April 28, 2009
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April 27, 2009
A Poetry Reading Edmund Berrigan, Arlo Quint, and Benjamin Tripp Sunday, May 10th,  4PM    FREE Edmund Berrigan is the Author of Disarming Matter (farfalla, 2008) and editor of the forthcoming Selected Poems of Steve Carey (subpress, 2009). Arlo Quint is the author of Days On End (Open 24 Hours Press) and Photogenic Memory (Lame House Press).  He works at St. Mark’s Poetry Project. Ben Tripp hails from St. Johnsbury, Vermont, and is currently a student at Bard College. He has written on poetry and dance for The Brooklyn Rail, and is editor of the new magazine: Gerry Mulligan.

A Poetry Reading

Edmund Berrigan, Arlo Quint, and Benjamin Tripp


Sunday, May 10th,  4PM    FREE

Edmund Berrigan is the Author of Disarming Matter (farfalla, 2008) and editor of the forthcoming Selected Poems of Steve Carey (subpress, 2009).

Arlo Quint is the author of Days On End (Open 24 Hours Press) and Photogenic Memory (Lame House Press).  He works at St. Mark’s Poetry Project.

Ben Tripp hails from St. Johnsbury, Vermont, and is currently a student at Bard College. He has written on poetry and dance for The Brooklyn Rail, and is editor of the new magazine: Gerry Mulligan.

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April 25, 2009
Chris Brokaw and David LernerThursday, May 7thDavid Lerner  8:30PMChris Brokaw 9:30PM$10 at the doorChris Brokaw has released six solo albums, the latest of which is GRACIAS, GHOST OF THE FUTURE. Chris is also widely known as a founding member of the bands COME and CODEINE. In recent months Chris has performed and recorded as an accompanist to THURSTON MOORE, JENNIFER O’CONNOR, and CHRISTINA ROSENVINGE. His band DIRTMUSIC, with Hugo Race (ex-Bad Seeds) and Chris Eckman (Walkabouts) recently recorded their second album in Bamako, Mali, in collaboration with Touareg rock group TAMIKREST. Chris is also the drummer with Touch and Go band THE NEW YEAR.Chris recently completed a new album for 12-string acoustic guitar, to be released this summer by VIN DU SELECT QUALITITE, as well as a duo album with Geoff Farina (ex-Karate) to be released this fall by CAPITAN.Tonight Chris will perform a variety of works from his recent and upcoming releases.David Lerner (formerly of Ted Leo & The Pharmacists) plays gentle original songs informed by sixties folk and crisp UK pop like The Honeybus.            http://davidlerner.tumblr.com/

Chris Brokaw and David Lerner

Thursday, May 7th

David Lerner  8:30PM
Chris Brokaw 9:30PM
$10 at the door

Chris Brokaw has released six solo albums, the latest of which is GRACIAS, GHOST OF THE FUTURE. Chris is also widely known as a founding member of the bands COME and CODEINE. In recent months Chris has performed and recorded as an accompanist to THURSTON MOORE, JENNIFER O’CONNOR, and CHRISTINA ROSENVINGE. His band DIRTMUSIC, with Hugo Race (ex-Bad Seeds) and Chris Eckman (Walkabouts) recently recorded their second album in Bamako, Mali, in collaboration with Touareg rock group TAMIKREST. Chris is also the drummer with Touch and Go band THE NEW YEAR.

Chris recently completed a new album for 12-string acoustic guitar, to be released this summer by VIN DU SELECT QUALITITE, as well as a duo album with Geoff Farina (ex-Karate) to be released this fall by CAPITAN.

Tonight Chris will perform a variety of works from his recent and upcoming releases.


David Lerner (formerly of Ted Leo & The Pharmacists) plays gentle original songs informed by sixties folk and crisp UK pop like The Honeybus.           
http://davidlerner.tumblr.com/

