this week in music

CONCERT FRENZY: DECEMBER 17-18

Bluebrain makes debut at Monkey Town on December 17

While you’re running around shopping and going to parties these next couple of days, you also might be missing some great music if you don’t stop and take a break. Tonight and tomorrow, a slew of bands are playing Manhattan and Brooklyn in a sonic overload that has us both excited and frustrated, knowing we can’t see it all. Tonight, Harper Blynn, formerly known as Pete and J, are at Bowery Ballroom ($15) with Pretty Good Dance Moves and Madison Square Gardeners (who we hope are better than the Knicks and Rangers). Mountains, consisting of childhood friends Brendon Anderegg and Koen Holtkamp, bring their minimalist electronic soundscapes and hypnotic compositions to the Knitting Factory Brooklyn ($15), playing with the For Carnation. Brothers Hays and Ryan Holladay, formerly of the Epochs, will be playing their first-ever live show as Bluebrain at Monkey Town ($10 minimum), with Peephole. And longtime favorites the Ks, who are in the studio recording their next album, will be at Arlene’s Grocery (free) with Talain Rayne, Jane Getter, Character Nine, Shot, and the Lows.

Savoir Adore will talk like machines at the Cameo Gallery on December 18

On December 18, a friend of ours will be masked and onstage with Fanfarlo for their show at Webster Hall ($17) with Freelance Whales. The socially conscious and rebellious Steve Earle, a truly great live performer who always has a lot to say, will be at the Society for Ethical Culture ($35-$45). And Deidre Muro and Paul Hammer, known as Savoir Adore – and whose “We Talk Like Machines” has been rumbling through our head for days now – will be at the Cameo Gallery with French Horn Rebellion.

GUIGNOL & MISCHIEF BREW: FIGHT DIRTY

fightdirty

Shea Stadium
20 Meadow St. between Bogart & Waterbury
Thursday, December 17, $7, 8:00
www.myspace.com/guignol
www.myspace.com/sheastadiumbk
www.myspace.com/mischiefbrew

Brooklyn’s Guignol and Philly’s Mischief Brew are set to battle it out tonight at Shea Stadium as they team up at the small Bushwick club in support of their latest collaboration, the intoxicating FIGHT DIRTY (Fistolo, October 2009). The album, organized in two “rounds” of eight songs each, is a fun blast of wicked gypsy punk klezmer filtered through Kurt Weill and Tin Pan Alley, as the bands combine on seven Mischief Brew tunes, six Guignol numbers, and covers of Django Reinhardt’s “Appel Direct” and, yes, Iron Maiden’s “Hallowed Be Thy Name.” Guignol, represented by Balkan Beat Box’s Peter Hess on clarinet, the Hold Steady’s Franz Nicolay on accordion, George Rush on tuba, and John Bollinger on drums, are joined by Mischief Brew’s founder, former Orphans guitarist Erik Petersen, as they jump, jive, and jab their way through frenetic instrumentals, the rollicking title track, the noirish “Sugar Park Tavern Death Song,” the punkish “Create Destroy,” the carnivalesque “The Tardy Barker,” and the big-sounding “Mr. Crumb.” A trumpet solo helps give “Gonzalez, the Exploding Chilean” a narrative despite its lack of lyrics. This mosh-up deserves to be better known: “The only way to roll is off the books,” they sing on the album. “They can’t find you if they don’t know where to look / So I’ll say it off the record that I leave without a trace / Come to think of it you never even knew my last name.” Well, now you now who they are and where to find them, tonight at Shea Stadium on a bill with These Days and Worrier.

In addition, Nicolay has also joined with Emilyn Brodsky and Brooklyn group Yoni Gordon and the Goods for a special holiday version of the Pogues’ classic “Fairy Tale of New York,” a charity single that benefits Feed America (suggested donation: $5 per download).

