popcorn youth

Just found out that Jan Bell will be performing tonight at No Radio Records. Free and starts at 7pm. Michael Hansen MIGHT be playing, but you’ll just have to show up and find out. We don’t know. Jan is also playing tomorrow afternoon at Felicia’s for their Alley Fridays. That’s at 5:30pm. But it’ll probably rain, so…. go to No Radio tonight. From Felicia’s press release:

British singer-songwriter Jan Bell (of Maybelles fame) is performing with her Brooklyn-based band the Cheap Dates,  Her latest album was produced by Samantha Parton (Be Good Tanyas) with guest vocals by Jolie Holland. Jan won the 2008 People’s Choice Independent Music Awards Alt-Country Album of the year. Old-timey blues and a powerful voice.

Sounds good! Hope to see you all there.

Recently, Ithaca Times art critic Mike Berlin interviewed local artist and art collector Steven Barbash, who curated “The Shared Experience,” now up at the Johnson Museum. Excerpts from the artist that appeared in last week’s Ithaca Times:

“[Barbash] came of age, artistically, at a time when abstract expressionism was the dominant paradigm. And yet, he and the artists that he trained with at Yale all remained pretty resolutely figural in their art. And that was kind of a bold decision at that time,” says Wieslogel, who is quick to point out similarities in Barbash’s collecting. “We wanted to highlight the counter trend in his own art and his collecting where most of the things that he’s gone on to collect, regardless of the origin or where he met the people — and there’s a lot of different chapters in his life that are represented in the gallery — have been innovative but figural.”

If anything, Barbash’s collection — of artwork and experience — is beyond interesting; it’s expansive and full. But even then, the 75-year-old artist will continue to be enchanted by art and its possibilities.

“Michael gave a talk years ago and the thing I always remember he said was, ‘The really serious thing art does is expand the imagination.’ It sucks you into it in certain ways, usually by doing things that you know you can’t do, or you’re amazed that anybody can do,” says Barbash. “Why are we so taken by pictures, the cultural ethos of which we not only don’t care about, we might not even like? Art is extraordinary because, for a time, it makes you intensely believe in things you know you don’t believe in.”

Read the full story in our interviews section. See the photo gallery in our flickr.

[Text by Jake Forney] [Photo gallery at our flickr] I was beginning to think I had taken a wrong turn. The roads were getting more twisted and more narrow and there wasn’t a sign of a campground anywhere. But then there he was — my beacon in the darkness — a solitary figure walking along the roadside in a green and blue kilt. I knew then that the Ithaca Scottish Games & Celtic Festival had to be nearby. (Well, it didn’t have to be … I mean this is Ithaca, an area probably more likely than others to see a kilted pedestrian on a lonely road.)

I hadn’t even the opportunity to park my car before the sound of bagpipes cut its way through the sputtering of my engine. Upon exiting my vehicle, I found that the number of people in kilts very nearly rivaled that of those in plainclothes, though there was no further division beyond the sartorial. Those in tartans and plaids were not regarded as overzealous enthusiasts, and those in shorts and a t-shirt were not considered stodgy killjoys. It was very much a day of community, everyone eager to share Scottish culture, whether it be in the capacity of teacher or student.

Noon had yet to arrive when I realized how hot it was going to be that day — certainly a scorcher. I began to worry about sunburn, scouting the area for a tent or tree. And it was then that I realized something very obvious but very important: most of the people there were of Scottish descent, which meant that most of the people there were very pale. I said a silent prayer on their behalf, for if I, with not an ounce of Scottish blood in my veins, was concerned about the sun, I couldn’t imagine the fear that resided in the hearts of my new Scottish friends.

Joyce Geier, world-class sheep dog trainer, then took to the main field accompanied by four white sheep and three Border Collies and put on an impressive demonstration.

All the while, the sound of bagpipes seemed to float continuously on the all-too-infrequent breeze as judging of solo musicians and pipe bands continued throughout the day.

