The Week/Weekend: Sept 13-20.

Exhibition / “Harry Smith: String Figures”
300 Nevins St (Cabinet)
20 September – 3 November 2012

Cabinet is pleased to present “Harry Smith: String Figures,” an exhibition drawn from the collection of John Cohen. Organized by painter Terry Winters, the show features twenty-two string figures created by Smith (1923–1991), the legendary artist, filmmaker, and ethnomusicologist.

BROOKLYN BOOK FESTIVAL
Brooklyn Borough Hall and Plaza
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2012, 10am-6pm

On Sunday, September 23, 2012, from 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m., a record 280+ top national and international authors and participants will join bibliophiles, booksellers and literary organizations on 14 stages at Brooklyn Borough Hall (209 Joralemon Street) and Plaza, Columbus Park, St. Francis College, Brooklyn Heights Public Library, Brooklyn Law School, the Brooklyn Historical Society and St. Ann & The Holy Trinity Church for the seventh annual Brooklyn Book Festival.

Michael Chabon @Greenlight
Sep 17 2012 7:30 pm
Greenlight Bookstore

In his first novel in five years, beloved Pulitzer Prize-winning and New York Times best-selling author Michael Chabon provides a kaleidoscopic vision of urban America in transition, as witnessed by two intimately intertwined families in Oakland, California. Telegraph Avenue encompasses race, family, sexuality, gentrification, politics, jazz, funk, comics, kung fu, and a talking parrot, all with dazzling style and deep compassion. Chabon will read from his novel and answer audience questions before signing books.

Date the Time – Molly Dilworth
Reception: September 20, 6-8pm
Recess

On August 17, 2012 Molly Dilworth will begin work on Date the Time, as part of Recess’s signature program, Session. Session invites artists to use Recess’s public space as studio, exhibition venue and grounds for experimentation. For Date the Time, Dilworth will create a series of banners and flags, bearing patterns generated from user-submitted photos. Addressing digital content using traditional folk art techniques, Dilworth will distill issues of labor and consumer rights from unexpected sources.

Wendy White: Pix Vää
Leo Koenig
Opens September 13 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM

In the large-scale “Fotobild” paintings, White continues to conjoin component canvases and then secures commercial storefront awnings above and atop painted canvases. These awnings and armatures, fabricated at a sign shop in Chinatown, feature human-scale snapshots that White has culled from her digital and print archives.

Stealth Reflections
Mighty Tanaka
September 14

Stealth Reflections pulls back the layers of consciousness and exposes the viewer to an awakening of self reflection.  Through his work, Miguel Ovalle seeks to reveal the inner psyche of the human condition through a myriad of interpretations and techniques.  His steadfast approach defines his meticulous attention for detail.

Tessa Farmer & Amon Tobin Control Over Nature
Spencer Brownstone Gallery
September 15 – October 6, 2012

Spencer Brownstone Gallery is pleased to present ‘Control Over Nature’, an exhibition by Tessa Farmer in collaboration with an acoustical installation by Amon Tobin. For her second show at the gallery, Tessa has teamed up with Amon Tobin to mark his September 14th performance at New York City’s Hammerstein Ballroom. With his groundbreaking audio/visual live show ISAM 2.0, the electronic music pioneer joined forces with Farmer for an extraordinary collaborative installation combining his sound design and elements from ‘ISAM’, alongside Farmer’s trademark sculptures (constructed from bits of organic material, such as roots, dead insects and bones). Hovering with a rarefied, jewel-like beauty, Tessa’s tiny spectacles resound with a theurgist exotica: their specimen forms evolve as something alien and futuristic. The collaboration perfectly captures the themes surrounding ‘ISAM’: sensory deprivation, disorienting situationism and the mechanization of natural things.

Wondering Around Wandering
Saturday, September 15, 6:00–11:00pm
983 Dean Street

Join us for the grand opening of Wondering Around Wandering, and don’t miss Pulled: A Catalog of Screenprinting, making its final stop after a year of traveling.


Fishtank Ensemble
/Baby Soda Jazz Band
Jalopy
Sat, Sept 15th

Fishtank Ensemble is a band that offers a unique blend of Gypsy, Balkan, Flamenco, Klezmer and original tunes. The arrangements are always surprising and include instruments from many countries such as violin, accordion, flamenco and gypsy jazz guitar, shamisen, bass, saw and voice./Baby Soda! Developed by hoboes, perfected through science… Baby Soda is on the cutting edge of a new movement loosely known as street jazz; with an eclectic set of influences ranging from New Orleans brass bands, jug music, southern gospel and hot jazz.

