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Watch Glenn Branca Hold Forth On Bowie, Byrne, CBGB, Sonic Youth + His Own Bad Self

As excited as we were to celebrate Glenn Branca’s 65th birthday at the B+B Newsroom last week, we didn’t expect our discussion with the trailblazing composer to be as epic as, say, the time in 2001 that we were blown away by his 100-guitar symphony beneath the Twin Towers, and (more recently, in 2010) the debut of his 15th symphony at Le Poisson Rouge. How wrong we were: the master rolled into 155 Grand with a bottle of whiskey and, just like when New York spoke to him in 2004, immediately lit up a cig. We weren’t about to tell him to put it out.
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Sorry, You Already Missed Everybody’s Favorite Former President in the East Village

Sorry, You Already Missed Everybody’s Favorite Former President in the East Village
(Photo: Nicole Disser)

(Photo: Nicole Disser)

The world’s most powerful peanut farmer and everyone’s — well, okay, this reporter’s — favorite ex-Prez made an appearance in the East Village today. Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalynn held a press conference this afternoon to look back at their 30 years of community service for Habitat Humanity. Awkward looking Secret Service agents milled about in the middle of East 6th Street while press, local residents, and habitat volunteers gathered across the street from Mascot Flats, the first Carter Work Project site.
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Rodriguez of Searching for Sugar Man Heard ‘South Africa’ a Lot Last Night

(Photo: Kristy Ann Muniz)

(Photo: Kristy Ann Muniz)

Last night, Barclays Center was filled with a mixture of middle-aged South Africans and twentysomething Williamsburg artist types, all there to catch a glimpse of Sixto Rodriguez, star of Searching for Sugar Man. For those who haven’t seen the Oscar-winning documentary, the back story of Rodriguez is pretty unreal; it’s like something straight out of, well, an Oscar-winning documentary. Basically, the Mexican-American guitarist had a short-lived musical career in the ’70s, but bootlegs of his albums made their way to South Africa where, unbeknownst to him, he became a legend. All the while, he was working manual labor jobs in Detroit. Now, thanks to the success of Searching for Sugar Man, at 71, Rodriguez is suddenly playing stadiums such as Barclays Center, and a sold-out Radio City Music Hall.
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Will Kent Avenue’s Hidden Mini Mall Be ‘Better Than Chelsea Market’?

Will Kent Avenue’s Hidden Mini Mall Be ‘Better Than Chelsea Market’?
Jacqueline Yu in her specialty hat and jewelry shop, Oat

Jacqueline Yu in her specialty hat and jewelry shop, Oat

“We’re still debating on names. It’ll be either Kent Avenue Market, Kent Avenue Shops, or Shops at 240 Kent,” says Renée Cecris, owner of Renée New York, a “girly” boutique in the newish, yet-to-be-named market near Williamsburg’s waterfront. The retail space is bright and airy, with dozens of little shops and businesses to wander through, and outgoing designers and shop owners to boot.
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Watch the House Videographers at CBGB Call Richard Hell a Crybaby

As you may have read over at Rolling Stone, Pat Ivers and Emily Armstrong — in what’s sure to be one of the highlights of the CBGB Festival — are screening some of their rare late-70s and early-80s concert footage at Bowery Electric tonight, between performances by Cheetah Chrome of the Dead Boys, Syl Sylvain of the New York Dolls, and Glen Matlock of the Sex Pistols. We were lucky enough to have the authors of our weekly Nightclubbing column into the B+B Newsroom last Friday, along with Richard Boch, who’s working on a memoir of his time manning the door of the Mudd Club, and Pat Irwin, the guitarist for the Raybeats, 8 Eyed Spy and the B-52s, who spoke about his recently unearthed collaboration with Philip Glass.

If you missed Friday’s discussion, watch the replay above. Here’s what the gang had to say about Suicide (we spoke to Martin Rev of that band back in June) and the evolution of the Ramones.
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This Is Definitely the Most Pizza and Pickles You’ll Ever See in One Place

This Is Definitely the Most Pizza and Pickles You’ll Ever See in One Place

PickleDay

Pickle lovers and pizza lovers, prepare for sensory overload at two upcoming feasts.

Tonight, no less than 43 pizzerias will converge on St. Anthony’s Church at 154 Sullivan Street, for the annual Slice Out Hunger event. Tickets are only $1 and get you any one slice of your choice out of 700 pizzas to be found inside the event. Rest assured these aren’t the kind of dollar slices that Crazy Legs maligned: among the 43 pizzerias represented here are Motorino, Two Boots, Joe’s Pizza, and Forcella. Even De Blasio favorite Di Fara will be there. Dollars from this mega pizza party go directly to the NYC Food Bank. Vegan and gluten-free options will also be available for those of a softer disposition.
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Greg Barris and Dennis McKenna Will Drop Some, Er, Knowledge About Psychedelics Tomorrow

311152011_640The Horizons: Perspectives on Psychedelics conference kicks off Friday at Judson Memorial Church in the Village, but what about Brooklynites who don’t want to take the, er, trip into Manhattan to hear about the role of psychedelics in science, healing, culture and just plain feeling groovy? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered, man: tomorrow evening at the B+B Newsroom, East Village comedian Greg Barris interviews scientist and psychedelic journeyman Dennis McKenna.
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Watch Sock Puppets Down Booze and Pills in ‘Psycho’ By The Shining Twins

If you caught our screening of How to Act Bad last week, then you know some of the documentary’s most memorable moments were Adam Green’s steamy liaisons with The Shining Twins, Alex Weiss and Marisa Kreiss. The punk-pop duo just put out a video for their old song “Pyscho,” originally recorded by Loren “Ted” Humphrey (of Guards) at his studio in Bushwick. The depiction of the rock-n-roll life, by puppet maker Amber B Dianda and filmmaker Kirk Dianda, is short and sweet, and features a disturbing amount of spaghetti vom. Enjoy!

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And Now, a B+B Q+A With CDZA

Screen Shot 2013-10-08 at 7.03.42 PM

Yesterday the viral music-video maestros from cdza (pronounced Cadenza) stopped into the Bedford + Bowery Newsroom to shoot footage for the backdrop of a their TED@NYC performance at Joe’s Pub today. The collective — founded by Joe Sabia, Michael Thurber and Matt McCorkle — is always up to something: next month, they’ll perform at the first ever YouTube Music Awards at Pier 36. We spoke to Sabia and McCorkle after they wrapped up at the Newsroom. Among other things, Sabia, who created 9 Minute Breaking Bad, revealed plans to expand his  project into something resembling a fantasy tv league.
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The Country’s Finest Chefs Are Stinting in the East Village This Next Month

Sean Brock (Courtesy of Husk)

Sean Brock (Courtesy of Husk)

Between Wylie Dufresne, Michael White, and David Chang you’d think East Villagers had more than enough Michelin-starred and James Beard Award-winning chefs to choose from, but the neighborhood is now importing them just for giggles.

First Grub Street brought word that Alex Stupak was bringing Grant Achatz of Alinea (one of the top 15 restaurants in the world) to Empellon Cocina for a one-night-only 12-course meal. And now the folks at Hearth tell Bedford + Bowery that chef Marco Canora is teaming up with esteemed out-of-town chefs Sean Brock (of Charleston’s seriously awesome Husk and McCrady’s), Michael Tusk (of San Francisco’s Quince), and Hugh Acheson (of Five & Ten and The National in Athens, Georgia) for a series of epic dinners celebrating Hearth’s 10th anniversary. Not only that, but Canora is bringing some local giants — like the aforementioned David Chang — into his kitchen as well. Here are the details from team Hearth.
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