Anand Wilder with Yeasayer at Jones Beach in July (more by Dana (distortion) Yavin)

The record label David Byrne started in 1988, Luaka Bop, has been curating the club John Zorn started, The Stone, since December 15. If you've been paying close attention to What's Going On posts, you may have noticed more familiar names on the lineups lately (like Lucky Dragons and Kelly Pratt who have both played so far).

The curation continues through the end of the month. Tonight (12/20), Anand Wilder of Yeasayer is playing with Steve Marion of Delicate Steve, and Austin Fisher of Suckers, performing songs they've written specifically for tonight's performance. Steve leads his own group at the venue on 12/27 with members of Banned Books. Also tonight, George Langford and Tom Van Buskirk of Javelin and friends are playing. Those friends include Ahmed Gallab of Yeasayer, Powpow of Man Man, and Miho Hatori of Cibo Mato. According to George, it's going to be an "electronic drum circle rave cave."

On Thursday (12/22), Sleepy Doug Shaw/Highlife is playing. On Friday (12/23), The Present, lead by Rusty Samtos Rusty is playing the venue. Rusty is a singer/songwriter and has produced Animal Collective, Panda Bear, Born Ruffians, Owen Pallet, and others. On 12/28, Hubble (aka Ben Greenberg of Pygmy Shrews and Zs), and on 12/29 it will be Marc Ribot and David Hidalgo.

The Stone will also host their annual end of the year improv party on December 30 and 31 with tons of musicians and special guests including Thurston Moore, John Zorn, Jeremiah Cymerman, Sam Kulik, Ned Rothenburg, Eyal Maoz, David Fulmer, and others. Starting at 11 PM on 12/31, Spiritual Unity (which features Marc Ribot) will perform a ritual/jam that leads through a midnight rendition of Albert Ayler's "Bells."

Check out the full December schedule and more details on these shows at The Stone's website.

Javelin also have a show coming up on 2/24 at Glasslands with Pat Jordache.

UPDATE: All events at the Stone tonight are now cancelled.

Like Death By Audio, Manhattan's non-profit avant-garde venue The Stone is staying open Saturday night, and it's sure to be a very special show. Not only will those in attendance all have 'braving the hurricane' in common, it's the monthly...

JOHN ZORN IMPROV NIGHT--A STONE BENEFIT--PLEASE NOTE THERE WILL BE NO 10PM SHOW! 8PM ONLY!
John Zorn (sax) David Konopnicki (guitar) Steve Swell (trombone) Ikue Mori (electronics) Shanir Blumenkranz (bass) Dougie Bowne (drums) Dave Miller (drums) Erik Friedlander (cello) Anthony Coleman (piano) Dave Scanlon (guitar) Annie Gosfield (keyboards) Jon Madof (guitar) and many special guests

WITH AN INCREASE IN EXPENSES AND A DROP IN OUR CD INCOME WE NEED YOUR HELP MORE THAN EVER TO SURVIVE--SO COME DOWN AND SUPPORT THE STONE AT OUR MONTHLY RENT PARTY! TWENTY DOLLARS

UPDATE:

THE STONE WILL BE CLOSED SATURDAY TO MONDAY AUGUST 27-29
These concerts have been canceled out of respect to MOTHER NATURE. HURRICANE IRENE is expected to strike six hours ahead of schedule at 9PM on Saturday night.
PLEASE STAY INDOORS AND STAY SAFE!
WE WILL REOPEN ON TUESDAY AUGUST 30

As previously mentioned, August at the Stone was curated by Carlos Giffoni and Seth Rosner. Tuesday's show features Ches Smith (drums) Tim Berne (alto sax) Nels Cline, Mary Halvorson (guitars), and Andrea Parkins (accordion). Shahzad Ismaily plays later that night. Wednesday, the last day of the month, has Jen Shyu and Tyshawn Sorey.

September is curated by Jon Abbey and Brian Brandt.

The long wait is finally over! Roulette re-opens - bigger and better than ever - in Downtown Brooklyn. With a newly renovated Art Deco concert hall, seating for up to 400 people (600 standing!), expanded multi-channel sound system, massive projection screen for film and multi-media events, state-of-the-art lighting system, modular stage, and a specially designed floor to accommodate dance - the new Roulette promises to be one of the most exciting places in New York City to experience adventurous music and art. Join us as we kick off our inaugural season with a huge four day Grand Opening Celebration!

The re-opening will be celebrated with four events from September 15 to September 18. On 9/15, Kaija Saariaho, Margaret Leng Tan, Henry Threadgill & Zooid, and Mark Feldman and Sylvie Courvoisier will play the venue (tickets). The 9/16 show will feature ETHEL, Marc Ribot: Film Noir Project, and Shelley Hirsch w/ Fred Frith (tickets). On 9/17, Laurie Anderson, Lou Reed, and John Zorn will play (tickets) and on 9/18 Cosa Brava (featuring Fred Frith, Carla Kihlstedt, Zeena Parkins, Matthias Bossi, and the Norman Conquest) will play (tickets).

