The Cathedral Church of St. John (318 Silver SW) is a wonderful place to hear wondrous things Downtown. Tomorrow, Chatter performs a selection of beautifully challenging chamber music at St. John’s. The concert begins at 3pm, and highlights include the learned musicality of violinist David Felberg, cellist James Holland, flutist Jessie Tatum, percussionist Jeff Cornelius and harpist Lynn Gorman-DeVelder. Performing in a variety of configurations and as soloists, the group presents Debussy’s elusively dreamlike “Sonata for Flute, Viola, Harp”; a technically demanding and harmonically expansive solo cello sonata by Kodály; American composer Ingram Marshall’s sublimely haunting, expressivist and post-minimalist composition for violin and electronics, “September Canons”; Arvo Pärt’s contemplative, tintinnabular composition, “Spiegel im Spiegel”; and experimental composer and Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique researcher Kajia Saariaho’s intricately detailed chamber piece, “Terrestre.” Whether you're inclined to learn more about what the avant-garde really sounds like or you're an old hand at soaking up these sorts of sonic treasures, this concert promises to be subtly sublime—another set of descriptors the folks over at Chatter seem comfortable invoking. Presale tickets range from $10 to $25, and can be purchased at fcmabq.org. Cathedral Church of St. John • Sun Nov 17 • 3pm • $10-$25 • ALL-AGES! • View on Alibi calendar

Courtesy of Recycle Santa Fe

Preppin' for the Trash Fashion Show

In 2012, it may have been the only event in New Mexico to involve milk jugs, sanding discs, hot air balloon material, bike tubes and a sailboat jib, all paraded down a catwalk by smiling models—so you can only imagine what Recycle Santa Fe’s Trash Fashion and Costume Contest will bring in 2013. Luckily we’ve made so much new trash in the past year! Participants, competing for cash and prizes, transform cast-off ephemera into works of wearable art. Extracting finery from refuse, some outfits are elegant, some are funny, and all flaunt a praiseworthy creative spark. Tonight's fashion show, which gets going at 7pm at the Santa Fe Community Convention Center (201 W. Marcy Street), kicks off the 15th annual Recycle Santa Fe Art Festival, a gathering of over 80 artists from all over the country to sell and exhibit their artworks made with, at a minimum, 75% recycled materials. Fashion show admission runs $15 to $20 and includes entry to the festival. If you can’t make it to the show, the festival’s $5 tonight and free Saturday and Sunday, so pick up some charming tin-can earrings and feel good about doing your part for the environment. Santa Fe Convention Center, Santa Fe • Fri Nov 15 • 7pm • $15-$20 • View on Alibi calendar

via Wikimedia

Nothing says the holiday season like decorating a Christmas tree. Whether you're the type of person who uses a hefty amount of ornaments, lights, tinsel and maybe even photos of your dogs and cats (?) or the type of person that just says “fahgettaboudit,” Christmas trees are kind of sacred. So it's a privilege that our fair Burque is one of the stops on the US Capitol Christmas Tree's journey to the … you guessed it … Capitol. The tree started its journey at the beginning of November and lands in DC on Nov. 25. But you don't want to know about that, do you? You wanna know when it gets to the Duke City. Well folks, you can see this wondrous mass of timber when it lands at the National Guard Armory (600 Wyoming NE) tomorrow from 3:30 to 5:30pm. The ceremony of sorts will include some hot chocolate (yes!), luminarias and all-around Christmas cheer. Oh, and it's completely free to the public. So get the kiddos in some coats (weather permitting), and ride your sleds down to the armory to see this glorious hunk of wood before it heads to its next stop. New Mexico National Guard Armory Building • Fri Nov 15 • 3:30-5:30pm • FREE • ALL-AGES! • View on Alibi calendar

