this week in music

NO ONE KNOWS ABOUT PERSIAN CATS

Iranian film follows the attempts of two musicians to put together an indie rock band

NO ONE KNOWS ABOUT PERSIAN CATS (KASI AZ GORBEHAYE IRANI KHABAR NADAREH) (Bahman Ghobadi, 2010)
IFC Center
323 Sixth Ave. at West Third St.
Opens Friday, April 16
212-924-7771
www.ifccenter.com

Iranian writer-director Bahman Ghobadi (A TIME FOR DRUNKEN HORSES) goes underground in NO ONE KNOWS ABOUT PERSIAN CATS, following the plight of Negar (Negar Shaghaghi) and Ashkan (Ashkan Koshanejad) as they attempt to put together an indie band for a gig in London. Inspired by their dedication—and always out to make a buck himself—fast-talking wheeler-dealer Nadar (Hamed Behdad) takes them to get illegal passports, then introduces them to a series of bands who play in secretive underground spaces where the government and the police don’t bother them, even though it is against the law to play Western-style music. Their quest for musicians leads them to such real groups as Take It Easy Hospital and the Yellow Dogs, who regularly risk their freedom and safety by playing to excited young fans desperate to hear live, modern music. Ghobadi throws in just about every genre imaginable, from heavy metal and punk to classic rock and jazz in a stirring musical journey, turning each song into a video depicting everyday life in Tehran. The film does lapse into overheated and unnecessary heavy-handed melodrama in its final scenes, but it’s still a compelling story of the intrinsic power of music and the desperate need to make connections.

NO ONE KNOWS ABOUT PERSIAN CATS opens today and will be celebrated at a public after-party at 92YTribeca beginning at 9:00, featuring live performances by the Yellow Dogs and New York City-based Iranian band Hypernova, along with DJ Loveletters. Ghobadi, who just had a two-day retrospective at Lincoln Center, will be on hand to discuss the film at the 7:35 and 9:55 screenings Friday and Saturday night at the IFC Center.

JOIN THE ECO-SEXUAL REVOLUTION

ecosex

Bar 13
35 East 13th St.
Thursday, April 15, no cover, 9:00 pm – 4:00 am
www.ten-speed.crownpublishing.com
www.stefanieirisweiss.com

In her new book ECO-SEX: GO GREEN BETWEEN THE SHEETS AND MAKE YOUR LOVE LIFE SUSTAINABLE (Ten Speed Press, March 2010, $14.99), New York-based writer Stefanie Iris Weiss combines environmental awareness with romance, taking on such topics as eco-courtship, eco-gorgeousness, eco-fashion, eco-safe sex, and ecolicious aphrodisiac foods. In the book’s introduction, Weiss offers the “dirty truth: If you haven’t thought about greening your sex life, you’re still a total environmental disaster. Your compost heap isn’t worth dirt if your bedroom is a toxic waste dump. Sex can be one of the lowest-impact forms of entertainment (and exercise) on the planet, but only if you do it right.” You can seek to do it right on April 15 at Bar 13 at the official after-party celebrating the book’s release, featuring DJ sets from Standenco, John Dill, and Vadim, who will be spinning tunes as attendees pick up signed copies of the book and hook up over Sustainable Orgasms—drinks made with organic vodka.

MI AMI

stealyourface

Cake Shop
152 Ludlow St. between Stanton & Rivington Sts.
Monday, April 12, $8, 8:00
212-253-0036
www.cake-shop.com
www.myspace.com/miamiamiami

San Fran trio Mi Ami is touring behind their brand-new release, STEAL YOUR FACE (Thrill Jockey, April 6), which consists of six carefully choreographed forays into intensely stimulating electronic noise that combine for a thirty-seven-minute freak-out of massive proportions. From the space-age battle in “Latin Lover” to the psychedelic afrobeat of “Dreamers,” from the searing guitars and propulsive percussion of “Native Americans (Born in the U.S.A.)” to the monster finale, “Slow,” which is something akin to what it would sound like if Rage Against the Machine created a new soundtrack to APOCALYPSE NOW, STEAL YOUR FACE is one huge dose of awesome primal scream therapy emanating from guitarist Daniel Martin McCormick, bassist Jacob Long, and drummer Damon Palermo. Mi Ami will be at Cake Shop on April 12, sandwiched in between Drawlings and Soft Circle, with DJ Awesome Tapes from Africa filling in the gaps.

