Contemplate the Vastness of the Cosmos at "Science & Art Cabaret No. 6.0: …Are We Special?" at The Ninth Ward Wednesday

Wednesday, February 8 at 7:00 p.m., FREE--Hallwalls, Buffalo Museum Of Science, & UB College of Arts & Sciences present--

Gary Nickard on HP Lovecraft's cosmic aesthetic.
Will Kinney on a universe made just for us.
Reverend Fred Jensen on poets on other planets.
Paul Vanouse on specialness via genetics and art.
Ravi Padmanabha on bulbul tarang.

The Science & Art Cabaret is an ongoing mash-up of creative and scientific tangents and ideas, intended to entertain and illuminate.

This month's theme addresses the earthly and cosmic question of our specialness-—are we unique in the vastness of the cosmos or are we banal? Are we special amid the stars or only amongst ourselves?

Read "Expect the unexpected from Mt. Zion," See Them at Soundlab Friday February 17

By Mike Bell, Calgary Herald:

Efrim Menuck has made a career of turning unconventionality into something of a convention.

He is, after all, one of the founding members of post-rock multimedia Montreal faves Godspeed You! Black Emperor, which earned acclaim and cult status through the latter part of the 1990s and early 2000s with its chamber drone releases and audio video live extravaganzas.

Menuck’s current musical project is also something of a unique and anarchistic act, including its name, which has, over the past decade-plus been known as: A Silver Mt. Zion, Thee Silver Mt. Zion, Thee Silver Mt. Zion Reveries, Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band, Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band with Choir, and, now, just Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra.

And the music follows the moniker in its constantly changing, always evolving, almost unclassifiable form, mixing classical, with rock, with folk, with contemporary orchestral, with ambient — all wrapped up in a decidedly punk ethos.

So it should come as no surprise that their current tour, which brings them to the Republik on Tuesday, is not really one to support an album as such — although fans at the gig can grab a new seven-inch, which the band hand assembled in Menuck’s home — and will probably partially be used to road-test and explore new material.

Read the rest here or get tickets now!

Fall Like a White Dwarf from Outer Space with "Slow-mo Electro-funk Schizoid" Com Truise at Soundlab Friday

Friday, January 27, 9:30, $12--COM TRUISE w/ special guests Ay Fast (live). Perceptor & tba.

"His podcasts sound like the score of a 1980s Jackie Chan flick. His albums sound like the music you’d hear inside of a nightclub, inside of a computer…in the future. Most know him as Com Truise, but that’s just one of many personalities of slow-mo electro-funk schizoid Seth Haley. A product of the thriving upstate New York electro scene, Haley has been writing music for nearly a decade, starting as a DJ and more recently puttering in the trending territories of chill-wave, electro-dub, and synth-fi. His Cyanide Sisters EP dropped in early 2011 like a white dwarf falling from deep space, and packed twice as much heat. It’s the type of EP that makes you quit you’re day job and dedicate your life to finding new ways of dancing. Followed shortly after Cyanide Sisters, in the same year, Haley released Galactic Melt, sending the solar system into a proverbial panic…in a good way. Critics praised Haley’s revitalization of time-warped drum beats and laser-fire synth leads on the album, which spawned viral hits like “VHS Sex,” and “Cathode Girls.” Com Truise makes his return to Buffalo this Friday (Jan 27) at Soundlab after a brief opening set for the Glitch Mob in early fall of 2011. This time however, Truise has the headline spot to himself. Soundlab, prepare for launch sequence."

--by Brett Perla for Artvoice

Tickets available here.

Read "New Mount Eerie in the K Shop!"

From K Records:

The new Mount Eerie single, from his Dub Narcotic Disco Plate Release “Distorted Cymbals” (DBN122) is the first we’ve heard from Phil Elverum in nearly three years, but it is a song that was certainly worth the wait.  Calvin calls this track one of Phil’s most cogent projects in years—its a beautiful song, in both renditions, and a great collaboration of two friends and outstanding artists.

Get the new MOUNT EERIE disco plate at the K SHOP before anywhere else (like, right now) on vinyl or digital download.

Phil Elverum played Soundlab on 10/31/07 with Privacy and Al Larsen.

Lose Your Mind and Play as "Wooden Cities performs John Zorn's Cobra & more...." at Hallwalls Friday

Friday, January 27, 8pm, $10 general, $8 students/seniors, $5 members--

Brendan Fitzgerald (prompter)
 Dan Bassin (trumpet) 
Nathan Heidelberger (horn)
 Zane Merritt (guitar)
 Tyler Borden (electric cello)
 Michelle Purdy (percussion) 
Aaron Staebell (drumset) 
Evan Courtin (electric violin) 
Ethan Hayden (vocals)
 Michael McNeill (piano, keyboard) 
Steve Baczkowski (saxophone)

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With processed vocals, brass, winds, strings and percussion, Wooden Cities pushes its audiences with new interpretations of influential works of the 20th century and today. Born in Buffalo, New York, Wooden Cities is a collective of performers dedicated to presenting ensemble pieces for open instrumentation. In its latest incarnation, Director Brendan Fitzgerald will lead the ten-piece band in a performance of John Zorn's Cobra. The famous game piece features players jockeying for musical control by playing tactical maneuvers through sound events.  The result of the struggle within the band can display itself in violent events, collective consonance, and nuanced interpersonal relationships that play out in front of its audience. This very special concert will also feature compositions for various instrumentation by John Cage, Elliot Carter, Daniel Bassin and Nathan Heidelberger.

Buy Tickets for: Blockhead, Emancipator, Thee Silver Mt Zion Memorial Orchestra & The Rusko Afterparty feat. Luvstep

Available now!!!

Click here.

Go Goofy at the Playhouse Ugly Sweater Party This Friday

Featuring... 23, Huxley, Peter Bonk and Natural Ingredients. $5/$10.

Read "A space uniquely designed for art"

By Mark Sommer for the Buffalo News: Seymour H. Knox Jr. converged with the late John J. Albright 50 years ago today, hurtling the art museum bearing both of their names into a new era.

Buffalo native Gordon Bunshaft's glass-and-marble modernist addition to E.B. Green's 1905 Greek Revival structure was dedicated Jan. 19, 1962, which also led to the name changing from the Albright Art Gallery to the Albright-Knox Art Gallery.

Knox, the museum's longtime president, benefactor and visionary art buyer, along with gallery director Gordon M. Smith and the Knox Foundation, paid $1.4 million of the $1.7 million cost of the addition. The expansion heralded a huge step forward for a Buffalo museum recognized as holding one of the great collections of modern and contemporary art in the world. Read the rest here.