Bklyn Sounds 7/2/2025—7/8/2025

This week's events include Masters at Work + musclecars / Rod Lee / DoYeon Kim with Kris Davis & Tom Rainey / Loboko / Underground Resistance / fundraiser for journalists in Palestine / + much more

Clockwise from upper left Kenny Dope & Louie Vega (MAW); Rod Lee; Morgan, Yohni & Nikhil (Loboko)); DoYeon Kim.

Good afternoon from the middle of Amerikkka. I am posting this week’s column—and next’s— while on a family vacation roadtrip. And though I am greatly looking forward to unwinding from Big Apple energy, stopping in cities I adore deeply, and seeing friends I’ve not broken bread with in far too long, there are aspects of being outside the safe confines of New York in this day and age which deeply unnerve. The existential screaming has not yet subsided. I am not yet sure it can or should, if I still want to believe in my preferred definition of “humanity.” Anyhow, I’m taking in experiences in the belly of the beast, on its favored holiday. Inevitably, future reports will reflect what I heard and saw.

For your listening pleasure this week, I would like to add last week’s great Dada Strain Radio show on The Lot, which featured an amazing 50-minute live techno set by Gladstone Deluxe:

Follow Gladstone, he’s on some sh*t.

THIS WEEK’s SHOWS:

Excellent outsider music triple-bill that will include solo sets from multi-instrumentalist and grand tape-manipulator Lea Bertucci, and from Andrew Bernstein, the saxophone-playing quarter of the mighty minimalist-rock band, Horselords. There is also the debut of a new trio, Silk Fence, featuring Middle Eastern (in Bklyn) guitarist Arian Shafiee, drummer Booker Stardrum and Pioneer Works’ Justin Frye. If you need more weird sounds, the metallic god-drummer Greg Fox will DJ before-between-after. (Wed 7/2, 8p @ Union Pool, W’burg - $18)

Freedom Writers is a DJ night hosted by, and includes sets featuring music journalists of some renown, folks whose bylines regularly grace Rolling Stone and Resident Advisor and Pitchfork, joining forces to raise money for journalists in Palestine reporting on the genocide. All proceeds will go to International Media Support. Come to hear their selections or to jeer their opinions. Either way, a good cause. (Thurs 7/3, 7p @ Mood Ring, Bushwick - $5suggested)

One of the city’s hardest working DJ/promoters, hellotones "El Hijo de PueblaYork," brings a big ol’ cumbia crew to the East Village for La Kumbiabamba Bajo Manhattan, including DJ Chihuahua, Milz DJ “El Negro Meclador” and Sonidera Blues. A night of joyful music directly from the Latin American communities under attack by the regime and hooded secret police. Come listen to the great cumbia beat, and show cultural solidarity against the fascism. (Thurs 7/3, 11p @ Night Club 101, Manhattan - $30-$40)

Fourth World is the great annual (11 years and running) community 4th of July rave, which, after a few post-pandemic years of warehouse-hopping, finds itself taking over all of H0L0’s spaces. Starts in the afternoon, rolls through the morning, with four stages of one excellent local DJ after another, 30+ altogether. As always, **Free Hot Dogs** and a portion of the proceeds got to the Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund. (Fri 7/4, 3p @ H0L0, Ridgewood - $TK)

On a rich July 4th for first-rate dance-music events, the inter-generational-locals gathering is likely this pairing of two classic NYC duos at a large venue that — maybe to the detriment of its Greenpoint neighbors — is turning into the sane, summery counterpoint to the shit-show at Avant-Gardner. The deep jazz-house masters Masters At Work and musclecars team-up at the main Under the K Bridge Park stage for what I imagine will be marathon sets, with the members of beloved German experimental house giegling crew taking over the second “creek-side” stage. Highest Recommendation! (Fri 7/4, 5p @ Under the K Bridge Park, Greenpoint - $43-$$$)

