Music
Synaptic Virginity, Lost
By David St.-LascauxWith so many genres represented, it’s not possible to say anything coherent about the 2011 Unsound Festival, the annual conclave of experimental, electronic, and otherwise avant-garde music and ancillary media.
Outtakes
By Steve DalachinskyIn the recent documentary Bill Cunningham New York, Cunningham states that “if you did away with fashion it would be like doing away with civilization.”
BALKING HEAVILY
The Residents’ Talking Light Tour at the Highline Ballroom
By Jamian Juliano-Villani
Just like Communism, the Residents looked better on paper. Historically, they knew their shit; their 1976 album Third Reich ’n’ Roll featured Dick Clark in Nazi regalia dangling a carrot in front of Hitler’s face.
Big Drum Lives In Brooklyn!
By Geoffrey ClarfieldJohn Szwed, author of the recent biography of the late Alan Lomax, subtitled his book “The Man Who Recorded the World.” During his lifetime, Alan recorded thousands of hours of traditional music in the American South, the Caribbean, and Europe, while at the same time copying, archiving, publishing, and presenting on vinyl, radio, and paper collections of folk music from around the world.
Built for Speed
By Justin Vellucciith Secret Curve, the Brooklyn musician’s third outing with the avant-jazz-rock trio PAK, Anderson has willed into being something so mind-bending, frenetic, and complex—but tight and composed—that it mocks attempts to fit it into genre boundaries or even find points of reference to map its trajectories.
Polly Jean Warms Up (A Bit)
By Julie KocsisYou never know what to expect with Polly Jean Harvey, who seems to have reinvented herself more times than Cher and Madonna combined. One thing you can always count on, however, is a bit of gloom and darkness. And some killer beats.
