this week in music

TWI-NY TALK: AMY GRIMM

WHATEVER BLOG PARTY
Glasslands Gallery
289 Kent Ave., Williamsburg
Thursday, July 29, $8, 8:00
http://wwwwhatever-amy.blogspot.com
www.glasslands.blogspot.com

You know you’re at the right show if indie music princess Amy Grimm is there. Three years ago Grimm started Whatever . . ., what she calls “ a simple and honest blog . . . bringing you an intellectual and rebellious musical point of view.” Grimm focuses on up-and-coming new bands, writing from a very personal first-person perspective, championing lesser-known groups while cutting through the hype. An avid tweeter whose pieces can be found on the Huffington Post, Grimm also holds monthly showcases at the Glasslands Gallery in Brooklyn, featuring indie groups that you might not have heard of yet but you’re likely to soon. Grimm is passionate about her love of music and will do whatever it takes to share that love, even if it means having musicians sleep on the floor of her apartment in order to make sure they can play her showcase. She’ll be back at Glasslands this Thursday, July 29, with a lineup that includes Pretty Good Dance Moves, Rumanian Buck, Bambara, and Ego Puppets. Shortly after meeting the charming, exuberant Grimm at the recent Northside Festival in Williamsburg, we conducted an e-mail interview in which she discusses her favorite bands, the reaction to her blog, and, of all things, Woodstock.

twi-ny: Next month will mark your third year of blogging on Whatever. What has the experience been like overall? Do you have a favorite post/interview?

Amy Grimm: The whole Whatever blog experience has been a really great one. I’ve gotten lots of positive response from people in regards to the blog, so that makes me feel really good, that people are reading my words and taking what I have to say about the state of indie music into account. In terms of my favorite interviews that I have done, I have to say I have three and they were with Bottle Up and Go, Jesse Malin, and Ethan Gold. I just love love Bottle Up and Go’s music, and Keenan and Fareed are two such cool, unpredictable guys and their answers to my questions were the best part of the interview. And Jesse is just such a New York legend and he was so gracious and interesting and such a gentleman during that interview, it was a fantastic experience. Ethan Gold was the producer of Elvis Perkins’s debut album, ASH WEDNESDAY, and has some really awesome music of his own that he’s done and he is just an all-around fascinating guy who made my mundane typical e-mail interview questions jump off the page with his responses. And as for my favorite post it was something that wasn’t written by me; it was written by my dad and it was his memories of being at Woodstock for the fortieth anniversary last August. Growing up, my siblings and I would always ask him what it was like to be at Woodstock and he would always respond with “It was muddy,” so it was brilliant beyond belief to read a detailed account of his memories of Woodstock.

twi-ny: What does it take for a band to get invited to a Whatever showcase? What do you look for most in a band?

AG: A band gets invited to play a Whatever blog party one of two ways: 1) By word of mouth doing these parties for almost a year now, I’ve cultivated a nice little group of musician friends who play my parties on a regular basis (i.e., the Art of Shooting & Schocholautte), and those guys will let me know about a band or an artist that they think I should be booking for a party or be writing about in my blog. And also people like Rami [Haykai] from PopGun Booking will send me band and artist recommendations as well. All these guys have such stellar musical tastes, so I trust their recommendations completely! Without the recommendations of the Art of Shooting, Schocholautte and PopGun Booking, Savoir Adore, Drink Up Buttercup, Rumanian Buck, and J.A.C.K. would never have played any of the Whatever blog parties. 2) The second way is just basically me getting out there and going to shows and finding what I like. What I look for is how good the band is musically and what their buzz factor is, i.e., will they draw well on Wednesday or Thursday night.

twi-ny: Who are some of your favorites that have performed at one of your shows in the past? Who are you looking forward to booking in the future?