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MATTISON and Thinguma*jigSawSaturday, May 9thThinguma*jigSaw  9pmMATTISON             10pm$10 at the doorMATTISON was formed in late 2003 when friends Kate Mattison and Pete Sustarsic started banging out tempo changing songs on the piano and drums. They soon added their pal Jay Steinhauer on bass to complete this curious sound, and the band took on new roots. After many basement parties and corn-shucking, they uprooted to Brooklyn, living together and practicing in their first apartment in Crown Heights. A truly analog sound, the band is reminiscent of late 70’s AM radio, but also a darker, more fat-beat driven night out at the roller rink. They’ve been asked to play the legendary McCarren Park Pool and BAM Sounds Like Brooklyn Festival based only on their live shows and word of mouth. Now, with their LP, “Mary,” MATTISON has a beautiful vinyl copy of this solitary sound to give to you. The band listens to obscure vinyl while smoking pipes and could write music for car chases and 70’s soft core porn. website link: http://myspace.com/mattison Thinguma*jigSaw is a Norwegian duo playing what they call “splatter-folk”or “snuff-pop”, on banjo, musical saw, flute, melodica and vocals. Theirmusic is influenced by British folk, Appalachian murder-ballads,art/cult/horror-films, and the literary musings of Samuel Beckett, EdgarAllan Poe and James Joyce. Thinguma*jigSaw has existed for two years,released their album (awakeinwhitechapel) on the Irish cred-label DesertedVillage, and has toured extensively in Europe and US, doing gigs togetherwith the Tiger Lillies, Meg Baird, Samara Lubelski and Castanets to mentionbut a few. Thinguma*jigSaw has rapidly become a highly belovedlive-phenomenon, stunning audiences wherever they play: Time Out Londonranked them as one of 2008’s live highlights, next to Bon Iver, and New YorkPost described their live-performance as “deeply unsettling, yet strangelycomforting.” To experience Thinguma*jigSaw live is an unique experience:come and enjoy the exquisite original material and the odd Daniel Johnstonand Alice Cooper cover; come and enjoy the dubious comforts and candy-coateddread of Thinguma*jigSaw…”Links:Myspace:www.myspace.com/thingumajigsawAlbum review:http://www.digitalisindustries.com/foxyd/reviews.php?which=2931Interview:http://www.musiquemachine.com/articles/articles_template.php?id=132

MATTISON and Thinguma*jigSaw

Saturday, May 9th

Thinguma*jigSaw  9pm
MATTISON             10pm

$10 at the door



MATTISON was formed in late 2003 when friends Kate Mattison and Pete Sustarsic started banging out tempo changing songs on the piano and drums. They soon added their pal Jay Steinhauer on bass to complete this curious sound, and the band took on new roots. After many basement parties and corn-shucking, they uprooted to Brooklyn, living together and practicing in their first apartment in Crown Heights. A truly analog sound, the band is reminiscent of late 70’s AM radio, but also a darker, more fat-beat driven night out at the roller rink. They’ve been asked to play the legendary McCarren Park Pool and BAM Sounds Like Brooklyn Festival based only on their live shows and word of mouth. Now, with their LP, “Mary,” MATTISON has a beautiful vinyl copy of this solitary sound to give to you. The band listens to obscure vinyl while smoking pipes and could write music for car chases and 70’s soft core porn.

website link: http://myspace.com/mattison

Thinguma*jigSaw is a Norwegian duo playing what they call “splatter-folk”
or “snuff-pop”, on banjo, musical saw, flute, melodica and vocals. Their
music is influenced by British folk, Appalachian murder-ballads,
art/cult/horror-films, and the literary musings of Samuel Beckett, Edgar
Allan Poe and James Joyce. Thinguma*jigSaw has existed for two years,
released their album (awakeinwhitechapel) on the Irish cred-label Deserted
Village, and has toured extensively in Europe and US, doing gigs together
with the Tiger Lillies, Meg Baird, Samara Lubelski and Castanets to mention
but a few. Thinguma*jigSaw has rapidly become a highly beloved
live-phenomenon, stunning audiences wherever they play: Time Out London
ranked them as one of 2008’s live highlights, next to Bon Iver, and New York
Post described their live-performance as “deeply unsettling, yet strangely
comforting.” To experience Thinguma*jigSaw live is an unique experience:
come and enjoy the exquisite original material and the odd Daniel Johnston
and Alice Cooper cover; come and enjoy the dubious comforts and candy-coated
dread of Thinguma*jigSaw…”

Links:
Myspace:
www.myspace.com/thingumajigsaw
Album review:
http://www.digitalisindustries.com/foxyd/reviews.php?which=2931
Interview:
http://www.musiquemachine.com/articles/articles_template.php?id=132

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Steve Curtis and Erika SimonianThursday, May 14th  9PM   $10 at the door Erika Simonian (who’s played under her own name and with the Sprinkle Genies) and Steve Curtis (of Hem) would never dare let their two respective bands loose in the house at the same time, for fear of a pretty disagreeable style clash if not a total aesthetic meltdown. So they’ve been meeting of late in foyers and on fire escapes to get a set of their own material together. A quiet basement bar is gonna be a good place to begin to go public with the new music.erikasimonian.com www.hemmusic.commyspace.com/thesprinklegenies

