Party Like It’s 2265

So this is pretty much the greatest thing ever.

The crew of the Enterprise did nothing other than drink, dance, fight, and fuck. You may remember otherwise, but you would be wrong.

This Joyful Summer

Our overachieving city isn’t content to provide us with great art and music. No, she has to show off and give most of it away for free. If you’re looking for concerts that won’t cost a dime, these are your best bets:

Yeasayer on Govenor’s Island, Saturday June 5
When a sharp, bright, brilliantly fun band like Yeasayer plays the most gorgeous open secret in New York, you simply must attend. Even the ferry’s free!

The Roots & Talib Kweli at Prospect Park, Sunday July 11
Remember before Common and Mos Def were movie stars, when “conscious” rappers provided the soundtrack to your childhood? Two of the era’s best acts are coming to Brooklyn to celebrate the first African World Cup.

Siren Music Festival at Coney Island, Saturday July 17
Ted Leo and The Pharmacists, Matt and Kim, and The Pains of Being Pure at Heart are headlining this year, but the real draw of Siren isn’t the music. Spend a delirious day in the sun wandering the boardwalk, eating hot dogs, and playing shoot the freak, then run into the water when night falls.

Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra in Battery Park, Thursday July 22
You’ll need to get down to Castle Clinton early for a chance to see this joyous, energetic Brooklyn troupe toast the music of afrobeat legend Fela Kuti. Make a day of it; nothing beats those views of New York Harbor.

The Swell Season in Prospect Park, Friday July 30
If you saw Once, you’ve already fallen in love with Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova. They’ll be playing humble, heartfelt pop at sunset; take someone you really like.

Sharon Jones in Prospect Park, Saturday August 7
Everyone’s favorite modern soul act rocks the bandstand. Go for her sweet and brassy voice, stay for her peerless horn section, the Dap Kings.

The xx in Central Park, Sunday August 8
Their debut was one of my favorite discoveries this year. Find out how their confident, spare intensity translates to the stage.

Public Enemy in Central Park, Sunday August 15
Summerstage is all about seminal hip hop this season, with free shows from Big Daddy Kane, Funkmaster Flex, DJ Cool Herc, Brand Nubian, and Pharoahe Monch. Capping the year is Public Enemy, marking the 20th anniversary of Fear of a Black Planet.

Follow the links for details, or find all these shows on TJN’s public calendar. May you have a story-worthy summer.

Summer in the City

Once again it’s time for sun and sweat and outdoor concerts. SummerStage has released their full 2010 lineup: their site is still in limbo, but BrooklynVegan has a great roundup of the highlights. The Flaming Lips, The Black Keys, Hercules & Love Affair and Pavement are playing benefit shows (meaning you have to pay); Jimi Cliff, The xx, Dan Deacon and Public Enemy will be free.

Celebrate Brooklyn and River to River also have summer schedules online. Don’t forget to use the “New York” section of those links on the right to navigate NYC on the cheap this season. Bookmark FreeNYC, Celebrate Brooklyn, River to River, and the “free” page on OhMyRockness, or just go ahead and make TJN your homepage.

Speaking of things free and awesome, the next How I Learned is May 26. I’ll see you there. It’s going to be a great summer.

Jonsi at Terminal 5

Intimate live music sells itself, but why go to a big, impersonal concert? Any song you want is availably instantly, eternal, reproducible, and free or just about. Every large event is bootlegged an hour after it ends. Audiences, only partially present, thumb status updates or snap profile pictures or film for that night’s YouTube upload. No one dances.

Jonsi, performing solo after years with the oddball Icelandic pop outfit Sigur Ros, played Terminal 5 Sunday night, and the show he put on loudly defended ambitious live music. The big space with its three floors was filled with cinematic sound and soaring visuals. An elaborate stage, enormous video screens, and the expansive, ecstatic music itself earned its huge audience. The joy in those moments could not have been captured or reproduced.

Some of how Sigur Ros carry themselves – giving cryptic interviews, singing in a made-up language, and broadcasting a certain aloof self-regard – always turned me off. Indulgent and sometimes nearly ambient, their stuff can make for trying pop music, but it’s always great for studying or doing yoga. More importantly, repeat listens reveal great care and talent, and a sincerity so rare and precious you can’t help but be impressed. Listening to Staralfur, the 1999 track that made them famous, it’s hard to imagine modern music being any less cynical.

