This week, Ontario’s Taylor Kirk brought his fantastic folk-blues project, Timber Timbre, to the TONY offices for a performance. Accompanied by some extra strings, Kirk’s howl chillingly echoed throughout our high walls, making for quite the sight and sound. If you’d like to see them do their thing yourself, be sure to check them out at Joe’s Pub tonight.

Devo

Friday

1. Devo at Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza
Tonight the Mothersbaugh and Casale brothers play Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! in full. Tomorrow it’s Freedom of Choice.

2. Timber Timbre at Joe’s Pub
Taylor Kirk & Co.’s lush, somber folk takes center stage tonight. Be sure to check the Volume later for an exclusive TONY in-office performance from the troupe.

3. 28 Hours of Innovative Art at Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural Center
This marathon avant-jazz event on the LES has performances and activities running into the wee hours tonight and throughout the day on Saturday.

Saturday

1. Little Dragon at (Le) Poisson Rouge
The idiosyncratic Swedish pop group meshes meshed icy, down-tempo electronica with jazzy, organic neosoul. Read our preview on the show here.

2. Nader Sadek at Santos Party House
The art world and the metal underground come together yet again courtesy of this Egyptian artist. Read our show preview here.

3. Myron Walden Group at Smalls
Local sax mainstay Myron Walden fronts a quintet tonight and Friday.

Sunday

1. Devendra Banhart at the Town Hall
The high priest of the freak-folk movement returns to form with a new album and a show tonight, and one Monday at the Music Hall of Williamsburg. Read our preview on the shows here.

2. Mike Bones at Cake Shop
Bones sings of women troubles at an intimate occasion. Read a recent show preview about him here.

3. Talib Kweli at Brooklyn Bowl
Underground hip-hop’s unofficial leader brings a great bunch of rappers to Brooklyn’s new bowling alley and venue.

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros aren’t quite a household name yet, but we have a feeling they will be one very soon. Last night, the ten-piece, joy-spreading ensemble brought its enlightened vibes to Music Hall of Williamsburg, where it played the second of two sold-out local shows. Photographer Peter Kleeman snapped a bunch of pics for the Volume, and you can check out the results above.

Annie, the always sharp Norwegian pop princess, is finally back in action. Don’t Stop—her follow-up to 2004’s Anniemal—came out on Tuesday, and she’s in the midst of a leisurely DJ tour before returning to the States for full-on pop-star domination in 2010. You’ll be able to find Annie spinning records at the Tribeca Grand on Saturday night, so we got her on the phone for a little preview. Click past the jump for the interview, and a Don’t Stop video teaser.

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Rakim at B.B. King Blues Club & Grill
The veteran rapper just released The Seventh Seal, his first new album in a decade. Read Jesse Serwer’s review here—or just head to Times Square and see the dude play tonight.

Ray Davies at the Town Hall
The Kinks frontman plays the first gig of a two-night run featuring a pair of sets: one with an acoustic band, the other with the Dessoff Chamber Choir. Read Davies’s TONY interview here.

Dirty Projectors + tUnE-yArDs at Music Hall of Williamsburg
Dirty Projectors cap off a great year with a string of New York shows, featuring Ray Davies–approved tUnE-yArDs. (Read TONY’s Dirty Projectors interview here.)

Bob Dylan at United Palace Theatre
King Bob concludes his three-night stand in Washington Heights.

Cave In + Narrows + Trap Them at Knitting Factory Brooklyn
Beloved Boston band Cave In returns from a hiatus.

Sleigh Bells at (Le) Poisson Rouge
Find out what the fuss is about this rising Brooklyn dance-pop duo.

Photo: Lizz Kuehl

Loved the Jelly Pool Parties over the summer (and last year)? Yeah, so did we. This summer’s events featured Grizzly Bear, Girl Talk, the Black Lips, Dirty Projectors, Deerhunter, Dan Deacon, No Age, Mission of Burma, Beach House, Simian Mobile Disco, Wiz Khalifa—and who can forget Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz proudly introducing “Effed Up!”? Well, according to Jelly’s press release today, the future of the Pool Parties could be in jeopardy: “News came from the New York State Parks Department and the Open Space Alliance that the East River State Park may not be available to Jelly for the 2010 season. This will ultimately put an end to the flourishing free summer series.”

Click past the jump for info on how you can help.

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Okay, we’re still obsessed with the awesomely strange video for the Dead Weather’s “Cut Like a Buffalo” (check it out after the jump). You may remember that Jack White, Alison Mosshart & Co. played Terminal 5 in July (plus a very sweaty pop-up show, reviewed here)—and the band returned to NYC last night for this relatively intimate gig at Music Hall of Williamsburg in advance of tonight’s MTV Woodie awards, proving again that as a live prospect, the Dead Weather is a juddering, squealing force to be reckoned with. Check out pics of the show by TONY photographer Lizz Kuehl.