Who Gives a Sh*t About Literary Magazines?
Mon Sep 17, 7:00PM
BookCourt

Randy Rosenthal (editor of The Coffin Factory) and panelists Lorin Stein (editor of The Paris Review), Rob Spillman (editor of Tin House), and John Freeman (editor of Granta) discuss the impact of literary magazines in contemporary culture.

Survival
War of Words
Strange Tales of Liaozhai

Kris Bowers & Carson Adjacent
The NY Theremin Society Presents: GOOD Vibrations – Theremin X 4 FT Dorit Chrysler, Michael Evans, Rob Schwimmer and Allison Sniffin
Eleh (US Debut) + Lary 7
PRACTICE! W/ IKEBE SHAKEDOWN + OSEKRE AND THE LUCKY BASTARDS + THE FORTHRIGHTS + TUNDE ADEBIMBE/ OHAL GREITZER/ DAREN HO/ RYAN SAWYER/ C. SPENCER YEH QUINTET
Best American Poetry 2012
My Heart Is An Idiot: FOUND Magazine’s 10th Anniversary Tour!
LIGHT OBJECTS
MECANICA POPULAR
LIGHTNING BOLT
R. SIKORYAK & FRIENDS: CAROUSEL

The Channel
Joseph Keckler + Mac Wellman
ASBA’s 15th Annual International
NYC HONEY FESTIVAL
EatSleepDraw (5 Years)
Chris Watson + Marcus Davidson
AURAL DYSTOPIA
ALESSANDRO PESSOLI: FIRED PEOPLE
REYES & STEEL
Beth Cavener Stichter: Come Undone
Liza LaCroix
Masami Teraoka: Cloisters Inquisition    
Metropolis: Alexis Duque
Richard Estes / New York by Night
BARNEY KULOK: BUILDING
Ralph Humphrey
Assembly 2012
Sunday Paintings for a Rainy Day
Nate Wooley + Mazen Kerbaj
TAKESHI MURATA: SYNTHESIZERS
Crossing the Line 2012
Printed Matter, Inc. presents Contemporary Artists’ Books Conference in conjunction with The NY Art Book Fair
SHABOYGEN BY STEVEN AND WILLIAM LADD
Luisa Rabbia
INNER CIRCLE MUSIC FESTIVAL: PETROS KLAMPANIS TRIO
Wildlife in the Post-Natural Age
Thomas Hirschhorn “Concordia, Concordia”
ANDREA ZITTEL: Fluid Panel State
Alexander Hahn

Allison Evans
Sally Mann: Upon Reflection
POST NATURAL
Occupy Your BFF
Lucie Fontaine : Estate
New York School Artists
Respect Sextet and Loadbang
SIGHTLINES: HELEN SEAR
Opera on Tap: BRIDES ON FIRE!!!
Red Baraat w/ M.A.K.U. SoundSystem
Mount Eerie w/ Loren Connors

LIGHTNESS OF BEING
CARL MAGUIRE, FAR FROM ALMOST ALWAYS
Charles Jarboe   New Paintings
CALEB CAIN MARCUS: PORTRAIT OF ICE
FITZGERALD & STAPLETON: WAGE
Teresita Fernández & Mr.
HAIRY SANDS/SOURCE OF YELLOW
GUYI-GUYI by Pereferia Teatro
DAVE COLE
Miriam (BAM 30th Next Wave Fest)
BEAT FESTIVAL
Andra Ursuta: Aboveground Animation
Trey Speegle: Good Luck With That
THE JOSHUA LIGHT SHOW
Pictures from the Moon: A Symposium on Holograms and Art
MIVOS QUARTET
Nublu 10 Years w/ performances by Wax Poetic, Hess is More, Love Trio and Clark Gayton
Gallow Green

COMING UP:

The Secret City – NEW YORK
Cave Canem at The New School Presents: Natasha Trethaway and Metta Sama
Crossing the Line
Devotchka
The Mountain Goats
Adults in the Dark: Avant-Garde Animation (MAD)

The Week/Weekend: August 23-Aug 30.