Jonsi now works closer to the surface, even singing in English, but he’s continued and actually amplified that childlike innocence. The pretty, looping melodies ride manic, joyous drums, rhythms that took center stage at the concert. Each surge of sound worked like a direct injection of endorphins. You feel this music square in your chest.

The video displays made the night, harmonizing with the band like another instrument. It snowed, thundered, poured rain and flooded on stage. Colors seeped and spread and exploded, images ran and tripped and fell apart. We were treated to virtuoso collages of animation, film, and effects, each as complex as the songs themselves. The panes of the backdrop managed to dance like a keyboard, tear like a canvas, and grow like a garden without ever moving an inch.

Music videos usually tell distracting stories, stage pyrotechnics, or show off a musician’s pretty face, completely missing the potential to compliment and expand the impact of music directly. Successful modern concerts, however, deliver carefully orchestrated, multi-sensory experiences. Done well, it’s very much worth the ticket.

“All 3000+ attendees were in the palms of his hands,” wrote The Music Slut after the show. “I’ve never witnessed a more respectful crowd at the massive Hell’s Kitchen space.” Powerful theatre will do that, focus thousands of eyes at once, and it’s a blessing to be a part of it. Leave your little screens at home, and remember: even if no one else is dancing, you can always be the first.

Jonsi’s new album, Go, is available (and streaming in full) here. He isn’t performing in the US any time soon, but watch his site for updates.

Heartbeats

Back in 2006, Sony turned Jose Gonzales’ cover of The Knife’s “Heartbeats” (hear a live version here) into one of the coolest ads ever:

Yeah. They actually dropped all those balls. I recommend watching this in 480p.

Real Poetry in the Real World

The most recent video from John Boswell’s Symphony of Science could be the anthem of This Joyful Noise. Neil deGrasse Tyson, Michael Shermer, and Richard Dawkins join Carl Sagan and Stephen Hawking this time around, the visuals are a step above A Glorious Dawn, and honestly, this is a much richer explanation of how science happens. Curious, collaborative, and filled with awe:

It’s always nice to hear the word “awesome” in its rightful place: no other word quite does the trick. As Jill Tarter says, “the story of humans is the story of ideas that shed light into dark corners.” Our joyful noise, in a dark, silent universe, must be celebrated and shared.

Ladies and Gentlemen, The Tattle Tales

The Tattle Tales have been busy. They’ve got two shows coming up, May 7th and 14th, in Nyack. They’re releasing an EP (“Moon Glasses”) on the 14th. They’ll be visiting This Joyful Noise, and playing a live acoustic set, on May 24th. And then there’s this.

I thought the whole world slowed down for finals week, but apparently someone is still working hard. This is the tee shirt you will soon be able to purchase to proudly declare your allegiance to the Tales. Keep up with your favorite hardcore pop band with four vocalists, two guitars, a bass, drums and a keyboard at their myspace and tune in on the 24th at 2pm for The Tattle Tales unplugged.

100 Days, 100 Nights

I played this on the show today, and I was really happy to find this video:

Sharon Jones makes gorgeous music. This track is off 2007’s “100 Days, 100 Nights.” Pick up her latest, “I Learned The Hard Way,” today.

School Rocks

Recently, school (in chic lowercase) played their first show, filling the living room of a gorgeous old house in Caroll Gardens. The band has been working hard to master songwriter Monroe Street’s exacting avant-garde pop compositions. Their efforts were well spent: school promises great things.

Tiny paper lanterns, strings of christmas lights, and an audience in plaids and prints established the cosy Brooklyn bona fides. Bard alumni reconnected, and the rest of us introduced ourselves, as a reggae LP spun in the corner. “The Joy of Pickling” watched from the bookshelf.

After a sheepish introduction from a man in a high white mask, we were off. Immediately Street’s guitar sounded like it was in several places at once. He wore it high against his chest, and bent his neck in concentration as he played, bobbing the mask up and down. Ringing and beautiful, the sound hopelessly overpowered vocals from Emma Grace Skove, who had the thankless task of finding a way to sway her hips to an ever shifting beat. She hung in gamely.

Emma Alabaster on bass and Zach Dunham on thrillingly spastic drums held together beautifully. Cracking, stuttering rhythms built to intricate epiphanies, the band cutting out and surging back in. The music school makes is difficult, no question. It’s full of dissonance and shifting tempos. When they come, though, the urgent, emotional climaxes feel as visceral as any blockbuster’s.

