Category Archives: Pop and Rock

Big talent cultivates big prog-rock sound in Big Farm

Posted on April 2, 2012 | Leave a comment

Don’t miss the all-star ensemble’s gig at Public Assembly

Who knows when they’ll play again

Big Farm: Jason Treuting, Steven Mackey, Mark Haanstra and Rinde Eckert.

Q. Did you hear the one about the Pulitzer Prize finalist, the Guggenheim fellow, one of the leading new music percussionists and a Dutch Jazz Competition-winning bassist got together to make some garage rock?

A. Big Farm was born.

Janus Trio

Never heard of Big Farm? Go to Public Assembly at 70 North 6th St., Williamsburg, Brooklyn, at 8 p.m. on Saturday, April 7, and you’ll never forget them. (They’re on a bill with Janus Trio, a great Brooklyn-based flute-viola-harp trio.) Admission is $10 at the door.

Time Out NY has called Big Farm “something like a Blind Faith-style supergroup,” given the accomplishments of the individuals in the band. Jason Treuting, the drummer, is perhaps the most recognizable member of the versatile percussion ensemble So Percussion. Steven Mackey, the sizzling lead guitarist, is a former Guggenheim fellow, a Grammy winner and an accomplished New Music composer. Bassist Mark Haanstra is an incredibly talented jazz player from the Netherlands. And Rinde Eckert, the vocalist, was a finalist for the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for his “Orpheus X” and also a Guggenheim fellowship. Continue reading →

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Posted in Concerts, Contemporary, Contemporary Classical, Music, News, Pop and Rock, Recordings

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The Mountain Goats and Anonymous 4 bridge the centuries at Merkin Concert Hall

Posted on March 26, 2012 | Leave a comment

Anonymous four and John Darnielle, right, of the Mountain Goats at Merkin Concert Hall

UPDATE: Audio link to full concert added

Hear the full concert by clicking here.

Who knew John Darnielle had a secret wish to work with Anonymous 4, the a cappella quartet that specializes in music of the 12th through 15th centuries? The Ecstatic Music Festival, created by New Amsterdam Records‘ Judd Greenstein, gave him a shot, and the result was Transcendental Youth, a song cycle presented Saturday,  March 24, at Merkin Concert Hall.

Darnielle, the writer and singer who performs as the Mountain Goats (and for this evening, he was the lone Goat) got the “why” question out of the way first.
As he was getting ready to finish college, his dad gave him a gift — a CD of A4’s 1993 An English Ladymass— an intense listen, he said, and one he returned to over and over as he coped with the more mundane stresses of completing two thesis papers (in English and Classics).

The Mountain Goats set list is after the jump.

John Darnielle (Photo © 2010, Steven P. Marsh)

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Posted in Classical, Concerts, Contemporary, Contemporary Classical, Folk, Music, News, Pop and Rock, Review

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Charli XCX cuts loose at Santos Party House

Posted on March 13, 2012 | Leave a comment

Charli XCX at Santos Party House in Manhattan. (Photos © 2102, Steven P. Marsh)

British phenomenon Charli XCX is, at the ripe old age of 19, a seasoned veteran of the pop music scene. After all, she exploded on the dance scene in the UK all of four years ago, at the tender age of 15, self-releasing two EPs, Emelline/Art Bitch and !Franchesckaar! in 2008.

Charli XCX (real name Charlotte Aitchison) has supported Robyn and The Ting Tings, and just wrapped up a tour opening for Sleigh Bells. Now she’s ready to take on the U.S. Her first official U.S. release is due this spring. So she decided to check out the lay of the land with a show in Philadelphia and two in New York City before heading to Austin for the South By Southwest music conference.

Her second stop in NYC was at Santos Party House in Chinatown on Monday night, March 12. The line of fans waiting outside the 400-plus capacity club stretched up the block on Lafayette Avenue and around the corner for the absurdly early set.

She eased the pain of the wait a bit when she came outside to smoke a cigarette after her rather belated soundcheck and saw the fans queued up. She stopped and chatted with fans, and even posed for some snapshots before going off to the smoking corral. Very attentive, sweet, personable and normal,

Onstage Charli adopted a much more in-your-face persona, which suited her overall delivery.

Read on for more photos, info and a set list after the jump.

