Bklyn Sounds 5/7/2025—5/13/2025
This week's events include History Dog record preview & record release / C2C Festival NYC / Dorothy Carter celebration / 2ManyDJs / Lollise x Loboko / Joy Guidry + SCRAAATCH + Maysun / and much more
A reminder that on Wednesday (5/7) evening, Dada Strain is test-driving a new album-pre-release series, Social Listening, debuting History Dog’s Root Systems, at Port Sa’id in Manhattan. History Dog is a coming together of four Bklyn-based, improvising smarties, Shara Lunon, Chris Williams, Luke Stewart and Lesley Mok, and the electrifying album they recorded (officially out Friday 5/9 on Otherly Love) is an unyielding musical response to our moment in time. (Check the listings below for a History Dog record-release show.) Social Listening will include two plays of Root Systems, interspersed by a short interview with the artists. LPs will be available for purchase. More details and RSVP to the event HERE.
Last week, Williams, a muti-dimensional musician still prolly best recognized as a trumpet player, guest-DJ’d on Dada Strain’s monthly The Lot Radio program, playing (among other pieces) new work he’s made with History Dog, HxH, Wendy Eisenberg and his own Quintet. Plus some Autechre for good measure! I played mostly new shit. A full playlist is forthcoming and will be found in the comments on the archived Soundcloud page. Thanks for tuning in.
THIS WEEK’S SHOWS:
A meeting of great local improvising minds comfortable with deep electronics, an aesthetic increasingly becoming L&SD’s raison d’être: There will be a duet set by keyboardist Jason Lindner and machine drummer Currency Audio, solo sets by synthesist Ben Shirken (Ex-Wiish, Nu Jazz) and poet/multi-instrumentalist Yaz Lancaster, with Amelia Holt DJing before-between-after. (Wed 5/7, 7p @ Light & Sound Design Studio, Greenpoint - $20-$30)
The musical connection between vocalist/producer Lollise Mbi, a Botswana-to-Bklyn transplant and longtime contributor to the borough’s African Diasporic music community, and Loboko, a Congo-meets-Bklyn trio formed around vocalist/guitarist Yohni Djungu Sungu and bassist Ngouma Lokito, is Morgan Greenstreet. Greenstreet helps produce the former and drums with the latter, and will be on double-duty here. Plus DJ set by Ayanna Heaven. (Thurs 5/8, 8p @ BAM Adam Space, Downtown Bklyn - FREE)
Do people still have reverence for the work that the Belgian Soulwax brothers, David and Stephen Dewaele, did as 2ManyDJs in the early ‘00s? Or has ensuing history betrayed them? When mash-ups were en vogue, blends forgotten and a prior generation of indie-kids just beginning to discover house and disco, the Dewaeles blew up the mega-mix DJ set. But even if some of the dance “culture” that followed felt poisoned, the massiveness of 2ManyDJs work on the decks should not be forgotten. Thursday night will Opening is forever Soulwax supporter, JDH. (Thurs 5/8, 10p @ Good Room, Greenpoint - $40)
SIX TO NINE is a summer program in the Amant center for contemporary art, that extends the hours at its East W’burg location, hosting live and DJ sets by artists who fit into its progressive mission statement “to advance the presentation of contemporary art with an emphasis on innovative formats and ideas.” The program’s opening night will feature a set by the Moroccan-born composer and multi-disciplinary artist, Bergsonist. (Fri 5/9, 6p @ Amant, East W’burg - FREE w/RSVP)
Another weekend, another massive left-of-center-music bill at Knockdown Center: C2C Festival NYC is a first local iteration of an 20+years-strong festival that’s been taking place in Turin, Italy, with great electronic-heavy bills and a musically prescient point of view. Hence you have a night headlined by experimentalist-turned-Weeknd-producer Oneohtrix Point Never, with sets from the likes of amazing harp/synth improviser Nala Sinephro, rhythm composer Jlin, Hyperdub major domo Kode9, and numerous others. Not a cheap ticket, but incredible musical value. Highest Recommendation. (Fri 5/9, 8p @ Knockdown Center, Maspeth - $$$) PS: Sinephro is doing a low-key gig at St. Ann’s as well, on Thursday (5/8). It’s Sold Out, but there’s a waiting list etc. Usually, I’d pay this no mind—”no previewing of sold out shows” is a policy Bklyn Sounds takes seriously—but the last time I saw Sinephro with her quartet was in that Brooklyn Heights church, on a steaming late-July night, and it was one of the best live performances I’ve seen over the past few years. So, if you're curious, go hang outside Montague & Clinton, you never know what might happen.