AG: Oooh, so many! But if I had to choose for a CD or a DVD (investors and indie labels . . . hint hint!), I would say Schocholautte, the Art of Shooting, Right on Dynamite, Rumanian Buck, Freshkills, Wizardry, North Highlands, deVries, Drink Up Buttercup, J.A.C.K. . . . that CD or DVD would be a double CD or DVD ’cause there have been so many good performances at the Whatever blog parties over the last year. Well, right now I’m totally obsessed with These United States and their new album, WHAT LASTS, and I’m also really obsessed with Elvis Perkins and AA Bondy at the moment. It would be a total dream for me to get Elvis, AA, and These United States to play a blog party. Besides indie folk country rock, I’m also quite into Shark? [who were originally scheduled for the July 29 show but had to postpone for personal reasons], the Darlings, and the Sundelles, and those bands may be playing a Whatever blog party really soon.

CHANNELING CHILTON

The late Alex Chilton will be honored with benefit tribute show at City Winery on July 28

A NIGHT OF ALEX CHILTON’S MUSIC
City Winery
155 Varick St. between Spring & Vandam Sts.
Wednesday, July 28, $28, 8:00
212-608-0555
www.citywinery.com

In 1987, Replacements lead singer Paul Westerberg sang, “Children by the million sing for Alex Chilton when he comes ’round / They sing ‘I’m in love. What’s that song? / I’m in love / with that song.’” People by the hundreds will be singing for Chilton this Wednesday night at City Winery in a special benefit tribute as a diverse group of musicians who were influenced by and/or played with Chilton will come together and play his songs, with the money raised going to the Gulf Restoration Network. Chilton, a founding member of the Box Tops and Big Star and one of the most respected songwriters of the last forty years, died suddenly in New Orleans in March at the age of fifty-nine, right as Big Star was set to play a showcase at SXSW, a festival usually reserved for up-and-coming bands. Among those who will be on hand to honor Chilton are Yo La Tengo, Marshall Crenshaw, Doug Garrison, René Coman, Alan Vega, Jon Spencer, Fran Kowalski, Lesa Aldridge, Jay Proctor, Bill Cunningham, Terry Manning, Evan Dando, Jesse Malin, Danny Kroha, Ronnie Spector, original Cossack Chris Stamey, former Box Top Gary Talley, and Big Star’s own Jody Stephens and Jon Auer. Expect to hear such classics as “Thirteen,” “September Gurls,” “The Letter,” “I’m in Love with a Girl,” “In the Street,” and “Cry Like a Baby” and other songs you didn’t realize were affiliated with Chilton in one way or another.

WE GIVE OURSELVES AWAY AT EVERY MOMENT

The legacy of Merce Cunningham will be honored with one-of-a-kind tribute in Rockefeller Park



AN EVENT FOR MERCE
Rockefeller Park, Battery Park City
Esplanade Plaza, West St. at Liberty St.
Monday, July 26, free, 6:00
www.artsworldfinancialcenter.com

In honor of the first anniversary of legendary choreographer Merce Cunningham’s passing, Annie B Parson and William Knapp are curating a unique program tonight in Battery Park City, at the same location where Cunningham posthumously held his final Event, last August 1-2 in Rockefeller Park. Choreographers Lucinda Childs, Bill T. Jones, Susan Marshall, Jon Kinzell, and Faye Driscoll will present both new pieces and excerpts from their repertoire that have been adapted to meet Cunningham’s site-specific, event-driven criteria. In addition, cellist David Eggar, experimental guitarist Geoff Gersh, and laptop specialist Kotchy will perform live music based on the chance compositions of John Cage, Cunningham’s longtime collaborator and partner. The production will take place in the round, further testing both the choreographers and the audience in this don’t-miss tribute.

