What's going on Wednesday?

Flock of Dimes
Flock of Dimes (photo by Paley Fairman)

You can browse our full NYC show calendar for all of tonight’s shows, but here are some highlights…

Flock of Dimes (Wye Oak’s Jenn Wasner), Your Friend @ Rough Trade
Wye Oak’s Jenn Wasner released her first solo album as Flock of Dimes earlier this year, a decidedly more synthpop affair than what Wye Oak, does but still with that soaring songwriting style she’s so good at. She’s worth seeing whatever she’s doing.

New York Comedy Festival
The 2016 edition of NYCF is in full swing at venues all over the city, and Wednesday options include ‘Oh Hello’ on Broadway; Judah Friedlander at The Creek & the Cave and lots more.

Kero Kero Bonito, Skylar Spence, Ice Choir @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
Kero Kero Bonito just released their debut album, Bonito Generation, it’s a big chunk of bubblegum in a shiny, shiny wrapper, but it’s one with some bitter bite in the form of the tongue-in-cheek lyrics (which flit back and forth between English and Japanese). If you’re going tonight, get there early for Ice Choir, aka Kurt Feldman (Depreciation Guild) in ’80s synthpop mode.

The Orwells, The Symposium @ Baby’s All Right
Chicago troublemakers The Orwells may do some damage to the still-under-renovation Baby’s tongiht while previewing songs from their forthcoming Terrible Human Beings LP.

Helado Negro, Buscabulla @ Bowery Ballroom
NYC pop experimentalist Helado Negro just released new LP Private Energy but it’s live where the band really shine: funky, genre-defying, and led by the very charismatic Roberto Carlos Lange.

Toots & the Maytals @ Brooklyn Bowl
One of the known Jamaican ska and rock steady vocal groups and more than 50 years since their formation, Toots Hibbert is still fronting the group, bringing good vibes and breezy grooves.

GZA (performing Liquid Swords) @ City Winery
Not onlyis GZA’s Liquid Swords the best Wu-Tang solo project, it’s also one of the best hip hop albums of the ’90s, period. Tonight he’ll perform it live and share stories as well.

TEEN, Ex Reyes @ The Footlight
TEEN’s 2016 album, Love Yes, is the Brooklyn band’s best yet, finding that sweet spot between artiness and modern pop. They play tonight with Ex Reyes, is the project of Mikey Freedom Hart (who’s been a sideman with Jack Antonoff, Sinkane, Santigold, and many others).

Primal Scream @ Irving Plaza
On their latest album Chaosmosis, Scottish indie vets Primal Scream mix together rock, dance and dub.  This is their first of two NYC shows this week.

Quintron & Miss Pussycat, The RocknRoll Hi-Fives @ WFMU Monty Hall
New Orleans group Quintron & Miss Pussycat know how to get a party going and do it using a lot of homemade gear which adds a certain charm to any soiree.

GusGus @ Highline Ballroom
Long-running Icelandic band GusGus, once part of the 4AD stable, have been making music for over 20 years, having released their ninth album, Mexico, in 2014 via Kompakt.

Animal Collective, Actress @ Terminal 5
Animal Collective returned earlier this year with Painting With, another dose of their bouncy, synthy, psychedelic pop. Tonight they return to NYC’s Terminal 5 in continued support of that album, with British electronic musician Actress opening.

Silver Apples, Forma, Bernardino Femminielli @ Good Room
In the late ’60s, Silver Apples made crucial advancements in psychedelic rock and electronic music, and their influence can still be felt today. Original member Simeon still keeps the project going, and tonight he plays with two younger artists he probably influenced: Brooklyn electronic band Forma and Montreal’s Bernardino Femminielli (who works with Dirty Beaches).

Blaenavon, Hazel English, Pretty Sick @ Berlin
British rockers Blaenavon have picked up some buzz for their sound that hearkens back to the previous decade’s Britrock bands (there’s some Kooks and some Maccabees in there), and they’ll put out their debut LP in 2017 via Canvasback/Atlantic. Tonight they make their NYC debut. Support comes from Hazel English (who Stereogum just named one of the best new artists of 2016) and local lo-fi indie rockers Pretty Sick.

Lydia Lunch & Umar Bin Hassan: No Wave Out @ Joe’s Pub
No wave legend Lydia Lunch (of Teenage Jesus & the Jerks and other projects) has a new collaborative project with Umar Bin Hassen (of proto-hip hop legends The Last Poets). It’s called No Wave Out, and it features, according to a press release, “seamless volleys of confrontational poetic sparring” between the two artists. They’ll perform it live tonight and tomorrow at Joe’s Pub with Lydia’s Retrovirus bandmates Tim Dahl (Child Abuse) and Weasel Walter (Behold…The Arctopus), as well as Last Poets percussionist Don Babatunde and drummer Shaun Kelly.

For all of tonight’s shows, and tomorrow’s, check out our NYC concert calendar.

For laughs, check out the NYC Comedy calendar too.

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