There were many things amiss with All Points West, the music festival that took place over three days this past weekend at Liberty State Park. Tickets were costly ($89), the ferry that “easily” transported people from downtown Manhattan to the island was plagued by long lines and the lineup left many people cold. Radiohead headlined Friday and Saturday, and ultimately, a whole lot of fans seemed to care only about them, camping in front of the main stage around 1pm and holding down the fort until their chosen band hit the stage at 8.30pm, both nights.

Alcohol provided little relief. To be able to drink you had to obtain a wristband with five notches; every time you bought a beer an overworked barmaid would pull one notch away. Five beers over several hours seemed a pretty severe restriction. Add to that the extremely long lines for both these wristbands and the overpriced beer ($7 for a Bud), and being forced to sit in a designated beer pen, complete with chainlink fence, while you drank, some distance from the music.

Still, there were highlights, not including Radiohead. The days turned out to be beautiful, the views of Manhattan and (the back of) the Statue of Liberty, spectacular. And some bands showed up ready to give New Yorkers the urban festival we’ve sorely deserved. My roundup of Friday and Saturday:

Animal Collective: opening for Kings of Leon and Radiohead on Saturday, Animal Collective brought real energy to the fest. One impossibly long, snaking track they played was a combination of “Fireworks“, “Lablakely Dress” and “Essplode.” If you haven’t heard any of these, you should. “Fireworks” is a blast of beat-heavy reverb with some uncharacteristically poppy elements, and “Essplode” is a perfect combination of poignant singing and driven rhythm. Yes, they’re weird, and yes, sometimes it just sounds like a mess. But watching this act in their prime is worth these lulls and the buzz they’ll leave behind in your ears. Unlike a lot of the acts, Animal Collective seemed willing to take actual risks onstage. Though people often describe Radiohead as “experimental,” Animal Collective put that notion to shame.

Grizzly Bear: Brooklyn-based Grizzly Bear had a crappy set position on the smallest stage, mid-day on Friday, but didn’t seem to mind. Their trippy, psychedelic rock brought to mind the 60s/70s, as did the audience, many of whom lay in the grass, taking it all in. Ed Droste’s voice at various points reminded me of Jeff Buckley, though it might be pointless to say that Radiohead could be seen as an influence, too. Again, Grizzly Bear seemed fresher and more willing to experiment than the big band that was headlining. “On a Neck, On a Spit” is simply a great song, with woozy lyrics and a lovely, bluegrass guitar. Perfect for a summer day, even one without beer.

Nicole Atkins: a big surprise on Saturday, and a beautiful voice. Her pop might have faded away with the crowd, if it weren’t for the total rock star attitude she had onstage.

Metric: brought the electric dance, and Emily Haines, their hot female lead, wins the prize for shortest shorts of the weekend — gold lamé shorts, no less.They opened with a completely rocking version of “Dead Disco.” It might ultimately all be a little cheesy (and done by the Faint and so many others), but on Saturday it was a very welcome infusion of fun.

Underworld: played on Friday night right before Radiohead. Most people seemed not all that keen on the British electro duo, who have been around FOREVER, but I was amazed at how well they still do what they do. “Born Slippy” was, of course, on the roster, but I was too busy dancing to keep track of the rest of their set, and that’s a very good thing.

Disappointments of the weekend: the New Pornographers, whose soft-indie-rock seemed a little insipid in such a big venue. Kings of Leon are a straightforward rock band with some very catchy songs; they played right before Radiohead on Saturday, at which point I decided to try my fate in the beer pen. One Rolling Stone writer present at the show commented on how much he liked Kings of Leon, further reinforcing my overall negative impression. The 1950s soul of Duffy, recently hailed by Spin as a less-screwed-up Amy Winehouse, seemed weirdly out of place on Friday, while I was forced to miss out on Mates of State, much-touted Girl Talk and Andrew Bird in the effort to catch other (simultaneous) acts.

Chilling out to Grizzly Bear

The beer pen had strict rules and steep prices

Many fans camped out in front of the main stage, ignoring the other two stages to wait (all day) for Radiohead

Meet Pamelia Kurstin. Born and raised in the United States. A childhood musician. Currently residing in Austria. She plays the theremin,
one of the very first electronic instruments, unveiled soon after the
turn of the century, and she happens to be, in this blogger’s opinion,
one of the few able to step to the plate with the same talent and
finesse as Clara Rockmore herself. After years of collaborative
efforts, her first truly solo disc, Thinking Out Loud, wowed several astute listeners in April of 2007, and easily made its way into my top ten of the year.