The other big “if you’re looking for classics” dance-party on the holiday is the Underground Resistance all-nighter at Nowadays. The very notion of hearing Detroit techno’s community revolutionaries on Independence Day is greatly appealing, one way to engage American hypocrisy head-on. The last few UR trips to NYC have seen Dex/Nomadico and Mark Flash on DJ duty, and both bang hard while finding their own sonic spaces. Regardless of which soldiers roll-in, it’ll be a time! Highest Recommendation! (Fri 7/4, 10:30p @ Nowadays, Ridgewood - FREE-$26)

If you want to dance the red-white-and-blues away in a more intimate environment, it’s hard to do better than the great XOLOFT house party, which once again takes over the sizable living room in an RSVP-for-location floor-through long populated by musickers. Now its residents include Derek Russo, who in addition to DJing/producing XOLOFT runs the Broad Channel Music label (which just dropped a great EP comp). In addition to Russo and Skymall Future, the night features music by Thomas Xu, a wonderful young producer ex of Sound Signature/Detroit, now based in Chicago. (Fri 7/4, 10p @ secret location, Bushwick area - $20)

A massive celebration of club music, the thick-bill Dance My Pain Away will feature a rare NYC performance by Baltimore club producer Rod Lee, whose massive 2005 hit also gives the party its name. He’s joined by a talented army of DJs from NYC, B’more and Philly, all of whom are mixing bass, breaks and hooks for maximal delirium. Gotta shout-out the tag-team of DJ Haram b2b LITA, and Philly’s Bass Down Low crew. (Sat 7/5, 10:30p @ Good Room, Greenpoint - $20-$30)

Now this is quite the double-bill all-nighter: Analog Soul’s Jacky Sommer is among the city’s most trusted, veteran heads for deep smooth Black American dance music. While the Glasgow duo Optimo is among the world’s finest, long-running kitchen-sink-dance-floor concerns, as comfortable re-editing prog classics and current indie hits, as pulling in current nuggets. Potentially, a wonderful juxtaposition of rhythmic flavors. (Sat 7/5, 10:30p @ Nowadays, Ridgewood - FREE-$26)

And if you’re still looking for other dance options, the musically always-reliable—though maybe a little too Berlin vibes-fixated—Basement club beneath Knockdown Center has a very good two-room dance card. The big space is anchored by the American-in-Germany techno producer Matrixxman, whose big bad reach has begun infiltrating normie dance-sound tastes. The real reason to go is the three-layered cake in the smaller Studio space: Born-and-bred New Yorker (long-time Berliner) Fred P is at times still remembered as Black Jazz Consortium, and remains a pivotal figure in deep house, excellent DJ/producer, and mentor. Canadian Ciel makes a wonderfully slinky modern techno, and Detroiter Jason Kendig has grown into a new cornerstone of the American queer techno community. (Sat 7/5, 10:30p @ Basement, Maspeth - $25-$30)

82 year-old Harlem-born Joe Bataan is known as the “King of Latin Soul,” stemming from a 50+-year career of singing a mixture of soul, boogaloo, funk and rock for, among others, Fania and the Ghetto Records, the latter of which he co-founded. Bataan is increasingly a rare sight on-stage, but he’s always up for an annual appearance at Union Pool’s free Summer Thunder extravaganza. DJ Tahleim joins. (Sun 7/6, 2p @ Union Pool, W’burg - FREE first come…)

Congolese singer-guitarist Yohni Loboko’s loosely configured electric rumba band—pretty much always featuring the mighty Morgan Greenstreet on drums—is taking part in the free Summer on the Hudson series, this one taking place at the outdoor cafe off 70th St. Loboko is always great for a dance-party. (Sun 7/6, 7p @ Pier 1 Cafe, Riverside Park, Uptown - FREE)

Being a New York music snob, I’m infinitely proud that the city is the chosen home of DoYeon Kim, among the only—if not THE only—gayageum improvisers in the world. The gayageum is a Korean zither, an ancient, over-sized instrument (between 12-25 strings) usually reserved for traditional music, which Kim adapted to jazz while studying at the New England Conservatory. Also a mighty vocalist, Kim is a regular around Bklyn DIY improvising nights and has recorded with the likes of Dave Douglas, Linda Han May Oh and Nick Dunston. At Joe’s Pub she’s leading a trio with other exceptional players, pianist Kris Davis and drummer Tom Rainey. (Tues 7/8, 7p @ Joe’s Pub, Manhattan - $24+minimum)

