The big news coming out of Coney Island today isn’t that the city just bestowed Scenic Landmark status on the Riegelmann Boardwalk. Sure, it’s cool that the 95-year-old boardwalk is joining the Cyclone and the Parachute Jump as a permanently protected icon. But that news pales in comparison to word that Pauly D, one third of Jersey Shore‘s MVP trio, will be spinning at Coney Art Walls this summer.
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‘Radical’ Downtown Composer Glenn Branca Has Died at 69
Glenn Branca during a discussion at the Red Bull Music Academy Festival. (Maria Jose Govea/Red Bull Content Pool)
Downtown guitarist and composer Glenn Branca died last night at the age of 69. The longtime West Villager died in his sleep of throat cancer, his wife and collaborator Reg Bloor announced in a Facebook post.
“His musical output was a fraction of the ideas he had in a given day,” Bloor wrote. “His influence on the music world is incalculable.”
Grab Lunch With Parquet Courts, Playing a Noon Show at Rough Trade
For obvious reasons, “Wide Awake!” has pretty much been my daily wakeup song ever since Parquet Courts dropped the single off their forthcoming album of the same name. Not to be confused with the Katy Perry song of the same name, it’s a funky, Minutemen/Clash-esque jam that kicks your ass out of bed and gets you “movin’ and groovin’ and I ain’t ever losin’ the pace,” as the song’s posi-vibes chant goes. Other singles off the album– including the more recent “Mardi Gras Beads,” a mellow number evoking Pavement’s “Shady Lane”– are pretty great, too. But then what else would you expect from the Brooklyn band that produced the universally admired 2016 album Human Performance?
Tired of Mario World? Enter the Queer Matrixxx With Some LGBTQ Video Game Designers
While sexism and homophobia persist in the mainstream gaming industry, a “vibrant scene of queer game developers” has emerged. This month, several members of that community are combining their talents into one video-game cabinet that will be unveiled at Bushwick queer space The Dreamhouse.
Union Pool’s Free Summer Thunder Shows: Sun Ra Arkastra, Songhoy Blues, Deradoorian and More
Elsewhere’s new rooftop isn’t the only outdoor spot making a summer programming announcement today. That old standby, Union Pool’s Summer Thunder series, just announced its lineup of free shows, and it’s a good one.
This year’s program, presented with the good folks over at Academy Records, leans distinctly toward jazz and African music, with some real heavy hitters in the mix: Sun Ra Arkastra on June 28, Songhoy Blues on July 7, Jemeel Moondoc on July 21, Mamadou Kelly on July 28, and Joe Bataan on Aug. 25. The Sadies will add a twang of country-western on June 30. On the obligatory indie rock front, Drag City outfit Wand will play songs off their forthcoming EP, Perfume, on June 16. And it all starts off with the eerie, mystical vocals of ex Dirty Projectors member Deradoorian on June 1.
Here’s a Look at Elsewhere’s New Rooftop, Opening With a Mission Chinese Pop-Up
(Photos courtesy of Elsewhere)
Last month we shared news that Elsewhere was opening up its rooftop for summer concerts, DJ parties, happy hours, film screenings, and food pop-ups. Now the good folks over at East Williamsburg’s newest venue have sent over some photos of the roof, along with some more details about what to expect.
Three Summer Movie Fests Make Lineup Announcements
Rooftop Films Summer Series
May 19 to TBA, various locations.
Rooftop Films had already released its preliminary lineup of more than 45 outdoor screenings around the city (among the highlights: Desiree Akhavan’s gay conversion film The Miseducation of Cameron Post); and now it drops the details of its short films programs, starting with the fest’s opening night on May 19 at Green-Wood Cemetery. Of note are Michael Sugarman’s documentary about Anthology Film Archives founder Jonas Mekas; SXSW winner Charlie Tyrell’s My Dead Dad’s Porno Tapes, in case you missed it over at the Times; and pizza-porn film Slice Thing. Closing night will feature modern-ruins photographer Nathan Kensinger’s documentary Managed Retreat, about the city’s post-Sandy efforts to return three Staten Island coastal communities to the wild. The shorts will be presented in 10 installments, grouped by themes including “eerie existential thrillers,” dark cartoons, romance, love and lust, “dangerous” documentaries, New York docs, bold women, and Sundance picks. Al fresco venues include Industry City’s courtyards in Sunset Park, the roof of the New Design High School on the Lower East Side, and the roof of the Old American Can Factory in Gowanus.
Brooklyn Barge Brings Its Floating Bar Back to the Greenpoint Waterfront
(Photo: Brooklyn Barge via Instagram)
Manhattan’s floating bars reopened late last month, but– to paraphrase the title of that great sailing movie, What About Bob?— what about Brooklyn? The wait’s over, folks. After being towed back into town by a tugboat last month, the Brooklyn Barge is once again up and running on the Greenpoint waterfront.
Beloved Art Bookstore Printed Matter Is Expanding to the East Village
The former Chase bank building is the future home of Printed Matter. (Photo: Google Maps)
This is going to blow the minds of East Villagers who complain about banks taking over every corner: An art bookstore is moving into the former home of a Chase bank. And not just any art bookstore: Chelsea tastemaker Printed Matter will open its second shop at 38 St. Marks Place this summer. For the many who are still mourning the loss of the St. Mark’s Bookshop, this is very good news indeed.
Pippety Poppety, They’re Giving Us a Musical Parody of The Office
First there was the British version of The Office. Then the American one. And now: a musical parody. Is this way too much of a good thing?
That’s what she said!
Filmworker Documentary Shows What It Was Like to Be a ‘Slave to Kubrick’
A scene from Filmworker, courtesy Kino Lorber.
Nineteen years after he died just days after screening a final cut of Eyes Wide Shut, Stanley Kubrick is making a comeback. Actually, don’t call it a comeback. After all, films like A Clockwork Orange and The Shining are already the bread and butter of art-house theaters (so much so that the Alamo Drafthouse’s carpeting is a reproduction of the Overlook Hotel’s). But Kubrick looms especially large these days.
Williamsburg’s William Vale Hotel Gets a Rooftop Lounge, Turf Club
(Photo: Nicole Disser)
Looks like Williamsburg is getting a new rooftop hang. The William Vale, where the Mister Dips burgers and ice cream truck just reopened on the elevated park, is opening a weekend rooftop lounge called The Turf Club.