MP3 Experiment + The xx + Warpaint + Zola Jesus
SATURDAY 2
MP3 Experiment
The “flash mob” art group Improv Everywhere puts on its 7th MP3 event today. Here’s how it works: an original mp3 file online (usually around 45 minutes long) that people download and transfer to their iPods is sent out by IE. Participants then synchronize their watches to an atomic clock on a website, head out to the same public location, and blend in with others. At the predetermined time, everyone presses play. Hilarity ensues as participants carry out ridiculous, coordinated instructions delivered to their headphones via narrator “Steve” and everyone else tries to figure out what the hell is going on. Pretty hilarious!
Go to improveverywhere.com for details and MP3 download.
The xx + Warpaint + Zola Jesus
Mercury prize winners The xx are back in NYC for what might be the last performance as a full group. The non-singing member Jamie smith, responsible for their atmospheric sounds and rhythms via digital samplers and drum machines, is going solo, with an upcoming track called Far Nearer: “It’s a tune I made on one of our short breaks from touring and I was eager to make some new music,” said the producer. “I got a steel pan and made this track and it is coming out on Numbers Records in about a month or so.” Warpaint and Zola Jesus set the dark brillliance scene, opening with their own brands of symphonic melodramatics.
United Palace Theatre, 4140 Broadway at 175th St, NYC, 212-568-5620, $35-$45, 8pm