Thurston at MHOW in May (more by Dana (distortion) Yavin)

Dinosaur Jr. brought their "Bug" tour to Calvin Theatre in Northampton, MA last night (6/21). They were supported by Northampton resident Thurston Moore who played a "Demolished Thoughts"-heavy set before Henry Rollins took the stage for a live interview of the headliners (which was followed by a set of spoken word).

A friend and casual fan texted me during the Whole Children benefit show. He said, "Henry Rollins just interviewed dino jr for 30 minutes. People are starting to get antsy." That said, afterwards I got a "show was great." Hartford Courant reports:

[Dinosaur Jr.] dispelled the awkwardness when the musicians came out to play, charging through a pair of post-"Bug" songs including "The Wagon," a wistful melody cutting through a churning blend of bass, drums and singer J Mascis' super-heated guitar.

Next came "Bug," the last album the original lineup of the band released before Mascis kicked out bassist Lou Barlow, leading to years of enmity before Mascis, Barlow and drummer Murph regrouped in 2005.

It sounded on "Bug" as though someone remembered belatedly to turn on the house PA system: everything was suddenly louder and crisper, with overpowering blasts of guitar pushed to the brink of feedback on "Freak Scene," the booming crack of Murph's drums on "Yeah We Know" and guitar squall worthy of an army of screeching wildcats on "Let It Ride."

On "Don't," the last song on the original version of "Bug" (the 2005 reissue included an extra track the band didn't play), Barlow invited a fan to help shriek the lyrics in his place after the bassist blew out his voice doing the song Monday night in Maine. Not only did the fan look a little like Barlow, with a big mess of curly hair, he took to the part like a Method actor, howling into the microphone and eventually shedding his shirt as the band thrashed around behind him.

Dinosaur returned after a pause for two more songs, ending with its cover of the Cure's Just Like Heaven."

Thurston doesn't appear on any of the other dates on the tour, but he does play a different type of show tonight (6/22) in NYC. The show is the first of four benefits at PS 122. He performs tonight, along with John Fleck, the TEAM, Temporary Distortion, Yoshiko Chuma, and many others. Other notable appearances include Reggie Watts (who plays Summerstage tonight) on Thursday (6/23) and Amanda Palmer (who plays Maxwell's tonight) and John Zorn on Saturday (6/25). Tickets are still available. Full PS122 Benefit lineup below.

Thurston also plays Fallon tonight (6/22) (Bon Iver played last night).

La Blogotheque recently filmed Thurston at his NYC apartment for the Take Away Shows. He played "Benediction," "Blood Never Lies" and "Circulation" off the new album and talked about getting his start in New York City, CBGB, and the like. To quote Matador, "These videos are essential viewing, complete with shots of Manhattan's streets, Thurston's reminiscences on his early days in the city and some insights into the record." Watch the videos below.

Thurston heads out on his tour with Kurt Vile soon. That tour doesn't hit NYC but Kurt is also on the bill for the Sonic Youth show at Williamsburg Waterfront with Wild Flag. Tickets for the Brooklyn show are still available. All tour dates below.

Meanwhile, Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon's daughter Coco Gorden Moore is currently fronting the Massachusetts punk band Big Nils. Their album Sibling is streaming on their bandcamp and is available for a $5 digital download. We recently heard from Coco when she performed in the band She Murders at the Kathleen Hanna tribute at Knitting Factory in December.

And as mentioned, Thurston's Sonic Youth-bandmate Steve Shelley plays this Friday (6/24) at Death By Audio with his band Spectre Folk. The bill also includes Sic Alps, Weekends, and Philip Seymour Hoffman.

All Thurston dates, PS122 lineup and videos below...

Continue reading "Thurston Moore opened for Dinosaur Jr. & Henry Rollins, playing Fallon & the 1st of 4 PS122 benefits (tonight)"

NYC's Abrons Arts Center is hosting two Japan benefits on April 8th...

More than a dozen innovative artists at the intersection of indie rock, contemporary jazz, and avant-garde performance will come together at Abrons to present a benefit concert to support recovery efforts in Japan. "The tragedy and devastation is really overwhelming," says John Zorn, who has organized and will host the evening. "I've always felt a strong personal connection to Japan, and I'm just glad to be able to do my part to help. It should be an amazing night."

The lineup includes feature performances by Grammy award winning Norah Jones, Jesse Harris, and the influential Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth). An early and late show will feature two different sets by Ikue Mori and John Zorn, Vinicius Cantuaria, Masada String Trio, Buke and Gass, and many more.

Both the performers and the theater are donating their services, ensuring that 100% of proceeds from ticket sales will go to benefit the victims of the earthquake and tsunami that hit near Sendai on March 11. Funds will be donated to the Japan Society's Earthquake Relief Fund.

And in case there was any doubt, Buke & Gass will in fact be opening for tUnE-yArDs on her upcoming tour that hits Music Hall of Williamsburg on May 21st, one day before Buke & Gass take part in the sold out "Our Band Could Be Your Concert" at Bowery Ballroom. All tour dates below...