DJ Norsicaa is Alice Whittington, the label manager of London-based Soundway Records, a label that for 20+ years has been dedicated to music from around the globe, reissuing old recordings and introducing new ones, made for dancing. Her Aye Ko Disco palette is pretty unique, so chances are good that Norsicaa’s all-nighter at Musicland will be unlike any previous one. (Fri 5/9, 11p @ Musicland, Bushwick - $35 w/RSVP)
A unique quartet performance that brings together bassoonist Joy Guidry, the electronic duo SCRAAATCH (Chuki and MHYSA), and electro-acoustic sound artist MAYSUN for a performance “rooted in Black experimentalism, Afrofuturism, and technology.” One-time-only sh*t! There will also be an opening set by Myles Ortiz-Green. (Sat 5/10, 7p @ Fridman Gallery, Manhattan - $25)
A pairing that’s taken way too long: Nickodemus, one of the city's hardest working DJ evangelists of a global take on dance music (he co-founded the seminal Turntables on the Hudson party, and runs the excellent Wonderwheel Recordings), guests at Monk-One x DJ Prestige’s SHAKE!, the great all-vinyl NYC dance-floor-heat monthly at Friends & Lovers. Only good things can come of this. (Sat 5/10, 10p @ Friends & Lovers, Crown Heights - $5 with RSVP before 11p/$10)
Ridgewood’s Earthly Delights has slowly turned into one of my favorite small rooms in NYC, and increasingly, their bookings are expanding into all sorts of territories other new clubs aren;t touching. Saturday marks a wonderful London bass-driven double-bill, with veteran ‘nuum purveyors Dusk & Blackdown, founders of the seminal KeySound Recordings, and the newer duo Blumitsu, who are more electro-oriented, but with a deep wide bottom. Also: Eva Loveless, Kellen303, Empyrean and Sheepshead. (Sat 5/10, 10p @ Earthly Delights, Ridgewood - $22)
The Darker Than Wax folks are back at Jupiter Disco with a night headed by one of Bklyn’s gem DJs, Tara, whose uptempo R&B-meets-house-disco-soul sound is a personal favorite, and longtime DTW radio fixture Mawkus, who is mostly a West Coaster now. Also: the Singapore-rooted TASHASAN and JAS. (Sat 5/10, 10p @ Jupiter Disco, Bushwick - $10-$15)
History Dog’s record release show for Root Systems is a Bklyn family affair. The electric quartet will be joined by improvising synthesist Qasim Naqvi, and by Amirtha Kidambi’s Elder Ones, another group whose vocal and instrumental music expresses a deeply politicized vision of the here and now. They’re all compatriots, riotously, gloriously pushing for music to stand up to the demands of the moment. Highest Recommendation. (Sun 5/11, 8p @ Union Pool, W’burg - $24)
I first met Running Back Records major domo Gerd Janson when we both worked at Red Bull Music Academy, finding comfort in his wide take on house music, both its original Black American roots, and the global artists who’ve taken to that great lineage and added themselves to it. Like with all the best DJs (IMO), Janson’s beauty does not reveal itself in short functional sets, but night-long excursions. Sunday night should be no different. (Sun 5/11, 9p @ Nowadays, Ridgewood - $26)
After Korea-born, NYC-residing bassist Jeong Lim Yang shared her interest in Mary Lou Williams’ “Zodiac Suite” with Argentinean pianist Santiago Leibson, the pair recruited the exquisite drummer Gerald Cleaver, founded the Zodiac Trio, and recorded Zodiac Suite: Reassured, a full-band reimagining of Williams’ 1945, solo-piano work. They’re performing it at the Library’s Bruno Walter Auditorium, with Tom Rainey filling in for Cleaver on the drums. (Mon 5/12, 6p @ New York Performing Arts Library, Uptown - FREE)
