
Friday, March 2--SHIGETO & MUX MOOL with special guests AY FAST & PAPI CHULO 9pm $10. Get 'em here.
Experimental Music, Media & Performance in Buffalo, NY (Soundlab & more)
From Artvoice: Blockhead a.k.a. Anthony “Tony” Simon is a lot smarter than his title would imply. It takes some brains to stitch together tight soul-hop tracks like “The Music Scene,” with it’s mechanical but humanized clacking dance beats and hooky vocals. “We call that a joint, we call that a joint” a trembling voice repeats toward the end of the song. It’s heady music from a heady guy. Blockhead’s focus is on rhythmic and body moving hip-hop beats with a wildcard edge: usually something like bouncing string samples, a small soliloquy, or a funk bassline (see “The Art of Walking” from his 2005 album Downtown Science). The Ninja Tune Recording artist, who grew up in downtown New York City, spent the beginning of his career as a producer, crafting beats for artists like Aesop Rock, who’s critically acclaimed album Labor Days, he produced. Now he’s focused on his own tunes though. His latest album, 2009’s The Music Scene, is a head bobbing mixture of 1970’s influenced soul melodies and intricate hip-hop beats. Don’t miss Blockhead when he hits Soundlab this Saturday (Feb 25). —cory perlaRead more: http://artvoice.com/issues/v11n8/see_you_there#ixzz1nEfBN4rJ
From Artvoice: Behold, Seattle’s punk legends-in-their-own-time, The Spits finally make their way to Soundlab on Friday (Feb 24) in support of their latest full length V. For over a decade the trio have consistently churned out a special kind of garage-infused punk anthems. Think Ramones, but more campy and guttural and with a sense of humor to be reckoned with. Relentlessly pounding and catchy with a touch of the bizarre, this music has one home, and that’s on a stage with a drink in hand and fist in the air. On tour with them are In The Red label mates, TV Ghost. Masters of dissecting the sharpest of angles between dark and theatrical no-wave and Cramps-like style and delivery. Get there early for Buffalo’s own Utah Jazz and The Narcs, from Rochester. Doors are 8pm and pre-sale tickets are still available at Record Theatre (3500 Main St. location) and Spiral Scratch Records (291 Bryant St.). —eric kendall
By Aaron Lowinger for Artvoice: On a cold night last November, the curator for UB’s Poetry Collection took the stage at the Burchfield Penney Art Center for a fundraising event for BlazeVox Books, the Buffalo poetry press. The upstairs atrium lobby was adorned with a wine/cheese/fruit spread circled by a dozen or so tables fitted with white tablecloths. The audience was well dressed for a poetry reading: designer jeans, handbags, boots, makeup, clean hair were all easy to spot. BlazeVox editor Geoff Gatza then introduced a man who needs no introduction within the literary community: Michael Basinski. Basinski stood at the podium and quickly exfoliated any pretense of his office found perhaps in his unbuttoned white shirt and dark sport jacket, slipping seamlessly into character as a poet and performer. In his new skin he gave a brief introduction to his poem, “Maid of Beer.”
This Saturday night, February 25, at “Basinskianamania,” Michael Basinski will perform his works in all their forms and possibilities at the Just Buffalo poetry series “Big Night,” at the Western New York Book Arts Center (468 Washington Street). The evening begins at 8pm.
“The poem is a celebration of lawn fetes, a.k.a. church picnics, particularly those of East Side Buffalo, New York’s Polish parishes, and a celebration of those women who served local Buffalo beer in huge paper cups in the lawn fete beer tents,” he said. “All lawn fetes are contemporaneous.”
Read more: http://artvoice.com/issues/v11n8/in_the_margins#ixzz1nEgGyby3. Michael Basinski is a veteran of Soundlab and Basta!/Big Orbit Gallery "Murder the Word" events.
