If laughter is the best medicine, then this week will keep you in the pink. Reggie Watts beatboxes between jokes in the open air, Aziz Ansari just might unleash Raaaaaaaandy and the Brooklyn Flea Record Fair collects thousands of bizarre obscurities in a single bank vault. We’re keeping an eye out for this one – it’ll cure what ails ya.
BXI is the union of Japanese rockers Boris and Ian Astbury of the Cult. An unlikely pairing that makes more sense with each listen, the band melds its heavy squall with Astbury’s wizened baritone to create something simultaneously familiar and new.
Boris’ drummer/vocalist Atsuo and Mr. Astbury himself were kind enough to spend nearly an hour with us last week, just a day before the collaborative project made its debut at the Brooklyn Masonic Temple. In a conversation that threw small talk out the window, Atsuo and Astbury shared their eloquent perspectives on the creative process, the ritual of live music, the wisdom of age – and the awesome power of the sun.
Mister Saturday Night: Ian, you once said of [labelmates] Sunn O))) that there is “no language to explain the experience.” Can a musical experience ever be captured in language?
Ian Astbury: It’s a cul-de-sac. I think the cultural language available is very limited. Pop is easier to talk about – we all understand the sentiment. But once you cross over into something so emotive, layered and diverse – that textured spectrum of light and shade – that’s a very difficult thing to articulate, especially in print. I just point and say: “Listen to it.” Continue reading “BXI: The Secrets of Rock”
After a relaxed Labor Day spent eating smoked herring on Brighton Beach, fall arrives with a slate of great shows. This week we’ll be conjuring the spirits with Sunn O))) and Boris, and going back to school to take Advanced Michael Jackson.
Portishead producer Geoff Barrow brings his new band Beak> to American shores for the first time tonight. A notorious studio tweaker, Barrow is making the most of this chance to rock off the cuff: after an 11-year wait for the most recent Portishead album, the Beak> debut was written and recorded in just 12 days. When we had a word with him, Barrow explained, “In a world of absolute computer-based shit-sounding commercial music… It’s nice to take a wrong turn.”
This welcome “wrong turn” is nevertheless temporary: Barrow assures us that “Portishead and Beak> [will both] hopefully… be very productive in the near future.” Which suggests that Portishead’s Fourth may be only a decade away. For now, we’ll very happily focus on the current project. We’ve already got our tickets.
Beak> perform tonight with People of the North at Bowery Ballroom (6 Delancey St, Manhattan) / 9p / $20 / more info / directions
With summer cranking up the furnace one last time, we’re turning to some icy sounds on the home hi-fi. Jimmy Tamborello (Dntel, Postal Service) has a great mix up on dublab, where he threads together an hour of unusual “Nonmetal Metal” – atmospheric instrumentals and interludes from typically brutal metal bands. These selections paint a frigid landscape of snowy peaks and bottomless crevasses. Sounds pretty good on a 95° day.