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Former Cardigans chanteuse Nina Persson now fronts A Camp, the musical project she shares with her movie-composer husband, Nathan Larson. Earlier this year, we reviewed the group’s latest album, Colonia, which featured contributions from Mark Linkous, Joan as Police Woman and the Smashing Pumkins’ James Iha—and last night’s show at (Le) Poisson Rouge had a string section featuring members of Beirut, Arcade Fire, and Antony and the Johnsons. TONY photographer David Rosenzweig was there to catch the action. After the jump: the video for A Camp’s single “Stronger than Jesus.”

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Dirty Projectors + tUnE-yArDs at Bowery Ballroom
Capping an extraordinary 2009, art-pop visionary Dave Longstreth, above, and his Dirty Projectors, about whom you may have read in TONY, kick off a triumphant homecoming stand. Opening is the compellingly eccentric one-woman band tUnE-yArDs.

Milton Nascimento at Carnegie Hall
The veteran Brazilian songman brings his unearthly falsetto to a hallowed stage.

Big Star + Kurt Vile and the Violators at Brooklyn Masonic Temple
A rebooted version of the iconic power-pop outfit Big Star plays behind a new rarities box. Support comes from tripped-out young tunesmith Kurt Vile.

Savion Glover: Jammin’ with the Masters at Blue Note
Star tap dancer Savion Glover matches wits with a fellow percussive genius, pioneering jazz drummer Roy Haynes.

Our Hit Parade at Joe’s Pub at the Public Theater
Several fabulous wackos—led by Bridgett Everett, Kenny Mellman and Neal Medlyn—offer skewed takes on current pop favorites. Read a recent TONY feature on the series here.

Bob Dylan and Dion at the United Palace Theatre
Enigmatic folk-rock icon Bob Dylan brings his hot, loose roots combo and fellow legend Dion to uptown’s stateliest show palace for the first of three shows this week.

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros with Fool’s Gold at the Bowery Ballroom
The buzz is strong for this high-spirited pairing of California bands: Tickets are officially sold out, but we know you’re crafty.

The Jesus Lizard with Noveller at the Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza
David Yow and his rowdy reptilian combo headline their second local throw-down, with elegant local guitar-scaper Sarah Lipstate (Noveller) warming the crowd.

The Flatlanders at B.B. King Blues Club & Grill
Jimmy Dale Gilmore, Butch Hancock and Joe Ely bring the Texas-troubadour tradition to Times Square.

Ethan Iverson, Albert “Tootie” Heath and Ben Street at Smalls
The Bad Plus pianist Ethan Iverson hits the stand with a different kind of rhythm section, featuring drum master Tootie Heath.

Shrinebuilder converged upon a packed house of metal-minded citizens at (Le) Poisson Rouge Sunday night, Rwake and Liturgy in tow. The new group is composed of indie-metal heavyweights Scott “Wino” Weinrich (the Hidden Hand, the Obsessed, Saint Vitus), Al Cisneros (Sleep, Om), Scott Kelly (Neurosis) and Dale Crover (Melvins), and made a number of mostly East Coast appearances earlier this week during its incipient mini tour.

First, a word on Liturgy, the evening’s opener. This visionary black-metal outfit could not have emerged at a better time. Its latest record, Renihilation, is precedent-setting in its rapturous din, and casts new light on the heretofore grim and hallowed landscape of its genre. Liturgy summoned it all for a chaotic set on Sunday, nicely augmented by (Le) Poisson Rouge’s excellent acoustics. Look for this band to build on its already swelling reputation as heavy hitters in Brooklyn’s metal scene.

Relapse Records sextet Rwake slowed things down a bit with a heady, polished doom set. Vocalist “C.T.” growled and hollered mighty verses that locked in nicely with the classically inflected, off-kilter ax work of the band’s two guitarists. How nice to see a band of this genre allowing itself to eschew the Black Sabbath worship and forge its own compositional steel. Brooding and forceful, yet in the pocket—and only a little shreddy.

A wise man once noted that doom metal relies on anticipation—of the downbeat, the resolution of the chord, often both. Brand-new doom fraternity Shrinebuilder capitalizes on this concept of delayed fulfillment. Of course, given the band’s ridiculously experienced lineup of players, it’s not surprising that these guys know their way around a sludgy tritone. Shrinebuilder’s sound is meaty, progressive and, in a live setting, nuanced in a way that doesn’t shine through on its recently released, self-titled studio effort. Guitars seemed to literally swarm around its rock-solid rhythm section, building up to crushing chorus licks played in unison. Four-way vocals (even drummer Dale Crover kicked in a few background croons) served to supplement the thick jamming.

