’TIS THE SEASON? Zox get in touch with their inner Claus. |
On Thursday, November 15, you can get a taste of new ZOX as they preview Line In the Sand, their first album of original material for SideOneDummy Records. The album is out next year (1/22), but they’ll be touring the new stuff for a month or so, highlighted by tonight’s show at Decibel Live @ Club Hell. The doors open at 7 pm; the cover is $15. Johnny Lingo, Providence’s candid and cool piano pop song prince, opens at 7:30. And go to myspace.com/zox to check out a few of new tunes.
Tombstone rolls on
The newly energized KEN LYON AND TOMBSTONE celebrate the release of their live double-disc DVD set at Chan’s on Sunday, November 18. The show gets underway at 7 pm and admission is $10. Instead of playing their standard rollicking blues set, Lyon and company will be doing a unique performance. For the first set, each Tombstone band member will perform a work-in-progress. The second set will feature Lyon and company unplugged for the very first time (at least in public). The DVD, a reissue of an earlier work with remastering and other sonic and visual improvements, documents Lyon’s roaring retrospective performance from last spring, a sold-out night at the Stadium Theatre in Woonsocket. The film presents the show nearly in its entirety and includes guest spots by musicians from every stage of his career, including Pendragon, the Shoe Fly Orchestra, and original Tombstone members Mark Taber, Lori Martin, Adrian West, Gary Gramolini, Mike "Tunes" Antunes, and Brenda Mosher Bennett. Today, Lyon’s band also includes his sons, Josh and Justin. The limited edition An Evening with Ken Lyon: A Musical Retrospective is for sale on the band’s new web site: kenlyon.com.
Alt space
This Saturday, November 17, AREA C presents live experimental music at the Cormack Planetarium in Roger Williams Park. The show combines the electronic and ambient work of Area C’s Erik Carlson with the psyche-folk strains of BLACK FOREST/BLACK SEA in an improvised collaboration, while the Planetarium staff projects heavenly celestial displays, thanks to a state-of-the-art Zeiss Star Projector and lots of imagination. Doors open at 6:30 pm and the show begins at 7:30. Admission is $3. Go to providenceri.com/museum/altspace.html.
Plus one
Last week 75orLess Records released the cheekily titled ONE MORE THAN SEVENTY FOUR compilation, featuring tracks by 24 local acts: KILLING PABLO, FASHION FAILURES, THE FOLLOWERS, TORCHES, THE DIAL(MZ), GUNTAARD,THE COLD WAR, HOPE ANCHOR, VON DOOM, THE INCLINED, THE MASONS, SIX STAR GENERAL, SUICIDE LIQUORS, THE PROPELLERS, FRED KENDAL ABONG, BEN PILGRIM, MR. MIKE, MUSTACHE RIDE, CANDY THONG, LAME DRIVERS, CHRIS EVIL AND THE TAINTS, THE FRENZY OF TONGS, THE F.I.D.S, and BAYLIES BAND. But it’s a super-rare disc; only 100 silk-screened-jacketed copies were pressed, with 60 going to the bands. That leaves 40 for purchase, so they’re gonna go fast. But fear not. Plenty of tracks from the compilation are available for free download at 75orlessrecords.com.
The label is also readying Six Star General’s odds ’n’ sods compilation, Sick Stars, Sister Cyst, with older studio and four-track material with some studio outtakes and live cuts from their Brown radio program in the summer of ’06. And on December 10, New Bedford’s Chris Evil & the Taints will give birth to Wanna Kill! Kill! Kill!
Wandering eye
On Friday, November 16, “PROVIDENCE BAND-AID: A BENEFIT FOR ALEX SVOBODA” happens at Machines with Magnets. You might recall that Svoboda was the victim of a recent highly publicized bout of police brutality, and the music community has rallied to her cause. The benefit, featuring OLNEYVILLE SOUND SYSTEM, DROPDEAD, CHINESE STARS, SWEETTHIEVES, FOURHORSE, CUTPURSE, LOLITA BLACK, TINSELTEETH, SUFFERING BASTARD, MEGASUS, and Alex’s own band, HIGH PLAINS THUNDER, will help defray some of her enormous hospital and legal expenses. Machines with Magnets is at 400 Main Street in Pawtucket. Doors open at 6:30 and the show is at 7. Call 401.475.2655.
On Friday at the Brooklyn Coffee and Tea House, catch locals HEATHER ROSE and JEN MURDZA, along with a set from MICHAEL SCHOEN from NYC. The show is free (but fill the hat) and runs from 8 to 10 pm. Call 401.575.2284 for details. On Friday at the Blackstone River Theater it’s “AN EVENING OF OCEAN STATE SONGWRITERS,” a night of acoustic singer/songwriters from RISA performing in the round. ANNA'S HOUSE, CORINNE WAHLBERG, and FRANK ROMANELLI join forces for the first set, while MARK CUTLER, DAN LILLEY, and JAKE HALLER comprise round two. Admission is $10. On Saturday, ROOMFUL OF BLUES and its dance-happy minions invade the Blackstone River Theatre at 8 pm. Admission is $20 and reservations are recommended, as this is a smallish room, by Roomful’s standards. Call the BRT at 401.725.9272 or visit riverfolk.org for instructions on how to proceed.
SPANISH DANCER AND THE PRIMES play at Decibel Live on Tuesday, November 20. Spanish Dancer’s Anthony Ferreira just released a fantastically glitzy dance-pop track, “The Hustler,” with a couple of remixes, and its B-side, “Break Bread, Move Grams, Keep It Basic” sounds like a velvet collision between “Let’s Go To Bed” era Cure and early ’80s New Wave, though he was probably in diapers when that shit went down. More info at luminalrecords.com.
THE CHASERS, a surf rock band outta South County, will play the Ocean Mist on Wednesday, November 21, with an opening set by Josie Crosby’s new band, SIGNS OF LIFE. Music starts at 10 pm and there’s a $5 cover. Call 401.782.3740.
E-mail me at bobgulla@verizon.net.