As the bassist for Australian synth-poppers Cut Copy, Ben Browning has been a part of the some of the most effervescent dance music of the last decade. Next Thursday, June 30th at (Le) Poisson Rouge, Mr. Browning strikes out on his own with the debut of his live set up and DJ sets from Moullinex, Ayer, and Powerslug DJs.

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Although the weather gods could not be appeased Thursday night by the sounds of bluegrass (as banjo player Noam Pikelny joked), the crowds certainly were as the Punch Brothers put on a striking performance at Celebrate Brooklyn under heavy rain and lightning. 

Playing selections from their latest album “The Phosphorescent Blues”, the band played with an incomparable warmth and energy, effortlessly weaving through flawless vocal harmonies and virtuoso instrumentals. Always-entertaining lead singer and mandolin player Chris Thile took every opportunity to dance around, most notably during “Next to the Trash” where Thile stumbled around on stage as if he were conducting an orchestra while drunk.

Thile’s singing was unsurprisingly brilliant, stretching the upper and lower limits of his range without ever compromising his intonation or personality; his voice, like his mandolin, was bright and vibrant. Especially beautiful was his take on Debussy’s “Passepied”, which the audience reacted to by wooing, cheering, and screaming - a reaction rarely heard during classical performances.

by Steven Pisano

Brooklyn’s own Talib Kweli, a star in the world of hip hop for almost a generation now, brought his expanding hip hop universe to Brooklyn Bowl for two nights last week, spotlighting some of the talent now recording for his new independent music label, Javotti Media. As Kweli turns 40 years old this year, he clearly has plans to continue having an impact beyond his own recording career by supporting young, up-and-coming talent.

On Thursday, the music kept coming for four hours, so the sold-out crowd definitely got its money’s worth. First up was MK Asante, who rapped stories from his best-selling memoir Buck (published by Random House) about growing up on Philadelphia’s tough-luck streets, to find his place now as a professor of creative writing at Morgan State University.