Continue reading "Buke & Gass touring w/ tUnE-yArDS, but first benefit shows w/ Thurston Moore, John Zorn, Norah Jones & more"

"Fresh off the success of his latest release, Silent Movies (Pi Recordings), Marc Ribot celebrates with a month long residency, January 2011 at (le) Poisson Rouge (NYC). Each night will start off with an intimate solo set with music from the album which has landed on several Best of 2010 lists including the LA Times, Village Voice and critical praise across the board. Ribot will then be joined on stage each night with a different band, showcasing a disparate range of projects from noise, punk, funk, soul and free jazz."

Continue reading "a Marc Ribot residency @ LPR & New Years Eve @ The Stone"

Observer: You've been with Lou Reed for what seems like forever. Any tips for staying together?

Laurie Anderson: Take a break from each other. We've been together for 19 years, married for two years. I think everything is about to blow away, and everyone is about to blow away, and it makes me care for them more.

In related news, the dates that Lou/Laurie are curating The Stone overlap with a MoMA exhibit featuring Lou Reed's former manager in The Velvet Underground, Andy Warhol. The exhibition, entitled Andy Warhol: Motion Pictures, will show silent pictures that are professed to be his "most daring and experimental" film work. The show kicks off on December 19th and lasts until March 21, 2011.

And while we're on the subject of film, "And Everything Is Going Fine" is currently playing at the IFC Center. It's a tribute to Spaulding Gray directed by Steven Soderbergh. Laurie soundtracked the Spalding Gray films Swimming to Cambodia and Monster in a Box, and made a promotional appearance related to the movie this past weekend. .

The Stone schedule is below...

Continue reading "Lou Reed & Laurie Anderson curating The Stone in February, MoMA exhibiting Andy Warhol pictures"

Lou Reed, Laurie Anderson & John Zorn @ the Stone in 2008 (wallyg)

Lou Reed, Laurie Anderson and John Zorn faced a furious crowd on Friday night, playing cacophonous music to a cacophony of boos at the Montreal International Jazz festival. Fans expecting Sweet Jane or Walk On the Wild Side were instead met by the skronk and skree of Reed's more recent free-jazz work, infuriating sections of the crowd. As audience members hollered their complaints, Zorn responded. "If you don't think it's music, then get the fuck outta here." Then the walk-outs began. [Guardian UK] (via)

A similar show that took place at The Stone in 2008 is for sale in John Zorn's shop as a live CD. All funds raised from its sale go to benefit the non-profit club. John Zorn next plays the Stone on July 30th.

Laurie and Lou recently went to Australia and Coney Island.

Laurie Anderson plays (Le) Poisson Rouge on Tuesday, July 13th (tickets), and has lots more coming up.

John Zorn will make an appearance at the New Museum on July 13th, and John, Lou and Laurie, as well as Faith No More's Mike Patton, will be getting together again for a show at the NYC Opera in 2011.

Video from the Montreal concert and a press conference from earlier in the day are below...

Continue reading "Lou Reed, Laurie Anderson & John Zorn booed in Montreal"

by BBG

DOWNLOAD: Locrian - "Invisible/Visible" (M4A)

Locrian (photo by Lenny Gilmore)

Locrian will play NYC on Saturday July 10th as part of a artist Scott Treleaven's The Touching Of Hands exhibit at Light Industry in Brooklyn. The show will consist of the band playing a full set, as well as performing "Visible/Invisible" (downloadable above) as part of the artist's "Last 7 Words" video, an "affectionate and ethereal Super-8 portrait of [Genesis] Breyer P-Orridge".

The Touching of Hands
Saturday, July 10, 2010 at 7:30pm, $7

...An evening of solo and collaborative projects by Scott Treleaven and Genesis Breyer P-Orridge, focusing on the shared influence of artist and mystic Brion Gysin. Gysin's close friendship with Breyer P-Orridge, and in turn her friendship with Treleaven, has over time given rise to a number of aesthetic and philosophical affinities found in the work of all three, communicated from one to the other.

Each has explored, in his or her own way, the nature of extreme mental states, ideas of eros and thanatos, and modern applications of occult thought. Permutations of the cut-up technique, invented by Gysin in the 1950s, can be found in the reordering of visual information by both Breyer P-Orridge and Treleaven. A preoccupation with the legend of the Cult of the Assassins led to Gysin collaborator William Burroughs's novel The Wild Boys, Breyer P-Orridge's collective Thee Temple Ov Psychick Youth and, later, Treleaven's The Salivation Army, his VHS classic about a mid-90s movement centered around a Wild Boys/Psychick Youth-inspired zine. All demonstrate what Treleaven calls a "pre-Web concept" of "total intimacy and privacy, unmediated by uncontainable social networks."

Two nights earlier, July 13th, the New Museum hosts a related event - "8pm Dream Machine, A Celebration with performances by York Factory Complaint and John Zorn & Bill Laswell". Flyer for that one below with info on how you can help get a movie about Genesis and Lady Jaye funded...

Continue reading "Genesis Breyer P-Orridge, Locrian, John Zorn, Bill Laswell & others appearing @ the new Museum & elsewhere "

by Andrew Frisicano

Laurie w/ the dogs in Australia (more by Roberta W.B.)

