Featured Concerts: 8/28-9/5

08/30: Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, Preacher in the Knife
Music Hall of Williamsburg (66 N. 6th St.)
7 PM
$5 advance/$7 door

Following in the ribald, insouciant British folk-rock tradition of Roy Harper and Steeleye Span, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros (who, I should add, are very American) have earned plaudits from the L.A. Times for their "big, open-hearted anthems". Sharpe (nee Alex Ebert of dance-punk lodestars Ima Robot) is known for baring his chest and feet onstage, but with stagecraft not a priority for many of today's groups, there's no need to begrudge him. The equally singular Preacher in the Knife borrow equally from Nick Cave and calypso, making this show one of the bargains of the month.

09/03: Brazilian Girls Sound System
The Bell House (149 7th St.)
7:30 PM
$10

The Brazilian Girls' polyglot lyrics and tropicalia-cum-Left Bank aesthetic have earned them celebrity fans (David Byrne) and a coveted spot on Verve Records; nevertheless, as critic Nitsuh Abebe astutely noted over three years ago, "They have fans, yes-- devoted ones-- but there's no coherent market for them to aim at. They have their swank global groove, but they're too arty to home in on worldbeat fans or VIP loungers. They make freethinking dance music, but their grooves are too earthy to count on the electronic crowd, and they're too upscale, too going-out-music, to count on rock geeks." With Brazilian Girls Sound System, bassist Jesse Murphy (who is also playing a solo set) and drummer Aaron Johnson are valiantly attempting to strip away the artiness with musicians from the John Scofield Band, the Saturday Night Live house band (weird enough)... and, most quizzically of all, Paul Ryder from the Happy Mondays (not the more logical -- and temperamental -- Shaun). Interesting, at the very least.

09/02: Titus Andronicus, The Smith Westerns, The So So Glos
Monster Island Basement (128 River St.)
8 PM
$9

Playing on a bill as perfectly complementary as coffee and pie, Titus Andronicus' avant-Springsteen theatrics culminated in The Airing of Grievances, one of last year's best rock albums. Meanwhile, Bay Ridge outcasts the So So Glos -- arguably better known for their role in the formation of the Market Hotel than any of the music they've produced -- are the long-prophesied American answer to The Clash, infusing indie with the timeless kind of despondent heart and soul that will leave you spinning Tourist/Terrorism over and over again. Meanwhile, Chicago's Smith Westerns bridge both approaches with garage-y fulminations on the usual adolescent frustrations.

Featured Concerts: 8/17-8/22

A relatively quiet week, as to be expected during the dog days of August. Still, there are a couple of interesting live choices for your perusal.

8/19: Islands, Das Racist, Radical Dads
The Bell House (149 7th St.)
7:30 PM
$12
Having toured with the likes of Beck, Islands frontman Nick Thorbun is a spiritual cousin of funk/folk/hip-hop eclectic, producing a prolific stream of albums over the past decade that fall under such unlikely rubrics as folk and progressive rock. A must-see.




8/23: Amy Ray, Toshi Reagon
The Bell House (149 7th St.)
7:30 PM
$12
Although they've been unfairly pigeonholed over the years as everyone's favorite socially conscious and openly lesbian folk-rock duo, the Indigo Girls have put out several pleasant records over the years. Performing songs from such solo efforts as Didn't It Feel Kinder (and maybe "Closer to Fine"), Amy Ray will renew -- or restore -- your faith in singer/songwriters.

Featured Concerts: 8/08-8/15

08/08: Big Daddy Kane, Rahzel, Blitz the Ambassador, Emilio Rojas, Retro Kidz
Prospect Park Bandshell
7 PM
Free

One of the most revered figures of the golden age of hip-hop, lifelong Brooklyn resident Big Daddy Kane -- best remembered for the seminal It's a Big Daddy Thing -- has exerted a tremendous influence on commercially-oriented MCs (Jay-Z was his protege in the early nineties) and the contemporary alternative scene. Along with Chuck D, Kane was one of the first rap lyricists to combine lyrical acuity with the braggadocio of the streets, providing an essential template for the Wu Tang collective and most New York MCs since 1990. Among the opening acts are Ghananian polymath Blitz the Ambassador (whose globe-trotting Stereotype was just released to favorable reviews) and hi-top fade revivalists the Retro Kidz, whose 1987 electro sound will doubtless thrill any fans of the era.

8/08: Brooklyn Electronic Music Festival: The Juan MacLean, Young Love, Designer Drugs, many others
The Old American Can Factory (232 3rd St.)
4 PM
$25

No, the line-up is not nearly as interesting as I had initially envisaged. But the Juan MacLean are a formidable live act, and DJs like Ayres and Roxy Cottontail will transport you back to the glory days of The Shank or Studio B. Young Love is a dubious choice, but their dearth of new material means that they've probably been cooking up some interesting tunes over the past few years. With 12 hours of dancing at a rate commensurate with those charged by the avaricious promoters of modern clubland, a deal is a deal.

