Zs, Gang Gang Dance, (Marnie Stern) / Music Hall of Williamsburg

Ever since the venue Northsix was re-spawned as the Music Hall of Williamsburg (Note: I accidentally typed Williamsbarf the first few times) I've been itching to see it. Too much perhaps, because I arrived on time. Even before doors opened. Before the drunken few belligerently screamed with joy. Before the smell of weed permeated the air. Before the set music started playing.  After visiting Terminal 5, with  a mound of disappointment, the intimacy and floorplan of the Music Hall of Williamsburg has restored my faith in Bowery Presents.

Zs (pronounced Zee Ess) opened. The experimental/no-wave/progressive/noise/(take your pic of genre, just don't say classical or jazz!) trio plays hiccups of phrases, fading in and out of unison, in and out of meters, and at times, my realm of comprehension. At times their sound seems almost synthetic; the guitar and tenor sax often play in unison, creating a "melodic" (if you can call it that) line that almost mimics some sort of hybrid instrument. What makes Zs incredible is their way of incapsulating the feeling and sound of improvisation without improvising. It becomes immediately clear that their music is actually notated, once you hear the sax and guitar emerge from their own separate sonic worlds to converge on exactly the same pitch for the exact same duration of time. Don't believe me? The pictures on their website show them innundated with sheets upon sheets of staff paper. Percussion is a very tricky element of experimental/avant-garde music, and Ian Antonio artfully accents the other two in the trio, while maintaining his autonomy.

This may not be your thing, but it's HOWARD STERN'S...kind of. Anyway, if you don't dig the music, at least go to see Ben Greenberg play a guitar that looks something like this. Maybe you'll even see Tyondai Braxton from Battles in the audience like I did.

Gang Gang Dance also played, but I've discussed them once before.