The Week Ahead in NY Music: Jan. 16 to Jan. 22

Monday, Jan. 16 and Tuesday, Jan. 17 Santigold, Spank Rock at Music Hall of Williamsburg, $25

Santigold named her upcoming sophomore album Master of My Make-Believe. With that transformative title in mind, doesn’t it make sense to start this album cycle with a sweaty dance party in Williamsburg, just as things are finally starting to look like winter around the city? Santigold’s booming mix of tropicalia, dub and dance incites a fiery boogie in even the most staid, attracting the fleet-of-foot and the awkward alike. Oh, and Spank Rock? It’s been a while since we heard from the grimy Baltimore rapper. This is pretty much a pair to die for -- or at least dance to death for. -DWE

Wednesday, Jan. 18, Madlib (DJ Set), J Rocc, Freddie Gibbs at Music Hall of Williamsburg, $25

A DJ set from the adventurous hip-hop producer Madlib is a somewhat rare occurrence. So don't miss the chance to see him manipulate tempo and samples with the grace of the classic-era jazz icons he reveres. (Should he pepper his set with any of his Blue Note remixes, it would be a treat for everyone involved). He will also likely perform songs from Thuggin, his recent collaborative EP with hard-scrabble rapper Freddie Gibbs, who is a commanding presence in his own right. -MT
 
 

Thursday, Jan. 19 Califone and Howard Fishman at Merkin Concert Hall, $25

As the final installment of the New York Guitar festival, Califone has composed a score to the classic Buster Keaton silent film "Go West." This pairing is almost unbelievably suited: Califone, the oddball Chicago experimentalists, 11 full lengths deep, have always taken a Western bent, particularly on collaborations with the likes of Iron & Wine. Pair that with Keaton’s story of being tired of New York and traveling out to the frontier and you’ve got a stone cold match. As the event’s website reminds us, "Edge NY" called songwriter Howard Fishman "an unsettling combination of Buster Keaton and Lou Reed" so there’s that. The rest of us might just know him as a shredder with few limits. The other installments of the festival, which featured the likes of Lee Ranaldo, Kaki King, and a score of other guitar legends, came down as legendary. Don’t miss. -DWE

Thursday, Jan. 19 through Saturday, Jan. 21, Jeff Mangum at Brooklyn Academy of Music, $35

The former, we assume, frontman of Neutral Milk Hotel and the man "Slate" once dubbed the "Salinger of Indie Roc" has been ruining his "mysterious recluse" persona recently by indulging in that prosaic activity of appearing in public and playing his music for people who really like it.  Which, hooray. Why have an overly-romantic notion of a talented songwriter who just couldn't deal with the pain of the modern world and retreated, leaving us only astonishing documents like In the Aeroplane over the Sea, when we can have a talented songwriter working in the here and now to create new memories? Let's just hope that when this tour winds down Mangum finds himself in a studio. Expectations would be ... well, unrealistic is too small of a word. But we bet he still has some graceful insights into the human soul to share, and maybe a few creative horn arrangements he never got around to trying. Until then, we have this run of shows at BAM, about which let it be said that if you have never seen a group of post-grads cry in unison upon hearing the opening of "Oh Comely," your experience on this earth is missing something. -MT

Friday, Jan. 20, Music Hall of Williamsburg and Saturday, Jan. 21, The Bowery Ballroom, Portlandia The Tour, $20

You should totally show up to this traveling road show of clip premieres, anecdote sharing and wacky song renditions (just admit that you've always wanted to see Carrie Brownstein and Fred Armisen cover "Push It") and yell "put a bird on it" at them. Everyone would think you are so hilarious! -MT 

 

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