TARTAN DAY PARADE AND AFTER-PARTY

Tartan Week marches into it last day on April 10 with a trio of special events (photo © Colin Dickson)

Saturday, April 10
Church of Our Savior, 59 Park Ave., 10:00 am
National Tartan Day Parade, Sixth Ave. from 45th to 58th Sts., 2:00
Stout NYC, 133 West 33rd St., $37-$50, 4:30
www.tartanweek.com

Tartan Week concludes on Saturday with its main events, the Kirkin of the Tartan service at the Church of Our Savior, the National Tartan Day Parade up Sixth Ave., and an after-party at Stout NYC, where Scottish bands Enter the Haggis and Barleyjuice will perform. Meanwhile, the Scotland Pop-up Shop at 13 East 69th St. will remain open until April 12, selling contemporary Scottish designs. Tartan Week celebrates Scottish-American heritage, but you don’t have to be Scottish to listen to bagpipes, drink fine whiskey, and put on that kilt hiding in the back of your closet.

HYPERNOVA

Iranian band Hypernova celebrates release of debut album and film with three shows in their new hometown, New York City

Saturday, April 10, Mercury Lounge, 217 East Houston St. between Ludlow & Essex Sts., $10, 7:30
Friday, April 16, 92YTribeca, 200 Hudson St. at Canal St., $10, 9:30
Saturday, May 1, Studio at Webster Hall,125 East Eleventh St. between Second & Third Aves., ,8:00
www.myspace.com/hypernovamusic
www.mercuryloungenyc.com
www.92y.org
www.websterhall.com

Iranian indie band Hypernova might have first made news because it took a letter from Sen. Charles Schumer to get the group visas for their 2008-2009 tour of the United States, but what’s more important is that their music is just so damn good. Fans of Interpol, Depeche Mode, Joy Division, and Arctic Monkeys (and just about anyone else) should have a field day listening to their just-released debut album, THROUGH THE CHAOS (Narnack, April 2010), which is filled with killer hooks that will rattle your brains and shake your bones. “This world is not for the faint of heart,” deep-voiced Raam sings on the bonus track “Somewhere Far Away,” and neither is THROUGH THE CHAOS (which is currently streaming for free here). Pop music is banned in Iran, so lead vocalist/guitarist Raam, bassist Jam, guitarist Kodi, and drummer Kami, who are now based in New York City, risked their freedom to spread their music, so when they declare on “Viva La Resistance,” “So dance like you’ve never danced / and scream like you’ve never screamed / ’cause this one might be your last,” they really mean it. (On the same song, they also display their fierce determination by proclaiming, “Your theocratic neo-Fascist ideology / is only getting in the way of my biology / Your book says no! / But my body wants more!”) From the propulsive “Universal” and “Monster in Me” to the slower “Empty Times” and “Here and Now” (the latter featuring a sweet guitar outro), Hypernova lives and breathes their music, sharing their fairytale story, although their prospects are brighter than depicted in “Fairytales That Don’t Have Happy Endings.”

hypernova2

Hypernova will be at Mercury Lounge on April 10 and at the Studio at Webster Hall on May 1, but we’re most excited about their appearance at 92YTribeca on April 16, participating in the official after-party celebrating the release of Bahman Ghobadi’s NO ONE KNOWS ABOUT PERSIAN CATS, a compelling fictional account of the underground indie music scene in Tehran. (Look for our review next week.) Also on the bill are the Yellow Dogs, who appear in the film, along with DJ Loveletters.

j-CATION: TASTE JAPAN

Japan Society will host full day of amazing Japanese food and more

Japan Society
333 East 47th St. at First Ave.
Saturday, April 10, suggested donation $5, 1:00 pm – 1:00 am
Some events require free tickets available beginning at 12:30
212-715-1258
www.japansociety.org

Even though flights from New York to Tokyo have recently come down, it will still be a lot cheaper to get a taste of the Land of the Rising Sun on Saturday at the Japan Society, which is hosting the extremely exciting j-CATION from 1:00 pm to 1:00 am. The twelve-hour extravaganza, organized into Starters, Main Dishes, Sides, and Dessert, includes calligraphy and language classes, furoshiki and tea workshops, demonstrations from manga artist in residence Hiroki Otsuka, a foodie game show, a lecture by hot-dog-eating champion Takeru Kobayashi, a screening of Mitsuhiro Mihara’s food-related 2008 film FLAVOR OF HAPPINESS, live music by Me & Mars and Asobi Seksu, a cash bar, a virtual bento box battle, food vendors, and a late-night after-party with DJ Aki. If that isn’t enough, the outstanding exhibition “Graphic Heroes, Magic Monsters,” a collection of gorgeous prints by nineteenth-century artist Utagawa Kuniyoshi, will be open until 9:00. For a suggested donation of a mere five bucks, you can feel like you’re in Japan, at least for one day.

