If you want to listen to the music while you read, click here for my Spotify playlist featuring some of the bands mentioned in this article.
Wednesday, 3 July 2013
In the late '80s Suzanne Vega's second album "Solitude Standing" was a global hit establishing her as one of the few rising stars of "new folk." Her big hits were "Luka," "Marlene On The Wall" and "Tom's Diner," the latter originally an a cappella version remixed in 1990 as a dance track by the British dance production team DNA. The "Tom's Diner" referred to in the song is Tom's Restaurant at 112th Street and Broadway on the Upper West Side, the same diner that's Jerry's hangout in Seinfeld. This is the first of two shows (also next Wednesday, July 10) in a mini Summer residency at City Winery.
Also tonight: Richard Cheese (and his band Lounge Against the Machine) has been "swankifying" today's pop songs into Sinatra-esque pop vocal standards since 2000. His best known covers include Radiohead's "Creep," Nirvana's "Rape Me" and The Prodigy's "Smack My Bitch Up." Don't say you weren't warned. At The Bowery Ballroom.
Thursday, 4 July 2013
Slim pickings today on the live music front, unless you include Usher's collaboration with the Macy's Fourth Of July pyrotechnic team. One interesting option is to catch some slick modern jazz from the young Argentianian duo The Soho Rentals. Their live shows include jazz versions of Radiohead’s “Pyramid Song,” The Beatles’ “Baby You’re A Rich Man” and Depeche Mode’s “Behind the Wheel.” Although based in Buenos Aires, The Soho Rentals are currently holding the Thursday night residency at Piano's Upstair Lounge.
Friday, 5 July 2013
Rise & shine free gig lovers! You'll have to set your alarms early (this gig's starting time is 7 a.m.) to get a prime spot to blow away the cobwebs with Las Vegas based rockers Imagine Dragons. Like fellow Las Vegas rockers The Killers, Imagine Dragons produce anthemic alt-rock and are in town for their "Night Visions" tour, also the title of their new album. As part of Good Morning America's Summer Concert Series, organizers are encouraging fans to arrive at Central Park's Rumsey Playfield via the 72nd street entrance on Fifth Avenue at 6 a.m. when the park opens to the public.
Also tonight: 10,000 Maniacs formed in 1981 and, although they're no longer fronted by singer Natalie Merchant (she left the band in 1993), they're still active and have just released their first album in 14 years "Music from the Motion Picture." At City Winery, also Saturday.
Saturday, 6 July 2013
She & Him, the duo created by actress Zooey Deschanel and rootsy balladeer M. Ward in 2007, have recorded four albums of breezy, folk-infused pop together, the latest being the just released "Volume 3." They're joined by veteran Scottish twee poppers Camera Obscura at this Summerstage fundraiser at Central Park. Doors 6 p.m.
Also tonight: Discover the stutter funk of Brooklyn's Aabaraki, the eclectic electro pop of Theophilus London, and the soulful Afropean grooves of Les Nubians as part of Celebrate Brooklyn at the Prospect Park Bandshell.
Sunday, 7 July 2013
They're not Brazilian, and there's only one girl in the band. But Brazilian Girls know how to move an eclectic groove. Hear influences covering reggae, electronica, jazz and bossa nova from the NYC-based four piece tonight at Highline Ballroom.
Monday, 8 July 2013
OK, this band is Brazilian and guess what? They're all women. CSS exploded out of São Paulo's new wave scene in 2003, and signed with Sub Pop in 2006 before releasing its breakthrough album "Cansei de Ser Sexy." The energetic new pop album "Planta," produced by Dave Sitek (Yeah Yeah Yeahs, TV On The Radio) has just been released. At The Bowery Ballroom. Tuesday at Brooklyn Bowl.
Tuesday, 9 July 2013
Squarepusher's Tom Jenkinson is both a virtuoso traditional musician (bassist) and a visionary electronic music producer. Among his eclectic back catalog of 15 studio albums, Jenkinson has constructed layers of explosive industrial blasts, ambient soundscapes and tinges of jazzy bass - occasionally within the same track. His current live show and album "Ufabulum" (in which he wears a futuristic LED helmet — a similar aesthetic to the Daft Punk robot heads), is a return to the melodic, aggressive electronic textures he first made his name with. Check out some footage here of what was acclaimed in English music blog clashmusic.com as "an engulfing visual journey into something not too dissimilar to the ‘Tron’ universe, soundtracked by Jenkinson’s suitably otherworldly, schizophrenic electronic brilliance". At Le Poisson Rouge.
Also tonight: The masters of symphonic choral rock, Tim DeLaughter's The Polyphonic Spree, fill the stage at Music Hall of Williamsburg tonight. Expect to hear some new tracks — their latest album "Yes, It's True" is due next month.
