David Chiu

In 1964, the Velvet Underground formed in New York City, where the band would later meet Andy Warhol, join the Factory scene and record many of its greatest songs. So it only makes sense that a new multimedia exhibition about the quintessential New York band is opening here, starting on October 10. First mounted at La Philharmonie de Paris more than two years ago, “The Velvet Underground Experience” documents the band’s story through music, film and photography, with more than 1,000 objects on display. We recently spoke with the show’s curator, Christian Fevret, to discuss seven of the exhibit’s highlights and their significance to the group’s history. “The Velvet Underground Experience” takes place at 718 Broadway from October 10 to December 30 (velvetunderground-experience.com). $25–$50. Buy tickets.

To forgive someone or yourself doesn’t usually come quickly. For some, the ability to move past the hurt and pain can seem insurmountable. But it's not impossible or hopeless, according to singer-songwriter Brandi Carlile's latest album, By the Way, I Forgive You. It’s a timely, powerful collection of songs that covers themes both personal and universal—breakups, marriage, marginalized people, addiction and family relationships—augmented by Carlile’s passionate singing and a range of styles that includes intimate folk tunes and sweeping, orchestral Americana anthems. The message is that while forgiveness isn’t easy, it can be cathartic and provide closure. It’s worth it. Ahead of her three-show run at Beacon Theatre, Carlile discussed the stories that inform her eloquent, empowering new record. How does one find the ability to forgive?It's a radical and trembling concept that is so much easier said than done. And so much easier talked about than actually done in our hearts: towards the things that we can't control and towards the things that someone may or may not even be sorry about or aware of. And there's a wealth of love and compassion to draw from in that sense writing these songs.  The opening track, “Every Time I Hear That Song,” which is about a tune on the radio that reminds you of a past relationship, really sets the tone for the album.I think that’s like your fundamental hurt: the first one, the biggest one, the one that’s the most important. You heal up and you mo

A full moon, crossbones and, of course, some pointy canines litter the lyrics of indie-rock duo Bat Fangs. Pass those dark, supernatural elements through the prism of rip-roaring guitar, taut drumming and catchy hooks, and you have one of the young year’s brightest releases: the band’s riff-loaded self-titled debut, which came out February 2. The side project of Ex Hex bassist Betsy Wright and Flesh Wound drummer Laura King, Bat Fangs recalls the ’60s girl-group sound of the Shangri-Las and the ’70s glam-punk of the New York Dolls, along with bits of ’80s pop-metal and ’90s grunge. What’s not retro is the tough, feminist, no-nonsense attitude, relayed in lyrics that touch on both the sweetness and the snarl of romance. On February 16, the pair brings its rock & roll bombast to Brooklyn’s Union Pool. We caught up with Wright, who talked about getting into character, embracing the guitar and growing up on classic rock and Madonna. How did you and Laura meet?Ex Hex played a few shows with Mac McCaughan from Superchunk. He was doing a solo thing—Laura was playing drums for him. We hit it off as friends, hanging out after shows. I thought maybe we could do something. I sent her some demos, and she was the most enthusiastic. I couldn’t believe she wanted to do it. We played for a few days in a row and then decided to go into the studio. Were the songs written specifically for this record?When I came home from tour [with Ex Hex], I would write songs. They didn’t really seem to fit

Fifty years on, The Velvet Underground & Nico, the debut by the Velvet Underground, is still unlike any other rock record, a gut punch of galvanizing downtown cool, frontman Lou Reed’s dark, gritty and streetwise lyrics and multi-instrumentalist John Cale’s experimental fuckery. A commercial flop at the time (to put it politely), the album has become a landmark work. And this November at Brooklyn Academy of Music, Cale pays homage to the record during two concerts with Wordless Music Orchestra and a bunch of surprise guests, as well as a one-off 75th-birthday concert of solo material.  Why do you think the album resonates half a century later?John Cale: As a rock & roll record in that time period, it was an awkward thing to listen to. The songwriting, the style of the performance and the musical ideas were a really awkward thing to present to people. I mean, people didn’t want to know that stuff. Is there anything about listening to the record for you that still amazes you or conjures up memories?Basically about how we tried to do as much with very little, and the value of the drone. Once you have a drone like that, it gives you a tapestry that you work against. It makes the whole thing a little more expansive, setting up more space. Were your parts on the viola improvised or planned from the start for the recording?Once we finalized that it was [drummer] Moe [Tucker], [guitarist] Sterling [Morrison], Lou and I [in the Velvet Underground’s lineup], we would meet [on weekend