Some in the audience howled with glee, others stood on trembling legs and a few drooled in delight as famed performance artist Laurie Anderson debuted her original "Music for Dogs" composition outside the Sydney Opera House on Saturday [June 5th].

Hundreds of dogs and their owners bounced around as Anderson entertained them with 20 minutes of thumping beats, whale calls, whistles and a few high-pitched electronic sounds imperceptible to human ears.

"Let's hear it from the medium dogs!" Anderson called out from the stage, as a few dogs yipped in return. "You can do better than that -- come on mediums! Whoo! WHOOOOOO!"

The concert was originally billed as a performance for dogs' ears only, and was going to be largely limited to electronic noises played at a frequency too high for human ears. But Anderson changed things up when she decided she wanted people to have some fun, too.

"We didn't want to do something that humans couldn't hear," she said. "We brought the octaves down into our hearing range so we could all have the experience." [AP]

Laurie Anderson will be performing her new work Delusion this fall at BAM as part of the Next Wave Festival. That show will go on tour as well.

Before then, Laurie's new record, Homeland, comes out June 22nd on Nonesuch. It's streaming in full at NPR (up till the release date) - check it out. She'll play songs from that album on a very short tour this July. Stops include on-air sets at World Cafe Live and Late Show with David Letterman, and a Tuesday, July 13th show at (Le) Poisson Rouge. Tickets are on sale.

The album has some alright guests (including Laurie's male alter-ego Fenway Bergamot)...

On Homeland, Anderson is joined by a diversity of collaborators, from the Tuvan throat singers and igil players of Chirgilchin to New York experimental jazz and rock players including Rob Burger (keyboards), Omar Hakim (drums), Kieran Hebden of Four Tet (keyboards), Shahzad Ismaily (percussion) Eyvind Kang (viola), Peter Scherer (keyboards), Skuli Sverrisson (bass), Ben Witman (percussion and drums) and John Zorn (saxophone). Antony Hegarty contributes additional vocals.

Videos from the "Music for Dogs" performance and tour dates are below...

Continue reading "new Laurie Anderson album stream + July tour dates "

photos by Erez Avissar

Queen Mermaid Laurie Anderson (at Santos Party House)...

Mark your calendar for this year's Mermaid Parade, happening Saturday, June 19th at 2pm. Leading the proceedings will be "King Neptune" Lou Reed and "Queen Mermaid" Laurie Anderson. The parade's afterparty, featuring burlesque and music, is at the nearby NY Aquarium later that night. More details on the route and transportation are here.

Check out some pictures from the 2009 parade (which had Harvey Keitel and wife Daphna Kastner as the king and queen) and 2008's ball/afterparty

Laurie Anderson has a new album on the way.

Laurie Anderson's forthcoming Nonesuch release, Homeland, is due out on June 22. To count down the weeks till then, Nonesuch will release one short video clip featuring Anderson's male alter ego, Fenway Bergamot, every Tuesday now through release day. In today's inaugural clip, Bergamot revisits the early days of the 2008 financial crisis. BAM has announced that Anderson will give the NY premiere of her new work, Delusion, at the Next Wave Festival this fall. [Nonesuch]

The above-mentioned Nonesuch videos get posted here. There's also a remix contest for the song "Only an Expert" off that record, which runs through May 27th (the winner will get $1,000 and their song will be available on iTunes).

Looking way into the future, Laurie Anderson joins Lou Reed, Mike Patton, Marc Ribot, Dave Douglas, and Uri Caine to perform with John Zorn in "a series of mind-bending sonic compositions and no-holds-barred improvisations" at NYC Opera on Wednesday, March 30, 2011. Tickets...TBA?

Lou recently took part in the Anthology Film Archives benefit at Hiro, but never made it to the Codes Festival in Poland where he was scheduled to play with Laurie and John Zorn on May 15th (Laurie and John did go though). All three of them are next scheduled to appear together on July 2nd at the Montreal Jazz Festival.

The pictures above and those below are from an April 28th benefit show at Santos Party House with Laurie Anderson, Tony Conrad, Erik Friedlander and (not pictured) Text of Light. More pictures and videos (including one with Laurie talking about Delusion) are below...

Continue reading "Laurie Anderson & Lou Reed are king & queen of the 2010 Mermaid Parade, playing BAM & other shows & stuff "

by BBG

* Toby Driver photo by Gemma Fleming

Toby Driver is an "other". Not like Benjamin Linus or one of the Dharma Initiative, but in that his artistic endeavors Kayo Dot and Maudlin of The Well exist in the in-between, and outside. Driver's current project, Kayo Dot, is prepping to release their fourth album Coyote via Hydra Head on April 6th. On Coyote, elements of goth, avant-jazz, prog, ambient, and the kitchen sink meld with the avant-garde, making for an intensely fascinating and eclectic listen.

Driver was recently asked to curate the month of February at The Stone, John Zorn's non-profit club in the East Village. We sat down to ask Driver about some of the bands he chose which include solo sets from members of Krallice, Dysrhythmia, Extra Life, and Bloody Panda in addition to Baby Dee, Oxbow, Gnaw, and a full performance by his own band doing Coyote from start to finish, and the recent resurrection of Maudlin of The Well.

