annual Summer Streets program (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Brooklyn Bridge to the top of Central Park
Saturday, August 7, 14, 21, 7:00 am – 1:00 pm
Admission: free
www.nyc.gov

Encouraging more New Yorkers to bike, jog, skate, and walk instead of using cars in the city, the third annual Summer Streets program returns for the next three Saturdays, closing several byways — primarily all of Park Ave. — to vehicular traffic between the Brooklyn Bridge and Central Park. The route features rest stops in Foley Square, SoHo, Midtown, and Uptown that will be hosting live entertainment and special activities, including dance classes, Dumpster pools, the New York Rangers Road Tour, the New York Knicks Groove Truck, tours of St. Bart’s, exercise classes, free bike rentals and repairs, Fringe Festival theater workshops, yoga, mini-concerts, and much more. It’s all part of the city’s continuing greening and health initiatives, but whatever the reason, it’s really cool to see Park Ave. cleared of cars, trucks, and buses on a summer Saturday morning.

HONG KONG DRAGON BOAT FESTIVAL

Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival returns this weekend with lots of special events and activities

Meadow Lake, Flushing Meadows Corona Park, Queens
Saturday, August 7, and Sunday, August 8
Admission: free
718-767-1776
www.hkdbf-ny.org

According to legend, when poet Qu Yuan (340-278 BCE) drowned himself after learning about the destruction of his village, local fishermen first tried to save his life but failed, then tossed dumplings into the river to prevent his body from being fodder for the fish. This story is memorialized every August with plenty of dumplings and dragon boat races in Flushing Meadows Corona Park. This weekend, such teams as Dragonflies, Syngent Seadogs, the New York Wall Street Dragons, Women in Canoe, Let’s Sink Together, the Puff Puff Dragons, and Knit Illustrated will battle it out on the water. The weekend will also feature a host of special activities and live performances, including the Chinese Music Ensemble of New York, Hsu-Nami, Malini Srinivasan and Her Dancers, Shaolin Kung Fu, Napua Davoy’s “Brave Cool World,” Carnegie Hall’s ACJW Ensemble, Morgan James and the Resistance, the Chinese Dance Company, Dana Leong and His Music, the American Bolero Dance Co., arts & crafts, face painting, and much more.

SUMMERSCREEN: STARSHIP TROOPERS

Yes, that’s Golden Girl Rue McClanahan as the biology teacher in STARSHIP TROOPERS


STARSHIP TROOPERS (Paul Verhoeven, 1997)
McCarren Park Ballfields
North 12th St. & Bedford Ave.
Wednesday, August 4, free
Live music at 6:15, movie screening at 8:30
www.summerscreen.org

While everyone else pays tribute to Rue McClanahan by watching reruns of THE GOLDEN GIRLS, you can honor the comedic actress at tonight’s free screening of Paul Verhoeven’s 1997 cult classic STARSHIP TROOPERS in McCarren Park. Based on the novel by Robert A. Heinlein, the satirical sci-fi romp has a stellar cast that also includes Casper Van Dien, Denise Richards, Jake Busey, Clancy Brown, Michael Ironside, and Neil Patrick Harris. Really! We’re not kidding. Be sure to get there around six to catch local bands Grooms and Food Stamps. There will also be food from San Loco, Asia Dog, and Porchetta, beer from Sixpoint, and an after-party at Pete’s Candy Store.