8 THENEWYORKER, SEPTEMBER 16, 2019
ILLUSTRATION BY NICOLE RIFKIN
Heavy metal is often associated with primal roars, dark themes, and apoc-
alyptic instrumentation, but the polished Japanese idol band BABYMETAL
keeps only the latter trait and dispenses with the rest, combining a thrashing
musical backdrop with bubbly J-pop that could be lifted from a video game.
The jarring, if not altogether surreal, contrast—complete with theatrical
girly-goth aesthetics and fully choreographed performances—has thrust
the group into the international spotlight and continues to convert metal
traditionalists and newcomers alike. It’s a phenomenon that feels like it could
exist only in the digital era, when notions of genre are a suggestion at best,
and the element of surprise continues to pay. In advance of its forthcoming
album, “Metal Galaxy,” BABYMETAL performs at Terminal 5, on Sept. 15.
It may just be the cutest music you’ve ever headbanged to.—Briana YoungerMETAL-POP
1
NIGHT LIFE
Musicians and night-club proprietors lead
complicated lives; it’s advisable to check in
advance to confirm engagements.
Zeena Parkins
The Stone at the New School
Despite sitting somewhere between the bassoon
and the bagpipe in the hierarchy of go-to jazz
instruments, the harp has had its share of ded-
icated practitioners, including the now exalted
Alice Coltrane and the contemporary funkmeis-
ter Brandee Younger. Zeena Parkins has been
toward the light—and toward slightly more pop-
friendly sounds. “Igor,” from July, is saccharine
compared with that early work and finds Tyler
dealing with themes of love and heartbreak, his
signature growling baritone largely replaced
by dreamy melodies and charming singing.
Here, he’s supported by similarly fluid artists:
the slick rhymer GoldLink and the creative
polymath Jaden (as in Jaden Smith).—Briana
Younger (Sept. 12.)Chris Forsyth
Nublu
In the nineties, Chris Forsyth took guitar les-
sons from Richard Lloyd, of the band Televi-
sion; it was money well spent. Forsyth packed
his subsequent work with bristling guitar lines
carved from Television’s mold, often falling into
the slim overlap between punk and its even
more unbathed nemesis, jam-band music. At
Nublu, Forsyth leads a residency that joins his
guitar with different musicians every Friday
this month. Guests include Dream Syndicate’s
Steve Wynn, on Sept. 13, and the free-jazz vet-
eran Daniel Carter, on Sept. 27.—Jay Ruttenberg
(Sept. 13, Sept. 20, and Sept. 27.)James Murphy/ Black Madonna
Knockdown Center
In night life, back-to-back sets between big-
name d.j.s often feel like cash grabs, but this
matchup is ripe with possibility. James Mur-
phy, the past and present front man of LCD
Soundsystem, is also a first-rate disco selec-
tor; Marea Stamper, who spins as the Black
Madonna, is his coequal in matching rarities
with familiar club favorites. Both know how to
pace out a buildup that jackknifes into a sing-
along, and both make a habit of surprising their
crowds.—Michaelangelo Matos (Sept. 13.)Jlin
Elsewhere
Few electronic musicians demand close lis-
tening the way the dance producer Jlin does.
A native of Gary, Indiana, she makes music
that takes off from the blurry syncopations of
Chicago footwork, a frenetic house-music deri-
vation, into parts unknown. Tuneful synths float
through her tracks like spirits, but the drums
are the lead instrument—even repetitive pulses
consistently shift emphasis. What could top the
whirligig beat devilry of her 2017 album, “Black
Origami,” and her sometimes astringent 2018
score for the choreographer Wayne McGregor’s
show “Autobiography”? This appearance hope-
fully offers a clue.—M.M. (Sept. 13.)Basilica SoundScape
Basilica Hudson
OUT OF TOWN Let other music festivals have
their haute-hippie selfies and front-to-back
rock-album recitals. Basilica SoundScape can
now lay claim to its very own poet trolley—an
antique trolley car retrofitted to host readings,
a new addition to this upstate arts summit.
SoundScape, the flagship weekend for the Hud-
son, New York, performance venue, evinces
a mind-set that’s at once bookish and noisy.
This year’s lineup includes Low, M Lamar, thetextile-and-wood panels are mounted on casters,
implying art on the move; Kunlin He, whose
large-scale triptych “2092: Tale of Moon Trip”
depicts a panoramic view of global crises all
too familiar in the Anthropocene; and Katarina
Burin, who contributes a small concrete planter,
inspired by brutalist architecture. The melan-
choly air of an oversized replica of a broken
laundry basket, by Ester Partegàs, is balanced by
the cathedral-like effect of light filtering through
holes in its seafoam-green form. The show’s
theme, per its title, may seem puzzling until
you realize that the artists here are expanding
the boundaries of drawing with a generosity
that borders on love.—J.F. (Through Sept. 15.)
upholding the integrity of the instrument in
avant-garde music circles since the early eighties,
appearing on recordings with open-eared artists
ranging from Björk to John Zorn. Parkins’s Stone
residency finds room for collaborations with such
confrères as Myra Melford, Nels Cline, and Ikue
Mori.—Steve Futterman (Sept. 10-14.)Pat Metheny Side-Eye
Sony Hall
Possibly the most influential jazz guitarist of the
past five decades, Pat Metheny doesn’t sit still
for long these days: he continues to cultivate
fresh ensembles to satisfy his insatiable itch
for the new. Side-Eye is his all-encompassing
moniker for projects that bring together the now
venerable player with younger instrumentalists
deserving of wider attention. This edition unites
him with the keyboardist James Francies and the
drummer Marcus Gilmore.—S.F. (Sept. 11-13.)Tyler, the Creator
Madison Square Garden
Tyler, the Creator has travelled a long way from
his days as the de-facto leader and agent provo-
cateur of the defiant hip-hop collective Odd
Future. The rapper-producer’s artistic evolution
has been an exercise in maturation as well as
expansion; since his début mixtape, “Bastard,”
a brooding and crass release, he’s been inching