Originally billed as Nik Turner's Space Ritual, founding Hawkwind member Nik Turner finally gained the right to use the name “Nik Turner's Hawkwind,” which is a good thing since Space Ritual is actually a different band and not the one playing Low Spirits (2823 Second Street NW) on Wednesday, Nov. 13. Turner was using the name as long ago as 1994, which resulted in Hawkwind co-founder Dave Brock—still of Hawkwind (just Hawkwind)—suing him for trademark infringement. Coincidentally, Dave Brock's Hawkwind—really just called Hawkwind—also had a US tour scheduled, but apparently all this trademark crap tired Brock out, and the “real” Hawkwind postponed their tour. The fact is that both versions have one aging, original member of the seminal British space-rock band and both play decent sets filled with Hawkwind standards like “D-Rider” and “Orgone Accumulator.” But only the slightly lower-rent—and therefore cooler—Nik Turner's Hawkwind (featuring UK Subs guitarist Nicky Garrett) is coming through Albuquerque. The 21-and-over gig—also starring German krautrock outfit Hedersleben and local “grunclecore” crew Gusher—kicks off at 9pm, and admission is 8 bucks. Low Spirits • Wed Nov 13 • 9pm • $8 • 21+ • View on Alibi calendar

• WRONG (JonnyH) [ Thu Nov 14 2013 2:03 AM ]
  
• All time low. (Turnipeater) [ Thu Nov 14 2013 8:15 AM ]
  
• Nik Turner not yet awarded trademark (geoffreyplant) [ Fri Nov 15 2013 12:37 PM ]
  

Rocanrol/pop experimentalist outfit Deerhoof plays a much-anticipated concert at Sister (407 Central NW) tonight. The show is being advertised as an “early show,” so plan to get there just after dark. The 21-and-over house starts rocking at 6pm, and admission is 10 bucks. And in case you wanna know, Deerhoof ain’t a bunch of phonies either. Next in line to hold the key to the kingdom of the rock avant-garde, Deerhoof has the temporal cred and musical sense of wonder necessary to do something really cool with the same door-opening implement previously held up by folks like The Velvet Underground, The Plastic Ono Band, David Bowie, Sonic Youth, Radiohead and The Flaming Lips. Impossible to describe as well as to forget, an evening in the company of Satomi Matsuzaki, John Dieterich, Ed Rodriquez and Greg Saunier is sure to open up whatever doors of perception still block your transcendence, dear reader. Well-dressed Varsovian duo LXMP and local act Teetotum opens. So, yeah. Deerhoof. Sister. Tonight. Early. Dayum. Sister • Mon Nov 11 • 6pm • $10 • View on Alibi calendar

Bright red cheeks. Cool November. Bike racing, costumes and helping those in need. These are the ingredients in Albuquerque’s first annual ABQ Cranksgiving bike ride through the city. The ABQ Cranksgiving food drive and “alley cat”-type race happens on Sunday. The event has individuals (as well as teams of two to four), equipped with $15 and a knowledge of the city, racing to previously mapped out locations and collecting food for Joy Junction and the Roadrunner Food Bank. Participants will try to be the first rider(s) to the downtown finish line in addition to the one(s) with the most items checked off their shopping list. Cranksgiving, which is 9am to 2pm and begins at UNM’s Johnson Field, will kick off with the junior costume bike ride around the Nob Hill area. At the finish line, Tractor Brewing Company will host an awards party at their new location with food trucks and face painting on site. “ABQ Cranksgiving was born out of the idea of giving back to our community,” says ABQ Cranksgiving’s website. “We are building a team with the intent of gathering enough food to help feed the homeless and the hungry during the Thanksgiving holiday.” Participants will need $5 to register and $15 for food. For more information or to register, visit abqcranksgiving.net. UNM Johnson Field • Sun Nov 10 • 9am-2pm • $5 entry, $15 for food • ALL-AGES! • View on Alibi calendar

Detail from the diptych "Epic"