You might know them as Thee Silver Mt. Zion, or Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra, or A Silver Mt. Zion, or even the Tra-La-La Band, but their name doesn’t really matter. What matters are the feelings that their music evokes. There is an emotional heaviness that is built into Thee Silver Mt. Zion’s music, not unlike the music of God Speed You! Black Emperor and Explosions In The Sky, but the difference is in the way SMZ approaches their brand of post-rock. Though their music tends to be softer dynamically, especially on albums like Born Into Trouble As The Sparks Fly Upward, there is an unusual punk rock ethos that hovers around this (currently) five-piece band from Montreal. They even called their 2003 four-track record This is Our Punk-Rock. Though the actual sound of the music is much closer to Do Make Say Think than it is to the Dead Kennedys, their passive aggressive form of punk peaks out through themes of decay and politically critical motifs, but also through their almost angrily passionate poems and lyrics, which weave in and out of their swelling songs. It has been a little while since Soundlab has hosted such an emotional and intimate show, so take that as a sign not to miss Thee Silver Mt. Zion when they play the venue on Pearl Street this Friday (Feb 17). Poverty Hymns open the show.There are still some adv tix available NOW.
THE INTERVIEW: Before embarking on a U.S. tour to promote his dreamy album Dream Diary, Jeremy Jay and his band (George & Nick) spent a week practicing at Dub Narcotic Studio, which is located beneath the K office. During a practice break, Jeremy (left), George (center) and Nick (right) sat down and had a conversation with Danielle (our promotions director), Eric (our intern), and Joel (our mailorder wizard). The conversation was hilarious--here's a little out-take. Click the link on the bottom to read the whole interviewOn 05/05/09 Jeremy Jay shared a bill at Soundlab with The Lochs.
Danielle: You’re playing in Mexico City?
Jeremy: Yeah.
Danielle: Didn’t you pick that show up kind of last minute?
Jeremy: Yeah, two weeks ago. Apparently you’re not supposed to brush your teeth or drink the water or take a shower.
Danielle: You can take a shower, just don’t open your mouth....
READ MORE (<---this takes you to a sweet blog post)
On Feb. 3, 1967, a thin man in his mid-50s with graying hair and thick glasses walked into the downtown Buffalo office of KLM Royal Dutch Airlines on Court Street.Read the rest here.
The man, who refused to give his name, told the clerk he was planning a European vacation and might leave within the next two or three weeks. His travels would take him first to Basel, Switzerland, then to Prague and possibly on to Bucharest, Romania. From there, he said, he was hoping to travel to Chernovtsky, a small town just over the Romanian border in the Soviet Republic of the Ukraine.
Later that day, FBI agents paid their own visit to the KLM clerk. They pressed her for the specifics of the conversation, which she recounted in exquisite detail, and asked her to select the man's picture out of a photo lineup. There was no mistaking who it was.
Milton Rogovin, the noted former communist whose every move the FBI had been tracking for the past 30 years, was heading for enemy territory.
This Wednesday (Feb 8) Soundlab will overflow with relaxing tones, soul-stirring bass lines, and layers of electronic sound bites. Emancipator, who is based in Portland, Oregon, will provide this delicate yet captivating music. His ethereal layered soundscapes, which are textured with dreamy echoing vocals and rollicking drums are reminiscent of British musician, producer, and DJ, Bonobo’s trip hop. This comparison makes sense considering Emancipator’s first live show in July 2009 was as the opening act for Bonobo at the Roseland Theater. Since then Emancipator has toured with Bassnectar, Sound Tribe Sector 9, and Pretty Lights. His latest album Safe in The Steep Cliffs is the auditory equivalent of a crisp and smooth cucumber martini. Where Bonobo’s music unfolds linearly, Emancipator’s develops in rolling waves of new instrumentation and organic samples that include choirs, horns, American folk instruments such as the banjo and mandolin, violin, and some Asian influences. His signature style harnesses these elements with clean production and hypnotizing melodies. Joining Emancipator will be downtempo electronic producer Laurent Clerc, known as Little People, and Portland-based electro hip-hop singer-producer Natasha Kmeto. Little People’s stripped-down tracks and Kmeto’s pumped up hip-hop vibe will compliment Emancipator’s carefully crafted style. Attend this performance in any mood as a sure fire way to calm your racing thoughts, sink into the energy, and slow down as you’re surrounded by transfixing sounds.