Full interview and Stone schedule, below....

Continue reading "Toby Driver curated Feb @ The Stone - interview & schedule"

DOWNLOAD: Velvet Underground - live from the New York Public Library (MP3)

Lou Reed, John Zorn, Sonic Youth and others will play a benefit concert for Tuli Kupferberg, the Beat poet and original member of the Fugs, at St. Ann's Warehouse in Brooklyn on Jan. 22. Mr. Kupferberg, 86, has had two strokes over the last year, which have left him blind -- although he still manages to regularly post video jokes to YouTube -- and the tickets for the concert, which is being produced by Hal Willner, will help pay his medical expenses. Among the others performers are the singer John Kruth; Ed Sanders, Mr. Kupferberg's fellow Fug; and Peter Stampfel of the Holy Modal Rounders (who also played on early Fugs albums). Tickets are $75 to $125 and are available at stannswarehouse.org or (718) 254.8779. [NY Times]

In December, Lou Reed took part in the NYPL talk with fellow VU members Maureen Tucker and Doug Yule. A recording of that night is posted above. Coming up, Reed's "Metal Machine Music" is going to be performed by Fireworks Ensemble at Columbia's Miller Theatre on Friday, February 5th. Tickets are still on sale.

Tuli was one of the Fugs who played a benefit show at the Bell House in April.

Some of the above mentioned Tuli videos are posted below...

Continue reading "Fugs' Tuli Kupferberg benefit show w/ Lou Reed, John Zorn, Sonic Youth, more ++ Velvet Underground 'reunion' audio"

by Andrew Frisicano

DM Stith plays The Stone on X-Mas...
pictured @ 92YTribeca in October (more by Vincent Cornelli)

The Stone has a great lineup of innovative pop-based acts scheduled for this December. Curators Sam Kulik (multi-instrumentalist who plays trombone in Nervous Cabaret) and David Garland (singer & songwriter and host of WNYC's "Spinning On Air" and "Evening Music") are the month's guest curators at the space.

Let's get into some highlights.

Skeletons Big Band and Capillary Action bring their new large-ensemble compositions (which Skeletons have been playing out since September) to the venue on Sunday, December 6th.

Danielson will somehow pack his "family group" into the venue for a night of music on December 22nd. They just put out a new 7" single on his Sounds Familyre label. The video for its lead track "Moment Soakers" is below. Later that night, you can also see M6, a six-person vocal ensemble that performs the work of innovative composer Meredith Monk.

Sisters Ruth and Merrill Garbus (the latter of which heads tUnE-yArDs) will split an evening on December 23rd.

Diane Cluck is there on December 16th.
Larkin Grimm plays after David Garland on the 17th.

Rob Moose plays violin and other instruments with Antony and the Johnsons, My Brightest Diamond, Sufjan Stevens and others. He plays his first-ever solo show at the venue on December 18th.

Currituck County aka Kevin Barker is the late show on the 19th, and the one and only Dave Deporis will be there on the 27th.

And for those with an open Christmas Day, the venue presents an 8pm set from Asthmatic Kitty-signed songwriter DM Stith and a 10pm set that promises to be entertaining: David Garland (piano, clarinet), son Kenji Garland (some-input mixer) and guests present "Processing Xmas" which will features "Familiar seasonal songs processed and emancipated; family improvs; audience sing-alongs; a warm get-together on a winter night."

On December 29th Extra Life, typically a brooding, dark prog ensemble, will play as a duo, with frontman and guitarist Charlie Looker accompanied by the group's violinist Caley Monahon-Ward.

Then the month and year end with "JOHN ZORN'S ANNUAL END OF THE YEAR IMPROV" on Dec. 30th, and a TBA New Year's Eve event.

The Stone's full December schedule is below...

Continue reading "The Stone's December lineup (is really great) - Danielson, DM Stith, Skeletons, Dave Deporis, David Garland & more"

by Andrew Frisicano

Mode Records has etched its name in the annals of music history, producing the avant-garde and modern classical music of influential composers such as John Cage, Morton Feldman, Iannis Xenakis, and Harry Partch. In its twenty-fifth year, they are hosting a six-hour benefit concert featuring very special performances by Philip Glass and John Zorn and a rare performance of John Cage's "Concert for Piano and Orchestra" with "Aria." This marathon of experimental music luminaries in the intimate Abrons Playhouse helps Mode Records to continue producing the best of New Music into the 21st century.

Thanks to the recession (and the other more nuanced factors we can lump in with it), the Mode concert is neither the only benefit nor the only marathon happening this week. Another benefit marathon this week (also with John Zorn) is happening at the Clemente Soto Vélez (CSV) Cultural Center (dubbed "The Suffolk" for CMJ this year) on Friday, Nov. 20th and Saturday, Nov. 21st. The beneficiaries of the 28 hour marathon are non-profit Arts For Art and the annual Vision Festival, which is going into its 15th year. Night one acts include Sex Mob, John Zorn solo, pianist Connie Crothers and her quartet, Sam Hillmer's Regattas and $KELETON$ Big Band (who are also at the Stone in December). Night two includes Milford Graves & Marshall Allen Duo and a cast of rotating musicians and groups. A full schedule is here. Tickets are on sale.

