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Bayside,
Terrible Things, the Sleeping
Northern
Lights, Friday
Queens-based emo-punk band Bayside are no strangers to the
Capital Region, having plied their wares in area clubs with
some frequency for 10 years now. This current run is in anticipation
of Killing Time, their forthcoming fifth full-length.
Terrible Things are a brand new band, but their members are
also quite familiar with our environs—the “all-star” group
feature members of Taking Back Sunday, Coheed and Cambria,
Hot Rod Circuit, and Silvertide. Joining them are the Sleeping,
the Long Island act whose tunes have been featured in a slew
of video games. All together, they should make for one satisfyingly
heavy evening. (Jan. 14, 6:30 PM, $15, 1208 Route 146,
Clifton Park, 371-0012)
The
Capstan Shafts
The
Dovecote, Saturday
Paging Robert Pollard! The Capstan Shafts are—or were, until
they became a “real” band—the nom de indie-pop of alarmingly
prolific songwriter Dean Wells. Wells released about a thousand
(give or take) home-recorded albums between 1999 and 2009,
mostly on cassette and CD-R, bearing such titles as Unreconstructed
Lo-Fi Whore and Ample Tribes for Sullen King Pounder.
But eventually we all have to make a living, and Wells took
his act into a real studio for the recent Rainbow Quartz release
Revelation Skirts. Fans of surrealist pop—and just
plain good songwriting—should be lined halfway up Hudson Avenue
for Saturday’s show, which takes place at the tiny Dovecote,
formerly the Amrose + Sable Gallery. Slender Shoulders and
Ashley Pond open. (Jan. 15, 7 PM, $5, 306 Hudson Ave.,
Albany, 716-400-6175)
Tao
Seeger and Company
Putnam
Den, Saturday
So, this Tao guy was either conveniently born with the most
prestigious last name in American folk music or . . . yup,
he’s the grandson of legend Pete Seeger. Not only that, he’s
been a great champion of his grandfather’s music, performing
with him since he was 14 and famously before 400,000 people
at the Obama inauguration. For the past decade, Seeger has
been performing with his Hudson Valley folk supergroup the
Mammals, but for this one he’ll be joined by George Kilby
Jr. and members of both Hot Tuna and Railroad Earth. What’s
more, bluegrass animals Hot Day at the Zoo open. (Jan.
15, 8 PM, $10, 63A Putnam St., Saratoga Springs, 584-8066)
Dead
Cat Bounce
Ge
Theatre at Proctors, Saturday
“Dead
cat bounce” is Wall Street speak for when a declining stock
rebounds momentarily on its course toward oblivion. It’s actually
a fairly optomistic notion in these bleak, recessionary times.
Reminds you of the blues, don’t it? It’s no coincidence that
Schenectady saxophonist Matt Steckler chose the term (albeit
back in ’97) for his horn-heavy jazz sextet. The group takes
a page from both the Mingus Big Band and the World Saxophone
Quartet on the way to dense, danceable arrangements. Theirs
is the hometown installment in Proctors’ three-part Party
Horns NYC series. (Jan. 15, 7:30 PM, $15, 432 State St.,
Schenectady, 346-6204)
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| Pierre
Bensusan |
Pierre
Bensusan
Caffe
Lena, Sunday
Witness: an acoustic guitarist so extraordinary that the late
Michael Hedges, considered one of the most exceptional and
innovative players ever to pick up the instrument, paid tribute
to him in song. Pierre Bensusan may not be a household name,
but among acoustic aficionados he is godlike. A self-taught
guitarist, Bensusan won the Grand Prix du Disque (roughly
the French equivalent to an Album of the Year Grammy) for
his very first album—at age 17. His use of alternate tunings
and effects pedals sets him far apart from the standard crop
of folk and jazz pickers, as does his inarguable skill. See
Bensusan in action at Caffe Lena on Sunday, where you can
get close enough to hear him tap his foot. (Jan. 16, 7
PM, $24, 47 Phila St., Saratoga Springs, 583-0022)
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| Also
Noted |
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| Lunic |
The
Wu-Tang Clan ain’t
nothin’ to eff with, but neither was that blizzard
a few weeks back; the group’s snow-delayed performance
goes off tonight (Thursday) at Northern Lights—weather
permitting, of course (9 PM, $40, 371-0012). .
. . Jillian’s brings together four female-fronted
powerhouses tomorrow (Friday): Lunic, Silversyde,
Ten Year Vamp, and Emeralds of July
(8 PM, $5, 432-1997). . . . At Upstate Artists
Guild Gallery on Lark Street this Friday, it’s
another noise-filled night of noisy noise with
Cruudeuces, Fossils From the Sun, Parashi,
and Xanthocephalus (7:30 PM, $5, 426-3501).
. . . The music of ABBA is alive and well, no
matter how much you may sometimes wish it weren’t;
on Friday the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall hosts
Arrival, a tribute to the great Swedish
band whose hook is that they are actually Swedish
(8 PM, $15-$35, 273-0038). . . . The 2011 Jam
and Sing Thing runs Friday through Sunday at Christ
Church United Methodist in Troy, celebrating the
various styles of traditional music through a
series of performances, workshops, and jam sessions
(prices vary, tricity trad.com). . . . Speaking
of traditional music, Crooked Still bring
their string-band thing back to the Egg on Saturday
(8 PM, $26, 473-1845). . . . More string-band
fun: the Andrew and Noah Band bring much
harmony to Old Songs on Saturday (8 PM, $20, 765-2815).
. . . It’s about a different kind of harmony at
Bogie’s on Saturday, where 10 bands, including
Heal These Wounds, Outlaw Mystic, and Maggot
Brain, will take part in the Capital Underground
Live CD release; everyone who pays gets a free
copy of the new double CD (2:30 PM, $10, 482-4393).
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