Jonathan Richman, frontman of The Modern Lovers, will perform at the Haunt Monday, October 24, 2011. Photo provided

“I’M IN LOVE with modern girls and modern rock and roll!” Jonathan Richman exuberantly declares on the two-chord driving anthem “Roadrunner,” which, almost 40 years old, still sounds as timely as ever. Overly self-conscious and insistently uncool, The Modern Lovers was both an antidote to the bloated and self-aggrandizing excess of 1970s rock and a proto-punk statement of intent that paved the way for the smart acts like the Clash, Talking Heads and Elvis Costello. Richman, who teamed up with the Velvet Underground’s John Cale to piece together a record for a band that would be defunct by its release, wore his heart on his sleeve and his awkwardness like a name-tag. His music was as innocent and honest as anything any folkie crooned.

So idiosyncratic he has made immediate and appealing music all but unknown to what could be a far wider audience, Richman also foreshadowed the evasiveness of cadres of “independent” artists. He rarely grants interviews, and though he tours incessantly, he principally performs at unconventional venues like pizza parlors and bowling alleys. The first time I saw him was in a dim sum restaurant in Boston’s Chinatown (Richman’s from there; I was at school) where he played one Sunday afternoon at 3:00 p.m. The first time I spoke with him was while a DJ at my college radio station; he dropped by unannounced on a weeknight night to record a promo spot. Thanks to Dan Smalls Presents, on Monday, October 24 Ithaca audiences will catch a rare glimpse of the iconic singer and songwriter, when he will stop by the Haunt for a 9:00 p.m. show; tickets are $15.

If you recognize Richman at all, it’s likely for his role as the in-house musician in “There’s Something About Mary.” He sings the theme song to the Farrelly brothers’ film, and spends much of the movie wandering around in the background. But The Modern Lovers’ 1976 self-titled debut offers a taste of rock and roll that is anything but background music. Richman yelps pleas like “I don’t want just a girl to fool around with / What I want is a girl that I care about!” or “I’ll go insane if you don’t sleep with me,” and when he’s not bearing his soul he’s name-checking artists like Cezanne and Pablo Picasso and wandering by Boston architectural landmarks. When Richman entreats listeners to “share the modern world” he unmasks the ridiculousness of Led Zeppelin or progressive rock’s obsession with elfin mythology and J.R.R. Tolkien.

Some more facts about Richman: he sings in Spanish, French and Hebrew. One of his most loved songs is about dancing at a lesbian bars. He’s vegan.

Around the time of the Chinatown show, I had attempted to interview Richman for my college newspaper. When I phoned him, this was the message left on his answering machine: “If I’m unable to reach you before your deadline, it’s a rock and roll show with a drummer that I bring with me. We never use a set list. The show’s supposed to be fun. I’ll talk to you later.”

“I’m not understood that well by the press because I think they try and complicate it too much. All you gotta do with this stuff, folks, is like it or not like it,” Richman once told MTV. Evasive? Perhaps. But when he sings about making “secretaries feel better / when they put those stamps on the letters,” it’s hard not to feel that his aim, though modest, is true.

Eternal Tapestry, a psychedelic band from Portland, joins Thrill Jockey label-mates Arbouretum for a free show at Angry Mom Records Thursday, October 13 at 6:00 p.m. Image Provided

FOR 20 YEARS Chicago’s Thrill Jockey label has been a home to some of the most experimental of mainstream rock; at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, October 13, two of the roster’s bands will drop by Angry Mom Records for a free in-store. Label-mates Arbouretum and Eternal Tapestry may both be classified as psychedelic music, but the two acts, which hail from opposite sides of the country, couldn’t sound more different.

Balitomore’s Dave Heumann, the singer, guitarist and main lyricist of Arbouretum, sounds like a distant relative of John Cale or Richard Thompson and has performed with Will Oldham. His music is a loose blend of blues, folk, and jam that is influenced more by the music of the U.K. and its Celtic and Anglo folk traditions. His most recent record for Thrill Jockey, “The Gathering,” was also inspired by Carl Jung, and the result is a dark and heady mix that is full of literary and mythic allusions.

The music of Eternal Tapestry, whose “Beyond the Fourth Door” is their Thrill Jockey debut, and fourth full length record, is more otherworldly. For more than five years Portland’s Nick Bindeman and Dewey Mahood have been channeling European psychedelic 70s music to create epic psychedelic noise. Bindeman, who’s a member Jackie-O-Motherfucker, an act with a large cult following whose sonic schizophrenia verges on personality-disorder, creates a more focused, if no less expansive musical palette.

