April 30- May 5

bluepicks for the week (slightly abbreviated)

...if I left off your event feel free to leave it in a comment....

Thursday, 4/30:

• Bruce Burris on Trivial Thursdays: Start yr day off at the crack of dawn with Mick Jeffries and special guest Bruce Burris of ELandF Gallery (7-9 a.m., wrfl.fm). ELandF has been keeping busy over the past year organizing uber-creative-almost-guerilla art projects, such as the Kentucky Mourning Project, the Public Transit Poetry Project and the Book Reader; I'd imagine he has some pretty interesting insights on the creative community in Lexington.
• Social Innovation Forum @ Old Tarr Distillery (899 Manchester St.) - This event is the second in a monthly series of forums that tackle relevant community issues - this month's focuses mostly on responsible development in the north/east end, with panelists Barry McNees (distillery district);Marty Clifford (Northside neighborhood assoc); Ed Holmes (East End, Third St revitalization); Dorothy Coleman (Newtown Pike Extension).
• Samantha Ronson DJing at 4th Street live in Louisville - if you're into that whole semi-celebrity/semi-skanky nightclub scene, that is. (For those who don't harbor a guilty habit of obsessively keeping up with Perez Hilton and US magazine, Samantha Ronson is Lindsay Lohan's lady friend – or perhaps her special lady...)
• Max Tundra; Junior Boys @ The Dame - to be honest, I'm not terribly familiar with either of these acts, but I'm definitely intrigued. Tundra = multi-instrumentalist British electronic artist; Junior Boys = indie electronic "bedroom beat constructors" (love that phrase but didn't come up with it) from Ontario. Check out Tundra's brilliant expose on his utter disdain for footless tights. (Written two summers ago, and the worst fashion revival of the '80s STILL hasn't gone away.)
  

Friday, May 1:

• The Future of Fashion @ Old Tarr Distillery. Lexington fashion showcase, featuring local fashion designers, photographers, and hair and make-up artists. Music by the US Band and DJ Selektro. The event is a benefit for the Bluegrass Sewing Literacy Project. 7 - 9 pm; $5.
• Coralee and the Townies @ Lynagh's
  
• oh yeah, it's Derby Eve ....if I were you I'd head to the 'ville and wanderthe streets looking for some action.....

Sunday, May 3:

• PARK DAZE @ Woodland Park - rescheduled - new line-up includes Everyone Lives, Everyone Wins; The Tall Boys; The Gudwalls; Babes; and Candy. FREE, 1-6 pm, Woodland Park.
  
• 2nd Annual Bike Swap @ The Void. Starts at 11 a.m. Bring yr old bike parts/bikes or yr dollars to buy new bike parts/bikes.
  
• Windy and Carl and Benoit Pioulard @ Land of Tomorrow. Also playing will be Lamb's Laughter – a collaborative effort b/w members of both bands – and Lexington's Caboladies. Take note of the NEW VENUE...it's a new art space located at 527 E. 3rd St. Doors at 8:30; $5, all ages

Monday, May 4:

• Peter Bronztman/Eric Revis/Nasheet Waits @ Red Mile Round Barn - this show is brought to you by WRFL, the Jazz Arts Foundation and The Lexington Project (aka Ross Compton) as part of the Outside the Spotlight Jazz and Improvised Music Series). And it's FREE. (P.S. these guys are playing in major cities all over the country for an average of $15 or so a show.) Check out more info on the musicians on the facebook events page.
• Comedy Night w/host Dave Webster @ Green Lantern.
  

Will Oldham to play Lexington in June

According to WRFL's website....Bonnie 'Prince' Billy will be playing the Red Mile Round Barn in Lexington on Saturday June 13 (with support from New Zealand's Bachelorette). The show will come at the end of a super-extensive tour promoting BPB's newest album Beware.

The show will be $10 in advance/$12 at the door, ALL AGES. Co-sponsored by Bullhorn Will, youaintnopicasso.com and WRFL.

P.S. I'm a fan of this article about BPB in a January issue of The New Yorker.

tonight

monster heavy show at C.P.R. tonight...

the line-up (not necessarily in this order):

everyone lives, everyone wins
old one
sonorous gale
alegionnaire
7pm: $5


stick around the block for latin heat at sidecar.

LOLLAPALOOZA LINE-UP

LOLLAPALOOZA announced their (slightly underwhelming) line-up this morning.

