Week Ahead in NY Music: Aug. 12 to Aug. 19

Yeasayer at Music Hall of Williamsburg, Aug. 15, $32
After six years and three albums, Yeasayer is getting good at this. The Brooklyn electronic-leaning experimental pop crew is set to release Fragrant World on Aug. 20, an album that builds upon their pre-established out-there vibes, pumping them up to a widescreen perspective. When their debut All Hour Cymbals came out in 2007, the band seemed like an anomaly in the indie landscape, then dominated mostly by guitar bands. Time has been kind to Yeasayer, and as more and more bands have been selling their guitars and buying turntables, the band's warped electronics have been making more and more sense. -Drew Millard

Cursive, Titus Andronicus, Love As Laughter, Joyce Manor, Aug. 16, Free
If you wait around a few weeks, Titus Andronicus will play a show somewhere in Brooklyn. This is not a complaint, as the hyper-literate oversharers are one of the best young bands in America, and album No. 3 can't come fast enough. (The recent stopgap mix tape couldn't quell the hunger long. We need to hear the studio version of "In A Big City" immediately.) Titus will share the bill at this free show with fellow literate oversharers, the perennially underrated Cursive, whose dense, dramatic story-song cycle I Am Gemini scared away some folks but rewards repeated listeners. Not that listening to heavy riffing atop bloodletting vocals is any kind of chore, mind you. Also, Love As Laughter is a solid fuzzy pop group, so show up early. -Michael Tedder

My Morning Jacket, Shabazz Palaces at Williamsburg Park, Aug. 19, $49.50
Sometimes a bill doesn't make sense until you stare at it long enough, and then it does. A heavily-bearded Kentucky outfit whose music skims from jam-band, classic rock and experimental who have been known to cover Erykah Badu in concert slapped together with an avant-rap crew fronted by a dude who used to rap under the name "Butterfly?" Sure! Even though their sounds are diametrical, their audiences are probably fairly similar. And if not, well, the "Tyrone" cover will make the hip-hop kids happy. -DM

Jane's Addiction, Die Antwoord at Williamsburg Park, August 17, $49.50
We know, we know. Too many break-ups and reunions with these guys, never enough Erik Avery baselines. We could try to argue that last year's The Great Escape Artist had more evocative charms than it was given credit for, but let us just point out that according to reports these guys have recently been dropping the early rarity "I Would For You" into their sets. "I Would For You" is one of the most moving things Perry Farrell ever let come out of his mouth, romantic and needy and chilling in just under a few minutes. If there's even a chance they'll play it here, you should go. Plus, they'll almost definitely play "Ocean Size" so you're good no matter what. -MT

Contact Us