Reminder that on Saturday evening, August 22nd, we’ll return to Light & Sound Design Studio in Greenpoint for another edition of Dada Strain @ L&SD. The program will begin with duet between the clarinet, flute and electronics player Tomin and a very special guest, continue with a solo drums+electronics set by the peerless percussionist Lesley Mok, and close out with an inevitably melody-heavy, groove-happy but rhythmically bonkers hardware set from Ali Berger. I will play records before, between and maybe after (depending on how late we end). Please join us as these shows are labors of love, which keep getting more and more laborious—and with the semester just around the corner, and big things happening in Dada Strain land, my time and energy to do more live events in the immediate future grows short.
This particular Dada Strain @ L&SD has been cooking for some time. Part of it was dreamed up when Lesley Mok sent me files of music they were working on last winter, after we ran into each other at the incredible late Autechre show. A magnificent improviser whose unique drumming style I think of as emulating the tides, Mok was in the studio sculpting duets between their percussion instruments and machines. Very classic WARP, but also not at all. Thoroughly their own thing. I was smitten. When Lesley said that they wanted to do this music at a Dada Strain show, and wanted to hear it on a proper soundsystem, L&SD was a no-brainer.
At the same time, Ali Berger and I had been looking for an opportunity to collaborate on a show ever since he moved back to the tri-state in 2025. I’d been listening to Ali’s music since my Ghostly and Detroit friends turned me onto it about a decade back, squarely in the electronic world of techno and house, but always with a love of songform, melodies and playfulness. It wasn’t until subscribing to his Trackland label on Bandcamp, and hearing the volume of music that Berger released, that I began to realize how important improvised live performance with machines was to his practice. I’ve said that Ali’s live hardware sets are among the special things regularly taking place in NYC nowadays. And I stand by it.
Lastly, earlier this summer, in-between us losing our shit about “Knicks in 5,” my brother Tomin told me he was in the process of re-woodshedding his own live solo set, the one that he’d been playing ever since releasing his pair of great International Anthem albums in 2024. He’d been rethinking some things, collaborating with folks in the U.S. and abroad, writing new work, and had a new toy or two that he’d like to take out for a test-drive. There was no need to say anything more.
A show was planned, a date was set, a flier was made. Now it just takes an audience and some willpower. You all know how I feel about these folks, about why L&SD is a great venue, and the importance I ascribe to the work we all do together. (Read more about it all here if you need.) Please consider joining us.
Dada Strain @ L&SD with Lesley Mok + Tomin + Ali Berger (Sat 8/22, 7p @ Light & Sound Design Studios, Greenpoint - $20-$30 with RSVP).
UPDATE: The rain gods were NOT willing and this wonderful event was cancelled due to weather. Rain gods willing, the Guggenheim moves its occasional Thursday-night “Late Shift” music program outdoors, presenting a trio of top NYC-based Latin American rhythm acts for what it’s calling a Block Party. Topping the bill is Mexican-American electronic producer Debit, whose constant experimentation with techno and trance on one side, and traditional rhythms on the other result in fantastic recordings and sets. The homeys of A.B.E.L.A. bring that same tradition-meets-technology energy to what I’ve started calling “drum-machine circle improvisations.” And the all-femme Brazilian bloco Fogo Azul, is a parade in its own right. (Thurs 8/20, 5p @ Guggenheim Museum, Uptown - FREE)
PHOTOGRAPHY: Since its publication in March, Ronen Givony’s Us V. Them has sparked a good number of conversations about the music and youth culture of early-’00s Bklyn. The memories will continue to be unlodged and history tweaked at the Bushwick bar/record store/gallery Selva, when a group exhibit inspired by the book brings together images by ten prominent photographers who logged pictures of artists and spaces lost long ago. Curated by Ryan Muir, Us V. Them, a New York City Photo Show, featuring images from the NYC music scene & DIY community 2004-2014 is a treasure-trove of information. Yes, there are a few famous faces here, but that’s not why you want to go. (Thurs 8/20, 7p @ Selva, Bushwick - FREE) On view through August 27th.
