Dayton, Ohio’s Third Street: home to the local porn store, church supply outlet and The Dayton Dirt Collective. If horror make-up workshops, intimate musical performances and community service opportunities are not reason enough to visit the collective, then the neighboring establishments might be.
Music
What We’re Doing This Weekend: Sunday
Why bother going to bed at a respectable hour? Stay up late with some of us on Sunday as we head to the Hungry Brain, a local bar that hosts a weekly avant-jazz series.
This week’s installment features a makeshift ensemble that includes Tortoise drummer John Herndon, members of jazzy post-rockers Algernon, the trombonist from jazz quintet Herculaneum, the bassist from experimental indie-jazz outfit Isotope 217, and more.
What We’re Doing This Weekend: Saturday
Our plans for Saturday night include seeing the seemingly ELO-inspired pop epics of Everthus the Deadbeats and the frenetic Afrobeat of the Chicago Afrobeat Project. Check out the lowdown and audio/video below.
Even Though I’m a Grumpy Bastard, I Still Approved a Story on Anavan
There is no screaming, skulls, or lyrics about destruction on Anavan‘s new record, Cover Story (Slanty Shanty). It’s super dance-y. And fun. Listen to the MP3s below and keep an eye out for an upcoming ALARM story on the band.
Zu: Modern Genius or Noisy Rubbish?
We’ve had a bit of that debate in the office of late, with online editor Scott Morrow weighing in on the side of genius. For those unfamiliar, Zu is an experimental Italian trio that combines sludgy alt-metal with complex rhythms and free-jazz freakouts.
What We’re Doing This Weekend: Friday
Looking for some high-brow entertainment and low-brow debauchery this Friday? For the former, we recommend seeing the Lyric Opera of Chicago performing George Gershwin‘s classic opera Porgy and Bess. And if that scene is a bit too stuffy for your tastes, then maybe you’d enjoy the booze-praising Celtic punk of The Tossers.
What We’re Doing This Weekend: Thursday
Whether or not one has off on Friday, Thursday night is the official start of the weekend — if only because there are too many good shows to see. One of those includes Chicago quintet Algernon, a psychedelic, jazz-tinged post-rock outfit that hits hard.
Femi Kuti: Day By Day
As the eldest son of Nigerian activist, Afrobeat originator and certified legend Fela Kuti, who passed away in 1997, Femi Kuti has certainly had some enormous figurative shoes to fill. Fortunately for us, he’s thus far done a bang- up job, and his latest, Day By Day from Mercer Street Records, is not only a worthy addition to the catalog, but is perhaps his finest and most focused to date.
Video: “Chop Socky” by Tipsy
Built around the lounge-heavy mixture of cut-and-paste artist Dave Gardner, Tipsy has a new live lineup that recreates the quirky film noir / spy thriller / Hawaiian electronica of its albums. The group’s new album, Buzzz, is another engaging stylistic union that doubles as perfect background music.
Marco Benevento’s New Album Covers Leonard Cohen, Led Zeppelin, Deerhoof
Jam keyboardist Marco Benevento (Benevento/Russo Duo) is releasing another solo album on February 3, only this time, covers outnumber original material. Benevento’s solo debut, Invisible Baby, was a passionate release from his post-jazz trio, but it certainly didn’t include any renditions of Deerhoof songs.
Weekly Burlesque: Got Pollys?
The longer I’ve performed, the more serious I’ve gotten about dedicating a pair of shoes to a costume and not wearing them with anything else, no matter how strong the temptation.
Once you cannibalize a costume for another costume, you begin the descent into costume hell — “Is the whole costume in the bag?” is not a question you want to be asking in a dressing room right before a show, or even on the subway on the way to the venue.