“Chaos is a big part of how I psychologically operate,” Shawn Turung acknowledges. “We’re wandering through a vast sea of things; I like talking about it through my imagery.” Her large-scale paintings grapple with that vast sea by marshaling bursts of chromatic energy into checkered fields of color, and she distills many of the outlandish, though recognizable, figures populating them down to their simplest outlines. In the process, the chaos is tempered, but not quashed. To explicitly folkloric and allegorical symbols—what she calls “human condition stuff”—Turung adds a vivid dash of humor. In her 10-foot-plus “Epic,” for example, she situates a Pac-Man Pez dispenser and a leonine creature in fishnet stockings amidst self-conscious echoes of Picasso’s “Guernica.” “Every person we meet, every event that takes place,” she tells me, “it’s not a simple interaction. … Everybody uses humor to communicate with each other. It’s something we’re able to understand.” Turung’s exhibit Loaded, showcasing more than 15 pieces of playful and exploratory new work, unveils at Exhibit/208 (208 Broadway SE) tomorrow from 5 to 8pm. Exhibit/208 • Fri Nov 8 • 5-8pm • FREE • View on Alibi calendar

Chatter has distinguished itself in the New Mexico arts community by successfully producing a varied and often challenging range of classical performances by both local and international talent of note. This welcome trend continues tomorrow morning at the Kosmos (1715 Fifth Street NW). New Mexico Philharmonic concertmaster Ruxandra Marquardt and her husband, pianist Paul Marquardt, have devised a program that is notable for its wide-ranging exploration of the violin’s vast musical capabilities, to be demonstrated in concert with the complex passion of Schuman’s “Sonata in A Minor,” John Cage’s intricately postmodern yet playful “Six Melodies for Violin and Keyboard,” and a rare selection from Manuel de Falla’s first substantial work, the “Danse Espangole,” from the Spanish composer’s opera La Vida Breve. Author V.B. Price will transmit his poetry in advance of the Marquardt’s musical sojourn. This event—sure to add to your earthly experience of wonder—happens tomorrow at 10:30am. Get there early to partake in a gratis espresso bar. Admission ranges from five to 15 clams for a concert that portends the cosmic. Que chido. The Kosmos • Sun Nov 3 • 10:30am • $5-$15 • View on Alibi calendar

"Native Blanket"

I’m not an advocate of eating glass. But if I were, I might suggest tasting the work of Albuquerque fine glass artist Lydia Ann Piper. Thirty of Piper’s pieces are being featured Nov. 1 through 30 as part of Sumner & Dene Gallery’s Annual Craft Show Exhibition. Many of her works are glistening plates in varying shapes and sizes—square, round, rectangular—but what makes them border on the delicious is their punchy, lively color, reminiscent of the sweet, old-fashioned hard candy your grandma put out at Christmas. Vibrant color radiates in patterns that almost seem to play tricks on the eyes of the viewer, thanks to Piper’s complex, kiln-formed glasswork techniques. The result? Each piece is infused with its own ripe flavor and a modern, clean aesthetic. Not bad for a glass artist who claims she once possessed a paralyzing fear of sharp objects. In addition to Piper’s collection, the craft show includes ceramic vessels from Mike Tarter, whimsical mixed-media sculptures by Sarena Mann and much more. Meet the artisans during a special reception on this evening at 5pm and whet your artistic appetite—you just might spot a cool new candy (or candy-like) dish. Sumner & Dene • Fri Nov 1 • 5-9pm • FREE • View on Alibi calendar

"Serengeti Dreams"

They say that good deals and great ideas happen over food, which is why a professional lunch can have many opportunities. FemCity Albuquerque will host author Jessica Eaves Mathews at a connection luncheon tomorrow at Savoy Bar and Grill (10601 Montgomery). At the event, Matthews will discuss her book, Wonder Women: How Western Women will Save the World, with the public and, true to the book’s mission, aims to empower and motivate local women. The book frankly discusses politics, the national debt and economic issues rooted in the customary approach to business. After a drawn out government shutdown and an only increasing national debt problem, maybe some practical local solutions and a change of mind would do the community a little good. The connection lunch begins at 11:30am. FemCity Albuquerque members can buy tickets for $45 and others can purchase them for $55. Tickets include an elegant lunch—complete with a glass of wine—and a raffle. For more information on the event or Femfessionals Albuquerque, visit femfessionals.com or FemCity Albuquerque's Facebook page. Savoy Bar and Grill • Fri Nov 1 • 11:30am • $45 for FemCity members, $55 for non-members • View on Alibi calendar