Monday, October 20, 2014

"Hey, Fred!" Nights Out 10/20-10/26/2014


A lighter week as what used to be called “Rocktober” starts to crest, but with CMJ happening this week in NYC I expect we’ll get some runoff as bands make their way home next week. Still a few things that should not be missed.

Visual Art

October 21, 2014

Marjane Satrapi talk; Canzani Center at the Columbus College of Art and Design, 60 Cleveland Ave.  Like many people, I came to Marjane Satrapi through her stunning comic book memoir about the Iranian revolution, Persepolis. Part of a wave of fascinating expressionist biographical cartoon work that expanded and exploded previous benchmarks like Chester Brown and Harvey Pekar, her two-part Persepolis was funny, riveting, and incredibly moving, and her later, smaller-scale work has held to that high standard. If you have any interest in comic books or storytelling, do not miss this.  6:30pm. Free.

October 22, 2014

Jodie Mack: Let Your Light Shine; Wexner Center, 1871 N. High St.  One of the leading lights in contemporary experimental filmmaking, Mack comes to town with five of her short films, the centerpiece of which, Dusty Stacks of Mom, is a look at her mother’s poster store, with Mack singing new lyrics to a score composed to time with Dark Side of the Moon. I’ve seen very little of Mack’s work, so I couldn’t be more excited for this.  7:00pm. $8 tickets available.

Dance

Aakash Odedra: Rising; Wexner Center, 1871 N. High St.  The Wexner Center’s always a conduit for really interesting modern dance that would likely never come to town otherwise. Odedra’s been a muse for choreographers like Akram Khan and Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, both of whose work has blown me away  before, so his first solo show making its first trip to the US should be magical.  8pm Thursday, October 23 - Saturday, October 25; 2pm Sunday, October 26. $18.
 

Music

October 20, 2014

tUnE-yArDs; Newport Music Hall, 1722 N. High St.  There aren’t a lot of artists whose work gives me the kind of true, mainlined pleasure tUnE-yArDs’ records do. Merrill Garbus’s songs have a rich empathy and a strong spine of self-criticism wrapped in a fascinating abstraction of world music grooves. Her record this year, Nikki Nack, took me a little while to warm up to because I missed the afrobeat-recalling horn charts of her masterpiece whokill, but over the last few months it’s been one of the records I’ve played most this year and maybe one of my favorite records of the year. Her last show at the Wexner Center set my hair on fire, so I can’t wait to see what the current band does in a bigger concert hall. Rising soul singer James Tillman, based in NYC, opens.  Doors at 7:00pm. $20 tickets available.

October 21, 2014

Low; Rumba Café, 2507 Summit St.  Over the last decade, Low has emerged from their slowcore cocoon and embraced additional colors, textures, and rhythms without sacrificing that ineffable thing that vibrates the hearts of anyone who loves that band. Seeing them in a venue as intimate as Rumba should be magical.  Starts at 8:00pm. $15 tickets.

October 23, 2014

Los Straitjackets and Deke Dickerson; Woodlands Tavern, 1200 W. Third Ave.  Everyone’s favorite luchadore mask-clad instrumental surf rockers have been experimenting with singers for a while, most successfully with Big Sandy (whose show with them at Little Brothers is still one of best shows I’ve ever seen), but if the new record, Sings the Greatest Instrumental Hits, is any indication, their collaboration with rockabilly icon (and no slouch as a guitar-slinger) Deke Dickerson might take the cake. Dickerson found original lyrics to songs that are often played as instrumentals, like “Honky Tonk,” “Perfidia,” and “Sleepwalk.” Expect a wild trip down memory lane and some frenzied dancing. The B-Sides open.  Starts at 8:00pm. $15 tickets.

October 24, 2014

Muyassar Kurdi and Rob Jacobs; Skylab Gallery, 57 E. Gay St (5th Floor).  In her main project, The Humminbird, Muyassar Kurdi is carving out fascinating, intricate droning folk like almost no one else. Fellow Chicago singer Rob Jacobs is her tour-mate this time; some of his work includes settings of poems by Lorca and Rumi. Locals Mark Van Fleet (Sword Heaven) and Jocelyn Hach open.  Starts at 10:00pm. $5 cover.

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