The Ten Best Concerts in New York This Weekend, 9/21/12

In no particular order, here are ten can’t-miss shows in New York this weekend. For the Voice‘s full rundown of New York events, hit up villagevoice.com/datebook.

See Also:
– All Tomorrow’s Parties Preview: Founder Barry Hogan on the Festival’s Move to New York City
– Fear of a Talibam! Planet
– Three Reasons Why Old Records Are Bigger Than Ever

All Tomorrow’s Parties at Pier 36 (Friday-Sunday)
Since its birth in 1999 and its across-the-pond, American debut in 2002, All Tomorrow’s Parties has become a second Christmas, saved in the Google calendars of music fans across the country. This year, the artist-curated festival travels up the Garden State Parkway from last year’s location, Asbury Park, to Manhattan’s Pier 36, where it will be making its New York City debut with Greg Dulli in charge of booking. Friday, he’s got Frank Ocean, Philip Glass, Lee Ranaldo, Janeane Garofalo, and Hannibal Burress all set to perform, and on Saturday, his own Afghan Whigs headline a bill that includes The Roots, José González, Mark Lanegan, Emeralds, and the Antlers. Sunday, finally, features Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Hot Snakes, Thee Oh Sees, Braids, and Jonathan Toubin–so pace yourself accordingly. — By Nick Murray

Talibam! at Secret Project Robot (Friday)
Kevin Shea, the freewheeling drummer for Brooklyn’s ridiculously intrepid avant-everything duo Talibam!, is waxing about adding “rapping wordsmith” to his already extensive résumé. He has crowned himself MC K-Wizzle; his Talibam! partner in genius, keyboard guru Matt Mottel, has taken on the name MC Moaty Mogulz. Talibam! perform Friday at Secret Project Robot. Continue reading Brad Cohan’s “Fear of a Talibam Planet“.

Bon Iver at Radio City Music Hall (Friday-Monday)
It’s been a little over a year since indie-folk troubadour Justin Vernon released Bon Iver’s self-titled second album of echoey, intricately orchestrated confessionals. Since then, the soft-rock-leaning Bon Iver won a Grammy, Vernon released a dubstep single (with James Blake), and he and his bandmates booked a four-night residency at Radio City Music Hall, which begins September 19. In a way, the cavernous Music Hall is the ideal setting for the members of Bon Iver, who, on record, seem to revel in letting their instruments envelop Vernon’s voice on songs such as “Holocene,” forcing listeners to struggle and strain to make out harmonized, high-pitched lyrics like the song’s “and at once I knew I was not magnificent.” The setting makes you work a little harder. The first two dates feature folk artist Anaïs Mitchell, who’s duetted with Vernon in the past. Doug Paisley opens the show on September 21; Polica on September 22. — By Kory Grow

Wayne Krantz at the Highline Ballroom (Friday)
The hyper-inventive guitarist leads a trio–and devoted hardcore following–through look-out-below improvisations that dangle tantalizingly on the cusp of chaos and ecstasy. Although he released his first rock album earlier this year, tonight’s lineup finds the avant-funk dervish unspooling his high-anxiety riffs alongside bassist Nate Wood and longtime associate Keith Carlock, who currently numbers among the most powerful percussive forces on the planet. — By Richard Gehr

Gang Gang Dance+Sun Araw at Public Assembly (Friday)
Musically speaking, Gang Gang Dance concerts are often as unpredictable as their records, which meander along a course of squeaky synth parts, echoey cymbalism, and frontwoman Liz Bougatsos’s worldbeat-inspired glossolalia. This primal quality–something they’ve passed off as experimentalism even though their most recent polyrhythmic musical polyglots follow some algorithm–this fluid trait is the reason they’re able to play three nights in Brooklyn at different venues, beginning with tonight’s concert. Plus, it’s been a little over a year since they released their last LP, Eye Contact, which might have given them enough time to discover some unexpected new sound to exploit. — By Kory Grow

‘Mr. Saturday Night’ w/ Roman Flugel at 12-Turn-13 (Saturday)
Roman Flugel is one of Germany’s great mid ’90s success stories: He fell in love with the new music coming out of Detroit and Chicago, and drew on his music studies and raw talent to create an unusually nuanced, diverse body of work. His early releases with Jorn Elling Wuttke as Acid Jesus and as Alter Ego are classics, and he’s been one of the major forces behind the Playhouse, Klang, and Ongaku labels. Last year’s Fatty Folders confirmed he’s still making some of the most vital house around. With residents Eamon Harkin and Justin Carter. — By Kristal Hawkins

Fanfare Ciocarlia at Michael Schimmel Center for the Arts, Pace University (Saturday)
Formed in 1996, when a German producer visiting a small Romanian town convinced several talented locals to band together, Fanfare Ciocarlia (meaning “skylark brass band”) has since become the world’s best-known Balkan/Romani band of its horn-driven ilk. The twelve-piece group plays fast, exciting music that punctuates Turkish, Serbian, and Macedonian numbers with Bollywood and Western covers. (You may recall FC’s “Born to Be Wild” from the closing credits of Borat. — By Richard Gehr

Metric at Radio City Music Hall (Sunday)
Frontwoman Emily Haines’ first words on Metric’s latest LP go, “I’m just as fucked up as they say,” and while that may be hyperbole, it’s the group’s quirky-yet-catchy approach to newer-wave that has set them apart from the social scene they came up with. Earlier this year, they released the well-received Synthetica, and despite containing their slickest production yet, their slightly off-kilter approach to musical hooks makes the sleekly synthetic sheen work. It’s not so much “fucked up” as delightfully askew. With Half Moon Run. — By Kory Grow

‘Mystikal Disco’ w/ Daniel Bell+Patrick Russell at 269 Norman Avenue (Sunday)
Back in early ’90s Detroit, Dan Bell turned bleeps and blips and the sounds of robot squirrel chatter into tracks like “Losing Control,” pioneering the indomitable groove that would be known as minimal techno. The Richie Hawtin collaborator also ran 7th City and Accelerate. Mentalux man Patrick Russell is something of a Detroit rarity: He loves disco edits, acid, jack, and experimentation more than techno purism. With Jackson Lee and Ben Jenkins. — By Kristal Hawkins

‘Einstein on the Beach’ at Brooklyn Academy of Music (Through Sunday)
Despite its game-changing reputation, it’s been 20 years since the epic collaboration between Philip Glass and avant-garde director Robert Wilson has been performed in New York. Those with low blood sugar, a weak bladder, or the tendency to slip into a state of hypnosis when exposed to prolonged minimalism have the option to come and go as they please. — By Aiden Levy