With all the “supergroup” hype about these guys circulating in the underground metal scene, Shrinebuilder’s NYC debut was itself anticipated to an insane degree. The reality is that Sunday’s set probably produced mixed reactions from devoted attendees. The bottom line: It would be hard to say that the band brings anything truly fresh to the table, yet harder to argue that Shrinebuilder’s collaborative mastery of tried-and-true rock conventions isn’t still totally badass.—Luke Teegarden

Tonight, Chicago soul man Syl Johnson plays Music Hall of Williamsburg as part of Numero’s Eccentric Soul Revue. A proper revue show torn from the old world, the concert also features the Notations, Renaldo Domino and the lost New York MC Missy Dee, all backed by JC Brooks and the Uptown Sound. One of the songs Johnson promises to sing is “Different Strokes,” his 1967 hit that has been sampled by innumerable hip-hop artists. Here is Johnson’s original recording; after the jump are clips of what the song birthed.

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After emerging triumphant from last month’s CMJ fest, London’s the xx has been touring nonstop around Europe and the U.S.—and its members are clearly feeling the pressure. Yesterday the band made an announcement that keyboardist-guitarist Baria Qureshi had quit the band for good; last night, the xx took the stage at the Bowery Ballroom as a trio, with interested parties in the crowd including Courtney Love, Emily Haines and SIA. So did the xx pull it off? Click past the jump for more.

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Jack White’s current band has scheduled a last-minute gig in New York—it’s Tuesday, November 17, at the Music Hall of Williamsburg. Tickets just went on sale about an hour ago here, so make sure to snap a couple up before this show inevitably sells out.

And here’s the band’s second, recently released video for “I Cut Like a Buffalo”:

Art Brut

Friday

1. Numero’s Eccentric Soul Revue at Music Hall of Williamsburg

The great Chicago reissue label takes to the road for its first-ever tour and after the cancellation of Thursday’s show at the Grand Ballroom, this is your one chance to catch this lineup in New York. Read our feature on the Revue here.

2. Goodie Mob + Scarface + Slick Rick at B.B. King’s

Three excellent acts take to B.B.’s with the reunited Southern rap trailblazers headlining. Read our show preview here.

3. Art Brut + Midnight Masses + Surfer Blood at Brooklyn Bowl

London pop-punks Art Brut are consistently underrated; don’t underestimate this stacked bill. Midnight Masses features members of Trail of Dead and youngsters Surfer Blood might just be the next big thing. (Art Brut also plays Bowery Ballroom Sunday.)

Saturday

1. Peaches + Amanda Blank at Terminal 5

A couple of ladies get the dance party started on the far West Side.

2. Holden at Zebulon

This Parisian duo plays its folk-pop in Brooklyn tonight and continues all over town for most of the week.

3. Medeski Martin & Wood at Nokia Theatre at Times Square

The jam-jazz pioneers keep doing what they do best: rip it live.

Sunday

1. Afrika Bambaataa’s 35th Anniversary Party at S.O.B.’s

Old-school hip-hop artists like Naughty by Nature, Melle Mel and Dana Dane line up to honor the one and only Afrika Bambaataa.

2. Metallica + Lamb of God at Madison Square Garden

Metal takes to the Garden. The two groups play the arena on Saturday too.

3. Shrinebuilder at (Le) Poisson Rouge

The new doom supergroup plays the Blackened Music Series. Read our review of its latest album here.

The Cribs at Bowery Ballroom
Young British band the Cribs has good taste and very impressive connections. In the past, the musicians have worked with Sonic Youth’s Lee Ranaldo and Franz Ferdinand’s Alex Kapranos. Now they have admitted into their ranks Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr.

Fischerspooner at Santos Party House
The conceptual pop duo always has something up its sleeve—what will this mean tonight?

Richard Lloyd at the Studio at Webster Hall
The former sparring partner of Tom Verlaine comes to Webster Hall’s smaller space in non-Television mode.

Gal Cost and Romero Lubambo at Blue Note
A founder of the tropicalia movement, the great Brazilian singer Gal Costa sets up shop with guitarist Romero Lubambo for a four-night stand.

Music for 16 Futurist Noise Intoners at the Town Hall
A bunch of iconic experimentalists—Mike Patton, Tony Conrad, Elliott Sharp and more—come together for a fascinating event.