The great Honey Trap party and Queens-based vinyl-only dance-music label Accessory Records team up for a rare-ish Thursday at Good Room. Honey Trap’s impeccable selector Amelia Holt, and the mighty techno firestarter Rose Kourts lead a DJ line-up of Accessory regs (Miles Mercer b2b Simic), Honey Trap lieutenant Second Contact, and the Aussie Greville, who runs Sydney’s excellent weirdo electronic label Mad Habits (also vinyl-only). But the special treat this evening is a live PA by Titonton Duvante, a longtime cornerstone of Columbus, OH’s rich techno scene, whose own classic label, Residual Recordings has launched some big ships. Duvante is master of the hardware set, and doesn’t do ‘em too often. If that’s your thing, it’s a must. (Thurs 8/20, 10p @ Good Room, Greenpoint - $12-$20)
Pianist/composer Micah Thomas has been a jazz star in waiting for a few years now, while having a high time in alto saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins’ band. In June, Thomas dropped Lucid, a wonderful quintet album with a supergroup—with Wilkins, plus trombonist Kalia Vandever, bassist Thomas Morgan and drummer Lesle Mok—performing original compositions that sound like harmonic assemblages, exercises in sonic balance more than tunes, graceful uneasy but rewarding listening. These are release the album’s shows. (Thurs 8/20, 9p + Fri 8/21, 8p & 10p @ CloseUp, Manhattan - $35-$40)
Once upon a time, little context existed for Dopplereffekt, the Euro-based electronic duo of one-time Drexciya imagineer Gerald Donald (under numerous Germanic pseudonyms), and his Swiss wife Michaela To Nhan Le Thi. The music’s storylines were filled with post-industrial and sociologies-of-race themes, percolating on a lukewarm wave of sci-fi electro and occasionally playful ambience, definitively attached to Detroit’s sonic rebellion, but with a distinct perspective. 30 years post-launch, Dopplerffekt’s mysteries have found a home in artful rhythm spaces as well as proper hardware-techno environments—no dull DJ sets here. This weekend the duo makes a rare foray into NYC to present their dark boom in both contexts. On Friday evening, the pair joins São Paulo baile-techno producer RHR, ambient boy-band Purelink and glitch’n’bass complicator Eev Frances on a typically excellent (for 2026) Warm-Up bill. (Fri 8/21, 4p @ PS1, Long Island City - $25-$40) Later that night, at an East W’burg club, they share decks with more single-minded beatmakers: DJ Stingray 313 brings the electro hyperactivity, Limited Network’s Max Watts reps the best of young Detroit soldiers, and NYC stalwart Bookworms is among the city’s great electronic idiosyncratics. (Fri 8/21, 10p @ LoHi Rooftop, East W’burg - $30)
Though there is always a lot to distrust in NYC’s greater “performance art” and “dance music” scenes, I’m a big believer of supporting those artists simultaneously neck-deep in multiple practice. Exhibit A: longtime readers know I’m ride-or-die for SCRAAATCH, the production/DJ duo of Chukwumaa and MHYSA, whose hybrid sets are rhythm-improvisation heaven. Friday they’re at the neighborhood techno club, on a great bill at the latest Quantum party, alongside similarly minded multi-disciplinarian Philip Morgan, the local stalwart DJPT, and bass-heavy Bklyn Londoner Bearcat. (Fri 8/21, 10p @ Bossa Nova Civic Club, Bushwick - $TK)
UPSTATE: Two crucial contemporary arts idealists—Wave Farm, the long-running “transmission arts organization,” and New Ear, a long-gestating presenting arm of Fridman Gallery (producing the New Ear Festival since 2013)—are putting on Drive-In 4×4, an epic video x audio program in an old drive-in movie theater. The program features a relative who’s who of experimental-meets-underground musicians—Leila Bordreuil, Evicshen, Anamorph, Kyp Malone, Brian Chase, Geologist, Brendan Canty, Gladstone Deluxe, and Victoria Keddie—live soundtracking silent-film selections from the Electronic Arts Intermix collection. This is the shit you can do when you have a good idea, a lot of space, some budget, and a rural post-industrial landscape to sink into. (Sun 8/23, 5p @ Hi-Way Drive-In, Coxsackie, NY - $$$)