On her latest album, Other, Alison Moyet’s songs are observational and topical, told from the perspective of someone on the outside looking in. It’s a unique approach considering the singer’s 35-year career built on romantic hits, first as half of the British duo Yazoo and then as a hugely successful multiplatinum solo artist in the U.K. The record continues her return to synth-pop, which started with 2013’s The Minutes, tackling subjects such as locked-out syndrome, the internet and dyslexia. Before her career-spanning show at Irving Plaza this week, Moyet talked about the personal things that shaped her new record. Why did you want to work with producer Guy Sigsworth for the second record in a row?When you’re a woman working in the industry, the assumption is always that you’re not a creative force, that you’re a muse. I’ve never been really anybody’s muse. At the same time, it’s always a bit of a battle to make sure that your voice is heard. The thing with Guy is, it just felt completely equitable. We were speaking the same language. Was there anything you wanted to do differently this time?My life changed radically. I sold off my big house, and I moved to Brighton [in England], which is full of diversity and acceptance. As someone who’s never really felt like I belonged anywhere, I found myself at home. The invisibility of middle age really played well for me, because suddenly I was allowed to be the observer in a community that I belonged in. [The songs are] mostly descr

When you have stars like Questlove, Erykah Badu and Janelle Monae singing your praises before you’ve even put out a full-length album, you must be doing something extraordinary. That was the reaction R&B act King generated after the release of its 2011 EP, The Story. Last year the Los Angeles trio—twins Paris and Amber Strother and bandmate Anita Bias—delivered We Are King, a dreamy and elegant record that earned universal raves and a Grammy nomination. Still riding high from that momentum, King appears at this year’s Afropunk Fest. We spoke with Paris about the trio’s recent successes and being mentored by none other than Prince. Last year King was nominated for a Grammy for Best Urban Contemporary Album in a category that included Beyonce and Rihanna. What was it like when you heard the news?It was the last night of the last show of a really long tour. We were in Tokyo. We'd all gone out for dinner. I was just about to go to sleep and looked on my phone and saw the first notification. It was a really exciting moment. We Are King was released five years after your EP. It seemed as if you wanted to take your time recording the debut. It was important that we said everything that we wanted to say. Part of the joy in working with my sisters is that we all feel like we’re on the same wavelength. The most important thing to us was that the music came out exactly how we were imagining it. So we had an opportunity to spend that time to make it an album that we’ll always all love.

Katie Von Schleicher is a gregarious, humorous person when you get to know her. That’s important to keep in mind when you listen to her striking new album, Shitty Hits, the songs of which are filled with melancholy and darkness (and titled with names like “Paranoia,” “Life’s a Lie” and “Nothing”). It’s not exactly new ground for Von Schleicher: Like her preceding mini-album, Bleaksploitation, this record is darkly hued, with a self-recorded aesthetic that augments her melodic pop sensibilities and soulfully aching singing. Von Schleicher, who celebrates the release at Union Pool on Friday 4, talks to us about the turbulence that informs her music and growing up listening to ’80s pop songs. The title Shitty Hits sounds like a greatest-hits collection. Do you consider it a concept album?I see [the songs] all as part of one thing, mainly part of a period of time. I was going through a fair amount of therapy when I was writing the record. I was feeling really inward. Was it tough to make an album this raw and turbulent?There’s something about choosing to make records mostly by myself that is insane, given my relationship with self-criticism. It’s only natural there’s a lot of tension in the lyrics, even in the ones that are self-affirming. There’s a ton of conflict, a lot of ambivalence, and it’s inherent to the process that I put myself through. Do you think the dark tone is a reflection of you in real life?You’d have to ask my boss Ben [Goldberg owner of Ba Da Bing Records] be

