Sound and Revision

Friday, April 13

David Bowie was androgynous before androgyny was cool. But dressing up like a trans-gendered astronaut grazes just one of many persona’s forged by Major Tom, or Ziggy or David—whichever you prefer. Following an interplanetary breakthrough with the 1969 chart topper Space Oddity, Bowie’s schizophrenic reinvention on successive releases became customary. This Friday’s (April 13) Buffalo Bowie Tribute Show: Sound and Revision at Nietzsche’s —a benefit for the Give For Greatness Campaign featuring The Irving Klaws, Erie Lackawanna Railroad, David Kane, Pine Fever, The Moves, Jen Whit, Megan Callahan, Sea Snake Vs., and DropD—walks you through the music that shaped the artist’s eccentric career. For those unfamiliar with the characters behind each album, here’s a guide to the many ch-ch-ch-changes of David Bowie:

David Bowie (1967)—Emerging as a pasty-faced Londoner with a passion for show-tunes, Bowie’s character on his debut album was not only his most authentic, but also his bleakest from a latter fan’s perspective. The album, released on the same day as The Beatle’s Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart Clubs Band, was a commercial failure. It contained trace amounts of the extroversion and peculiarity that characterized the musician’s later releases and did little by way of popularizing the now intergalactic rock-star.

David Bowie/Space Oddity (1969/1972)—Bowie’s follow-up to his less than successful debut displayed a twinge of the madness lurking beneath the boyish incorruptibility of his prior release—made apparent in comparing each album’s cover art. The album suffered from an identity crisis, much like the album’s creator; it first released in the U.K. titled David Bowie, then in the U.S as Man of Words/Man of Music, and finally re-released as Space Oddity by RCA records in 1972. Space Oddity marks the first mention of perhaps Bowie’s most infamous persona, the junkie, Major Tom.

Hunky Dory (1971)—With 1970’s The Man Who Sold the World, cross-dressing seemed like a skirt Bowie was trying on for size. But what began as an experiment in sampling women’s clothing turned into full-fledge transvestitism on Hunky Dory. Bowie skipped the highly emotional teenage developmental stages heading straight for mid-wife status on this cover. The album marked the birth of the band that would evolve into Ziggy Stardust’s Spiders from Mars on Bowie’s following album.

The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders from Mars (1972)—In 1972, Bowie’s bottled-up schizophrenia went public. Ziggy Stardust was born. Ziggy, a sexually experimental drug consuming human exhibition of celestial life, granted Bowie the right to be all of those things under the guise of this alter-ego. Ziggy’s inspiration was an amalgam of Brit rocker Vince Taylor—a self-proclaimed half God, half alien who declared himself the biblical prophet Matthew on stage in the late 1960s—and the Legendary Stardust Cowboy Norman Odam, who’s cited as the inventor of the musical genre ‘psychobilly.’

—brett perla

10pm. Nietzsche’s, 248 Allen St. (886-8539 / nietzsches.com / giveforgreatness.org) $5. 21+.

Friday, April 13

STOMP

For most people, their first experience making noise was by banging on pots and pans with a spoon, or by shaking something shakable. It’s easy to beat out a rhythm; you don’t need an expensive stringed instrument, or a carved piece of wood or brass, you just need two objects that sound interesting when smashed together. This is the idea behind Stomp, the long running, visual, street sound spectacular created by Luke Cresswell and Steve McNicholas in 1991. The instruments are familiar yet strange; 30 brooms, eight trash can lids, 15 pounds of sand, eight bananas, five bins, and a half dozen other household items are in the hands of the 15 performers who make up the orchestra that is Stomp. In 2008 Entertainment Weekly included the musical—which has played to packed crowds for over 5000 performances—in its list of the top 50 Best Plays and Musicals in the last 30 years. The show has gone through several reconfigurations, meaning that if you’ve seen Stomp before you could be in for some new surprises this time around. Stomp will play at Shea’s Performing Arts Center on Friday (April 13) through Sunday (April 15). —h. timpson

8pm. Shea’s Performing Arts Center, 646 Main St. (847-1410 / sheas.org). $33.25 to $60.75.

Friday, April 13

Dr. Fameus

And so the never-ending debate lives on...What is electronic music’s place in the world of music? Maybe you love you some drum and bass, never getting enough of the endless possibilities that go along with music blooming from synthetic kits and drum machines. Or, maybe you prefer watching musicians deliver live music in front of you with their “real” instruments. Regardless of your preference, what’s about to go down on Friday night (April 13) is about to raise your appreciation for both styles. The drummer from the Disco Biscuits, Allen Aucoin, will be set back at the stage of DBGBs, with just a drum set and his computer. All night he’ll accompany his dupstep, drum-and-bass, techno/house tracks with live rolls and syncopation. His talent, perfected from years on a drum line and intensive training at Berklee School of Music in Boston, is precise and mesmerizing. He’ll blow you away with his already-produced electronic melodies mixed with intense drum solos. This night he’ll go by Dr. Fameus, the name of this project, and a nickname he earned at Berklee for being infamously late to class. Once you see a Honda Civic pull up on Allen Street Friday night, count on it that it will be Dr. Fameus and get ready for the perfect blend of authenticity and artificiality. —emilie hagen

9:30pm. Duke’s Bohemian Grove Bar, 253 Allen St. (240-9359 / dukesbohemiangrovebar.com). $7 advanced.