Perhaps the most impressive musical event, however, was massed bands, which occurred twice: once to mark the beginning of the athletic events and again to bring them to a close. Massed bands is when every single pipe band in attendance gathers on the main field to play in unison. The volume was impressive — rock concert levels with nary a single implement of amplification to be found.

Lunchtime rolled around and I was drawn towards the haggis. Haggis has many ingredients, but the most noteworthy are sheep’s “pluck” (heart, liver, and lungs). Even knowing this, I still wanted some. After struggling to communicate with the thickly accented cashier, I received my sheep parts, along with an imported Scottish cola with which to wash them down.

It was delicious — no lie. You just have to eat; don’t think.

Then the athletics started up, beginning with what I’d been waiting all day to see: the caber toss. For the uninformed, the caber toss is an event in which big strong men attempt to throw a slightly miniaturized telephone pole so that it lands as vertically as possible. Anyone was welcome to give it a shot, and though I surely could have been an admirable contender, I told the big men that I feared my journalistic integrity might be tainted if I became too involved in the situation. They didn’t believe me. Other sports followed, all of them involving throwing something heavy.

As the day came to a close, I sought shelter from the heat in the campground lodge where a handful of bands were playing traditional Celtic music. Cooling off with a beer and an Irish Cream truffle, the music was the perfect accompaniment. If one can be “Scottished-out,” I was just about at that point, and it was a very good feeling. All in all, the day was an impressively complete smorgasbord of Scottish culture, and very well attended for the first one of surely many to come.

Maybe next year I’ll drop some knowledge on these Scots about how to really throw a telephone pole.

Is there an Ithaca Banksy in our midst? Has anyone else seen this around? Discuss.

Tonight heralds the main event of this summer’s 2nd annual Love Shoe Festival, as curated by choreographer and Cornell dance professor Jim Self. From Kate’s article, as it appears in this week’s Ithaca Times:

>>>The third event of the festival, Salsa, Meet Hip Hop… & Other Dances, will be held on July 22 at the Schwartz Center. Though the Kiplinger Theater is the most traditional setting of the bunch, Self intends it to be an informal evening, featuring a collection of different dance forms grouped together in thought-provoking juxtaposition. The title of the night makes reference to Anita “Rockafella” Garcia’s (member of Pepatian) piece “when I first met hip-hop, when I first met salsa,” about her struggle to find her identity amongst competing dance traditions — the salsa and merengue of her Puerto Rican heritage and the hip-hop of her New York City neighborhood.

Other pieces of the evening include Janie Kovars’ Tai Chi-inspired piece “White Crane,” which will be performed to two different sets of music, and Jane Gabriels’ “What I Saw, I Recognize” set to a Latina poem and which is more “dance-theater.” Phil Kim’s (B-Boy Philcroy) piece, with Djani Johnson and Kelvin Kim, will be in the form of break dancing and b-boying. Jeanne Goddard will combine her dance talents with Steve Stull’s operatic voice in their piece “Those Ducks Aren’t Bobbing for Golf Balls.” The night will finish with a Q & A session with the dancers about their work, their form, and their inspiration.

Self hopes the series will promote dance literacy in the Ithaca community and will encourage people to “make [dance] a part of their lives.” “If you’re not used to reading movement you can only hear what people say” - so come out to view the realm of the unspoken.<<<

Read the rest of Kate’s article here. Jim is a fascinating and valuable addition to Ithaca’s art community, and these free events are not to be missed. After having covered the Love Shoe Fest the first time around, we’re glad to see that they’ve chosen to make the festival an annual affair. Again, the performance tonight begins at 7:30pm a Cornell’s Schwartz Center.

Last week, our art critic-at-large Wylie Schwartz wrote the cover story for the Ithaca Times about a group of local artists that exist quite separately from the ‘typical’ local art scene in Ithaca. Artist and Sfumato owner (and sometimes Ithaca Times freelancer) John Criscitello is currently hosting a group exhibition at his loft space on Dey St. (above Hickey’s) titled ‘Vaudeville.’ This opens Wylie’s article:

“The Ithaca art scene is about being safe, but to be an artist means to be comfortable with doubt and taking risks,” says local artist Jesse Hill. “I think there’s a lot of young art happening here that is inventive in both materials and concept that is not being given a venue.”