Looking for recent news on superstar Beninese singer-actress Angélique Kidjo, I was gobsmacked to discover that earlier this week she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, “becoming the first African musician and first Black African honored with the distinction.” Though for much of my life Kidjo, who was raised in a musical family and began performing as a child, connected West African pop styles to Western music/musicians, it’s overwhelming to be confronted not just with the enormity and diversity of her work (Bella Bellow, Disney/Olympics, Talking Heads/Philip Glass) but with its popularity. Which makes her the perfect Summerstage artist. Also: Afro-Cuban funk singer Cimafunk and DJ Freshy K. (Sun 8/23, 7p @ Summerstage, Central Park - FREE)
Another great freebie (with RSVP) bill of noisy experimental duos by Stereo Mandrax at Pianos: By now, the power of Blacks’ Myths, with Luke Stewart on electric bass/voltage feedback and Warren “Trae” Crudup III on drums/volcanic rhythm explosions, should be no surprise. If you need to channel an airing of dark energy, step into the eye of their post-hardcore punk jazz hurricanes. Bonus odd sounds come courtesy of Windscour, multi-instrumentalist tape manipulators Joe Moffett and Zach Rowden, and Phantom Honeymoon, Alexandra Beneski, and Steve Holtje post-punk takes on technicolor science-fiction scores. (Sun 8/23, 7p @ Pianos, Manhattan - FREE)
Apparently Sexmob, the downtown-jazz quartet most associated with trumpeter Steven Bernstein but whose line-up (saxophonist/guitarist Briggan Krauss, bassist
Tony Scherr, and drummer Kenny Wollesen—plus producer Scotty Hard) has been unwavering, turns 30 in 2027. At times the band’s kitchen-sink post-modern approach to repertoire and technological sonics, not to mention its goofball name, has met with pouty naysaying among the jazz police. But listen to the ‘mob zero-in and rip, as they do each time I hear them play, or process their command, on display as Laurie Anderson’s band in Central Park in July, and you’ll wonder why the pouters begrudge humor in music. Check the listings for this anniversary four-set program, as each night will feature different tunes. (Tues 8/25 + Wed 8/26, 7p & 9p @ Dizzy’s, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Uptown - $30-$$$)
Beyond proud of the community members who produce, show up, and give themselves to the We Keep Us Safe Fundraiser events, raising assistance for families affected by the ICE raids, while educating the masses. (Looking at Laura Cocks, Amirtha Kidambi, and Melissa Almaguer, specifically.) The latest gig features another amazing line-up: Venezuelan-Moroccan-American singer-songwriter Miriam Elhajli, the never-stop-experimenting duo Whait (aka more eaze and Wendy Eisenberg), and the sextet NuJazz, whose UnJazz primes them for the title of the city’s most crucial post-hardcore dub-jazz band. Comedy by Yedoye Travis (Wed 8/26, 7p @ Mama Tried, Sunset Park - $uggested)
TALK: Tyondai Braxton x Michael Azerrad (Thurs 8/20, 7p @ Record Grouch, Greenpoint - FREE) - electronic producer discusses his new album, Splayed Werks, with “This Band Could Be Your Life” author.
Jim Staley with Ikue Mori and Zeena Parkins (Thurs 8/20, 8p @ Roulette, Downtown Bklyn - $25adv/$30) - Roulette founder, a trombonist, returns for a trio set with two more downtown legends.
Melissa Almaguer, Ryan Sawyer & Patrick Holmes (Thurs 8/20, 8p @ Ore Bar, W’burg - $uggested) - a tap dancer, a percussionist and a clarinet player walk into one of the best remaining bars in W’burg
Night & Day: Ash Lauryn + JADALAREIGN + Jay Duncan + shekdash + Donis (Fri 8/21, 10p @ Signal, East W’burg - $22-$45) - these overnight dance-party bills (10a-noon) at Signal just keep gettingbetter and better.
House Rules: Dat Kat + Malik Hendricks ++ (Fri 8/21, 10p @ Xanadu, Bushwick - $25-$30) - a couple of great local house music DJs (Malik doesn’t play out often enough) at the roller-skating rink’s jam
Kyle Hall ++ (Fri 8/21, 10p @ House of Yes, Bushwick - FREE before 11p > $25) - one of Detroit’s finest shows up at the circus.
Ryan Easter, Destiny Diggs & Janae Yates (Fri 8/21, 11:30p @ CloseUp, Manhattan - $25) - a late-night set followed by a jam session led by one-of-a-kind trumpeter Easter (Wrens, Trap Music Orchestra, Alfredo Colon’s band)
DJ Pierre (Sat 8/22, 4p @ LoHi Rooftop, East W’burg - $24) - the father (in Phuture) of acid house, and (at Strictly Rhythm) of the Wild Pitch remix.
Loove Avant-Kirtan 2 with Charlie Burnham (Sat 8/22, 8p @ Looove Annex, W’burg - $20) - spiritual awakenings meet improvised music, helmed by master Harmolodic violinist.
Mickey Perez (Sat 8/22, 10p @ Jupiter Disco, Bushwick - $10-$12) - an “all night long” set from Public Service/BeBop Porú digger supremo; Mickey’s got records on records.