And note that Numero’s Eccentric Soul Revue, originally scheduled for tonight, has been canceled. (Friday night’s show at Music Hall of Williamsburg, however, remains on.)

Ghostface Killah at B.B. King Blues Club & Grill
Wu-Tang’s most endearing alumnus loves to throw curveballs. Witness a recent album of love songs, which received high marks in TONY, or the above “Ghost Story” (involving a MiniKiss melee), which the MC shared on a recent episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live! Expect sundry surprises tonight, as Ghostface hits Times Square in the company of as-yet-unannounced special guests.

The xx at Bowery Ballroom
This London electrosoul foursome has stirred up some major buzz, and according to one Volume correspondent who caught the band at CMJ, the hype is thoroughly justified.

John Butcher at Issue Project Room
The British saxist brings his experimental-improv wizardry to Issue, where he’ll play solo and in duet with cellist Okkyung Lee.

Julianna Barwick at Santos Party House
We’ve been die-hard supporters of this one-woman avant-choir ever since she performed live in our offices.

Endangered Species Big Band at Iridium
Trumpeter David Weiss leads an all-star ensemble through compositions by the ever-fascinating saxophone great Wayne Shorter.

Warren G, Kidz in the Hall and U-N-I at Bowery Ballroom
Resurgent California rapper Warren G, pictured above and previewed here, continues his quest along the comeback trail with a pair of potent opening acts: Kidz in the Hall, who you can see in our exclusive live video here, and U-N-I, whom we hailed back in April, right here.

Ray Lamontagne at the Beacon Theatre
The husky-voiced soul man returns to the Beacon for the second of three sans-band shows.

Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs at City Winery
We’ve been somewhat lukewarm on the two overly respectful all-covers albums by pop savant Matthew Sweet and Bangles singer Susanna Hoffs, but there’s no denying their charismatic chemistry.

Jessica Pavone at Roulette
This violinist, violist, composer and bandleader takes a break from the avant-jazz rounds to showcase the sweet, folksy original string-group compositions she created for her latest CD, Songs of Synastry and Solitude.

Maude Maggart: Parents and Children at Feinstein’s at Loew’s Regency
Not just any cabaret star would stop into our offices for a private serenade (see it here), but Maude Maggart is not just any cabaret star. Catch her and be reminded why classics by Gershwin, Sondheim and Dolly Parton came to be classics in the first place.

As is the case with pretty much any Bruce show, if you missed Saturday’s gig (can you call a show a gig, when it’s in a venue as huge as MSG?), you’ll likely groan when you see the set list. Besides playing The Wild, The Innocent and the E Street Shuffle in its entirety, he performed “Glory Days,” “Human Touch,” “Born to Run” and yes, “Dancing in the Dark.” TONY photographer Taso Hountas was there to catch the action. Full set list after the jump.

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Girls (Photo: Sylvia Sewell)

This past Friday, Bowery Ballroom featured Girls and Real Estate, two of 2009’s critical darlings, and both practitioners of the current psych-pop du jour. Here’s a report from the front lines.

Opener Tough Knuckles came off like a dollar-store version of the other acts. The singer hid a lack of any real melody or vocal skill behind a wall of reverb and name-dropped “the beach” between songs as if it were a celebrity. I’m still puzzled as to how sloppily played garage-rock tropes and meaningless lyrics about beaches are suddenly appealing to so many people.

Up next was Real Estate. These dudes actually have songs for miles and proved it with a bubbly selection of tracks from their upcoming debut. “Suburban Dogs” came off the best, mixing beautifully hazed guitar interplay with laid-back thudding rhythms. Other songs, like “Beach Comber” and “Green River,” ramped up the glistening psych-pop formula and made me nostalgic for Pavement. Basically, if you’ve ever spent an afternoon eating strawberries off your stomach while on mushrooms, you’ll enjoy the Real Estate live experience.

Around 11:15pm, Girls hit the stage to strong displays of fandom. Although it’s clear why people like this band, I still imagine that somebody somewhere paid someone to make them popular. There’s really nothing unique or notable going on with Girls besides a grabby backstory and the music video they made that fooled people into watching gay porn.

Nonetheless, Christopher Owen—the band’s singer and songwriter—captivated the sold-out crowd with a sound akin to an ideal Best of Baby Boomer Rock box set. Tracks like “Ghost Mouth” and “Laura” blended seamlessly together, an obvious pastiche of older pop-rock records (think Elvis Costello or Buddy Holly) that we’ve been pushed throughout our lives. The songs are pleasant enough, but were rendered lifeless on the Bowery’s stage when compared with Album, the band’s debut.—Carter Maness