Exploring the Poison Cauldron of the Newtown Creek with Mitch Waxman
August 25, 2012, 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM
Meetup at the corner of Kingsland and Norman Avenues in Greenpoint at 11

The 22 is headed out this Saturday to check out Atlas Obscura’s tour of Newton Creek. We’ll have a full update afterwards, but in the meantime buy your tickets and join us! We will be exploring the petroleum and waste transfer districts of the Newtown Creek watershed in North Brooklyn. Heavily industrialized, the area we will be walking through is the heart of the Greenpoint Oil Spill and home to scores of waste transfer stations and other heavy industries. We will be heading for the thrice damned Kosciuszko Bridge, which is scheduled for a demolition and replacement project which will be starting in 2013. Photographers, in particular, will find this an interesting walk through a little known and quite obscure section of New York City.

Battle for Bergen Street
Monday, August 27, 7pm
at the corner of Smith and Bergen Streets 

“Battle on Bergen” is a site-specific performance incorporating elements of dance, street theater, puppetry, and live music, depicting certain events from the Battle of Brooklyn and drawing parallels between the American Revolutionary War and events today. Sometimes forgotten in the very neighborhoods where it took place, the Battle was fought on August 27th, 1776 weeks after the signing of the Declaration of Independence. “Battle on Bergen” is co-directed by Selene Colburn and features David Freeman, James Hannaham, Aaron Stanley, Willis Bigelow, Alan Balicki, Katie Merz, John Bauman, Tyler Sussman, and J.J. Hill-Wood.

Michael Hearst’s SONGS FOR UNUSUAL CREATURES
Sat 08/25
Barbes

A celebration of the under-appreciated creatures that roam the planet. From the Australian Bilby to the deep-sea Magnapinna Squid, to the Saddleback Caterpillar. The songs are brought to life by a gaggle of curious instruments and peculiar sounds including theremin, claviola, stylophone, and more.. With Michael Hearst, Ron Caswell, Allyssa Lamb Ben Holmes and Kristin Mueller.

Day Joy/Gracie
Fri, August 24, 2012
Cameo Gallery

Day Joy is the creation of Peter Michael Perceval and Michael Serrin of Orlando FL. Their music began acoustically on the porch and recordings began with just the duo layering instrumentation together and and creating the lush and layered Dream Folk/Pop recordings you can hear now.

Art for Progress presents “Mixed Greens”
Saturday, August 25th
Paperbox Brooklyn

AFP returns to The Paper Box in East Williamsburg for a new monthly multimedia experience showcasing some of the finest emerging talent NYC has to offer. Most recently, AFP hosted “Brooklyn Beat Music and Arts Festival” at The Paper Box, and will continue the multidisciplinary arts experience with their new monthly series “Mixed Greens.” Taking place on Saturday nights the third week of each month, “Mixed Greens” will bring together a fresh new mix of musicians, artists, and DJ’s, creating an eclectic experience.

Sound Off Salon
16 Beaver St

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Sound Off is an intimate performance series of sound art and experimental music that connects audiences with composers, musicians, artists, and one another. It takes place in a simple loft: no stage, no curtain, and little distance between performer and audience.

LUSH Curated by Michael Hunt
Saturday, August 25 from 6-10pm
Klughaus Gallery

The Australian so-called “graffiti artist” LUSH is having his debut New York solo exhibition at Klughaus Gallery on Saturday, August 25, 2012. Following successful shows in Australia and London, LUSH is going to be bringing his “Art” to the Big Apple.

FLASH POINT/ NYC: WRITERS AND COMPOSERS
Thursday,  Aug 30 – 6:00PM
Cornelia St Cafe

A multidisciplinary call-and-response experience, the FLASH POINT/ NYC ensemble of writers and composers interweave new hybrid texts, flash fiction, micro memoir and prose poems across the harmonic rhythms, inversions, melodies and lines of original live jazz. Synchronicities and spontaneities emerge, converge and diverge to cross genres, provoke tradition and explore the territories ahead.

Gayle Young with Reinhard Reitzenstein
8/25 Saturday
The Stone

Young and Reitzenstein combine pre-recorded sounds — ranging from oceans to railways — with two of Young’s stringed instruments, one wood and the other a prototype in aluminum. Their approach is a playful exploration of sound that integrates soundscape with unusual tunings.

Butoh Electra
August 29 – September 8
Irondale Center

The magnificent, intense and intelligent Butoh Electra is created and performed by the highly acclaimed ensemble, The Ume Group. A “beautiful and disturbing” piece (NYTheatre.com), Butoh Electra presents Sophocles’ Greek revenge tragedy as the story of a woman whose vibrant inner life is corrupted by the world of walking dead in which she lives.

The Disposable Film Festival
Thursday August 23

Solar1

The DFF was created in 2007 to celebrate the artistic potential of disposable video: short films made on non-professional devices.