The headliners look not at all unlike other similar summer fests that going for that mega-indie appeal: Depeche Mode, Beastie Boys, Tool, Lou Reed, Jane's Addiction, Thievery Corporation, Snoop Dogg, Andrew Bird, TV on the Radio, The Decemberists, Vampire Weekend, Animal Collective, Of Montreal, Neko Case...personal highlights (in my opinion) include Gang Gang Dance, Heartless Bastards, Deerhunter, No Age, Animal Collective DJ sets and MSTRKRFT.

Full line-up here.

MTR cartoon

Mountaintop Removal comic (brilliantly titled MTRFKRS) posted today at Bash Magazine. California artist Dan Archer was commissioned by the Bash guys here in Kentucky. (Interestingly, he wasn't familiar with the practice before researching it for the cartoon.)

April 21 - April 28

It's going to be pretty hard to top off last weekend as far as having a ton of stuff happening all at the same time in Lexington, but this week is taking a pretty good go at it...

As always, if I left off your event, don't be offended...leave it in a comment!

Tues, 4/21:

• Takeshi Kitano's The Blind Swordsman Zatoichi (2003) at the Kentucky Theatre in conjunction w/ the samurai film fest, which goes till Thursday (with Ghost Dog on Wed; Sukiyaki Western Django on Thurs).
• Three Legged Race w/ some "weird bands from Chicago" (one's called Shattered Hymen)at the Fact House (473 E. Maxwell, the house of Lanham and Bush). Things usually get going around 9ish over there....
  

Wed, 4/22:

• Earth Days in the Bluegrass: Big Fresh, Downtown County Band, Spooky Q's will be playing at Memorial Ampitheatre (right behind Memorial Hall). The event also features poetry readings by outgoing state poet laureate Jane Gentry Vance, Bianca Spriggs and Chuck Clenney. This has been one of the most fun campus events since back in the dark ages when I was in college. Really sweet outdoor venue that should be utilized more often. I'm getting conflicting weather reports for Wednesday...dashboard on my computer tells me it will be 68 and sunny, Bill Meck says high of 60 and mostly cloudy...All ages, FREE. p.s. On a side note, check out Bill Meck's totally awesome weather blog. (Unfortunately, it appears he's barely had the time or the drive to keep up with it since January.)
• Holler Poets Series #11, featuring Donna Ison and Jude Lally at Al's Bar. Two very different and equally fascinating readers; promises to be a great event, as always. Music by fantastic local singer/guitarist Warren Byrom of the Swells. All ages, FREE.
• Godd w/ Battlecry, Pslychosis at the Skylight Lounge (in Main Street Live, across the volleyball court and up the stairs from the Dame) many of you might also know Godd as Nick Kidd's band. Fun times, heavy, theatrical circus rock (?)....I hear influences of Primus, Ween, Mr. Bungle...but that's just me....21 +, $5ish cover
  

Thurs, 4/23:

• The Swells w/ Slow Claw and !!Girlie Girl!! Burlesque Show at the Green Lantern. Can't seem to find much info about the burlesque show, but it's about damn time Lexington got another burlesque show, and I couldn't possibly think of a better venue.
• Wale w/ UCB, Colin Munroe, Loose Change w/ Nate FX, and The US Band at Old Tarr Distillery (903 Manchester St.). I'm going to be honest, I know nothing about these hip hop bands, except that I did read that Washington D.C.-based Wale released a Seinfeld themed mixtape last year (The MixTape About Nothing). So I'm intrigued. And I'm going to assume these guys are the cream of the hip hop crop if WRFL is sponsoring the show. (Is that wrong?) Also sponsored by Oneness287.com, a new-ish "streetwear boutique" on North Limestone (near the corner of Maxwell...check out their site...) All ages/$5.
• Tiny Fights (my new favorite Lex band - heavy psychelectonica dance jams), F.D.U. ("psych-garage-kid-rock" - as Jamie says Reid would say), Street Gnar (heard a bit on last week's WRFL Live - really nice space guitar loops w/eerie vocals from Case of Jovantaes) @ Derby City Espresso in Louisville. They want you there. You want to be there. Go.
  

Fri, 4/24:

• Fourth Friday - closing night of PaintPresent, featuring live bluegrass form the Blind Corn Liquor Pickers, food, schmooze, art, the works @ The Loudoun House.
  