MORE RECOMMENDED EVENTS:

• Drums Unlimited with Michael Shekwoaga Ode (Wed 7/2, 6p @ Cafe Erzulie, Broadway & Myrtle - $10) - Cafe Erzulie’s weekly series centering great local rhythm-keepers from the world of “jazz” keeps on cooking - Ode leads a quartet that features saxophonist Rogerst Charles.

• DJ Voices Present Sounds (Thurs 7/3, 7p @ Light & Sound Design, Greenpoint - $20-$30+RSVP) - longtime community musicker and activist Kristina Malossi constructs a deep-listening journey at one of my favorite venues in the city.

• Freedom Riders + Resistance Revival Chorus (Thurs 7/3, 7:30p @ Joe’s Pub, Manhattan - $30+minimum) - the joining of two all-star, local-activist concerns: the Riders are a loose assemblage of NYC players playing the songbook of “politically conscious jazz” (as if there is any other kind), while the Chorus is an all-women choir at the intersection of Black spiritual music and social justice work.

• Mule Musiq: Kuniyuki (live) + Toshiya Kawasaki + Jacques Renault + DJ SYNCLAIRE (Thurs 7/3, 10:30p @ Good Room, Greenpoint - $15-$30) - another local showcase by Japan’s foremost minimal house/techno label, with great local support. (SYNCLAIRE is the expat DJ/producer duo of aka-Sol and Nema Hän).

• Soul Summit x Shelter (Fri 7/4, 3p @ Public Records, Gowanus - $25-$35) - a Bklyn house-music institution hooks up with one of the city’s longest-running house parties for a daytime-outside-into-three-rooms-at-night extravaganza, with three generations of great DJs.

• Robert Hood + Mike Servito (Fri 7/4, 10:30p @ Basement, Maspeth - $25-$30) - in case you needed more night-time July 4th dance-music choices, Hood, another ex-UR soldier and the father of Detroit-style minimalist techno headlines the big room, while the Servito brings the acid-laced Motor City calisthenics in his inimitable DJ style.

• Elsewhere 4th of July: LTJ Bukem + Delano Smith + rally: amita + Petal (Fri 7/4, 10:30p @ Elsewhere, Bushwick - $22-$40) - …and even more choices…a classic ‘90s drum’n’bass producer, Detroit house veteran and a pair of excellent NYC youngins playing uptempo beats.

• Razor-N-Tape Records (Fri 7/4, 10:30p @ Good Room, Greenpoint - $15-$30) - back in Greenpoint, one of Bklyn’s great dance-music labels with a line-up of family and friends, including the Artwork and Underground System crews a live set from label founder JKriv & Jason Lindner, and DJ action from the mighty Miss Alicia and Aaron Dae.

• Mike Stern (Sat 7/5, 7:30p @ Drom, Manhattan - $30adv/$40) - one of the great jazz-funk electric guitarists of the ‘70s and ‘80s, with credits on everything from Miles Davis comeback jams to Blood, Sweat & Tears, in a rare NYC club show.

• The Nursery: Marcellus Pittman + Rick Wade (Sun 7/6, 3p @ Public Records, Gowanus - $20-$25) - a pair of Detroit house greats stage an all-afternoon session PR’s yard.

• Eli Escobar & Cosmo (Sun 7/6, 3p @ Signal, East W’burg - $15-$30) - an inter-generational pairing of two of the city’s best DJs, at a very good new club.

• Savannah Harris (Sun 7/6, 6p @ Underground, Lincoln Center, Uptown - FREE) - great drummer leads an ensemble at one of LC’s oddball Summer In the City spaces.

• watergh0st (Tue 7/8, 8p @ Cassette NYC, Ridgewood - $15-$18) - another of the monstrously talented young improvising guitarists in NYC, Chuck Roth also writes songs.