Over the course of five tracks and 45 minutes Eternal Tapestry journey through what sounds like cosmic chaos: droning keyboards, reverb-heavy guitar, and spaced out sonic experiments. Listening to it through is like getting lost in outer space. With Austin fuzzheads Soft Healer.

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Experimental Night at Delilah’s

TONIGHT AT DELILAH’S LOUNGE four bands will join forces for a cool cutting-edge show at 10 p.m. On the bill are Alter Koker, Nick Millevoi, Hyrrokkin and Keir Neuringer, who put together the show. “I know the three musicians in Hyrrokkin because we shared a bill in Ithaca a little over a year ago when they were in other bands,” Neuringer said. “Their music is avant-jazz-meets-space-rock (Hyrrokkin is the name of a moon of Saturn) but beyond the hypens, they make rich, visceral, propulsive music that I think people in town will dig. They’re great musicians.”

Hyrrokkin are touring with Nick Millevoi, a virtuoso guitarist from Philadelphia with a unique instrumental voice. “He just put out something on New Atlantis, ‘Black Figure of a Bird’ a tour-de-force solo acoustic twelve-string guitar record,” Neuringer said. “He’s known to some folks in Ithaca though the bands Many Arms and Make A Rising, both of which have played Ihtaca Underground shows, and he’s played with Glenn Branca, Fugazi’s Joe Lally, and others.”

Alter Koker, the local trio of Ami Ben-Yaacov, Eva Revesz and Jarek Miller will open the show; Neuringer will join them on organ, and also will close out the night with a short set on organ and sax. For more information visit experimentwithoutborders.org.

The saxophonist Colin Stetson returns to Delilah's on Cayuga Wednesday, August 24 for a solo show; Emily Haynes opens. Photo by Angelina Castillo

THE MOST TALKED ABOUT show from last spring was a solo baritone saxophone player named Colin Stetson, who made such a strong impression on Ithaca audiences promoter Dan Smalls decided to bring him back. He’ll return to Delilah’s on Cayuga Wednesday, August 24 for a 9:00 p.m. show; tickets are $10 in advance and $12 at the door, and the quirky multi-instrumentalist Emily Wells opens.

Stetson had been making his mark as a staggering solo performer for several years now, in front of audiences small and large, from intimate jazz and experimental music venues to big stages, and had cut his chops opening for Arcade Fire or The National, or playing at jazz and new music festivals like Moers and London Jazz. His talents have been widely recognized and employed by artists as diverse as Tom Waits, Laurie Anderson, TV On The Radio and Bon Iver; he also plays in Bell Orchestre and Sway Machinery.

A horn player of uncommon strength, skill and genre-defying creativity. He composes and performs otherworldly songs that combine a mastery of circular breathing technique with percussive valve-work and reed vocalizations, making a polyphonic solo music that combines influences as diverse as Bach, early metal, American pre-war Gospel, and the explorations of Jimi Hendrix, Peter Brotzman and Albert Ayler. The result is a highly original, experimental, euphoric record that fires on all levels: a document of an astoundingly strong and gifted player; a compositional tour-de-force; and a studio production bursting with intensity and inventiveness.

Bubba Crumrine, right, celebrates his third year booking shows for the Ithaca Underground this August. Photo provided

ITHACA UNDERGROUND MARKS an important milestone this week: booker Bubba Crumrine has helmed the DIY music promotion collective for three years. And while one generally associates punk and hardcore music scenes with a healthy anarchist streak, Crumrine has served as both the in-house visionary and director of operations. Thanks to his tireless effort, what was a small loosely knit group has become a Tompkins County juggernaut: not only for fostering an independent music scene but known far and wide as a tour-friendly community. The Ithaca Post spoke with the busy Bubba by email this week.

Q: Congratulations on your third year! You’ve consistently brought music from the margins in front of crowds eager to hear something new. How are things looking for IU?
Bubba Crumrine: Thanks! Everything is looking fantastic. I have several shows in the works that would bring some great bands to Ithaca for the first time this fall, the return of fan-favorites Cobra Skulls in October, and the return of a handful of other Ithaca-loving acts like Daniel Francis Doyle, Zorch, and Night Owls. There’s a crop of new bands stirring with both young and more veteran members of the music community, the next Big Day In is in the works, and of course there’s the big free event on Saturday. Things are looking up and I’ve got plans to keep IU moving forward.

Q: It’s been three years since you took over booking for the Ithaca Underground, and it has grown steadily to showcase more bands and expose folks of all ages to music they wouldn’t hear otherwise. Have you accomplished what you’ve wanted to over the years?