Contentious stuff! The article is a fascinating read, and I encourage everyone to visit the show at Sfumato. The show is up through July, so hurry, hurry. I personally learned a great deal from Wylie’s piece — not to mention the websites that  I didn’t know about before (and now check daily), perpetual art machine, a video art portal, and WOOLOO, an opportunity hub for artists.

Our photographer Rachel also took a great set of photos of both the artists and the works displayed, all of which you can see at our flickr.

Read the full story here in our interviews section.

NO MORE BUSH TOUR 2008

Five years ago, in a time of woe for the underground, the country and the world, the members of the Ecstatic Yod Collective organized a tour called More Hair Less Bush. Including a variety of musicians and writers, the tour brought the flame of hope to cities cast into darkness by the hideous secretions of the Bush Twins.

Now, in 2008, as we prepare to enjoy thelong-promised fruits of regime change, we felt it was time to bring our show on the road again. But this time, rather than offering balm and apologies to the psychically wounded, we would like to celebrate the pre-dawn of a new day — a day when the word “cheney” is once more an empty phrase we use to terrify youngsters.

To this end, we have assembled a revolving cast of musicians and writers, all of whom honk the horn of freedom with both hands. We trust it will be a gas.

Trinkets will be available at all shows. Tour schedule and bios follow. Support is being provided by Ecstatic Peace Records & Arthur Magazine.

Info/photos/etc: glasseye@yod.com

NO MORE BUSH TOUR DATES

FRI AUG 1, 7:00 PM sharp
Artifacts 21st Century, 28 North Maple Street. Florence MA 413-320-9480
Zaika
Jack Rose
Valerie Webber
50 Foot Women + Axolotl
Byron Coley
Matt Krefting
Dredd Foole
Thurston Moore

SUN AUG 3, 7:00 PM sharp
UAG Gallery, 247 Lark Street, Albany NY 518-426-3501
Zaika
Jack Rose
Valerie Webber
50 Foot Women + Axolotl
Charles Plymell
Kate Village + John Morton
Wovoka
Byron Coley + Ziamaluch

MON AUG 4, 8:00 PM sharp
PA’s Lounge, 345 Somerville Ave. Somerville MA 617-776-1557
Jack Rose
Valerie Webber
50 Foot Women + Axolotl
Byron Coley
Kate Village + Bill Nace
Sunburned Hand of the Man
Damon Krukowski
Bobb Trimble

TUES AUG 5, 8:00 PM sharp
Café Nine, 250 State Street New Haven CT 203-789-8281
Zaika + Paul Flaherty
Jack Rose
Valerie Webber
50 Foot Women + Axolotl
Byron Coley
Matt Krefting
Bill Nace + Jacqui Ham

THURSDAY AUG 7, doors open 9:00 PM
Velvet Lounge, 915 U Street NW, Washington DC 202-462-3213
Zaika
Jack Rose
Valerie Webber
50 Foot Women + Axolotl
Byron Coley
MV+EE
+ special guest tba

FRIDAY AUG 8, 9:30 PM sharp
Tarantula Hill, 2118 West Pratt, Baltimore MD 410-945-7825
Charles Plymell
Zaika
Jack Rose
Valerie Webber
50 Foot Women + Axolotl
Byron Coley
Roxie Powell
MV+EE

SATURDAY AUG 9, doors open 7:30 PM
A secret location in Philadelphia 215-694-5861
Charles Plymell + Mike Watt
Zaimph
Tom Carter + Willie Lane
Jack Rose
Valerie Webber
50 Foot Women + Axolotl
Byron Coley
Tom Lax
MV+EE

MONDAY AUG 11, 8:00 PM sharp
Knitting Factory, 74 Leonard Street, NYC 212-219-3132
Charles Plymell
Zaika + Loren Connors
Jack Rose
50 Foot Women + Axolotl
Valerie Webber
Byron Coley
Gary Panter
MV+EE

