Indie rock band Other Lives brings a cinematic expansiveness to music, and now a team of theatrical designers is providing a setting on stage befitting the sound. Conceived by producer Rebecca Habel and director Terry Kinney of Mixtape Productions, Reconfiguration: An Evening with Other Lives will be presented October 9 & 10 in the majestic Howard Gilman Opera House, as part of the Next Wave Festival. With a format similar to a symphony, ballet, or theater piece, the performances offer an inventive way to experience a band in concert.
Art Direction & Design by Doyle Partners; photo by Julieta Cervantes
By Jane Jansen Seymour
David Byrne fans know to expect the unexpected. Over the years, this former frontman of the seminal rock band Talking Heads has enjoyed an extensive solo career, indulging in his passion for world music, brass orchestras, and countless collaborations with artists of all genres. He has not shied from expressing his artistic vision on film (beginning with True Stories) along with soundtracks, including Grammy-winning music for the movie The Last Emperor. He has also branched into writing, most recently about his love of bicycling (Bicycle Diaries) in print, plus an interactive e-book explaining his view of How Music Works.
Crisscrossing creative outlets, Byrne has turned spaces into instruments (Playing the Building, an installation at New York’s Battery Maritime Museum) and incorporated dance movement in his last world tour supporting the album of songs written with Brian Eno, Everything That Happens Will Happen Today. His concept album with Fat Boy Slim chronicling the life of Imelda Marcos, Here Lies Love, evolved into an award-winning theatrical production. Byrne’s recent ties with BAM include performing in a tribute to William Onyeabor, and designing witty alphabet-based bike racks for BAM.
In the second of a series, here are two more bands from the Brooklyn music scene that will be appearing at this year’s Crossing Brooklyn Ferry at BAM from April 25 to 27. These groups are just another point of pride for the borough among many others in the vast line up.
If you like Foals, check out Here We Go Magic
Here We Go Magic (Saturday, April 27) delivers songs like waves of thought, seemingly simplistic on the surface but actually complex arrangements of guitars and percussion, similar to Foals, Real Estate, and Beach Fossils. Singer/songwriter Luke Temple flaunts his folk music background within an indie rock structure, alongside core members Michael Bloch on bass and drummer Peter Hale. (The group branches out into a quintet when touring.) Its fourth album, 2012’s A Different Ship, was created under the watchful eye of Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich, as rhythmic patterns receive a similar treatment in both bands. Key tracks such as “Make Up Your Mind” and “How Do I Know” seem to have a life all their own, while gamely inviting the audience along for the ride.
Crossing Brooklyn Ferry returns to BAM April 25 to April 27, a music and film festival curated by Aaron and Bryce Dessner of The National. Music fans may know the headliners (The Roots, Solange, and TV on the Radio), but they may not be as familiar with some of the other artists appearing during the three-day event. The musical offerings cross genres and configurations, from solo singers to full-fledged ensembles. Here are video performances by two CBF bands (both will play in the Howard Gilman Opera House) with ties to Brooklyn, to give a taste of what's in store.
If you like Pete Yorn, check out Phosphorescent
Phosphorescent (Saturday, April 27) is the musical project of Alabama native Matthew Houck, now based in Brooklyn. He’s a heart-on-your-sleeve troubadour who could be compared to Sea Wolf, Pete Yorn, or Jason Pierce of Spiritualized—indie folk hardened by a rock sensibility. This singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer just released his fifth album as Phosphorescent, Muchacho. The past three albums have been recorded in a studio at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, with ultra spare arrangements highlighting the raw vocal power of Houck’s expressive baritone. Most of the songs were written during a trip to Mexico, after a self-proclaimed “freak out” when his personal life seemed to be crumbling—just a man and his guitar capturing waves of emotion. Luckily for audiences he clearly revisits the scene during live gigs.
Bryce Dessner, Nico Muhly, and Sufjan Stevens are musical multi-taskers and have been friends for over a decade. The idea of finding a project to tackle together floated around while tours, recordings, and maxed-out schedules got in the way. Their idea was to create a true collaboration, not just something shaped by emailing musical files back and forth. In Muhly’s words, they wanted “to have that effect of everyone cooking in the same kitchen at the same time, as opposed to an assembly line.” Over the course of a few years, Planetarium materialized simply by carving out time together. Muhly is a composer in residence at Muziekegebouq Eindhoven in Holland, which, in collaboration with the Sydney Opera House and the Barbican Centre in London, commissioned Planetarium, at the BAM Howard Gilman Opera House from March 21 to 24.