Crumrine: Absolutely. Involving people who get excited about these types of bands as I do really meant a lot. I was lucky to have such an involved group of people of all ages get behind what I was aiming to do with IU early on, It made the difference for sure. I remember the total joy of the first show where we had over a dozen, then two-dozen people at a show I presented. Things sure have come a long way since then. When I first started booking, I made a lofty top ten list. Of the bands that were on that list and are still active, if memory serves, only two remain that I’ve yet to bring – both of which might happen later this year. Success? Again, absolutely.

Q: You’ve had some great partners in venues: the Shop, CSMA, the Haunt and now the Greenstar Annex. Would you talk about how all-ages spaces are important to successful underground shows?

Crumrine: In my opinion, young people are incredibly important to a sustainable underground music community. Having a diverse group of creative local bands to open and support shows is just as important as bringing in the right national act. Historically with IU its been the teens and early 20’s crowd which have consistently starting bands that fit with the types of shows we book. Having a place where they can explore a wide variety of music and meet peers with similar interests early on has been crucial to the creation of many of the bands we work with. Plus, the attendees at most of our shows are usually at least half, sometimes closer to 3/4, under 21 – with out the ability for people of any age, I likely would not have been able to take IU to the level it is now. These are the people who are interested in seeing these bands, we have to provide them with the opportunity to do so.

In addition to The Space @ GreenStar, CSMA, and The Haunt whom have been our mainstays this year, Waffle Frolic and Culture Shock have also been doing all ages shows with a lot of the bands we work with locally. Its great to see so many organizations getting on board over the last few years.

Q: Almost 150 shows and 250 bands in three years. Do you remember them all? Are there highlights or any that stand out?

Crumrine: Wow, there are so many to pick from… each one was special in its own right. The Red Scare Tour of ‘09 with Cobra Skulls, The Menzingers, and The Sidekicks always stands out because it was one of the largest tours I’d booked so far and we had to change venues on just two days notice. There was a lot of expectation around the show and everyone pulled together to help flyer, tell their friends, and update people of the time and space change. In the end it was still one of our best attended shows at the time.

All of the Big Day In events have been a blast… the Defiance Ohio/Nana Grizol show this summer was really memorable because of how many people turned out to CSMA on a weeknight and there was such a positive vibe all night from the bands and the attendees. The first IU all ages Saturday show at the Haunt at the very start of ‘09 with Sakes Alive!!, The Rolemodels, The Motivators, and The Debunks will always stick with me because it really opened my eyes to how many people wanted what we were doing and what the potential for IU was.

So many others -  the waltz pit at Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, The Menzingers show at The Haunt where the whole crowd got on stage, getting to meet Trevor Dunn when I booked MadLove, booking one of the last Buried Inside shows ever, Math The Band at The Shop, the 80 person circle pit at Kylesa at The Haunt – I could go on forever. This Saturday will surely stick out too as we say goodbye to one of the local bands we worked with the closest- Beach Parade. Those four guys really went above and beyond with their involvement all the time.  My parents are even coming down for this one. It will be their first IU show.

Q: There’ve been some big ones too. Will you continue to book larger known national acts as well as the more relatively unheard and unknown national and regional ones?

Crumrine:  Bringing a balance of larger and upstart bands has been key. Its organizations like IU that give bands that eventually become more nationally recognized a chance. We’ve had several bands come through early that have gone on to do great things. It also gives us a chance to give newer local bands a chance to open or work with regional bands we haven’t had a chance to yet because there’s less risk on our end. The big national acts are fun because I’m a fan of a lot of them plus, it’s an opportunity to get in front of people who may not have IU high on their radar, show them the quality shows we bring, and give exposure to the local acts we work with that are picking up steam. One of my future goals is to set some things in motion that will help reduce a bit of the risk on the higher profile shows.

Q: It seems that almost every member of the audience of an Ithaca Underground show starts up a band – it’s like what they used to say about the Velvets. Do you think there has been anything about booking that has fostered that DIY spirit?

Crumrine: (Laughs) there’s definitely some truth to that. If anything, that’s where I hope I’ve helped the most. When I started booking for IU, there were a handful of young local bands who got involved on a regular basis like The Rolemodels, The Motivators, and The Berettas (now Bombtree). From there, we met their friends (The Debunks, Makeshift) and got more people involved which led to getting on a broader radar across Ithaca – downtown and on campus.