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Jenny Scheinman, pregnant and full of energy, played (Le) Poisson Rouge with her band Mischief & Mayhem

Posted on March 2, 2012 | 1 comment

Jenny Scheinman, right, and her Mischief & Mayhem bandmates. (Photo by Michael Gross)

Brooklyn’s own Jenny Scheinman has long been a strong side player, fiddling for lots of rock and pop heroes, from Lucinda Williams, Norah Jones, Rodney Crowell and Carla Bozulich to Bill Frisell, Vinicius Cantuaria and Ani DiFranco.

She’s straddled the divide between “popular” music (rock, folk and country) and contemporary experimental sounds.

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Posted in Concerts, Contemporary, Jazz, Music, Pop and Rock, Review

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The La’s remain a phantom on the American music scene

Posted on March 2, 2012 | Leave a comment

Lee Mavers of The La's

We are gutted. Completely. How could it happen that Lee Mavers, the voice of The La’s, could destroy our hopes of seeing the band in New York City?

One-album-wonders from Liverpool (yes, it’s not just the hometown of The Beatles), The La’s — or perhaps more specifically, lead vocalist Lee Mavers and a band of merry hired guns — were supposed to show up at Webster Hall in Manhattan’s East Village for a long-awaited show on March 12.

But an unhappy email arrived in our inbox on Thursday:

“It is with regret that The La’s have had to cancel their show at the Webster Hall on Monday, March 12th, 2012. Unfortunately, front man Lee Mavers has damaged the tendons in his index (playing) finger.  He has been to see a doctor and been informed that it will not have recovered in time for his New York show.”

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Bachelorette playing an intimate show in Brooklyn before hitting the road with The Magnetic Fields

Posted on March 1, 2012 | Leave a comment

Annabel Alpers of Bachelorette

One-woman act makes dreamy, psychedelia-tinged pop

There’s something about Bachelorette, the nom de rock of New Zealander Annabel Alpers, that’s immediately appealing. Our very first impression of her is that she’s a self-directed Beth Orton who charts her own course without being at the mercy of producers and DJs.

If your first exposure to this Drag City recording artist’s dreamy, pyschedelic girl-group sound is via her most recent recordings, you might not agree. But check out this video, recording in someone’s living room, on the Australian music blog Polaroids of Androids, and you’re more likely to understand.

She’s not as folkie as Beth Orton, but she has a dreamy, somewhat fragile voice and a knack for lovely melody that evokes an Orton for a new generation, one who knows how to loop and manipulate sound live.

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Musical ecstasy: Ecstatic Music Festival starts tonight

Posted on February 4, 2012 | Leave a comment
John Darnielle of The Mountain Goats. (Photo © 2010, Steven P. Marsh)

John Darnielle's band The Mountain Goats is one of the great acts in this year's Ecstatic Music Festival lineup. (Photo © 2010, Steven P. Marsh)

Friends have been asking for recommendations on what shows to check out in the second annual Ecstatic Music Festival at Merkin Concert Hall.

Sxip Shirey (© 2011, Steven P. Marsh)

The two-month festival, put together by Judd Greenstein and New Amsterdam Presents, an arm of the innovative New Amsterdam Records label, is an absolute must. It’s so chock full of great artist pairings that it’s tough to pick just one or two. Last year’s festival was strong, and the lineup this year looks even stronger. And ticket sales seem to reflect that, given that some of the shows have been sold out for awhile.

But some shows are still available, and tickets are around even for the sold-out gigs.

There’s one I’m really looking forward to is the Saturday, March 24 bill featuring The Mountain Goats, the homemade indie-rock project of John Darnielle, paired with the early music vocal quartet Anonymous Four. We’re not sure how this one will play out, but both groups are so good at what they do, and so genre-busting, that it should be remarkable.

Todd Reynolds (Photo © 2011, Steven P. Marsh)

Another highlight early in the festival is the amazingly indescribable music-maker Sxip Shirey and Angélica Negrón, with special guests electro-violinist Todd Reynolds, Noveller, Jonny Rodgers& Face the Music on Tuesday, Feb. 7.

And we don’t mean to give tonight’s opening show short shrift, but we have to think tickets for this one evaporated in seconds: Jherek Bischoff and the Wordless Music Orchestra, with special guests David Byrne, Craig Wedren, Greg Saunier, Mirah, Zac Pennington, and more. But if you’re willing to try to score a ticket, we’re sure it’ll be worthwhile!

For the full schedule, click through to the jump for the festival press release, courtesy of our pal, New Amsterdam publicist Jill Strominger.