Maayan Nidam + Alton Miller + Stonie Blue ++ (Sat 8/22, 10p @ Green Room, East W’burg - FREE before midnight > $25) - a wide-world of jackin’ and techno bill with, among others, Nidam, who pushes electronic dance music into curious corners, wonderful Detroit third-waver Miller, and Stonie Blue, whose set at the St. James joy block party was house music heaven
Hieroglyphic Being + 30,000AD + Physical Therapy + maenad + Scott Zacharias (Sat 8/22, 11p @ Public Records, Gowanus - $30-$35) - another impeccably curated weekend dance-music takeover at the bridge’n’tunnel’ers favorite Gowanus spot
FILM + MUSIC: Sun Ra: Do the Impossible + James Stewart Quartet (Sun 8/23, Noon @ Studio Museum, Harlem - FREE) - an early nod to next weekend’s Charlie Parker Jazz fest at the museum, with a screening of Christine Turner’s highly lauded 2025 doc on Sonny, followed by a performance by the current Arkestra saxophonist.
Rick Wilhite (Sun 8/23, Noon @ Nowadays, Ridgewood - $25-$35) - to close off the Nonstop, one of Detroit’s great house masters. (For those who wanna marathon it, the mighty LADYMONIX, another of the D’s finest, is on at 3a.)
Gerd Janson + Ron Like Hell (Sun 8/23, 3p @ Public Records Nursery, Gowanus - $20-$30) - Hamburg’s Janson is one Europe’s longest-serving great house DJs, always a pleasure to hear stretch out. Wrecked’s Ron ain’t so bad himself.
Califone (Sun 8/23, 7p @ Elsewhere Zone One, Bushwick - $20) - Chicagoan Tim Rutili has been a unique experimental indie-rock voice since the early-’90s (I still mourn Red Red Meat); can’t stop, won’t stop.
Winged Wheel (Sun 8/23, 8p @ Union Pool, W’burg - $15-$20) - speaking of indie-rock, here is a multi-generational supergroup of sorts with Matchess joining members of Sonic Youth, Tyvek, and Powers/Rolin.
Supraliminal feat MIRA MIRA b2b Rage.inald + Bookworms + chainletter + Evilo b2b zaf + Jalpari b2b booshie mystik (Mon 8/24, 10p @ Bossa Nova Civic Club, Bushwick - $TK) - a rare gathering of self-described “sound freaqs,” has as much potential to be a dance party as a sonic cauldron.
fabric New York: Jeff Mills + Ben UFO + Craig Richards + Helena Hauff (Sat 9/5, 2p @ Under the K Bridge, Greenpoint - $$$) - Potentially, one of the great big (official and yes kinda corporate, but still…) raves of the summer, and a way to see off the Summer of New York. May especially be a great space to see/hear Mills, under a futurist concrete structure, with space for 8k people.
UPSTATE: Body & Soul 30th Anniversary: Catskills (Sat 9/5, 3p @ Locust Grove, Oak Hill, NY - $$$) - One of NYC’s defining parties in the post-Garage era—forever helmed by three local legends: Francois K, Joe Claussell and Danny Krivit—throws itself another birthday soiree, this time in the heavenly creekside field of the Dope Jams compound. Adult- and kid-friendly, with great camping opportunities on-site/nearby. Pray for the weather to hold.
musclecars (Sat 9/12, 10p @ H010, Ridgewood - $25-$$$) - An all-nighter with Craig and Brandon is a too-rare occasion nowadays, as, given 6-8 hours, this pair takes the music into rarefied territories new and old, strange and familiar.
Haruomi Hosono (Wed 9/16, 8p @ Radio City Music Hall, Midtown - $$$) - The 78 year-old co-founder of Yellow Magic Orchestra, and one of the seminal figures in 20th century Japanese popular, electronic and experimental music, is returning to the U.S. to support a new album also dropping in September.
Honor the 100th Centennial of John Coltrane with the James Carter Quintet (Sat 9/23, 8p @ Sistas Place, Bed-Stuy - $$$) - Perfect local set, setting and act to celebrate one of the big musical events of 2026. If you’ve never been, Sistas Place is a “landmark jazz/cultural institution in the heart of Black Bed Stuy,” and Detroit saxophonist James Carter is, to my ears, forever the most under-rated of the Young Lions generation, a quiet titan. This will be a great night!
L’Rain record release shows (Mon 9/28 + Tues 9/29, 7p & 10p @ Nightclub 101, Manhattan - $25-$30) - Grab tickets to these two shows and two after-parties celebrating the instantly legendary fata morgana before they disappear. Announced guests and support from .medium, Yuka Honda, serprentwithfeet, Marlon James, Anysia Kim, Doula, Wadari, Tony Seltzer and others. Will Sell Out!
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