Time to dust off your corduroy blazer, get the walking stick out of your quaint country attic and traipse across the meadow to your favourite record shop. A new (kind of) collection of Belle and Sebastian songs is for sale today! It's called The BBC Sessions, and it basically consists of BBC recordings from 1996-2001. Plus if you get the bonus double CD you'll get an entire Christmas concert from Belfast from 2001. Oh happy days!
Wooo, Obama aka New Jesus aka Ol' Hopey Bastard is now our president! It is officially time to celebrate.
Friday
Bye Bye CBGB hits Artbreak, which is slowly becoming my favorite Billyburg gallery after English Kills. Photographer Bruno Hadjadj pays tribute to the 70s punk scene he lived and loved with this tribute featuring anonymous individuals posing in the infamous, now sadly defunct rock club. Opening reception (with live music) from 5pm-9pm.
Our friend Rebecca (Mixer Reading Series) plays with her band The New York Times on Friday, along with Holly Golightly at the Mercury Lounge.
Over at Glasslands, Thurston Moore joins harpist Zeena Parkins while violinist C. Spencer Yeh joins experimental trumpet player Greg Kelley for a night of experimental music celebrating the release of Carlos Giffoni's new album.
Saturday
In Williamsburg is Dead's SOLID GOLD PICK OF THE WEEK, it's the Soul Clap Dance-Off and Dance Party at Glasslands. Dance contest! People dancing to soul, R&B and funk! DJ, pie enthusiast and overall superstar Jonathan Toubin spinning all night long! I seriously love nothing more than dancing to old-school soul, so consider me there. Solid. Gold.
Sunday
I once told a white person we were going to a ramen place and she was all like "You mean like Top Ramen?" and then my head exploded and my soul traveled back to Asia and had to wander thousands of miles to eventually rejoin my lifeless body. The point is, please don't insult my ancestors with your skeptical ramen attitude. On that note, Union Pool is hosting a Ramen Cook-Off, to be judged by cook-off expert and femme fatale o' the kitchen Cathy Erway. (All rules are explained here.) Party begins at 7pm.
Beta Spaces takes over Bushwick for a day of down-and-dirty arty goodness. In a space spanning 10 blocks, artists will use studios, living rooms, sidewalks and whatever else they can think of to display all kinds of cool work.
For the chill chaser to your wild weekend, take in a free show at Sound Fix Records at 7pm from longtime Wburg scenesters Longwave, who play shoegazy rock so shoegazy you will gaze at your shoes and feel sad and happy at the same time and possibly get dizzy and pass out. Also open bar, so yeah, awesome.
The True Believer, Kelli Miller, video installation
Friday
Tonight, Cinema 16 returns to Bushwick's Starr Space (108 Starr Street) for the captivating and macabre stop-motion animation of the Brothers Quay with a live soundtrack by Darkbloom and free Radeberger Pilsner. Doors open at 8:30pm, $7 cover.
Brooklyn-based band Stars Like Fleas plays Union Pool.
In Chelsea, the New York Art Book Fair returns for an entire weekend, selling all kinds of contemporary art books, zines and more.
Saturday
Wye Oak, Cut Off Your Hands, Laura Gibson and a bunch of other bands play a free daytime show at Glasslands (289 Kent) starting at 1pm.
Noah Loesberg and Kelli Miller open an intriguing gallery show over at Vertexlist (138 Bayard St). Think fantastic interpretations of mundane objects like giant smoke detectors and renderings of computer circuit boards. Opening reception from 7pm-10pm.
Sunday
Indulge in what some say is a magical fruit at the Underground Chili Cook-off at Barcade at 8pm.
It's Friday! Fun! Good times! Oh, but whatever shall you do? We're here to help.
Friday
The Independent Drawing Gig opens at Art Break, an exhibition from artist Linas Jablonskis described as such: "A hybrid of live music and drawing, the exhibition emphasizes the
collision of the underground music scene with the world of independent
art, a world in which drawing plays a particularly important role."
Over at Momenta Art, artists Erik Moskowitz and Amanda Trager present Cloud Cuckoo Land (2008), a collaborative video and sculptural installation created by the real-life couple loosely based on Aristophanes’ play "The Birds."
Saturday
Brooklynite Gallery presents Time Machine (above) from artists Dain, Various and Gold who examine "the constant comparisons being made to the current art scene and
freedom of expression in present day Berlin, as compared to what was
going on in New York City in the late 60’s, 70's and 80’s."
Slotcar Fury takes over East Coast Aliens in Greenpoint, letting you test your driving skills on electric slot-car tracks surrounded by DJs, video art and bands playing downstairs.
