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See You There!

Artvoice's weekly round-up of featured events, including our editor's pick for the week: the Night Shift presented by Artvoice, this Friday the 22nd at Allen St. Hardware Café.

If you haven't already, be sure to check out our full events calendar on-line for complete event listings, a location guide to find your way about the city, restaurant reviews, and more.



Artvoice Presents Night Shift

Friday, August 22

We had a great time at the last Night Shift in July with Igloo Music and Dovey. The Igloo Music guys shook the back room with some house and techno vibes while Dovey kept it grooving in the front room with some hip hop all night long. When we kicked off this monthly dance party we weren’t sure how the Hardware crowd would react to a room full of deep house music but you guys have proven that Hardware is the best place to dance in Allentown, maybe even all of Buffalo. So once again, we will continue to deliver the bass stabs and house vibes that you all get down to, and bass duo Eyes Everywhere (pictured) know how to provide just that. This week the guys, Kyle Tatum and Brian Doyle released their latest record, Privilege Thing EP on Anabatic Records, a label known for house and breakbeat releases by artists like Worthy. The record is a mix of twisted 1990s house sounds, primal vocal digs, and glinting piano lines on tracks like “Ruff Ride” and “Origami.” The duo gained some attention earlier this year for their last single, a track called “Off Baliey” released on Fool’s Gold records as part of their Club House series. Eyes Everywhere will take the back room of Allen Street Hardware Cafe with the rest of their Cool Dad Records crew, Nick Fowler, Mascone Lee, and Alex Morrison this Friday (Aug 22). Rick Jameson aka Spooky Sean of Spooky Business will keep the front room bumping all night with a mix of new hip hop and...samples from The Lion King. Let the revelry continue.

- cory perla

11pm Allen St. Hardware Café (882-8843 / allenstreethardware.com) $5

Thursday, August 21

Rave at the Rapids

If you just didn’t get enough “Big EDM” from Moby at Canalside last Thursday, then the Rave at the Rapids should satisfy your thirst for bass drops and glow sticks. The night’s headliners include new-comer Almond, a 19-year-old producer and DJ who cut his teeth on 1990s remixes and mashups that include samples from 1990s Nickelodeon TV shows like Hey Arnold and Full House and heavily remixed dance floor versions of songs by bands like Smash Mouth, Blink 182, and Good Charlotte. Almond aka Joel Almand, a Western New York native, started producing music a little over a year ago after his best friend’s father passed away. “I wanted to make something for that family,” he says. Since then he’s had the opportunity to play some pretty well attended gigs, including a slot at BeachGlow music festival in New Jersey. This Thursday (tonight!) Almond will bring his big EDM sound to the Rapid’s Theater with a few well known local names including Kiss 98.5’s DJ RanKan, DJ Dëëk, Kitz, and MioSi. First 100 people through the door will receive an LED foam stick and best “rave costume” will win $100.

- cory perla

9pm Rapids Theatre, 1711 Main St., Niagara Falls. (205-8925 / rapidstheatre.com) $20 advance, $25 day of show

Friday, August 22

Personable: Figurative Art and Illustration

Western New York native and self-described “space boy,” Daniel Robinson, has always viewed himself as an individual from a different planet. He is a local performer with deep roots in Buffalo who attended Clarence High School and took voice lessons with Diana Lawson at the Academy of Theater arts in Williamsville. Robinson’s newest EP, Guesswork—released through his new art collective, Giant Robot Anime­—is an acoustic compilation and represents a dramatic departure from his specialty, synthpop. The album, which is available through iTunes, incorporates a textural, pleasurable, and dreamy atmosphere. That dreamy atmosphere should provide a nice foundation for Personable: Figurative Art and Illustration, an artshow this Friday (Aug 22) at Dreamland, an avante-garde art-space located at 387 Franklin St. Robinson (pictured) will be playing an electronic set to kick off the art-show, presented by artist Felix Keigh, which features fantasy based art by artists like Angela Marini, who will show her watercolor paintings; Keigh, who uses mixed media to design storybook-like characters; Kayley Johnson who creates haunting yet delicate images via various media, and Kei Burt who designs charcters inspired by fantasy and science fiction works.

- mark abell

7pm Dreamland, 387 Franklin St.

