Monday, November 8, 2010

The Loom; The Hermaphrodite; Impossibly Funky; Erotic Open Mic

8 PM, Thurs. Nov 11
THE LOOM
Live Music

The New York Times just labeled them "The Next Big Thing," The New Yorker regularly refers to them as a "beloved Brooklyn sextet" and nyctaper calls them "a revelation." Working heavily in gothic watercolors, The Loom kick out glow-in-the-dark folk wailers that flirt with the anthemic, but never abandon the quiet spaces they were born in. The Loom's rich amalgam of folk and americana-influenced indie rock features male and female vocals, acoustic and electric guitars, French horn, trumpet, piano, pedal steel, bass, drums, ukulele, accordion, and banjo. FREE! W/Ben + Vesper and Child of Dawn. CDs on sale at event.

8 PM, Tues, Nov 16
DANIEL GRANDBOIS
Reading/Signing
THE HERMAPHRODITE: A Hallucinated Memoir

Daniel Grandbois' writing has been described as "avant-garde stand-up," "Dr. Seuss for adults," and "between Brautigan's and Basho's." Alfredo Benavidez Bedoya's surreal and satirical woodcuts are collected by major museums all over the world. Together, they have created a happening as much as a book, one that notorious Beat poet/Fugs founder Ed Sanders simply calls, "A work of art." This is a book to be carried in the pocket, taken on journeys, opened to any page and consulted for its nutty brand of wisdom. Grandbois' other book, Unlucky Lucky Days, a collection of nonsense and absurdist tales praised by Lydia Davis as “funny, bizarre, moving,” was picked by Book Sense as an "Indie Next Notable Book." Grandbois' writing has appeared in Conjunctions, Fiction, Boulevard, Sentence, Del Sol Review, and the anthologies Freak Lightning and Online Writing: The Best of the First Ten Years, among others. Also a musician, Daniel has played in three of the pioneering bands of "The Denver Sound:" Slim Cessna's Auto Club, Tarantella, and Munly.

8 PM, Thurs, Nov 18
MIKE WHITE
Read/Signing
IMPOSSIBLY FUNKY
w/a special screening of COCKFIGHTER

Harangue for Hollywood! From the urban blight of Detroit came enfant terrible Mike White and his mutant publication, Cashiers du Cinemart. For fifteen years the writers of Cashiers du Cinemart provided a treasure trove of passionate, often prickly writing on film and popular culture. This book collects the best articles from the magazine with sections dedicated to Quentin Tarantino, Star Wars, Black Shampoo, Charles Willeford, and much more. "Mike White and his Cashiers approach film writing from a point of the compass I never knew existed. It’s wild navigating out there in the film world and Impossibly Funky makes it a brisk and exhilarating trip while keeping one cool hand on the tiller!" – Guy Maddin, The Saddest Music in the World.

Followed by a rare screening of Cockfighter, an art film for an exploitation audience set in the gaming pits of the Deep South (White has written extensively about the oft banned Monte Hellman flick and its author, Charles Willeford, and Mike White’s Who Do You Think You're Fooling?, a full-motion montage highlighting the too-close-for-comfort similarities between Quentin Tarantino’s 1992 film, Reservoir Dogs, and Ringo Lam’s 1989 Hong Kong movie, City on Fire (White achieved notoriety in the early nineties for being the first to expose Tarantino's "homage.") Check out Mike’s Tale of the Tape for more on this saga. FREE! Comp wine. Books on sale at event.

9 PM, Fri. Nov 19
PIECE OF TALE
Erotic Open Mic

Poetry, prose, songs, comedy, etc. All work must emphasize fornication or heavy petting. Reply to this e-mail to reserve a 5 min. performance slot. Every month. The bluer the better. How blue are you? FREE!

UPCOMING:
Oscar Nominated Animator Bill Plympton, best known for his Academy Award nominated Your Face, hosts a special Raconteur screening of Idiots & Angels, his brand new animated comedy featuring the music of Tom Waits. Don't miss the NJ premiere of the movie the New York Times is calling "relentless and brilliant." 8 PM, Sat. DEC 10. More info soon.

RAC in NYC, The KGB Bar (labeled "The Best Literary Venue in Manhattan" by New York Magazine and The Village Voice, 7 PM, Mon. DEC 13. People Under the Stereo, The Raconteur's vintage vinyle & clothing shop, opens DEC 15! The Raconteur Holiday Hootenanny featuring Steve Kaplan on guitar & Paul Caluori on violin 8 PM, Sat. Dec 18.