• Latin Heat & Special guest @ Al's Sidecar (formerly known as Cheater's). Latin heat = new Lex band featuring Matt Gibson, Andy Stith, and Drew.
• Share the road! Group Bike Ride - 5:30 p.m. at Woodland Park in conjunction w/ Earth Days in the Bluegrass. Ride ends at Worsham Theatre on UK's campus for a screening of Still we Ride, a documentary that captures an '04 Critica Mass bike ride in New York that ending in arrests and choas three days before the Republican National Convention.
  

Sat, 4/25:
Big Fresh will be performing at The Dame in celebration of the national release of Big Fresh Forever. Word on the street is they will be playing two sets with lots of new songs. P.S. Pretty sure Big Fresh had the egg-breaking-in-your-hand picture going on aeons before Yeah Yeah Yeahs came out with their new album cover...

Honorable mentions of the week:
Thurs, 4/23 - Of Montreal @ Madison Theatre (Cincy)
Thurs, 4/23 - African guitar great Habib Koite will perform "Music from Mali: In the Mouth of a Crocodile" @ Berea College Phelps-Stokes Auditorium.
Thurs 4/23 - Disco Biscuits @ Headliner's (Lou)
Fri, 4/24- Peter, Pjorn & John @ Southgate House (Newport)
Fri, 4/24 - The Instruction w/ Chico Fellini and Chemic @ Pour Haus (Lou)

Park Daze rescheduled!

Due to today's crappy weather, PARK DAZE has been officially rescheduled for May 3.

We'll post the new band line-up for that event as it surfaces...

But if you still want to catch some free local music today to top off the fantastic weekend, there's no shortage of that. Warmer Milks, Candy and Tiny Fights will be playing at The Void (starting around 2:30 or so...) and afterwards, starting around 6, Attempt and Caboladies will be at the Fact House (473 E. Maxwell St.).

April 14 - April 21

BLUEPICKS

My advice this week: stay home and rest up till Friday hits, because there is a ton o' stuff happening this weekend...


Fri, 4/17: Art & Performances at The Void Skateshop (aka Total Dude Fest)
Featuring art by these dudes: John Frederiksen, Robert Beatty, Jason 'Slim' Schuler, Clint Colburn, and Josh Blaine. Music by these dudes: Soft Openings, Wretched Worst, and Kraken Fury. And DJ sets by this dude: Mikey T. 8pm, $3.

Also Fri, 4/17: Give into the Groove: a community benefit event held at Third Street Stuff and Atomic Cafe featuring local fashion (S. Benedit, Isle of You and Hot Sauce Records Apparel); art (by Aimee-Lynn Hirshowitz, Brian and Sara Turner and more); music (Big Fresh, Etheonos, Otto Helmuth and more); Affrilachian Poetry Reading (Frank X. Walker, Bianca Spriggs and more); and general eclecticness (March Madness Marching Band). The event is FREE, and starts at 7 pm.

ALSO Fri, 4/17: Imogene and Willie, a new denim company based in western Kentucky (soon moving headquarters to Nashville), will be making an appearance in Lexington, at Circa Design Studio on Short and Broadway. The event, brought to you from the guys at Bullhorn, will feature bourbon and cocktails, as well as a chance to have yo' ass fitted for a pair of Imogene and Willie's! Support Kentucky fashion!

Sat, 4/18: RECORD STORE DAY
Here's the schedule of events for CD Central in Lexington (happily celebrating 14 years of independent musicdom this year):
Noon: The Butchers>>1 pm: Robert Schneider of the Apples in Stereo (solo acoustic)>>2 pm: Special guest DJs>>3 pm: Chico Fellini>>4 pm: The Sundresses (from Cincinnati)>>5 pm: Ben Sollee>>6 pm: Attempt
The throw-down will also feature tacos from BusTacos, free water and drinks, and discounted music sales. Cricket Press will be doing an in-house screen-printing of record bags and limited edition t-shirts.

P.S...Even if you stay for all the festivities at CD Central, you'll still have time to drive to Cincy to catch The Breeders performing live at Shake It Records at 8 pm!)

Also Sat, 4/18: punk, hardcore, drone and weird at the Wormhole (200 Forest Park): music by Everyone Lives, Everyone Wins; The Infected; The Fallen; Blood Carries Disease; and Total Abuse.

Sun, 4/19: First annual PARK DAZE at Woodland Park, sponsored by the Void Skateshop, WRFL, Local First Lexington, Parks & Rec and others. A free, all-day, all-local family-friendly event featuring local vendors, food, and live music from Warmer Milks; Caboladies; Everyone Lives, Everyone Wins; ATTEMPT; The Swells; and the Tallboys. There will also be a skateboard trick contest for all levels...yes, that includes you.