Hello everyone. Hot off the heels of two extremely successful Popcorn Youth concerts — Neptune and Ryan Jewell — I have another exciting show announcement to make. Since I’ve been writing this blog, I’ve wanted to present a noise show with all female musicians. And now, I finally have a chance to do so. My interest in the dynamics between women and the male-dominated noise world have been long documented — read my rant here from almost two years ago, and this recent fantastic interview with Heather Leigh Murray articulates quite well my concerns and thoughts — and although I’ve brought a number of talented musicians to Ithaca venues, the number of female musicians represented in those bills have been few and far between.

However, this Tuesday, August 12, I’m proud to announce that METALUX and ZAIMPH will perform at the Lost Dog Lounge here in Ithaca.

It’s women like MV Carbon and Jenny Graf (of Metalux) and Marcia Bassett (Zaimph) that make today’s noise community a consistently interesting place to visit. As Byron Coley noted in his recent review of No Fun Fest 2008 in this month’s Wire — his article, appropriately enough, focused entirely on the female performers at the festival — it is these women who are most often doing the most innovative and interesting things (how could anyone forget MV Carbon’s acclaimed collaboration with Tony Conrad?). It’s thanks to women like MC Carbon, Jenny Graf, Marcia Bassett, Kim Gordon, Christina Carter, Maya Miller, Tovah Olson, Jessica Rylan, Heather Leigh Murray, Nancy Garcia, Sarah O’Shea, Tara Burke, Carly Ptak, Elisa Ambrogio, Kate Village and countless others that we enjoy such a fertile and varied noise/improv world of music.

We’ve been lucky enough to witness Jenny and Marcia perform in other projects, including the excellent Harrius show in Albany (feat. Jenny and Chiara Giovando) last winter. Marcia, in particular, has been influential — we’ve seen her as Hototogisu (with Matthew Bower of Sunroof), solo as Zaimph, and as GHQ (trio with Steve Gunn and Pete Nolan). Of course, Marcia is best known for her insanely beautiful, nuanced work in the noise quartet Double Leopards. She’s also performing as Zaika (with Tom Carter, of Charalambides) next month as part of the No More Bush Tour 2008 as hosted by Ecstatic Peace (she’ll be appearing at the Albany date on Aug. 3, for those who wish to make the trip). There are few female performers out there today that we admire more than Marcia Bassett, and to bring her to Ithaca for the first time is a real treat.

The show will begin at 10pm on Tuesday, August 12. Expect more information to come in the following weeks (or at least until GrassRoots Festival is finally over and we can breathe again).

I’ll end with this plea: It’s not escaped my attention that female fans at noise shows are few and far between. We saw plenty of women at last night’s excellent Jana Hunter concert, and we wish that more of those people would come to our shows. We would love to see more women out to see some good noise, and it’s a particular goal of mine to bring this world of music to everyone with a passion for ideas, innovation, and musical experimentation.

Baltimore-based musician Jana Hunter will perform at No Radio Records this Saturday, July 12. She’s performed in Ithaca twice before — once in Luke’s living room! — but I’ve managed to miss both shows. I won’t be missing her this time around, however. She’ll be joined by an arsenal of awesome ladies: Matteah Baim (of Metallic Falcons), Noa Babayof and Sharon van Etten. The show is early (begins at 8pm), which gives you enough time to walk up to the Chapter House around 10pm to catch The Johnny Dowd Band. From the article on Jana that appears in this week’s Ithaca Times:

“It seemed as though people had more of a tendency to embrace There’s No Home. It’s definitely recorded better, and I think that we as people respond better to things that we can hear well,” Hunter reflects. “And for me, the recording medium effected the kind of music that I make. I’m very much a recording artist, in the truest sense, as much as I am a songwriter. So when I record on a four-track through heavy reverb — versus in the studio, hearing a crisp, clean sound through headphones — it’s going to markedly change how the song sounds, or what I choose to do with it.”