I’d love to hear cleaner studio versions of these songs, and those lyrics that got buried, but even raw, school delivered a lot of powerful sound. It’s music you can get lost in. They’re touring this summer, so keep an eye out. And bookmark their myspace, because they’re just about ungooglable.

Monae (That’s What I Want)

I played “Tightrope” on the show today. I didn’t realize there was a video. This is the best thing ever. (Please remember those four arrows at the bottom right make a video fullscreen.)

I adore how she moves. I first heard Janelle Monae on Studio 360; she performed on their live episode dedicated to time travel. She is crazy cool.

The ArchAndroid is out May 18th.

Stay Tuned

This Monday, David Aguasca joins me in the studio for a new segment we’re calling Songs To Fight Bears To. Learn about David’s many adventures, and why he is a very cool person, at his blog Stuff David Does, and don’t miss (what I’m assuming will be) his radio debut!

A little farther out, nuzzled somewhere in between finals and the start of summer touring, both Sons of an Illustrious Father and The Tattle Tales will be on the show. There’s even a chance that one or both of them will break in the station’s brand new performance studio and make some magic on the air. Dates will be posted as they’re finalized.

Click on those links and show these bands some love. Keep inviting people to listen, read, friend, follow, and comment, and write me if you want to be on the show. There are plenty of Mondays to go around.

Year of the Tiger visits TJN

Last week This Joyful Noise had its first on air guest, the fabulous bassist and singer and composer Emma Alabaster. We talked for the better part of the hour, and to anyone who missed it (is that everyone? that’s everyone, right?), I will try my best to get a copy. They’re telling me that won’t happen, but asking a few more times can’t hurt.

This week, I am proud to announce, we will be hearing the music of Year of the Tiger. Henry Ivry and Sable Young will be visiting the studio, where we will again test whether years of listening to Terry Gross actually qualifies someone to conduct a radio interview.

Here’s hoping. Nothing fell apart last time, unless you count that moment I left the mics on and wondered out loud why we didn’t hear the music (hint: it was because I left the mics on), which we just won’t.

Listen up, tomorrow (Monday) from two to three, WHCR 90.3 FM New York, and streaming live.

Symphony of Science

Carl Sagan was a treasure and an inspiration. Autotune is more of a mixed bag. What happens when they join forces to remind us of the beauty and possibility of our moment in this universe?

Catchy, ain’t it? Get your daily dose of perspective and grace at Symphony of Science. Let John Boswell’s project remind you, as Sagan says, “how lucky we are to live in this time: the first moment in human history when we are in fact visiting other worlds.”

Opposite of Adults

The excellent music blog Pretty Much Amazing serves up a lot of clever, fun songs (Santogold and M.I.A. and Major Lazer!), but trendy music rarely has much staying power.

Rapping over a sample of “Kids” by MGMT—that impossibly catchy song you heard at every hipster dance party last summer— sounds like a recipie for just this kind of disposable amusement. Instead, “Opposite of Adults” by Chiddy Bang, which I found on PMA last week, is something I’ll be happily listening to ten years from now. It reminds me of Big Jaz or A Tribe Called Quest, that laid back, big hearted sound that never seems to get old.

Hip hop is brilliant at capturing and evoking nostalgia; see “It’s That Simple,” “T.R.O.Y.,” “Empire State of Mind,” “Concrete Schoolyard,” “A Wrinkle In Time,” and “The Art of Storytellin’ Pt. I.” That crashing hi-hat feels as joyous and innocent as we incorrectly remember childhood being.

So add this to your back in the day playlist. Click to stream, right-click to download.

David Byrne: Still Awesome

David Byrne, of the Talking Heads, has always been part of my life. The wacky, sunny pop on “Little Creatures” perfectly captures my dad and his irepressible optimism; that album was in heavy rotation while I was growing up. Among my peers, “Psycho Killer” became first a codeword for cool and later a karaoke staple. “This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody)” must be on every love-drunk mixtape I’ve ever made. And last year I actually saw the big suit. In person.

Now the patron saint of urban biking, Byrne’s continued to make fantastic music, working with Dizzee Rascal and The Dirty Projectors and Brian Eno. It’s possible the guy is as hip as one man can be.

Byrne’s new project is a collaboration with Norman Cook, better known as Fatboy Slim. It’s a dancey concept album about Imelda Marcos, the former first lady of the Phillipines. Santogold, Cindy Lauper, Tori Amos, and just about everyone else is contributing vocals. If all that’s not enough, it sounds amazing.

Here Lies Love comes out April 6. Pick it up.