ANTIBALAS

Amayo and Antibalas begin month-long residency at the Knitting Factory on December 3 (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Knitting Factory
361 Metropolitan Ave. at Havemeyer St.
Thursday, December 3, 10, 17, $12, 11:45 pm
December 31, $25, 10:00
347-529-6696
www.bk.knittingfactory.com
www.antibalas.com

For the past decade, the members of the Brooklyn-based musical collective Antibalas have served as the primary conduit, keepers-of-the-flame, and self-proclaimed “protectors” of the musical legacy of 1970s style Afrobeat music and its brightest star and spokesman, Fela Kuti. Even as the double-digit-piece Afrobeat Orchestra – which includes lead vocalist and percussionist Amayo, Stuart Bogie on tenor sax, Martin Perna on baritone sax, Victor Axelrod on keyboards, among others – has continued to tour relentlessly, composing songs and producing four albums that remain strikingly original while not veering too radically from their original sound, they still are a unit that is heavily indebted to Fela’s political and musical vision. Now, amid the opening fanfare and rave reviews of the Broadway musical based on the Nigerian firebrand’s life and work, FELA!, which features the band providing the show’s stirring music, Antibalas will be performing a late-night residency on Thursday nights in Brooklyn. As soon as the curtain comes down at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre, the group will speed across the river to play at the third and latest incarnation of the Knitting Factory, which opened its doors last month at 361 Metropolitan Ave. at Havemeyer Street in Willamsburg. Expect a rotating cast of Antibalas associates and a festive atmosphere, with funky, loose, and lucid jams freed from the constraints of the musical’s preordained setlist. In addition, Amayo will be leading his Fu-Arkist-Ra there on December 21.

FESTIVAL OF LIGHT

Matisyahu will light the night at special Hanukkah shows (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

MATISYAHU
Webster Hall, 125 East 11th St., December 10-14, $35, 7:00
Music Hall of Williamsburg, 66 North Sixth St., December 16-20, $35, 7:00
www.matisyahuworld.com
www.websterhall.com
www.musichallofwilliamsburg.com

Hasidic reggae rapper Matisyahu will be celebrating Hanukkah at Webster Hall and the Music Hall of Williamsburg, displaying his unique mix of music and lyrics that marries the classic sounds of Bob Marley to the themes of the Old Testament. Not your ordinary rock star, Matisyahu usually performs wearing his tallit under traditional Orthodox clothing, sings about the messiah leading the Jewish people back to the Holy Land, and no longer stage-dives because a woman might come in physical contact with him, but he still dances around to propulsive, infectious beats that should get a devoted crowd moving and sweating to such standard-bearers as “Youth,” “King Without a Crown,” and “Jerusalem” as well as songs from his most recent album, LIGHT (Epic, August 2009). LIGHT includes “Smash Lies,” a tasty bit of electronica that highlights his positive outlook as he sings, “Dream away / make no mistake / strive to be alive most every day.” No mere preacher, the former Matthew Paul Miller declares on “We Will Walk” that “you are the only one thing that I have ever loved / We will walk until my blood runs out / Until my heart is burned / You are not alone.” And on “One Day,” Matisyahu prays for peace, pronouncing, “Sometimes in my tears I drown / But I never let it get me down / So when negativity surrounds / I know someday it will all turn around.” During the run – and yes, you can expect him to light a menorah onstage – he’ll be joined by such opening bands as John Brown’s Body, Dub Trio, Kid Koala, Travis McCoy, and Kevin Devine.

UNINHABITABLE MANSIONS

Brooklyn indie supergroup is supporting strong debut album

Tuesday, December 15, Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey St., $12-$15, 7:30
Sunday, December 20, Cameo, 93 North Sixth St.
www.myspace.com/uninhabitablemansions

