Tiombe Lockhart of Cubic Zirconia Photo by Chad Batka




Before this show I had never heard of Cubic Zirconia. Judging by the rest of the audience I was the only one. The main reason I went to this show was because I heard Head Automatica were on the bill. I’ve been a fan of Head Automatica since their debut in 2004 and had never seen them live. Their set was great if not too short but they were definitely the oddballs of the night. They are heavily dance influenced but they are still a rock band. Cubic Zirconia are a whole other species. Their set was all synth-heavy club jams that got the whole, ridiculously attractive, audience dancing. They had a guitarist but I couldn’t hear a single note he played. The focus was mainly on the rhythm. Throbbing bass notes mixed with huge amounts of drumming, both electronic and live. They spiced up this sound by adding lots of live Latin percussion which gave another interesting element to their music. The focal point of their performance was their very confident singer. In an outfit that screamed “wardrobe malfunction” she still danced like a madwoman, taking breaks in between to sing a little bit. Their music is not really my thing but I can’t judge them based on that. They turned a rock club into an all-out dance party and that is impressive. Club hoppers and indie rockers alike were mesmerized by the beat and understandably so. Cubic Zirconia are very good at what they do.

Jonathan Zuckerman

Zannel and Re:wind Entertainment have opened the casting call for “Band Swap”, a new mobile reality show that allows up-and coming-independent musicians from areas across the country to enter for the opportunity to swap lives with the hit San Francisco indie band, Down Down Down. After selecting a winner, Down Down Down will then commit to a full musical life switch with the winning band-which includes performing in each other’s hometown (or country), sharing equipment and housing. Both bands will “life cast” their adventures on Zannel, promoting themselves directly to the public through videos, pictures, and texts.

The contest is open to any band or artist that submits both a performance piece and a short video explaining why they want to trade places with Down Down Down and perform in their hometown of San Francisco, CA.

For more information on “Band Swap” check out: http://www.zannel.com/bandswap

Corey Crossfield

Friday July 3

Location: Lower East Side, NYC
Bands: Afropunk Film and Music Festival 2009 Get Tickets Here
Show time: 9 PM
Venue: BAM Rose Cinemas (outside the Peter Jay Sharp Building)
Food: Junior’s
Drink: O’Connor’s
Miscellaneous: Thomas Beisl

The Afropunk Film and Music Festival 2009 stops by Brooklyn with a ton of bands, films and a full BMX/Skateboarding competition with the prize being two tickets to the X-Games. With films happening today, check out Adjust Your Color: Petey Greene, Faubourg Treme: The Untold Story Of Black New Orleans, A Man Named Pearl, Eventual Salvation, Favela Rising, and Hoods To Woods This looks like a great time. Known more for its cheesecake than anything else on its menu, Junior’s also offers fantastic diner and deli style eats from steak burgers to deli sandwiches. If you can make it through dinner, the cheesecake will be worth the wait! One of Brooklyn’s most interesting dive bars, O’Connor’s offers cheap drinks in a place where Park Slope hipsters meet old-time drinkers, making for one of the oddest pairings that works. An excellent place to get schnitzel and goulash and other Austrian delights, Thomas Beisl is right across the street from BAM.

Friday July 3

Location: Bushwick, Brooklyn
Bands: Woodsist/Captured Tracks Festival Get Tickets Here
Show time: 9 PM
Venue: 979 Broadway Backyard
Food: The Northeast Kingdom
Drink: Life Café Nine 83
Miscellaneous: Stain

Brooklyn music label Captured Tracks hosts the Woodsist/Captured Tracks Festival of psych-folk-punk music featuring Crystal Stilts, Blank Dogs, Psychedelic Horseshit, caUSE co-MOTION!, the Mayfair Set, Gary War, Little Girls, Kid Romance, Beachniks, and the Gutsies. For food in this neighborhood, The Northeast Kingdom is where you want to go. With a seasonal menu of American cuisine with a culinary twist, like the Beef Bourguignon with herbed dumplings ($17), this place offers a relaxing atmosphere for an artist heavy crowd. For drinks, check out Life Café Nine 83. While it’s THE same Life Café that the RENT musical features in the play, it’s not the same location. This new Bushwick locale also possesses a boho vibe, an Americanized menu of ethnic food, and a fun selection of mixed drinks including martini’s and lemonade cocktails. A HUGE space decked out in old couches, Stain is an artsy bar that looks like an old-school coffeehouse yet serves local wines and beers.

