The Bowery Presents

Music Hall of Williamsburg upcoming shows

Stars Like Fleas / La Strada / Frances / Twi the Humble Feather

Venue:
Music Hall of Williamsburg
Date:
Thu 3/05
Notes:
18+
Doors: 7:00 PM / Show: 8:00 PM
$10 advance / $12 day of show
Tickets
Stars Like Fleas
official website
myspace
"Stars Like Fleas juggle the disturbing, confrontational, direct, sincere, romantic, and the blatantly contrived, in quasi-improvised song cycles".

Begun in the early aughts as a recording project, Stars Like Fleas gained worldwide attention with the small handful of people who cared in each country they invaded. They sold literally tens of records (and were traded for free everywhere fine records were traded). Fortunately many of those listeners happened to be tastemakers, bands, and other people who do things -- soon Pitchfork, Salon, Stylus, Paper Magazine, Time Out, the Village Voice, and others were propping them up on 'best of' lists and praising the bands unreleased releases.

A couple of years ago Stars Like Fleas began playing shows in unmarked spaces in Brooklyn, lighting a fire overnight, with many FAMOUS! and IMPORTANT! people coming to their shows and leaving frustrated, pissed off, or strangely moved and uplifted (in all cases inviting the Fleas to perform). Even though Stars Like Fleas reconfigure their lineup, sound and music for almost every room they play (sometimes absurdly loud, sometimes entirely unamplified, performing amongst the audience, sometimes abstract, sometimes pop, sometimes sticking w/ sentimental drivel).

Stars Like Fleas were invited to play shows with Deerhoof, Dirty Projectors, Excepter, Grizzly Bear, Beirut, Kyp Malone (TV On The Radio), Phosphorescent, Akron/Family; at concert halls, in illegal dingy spaces, at camping trips upstate, at festivals, in galleries. Stopping by CMJ in an unofficial capacity, they were named both the BEST (Pop Matters) and the WORST (Idolator) show of the festival.
La Strada
official website
myspace
La Strada has managed to create an impressive fanbase for themselves very early on, due to their uncanny ability to funnel the romance of old-world instrumentation through new world amplification. With soaring vocal harmonies, accordion, and string-driven melodies revved up on rock and roll, La Strada transports you to the hills of the Balkans, a street corner in Paris, and back home beneath a Brooklyn skyline. Frontman, songwriter, and former aspiring astronaut, James Craft, was born in France, and has also lived in Northern California and Romania - as a result, the band's folk ballads and fiery anthems are infused with a sense of great distance, invoking both nostalgia and awe.

after much anticipation from fans and press alike, La Strada announces 2/24/09 as the release date for their self titled EP. The 6 song collection has captured the energy and intricate melodies of the band's live performances, which have already garnered them an accomplished following. From the show stopping "Starling" to the inspiring and driving melodies of "Flying" and "The Sun Song", the band's introduction to the world is sure to please.
Frances
official website
myspace
Frances is coed sextet from New York. Their debut full-length, All the While, carries on the great tradition of pop music that plays with itself, taking the fun parts and discarding the dumb ones, flirting with chaos but always returning to a gloriously catchy, melodic center. It's resolutely childlike, fanciful stuff (toy instruments abound, as do sing-sung lyrics about stagecoaches and telephones made of paper cups and string); but then, Frances are correspondingly serious in their execution, employing whiplash-inducing chord changes, bizarre stylistic touchstones (Van Dyke Parks' pop oddities, classic AM-radio rock, a little Stravinsky, a little Sondheim), and darker moments that hint at something terrifying lurking behind the swooning strings and oom-pah horns. Frances is Stephanie Skaff (vocals, sundries), Brian Betancourt (guitar, sundries), Nick Anderson (bass), Julia Tepper (vocals, violin, sundries), Tlacael Esparza (drums), and Paul Hogan (vocals, keyboards).
Twi the Humble Feather
official website
myspace
there is legend and rumor of a new interstellar adventurer, by the name of twi, who came to be by the will of an ancient sorcerer forest existing unknown in a nameless galaxy. those aware of this rumor say twi seeks the wisdom of vast green worlds, as well as the sating secrets of sound. inspired by the adventures of this new mythical character, the trio 'twi the humble feather' compose guitar and vocal based music depicting environments recently visited by twi; such as magical castles and forests, and various realms of the uncharted cosmos.

led by the creative direction of anthony lebron, twi the humble feather borrows from the myriad works of great composers such as arvo part, philip glass, j.s. bach, iannis xenakis, dimitri shostakovich, and carl orff. lebron, a classically trained guitarist, introduced flamenco and classical techniques to the trio, which, prior to their brotherly commitment to 'twi the humble feather', was strictly pop, rock, and experimental based. bryan doring is the founding member of alias pail, a once twee pop inspired project now leaning more and more towards the usage of quirky 'bent' instruments alongside subtle finger-style guitar works. hektor fontanez, has played with, and led, several bands such as lasonik, abstract music project, and lil humble veli. he currently has an experimental and acoustic based solo project entitled liek. both alias pail and liek (pronounced lee-ek), are currently producing various recording projects.

the sound of 'twi the humble feather', in its trio form, could be characterized as a cinematic, sci-fi adventure. although currently a completely acoustic act, using no electronic effects whatsoever, the trio manages to vocally present percussive rhythms and sweeping spaceship sounds. chanting falsettos are often accompanied with delicate and fierce, super-dynamic staccato melodies and guitar chords; which often create intermittent minimalist drones by the unified resonance of acoustic frequencies.

currently, 'music for spaceships and forests' is the only completely realized work in the repertoire of 'twi the humble feather'. however, the trio is currently readying a new work entitled 'twi presents the antek songs' for live performance. in addition, lebron has begun the opening sketches for the sequel of 'music for spaceships and forests'.

the music of twi, as far as lebron is concerned, is "dedicated to everyone; here to celebrate and explore the wonders of imagination".
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