STANTON STREET SUMMER SUNDAYS

Lower East Side Summer Sundays finale is chock-full of free family-friendly activities

Stanton St. between Allen & Ludlow Sts.
Sunday, July 25, 12 noon – 5:00 pm
Admission: free
www.lowereastsideny.com

The Lower East Side Summer Sundays series comes to a conclusion today with another afternoon of free family-friendly activities. The festivities include tastings from Meatball Shop, Boubouki, and La Newyorkina, face painting, skateboarding lessons, belly dancing, canine nutrition tips, palm readings, live performances by Jessica Delfino, Lily Sparks, and Jamie Bendell, booths sponsored by the NY Fire Department, the Museum at Eldridge St., the Educational Alliance, the LES Ecology Center, and Green Mountain Energy, and much more.

NEW MUSEUM BLOCK PARTY 2010

New Museum will be hosting annual block party Saturday in Sara D. Roosevelt Park

Sara D. Roosevelt Park, Houston & Chrystie Sts.
New Museum, 235 Bowery at Prince St.
Saturday, July 24, free, 12 noon – 5:00 pm
212-219-1222
www.newmuseum.org

This Saturday, the New Museum will be hosting its annual block party, an afternoon of art and family activities held in Sara D. Roosevelt Park and the museum theater on the Lower East Side. There will be live performances by poet and storyteller Pappa Susso, beatboxer Adam Matta, dance company LoVid, and Hisham Akira Bharoocha in addition to workshops, a walking tour of the neighborhood focusing on art and architecture, screenings presented by the REDCAT International Children’s Film Festival, and more. Free passes to the museum will be given out in the park, good for that day only, so you can head over to the Bowery and check out the current exhibits, including “Rivane Neuenschwander: A Day Like Any Other,” “Brion Gysin: Dream Machine,” and “Amy Granat: Light 3 Ways.”

RECLAIM THE COAST

GULF COAST OIL SPILL BENEFIT
City Winery
155 Varick St.
July 23, 25, 30, $15-$22
212-608-0555
www.citywinery.com

Pete Seeger might be ninety-one years old, but that doesn’t mean he’s ready to slow down anytime soon. The activist folksinger has just penned a new song that includes the timely phrase “When drill, baby, drill turns into spill, baby, spill,” and he’ll be performing it Friday night at the first of three benefit concerts at City Winery. Raising funds for the Gulf Restoration Network and Global Green, the shows will feature Seeger with Richard Barone, Julie Gold, Freedy Johnston, the Roches, Mike Doughty, Elysian Fields, and others on July 23; Ian Axel, Ed Romanoff, the Madison Square Gardeners, the Wellspring, Rich Pagano, and more on July 25; and Vienna Teng, Jay Nash, Martin Rivas, Christina Courtin, and Among the Oak and Ash on July 30, with more performers to be added for each night.

BATUSIS

Batusis will be playing good old-fashioned bluesy punk rock at Europa on July 23

Europa
98 Meserole Ave. at Manhattan Ave.
Friday, July 23, $12, 9:30
www.myspace.com/batusis
www.europaclub.com

Named after Batman’s version of the watusi, famously resurrected by John Travolta in PULP FICTION, the Batusis come to town for their only area show on their first-ever tour. Tired of seeing band members and friends dying all around them — Sylvain Sylvain has suffered through the loss of former New York Dolls Arthur “Killer” Kane, Jerry Nolan, Billy Murcia, and Johnny Thunders, while Cheetah Chrome has had to deal with the death of Rocket from the Tombs head Peter Laughner and Dead Boys leader Stiv Bators — the two longtime friends have formed the new group, which is on the road supporting its eponymously titled four-track debut EP (Smog Veil, May 4, 2010). The EP features four garage-glam tunes: “Big Cat Stomp,” “What You Lack in Brains,” a cover of Davie Allan & the Arrows’ “Blues Theme,” and, appropriately enough, “Bury You Alive.” Filling out the rockin’ band are Blackhearts Enzo Penizzotto on bass and Thommy Price on drums, holding down the rhythm. Batusis will be at Brooklyn’s Europa club on July 23, with Pioneers of Seduction and Sister Anne; earlier that day, they will also be holding an in-store meet and greet with fans at Generation Records on Thompson St. at 3:00.