The Hippodrome

The 2008 Transmodern Festival begins in Baltimore this coming Thursday! This means sound installations, performance sets, DJing, and films galore. Think SXSW with a postmodern-sepia filter thrown on it in Photoshop. While I don’t have quite enough money in The Hippodrome slush fund to send myself down there, I’ll be keeping tabs on the festival, especially on the performers who remain unassociated.

One of the several artists I’ll be paying attention to is Melissa Scherrer, an interesting independent videographer and music maker. Check our her latest piece, the oddly hypnotic “Genesis”:

And while we’re on the subject of experimental-musical film, check out Mike Paré’s equally hypnotic “Transmagon 5.”

April’s gonna be a good month for Hippodromers. Dig dig dig:

The Netherfriends:

4.14.08 – Chicago, IL – The Empty Bottle
5.3.08 – Detroit, MI – CAID (Contemporary Art Institute of Detroit)

The Novel Ideas:

3.20.08 – Somerville, MA – P.A.’s Lounge
3.31.08 – Boston, MA – The Paradise Lounge

The Wailing Wall:

3.20.08 – Winooksi, VT– The Monkey House
3.21.08 – Bennington, VT – Carriage Barn at Bennington College
3.22.08 – Worcester, MA – The Q
3.23.08 – Annandale-on-Hudson, NY – The Root Cellar
3.25.08 – Middletown, CT – 202 Washington St.
3.26.08 – Clifton, NJ – Chris Faroe’s House
3.27.08 – Baltimore, MD – Buchner Hall at Goucher College
3.29.08 – New York, NY – Reboot (Rats of NiMH show)
4.11.08 – Bronxville, NY– Sarah Lawrence College
4.19.08 – Brooklyn, NY – TBA (Rats of NiMH show)
4.26.08 – New York, NY – TBA

Red Sails:

3.21.08 – Ridgewood, NY – Silent Barn
3.22.08 – Greenwich, CT – Party (Undisclosed location!?)
3.23.08 – Haverford, PA – Haverford College
3.24.08 – New York, NY– TBA
3.25.08 – Annandale-on-Hudson, New York – Bard College
3.27.08 – Winooski, Vermont – Monkey House
3.28.08 – Middletown, Connecticut – Wesleyan University
3.29.08 – The Lilypad – Cambridge, Massachusetts

A couple good ones for you tonight and next weekend:

The Best, Phoebe Kreutz, Noah Britton, Air Waves, The Beets, Eskalators: Sputnik Bar, 2.8.08 (tonight)

Some nice work from a host of artists, especially notable are the Eskalators, who despite needing some more high fidelity recordings, show alot of promise. Sputnik Bar is located at 262 Taaffe Pl. Brooklyn by the Classon G stop. 8pm, and only $2!

Zombieville IX: Southpaw, 2.15.08

Zombieville doesn’t often feature unsigned bands, but is a major Hippodrome notable because of its focus on uniting the fragmented NYC music community. At the ninth installment, you’ll find luminaries such as Deer Tick, Doveman, the New York Howl, and Mark Denard. Free cookies if you show up on time. Southpaw is located at 125 Fifth ave. in Brooklyn. 8pm, $8.

Twelve Download

If you thought that the creativity of math rock was close to exhausted after Battles’ Mirrored, then you were wrong. Beyond the beauty still to be found in odd-timed bursts of noise, Jacob and I explore the genre with an equally odd instrumentation — just two basses and drums. Mixed with a touch of Godspeedesque ambience, this is a band I’ll be looking out for soon on the “Forkcast,” or if you’re reading this Ryan Schreiber, you can thank me now.

Looks like Jacob and I are on a bit of a tour as well:

12.14.07 — Columbia, SC — The 112
12.18.07 — Nazareth, PA — Barn
12.19.07 — Brooklyn, NY — Brooklyn Cat House
12.21.07 — Knoxville, TN — Old City Java

Ta-ta-ta-tour dates. The only one you don’t have an excuse to miss is Mildsparrow in Australia.

Japandi:

1.9.08 – Monterey, CA – Monterey Live
1.11.08 – San Francisco, CA – The Bike Kitchen

The Lisps:

1.5.08 – New York, NY – Joe’s Pub (CD Release)

Mildsparrow:

11.22.07 – Northcote, Victoria (Australia) – The After Dark

Miracles of Modern Science:

12.2.07 – New York, NY – The Lion’s Den

Sinister Turns:

11.26.07 – Somerville, MA – PA’s Lounge