She is benediction/ She is addicted to thee/ She is the root connection/ She is connecting with he/ Here I go and I don’t know why/ I flow so ceaselessly/ Could it be he’s taking over me?/ I’m dancing barefoot/ Headin’ for a spin/ Some strange music draws me in/ Makes me come on like some heroine … She is re-creation/ She intoxicated by thee/ She has the slow sensation that/ He is levitating with she/ Here I go when I don’t know why/ I spin so ceaselessly/ ‘Til I lose my sense of gravity/ I’m dancing barefoot/ In mid-air I spin/ Some strange music draws me in/ Makes me come on like some heroine.”—“Dancing Barefoot” by Patti Smith and Ivan Kral, from the album Wave by the Patti Smith Group.If I was writing concert previews for the mainstream press, I’d start out with this: Summer’s almost over; you ought to think about getting those boots out and ready for the winter—you wouldn’t want to go barefoot in the kind of weather that’s coming. Thankfully, I’m not writing for the dailies; I’m writing for their alternative. So I begin my weekly tirade thus: Dude have you listened to Wave!? It’s, like, one of the most totally rocking records ever. The pop luster of Todd Rundgren’s production layered sublimely over the poetically punk vocalizations of Patti Smith make for a hell of an album. Don’t even get me started on Ivan Kral’s snaky guitar. Afterwards, I’d find a clever way to transition into the previews like this: some strange music keeps drawing me into another week of amazing Albuquerque concerts. Here I go again.
Show Up!: Thursday
If you’re still craving an endless summer—the point’s not moot here with daytime temperatures still hovering in the eighties—then you should check out the Surf Lords. The band washes ashore at Marble Brewery (111 Marble NW) on Thursday, Sept. 10, after vigorously paddling out to some of the biggest breaks available on the Rio Grande. I’m just kidding about that last part, but it’s true that this band roars like the ocean, making the French saying “Sous les pavés, la plage” take on spectacular meaning when invoked at musical venues in and around the Duke City. Featuring the tidal visions of guitarist/vocalist Tom Chism, the swelling double drum-kits of D.K. Warner and Polo Garcia as well as the ocean-spray sonics of bassist Tracey Lipka, the Surf Lords bring a eternal sense of the stormy sea—complete with beach parties and primal palapas—to their gigs. Their Thursday night show is free to those at least 21 years of age. The water’s just fine and the surf’s in at 7pm.
Show Up!: Friday
In case that last paragraph got your Francophile tendencies to rise to the surface, follow up on Friday, Sept. 11, with a visit to the Historic El Rey Theater (622 Central SW) for Madeon. He subscribes to a type of EDM called French House that has been widely influential on the other side of the pond and is now finding a place in the hearts and minds of young Americans all over this continent. Madeon, also known as Hugo Pierre Leclercq, brings his collection of MIDI controllers, sophisticated software and other complicated electronic equipment to our little city by the river for a rave-up of the most glorious kind. Of course the dude’s big news on BBC Radio 1. Heck, his collaboration with DeadMau5 first made waves on that segment of the continental airwaves back in 2011 and 2012. Lately the European electro-wizard has concentrated on work with Lady Gaga in addition to designing a web app that allows listeners to infiltrate and remix his recordings to their liking. $20 gets one in to this 18+ flowing summation of post-postmodernism. It all goes down at 8:30 pm.
Show Up!: Saturday
French Disco is cool alright (check out Stereolab’s Emperor Tomato Ketchup for details on that conclusion) but back here in America we’ve got the coolest of them all. Let me tell you a little bit more about Gordy Andersen. He was about three years ahead of me in high school. Back then his veritable creation of the punk scene in this town with Jerry’s Kidz cohort Kevin Cruikshank led an entire generation of Burque rock-heads to a deep blue baptism with heavy water. Responsible for bringing just about every skating so-and-so to the temple of what rock music would become in this town, Andersen went on to play in seminal outfits like Cracks in the Sidewalk and Black Maria. Now, much later, hilt deep into the twenty-first century, it turns out the dude’s cancer—originally fought over and vanquished in the aughts—has returned. So the local scene is throwing a festival in his honor. Gordyfest happens at Launchpad (618 Central SW) on Saturday, Sept. 12. Proceeds from this rocked out super-fiesta will help Gordy finance his continued medical needs, making his second slaughter of the big C an attainable thing. Some of the city’s best, brightest and burnt rock musicians will be on hand to bring this vision into fruition. Sets include performances by doom rockers Sleep—featuring heavyweight champion of sick sound Al Cisneros—and Raven Chacon’s modernist metallic monster Tenderizor. Also on the bill: SuperGiant, Black Lamb, Shoggoth, Anesthesia, Econarchy, Sandia Man, Marsupious and Hanta. It’s going to fucking rock. And Gordy, bless his pointed head, will be there to watch. 20 clams grants one access to this 21+ rock spectacle for the ages. Launchpad opens at 5 pm that night; the thunder commences at 5:30 pm, continuing into the wee hours of the next morning.
Show Up!: Sunday
f you were concerned that the band names Jerry’s Kidz and Black Maria verged on the darkly irreverent, then what about the Cloacas? Besides being an orifice peculiar to non-mammalian animals, the pluralized name is also employed by an avant-garde folk orchestra from Santa Fe. They’ll be in recital as part of the Roost Creative Music Series—which somehow seems fitting—at the Tricklock Performance Laboratory (110 Gold SW) on Sunday, Sept. 13. Joined by a Mark Weaver (he’s the creator and life-giver of said series) trio known as The Mighty Bull Durhams, these two ensembles weave a complex collection of sounds, rhythms and ghostly musical reminiscences into a format that is as formidable as it is fantastic. Weaver contributes musically on the tuba and the didgeridoo for this concert and the work of the Cloacas has been described as “the imagined folk music of a fictional country.” This all-ages concert costs $7 and begins at $7:30 in the evening.
Show Up!:
I can’t say enough about the album Wave by the Patti Smith Group. In fact I’m not going to say anything more because I don’t want you to get distracted from the mission. But when you do get back from concert-land, have a listen. The title track at the end will surely take you out to sea.