Steve Curtis and Erika Simonian

Thursday, May 14th  9PM   $10 at the door


Erika Simonian (who’s played under her own name and with the Sprinkle Genies) and Steve Curtis (of Hem) would never dare let their two respective bands loose in the house at the same time, for fear of a pretty disagreeable style clash if not a total aesthetic meltdown. So they’ve been meeting of late in foyers and on fire escapes to get a set of their own material together. A quiet basement bar is gonna be a good place to begin to go public with the new music.

erikasimonian.com

www.hemmusic.com
myspace.com/thesprinklegenies

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CALLERSFriday, May 15th   9pm$10 at the door“The journey of a lifetime in just over half an hour.”– Blow Up Magazine “I actually had to shut it off because it got to be too much. And of course, that’s meant as high praise.”– Pitchforkhttp://westernvinyl.com/artists/callers.htmlhttp://myspace.com/callers

CALLERS

Friday, May 15th   9pm

$10 at the door


“The journey of a lifetime in just over half an hour.”
– Blow Up Magazine

“I actually had to shut it off because it got to be too much. And of course, that’s meant as high praise.”
– Pitchfork

http://westernvinyl.com/artists/callers.html
http://myspace.com/callers

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April 20, 2009
Upcoming musical performance: THE HAVELSIrena Havlová & Vojtěch HavelFriday, May 8th, 8pm$10/personThe Havels are a duo of cellists from the Czech Republic, making rare appearances in the United States this spring, performing with Clogs, and also releasing an album on Clogs’ label, Brassland.  In 2007, they were special guests at the MusicNOW festival, in Cincinnati, OH.  Their music has been described as “a duet between violoncello and piano taking place in a cathedral of sound.” The two have collaborated and released recordings for more than fifteen years.http://www.myspace.com/thehavelshttp://www.musicnowfestival.org/new/alumni/irena-havlova-vojtech-havel/

Upcoming musical performance: THE HAVELS
Irena Havlová & Vojtěch Havel
Friday, May 8th, 8pm
$10/person

The Havels are a duo of cellists from the Czech Republic, making rare appearances in the United States this spring, performing with Clogs, and also releasing an album on Clogs’ label, Brassland.  In 2007, they were special guests at the MusicNOW festival, in Cincinnati, OH.  Their music has been described as “a duet between violoncello and piano taking place in a cathedral of sound.” The two have collaborated and released recordings for more than fifteen years.

http://www.myspace.com/thehavels

http://www.musicnowfestival.org/new/alumni/irena-havlova-vojtech-havel/

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Upcoming musical performance: Olof ArnaldsMay 6th at 9PM      $10/person Icelandic folk chanteuse Ólöf Arnalds has been a prominent figure in her native music scene for several years playing with Múm, Mugison, and Skúli Sverrisson. Ólöf has also been active in mixing aural and visual arts, taking a solo turn in and providing hypnotic vocals for Steingrímur Eyfjörð’s video contribution to the 2007 Venice Biennial. The piece also won the 2008 Icelandic Visual Arts Award. Her University graduating musical video piece Eins og sagt er ( or “As they say” in English) has also been exhibited widely.However, it is Ólöf’s solo debut Við og Við that continues to garner widespread acclaim. Produced by Kjartan Sveinsson from Sigur rós, it won Best Alternative Album at the Iceland Music Awards as well as Record of the Year at Iceland’s largest daily newspaper, Morgunblaðið. 2008 saw Ólöf play festivals throughout Europe. Highlights include sharing a three-way bill with Björk and Sigur Rós at Iceland’s Náttúra concert, and opening for Björk in Athens, Greece. In September, Ólöf performed a sold out showcase at NYC’s Le Poisson Rouge that was featured as the music pick for the day in the New York Times UrbanEye, Time Out New York, The Onion, and Flavorpill. The show in which Ólöf debuted Við og Við in full was the subject of a Dig For Fire TV documentary. In October, Ólöf became the first Icelandic musician to play a prestigious showcase slot at WOMEX, the world music expo.Ólöf has just finished recording her second album which was once again produced by Kjartan Sveinsson from Sigur rós. On May 8 she will join Björk and TheDirty Projectors for a one-time benefit show at the Housing Works Bookstore & Café as part of their “Live From Home” series. More at http://www.olofarnalds.com and http://www.myspace.com/olofarnalds