The hammered dulcimer player and improviser Dorothy Carter who passed away in 2003, was always revered in deep folk and American primitive circles. But the resurgence in niche vinyl and private press culture (she released her own records and tapes in the ‘70s), and the embrace of broader notions of improvisation, has elevated Carter’s stature. Last year, Drag City reissued her 1976 debut, Troubadour, though “reissue” is a bit of a misnomer since it was barely available back then. The producer of that set, Eric Demby, a longtime Friend of Dada Strain, grew up around Carter (on a hippie commune in Maine - ask him about it), and has assembled some audio and video artifacts of Carter’s playing. He’ll debut some of them this evening, which is a celebration of Troubador and a belated record release party for it, at a small Village instrument store where Carter actually purchased gear. Excellent hammered dulcimer player MaxZT (House of Waters) will also play some of Carter’s pieces. Tiny space. BYOB! Highest Recommendation! (Mon 5/12, 9p @ Music Inn, Manhattan - $18)
Guitarist William Tyler came up through the twin worlds of indie-rock and left-of-center Nashville, his playing embodying a “folk and country as experimental, noisy fields” sound. Increasingly, Tyler’s solo career is embracing both extremes, acoustic melodies and primordial sonic collage, another tributary of post-Fahey primitivist come to life. He’s touring behind his brand new album, Time Indefinite. (Tues 5/13, 7:30p @ National Sawdust, W’burg - $38-$43)
Assembly, the Lester St. Louis- and Luke Stewart-curated monthly of new and improvised music, returns for night #28 with a stacked bill— sets by sound artist/collagist Bob Bellerue, the duo of flutist justine lee hooper and guitarist Adam Turay, and a quartet of vibraphonist Matt Moran, drummer Lesley Mok, cellist Mariel Roberts, and saxophonist David Leon. Plus DJing all night by the mighty Geng PTP. (Tues 5/13, 8p @ Sisters, 900 Fulton Street - $15-$20)
MORE RECOMMENDED EVENTS:
Gillian Welch & David Rawlings (Wed 5/7 & Thurs 5/8, 8p @ Carnegie Hall, Manhattan - $$$) - two all-time great writers-interpreters of acoustic American music come to one of its classic rooms.
Chucho Valdés (Thurs 5/8, 8p @ Colden Auditorium, Queens - $$$) - one of the great Afro-Cuban artists of the last century, a pianist of immense power, now 83 years-old, at Queens College’s art auditorium.
Isaiah Collier (Thurs 5/8, 8p & 10:30p @ Blue Note, Manhattan - $32-$43) - if I am not mistaken, this is the mighty Chicago saxophonist’s debut Blue Note appearance as a band-leader, and surely not the last.
Music Research Strategies, Erica Dawn Lyle, Luke Stewart & Matt Mottel + Warren Ng & Amye McCarther (Fri 5/9 6p @ Property Is Theft, W’burg - $20suggested) - percussionist + electric guitar + bass + keytar meets electric-guitar drone duo.
Dave Guy & Stro Elliott + Swizz Beatz (DJ) + April Hunt (DJ) (Fri 5/9, 7p @ Whitney Museum, Manhattan - FREE) - the Whitney Museum’s free Friday Mixtape night bill—the Roots’ horn section and a DJ set by one of the most popular producers of early-’00s hip-hop—is kinda bananas.
