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Dinosaur
Jr.
Pearl
Street, Thursday
We heartily endorse this evening’s appearance by indie-rock
godfathers Dinosaur Jr., as they could probably use a hand
in this, their time of need. See, rock bands have been losing
their shit right and left this year—in Philadelphia, no less
than eight bands have had their gear ripped off since March
(that’s one per month, for you math types); and in August,
the Dinosaur boys lost their shirts (and everything else)
after a gig in Brooklyn. Sure, they played Lollapalooza 10
years ago, but today they’re just another mid-level touring
act—albeit a pretty freaking awesome one—and these things
hurt. So we ask you, open your hearts and wallets, and help
J. Mascis buy a new guitar. Is that too much to ask? Here’s
some extra incentive: The incomparable Thalia Zedek will open
the show. (Nov. 30, 8:30 PM, $28, 10 Pearl St., Northampton,
Mass., 413-584-7771)
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Chicago
Afrobeat Project
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Chicago
Afrobeat Project
Club
Helsinki, Saturday
Chicago world-music collective the Chicago Afrobeat Project
bill themselves as “traditional Afrobeat meets ’70s funk,”
celebrating the genres of music that became super popular
in both Nigeria and in the United States in the ’60s and ’70s.
The ever-morphing seven-to-14-piece lineup comprises a percussion
section, guitars, keys, bass, and at some shows, even African
dancers. Their self-titled debut disc was released last year
to rave reviews; The Chicago Reader said, “In its tightly
wound grooves, the group displays strong jazz sensibility
a la electric Miles Davis.” This activist band lend their
talents to events like World AIDS Day, when they recently
played in tribute to Afrobeat founder Fela Kuti to benefit
the foundation Journalists Against AIDS Nigeria. (Dec.
2, 9 PM, $10, 284 Main St., Great Barrington, Mass., 413-528-3394)
Tech
N9ne
Northern
Lights, Saturday
Tech N9ne’s ’bout ta bubble, baby! (For our less-urban readership,
“bubble” is defined in urbandictionary.com as the process
of icing hash, or a way to turn cocaine into crack. Or he
could mean it the nice way, the way we hope he means it, as
in: He’s about to hit it big time! You decide.) Either way,
though, he claims that he’s “smoking, drinking and humping
and liking it!” And apparently a lot of hip-hop fans are liking
Mr. Tech N9ne, as he has been cultivating an audience in the
underground rap scene for years now. His latest album, Everready:
The Religion, debuted at No. 50 on the Billboard
charts, and was the No. 2 independent album in the country
during its first week of release. This is quite an achievement
for a rapper once labeled too dark to cut into the mainstream
(i.e., he used to chill with the Insane Clown Posse and sing
about being sick in the head). But those days are behind him,
and Tech is ready for the mainstream, talking ’bout his chicks
and money and um . . . how he’s ’bout to bubble, baby! (Dec.
2, 7:30 PM, $15, 1208 Route 146, Clifton Park, 371-0012)
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android
Lust, Psyclon Nine
Valentine’s,
Saturday
Devour,
Rise, and Take Flight is the title of the new CD from
Bangladeshi recording artist Shikhee, aka Android Lust. If
you have any doubt as to her intent to carry out the titular
mission, take one listen to her music—it’s abrasive, disorienting,
and strangely compelling. Beats convulse and synths burble,
as Shikhee’s voice swoops from melody to menace on a moment’s
notice. This could only come from the Projekt label. Android
Lust shares tonight’s bill with California-based industrial
troupe Psyclon Nine, who are pimping their new, “o”-deprived
Metropolis Records release Crwn Thy Frnicatr. Also
performing: Doomsday Virus, the Flying Buttresses, and Massdirge.
This show is for people who dress in black and mean it.
(Dec. 2, 7 PM, $5, 17 New Scotland Ave., Albany, 432-6572)
Hot
Tuna
The
Egg, Sunday
This show doesn’t need much explanation, does it? After all,
Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady have been doing the Hot Tuna
thing on and off since 1969. It’s an old rock & roll story:
The side project (in this case, Hot Tuna) displaces and outlasts
the original band (in this case, Jefferson Airplane). Except
that Kaukonen and Casady, while never straying too far from
a blues-based structure, have stretched the Tuna to create
a variety of tasty musical dishes over the decades. From their
original acoustic-duo approach through the heavy sound of
the mid-to-late ’70s—their 1974 album Yellow Fever
is a sludgy, guilty-pleasure 8-track classic—to the wildly
eclectic lineups they’ve toured with over the last dozen years,
Hot Tuna have kept things diverse. On Sunday night, Casady
and Kaukonen will be joined by drummer Eric Diaz and mandolin
player Barry Mitterhoff; don’t forget to holler for the “Hesitation
Blues.” (Dec. 3, 7 PM, $26, Empire State Plaza, Albany,
473-1845)
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Noted |
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Jen
Chapin
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Burlington,
Vt.-based “high performance rock” outfit RAQ
play Revolution Hall tonight (Thursday); the
show comes near the end of a long tour to support
the band’s new release, Ton These (8 PM,
$15, 274-0553). . . . Upstart rock-promoters Albany
Amped present the Crayons and Big Nixon
at Tess’ Lark Tavern tomorrow (Friday) night;
the show is also tied in with the 1st Friday art
openings (see Night and Day, page 35, for more
info; 10 PM, $5, 463-9779). . . . We don’t see
this word applied to the fairer sex too often,
but we’re going for it: Boston-based troubadour
Jess Klein performs songs from her
latest album City Gardens at Caffe Lena
this Saturday; local boy done good Stephen
Clair opens the show (8 PM, $12, 583-0022).
. . . Jen Chapin—yes, of the Harry Chapin
Chapins—plays her jazzy folk tunes at Club Helsinki
in Great Barrington, Mass., on Sunday (8 PM, $15,
413-528-3394). . . . Since his complete recovery
from a near-fatal bout with Hepatitis C, Alejandro
Escovedo has been plenty busy—this Wednesday,
he’ll perform with a string quintet(!) at the
Iron Horse Music Hall in Northampton, Mass., in
support of his 2006 record The Boxing Mirror;
another legendary singer-songwriter shares the
bill: Mark Mulcahy (7 PM, $25, 413-584-0610).
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Classifieds