Mon, 4/20: What better way to celebrate the 4/20 holiday but to check out the four-day SAMURAI FILM SERIES at the Kentucky Theatre?? Monday kicks off the fest with Akira Kurosawa's 1956 film The Seven Samurai. (For a trailer go here; for a complete schedule of the Samurai series, visit The Kentucky's homepage.)


Honorable Mentions:
4/15 - Adrian Belew @ Southgate House (Newport). 4/15 - G. Love & Special Sauce @ Headliner's (Lou). 4/16 - Umphrey's McGee @ Taft (Cincy). 4/18 - Ray LaMontagne @ Taft (Cincy). 4/18 - The Sundresses/The Lion's Rampant/ The Giraffes @ Green Lantern (Lex). 4/18 - Big Maracas @ Al's Bar (Lex). 4/19 - The English Beat @ The Dame (Lex). 4/20 - Great Lake Swimmers @ Southgate House (Newport).

Humana Play Festival in NY Times

Humana Play Festival – Louisville's 33-year-old, internationally renowned annual festival that celebrates new American plays – was reviewed in the New York Times today.

Albeit, it wasn't the most very flattering of reviews. And I'm not entirely sure I completely agree with "Bad press is better than no press" theory.

I didn't see any of the plays myself, but these last couple of paragraphs of the review by critic Charles Isherwood really made me cringe...I haven't 100 % figured out why:

"Superficially the most upbeat and most innocuous entry in the festival, “Wild Blessings: A Celebration of Wendell Berry,” adapted by the Actors Theater artistic director Marc Masterson and Adrien-Alice Hansel from the writings of Mr. Berry, oddly turned out to be one of the most wearying. The mechanics were simple enough: five performers took turns reciting the work of this nature-celebrating Kentucky poet, while photographs of flora and fauna were seen on two large screens behind them.

Rural dwellers may have boundless tolerance for exaltations of the wonders and mysteries of the natural world, but the urban spirit begins to rebel. By the time this well-intentioned but miscalculated show drew to a close, I was more than ready to hop on an environment-trashing jet plane and return to the soulless city, having acquired a pronounced and irrational antipathy to fertile farmland seen on misty mornings and dew-dappled fiddlehead ferns."

More Forecastle bands announced

just in from the folks at Forecastle...

"Zappa Plays Zappa, Umphrey’s McGee, Yonder Mountain String Band, Pretty Lights, The New Mastersounds, The Whigs, Outformation, Kathleen Edwards, and Dead Confederate have been added to the bill, with over 50 bands and DJs to be announced. The new additions follow the previous announcement of Widespread Panic, The Black Crowes, The Black Keys, and The Avett Brothers as the festival headliners.

Tickets go on-sale today at Ticketmaster (www.ticketmaster.com/forecastle), all Ticketmaster locations, charge by phone at 1-800-745-3000, and select, independent record stores. Single-day passes are $40.00 with three-day passes at $100.00. Kick-off party, after-parties, and VIP package options are also available, as well as campground accommodations and on-site hotel rooms overlooking both the Forecastle festival site and the scenic Ohio river.

More information is available at www.ForecastleFest.com."

FYI...

• Zappa plays Zappa = Frank Zappa tribute band led by Frank's oldest son Dweezil
• Pretty Lights = pretty electronica/trip hop stuff ...HEADS UP- you can catch them performing live tonight on World Cafe, Lexington folk can hear it on 91.3

Personally, I'm waiting on that announcement for the rest of the bands to really pique my excitement......if you've seen/know anything about the bands playing, feel free to comment about it....

Dr. John is comin' to town...and more...

>>Troubadour Concert Series just announced that Dr. John will be playing at Lexington's Kentucky Theatre on June 25. Tix on sale on April 11 ($44.50 + tax). For more info, call 859-231-7924 or visit www.troubashow.com.

>>Louisville's Forecastle Fest will be announcing another slew of bands on their bill on Wednesday...stay tuned for those updates, or check forecastle.com

>>If you'd like to sign up for a weekly e-mail update collaboration b/w Blueline and The Lexington Project (aka the industrious Mr. Ross Compton), sign up for The Lexington Project's google group here!

April 6 - April 12

Mon, 4/6 (Tonight) : Ariel Pink w/ Vivian Girls @ Al's Bar. Just go.

