NEW YORK — The coming week features incredible live concerts in the city from living legends (Lee "Scratch" Perry, Lionel Richie, Hall & Oates, Patti Smith) and hot new things (CHVRCHES, Youth Lagoon, Oh Land). Fire up this Spotify playlist to hear their music, and then get out there.
Wednesday, Sept. 18
Kings of the late 1980s U.S. underground, the Pixies continue their run of NYC shows in support of their great new four-track "EP1." They will perform at The Bowery Ballroom Wednesday, at the Music Hall of Williamsburg Thursday and back at The Bowery Ballroom on Friday.
Catch the reverb-drenched electronica/folk rock vibe of Ernest Greene's Washed Out project at Terminal 5. The new album is titled "Paracosm."
Thursday, Sept. 19
Youth Lagoon is the music project of Boise, Idaho based producer Trevor Powers. His debut album "The Year Of Hibernation" mixed ambient pop with experimental electronic textures to great acclaim with musicOMH.com calling it "a powerful bit of emotional alchemy, arresting and enchanting in its naked simplicity, and Powers has accomplished a tour de force far beyond his bedroom walls or his 22 years". His new album "Wondrous Bughouse" has just been released. At Le Poisson Rouge.
The Yeah Yeah Yeahs play their final NYC show for the year at Barclays Center. Their most recent album, "Mosquito," features production by TV on the Radio's Dave Sitek, Nick Launay and LCD Soundsystem's James Murphy.
Friday, Sept. 20
The arrival of Vampire Weekend's third album "Modern Vampires Of The City" was announced to the world in the classified section of The New York Times, and quickly joined its predecessor, 2010's "Contra", as a U.S. No. 1 album. The band has said that "Modern Vampires" was a third chapter and a continuation of material explored in their previous two albums, "Contra" and their self-titled debut from 2008.
"These three albums should look like they belong together on a bookshelf. We realized that there are things connecting the songs across three albums, like an invisible hand was guiding us. It does feel like we've been able to create three distinct worlds for each album, and yet have them be interconnected," said producer and band member Rostam Batmanglij. With Solange and Sky Ferreira at Barclays Center.
Former Danish ballerina Nanna Øland Fabricius reinvented herself as a singer-songwriter and record producer after a serious dancing injury. Better known by her stage name Oh Land, she releases her third album "Wish Bone" this week with a gig close by her adopted home at Music Hall of Williamsburg.
Also tonight The Swedish pop duo behind the 2012 smash "I Love It" — Icona Pop — play Webster Hall.
But wait, there's more: Rock legend Patti Smith returns to the Met with a tribute to Hildegard of Bingen, the 12th-century German writer, composer, philosopher, visual artist, mystic, Benedictine abbess, visionary and polymath. At the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Saturday, Sept. 21
"Word, Rock & Sword: A Musical Celebration of Women's Lives" unites unique performers Nona Hendryx, Joan As Police Woman, Allison Miller, Martha Redbone and many more in the name of justice and rights for women at Le Poisson Rouge.
Sunday, Sept. 22
CHVRCHES play an all-ages show tonight with XXYYXX at Terminal 5. Inspired by the sounds and aesthetic of 1980s icons Prince, Depeche Mode and Kate Bush, the up-and-coming Glasgow-based band recently signed with Glassnote Records in America, home to Phoenix and Mumford & Sons.
Reggae legend Lee "Scratch" Perry, the Subatomic Sound System and special guests Daedelus and Addis Pablo (son of Jamaican roots reggae and dub record producer Augustus Pablo) get deep and dubby at Le Poisson Rouge.
Monday, Sept. 23
English three-piece The XX won a Mercury Award (U.K. album of the year) in 2010 for the beautifully minimal indie pop sounds on their debut self-titled album. Their latest album, "Coexist," is another stylish statement of restrained and passionate songwriting. With Poliça at Radio City Music Hall.
Jack Johnson hits uptown Manhattan tonight at the United Palace Theatre on Broadway. The multi-tasking folk rock singer-songwriter, surfer and filmmaker is preparing the release of his sixth studio album, "From Here to Now to You," this week.
Hall & Oates have created history as one of the most successful duos in U.S. pop history. Best known for their six No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100: "Rich Girl," "Kiss on My List," "Private Eyes," "I Can't Go for That (No Can Do)," "Maneater" and "Out of Touch," their influence is still being felt across soulful rock and folk, pop and hip-hop. This is their first Beacon Theatre show since 2010.
Tuesday, Sept. 24
Lionel Richie promises to deliver the hits at Barclays Center — after all, the tour is named “All the Hits All Night Long." A global superstar, Richie has sold more than 100 million albums worldwide, with his most recent album, the country-flavored "Tuskegee" (named for the city in Alabama where Richie grew up), also hitting No. 1.