Uninhabitable Mansions is an art collective and Brooklyn mini-supergroup that features Annie Hart from Au Revoir Simone, Danny Comer and Chris Diken from Radical Dads, Doug Marvin from Dirty on Purpose, and Robbie Guertin and Tyler Sargent from Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Their debut album is a steady stream of inventive indie pop that enjoys stopping and starting, dropping in and out and back again, with most songs developing slowly and quietly at the outset. Indeed, UM is in no hurry, which is a good thing, because the characters in their songs are often lost souls, waiting for something or someone, not knowing where they’re going. “There’s nothing here to see for miles,” they sing in “Big Kick,” which charges out of the gate with a searing guitar line that lasts for nearly a minute before the lyrics begin. (The six-strings go deliriously screechy at the end.) In the acoustic-based “Do You Have a Strategy?,” which features an infectiously quirky hook, they explain, “You say someday our bones will turn to dust / Darling, it’s true, but what’s the rush / A little rust wouldn’t hurt you / Let’s stop right here / The days will wait for us.” In the trifecta of “Do You Have a Strategy?” “Midnight Topography,” and “Maps: Not Accurate,” references are made to missing landmarks, shifting skylines, standing in thin air, and maps, over and over. They sing of escape, looking for a way out, drifting, floating, heading in the wrong direction, searching for a “place that nobody knows.” “Staring at the ceiling and you start to get the feeling that / There’s nowhere to go,” they sing in the poppy “We Already Know.” The band’s subtle, ethereal sound befits the line “We’re sick of solid ground” from the album’s opener, “The Speed Is Deceiving,” and indeed, much of the record itself is deceiving, in compelling ways. In addition to being musicians, UM also makes unique literary and art projects; for example, on their Web site, you can purchase Diken’s short story “The Killer at the Beach” paired with a trench coat designed by Sara Jones as well as T-shirts, handmade books by Guertin, and even a yardstick. On December 15, they’re playing with the Antlers and Sharon Van Etten at a sold-out Bowery Ballroom show, but there are still tickets available for their December 20 gig at the Cameo Gallery inside the Lovin’ Cup Cafe with Revival Times and Pocketknife.

A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS

charliebrown

Brooklyn Lyceum
227 Fourth Ave.
Through December 20, $10, 2:00 & 7:00
718-857-4816
www.brooklynlyceum.com

The Brooklyn Lyceum, which once was home to NYC Public Bath No. 7, is now playing host to the Pig Brooch Theatre Company’s live production of the holiday classic A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS through December 20. Charles Schulz’s delightful animated special was first shown on television in 1965 and has been an annual favorite ever since. A veteran of several Fringe Festivals, Pig Brooch will faithfully perform the show verbatim, with a jazz trio playing Vince Guaraldi’s magical score. The company includes actors, singers, and comedians from the Metropolitan Opera House, Broadway, and the Upright Citizens Brigade. And to keep everybody warm and cozy, hot chocolate and apple cider will be available. In addition, on December 19-20, the Holiday Craft Market returns to the Lyceum, featuring local crafters, food, and more for much-needed last-minute shopping.

MESSIAH

The Trinity Choir will perform Handel's "Messiah" at Trinity Church Wall Street

Trinity Church
74 Trinity Pl.
Sunday, December 13, 3:00, and Monday, December 14, 7:30, $30-$50
212-602-0848
www.trinitywallstreet.org

In 1770, George Frideric Handel’s “Messiah” held its New World premiere in Trinity Church. The holiday favorite is back again, as the Trinity Choir teams up with the Trinity Baroque Orchestra and concertmaster Robert Mealy, guest-conducted by Jane Glover. “The whole is beyond any thing I had a notion of until I Read and heard it. It seems to be a Species of Musick different from any other, and this is particularly remarkable of it,” the Bishop of Elphin wrote of the Dublin premiere of Handel’s “Messiah” in 1743. “That tho’ the Composition is very Masterly and artificial, yet the Harmony is So great and open, as to please all who have Ears & will hear, learned & unlearn’d.” In the Trinity Choir program notes, Mealy writes, “In re-creating the musical conditions of Handel’s own performances, we may hope that we re-create the reactions of Bishop Elphin’s fellow-listeners: ‘They seem’d indeed throughly engag’d frome one end to the other . . . which Show’d that they were not only pleas’d but affected with the performance.”’

If you can’t make Handel’s masterpiece at Trinity Church, you can catch it December 13 at 3:00 at Lehman College with the Bronx Opera Chorus and the Orchestra of the Bronx ($10-$25), at Avery Fisher Hall December 15-19 with the New York Philharmonic ($31-$109), at the Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank, New Jersey, on December 20 ($10-$45), and at Carnegie Hall on December 23 with the Masterwork Chorus and Orchestra ($13.50-$85).