Veronica Klaus Sings The Peggy Lee Songbook with special guest Joey Arias
7:30 PM – August 29 

Joe’s Pub

Veronica Klaus delves into the amazingly broad songbook of the inimitable Miss Peggy Lee and brings her own sultry, smokey soulful style to some favorites and some lesser known gems from the Lee songbook, with the Tammy Hall Trio backing her, this is a great night of music for fans of jazz and the immortal Peggy Lee!

Neil Rolnick/Kristin Norderval
8/29 Wednesday
The Stone

Neil Rolnick works for violin, piano and computer, with violinist Todd Reynolds and pianist Vicky Chow. Including Hammer & Hair, Digits, Fiddle Faddle and Robert Johnson Sampler.

Harry Pussy Record Release Party with Bill Orcutt & Chris Corsano
Thursday, August 30, 2012 @ 8:00 pm

Roulette

Record release party for Harry Pussy’s Let’s Build A Pussy (1998) & One Plus One (1992-1993) with solo sets and a world premere duo performance by Bill Orcutt (one of the most influential noise artists of the 20th century) and “one of the most exciting drummers on the planet”, Chris Corsano.

Leland Sundries/Angela Perley and The Howlin’ Moons/Raquel Bell and David Marshall of Mesiko
Friday, 8/24
Pete’s Candy Store

Leland Sundries, a band from New York led by Nick Loss-Eaton, is dedicated to storytelling in a way that recalls Woody Guthrie and his Folkways brethren.Raquel and David are performing a rare duo set of past songs from their now defunct band, Norden Bombsight, and some of their new material from recently formed, Mesiko (Ray Rizzo, Chris Rodahaffer).”Taking her cues from the bold ladies of classic Americana country, Angela Perley’s vocal whippoorwill twang and down-home lyrics are so darling they will keep you up at night.

ICY & SOT IRANIAN STREET ARTISTS
Openhouse Gallery
August 23-25

Neverheard Inc and Klerkx Art Agency will be presenting ICY AND SOT’s Made in Iran at Openhouse Gallery. The street art duo will be debuting at Openhouse 379 Broome in Nolita. Made in Iran will expose viewers to site-specific installation and new stencil work that has been seen on the streets of Paris, Turin, San Paolo, New York, and many other cities.

Taka Kigawa, piano – performing J.S. Bach’s “The Art of Fugue”
Le Poisson Rouge
Mon., August 27, 2012, 7:00 PM

Critically acclaimed pianist TAKA KIGAWA will present a solo piano recital on Monday, August 27th, 2012, at 8:00 pm, at (Le) Poisson Rouge. Doors open at 7:00 pm. For this recital, Mr. Kigawa will perform Johann Sebastian Bach’s The Art of Fugue, BWV 1080 (complete.)

The Snow / C. Gibbs/Annie and The Beekeepers with special guest Wilsen
Joe’s Pub
9:30 PM – August 30 

The Snow is a cinematic literary-pop quartet from Brooklyn, New York led by Pierre de Gaillande (Bad Reputation, Melomane, Morning Glories) and Hilary Downes. The Snow’s influences are as diverse as its sound – having been described in turns as post-apocalyptic French cabaret, gypsy pop, and carnival Americana.

BACHSTAR
KOTORINO
ANDY STATMAN
Creative Nonfiction Opening
VICTOR FRANGE PRESENTS GAS

Urban Food Waste Workshop
Braulio Amado’s: HOUDINI      
Cinema, Cinema/Bambara/Jackpot Tiger/Big Fur/Big Ups @Paper Box
Isle of Rhodes/Tough/Luck, Late Cambrian

Newtown Creek Celebration: Puppet Parade and Pageant
DAVE KADDEN/BAHAMA GIRL/CATFOX
N Y Moth Story Slam (Blunders)
BEAT Festival
SCHOOLNIGHT at the Bowery Hotel
Don’t Allow Fracking in New York State!
Nancy Beckman and Tom Bickley/Viv Corringham
GLOBAL LIVING ROOM FEST: JOSH RUTNER’S G’HOKTASAURUS
Jason Kao Hwang
Melanie Daniel: ECHO SHIELD
Skye Steele’s Glorious Sunshine Band
Crystal Bright and The Silver Hands

COMING UP:

Ryan Turley’s Hi/Lo
ELISA LENDVAY: Small Sculpture 
Strange Tales of Liaozhai
Thomas Allen: Beautiful Evidence
Wondering Around Wandering
Pauline Oliveros with Doug Van Nort and FILTER
Pictures from the Moon: A Symposium on Holograms and Art
Odd Job @Fowler Arts
SoundWalk 2012
THE NY ART BOOK FAIR
Next wave Festival
The Mountain Goats
Devotchka
 
 

THE WEEKEND: MARCH 9-11.