I’ve just arrived home from a collaborative improvisational show at The Stone,
John Zorn’s own performance space located in the heart of Alphabet
City. It almost slipped through the cracks, but as I was seeking out
next month’s stellar lineup, I spotted Miss Kurstin’s name on deck for
this week. However, before I tell you all about the show, I’ll
tell you a bit about the Stone itself. First things first, they don’t
allow photos of any kind, so I apologise in advance and have lovingly
borrowed a shot of Pamelia from her very own myspace page, courtesy of
Christopher Kontoes.
Otherwise, the Stone can hold what seems like fifty folks maximum, and
it was filled to the brim this evening. Curtains adorn the walls and
block out any remaining trace of daylight. The space itself reminds
me of a glorified basement, white walls and folding chairs arranged to
accomodate guests with a little room in the back and on the floor for
latecomers. A perfect setting for an improvisational and experimental
gig.

That’s precisely what was in store for those
who caught wind of this extraordinary happening. Pamelia has been
performing throughout various venues in New York and Brooklyn for a
week’s time, with several different colaborators on the slab.
Tonight’s show featured a three-piece ensemble of piano, saxophone, and
various percussion (including a xylophone), and consisted of Ingrid
Laubrock, Dalit Warshaw, and Danny Tunick. The outfit performed two
lengthy improvisational pieces over the course of an hour and change,
weaving in an out of coherence with the greatest of ease. The first
featured several looped and altered theremin bytes, layered and
distorted as the piece ebbed and flowed with intensity. Occasionally,
looped theremin gave way to several effects processors, turning the
theremin into a harp, cello, and various other instruments. Meanwhile,
the piano sprinkled dissonant chords and the sax meandered with
restraint, a very rare tactic.

Before the second piece began, the audience was treated to a ventriloquist performance by Miss Carla Rhodes,
who performed with Cecil Sinclair, an 88-year-old vaudevillian dummy.
Together, the two cracked several art-themed jokes backed by Pamelia
and co., adding a bit of fun to an otherwise heavy cast spell. The fun
didn’t end there though, as the Pamelia’s second improvisation began
with an audience member on both xylophone and hand farts,
respectively. Their second piece was a far more organic affair, less
reliant on looping and effects, showcasing Pamelia’s pure talent with
the otherwise difficult instrument and continuing her ensemble’s
knack for playing off each other. A different creature, but still
extremely satisfying.

For those interested, Pamelia will be performing her last show during her current New York stint tonight, as part of Barbez,
a Brooklyn-based experimental outfit, though judging from the band’s myspace page, it seems that tonight will be a more structured affair. All the same, the performance will be at (Le)
Poisson Rouge, with a rough start time of 7:30pm. As is the case with
performances of these nature, tonight’s show will be a
completely different beast through and through, so be sure to drop in
for a night of unexpected yet incredibly intriguing music. I’ll be
there, with bells on…and maybe this time, I’ll be able to snap a few
pictures of the proceedings!

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Now that Conor Oberst swapped his Bright Eyes moniker for The Mystic Valley Band, it seems like he’s in higher spirits. His latest single “Souled Out” presents a cleaner cut Oberst, ditching the melancholy emo-folk sound for something a bit more chipper. Thanks to the new haircut, Oberst proves that there’s a second eye behind that jet black hair.

• NIN’s Year Zero spin-off show may be heading to HBO.
• Rolling Stone has shrunk the page dimensions of their print magazine.
• Bruce Springsteen may be performing at the next Super Bowl.
• BYT interviewed Thurston Moore.
• Check out this one handed guitarist.

There are certain rites of passage for every aspiring guitarist. Once you can play power chords and find your way around a blues scale, the next challenge is to learn how to play (note-for-note, of course) Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven” and Van Halen’s “Eruption.” Next comes figuring out Ozzy Osbourne’s “Crazy Train,” because the song’s co-writer and solo was played by the late great Randy Rhodes. While watching the YouTube clip of Yuto Miyazawa playing “Crazy Train” I rolled my eyes after Yuto launched into Rhodes’ solo and botched a few notes (aside from that the solo was nearly dead-on). Then it dawned on me—the kid’s only eight years old and he shreds like there’s no tomorrow!

The story goes that when Yuto was about a year old he started imitating his guitarist father by playing a daikon grater. He’s now gravitated to playing cover songs of Black Sabbath’s “Iron Man” and Eric Clapton’s “Crossroads” on a guitar that appears to be bigger than he is. The kid also does a bit of singing that sounds like he learned English phonetically. Last month, the Tokyo Kid made an appearance on Late Night With Conan O’Brien, and he’s already done more in his short life than many axemen do in an entire career. Last week the Guinness World Records named the prodigy the world’s youngest professional guitar player. Finally, the Internet has produced a star who actually has talent.