Sunday, April 15

Clutter IV: A Buffalo Indie/DIY Market

Clutter, Buffalo’s bi-monthly curated independent market, is returning for the fourth time this Sunday (April 15) to provide items from local vendors such as silkscreen prints, vintage vinyl, vintage clothing and house wares, handmade knitted items, posters, buttons, patches, vegan treats, and more for the craft-loving and community-minded. In order to meet the demand for more vendors, Clutter will move from it’s previous home at Sugar City to the first floor gallery space of Main (ST)udios. The artists’ community and gallery space is newly renovated and located on Main Street just blocks from the Theater District, CEPA Gallery, Squeaky Wheel, The Western New York Book Arts Center, and more. In addition to the new location, Clutter will be held on Sunday instead of Saturday. “I took a look at the Buffalo weekly calendar and found that there are rarely any markets or events to look forward to on Sunday afternoons,” says organizer, Vanessa Ron. “I think having Clutter on a Sunday would be a great post-brunch activity.” Local vendors include Etsy shops Owl la Mode, Super Giant, Cavy Aesthetic, Bird Ave Baby, SingleTreePress, vintage sellers LeighViande Vintage, Clever Furry Foxes Vintage, Once Vintage, local favorites Spiral Scratch Records, Western New York Book Arts Collaborative, ReImagine Furniture, and many more. Food will be available from The Whole Hog Food Truck and Lloyd Taco Truck. Seize this opportunity to get off your couch on a Sunday afternoon and marvel at Buffalo’s creative community. —amelia lamarr

11am-6pm. Main (ST)udios, 515 Main St. (facebook.com/groups/clutter) Free.

Monday, April 16

Sleepy Sun

The vagabond collaborative of the five brothers in Sleepy Sun bring a rebellious pop collection with a punch on their latest LP, Spine Hits. The San Francisco natives have made a name for themselves opening for bands such as the Arctic Monkeys, Black Angels, and Low Anthem, while differentiating themselves from the mainstream pack. The ceaseless energy of days spent traveling the California desert and hooking up with Queens of the Stone Age and Eagles of Death Metal alumnus Dave Catching developed a restless psychedelic album that bodes well to an upcoming summer. Each song alternates in tempo, sometimes dreamily spooky or wayward, with floating snap shots of inescapable memories. The mixture ranges in themes from cherishing the present moment, as on their song “Stivey Pond,” to a dreamy brief encounter on “Siouxsie Blaqq,” schizophrenia exercises on “Martyr’s Mantra,” and a late night excursion through Kruger National Park on “Lioness (Requiem).” The band does not sit still for long, a characteristic that ultimately generates the vigorous force that has captivated fans and new ears. Respectfully catchy and unfeigned, this is a band that merits attention before expectantly begging their listeners for more as they move on. Sleepy Sun will perform this Monday (April 16) at Mohawk Place with special guests White Hills and The Mordaunt Sisters. —stacie duderwick

8pm. Mohawk Place, 47 E. Mohawk St. (465-2368 / themohawkplace.com). $10.

Thursday, April 19

Tokimonsta

There is no Magna Carta or Rosetta Stone of sampling. There are no rules or regulations, but if there were, TokiMonsta would break them. Each track on the LA electronic producer’s latest EP, Cosmic Intoxication, straddles the line between original work and mash up—blending recognizable samples with distorted, twisted clips. The glitchy hip-hop beats on Cosmic Intoxication are sample from a variety of sources, like the first track, “Playing With Toys” which creatively fuses the Junior Boys’ “Caught In A Wave” with the Flaming Lips’ “The Spark That Bled.” Not all of TokiMonsta’s samples are as easily recognizable, but they all combine to create dynamic, head bobbing tracks that usually transcend their parts. Listening to the Brainfeeder Records artist play with her toys is one thing, but watching her is another as she stands in front of her sequencer tapping out beats and wrestling knobs. TokiMonsta will bring her beats to Soundlab next Thursday (April 19) with openers Perceptor, Mark Kloud, and more. —cory perla

9pm. Soundlab, 110 Pearl St. (440-5907 / bigorbitgallery.org/soundlab). $12 advanced, $15 day of show.

Thursday, April 19

Plants & Animals

Listening to Montreal based indie rock band Plants And Animals tends to evoke warm, intimate feelings. Singers Warren Spicer and Matthew Woodley trade off nostalgic lyrics and vocal harmonies as the three-piece band, rounded out by drummer Nicolas Basque, bounce between wintery Fleet Foxes-like indie folk, roots rock sing-a-longs, and driving indie rock tracks. On their 2010 album, La La Land, the band led off with one of the strongest sleeper singles of that year, “Tom Cruz,” on which they cranked up their sound with fuzzy electro guitar riffs and a rhythmic flow that bleeds through the rest of the album. On their latest record, The End Of That, the band takes it down a notch, returning to their original, relaxed and intimate vibe with the apropos help of Feist engineer Lionel Darenne. Their newest single “Lightshow” perfectly reconciles the Canadian band’s current folk-pop tendencies with their previously dark rock sound in their most fleshed out work to date. Don’t miss Plants and Animals when they come to Mohawk Place on Thursday (April 19) with Buffalo stoner-pop band Aircraft.—cory perla

8pm. Mohawk Place, 47 E. Mohawk St. (465-2368 / themohawkplace.com). $8.