EDITOR’S PICKS:

Holi
http://www.festivalofcolors.org/
03/11/2012-03/11/2012

Holi is the Hindu festival of colors. It celebrates the coming of spring, fruitful harvests, unity, joy, and a tale from the Bhagavad Gita. In addition to the throwing of colored powder (Holi Gulal) it is traditional to light bonfires in celebration of the miraculous escape that young devotee of the god Vishnu. A demon tried to throw him into a fire, but he escaped without any injuries due to his unshakable devotion. In most areas, Holi lasts about two days. One of Holi’s biggest customs is the loosening strictness of social structures, which normally include age, sex, status, and caste. Holi closes the wide gaps between social classes and brings Hindus together. Together, the rich and poor, women and men, enjoy each other’s presence on this joyous day. Additionally, Holi lowers the strictness of social norms. No one expects the decorum of normal life; as a result, the atmosphere is filled with excitement and joy.

Hazmat Modine
http://hazmatmodine.com/home.html
03/10/2012-03/10/2012
7pm-10pm

HAZMAT MODINE draws from the rich soil of American music of the 20’s and 30’s through to the 50’s and early 60’s, blending elements of early Blues, Hokum Jugband, Swing, Klezmer, New Orleans R & B, and Jamaican Rocksteady. The band is fronted by two harmonicas which use call and response, harmony, melody, and syncopated interweaving rhythms. The band includes tuba, guitar, and percussion, claviola and Hawaiian steel guitar. The band’s sound reflects musical influences ranging from Avant-garde Jazz to Rockabilly and Western Swing to Middle-Eastern, African, and Hawaiian musical styles.

 

 

Continue reading

THE MAST: “Wild Poppies” by Matt Mowatt.

ALBUM REVIEW:
THE MAST
“WILD POPPIES”
by Matt Mowatt
RELEASES: June 21, 2011
BUY ALBUM.

CD RELEASE SHOW:
THURS, JULY 7, 2011 @ Le Poisson Rouge, NYC, 7PM
CD RELEASE SHOW, get tix HERE


“Trump” Wild Poppies, 2011 BUY ALBUM.

“Wild Poppies” Wild Poppies, 2011 BUY ALBUM.

I had always thought that the djembe was an instrument solely relegated to the living room of a stoned and nude Matthew McConaughey. To the sandal clad college kid; or perhaps set in the corner of some ecologically sound mansion as a decorative gesture of cultural awareness. It’s refreshing to have one’s stereotypes shattered. The Mast’s new album Wild Poppies -and their djembe- did just that.

The ethereal vocals of Haale, whose riffs conjure scenes of panoramic deserts, compliment the unfolding complexity of Matt Kilmer’s poly-rhythmic drumming (using not only the djembe, but also a frame drum a bass drum, a floor tom, and cymbals) and invoke a sort of blooming, colorful landscape of layers, organically grown. I think of a toned down Kills, a hyperactive (or perhaps simply active) Mazzy Star, a straightforward Blonde Redhead. In spite of these comparisons, and in a music world saturated with tuned glossy duos, The Mast has carved out a niche all their own, weaving together a sound both simulated and organic.

Song titles like “The Lake” and “Hummingbird,” and lyrics such as “gold dust of the sun has settled, brightens my mind,” or “rolling over the reeds, rolling over mounds of earth, from my head to feet, oh land, the grand masseuse,” reinforce the earthiness of the sound. Despite the fact that the cover art, a fractal image of poppies grown in the band’s backyard, invites the psychedelic, to label their music as simply psychedelic, electronic or rock/pop would be off the mark. Much like their self-proclaimed symbol, The Mast’s strength lies in its ability to merge the best of all three in symbiotic sound.

WATCH THE ALBUM TRAILER. 

The Mast will play THURS, JULY 7, 2011 @ Le Poisson Rouge for the release of their album “Wild Poppies.”

ABOUT MATT MOWATT: Matthew Mowatt is currently working as a freelance editor and English teacher in Paris, France. He’s  searching for publishers to accept his first finished novella and in the meantime, he seeks out musicians and writers for entertainment of the inspirational kind. He occasionally contributes to his own fanless blog (fairweather chronicles) when he’s licked by life.