Saturday July 4

Location: Coney Island, Brooklyn
Event: 94th International Hot Dog Eating Contest
Show time: 9 PM
Venue: Coney Island
Food: Nathan’s Famous
Drink: Ruby's Old Tyme Bar and Grill
Miscellaneous: Brooklyn Cyclones

What would a Fourth of July be without the 94th International Hot Dog Eating Contest at Nathan’s Famous? Reigning champ, San Diego’s Joey Chestnut will defend against Takeru Kobayashi of Japan and 20 others in this battle of the bulge. While you may not be a competitive hot dog eater, eating a hot dog, a corn dog, or even cheese fries at Nathan’s Famous goes back several generations. Expect long lines, but it’ll be worth it! Not just a tradition but an institution on the boardwalk, Ruby's Old Tyme Bar and Grill is a great dive bar for cheap drinks and watching local drunks belt out Rat Pack songs. Even if this minor league Mets team isn’t playing a baseball game, The Brooklyn Cyclones stadium is worth the short walk over on the boardwalk to check out it’s size and beauty.

Saturday July 4

Location: Financial District, NYC
Bands: Conor Oberst
Show time: 9 PM
Venue: Battery Park
Food: Burritoville
Drink: Jeremy’s Ale House
Miscellaneous: Century 21

If you’re a fan of music and a fan of seeing lights and big explosions on the fourth, what better way to combine your two loves than by seeing Conor Oberst perform for FREE at Battery Park? The former Bright Eyes leader has long gone solo and here he’s joined by his group the Mystic Valley Band and Jenny Lewis for some more upbeat and southern inspired music than his previous output. Happy Fourth. While many people buy hot dogs and grab a beer at expensive restaurants in the Seaport mall, you’ll be smart and head over to Burritoville for inexpensive and delicious California inspired burritos, all under $10. For drinks, Jeremy’s Ale House has a lively crowd and a beer list that will get you a pint for $5 and under. If you get down to the financial district early, check out Century 21. They won’t try to sell you some property, but they have some great designer clothing on the cheap, plus the place is huge to roam.

Sunday July 5

Location: Midtown West, NYC
Photo: Avedon Fashion, 1944–2000
Show time: 9 PM; Thru Sept 6
Venue: International Center of Photography
Food: Zip Burger
Drink: Subway Inn
Miscellaneous: Kinokuniya Bookstore

Richard Avedon changed the way fashion photography was approached and done by injecting emotion and movement into an emotionless style up to that point. In the exhibition Avedon Fashion, 1944–2000, one of the largest to date of his work, looks at his long career, with vintage photos, contact sheets, magazine layouts, and more. At Zip Burger they offer farm-raised, organic, and grass-fed meat and poultry, letting you build your own burger with plenty of gourmet toppings. The first time I went to Subway Inn I thought it was completely strange that there was a dive bar off Lexington Avenue, especially in this neck of the woods, but somehow it works. Born in the 30s, this bar has somehow remained, and thank god, as it’s easily the cheapest place in the area for a drink. For fans of Japanese pop-culture, Kinokuniya Bookstore has a large selection of Japanese themed books, videos, CDs, magazines, comics, and stationary.

UFC (Unidentified Flying Chicken)
71-22 Roosevelt Avenue
Jackson Heights, NY
Hours:
Mon – Sat: 11 AM to 11 PM
Sun: Noon – 10 PM

While most of us carnivores love eating chicken, especially wings in all the many varieties prepared, one of the best yet least popularly known of is Korean fried chicken. Hopefully all of that will change. I discovered them (for myself) last year at a restaurant in Korea Town (32nd Street) called Bon Chon Chicken. The process is simple, deep fry legs and wings for twice as long a period as regular chicken, averaging at 10-15 minutes. The process allows the skin to thin out leaving a crispy shell making them very addictive. One of the better spots for this tasty chicken in New York City is up in Jackson Heights, Queens at a place known as UFC (Unidentified Flying Chicken). While the name is funny, their chicken is no joke, and why? Because they fry to order, use fresh not frozen chicken and prepared this way you get crunchy on the outside and soft and succulent meat on the inside, and best of all it’s not greasy. Compared to the few other places I’ve tried, UFC are top notch and the prices can’t be beat either. The menu is simple: choose the size-small (10 pieces $10) or large (20 pieces $18), the meat (wings or drumsticks), and the flavor (Hot, Soy-Garlic, Spicy Mustard, or Sweet and Spicy) and you’re done. I tried the Soy-Garlic and Sweet and Spicy flavors. I’d recommend the Soy-Garlic flavor over the Sweet and Spicy which had a thick barbecue consistency. While delicious it was very messy. Regardless, this place makes excellent Korean fried chicken that is well worth the trip to Jackson Heights any given day!