Yet another (!) benefit marathon comes from WFMU, who is currently holding a 24-hour benefit that runs until Wednesday, November 18th (today) at 7pm. More details on the fundraiser and why it's needed are below. Donate here.

A poster, the full Mode Fest lineup and relevant videos and info are posted below...

Continue reading "Mode Records benefit w/ Philip Glass (whose opera is @ BAM tonight) & John Zorn (who plays the Vision Fest marathon)"

Fischerspooner @ Performa 09 kick-off at MoMA (more by Ryan Muir)

Performa 09, a visual/performance art fest in its third year, kicked off on November 1st with a performance by Fischerspooner at the MoMA. But there are still plenty of events left in the three-week fest, which runs through November 22nd.

Music-related highlights include Lee Ranaldo and Text of Light performing a live score to "Berlin: Symphony of a Great City" in High Line Park (which is sold out, though there is a wait list).

For another piece of the fest, Mike Kelley of Destroy All Monsters is putting on a two-day experimental noise mini-fest, "A Fantastic World Superimposed on Reality: A Select History of Experimental Music," on November 20th and 21th at Gramercy Theater. The work of "John Cage, Fred Frith, Fluxus, Bruce Nauman and Max Neuhaus" will be featured with performances by Airway, Joan La Barbara, Tony Conrad, Jad Fair & Lumberob, Arto Lindsay, Genesis Breyer P.Orridge & Thee Majesty, z'ev, and John Zorn. Tickets are on sale. More details are below. A full calendar of out-there (and some free) events can be found HERE.

You'll have a non-Performa chance to see Fischerspooner this Thursday (11/12) when they DJ at Santos for their single release show/Cloak and Dagger party. The single in question is called "Supply & Demand" and it comes out November 17th on Dim Mak. A remix is available on RCRDLBL. Rounding out the lineup for the party (according to the flyer) will be Junior Sanchez, Ninjasonik, Hot Pink Delorean, Team Facelift, Staccato, Michna, Loose Cannons and "special secret guests." Tickets (with a limited number of reduced admission tix) are on sale. A flyer is below.

A few clips from the fest's growing YouTube channel (including Fischerspooner at MoMA and a symphony for ping pong balls) are also posted below...

Continue reading "Performa 09 continues (w/ Destroy All Monsters, Lee Ranaldo, Genesis P-Orridge, John Zorn, more) ++ Ficherspooner DJing Cloak & Dagger @ Santos"

Gavin & Courtney @ Carnegie Hall (aphrodite-in-nyc)

Rufus, Scarlett & Gavin @ Carnegie Hall (aphrodite-in-nyc)

Gavin & U2 @ Carnegie Hall (aphrodite-in-nyc)

Sunday, October 4th was the "Hal Willner Presents: An Evening with Gavin Friday & Friends" show at Carnegie Hall. The whole night was a benefit for (RED), a charity directed toward AIDS in Africa.

The night's advertised guests included Laurie Anderson, Antony, Elizabeth Ashley, Bono, Adam Clayton, Andrea Corr, The Edge, Flo & Eddie, Joel Grey, Bill Frisell, Guggi, Scarlett Johansson, Courtney Love, Lydia Lunch, Patrick McCabe, Maria McKee, Shane MacGowan, Eric Mingus, Larry Mullen, Jr., JG Thirlwell, Lydia Lunch, Martha Wainwright, Rufus Wainwright and Chloe Webb. A few others who appeared were Lady Gaga, Fred Armisen as Prince, and Lou Reed, The night had a strong collaborative atmosphere to say the least...

Rufus Wainwright, Scarlett Johansson and Saturday Night Live's Fred Armisen joined Friday for the come-hither cartoon "Mr. Pussy," from Friday's 1995 album, Shag Tobacco. (Armisen came out dressed to the purple nines -- as Prince.) Friday and falsetto-soul singer Antony duetted on a pair of ballads, including a Memphis-brass-soaked reading of "He Got What He Wanted" from Friday's 1989 solo debut, Each Man Kills the Thing He Loves. Friday and Virgin Prunes devotee Courtney Love were just on the right side of out-of-control in a pounding version of Magazine's "The Light Pours Out of Me." Queen of the post-punk furies Lydia Lunch played the same half of the night as Lady Gaga (who came out in next to nothing -- she made Love look demure). And a metal-machine-noise assault by Laurie Anderson (violin), John Zorn (saxophone) and Lou Reed (guitar distortion) eventually resolved into the Velvet Underground's "Sweet Jane" with Friday, Bono and a cheerfully pickled Shane McGowan of the Pogues trading verses.