08/15: Publicist, Ian Svenonious, Justin Miller, Jacques Renault, Lovefingers
Market Hotel (1142 Myrtle Av.)
12 AM
$10

Co-promoted by the venerable Todd P. and the fellows behind San Francisco's Donuts parties (they've hosted Lindstrom and techno innovator Juan Atkins in recent months), this off-kilter dance extravaganza features Washington post-hardcore veteran/indie impresario Ian Svenonius, disco revivalist Jacques Renault, and minimalist blogger/producer Lovefingers. If that isn't enough of an incentive, the cover includes free vegan baked goods.

08/08: Seasick Steve, The Woes, Pete Bernhard
Southpaw (125 5th Av.)
8 PM
$15

While he often looks like a disheveled and potentially deranged panhandler who frequents the R line, rest assured: Seasick Steve is much cooler than we could ever hope to be. Trained as a blues guitarist by K.C. Douglas (the writer of "Mercury Blues"), Steve (nee Steven Wold) has spent much of his life as an itinerant train-hopping hobo, busker, and migrant worker. That said, his music industry acquaintances are nothing short of stellar -- a pal of Janis Joplin and Joni Mitchell on the folk circuit in the 60s, he produced Modest Mouse's debut album in the mid-nineties and befriended Kurt Cobain while living in Olympia in the late eighties. Properly discovered in his own right after moving to Norway in 2001, the bluesman -- and recent British sensation -- is best known for his diverse array of customized instruments, including the "Three-String Trance Wonder" (a hollowbody guitar with only three strings), a one-stringed diddley bow, and the "Mississippi Drum Machine" (a wooden box that he stomps on). Opening are The Woes, an Americana/country blues outfit quite compatible with Steve's ramshackle style.

08/15: Six Finger Satellite, Pterodactyl, Pop 1280
Southpaw (125 5th Av.)
8 PM
$12

More than the effete purists in Neutral Milk Hotel, Six Finger Satellite were the most influential indie rock band of the mid-to-late nineties. Embracing Eighties revivalism and the sounds of krautrock well before either became fashionable, their legacy ranges the gamut from James Murphy and John MacLean of DFA Records fame to the local noise rock scene. Openers Pterodactyl purvey a brand of spacey noise rock that is quite copacetic with the headliners' extreme sound.

Featured Concerts: 8/01-8/08

08/06: Lift (DJs: Steve Lowenthal [Swingset Magazine]/Bobbi Lupo [Apartment Show]/Miho Hatori [formerly of Cibo Matto] and Cassie [Vivian Girls])

The Bell House (149 7th Street)
10 PM
Free

Celebrate what would have been Andy Warhol's 81st (!) birthday at the Bell House with a phalanx of leading scenesters. Scheduled activities include a "make your own Brillo box" workshop, screen tests in the style of Warhol's mid-60s oeuvre (these will be posted on the Internet), and -- naturally -- covering the DJ booth in silver foil. About as fabulous as a sweaty August night can get.

08/06: Styles P, Metermaids, NSR, Soulico Crew

Southpaw (125 5th Av.)

$15 adv/$20 door

9 PM

08/07: Freeway, Hezekiah, Kimberly Nicole
Southpaw (125 5th Av.)

$15 adv/$20 door
9 PM

The eclectic Rock the Block Fest juxtaposes gangsta era veterans like Styles P and Freeway with a number of ascendant acts, including the Tel Aviv-based Soulico Crew. Those disenchanted with mainstream hip-hop's recent turn towards the dancefloor will likely enjoy the block rocking beats and erudite rhymes that will predominate here.


08/08: Jonathan Toubin's New York Night Train
Market Hotel (1142 Myrtle Av.)
TBA
4 AM

Specializing in danceable soul records from the pre-disco era, Jonathan Toubin's esoteric take on dance music has earned him an avid following in the indie community, with over 600 people crowding into the low-capacity Market Hotel for one of his recent parties. (Toubin also presided over the bacchanalia at The Shank, an ill-fated Williamsburg after-hours club recently chronicled in the New York Press.) While Toubin will be spinning at his monthly Soul Clap & Dance Off at Glasslands earlier in the evening, this Todd P-sponsored after-hours "speakeasy" is bound to be the more exciting event for intrepid partiers.



08/04: Baseline (Pilar Baizan)
Issue Project Room (232 3rd St.)
$12 adv/$15 door
8 PM

Beginning as a video artist, Basque musician Pilar Baizan began to drift into the realm of electronic noise with her Baseline project in the mid-2000s. According to the press release, "she starts working with glitches, field recordings, sounds of synthesis... she manipulates loops and sound fragments to make dense and heavy compositions. She often accompanies her shows with video, which are intended to provide more depth to the sound, an idea which comes from video-art." The concert is but a part of a greater program celebrating avant-garde Basque music, which will also include a lecture (“Sound Art in the Basque Country Today”) by Txema Agiriano and video excerpts from the MEM arts festival.