DaVe Lipp

Location: Fort Greene, Brooklyn
Film: Dead Man
Show time: 6:30 PM
Venue: BAM
Food: Junior’s
Drink: O’Connor’s
Miscellaneous: Thomas Beisl

In Jim Jarmusch’s 1995 western Dead Man, Johnny Depp stars as accountant William Blake traveling west from Cleveland in hopes of landing a job. What he finds instead are plenty of mad characters as the accountant becomes hunted. With a soundtrack by Neil Young, this film is already a cult favorite. Known more for its cheesecake than anything else on its menu, Junior’s also offers fantastic diner and deli style eats from steak burgers to deli sandwiches. If you can make it through dinner, the cheesecake will be worth the wait! One of Brooklyn’s most interesting dive bars, O’Connor’s offers cheap drinks in a place where Park Slope hipsters meet old-time drinkers, making for one of the oddest pairings that works. An excellent place to get schnitzel and goulash and other Austrian delights, Thomas Beisl is right across the street from BAM.

Sunset Rubdown
Dragonslyer
(Jagjaguwar)






Dragonslyer is the fourth LP and sixth release from Sunset Rubdown, the solo project of Wolf Parade co-frontman Spencer Krug. Let me start off by reiterating that I’m a pretty big Wolf Parade fan, and that their second album (At Mount Zoomer) was a bit of a let down for me, primarily because I loved the first so much and my expectations were high.

That being said, Dragonslyer reminds me of the drama and exuberance conveyed in Krug’s songs on Apologies; he constructs fragments of chaos and indeterminate tempos to create really beautiful and distinctive songs with magnificent crescendos. Case in point, “Black Swan”: a kinetic romp through the seemingly, bashing of various instrumentation back to a muted beat of steady guitar thumbing, finishing with a blistering eruption. That’s the shit I like. It feels so cathartic, like a virtual release. My second fave, “You Go On Ahead” is onomatopoetic to me, if that makes sense. It just sounds like what the name implies: “Danger’s behind us, you go on ahead, I need to take care of some shit.” That’s an accomplishment; it’s the hallmark of good, poignant songwriting. The remainder of the album is a full-bore of quality mish-mashed songs of electro-fuzz grounded in a rock framework that zig and zag through your conscious to be interpreted as you wish.

Overall, I really like this album, and it grows on me with each successive listen. I’d say pick it up if you enjoy early Wolf Parade or just off-kilter songs in general. Thumbs up.

Dave Levin


Santero
El Hijo De Obatala
(Siete Potencias Trading Co.)






Santero’s new release El Hijo De Obatala is certified hot. Hearty Latin percussion, gritty dance beats, a mixture of jazz, hip hop, reggae, funk, soul and rhythm and blues all work feverishly to make this album one that is hard to catch one’s breath, even while sitting. Quite possibly the most scorching of dance albums, Santero has taken the best of various genres and created a truly extraordinary record ready to take the most timid of wallflowers and make enthusiastic movers out of them. Born in Central America, Santero also comes from a family of Latin musicians and deejays. El Hijo De Obatala, from track to track is fun, positive, exuberant and musically engaging. The trade-off between Spanish and English lyrics and vocal harmonies electrify the album, adding an authentic international fusion of sound. There is a freshly crisp sonic beauty to the instrumentation and beats that vibrate speakers at almost any volume. “Cabio Sile” moves like a sweltering Miami Beach house party full of sun, sexiness, energy, swaying palm trees and sparkling sand. The lyrics fit nicely around the salsa wind of beats and soaring trumpets. The grinding piano riff is addictive and bright. Songs switch between breezy sauntering affairs, such as, “Babe Ade,” to a more R&B, club-inspired, “Oba” and the spiritual “Madre de 9” that trade off Santero’s lyrics against a longing female solo that asks a very profound question. Very much a blending of hip hop and salsa music, this record is able to convert anybody and everybody to move.

Chanda Jones


Eddi Reader
Love is the Way
(101 DISTRIBUTION)






You have to love Scotland. Sure it gave us such hardcore delights as the Highland games, Soccer Riots, and the Deep Fried Mars Bar. But! It's also given us singer/songwriter Eddi Reader, and her newest album Love is the Way.

At its heart this is a charming, ethereal collection of ballads from the Scottish Songstress. It opens on a great note with the beautiful “Dragon Flies,” and keeps the charm coming with “Silent Bells” and “New York City.” Love is the Way features some of the most beautiful guitar I've heard in a while, and standout “Dandelion” is the best song written about dandelions since Audioslave took a crack at it on Out of Exile. Also great are “Over it Now” and “Fallen Twice” which make for some cute, romantic listening. Perhaps the best part of these songs is their breezy nature and accordion accompaniments; they really take the listener to a different place. Listening to the album feels like having coffee in a Parisian cafe. Its only downfall is the final tracks: “Roses,” “My Shining Star,” and “I Won't Stand in Your Way” which are pretty uninspired, bland ballads. Otherwise, this is a great breezy album certainly worth a listen or two.