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Posted in Concerts, Contemporary, Contemporary Classical, Folk, Music, News, Pop and Rock

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Quite an event with Antony and the Johnsons

Posted on February 3, 2012 | Leave a comment

Antony Hegarty with his 60-piece orchestra on the Radio City Music Hall stage. (Photos © 2012, Steven P. Marsh)

What can we say about the wonderfully strange singer Antony Hegarty, who on Jan. 26 managed to transform Radio City Music Hall into his own special dreamscape?

Antony, who often performs with a band as Antony and the Johnsons, had some members of his band as part of a 60-piece orchestra for this light-and-music show dubbed Swanlights.  He attracted a sold-out crowd that included celebrities such as Tilda Swinton, Jenny Shimizu, Rufus Wainwright, Lady Bunny, Michael Stipe and many more.

Lady Bunny in the lobby of Radio City Music Hall.

(Check out The New York Times review of the show here.)

The show, commissioned by the Museum of Modern Art and originally designed for presentation in the museum’s atrium, reached so far that it was doomed to fall a bit short. But even so, the evening was stunning and engaging, as the transgender Antony, dressed in a simple, flowing gown, came out an sang a selection of his marvelous songs with lush accompaniment, a visually stunning set, and, for the most part, well-done lighting.

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Posted in Art, Concerts, Contemporary, History, Music, News, Opera, Pop and Rock, Review

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This Strange Freak’s name is fog

Posted on February 3, 2012 | Leave a comment

The Englert Theatre, one of the University of Iowa's performing arts venues in Iowa City. (Photo courtesy Jacob Yarrow, Unversity of Iowa)

Weather scuttles Stew & The Negro Problem’s Iowa Omnibus show — for now

What does Mother Nature have against Iowa City, Ia.?

Stew at Joe's Pub on Jan. 23, 2012. (Photo © 2012, Steven P. Marsh)

In 2008, the Iowa River overran its banks and devastated the city, destroying much property in the city, including the notable Max Abramovitz-designed Hancher Auditorium on the University of Iowa campus.

The flood-ravaged Hancher Auditorium, designed by Max Abramovitz, the architect of Avery Fisher Hall in New York City.

The latest natural disaster didn’t cause physical damage that we know of, but the psychic damage is certainly huge. A “freak fog” closed the local airport and kept Stew and Heidi Rodewald and their band, The Negro Problem, from making it to Iowa City in time for their Feb. 2 gig.

As we reported the other day, Stew & The Negro Problem were to present Iowa Omnibus as the centerpiece of a Feb. 2 show at the Englert Theatre, a civic auditorium that is housing some of UI’s performing arts productions. It was commissioned by UI’s Hancher Auditorium, the campus performing arts presenter, inspired by Stew and Heidi’s 2010 Brooklyn Omnibus shows, as well as their hit musical, Passing Strange.

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How Stew and Heidi took on Iowa City

Posted on February 1, 2012 | 1 comment

Stew & Heidi Rodewald at Joe's Pub in New York City. (Photos © 2012, Steven P. Marsh)

Remember Stew & Heidi Rodewald of The Negro Problem‘s theatrical show, Brooklyn Omnibus at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in 2010? It made a lot of sense. Both of these creative people had spent time living in the County of Kings and knew it pretty well. And the songs reflected their experiences there.

Jacob Yarrow (Photo by Tom Jorgensen)

It was a bit of a surprise when Stew, in the middle of a Jan. 23 CD-release show at Joe’s Pub in Manhattan, asked the audience: “Remember Brooklyn Omnibus? We’re doing an Iowa City Omnibus.”

The Englert Theater, one of the University of Iowa's performing arts venues in Iowa City. (Photo courtesy Jacob Yarrow, Unversity of Iowa)

Thanks to the magic of Twitter, we quickly found out who was behind this Iowa City venture, and took some time to get the lowdown for you.

It turns out that Jacob Yarrow, programming director of the University of Iowa’s Hancher Auditorium in Iowa City, saw the Spike Lee film version of Stew and Heidi’s Broadway show, Passing Strange. That was enough to give him a real hankering to bring some of Stew and Heidi’s music in the Midwest, tailored to the flood-ravaged city. So he got in touch and commissioned the duo to do an Omnibus for them.

It takes the stage on Thursday, Feb. 2. As of last week, Yarrow hadn’t heard a note of Stew and Heidi’s work, but was looking forward to hearing it. As he explains after the jump, the Iowa City commission pretty much gave the duo free rein.

My guess is that Iowa City and the University of Iowa will never be quite the same again after Stew and Heidi’s visit.

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