On first listen, the Canadian indie-rock band’s energetic new record, with its new-wave–ish sound and brash, tightly packed hooks, leaves you a bit disoriented. That may be one reason it’s called Whiteout Conditions. Another is, the band has weathered something of a storm lately—with founding member Dan Bejar on the sidelines and a new record label of its own after parting with longtime home Matador. Accordingly, the album deals with matters both topical and introspective, from Donald Trump to the struggles of getting older, while retaining the group’s knack for catchy melodies and interwoven multipart vocals. Prior to the upcoming NYC gig, bandleader Carl Newman and keyboardist/singer Kathryn Calder talked with us about the dynamic new record. How would you compare Whiteout Conditions to your previous albums? Newman: There was definitely the thought that we would go farther in the direction that we started on [2014’s] Brill Bruisers. There was an idea of making it a little icier and having that vague krautrock feel. I was trying to make the songs simpler—not simplifying the melodies or the arrangements but the chord structures, so that the songs could really move in a way that a lot of our songs haven’t been able to do in the past.Calder: Every record seems to have its own vibe, even though they're all different. [This one] definitely has its own distinct sound to it, maybe a little bit more synthy than the other records. It's almost a darkness even though the songs are popp

With her new album, alt-country singer-songwriter Tift Merritt documents a busy five years: She went through a divorce, became a mother, collaborated with musicians such as Andrew Bird and Simone Dinnerstein, and spent time writing music at a ranch in Marfa, Texas. What emerges on Stitch of the World is introspective work that touches on themes of vulnerability, strength and optimism—told through Merritt’s literary style of songwriting. This week she supports the record with a show in NYC, the place where she lived for nearly a decade before moving back to her hometown of Raleigh, North Carolina. Merritt spoke to us about making the new record, being covered by Don Henley and missing New York.   You experienced some major life changes in the past couple of years. Was writing these songs cathartic?I think catharsis is something where you get it out of you and it seems to go away. I don’t know that this ever felt [that] finite. I think this is stuff that I’ll live with for a long time, and there’s no easy funneling it through your body. Why did you move back to North Carolina?It really broke my heart to leave New York City. But I have a baby daughter, and that is the most important thing right now. I just needed to make sure she didn’t have too much pressure on her, and that I could spend as much time with her as possible and that she could have some family around. You produced Stitch of the World with Iron & Wine’s Sam Beam, who also performed on it. What did he bring to the r

Denver-based duo Tennis has a thing for sailing. Its 2011 debut, Cape Dory, documented a lengthy trip along the Eastern Seaboard on their 30-foot boat, Swift Ranger. In early 2016, after weathering several cycles of recording and touring, the husband-and-wife team of guitarist Patrick Riley and singer-keyboardist Alaina Moore set out again, taking a five-month trip through the Sea of Cortez between the Baja California Peninsula and Mexico. The result—a lush, romantic-sounding new record,Yours Conditionally, out Friday, March 10—continues the development of the duo’s sound, incorporating elements of R&B, ambient and folk music to its retro surf pop. Ahead of Tennis’s upcoming NYC shows, Moore talked about taking out the sailboat again and the new album’s feminist themes. What prompted you and Patrick to make another sailing trip?We felt we released enough music consecutively that we could go away for a little while and reassess everything that we’ve been doing. We did a much more ambitious trip where sailed down the Pacific Coast [and into] the Sea of Cortez, which is actually a very violent sea with crazy weather systems. It was a huge step for us. We weren’t able to do any writing until we got deep into the Sea of Cortez. It was, like, waves crashing into you, and the wind is insane. All you can do is tend to the ship every second until you get to port. "The much more real fear of my ship sinking completely eclipsed my fear of writing a crappy song."   Did you have an idea o

NYC musician James Chance returns this November with a new studio album, The Flesh Is Weak, his first under the Contortions band name since 1979’s Buy. It’s not exactly a comeback: The iconoclastic saxophone player and singer with the large pompadour and dapper threads has been a consistent performer since the late ’70s, when his combination of James Brown–influenced soul, avant-garde jazz and punk attitude made him one of the stars of the city’s No Wave scene. While The Flesh Is Weak is funkier and more groove-driven than the jagged minimalism of his earlier works, the record shows that Chance hasn’t lost his manic energy and angst-driven point of view. On the eve of his release show, we talked with Chance about the new record. The Flesh Is Weak is billed as the first new Contortions studio album in decades.It’s not 100 percent true. I’ve got different Contortions groups all over the world. When I go to places like Europe or Australia, I use a band from there because it’s not always financially possible to bring the band from New York. I’ve got a band of French musicians that have been backing me up in Europe for the past 10 years called Les Contortions. I did an album with them three years ago called Incorrigible! But it is true that there has not been an album by the Contortions since Buy. There are a few covers on the record, including Frank Sinatra’s “That’s Life.” What prompted that?That’s one of my wife Judy’s favorite songs. She’s been asking me to do that for years.