this week in music

RECORD STORE DAY

record store day
Multiple locations
Saturday, April 17
www.recordstoreday.com

It’s time to break out that turntable again, as Record Store Day is back. Today record stores all over the country will be offering great deals on vinyl; among the participating metropolitan area locations are Earwax, Halcyon, Sound Fix, Bleecker Street Records, Fat Beats, Other Music, Bleecker Bobs, Kim’s, J&R, Record Runner, and rebel rebel. More than a hundred artists will be issuing special limited-edition spinning black circles for the occasion, including Bruce Springsteen, Beach House, Elvis Costello, the Beastie Boys, Julian Casablancas, R.E.M., Muse, Ani DiFranco, the Black Keys, Tom Waits, Charlotte Gainsbourg, the Apples in Stereo, Wilco, Deerhoof, the Rolling Stones, Japandroids, Gorillaz, Hole, Gogol Bordello, Jeff Beck, Neko Case, Phoenix, Sonic Youth, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, the Hold Steady, and LCD Soundsystem. Emerging from the grave to participate in the event are the Doors, John Lennon, the Ramones, the Sex Pistols, Joy Division, Joe Strummer & the Mescaleros, Fela Kuti, and Elvis Presley. In addition, several acts are creating split singles, with Peter Gabriel teaming up with Bon Iver (covering each other), Let’s Wrestle with Love Language, Menomena with Helio Sequence, Jakob Dylan with Courtyard Hounds, the Budos Band with Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, Roky Erickson with Okkervil River, Surfer Blood with Holiday Shores, and Gabriel again with Stephen Merritt. And the Flaming Lips are joining Stardeath and White Dwarfs to cover Pink Floyd’s DARK SIDE OF THE MOON. Good luck!

THE APPLESEED CAST

The Appleseed Cast is out on the road, playing both LOW LEVEL OWL albums (photo by Forester Michael)

Gramercy Theatre
127 East 23rd St. at Lexington Ave.
Saturday, April 17, $15, 9:00
www.myspace.com/theappleseedcast
www.livenation.com

Formed in 1997 in Southern California and moving to North Carolina before setting up home base in Lawrence, Kansas, the Appleseed Cast plays languid soundscapes with poetic lyrics. They combine instrumentals with songs that feature such abstract verses as “Slow down a lighted road / a broken sign states the mile / a broken code / a simply rhyme / a smile / a fallen line / a simple song set the time” (“Mile Marker”) and “One last drop of pain / the fighting’s all in vain / one last antidote / forgotten ties on severed ropes / hanging them from poles” (the funereal “Convict”). Featuring Chris Crisci on guitar and vocals, Aaron Pillar on guitar, Nate Whitman on bass, John Momberg on drums, and Lucas Oswald on keyboards, the Appleseed Cast will be playing their ambitious, career-defining 2001 double shot, LOW LEVEL OWL 1 & 2, in their entirety on April 17 at the Gramercy in celebration of the album’s rerelease on Graveface Records. The albums roam into Pink Floyd territory on “Strings,” head into orbit with “Rooms and Gardens,” and get appropriately dramatic on “Sunset Drama King.” Momberg takes center stage on the percussion-heavy “On Reflection” and “Doors Lead to Questions,” while the band charges forward on the mini-epic “Blind Man’s Arrows” and fills “Bird of Paradise” with bursts of electronic noise. It all comes together on “Signal,” their indie pop gem. Opening the show will be Dreamend, fronted by Ryan Graveface, the owner of Graveface Records (and a part-time member of Black Moth Super Rainbow), highlighting songs from the recent release MAYBE WE’RE MAKING GOD SAD AND LONELY.

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.