Tuesday, April 17, Tim Fite at Brooklyn Bowl, $5
Brooklyn songwriter Tim Fite has worked hard enough to escape the shadow of the somewhat embarrassing one-hit wonder he was in that we won't mention them by name. He has developed a wide-ranging vocabulary that incorporates junk-stores blues, back-pack rap and arty collages, and will be touring behind his latest Anti Records release Ain't Ain't Ain't, which unlike his past several records actually appeared in stores and wasn't just a download he released through his website for free. Should you need proof that he is worth $5 to see play, head to said site and download his anti-consumerist rant (in a good way) Over The Counter Culture.
Thursday, April 19 and Friday, April 20, Questlove and Friends, Brooklyn Academy of Music, $25
As if the Roots drummer,"Late Night With Jimmy Fallon" and musical man about town didn't have enough to do, he's organized this symposium on modern "Shuffle Culture" (as the event is called) that will see ? and his various buddies performing a wide-ranging musical playlist live. To give you an idea of how wide-ranging this playlist is, said buddies include The Metropolis Ensemble, Deerhoof, Sasha Grey, Kenny Muhammad (also known as the Human Orchestra), troubadour Willis Earl Beal (Friday only) Reggie Watts (Thursday only), beatbox master Rahzel, Gray, D.D. Jackson and many more.
Saturday, April 21, Fountains Of Wayne, James Iha at Irving Plaza, $30
If history is kind, Fountains Of Wayne will be remembered for more than just that song about that girl's mom. They've spent more than two decades chronicling the small-time dreams and desperations of luckless losers and heartbroken eternal teenagers, and if the universe is kind they'll get two more decades to craft punchy, incisive and witty pop songs. Supporting the New Jersey band at this show is former Smashing Pumpkins guitarist James Iha, who played with A Perfect Circle and the Fountains/Cheap Trick/Hanson supergroup (why not) but other than that hasn't done very much recently, which seems like a shame. Maybe this show is a sign he's restarting the solo career?