Saturday, August 23

Battle @ Buffalo: Under the Lights 4

You don’t have to know what “turfing” or “electric boogaloo-ing” are to enjoy Battle @ Buffalo: Under the Lights 4. The b-boys and b-girls at Buffalo’s biggest annual breakdancing competition are here to school you on some of the latest street dancing styles—styles that have moved well beyond these retro breakdancing moves, which originated in the breaking capital of the world, Oakland, California in the 1980s. This competition will consist of an “all styles” battle—where any style is welcome in a one vs one battle—and a two vs two b-boy/b-girl battle. The winner of the all styles battle, as judged by the returning champion, Calderia, as well as Android and Tinman, will take home $500 cash, while the winner of the b-boy battle—judged by Sweet Lou of Dynamic Rockers, Frost of Ground Illusionz, and Gage of Differential Flava Crew—will grab $1,500 in cash. Battle @ Buffalo: Under the Lights 4, presented by Verve Dance Studio and New Era will take place this Saturday (Aug 23) outside of the New Era Cap Company store (160 Delaware Ave). The event will feature five local and guest DJs, as well as a musical performance from funk band Rhubarb, dance workshops, and live graffiti art.

- cory perla

Noon to 10pm New Era Flagship Store, 160 Delaware Ave. (vervedancestudio.com) $5 general admission, $1 extra to battle

Sunday, August 24

Kishi Bashi

Violin maestro turned cosmic conductor, Kaoru Ishibashi, performs under the pseudonym, Kishi Bashi. His 2012, debut album, 151a, showcased his violin chops and soaring vocals, and featured a blend of silliness, surrealism, tragedy and ethereal melodies layered like a quirky, English trifle. Bashi plays an evolved version of chamber music through a lens of indie-rock. His recently released sophomore album, Lighght, expands on his signiture sound. While looping violin lines pervade each track, they’re less in the foreground than in previous compositions. Instead, he’s layered raw elements, like acoustic drums and guitars, with synthetic instruments to create a tapestry of classical-infused electro-pop that’s as dense as it is effervescent. His playful, yet empathetic lyrics are strengthened by each song’s melodies, which neither eclipse, nor are overpowered by the many instruments employed. Bright and soaring avant-pop songs are prevalent, but his style shape shifts throughout the album. With each track, Bashi challenges one’s indie rock expectations, venturing further into indie’s uncharted territories. Kishi Bashi will play at the Tralf Music Hall on Sunday (Aug 24).

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- kellie powell

7pm The Tralf Music Hall, 622 Main St. (852-2860 / tralfmusichall.com) $12 advance, $14 day of show

Tuesday, August 26

The Buffalo Film Seminars

The closing of the Market Arcade Film and Arts Center, which offered a professional big-screen venue to local and independent filmmakers along with mass-market movies for those unwilling to trek to the ‘burbs, was a loss for downtown. But it hasn’t meant the end of the Buffalo Film Seminars, which moves to the Amherst Theater for its new season. The weekly series is hosted (as it has been since its inception in 2000) by UB professors Bruce Jackson and Diane Christian, essentially opening up their popular film study class for the public. As has become tradition, this year’s series begins this Tuesday (Aug 26) with a silent film, D. W. Griffith’s Broken Blossoms (1919), accompanied on piano by Philip Carli, the Rochester resident who is on staff at the Eastman House and whose name you will often spot on Turner Classic Movies. Other highlights include Fritz Lang’s M (no relation to Mrs. Faust’s M) on Sept 2, Howard Hawks’ Red River Sept 16, and Mick Jagger in Nicolas Roeg’s Performance on Oct 21. A full schedule and more information than you can shake a stick at about each film is available at csac.buffalo.edu.

- m. faust

7 pm Amherst Theater, 3000 Main St, $9.50, students $7.50, seniors $7

Thursday, August 28

Sigur Rós’ ( ) (33 1/3) Book Reading feat. Wooden Cities

Sigur Rós is perhaps one of the most inspiring musical acts of a generation. Their cinematic, slow motion rock music conjures up images of their homeland of Iceland, and their rich textures and instrumentation have influenced many artists and writers alike. One Buffalo writer, Ethan Haydan, Ph.D. candidate in music at UB, has been especially inspired. He will launch a book dedicated to the Icelandic band’s seminal record ( ) as part of an acclaimed series of music-based books by Bloomsbury Publishers. The New York Times called the series of books, which includes titles on the Beastie Boys, Neutral Milk Hotel, Portishead, and others “the most remarkable regular event in rock journalism today.” On Thursday (Aug 28) Haydan will discuss his book, which will be released that day, and talk about the moving post-rock band at Talking Leaves Books on Main Street. Buffalo band Wooden Cities will also perform a tribute to Sigur Rós.

- cory perla

7pm Talking Leaves 3158 Main St (tleavesbooks.com) free