Williamsburg: Freestyle

Last night, the Grasslands Gallery hosted an evening of improvisational music and art, which included the neo-No Wave stylings of Battery Charger (above) and dessert-making (trifle).

Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn: Klezmatics play at fundraiser

Daniel Goldstein of Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn addresses a sold out Lyceum last night, where the Klezmatics played an excellent set.

Wordless Music XI

Solo artist Sandro Perri (above) played selections from Tiny Mirrors and Plays Polmo Polpo at the Wordless Music concert on Friday at the Good Shepherd Faith Church on the UWS. Nico Muhly performed selected work from Speaks Volumes with Valgeir Sigurdsson (below left), Abby Fischer (second left), Sigga Sunna Reynisdottir, Nadia Sirota, Dan Bora, Lisa Liu and Sam Solomon.

5th Veil and Beirut at the Masonic Temple

Fifth Veil taking rapturous applause for their performance of The Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind Fifth Veil and Beirut performed for a packed and enthusiastic house in Fort Greene tonight as part of the Wordless Music series (curated by Ronen Givony), which "brings together the sound worlds of classical and contemporary instrumental music." Beirut (bandleader Zach Condon is at left)

Event: Beirut in Fort Greene

Wordless Music presents Beirut, at the Brooklyn Masonic Temple on Thursday 20th September. They'll be performing Osvaldo Golijov's The Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind. Doors 6:30PM, performance starts at 7:30PM. Tickets available here.

Love Songs for the Ice Cream Van

From The Brooklyn Record via The Gray Lady: The sweet but reiterative song of the ice cream van has inspired Michael Hearst of Park Slope band One Ring Zero to record an album of alternatives. Hearst is not the first to look to Mister Softee as his muse. We're reminded of an old favourite, Tele:Funken's A Collection of Ice Cream Vans Vol. 2, which made the Times' (UK) "CD of the Week" back in the summer of 2000. Nothing conjures up council estates, sunburnt bullies and the Bay City Rollers quite like jingly tones played lo-fi and loud.

Punk's Not Dead - It's Collectable

And it's in Park Slope. Dealers and collectors from as far as London gather this Saturday at our local venue for the 2nd Underground Record Fair. Southpaw - Brooklyn, 125 5th Ave. Records 10am to 7pm ($7) Bands 8pm onwards. ($15) What a good week for 2nds.

Open Letter to the Blackberry User at the Arcade Fire Show

Dear Madam (in row F center): On behalf of the Arcade Fire and the thousands of fans who attended their show last night at the United Palace in Washington Heights: We are sorry that the performance lacked the quality you have come to expect from the Arcade Fire, as indicated by your consistent Blackberry usage for the show's entirety. Please be assured that we have referred this matter to our quality assurance division and that they are implementing measures to ensure that Blackberry usage -- including e-mails that read, "Am at the concert, not saying I don't want to..." -- during an Arcade Fire show does not recur. We are sorry that you were unable to enjoy the show as a result of distracting and unnecessary Blackberry usage including that very long e-mail with the liberally yellow-highlighted text that so consumed your interest during "Neighborhood No. 2 (Laika)". Even in those brief moments during "Intervention" when you stored your Blackberry in your pocket, your hand kept fluttering unconsciously behind you to pat the wireless device through the cloth -- as if powerless to resist picking at the itchy scab of your profound dissatisfaction. Please accept this letter as your gift certificate for a free mp3 of Brit in Brooklyn's copy editor teaching her kitten how to meow along with the chorus of "Wake Up" (you may have heard her practicing, sans chat, on the A train home from the gig last night). Contact this site's administrator to redeem your gift certificate. We hope that you will give the Arcade Fire and all their enthusiastic fans another chance to provide you with the quality concert-going experience you deserve. May all your encounters with the Arcade Fire in the future give you nothing but the highest degree of consumer satisfaction as well as the feeling of freedom and confidence you need to cast off your Blackberry shackles, if only for one magic night. Warmly, The Staff of Brit in Brooklyn