Upcoming musical performance: Olof Arnalds
May 6th at 9PM      $10/person

Icelandic folk chanteuse Ólöf Arnalds has been a prominent figure in her native music scene for several years playing with Múm, Mugison, and Skúli Sverrisson. Ólöf has also been active in mixing aural and visual arts, taking a solo turn in and providing hypnotic vocals for Steingrímur Eyfjörð’s video contribution to the 2007 Venice Biennial. The piece also won the 2008 Icelandic Visual Arts Award. Her University graduating musical video piece Eins og sagt er ( or “As they say” in English) has also been exhibited widely.

However, it is Ólöf’s solo debut Við og Við that continues to garner widespread acclaim. Produced by Kjartan Sveinsson from Sigur rós, it won Best Alternative Album at the Iceland Music Awards as well as Record of the Year at Iceland’s largest daily newspaper, Morgunblaðið. 

2008 saw Ólöf play festivals throughout Europe. Highlights include sharing a three-way bill with Björk and Sigur Rós at Iceland’s Náttúra concert, and opening for Björk in Athens, Greece. In September, Ólöf performed a sold out showcase at NYC’s Le Poisson Rouge that was featured as the music pick for the day in the New York Times UrbanEye, Time Out New York, The Onion, and Flavorpill. The show in which Ólöf debuted Við og Við in full was the subject of a Dig For Fire TV documentary. In October, Ólöf became the first Icelandic musician to play a prestigious showcase slot at WOMEX, the world music expo.
Ólöf has just finished recording her second album which was once again produced by Kjartan Sveinsson from Sigur rós. On May 8 she will join Björk and TheDirty Projectors for a one-time benefit show at the Housing Works Bookstore & Café as part of their “Live From Home” series. 

More at http://www.olofarnalds.com and http://www.myspace.com/olofarnalds

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April 4, 2009
Ben + VesperMay 2nd, 9pm$10Ben + Vesper sing songs and play instruments and are married and have kids and live in NJ and have almost exactly the same hair color in the right light and definitely both have curlz in any light and they paint pictures and have cell phones to call their friends and work at home and eat meals and drink drinks and have a sign above their kitchen door that says “Love One Another” in a font that is very twig-like with floral spriggy things everywhere (they found it in the attic) and now it’s theirs to give to who? - But (why) you.http://www.benandvesper.com/

Ben + Vesper
May 2nd, 9pm
$10
Ben + Vesper sing songs and play instruments and are married and have kids and live in NJ and have almost exactly the same hair color in the right light and definitely both have curlz in any light and they paint pictures and have cell phones to call their friends and work at home and eat meals and drink drinks and have a sign above their kitchen door that says “Love One Another” in a font that is very twig-like with floral spriggy things everywhere (they found it in the attic) and now it’s theirs to give to who? - But (why) you.
http://www.benandvesper.com/

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April 23rd, 10pm  $10 at the doorHush Arbors (Keith Wood with Jason Ajemian)http://www.husharbors.com/Keith Wood is Hush Arbors, and while his self-titled Ecstatic Peace! debut is not his first album by any means - he’s been at this almost ten years - it does provide the perfect introductory point to Hush Arbor’s distinctive take on psych folk. Combining the pensive songwriting of John Phillips circa Wolfking, the plaintive honesty of Neil Young, and the fishtank-gazing cacophony of Six Organs of Admittance (Wood is a frequent collaborator), Wood writes classic-sounding songs that sound readymade for AM radio, circa 1968.Jason Ajemian to open at 9pmhttp://www.jasonajemian.com/

April 23rd, 10pm  $10 at the door
Hush Arbors (Keith Wood with Jason Ajemian)
http://www.husharbors.com/

Keith Wood is Hush Arbors, and while his self-titled Ecstatic Peace! debut is not his first album by any means - he’s been at this almost ten years - it does provide the perfect introductory point to Hush Arbor’s distinctive take on psych folk. Combining the pensive songwriting of John Phillips circa Wolfking, the plaintive honesty of Neil Young, and the fishtank-gazing cacophony of Six Organs of Admittance (Wood is a frequent collaborator), Wood writes classic-sounding songs that sound readymade for AM radio, circa 1968.

Jason Ajemian to open at 9pm
http://www.jasonajemian.com/

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