Read the rest of our story in our interviews section.

[Text by Ted Hamilton] When I first heard that the international Star Trek fan club was hosting its annual convention in Ithaca, I imagined a dorkfest à la Galaxy Quest: forty-year old bachelors dressed up like Spock, cliques of diehards bickering over starship minutiae, a sign that read “No girls allowed” at the door. But as I walked around the Ramada Inn on Saturday soaking in the sights and sounds of this seminal cultural event, I was forced to adjust some of these naïve preconceptions.

Not all of them, alas: the first Trekkie conversation I heard as I walked towards the registration table went as follows: Trekkie 1: “What would you like me to do?” Trekkie 2: “Find us women.” Oh dear, I thought to myself. It’s going to be like that.

But it wasn’t, not all of it. The male-to-female ratio seemed to be about even, the un-costumed outnumbered the bedecked, and I didn’t catch so much as a whiff of b.o. Most striking, though, was the friendliness of the conference attendees: from the moment I arrived I was shepherded from smiling face to smiling face, Trekkies on every side eager to share their enthusiasm with an uninitiated layman.

J.C. and Dan Andolfini, chair of the local chapter of Starfleet, escorted me to the Actor Q&A in the banquet room.

“Yes, we’re nerds,” said Dan before I could ask a question. J.C. added that he had met most of his friends and his wife through Starfleet. Still digesting this last statement, I was approached by Marlene Miller, who asked me to sign a birthday card for one of the Icelanders in attendance.

Icelanders? Yes, apparently six of the 170 attendees had made the trek from Reykjavik. What dedication! And what solidarity from the other members! In addition to the birthday card, there was an elderly fan (the oldest at the convention, J.C. informed me), Helen Pawlowski, who had hung an Icelandic flag from her motorized wheelchair and donned a chic Viking helmet.

Perhaps confusing reality with the USS Enterprise, Pawlowski made a grand entrance to the Q&A by crashing at warpspeed with her chair into one of the banquet tables. As her compatriots anxiously inquired after her well-being, she gave the table one more charge for good luck (I could have sworn she shouted “Valhalla, here I come!” as she did so), and then removed herself from underneath its mass. “Table turned out worse than I did,” she quipped.

Things soon settled down, and the actors arrived: J.G. Hertzler — a Cornell professor and the erstwhile Klingon General Martok from Deep Space Nine — and Robin Curtis, who played someone/something called Saavik from the early days of the show. Seemingly oblivious to their surroundings, the two traded banter for about 45 minutes in unintentional pitch-perfect imitation of Good Morning America.

J.G., with black sunglasses, a black body-T over his buff, 59 year-old torso, and a scotch in hand, pontificated on the Dalai Lama, the spectre of global warming, and the benefits of socialized medicine in Denmark. Robin, who flashed a bright, oh-no-he-didn’t smile at all of J.G.’s cracks (”Those Icelanders move glacially!”), discussed her one-woman play, “Good Girl: The Sexual Odyssey of a Fifty-Two Year-Old” (Subject? “My big fat vagina”).

I decided to call it a day nearly an hour into this baffling presentation. The attendees had taken care of business matters the day before and during Saturday morning’s General Session, and had that evening’s party to look forward to. For my part, I had learned a bit about Trekkies and their kind hearts, and why three failed marriages is fertile ground for solo dramaturgy. As I returned to my car I saw an odd bumper sticker that surely belonged to an attendee: “My gamer fragged your honor student.” Like everything I had seen that day, I wasn’t quite sure what it meant, but I liked it.

See our photo gallery from the weekend at our flickr.

[text by Wylie Schwartz] Since moving to the area in 2006, conceptual artist Karen Brummund has been creating large-scale public art installations at various sites around the county. With a video work currently on view in ‘The Object and Beyond,’ the 2008 Everson Biennial in Syracuse, she is also one of a dozen local artists selected to participate in the N.Y. State Foundation for the Arts ‘Arts Mark’ program. And with her forthcoming exhibition in Athens, Greece, unconfined, Brummund has been having an extremely busy summer. I managed to catch up with her to chat about art, being a regional artist, and what’s currently occupying her time in the studio.