Pink Must (Fri 5/9, 8p @ Union Pool, W’burg - $18) - Lynn Avery and Mari More Eaze droney indie-pop duo made one of my favorite albums of the year (thus far).
Skate Like We Use To: Ghostface Birthday Roll & Bounce Edition (Fri 5/9, 10p @ Xanadu, Bushwick - $38) - second NYC Ghostface gig in three weeks, this one’s roller-skating birthday party - what is this life?
Earth Beat 6 Year Anniversary with Scott Zacharias (Fri 5/9, 10p @ Good Room, Greenpoint - $17-$20) - the long-running Good Room party welcomes one of Detroit’s secret weapons.
MIRA MIRA + sola system + Perna (Fri 5/9, 10p @ Jupiter Disco, Bushwick - $10-$15) - a night of mixed DJ directions, from tran salsa band-informed house, to Bklyn Nigerian’s take on diaspora beats, to free-drinking high-NRG
Toy Tonics Jam (Fri 5/9, 10p @ Chocolate Factory, Bushwick - $$$) - the U.S. debut of a party regularly thrown in Berlin, by one of that city’s best soulful house labels
Milena Casado (Sat 5/10, 7p @ Public Records, Gowanus - $25) - a big record release show for the debut album by striking Spanish trumpet player, flanked by the likes of multi-instrumentalist Morgan Guerin and pianist David Virelles, with guest appearances by vocalist Zacchaeu’s Paul, rapper Maassai, and others.
Ladiez Drink Free + Tammy Lakkis (Sat 5/10, 10p @ Bossa Nova Civic Club, Bushwick - $10) - DJs Mariposa, Drupe Jam and Perna welcome one of Hamtramck finest to the free-drink party.
Eli Escobar (Sat 5/10, 10p @ Jolene Sound Room, Williamsburg - $25) - one of NYC’s cornerstone DJs on Bedford Avenue — offer him an “all night long” slot and I doubt he’d ever turn it down.
Groovy Groovy: Aurora Halal, Xaxer & Akanbi (Sun 5/11, 6p @ Earthly Delights, Ridgewood - $10) - one of the best floating parties in NYC is coming to the great little Ridgewood club, and bringing the Sustain-Release/Mutual Dreaming founder with them.
Macie Stewart + Booker Stardrum (Sun 5/11, 8p @ Roulette, Downtown Bklyn - $25adv/$30) - massive double bill of solo performances: Stewart is one of Chicago’s great multi-instrumentalist collaborators whose new solo album is a nice ambient-ish work; drummer Stardrum is also mining a heavily electronic landscape.
Samantha Kochis Quartet (Sun 5/11, 7:30p & 9p @ CloseUp, Manhattan - $20) - the mighty young flutist’s quartet, includes vibraphonist Selendis Sebastian Alexander, bassist Anna Abondolo, and drummer Josh Mathews.
Tim Berne, John Hebert, Gregg Belisle-Chi, Tom Rainey & Chris Potter (Mon 5/12, 8p @ Lowlands Bar, Gowanus - $uggested) - neighborhood alto legend Berne, back with the homeys at the free jazz bar, the tenor saxophonist Potter added to the fold.
Salami Rose Joe Louis (Mon 5/12, 8p & 10:30p @ Blue Note, Manhattan - $32-$43) - another Blue Note debut, from this unclassifiable West Coast singer/keyboardist and her fusion-funk quintet.
Joshua Fried + Jack Callahan + Nicole Misha (DJ) (Tues 5/13, 7p @ Light & Sound Design Studio, Greenpoint - $20-$30) - a listening event for rhythm- and The Loft-informed electronic composer Fried’s new music, “PHSE Four,” and for Fried’s interpretation of Callahan’s “106 Kerri Chandler Chords” - the mighty Nicole Misha with tunes before and after.
SO MUCH AMAZING. What a community.