Tues, 4/7: Randy Tuesday and the Two Tuesdays @ the Fishtank
Featuring Reid Small and James Swanberg (both of of Jovantaes and RC Pro Am) with the added unabashed mojo of Ben Lally (former guitarist from Sexual Disaster Quartet). Be sure to request "Earth Angel."

Thurs, 4/9 - An Evening with the Mountain Keepers @ University of Kentucky Student Center Ballroom. This event celebrates public writing efforts and grassroots approaches to address "Appalachia's endangered culture and its uneasy relationship with coal." Featuring journalists, poets, speakers, artists and musicians, including Silas House, Erik Reece, Frank X. Walker and many more. Starts at 6 p.m.

Thurs, 4/9 - Sound/Vision Concert @ The Singletary Center Concert Hall. An evening of modern compositions written by Steve Reich, Mark Millets and Brian Ferneyhough, performed by Lexington's own contemporary chamber group, with visual accompaniment from Jason Corder. (In other words, live modern compositions performed alongside kickass weirdo films, all brought to you by local folk.) The event is FREE and starts at 7:30 p.m.

Fri, 4/10 - Attempt; Carl Calm; The Smacks @ Al's Bar. This show is a benefit for upcoming local comic anthology Qahmics?, a project spearheaded by Andrew Crawford . Gotsta cover those pesky printing prices. Hopefully the anthology will feature some of the amazing work of comic and Smacks member J. Todd Dockery, but either way, the show should be awesome.



Sat, 4/11 - These United States w/ Coralee and the Townies @ Al's Bar. A welcome home tour of sorts to many members of These United States, who have been scouring these United States on for the past couple of months, including a stint (or five) at South x Southwest (check out more pix on their site). In fact, they've toured extensively since 2006, and it has paid off (and likely helped land them exposure on NPR's 'All Things Considered' as well as CMJ, The Village Voice, and Washington Post.) These U.S. have recently enlisted bassist bassist Colin Kellong (from Lexington/London/Kalamozoo), formerly of RC Pro Am, the Other Brothers and St. Jude. (The band also features Lexington members Justin Craig and Robbie Cosenza.)

Sun 4/12 - Burning Star Core/ Wasteland Jazz Unit/ Street Gnar @ the Fact House... brutally insane.

very honorable mentions this week. (no complaining there's nothing to do around here allowed):
4/8 - Dr. Dog w/ Cave Singers and Golden Boots @ Headliners (Lou).
4/9 - Brian Jonestown Massacre @ Exit/In (Nashville).
4/9 - Coralee and the Townies @ Green Lantern (Lex).
4/9 - Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey @ Blue Wisp Jazz Club (Cincy).
4/9 - Still Flyin', Goldenrod, Matt Duncan @ Al's Bar
4/10- Other Brothers @ Green Lantern (Lex).
4/10- Mecca 10th Birthday Dance Party/potluck @ Mecca (Lex).
4/10 - Death Cab for Cutie @ The Palace Theatre (Louisville).
4/10-4/11 - Cincy Punk Fest @ Southgate House (Newport).
4/11 - Brian Jonestown Massacre @ Hi-Tone Cafe (Memphis).
4/11 - Idaho, Alaska @ The Dame (Lex).

As always, if I left ya out, be sure and tel me about it...

look forward...BLACK MOTH SUPER RAINBOW

WRFL has confirmed that Pennsylvania's Black Moth Super Rainbow and Lexington's Tiny Fights will be playing a show in Lexington on May 19, at the Red mile Round Barn. (psst, to browse through photos of the Elephant Six Show at this venue, you can search flickr here.) As the name would suggest, the venue is an actual, round barn, part of the Red Mile racing track on Virginia Avenue. Really cool space.

Black Moth Super Rainbow are set to release their fourth full-length album, Eating Us (of which a "deluxe hand-numbered CD version that comes in a hairy sleeve") one week after the Lexington show (May 26). Produced by Dave Friddman (Flaming Lips, MGMT), it will reportedly mark the group's first "modern studio" effort.

BMSR's music has a definite experimental-electro-psych atmosphere (kinda like Air), but apparently they use actual, traditional instruments (by the definition that the Rhodes piano, vocoder, and Mellotron are traditional instrumentations -- i.e., no laptops.

Tiny Fights = awesome new electronic-noise-dance-madness three piece from Lexington.

Epic pairing; this should be one of the coolest shows to come to the area in a while (and there have been a lot lately).