Bono was not just passing through between stadiums. He, the Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. were on and off stage half a dozen times; U2's Friday covers included "I Want to Live" (done with techno drive and Joshua Tree-like space) and the crusted-glam bomb "King of Trash." Bono also took a solo spot, turning on his Irish Sinatra for the Shag Tobacco elegy "The Last Song I'll Ever Sing." The Edge's brother, guitarist Richard Evans, joined Friday and singer Guggi in a mostly-intact Virgin Prunes reunion (the group broke up in 1987). Their overlapping vocal harangue in "Sweethome Under White Clouds," with JG Thirwell of Foetus guesting as a third voice, sounded like the Beastie Boys at the End of Days. [Rolling Stone]

Continue reading "Gavin Friday & friends (U2, Courtney Love, Lady Gaga, Antony, Lou Reed, Rufus Waniwright, and many, many more) played Carnegie Hall (videos & stuff) "

by Andrew Frisicano

Tyshawn Sorey, one of the "Five Drummers Whose Time Is Now" according to the NY Times, will be curating the month of August at, NYC music venue, The Stone. He'll also be releasing a new CD, Koan, on September 29th on 482 Music. On the disc, Sorey leads an ensemble of guitarist Todd Neufeld and bassist Thomas Morgan. That trio will play a set of compositions from the album in a sort of CD release show at the Stone on August 5th, but that's far from your only chance to catch the drummer and his crew. All three play at various times with guests and solo throughout the month.

Other upcoming shows at the venue include a special Monday night show (usually the venue is closed Mondays) with Laurie Anderson and saxist Colin Stetson on August 3rd. Alto player Tim Berne, who played at the Stone on July 30th with Nels Cline, will appear as part of Terrence McManus' "The Wealthy Industrialists" ensemble on August 11th. Artistic director John Zorn's regular Improv Night benefit will take place on August 23th, and will feature Sorey and variety of guests.

Full schedule below...

Continue reading "August 2009 @ The Stone -- curated by Tyshawn Sorey"

Genesis Breyer P-Orridge @ Brooklyn Masonic Temple (more by Zach Dilgard)

Musicka Mystica Maxima festival presented by Ordo Templi Orientis U.S.A. at Santos Party House, New York, NY.
21 and 22 September 2009
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.

Two nights of musick made by practicing magicians or practicing musicians whose work celebrates the magical lifestyle, as well a public performance of ceremonial magic ritual.

Tickets for Day One (Monday, September 21st), Day Two (Tuesday September 22nd), and two-day passes are on sale.

Genesis P-Orridge will also be at the venue's Non, Prurient and Cold Cave show on August 8th. That bill includes spoken word performances by Genesis P-Orridge, Jamie Stewart, Jonathan Shaw, Kid Congo Powers, Eric Paul and Chris Leo (whose band The Van Pelt recently reunited). Tickets are on sale.

Poster and initial lineup below...

Continue reading "Musicka Mystica Maxima Fest @ Santos (9/21 & 9/22) w/ Genesis P-Orridge, John Zorn, Daniel Higgs, more"

Since the closing of LES spot Tonic in 2007, The Stone has been one of the venues that's attempted to fill the void left by the experimental-music-friendly space.

Like Tonic did, The Stone frequently brings on guest curators (not coincidentally Stone founder John Zorn was one of Tonic's most regular hosts and played at Tonic's final show). Now, with guitarist Grey Gersten's monthlong May curatorial run ending Sunday, May 31st, former Tonic co-owner Melissa Caruso Scott comes out of booking retirement to take the reigns in programing the first two weeks of June at The Stone.

Speaking about her choices Scott said, "These artists played some of my favorite Tonic shows and I can't wait to see them again." Her picks include Japanese musician Yuka Honda, who's also playing a Summerstage show with Mike Watt, guitarist Charlie Hunter, Elysian Fields, Vernon Reid, Joan as Polcewoman, cellist Erik Friedlander, and more. Her full schedule is posted below.

Speaking of Friendlander, he plays on Yoko Ono's new DON'T STOP ME! EP (out June 9th Via iTunes Exclusive Digital Download), and you can also catch him live on June 5th along with saxophone player Colin Stetson at the Abrons Art Space Recital Hall. The show is presented by The Manhattan New Music Project, and tickets are on sale.

Before the time of both Tonic and The Stone, the original Knitting Factory on Houston Street featured an ecclectic mix of avant and experimental music (frequently with Zorn and others). The co-founder of that venue, show promoter and current owner of City Winery Michael Dorf, will curate the second half of the June at The Stone.

Acts on his schedule include Shilpa Ray & Her Happy Hookers (who have completed their Pianos residency and are also playing Citysol), Ethan Iverson (of the Bad Plus) with saxist Tim Berne, and Marc Ribot, the guitarist who's had considerable presence at each of the aforementioned venues -- gigging regularly at the Knit on Houston St, getting arrested for protesting the closure of Tonic, and hosting several nights of his 55th-birthday retrospective at The Stone in mid-May.

Check out the full June schedule for The Stone, below...

Continue reading "Tonic owner returns, joins City Winery's Michael Dorf to curate John Zorn's club The Stone in June - full lineup"

photos by Lori Baily

"It was good to have this Lou Reed back: not an American Master nor a Legend of Rock, but a barking, brooding, beneficial irritant. On Thursday night at the Blender Theater at Gramercy, onstage between Sarth Calhoun and Ulrich Krieger, two much younger musicians, he was making noise -- improvised, loud, heavily processed, and some of it ugly enough to make people leave.