Michael Adler


Roni Size
New Forms 2
(Talkin Loud/Universal)






Roni Size and a group of DJs, rappers, singers and musicians form Reprazent and together have been pioneers of genre bending music for years. Size, a British producer and DJ began refining the nature of drum and bass music when he stepped onto the scene in 1997. New Forms 2 is his latest release and is a re-edited version of New Forms, an album released 10 years ago. The new album features four new songs and a re-working of 13 original tracks. The title song “New Forms” features a deliciously silky rap delivery by Philly rapper Bahamadia and is laced with a jungle inspired smattering of drum and a churning of sly mysterious bass twists. “Share the Fall” is a breezy sensual tune with vocals by Onallee. A mild jazz guitar riff and warm piano finds its way into the sunshine of club beats and positivity. For those unfamiliar with Roni Size, his music has a very slick seamless production. Instruments actually breathe.

Enough influences outside of drum and bass, jungle and club music allow the album to sound energizing and innovative. This gift allows the music to take on a new style of sparkling fresh and squeaky clean branding. When not being swept up by wicked break beats and mind-thudding low end acoustics, enough soft heady soulful grooves emerge like clouds. Each song is a new droplet of some genre you have heard before but it rings through in yet a more evolved stratosphere.

Chanda Jones


Moving Mountains
Foreword
(Caetera Recordings)







Four tracks make up Foreword, the latest from Moving Mountains but each song is an epic thesis on a very realist and raw heart versus brain discourse poetically put and beautifully composed. Lyrically more emo, musically more rock escapade or post-rock, Moving Mountains has dimensions, many dimensions. Cascading, layered orchestral rock inundates, Foreword. Atmospheric, bending and musically heavy, Moving Mountains creates a sound that is boundless and engaging. Rivaling guitar riffs dip and dive, echoing drums and a pushing bass along with symphony hall acoustics amplify each track. At times the music leaves one alone amidst tortured vocals by Gregory Dunn or just the heaviness of a throbbing bass. When the windstorm of instruments pummels each other in a dramatic odyssey, the album is at its finest. With Nicholas Pizzolato on drums, Mitchell Lee on bass and trombone and Frank Graniero on guitar, the enigmatic collapse and build of each song feels like a monumental task executed by whimsically talented musicians. The lyrical build is a deeply personal dichotomy of love and anguish. It is a residual spiritual declaration that seems to say while in the midst of love, our human pieces are the ones that mess us up sometimes but that same declaration pulls us closer. With those kind of lyrics and music that is so reaching, Moving Mountains appeals to the thinking person and the emotional one, and for those who are just about the music, there are few finer soundscapes.

Chanda Jones

Henry Darger (1892 - 1973)
Chicago
Mid-twentieth century
Watercolor, pencil, and carbon tracing on pieced paper
19 x 24 in.
American Folk Art Museum, purchase, 2001.16.5
(c) Kiyoko Lerner

Photo by James Prinz


Location: Midtown West, NYC
Art: Up Close: Henry Darger
Show time: Tues thru Sun 10:30 AM to 5:30 PM & Fri 10:30 AM to 7:30 AM; Through September 6
Venue: American Folk Art Museum
Food: Zip Burger
Drink: Subway Inn
Miscellaneous: Kinokuniya Bookstore

Self-taught artist Henry Darger (1892-1973), created nearly 300 watercolor and collage paintings to illustrate his epic masterpiece, The Story of the Vivian Girls. The exhibition Up Close: Henry Darger features eight of Darger’s watercolors from his 15,000 page manuscript. At Zip Burger they offer farm-raised, organic, and grass-fed meat and poultry, letting you build your own burger with plenty of gourmet toppings. The first time I went to Subway Inn I thought it was completely strange that there was a dive bar off Lexington Avenue, especially in this neck of the woods, but somehow it works. Born in the 30s, this bar has somehow remained, and thank god, as it’s easily the cheapest and most colorful place in the area for a drink. For fans of Japanese pop-culture, Kinokuniya Bookstore has a large selection of Japanese themed books, videos, CDs, magazines, comics, and stationary.


The cast and crew of the Tony-nominated Best Musical 'Rock Of Ages' will attempt to break the Guinness World Record for Largest Air Guitar Ensemble TODAY, July 1st. The event will start at 1:30 pm PST, and will be streamed live on Ustream here:

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/us-air-guitar-world-record

The ensemble will include Tony Award Nominee Constantine Maroulis, 2007 National Air Guitar Champion Andrew "William Ocean" Litz, the matinee audience and fans.