Read the full interview here.

See our Karen Brummund photo gallery here. [Yes, our blog is broken again. No, we don’t want to talk about it.]

“I think people should be free to play and release what they want, If I’m not into it, I won’t engage with it. What can be daft is these kind of already developed a chip on their shoulder young noise guys that are all posture and over-exaggerated maleness. It’s doesn’t really feel male at that point, I mean I’m into maleness, I’m heterosexual, come on!, but some noise feels more about being a boy rather than a man, just very adolescent. And what the hell are some of these guys grimacing about anyway? Did mom not iron their camouflage trousers or maybe their acne treatments aren’t working as well as they would’ve hoped? Too much exaggeration in any direction just feels fake and inartistic really.“

Great interview with Heather Leigh Murray [Scorces, Charalambides, Volcanic Tongue) up yesterday over at Foxy Digitalis. The hilarious quote above is pretty much spot-on for how I feel about a lot of the macho power electronic noise-types, and I love that she’s not too serious about the entire thing. Heather represents a valuable female voice in the experimental/noise world, and we can’t wait to hear the new Scorces release. Okay, and because I identify with this so deeply, one more great quote from the interview:

[Text by Luke Z. Fenchel] There are many ways to approach The GrassRoots Festival of Music & Dance, now in its 18th year. The four-day extravaganza, which runs from Thursday, July 17 to Sunday, July 20 in Trumansburg, combines the low-key atmosphere of a family gathering with the slightly ordered chaos of any major summer festival. Sure, the revered poet Lucinda Williams will be there, as will the Dirty Dozen Brass Band and the Ithaca favorites Keith Frank, Flying Clouds and Cyro Baptista. But GrassRoots also manages to cram a large chunk of local music into its packed lineup, so now is as good as any time to assess the state of music in the Tompkins County Area. Think of it as Christmas in July.

Begun and still maintained by a musical family that is part-mafia, part-cult, part-benefactors and part-visionaries, the Puryear clan has managed to make things fresh for many years while generally keeping things the same. Much of this is due to a reliance on Ithaca’s strong musical roots. By modifying the traditional formula of summer music festival — city invites national touring acts to blow through town — GrassRoots lays down a foundation of local artists and groups and peppers that lineup with familiar regional and well-known stars.

Thus artists who haven’t played much outside of The Chapter House are exposed to an audience that can potentially number in the thousands, and thousands of folks who rely on GrassRoots as tastemakers and arbiters are exposed to groups even if they don’t make it out most Saturday nights. Here’s a summary of the scene.

Favorites: Though GrassRoots’ director, Rosa Puryear insists that there’s “no certain style” to the music of the festival, and that a particular genre or musical idiom would “never disqualify” a group from being invited to play, it’s difficult to imagine GrassRoots without a few favorites. They include The Sim Redmond Band (Fri, 10:45pm, Sun, 4pm), The Horse Flies (Sat, 1pm), Jsan & the Analogue Sons (Thurs, 9:15pm), and Kevin Kinsella (Fri, 11:45am). All play well in the summer, and all are GrassRoots staples. Also staples — in the singer and songwriter category — include Jennie Stearns (Fri, 3:45, Sat, 8:30pm) and Mary Lorson & Billy Coté (Sat, 10:15pm). Samite (Sat, 4:45pm) fits in no category at all — though is most at home at GrassRoots. So are Bubba George (Thurs, 1:30pm, Sun, 1pm) and Jim Miller and the Rough Gems (Sun, 1pm). Finally, hosts Donna the Buffalo appear Thursday at 7pm, Saturday at 11pm and “close” GrassRoots Sunday at 7:30pm.