Not many, though. There were extra-musical reasons to stay put. An emotional reason: he's Lou Reed, poet of New York City, et cetera. And a big intellectual reason: Mr. Reed calls this group Metal Machine Trio, which refers to a notorious double-LP he made in 1975. "Metal Machine Music" is a kind of personality test. Many average listeners, even average Lou Reed fans, heard it as long-winded, discordant feedback." [NY Times]

Continue reading "Lou Reed's Metal Machine Trio @ Gramercy Theater - pics"

by Andrew Frisicano

Musician and filmmaker Grey Gersten is curating the month of May at non-profit East Village space The Stone. Gersten is currently working on a new LP with Ches Smith (Xiu Xiu, Ceramic Dog, Secret Chiefs 3) and Kato Hideki (Death Ambient, Tremelo of Joy). His performances during the month with various performers are just some of the many worthy events scheduled.

A portion of Marc Ribot's 55th birthday celebration will happen at the venue on May 12th-14th. That includes a new addition to that weeklong series, "A Tribute to Ribot" - led by Gersten - on Wednesday, May 13th. That night is billed as, "Six colleagues, fans and cohorts of Marc Ribot pay tribute to the master in this special night of musical madness. Three performances per set feature music from several of Ribot's most beloved projects" Full info below.

Other acts that jump out include guitarist Loren Conners, who collaborated with Jim O'Rourke on 1997's Two Nice Catholic Boys, on Friday, May 1st; two performances by JG Thirlwell's Manorexia on May 6th; Lucky Dragons with special guests Ches Smith and Grey Gersten on Saturday, May 9th; and a pair of Sunday, May 10th shows with K Records artist Karl Blau playing an early set, followed by a late set from Wilco guitarist Nels Cline.

Select evenings in May will be broadcast live online on free103point9. Right now, scheduled broadcasts include Pauline Oliveros/Lucky Dragons on May 9thand Gersten/Crane/Sawyer and Bill Nace on May 22nd.

Full May calendar below...

Continue reading "The Stone's May schedule - Lucky Dragons, Marc Ribot, more"

by Andrew Frisicano

On Tuesday, April 28th, NYC public radio station WNYC will open the Greene Space, a new street-level venue on the corner of Varick and Charlton Streets in lower Manhattan. The space's inaugural 10-day festival kicks off the same day."Information about ticketing is forthcoming."

As Variety points out, the ground-floor venue will be "something of a downtown version of Rockefeller Center's "Today" show setup (minus the Al Roker groupies)."

"The Greene Space perfectly expresses WNYC's impulse to continue to innovate public radio and inspire people in new ways," said Laura Walker, WNYC President and CEO. "As we produce live events and audio and video programming streetside on Varick Street, we love the fact New Yorkers will be able to see our hosts in action, participate in political dialogues, and enjoy cultural performances. We become a part of the New York City and Hudson Square community in a tangible, visible way. WNYC has tremendous assets: its people, its ethos, its technology, its listeners and the city itself. Finally we have a way to combine them all."

The same day, WNYC will host an "audio theater" presentation of H.G. Wells's The Invisible Man from 7-9pm. In the production, "Michael Riesman, Director of the Philip Glass Ensemble, will give a rare live musical performance on piano, blending music from multiple Philip Glass compositions and live improvisation into a never-before-heard piece."

One regular program to be held in the space will be "Evening Music LIVE with Terrance McKnight and David Garland," whose scheduled guests include "Simone Dinnerstein, Renè Pape, Gabriella Montero, John Zorn, Nico Muhly, Elliott Sharp, Jason Moran, Don Byron and Ute Lemper, among others."

For the space's "First 'First Friday'" on Friday, May 1st, WNYC is partnering with neighbor Sounds of Brazil (SOBs) for a "Cinco de Mayo on El Primero de Mayo" fest with food, music and dancing.

More info on the Greene Space's plans below...

Continue reading "WNYC opening the Greene Space in NYC with a 10-day festival "

2/13 Friday 8 pm - Lexie Mountain Boys
2/13 Friday 10 pm - The Fable of Pitter Patter

A collection of improvisations and short compositions contributed by a group is made up of friends who come from many different groups and backgrounds, including Akron/Family, Vetiver, Butane Variations, and the MK Groove Orchestra.

photos by Tim Griffin

DOWNLOAD: Yo La Tengo - Beanbag Chair (MP3)

After an opening set by Marc Ribot and John Zorn, and a bit of comedy by Slovin and Allen, Yo La Tengo headlined their third Hanukkah show in a row at Maxwell's on Tuesday with some help by guests Smokey Hormel (on guitar for the whole show) and Yoni Wolf of Why? (for a song at the end). Yoni was last seen playing a few sets at Anticon-fest at Knitting Factory last week, including one with/as his old group cLOUDDEAD. More pictures, and the setlist from Hanukkah Night Three, below...

Continue reading "Yo La Tengo, Smokey Hormel & Yoni Wolf @ Maxwell's, NJ (Hanukkah night three) - pics & setlist"