Soon after, a crop of bands got involved from IC and downtown involving people who have been involved in DIY music well before I got involved and started up bands like Why The Wires, Iwo Jima Medkit, Beach Parade eventually and a slew of others. Things sort of exploded from there. I feel performing with touring musicians and bands you admire pushes people to really get creative and get better. There’s a lot more motivation to start a killer band if you’re going to opening for one of your favorite new bands vs. playing at say, a graduation party.

Q: What does the next three years hold for IU?

Crumrine: More shows with national bands IU fans have requested. More shows with bands you’ve never heard of but will never forget afterwards. More shows with bands I never dreamed we’d get to the level of having a chance to book… Also, look for new bands that next batch of new bands over the next few years. As with last year, there’s a whole crop of bands we work with that are going on hiatus, performing fewer Ithaca shows, or splitting up because of band members moving or graduating (or other reasons) like Beach Parade, Elsa & the awesomeAWESOMES, Mouth To Mouth To Mouth, DAADs, Makeshift, Crime Pays, Mill Bastards, Plasma 36, Fight A Scary Dog, and others. That’s a lot of niches to fill. Luckily, there’s already a handful of new or revamped bands showing a lot of promise like Sun Spells, Don’t Go Into The Woods, Paralysis at Dawn, Womyn Boiz, Cheerleader Death Squad, King Sized Pegasus plus bands like Hiroshima Vacation, Kaboosh!, Lux Carentes, Rye n’ Clover, Mike (A)! and my own band Brian! that we’ll continue to work with.

Q: Can we expect another three years of Crumrine-booked shows?

Crumrine: That’s always the question I ask myself. I really love booking shows for IU. It’s probably been one of the most rewarding things I’ve done so far. But, there’s a pretty intricate arrangement in my life between my job, my bands, the support I get from others, and other aspects of life outside of IU that make my level of participation possible. If any of those were to change drastically, I may have to pass the torch. But, in the meantime, I’ve got big plans so stick around!

Samuel Goldberg, who records as Radio People, will stop by Delilah's on Cayuga Monday, June 20, 2011. The band's recent release is on Mexican Summer, an indie label out of Brooklyn. Photo Provided.

AROUND 2AM SATURDAY morning in an unventilated impromptu space in Williamsburg, the neo-disco-funk-slow-jams duo Ford & Lopatin packed up their gear as a DJ named Rem Koolhaus played to a few hundred sweaty hipsters. The “Turbotax® Sketchy Warehouse Edition” was the release party for “Channel Pressure,” the latest on Mexican Summer’s offshoot Software.

The record label, a Brooklyn-based company with some of the hottest acts in the indie world (have you heard of Best Coast, Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti, Kurt Vile, Marissa Nadler, Real Estate, Weekend or Wooden Shjips?), welcomed Ford & Lopatin’s album into the fold, which was tracked by Jan Hammer, creator of the Miami Vice theme.

But not all of the label’s output sounds like it belongs in a New Wave police procedural. Radio People, the project of Samuel Goldberg combines pop-infused synthesizer chaos and compositions that sound inspired by Kraut rock. His synthscapes feature droning organs, minimal live percussion, and a drum machine backbone. Monday, June 20, he’ll join Outer Space, and Raglani for a show at Delilah’s on Cayuga.

“This project really has danced between the two zones [of pop music and the avant garde], and has blossomed into more of a solid middle ground at this point. All the pieces are based on a mood or idea, whether it is a kinetic piece or more ambient. I rarely have a choice once the creation process of a song begins,” Goldberg wrote by email.

Radio People’s live shows will feature material from the forthcoming album, as well as older and more explorative pieces.

Goldberg will be joined Monday by Outer Space, one third of the ambient and drone act Emeralds. The band, which got its start back in 2006, has worked its way through a slew of CD-Rs and cassettes on small labels.

Raglani, a project of Joseph Raglani, released his most recent material to rave reviews on Kranky records. Some years back, he invested some of his inheritance into a DIY studio in Saint Louis’ downtown district before it was the hip thing to do. He recorded other local artists and his own debut album. In addition to recording and playing music Raglani was an avid painter, showing pieces in the city, and then making sound art.

After 2001 Raglani began releasing self-made three inch CD-Rs of sound experiments for friends and potential collaborators. The release brought his music into an audience outside of Saint Louis’ local community, and into the mail order catalogues of some of the finest experimental shops on the internet.

“Sirens Born’ was released on Kranky in September 2009, receiving a review in the last physical copy of Arthur Magazine, and high marks from Pitchfork. A spot at the No Fun Festival, curated by Carlos Giffoni, followed.