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Carlos
Giffoni
Valentine’s,
Thursday
Ever
try to burn a copy-protected CD? Or peerhaps (heh heh) you’ve
downloaded a corrupted MP3 from Kazaa? Imagine the sound of
25 Casio SK1 keyboards falling down the steps of a fifth-floor
walkup on the Lower East Side, during rush hour, with a blasting
crew hard at work just outside the window. Maybe that’s pushing
it a bit, but if this sounds at all sonically appealing to
you, you should definitely dig the noise that Carlos Giffoni
makes on purpose. New York-based sound artist Giffoni
is curator of the popular No Fun festival, and he’ll kick
off his Summer Death tour tonight at Valentine’s. Bring earplugs.
Also appearing: Grain and the Gestalt, and Lunch With Beardo.
(Aug. 18, 9:30 PM, $5, 17 New Scotland Ave., Albany, 432-6572)
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| DREDG |
Dredg
Saratoga
Winners, Thursday
Dredg
are a hard band to pigeonhole. This can be evidenced by their
show’s move from Northern Lights to Saratoga Winners. Or the
fact that they are labeled anything from emo to progressive
to radio rock. Tool are the only band they are frequently
compared to, and yet Dredg are hardly as metal, technically
precise or pretentious. Yes, they produce fairly straight-ahead
rock with a progressive lean that finds them swimming around
in the radio-friendly prog pond with muddled-named compatriots
Trapt and Hoobastank. Yet somehow a light of artistic sincerity
shines through Dredg’s vaporous existence that keeps them
from completely being a radio-friendly unit shifter. (Aug.
18, 8 PM, $12, 1375 New Loudon Road, Latham, 783-1010)
Al
Stewart
WAMC
Performing Arts Studio, Thursday
The
old adage goes, “quality over quantity,” but for Al Stewart,
the two qualifiers are not mutually exclusive. This prolific
artist has released 23 albums since he broke onto the scene
in 1967 with Bedsitter Images. Just don’t equate Stewart’s
productivity with the cheap and money-grabbing rush jobs that
such volumes of material sometimes means: Stewart’s brand
of folk rock is a carefully shaped, sometimes experimental
craft that lyrically tries to balance his own life’s impulses
and directions against the weight of history (Stewart’s Web
site features a page that explains the historical references
that occur throughout his entire discography). Often concerned
with the effects of wars on our lives, the historically minded
Stewart might prove capable of providing an enlightening—and
audibly pleasing—perspective on our history’s current shape.
(Aug. 18, 8 PM, $22, 339 Central Ave., Albany, 465-5233)
The
Sixfifteens CD-release party
King’s
Tavern, Saturday
Catch
area favorites the Six- fifteens on Saturday when they celebrate
the release of their new CD, Feature, Conference, Transfer
at King’s Tavern. This will be one of the band’s last area
gigs before they take off on a fall tour throughout the country.
You’d be well-served to make it to this show: The band will
sell their new disc for $5 each for this one night only, and
then the price jumps to $10. For a preview of the new album,
you can check out four selected songs by visiting www.thesixfifteens.
com. Joining the Sixfifteens for the celebration will be Tryst
and Come Wander With Me. (Aug. 20, 9 PM, $5, 241 Union
Ave., Saratoga Springs, 581-7090)
Mosquitos
MASS
MoCA, Saturday
As
a sort of homeopathic rem-edy (like cures like, you know)
for the dog days of August, we propose catching the Mosquitos
at MASS MoCA on Saturday. The music of sultry, sweltering
Brazil informs the stylings of this trio composed of two American
indie- popsters and a South American chanteuse, and the advance
word is highly favorable. Their refreshing and “sweet hybrid
of bossa nova hypnosis and indie-pop restraint” sounds the
perfect complement to a sweaty summer evening. (Aug. 20,
8 PM, $17, 1040 MASS MoCA Way, North Adams, Mass., 413-662-2111)
Ruth
Pelham, Lakshmi Damayanthi
Washington
Park Lakehouse, Tuesday
When
Ruth Pelham met Lakshmi Damayanthi in Sri Lanka back in 2002,
it was the beginning of a musical friendship. Pelham—the musician-educator
behind the Music Mobile—was on a Peace Through Music tour.
Damayanthi—a performer with two decades of stage and TV experience—joined
Pelham to perform with Sri Lankan kids in dozens of villages.
Flash forward to December 2004, when the devastating tsunami
hit. Through the Friends of Sri Lanka, Pelham again teamed
with Damayanthi to raise money to buy and distribute useful
items to survivors. Well, Damayanthi is here in Albany now,
and will be performing again with Pelham at two Hands Around
the World concerts, first in Albany’s Washington Park on Tuesday
and then at Troy’s Riverfront Park on Aug. 25. These are presented
as a “thank you” to the Capital Region for being so supportive.
Come on out and share the love. (Aug. 23, 7 PM, free, Washington
Park, Albany, www.musicmobile.org)
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| Also
Noted |
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A
few months back, members of area noise-rock bands
Struction and Brevator had some equipment stolen
from their van; on Friday, Lincoln Money Shot,
Clam of God, and Catacomb Gypsy Vagina
will band together to help raise money for new
gear in a benefit show at King’s Tavern in Saratoga;
the show is also a CD-release party for K Sonin’s
29th (yes, 29th) album, called The Revolutionary
Masterpiece That Forever Changed 70 Chestnut St.,
Apt 1B (9 PM, free, donations requested, 581-7090).
. . . Catch one of our area’s most talented and
inventive saxophonists at Justin’s on Saturday
when the Keith Pray Group will take the
stand (9:30 PM, $5, 436-7008). . . . Tawasentha
Park in Guilderland will play host to the aptly
named Guilderfest this Saturday; bringing the
live music will be Erin Harkes and the Rebound,
Gumption, Depot, and Chris Blackwell
and Hogtown (6 PM, free). . . .
Oxford Collapse and Cause Co-Motion
will bring the screamo at MASS MoCA’s Café Latino
on Saturday (10 PM, $5, 917-526-0128). . . . Also
on Saturday, Colin Hay (of Men at Work—and
more recently, the Garden State soundtrack—fame)
will perform two shows at the West Kortright Center
in East Meredith (6 and 9 PM, $24, 607-278-5454).
. . . Folk duo Camille and Alexander McGregor—also
known as Ponies in the Surf—will perform
at Better Than Toast in downtown Saratoga this
Sunday afternoon (3 PM, $3, www.thefarmtomarket.com).
. . . Mississippi emo band Waiting for Brantley
play the Flywheel in Easthampton, Mass., on Monday;
we reckon there’s plenty to be emo about where
they’re from (6:30 PM, $5, 413-527-9800). . .
. Break out the fairy dust: Tori Amos returns
to the Saratoga Performing Arts Center this Tuesday
on her Summer of Sin tour (naughty!); the Ditty
Bops and the Like open (7:30 PM, $15-45,
476-1000). . . . At the Iron Horse Music Hall
in Northampton, Mass., this Wednesday, catch former
D-Generation frontman and occasional Ryan Adams
whipping boy Jesse Malin (7 PM, $15, 413-584-0610).
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Columns
& Opinions
