Bars Listings
by Tricia Romano
It’s CMJ time, and that means total madness for clubgoers. This is the week when you have to wait in line with people from fly-over country to see every artist under the sun. OK, head to Avalon to see Richie Hawtin (a/k/a Plastikman) supporting his latest release, CLOSER, which is an über-minimalist record in line with the brooding and dark CONSUMED disc from a few years back. He’s playing with Josh Wink, and between them I figure there’ll be some motivation for booty shaking. Since it’s a big club, I also predict hard-as-nails techno.
Saturday @ 10, Avalon, 47 W 20th, 212.807.7780
OK, so I just made a joke about fly-over country people, but I should admit that I really like the folks from Ghostly Records, who hail from the great Midwest. On this lineup is a slew of Midwest products, including, um, Midwest Product, Lusine, Twine, and the sublime techno producer Matthew Dear, who rips up beats with the playfulness of an innocent toddler.
Friday @ 12, Rare, 416 W 14th, 212.675.2220
The folks at Grand Central Records are whoring themselves out this week, but perhaps the coziest place to see their showcase is at that li’l café that could, Halcyon (way out in Brooklyn, kids). The show features a live set from Fingathing, which features turntablist Peter Parker and bassist Sneaky freaking out. (Trivia factoid: They used to be the backing band for Rae & Christian.) Also playing are another Brit hip-hopper (they used to call this stuff downtempo and/or trip-hop), Only Child; Funky Fresh Few; and Jon Kennedy.
Wednesday @ 9, Halcyon, 227 Smith St, Bklyn, 718.260.9299