TWI-NY TALK: JAKE SZUFNAROWSKI

Three-hour cruise includes great live bands and DJs and awesome views

ROCKS OFF CONCERT CRUISES
The Jewel, the Paddlewheel Queen, the Half Moon, Skyport Marina, East 23rd St. & the FDR Dr.
The Temptress, World Yacht Marina, Pier 81, West 41st St. & the West Side Highway
April 8 – September 24, $10-$35
www.rocksoff.com

Jake Szufnarowski is a soft-spoken, mild-mannered Bee Gees fan who has been organizing pleasant concert cruises in New York City for ten years now. Well, um, strike that. Szuf Daddy is actually a hard-rockin’ crazy-ass tattooed mutha who’s been throwin’ wild parties for a decade on the Hudson and East Rivers while blasting away in a heavy metal tribute to the brothers Gibb.

Szufnarowski is celebrating the tenth anniversary of Rocks Off Concert Cruises, three-hour musical journeys on the rivers surrounding Manhattan during which fans are encouraged to party hard, fast, and long. This year’s stellar lineup kicks off on April 8 with Nashville Pussy and includes what should be amazing shows with Dam-Funk (April 24), Playboys of the Western World (June 5), jam band Railroad Earth (June 17), Ninja Tune DJ extraordinaire Mr. Scruff (July 2), cruise veterans the Electric Six (July 15), and one of the best live bands on the planet, the Black Lips (August 2), among many others. Earlier this week, Szufnarowski took a break from his studies to address a few questions about tribute bands, tattoos, and rolling on the river.

twi-ny: Many people are tentative to catch a show on a boat because they’re trapped — once they’re on, there’s no way off until the boat docks at the end of the night. What do you tell those people?

Jake Szufnarowski: Thankfully we thought of that!! We have dingys that depart the main boat every half an hour and take you on a scenic tour of the Gowanus Canal before dropping you off in “Do or Die” Bed-Stuy. Then you find your own way home from there. Or you can just stay on the boat. All of our boats are multilevel — so if you want to get away from the band, you can. And all the boats have outdoor decks to soak in the sun and get unobstructed views of the most beautiful city and skyline in the world. If you’re afraid that you can’t enjoy yourself on a boat full of bands, booze, and babes for three hours, then you should probably stay home and post snide comments on Brooklyn Vegan making fun of people who actually know how to enjoy themselves. Then you can dine on a fat, meaty GoFuckYourself sandwich!

Szuf Daddy shows off massive tattoo that took a year to complete

twi-ny: You’re in a tribute band, and the new Rocks Off season includes a bunch of tribute bands as well as the next edition of Tribute Wars. What separates a good tribute band from a bad tribute band?

JS: I’m in a tribute band? Fuck me. Is that why I’m not making any money on publishing? I guess that’s why I have to put on all these boat shows. For the money. And the [women]! Sweet sweet [women]! Tribute bands are like regular bands — 95% of ’em suck. Mine happens to be the best. If we tried to be the Bee Gees, we’d suck. But we’re TRAGEDY: THE NUMBER ONE HEAVY METAL TRIBUTE TO THE BEE GEES IN THE TRISTATE AREA!!!!!! We Rocks Sweet Balls and Can Do No Wrong.

twi-ny: Among your many tattoos is the logo for another band you’re in, Children of the Unicorn, in which a unicorn is doing it to a dolphin, and a recently completed tatt based on a Glenn Hidalgo painting. Assuming you have any room left on your body, what’s next?

JS: Yeah — that’s an awesome original band I’m in. But they aren’t doing it, you pervert. The title of that piece is “The Embrace.” It was a tattoo before we were a band, though. The Glenn Hidalgo painting was something I commissioned for my thirtieth birthday. It’s me as half-man / half-motorcycle — a motaur — in front of a postapocalyptic scene of NYC. That tattoo took seven sessions of six hours each over the course of an entire year to complete. So not sure I’m going to get anything too big too soon. Recent awesome tats have been a Yankees logo after the World Series win, an autograph of pro wrestling legend Terry Funk, a hot pink GFY (which stands for GoFuckYourself — due to the sudden popularity of the Facebook page I started). Next up, though, I’m getting my whole chest done. It’s going to be the reverse view of the motaur — if 3D is the new direction of the film industry, then I’m going to pioneer it in the tattoo world!!!