Up-and-Comers: Puryear explained the case-by-case selection process for GrassRoots: “Ithaca has a very rich music scene. There are a number of really good bands. It’s hard to have all of them on every given year. There is a rotation process.” The final lineup depends heavily on who is on “the radar” of the selection committee. Criteria include whether a band is ready to release a new CD, or has simply been “busting their asses all year.” Some of the up and comers include Gunpoets (Thurs, 3:45pm), Thousands of One (Thurs, 11:30pm) and Revision (Thurs, 5pm, Fri, 10:30am). Evil City Stringband, led by Richie Stearns, offers inventive old-time in a new package (Thurs, 7:15pm, Fri, 12:30pm). Finally, post-post folkies IY amazed as the house band for the Hangar Theater’s production of “Hair”; they appear as themselves Thursday at 2pm and Friday at 3pm.

Dark Horses: As most of these bands are more at home in a dingy bar rather than in a muddy field, most perform at the Cabaret Tent — GrassRoots’ answer to the nightclub. Catch blistering rock sets by Hubcap (Thurs, 12:45am, Sun, 5:30pm), The Sutras (Thurs, 5:45pm, Fri, 2pm), Joejoe (Thurs, 10:45pm) and the artists formerly known as Plastic Nebraska, Family Knife (Sun, 3:30pm). The Johnny Dowd Band (Thurs, 10:45pm), among the best known bands to perform at GrassRoots, a few years ago played opposite Patty Loveless. Nearly drowned out by the lilting country singer, Dowd — then performing as a duo with Willie B — reportedly asked the soundman to turn up the volume as much as possible. “F@ck you, Patty Loveless!” Dowd snarled. In other words, don’t miss the goings on in the Cabaret tent.

The GrassRoots Festival of Music and Dance runs from July 17-20. For more information visit www.grassrootsfest.org.

Many bands appearing at GrassRoots will be playing elsewhere in town this month. Jsan & the Analogue Sons hit Castaways this Saturday, July 5. Also at Castaways, The Sim Redmond Band hosts its CD release party July 11. On Wednesday, July 16, The Ithaca Downtown Partnership presents a Pre-Grassroots Party — Keith Frank & the Soileau Zydeco Band with Donna the Buffalo on the Commons at the Bernie Milton Pavilion.

Some shows unrelated to GrassRoots bear mentioning this month. This Thursday The Town Pants, a multi-cultural potpourri, will play (Castaways, July 3). Saturday, July 12 the MacGillicuddies visits Castaways; the Chicken Tractor open. The Johnny Dowd Band hits the Chapter House on the same night.

In fact, July 12 is shaping up to be a big night for music. Jana Hunter, originally based in Texas, performs ethereal yet down-to-earth poems to ghosts of past lovers and random strangers; she’s performed Ithaca twice before (once in my living room!), and returns for a show at No Radio Records.

This afternoon philosopher and feminist Judith Butler will return to Ithaca to speak at Cornell as part of the School of Criticism and Theory’s Summer 2008 lecture Series. Info from Kate’s article as it appeared in the Ithaca Times:

Visiting lecturers include the well-known philosopher Judith Butler, Professor of Rhetoric and Comparative Literature at U.C. Berkeley, whose seminar examines Arendt’s thoughts on human judgment and collective political responsibility in brutal situations such as dictatorships. Her lecture in the open series will likewise focus on Arendt, and is entitled “Arendt’s Quarrel with Eichmann’s Kant.”

Butler’s talk will begin at 4pm this afternoon at the Hollis E. Cornell Auditorium in Goldwin Smith Hall on the Cornell campus, and is free and open to the public. I will be stuck at work all day, but she’s a riveting speaker. Not to miss.

Just a quick reminder that tonight is our RYAN JEWELL and KIMONOPHONIC concert at No Radio Records. The show begins at 7pm and is FREE and all ages. We hope to see you out! We’ve posted our interview with Justin Armstrong of Kimonophonic, which also appears in this week’s Ithaca Times.

To see our photo gallery of Kimonophonic, visit our flickr page. Yes, our blog is broken again, so instead of posting images, we’ll be linking you to our flickr.

Read the full article in our interview section.