Sunday
Test your baking skills at Enid's Annual Apple Pie Bake-Off, or at least enjoy the drink specials and tunes from DJ Jonathan Toubin.
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Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson, aside from having a long-ass name, makes electric, rambling folk songs whose genre-crossing sound keeps in the tradition of Brooklyn's eclectic indie scene. He also has some big-name friends--members of Grizzly Bear and TV on the Radio's Kyp Malone contributed to his self-titled album. He plays tonight at Glasslands (289 Kent Avenue, doors at 9pm).
The Barack Rock Benefit is tonight at 7:30 the Music Hall of Williamsburg. 40$
Nobody to watch the debates with? Then perhaps you'll accept the company of Andrew Bird, the Fiery Furnaces and Eugene Mirman whilst you watch Obama town hall it up with cranky old man Mc(insert terse snide remarkery here).
Yes We Can Ironically Donate Money to a Presidential Campaign. So As Long As There Are Indie Bands
Yes, 40 dollars may seem steep, but bear in mind that all of the
proceeds go directly to the Obama campaign. And sure, the polls look
good now, and that rusty Republican machine is finally starting to
creak and groan, but we're not home free yet.
Just think of Barack Rock like a donation that comes with the added of bonus of some virtuoso whistling, prog pop, and Flight of the Conchords-y comedy. Check it out tonight at the Music Hall of Williamsburg. Doors open at 6:30.
High Places is one of my favorite local bands. Their music sounds like some kind of disorienting whimsical dream, like I'm hearing a beautiful female voice inside my head while phantoms shake household objects at me. Or something. Recently, Dean Spunt of No Age released a new DVD on his label called "Post-Present Medium: New Video Works" featuring videos from Todd P stalwarts like Xiu Xiu, Lucky Dragons, Japanther and the aforementioned High Places. Behold, the future!
Freedom Is Mine from Charles Gray on Vimeo.
Snark versus sincerity; it's a battle I fight everyday on this blog. I support Barack Obama and Barack Obama-inspired songs ... so I'm just not going to say anything about this Obama-inspired song by Broadway performer Charles Gray. A lot of it was shot in Williamsburg, and I'm pretty sure my mom would love it. Hi mom!
Oh, and if you see someone passing something that looks like a giant crystal on Bedford Avenue ... that's freedom.
That's right Milt-heads, it's your favorite poet's 400th birthday and the folks at the Williamsburg Art and Historical Center are throwing him a giant costume ball featuring 90 works by 70 artists created in his honor, a 12-piece swing band, booze and more. Costumes are encouraged, so bust out that old copy of Paradise Lost and get ready to party, John Milton style--which, according to the NY Times, means "enjoying a pipe and a glass of water." Saturday, 8pm, 135 Broadway at Bedford Ave, $40, $20 for students
If you'd rather make devil horns than muse on the fall of Satan, check out the absurdly awesome guitar work of Marnie Stern (above), who plays Silent Barn (915 Wyckoff Ave) on Saturday night. Doors at 7pm, $7.
The WPA (Williamsburg Performance Alliance) presents a weekend of free performances courtesy of the Triskelion Arts, Vampire Cowboys, The Brick and CAVE. Click here for a full schedule of activities.
Sunday is another Brooklyn Record Riot, where more than 40 dealers from all over will be selling your hipster-ass some sweet vinyl while DJs spin for your amusement. Sunday, at the Warsaw, 261 Driggs Ave, 11am-8pm, $3, $20 for early admission (9am-11am).
If obscure 70s rock isn't your thing, head to the Diamond (43 Franklin St in Greenpoint) on Sunday, where you'll get to judge six different home-brewed beer/small plate pairings for $20 in a contest benefiting East New York Farms. Afternoon pairings 3pm-4:30pm, evening pairings 5pm-6:30pm.
And of course, don't forget PWRFL Power tonight and the Lit Crawl tomorrow night.
PWRFL Power, aka Kazutaka Nomura, runs the risk of being too precious, but his earnestness kind of wins you over after awhile. He can't sing very well, he doesn't sound too polished and sometimes the lyrics just don't make sense. But the man can play a mean guitar, and his sweet songs on topics like teaching a pretty girl how to use chopsticks or losing his keys end up feeling charming. This isn't very serious stuff; if I was a teenager I would love it like 10x more. Still, it's worth checking out, either tomorrow, Sep 26, at Death By Audio (49 S 2nd St, 8pm, with An Albatross and Grampall Jookabox) or on 10/15 with another one of my favorites, Tiny Vipers, at Southpaw.
PWRFL Power - Gold Leaf from Svetlana legetic on Vimeo.
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