Tonight was the third anniversary edition show for "Upstairs at the Square" – recommended by The New Yorker, New York, Time Out New York, The Village Voice, WWD Scoop, Time Out London, and more – and we blew the roof off with China Mieville (The City & The City) and Japanther (Tut Tut Shake Ya Butt). I challenge you not to love those boys! At bn.com/upstairs soon:
With The City & The City, praised by Neil Gaiman as “fiction of the new century,” New York Times bestselling author and “weird fiction” pioneer China Miéville delivers an existential thriller of a new order. With shades of J.G. Ballard and H.P. Lovecraft, Blade Runner and 1984, The City & The City is a murder mystery taken to the extreme of life as we know it now, and possibly mapping the terrain of what’s next. China Miéville is the author of King Rat; Perdido Street Station, winner of the Arthur C. Clarke Award and the British Fantasy Award; The Scar, winner of the Locus Award and the British Fantasy Award; Iron Council, winner of the Locus Award and the Arthur C. Clarke Award; Looking for Jake, a collection of short stories; and Un Lun Dun, his New York Times bestselling book for younger readers. He lives and works in London, where he is active in political life.
Described as a “Performance Galaxy” by Vanity Fair and “Super hard, incredibly fast and overall inspiring” by Thrasher, Japanther has always been a band apart, running the gamut from performance art to punk rock and back again. Current projects include Japanther in 3-D, a New York State Council on the Arts-funded book and film companion to the band’s interactive rock opera, commissioned for the PERFORMA 07 biennial and premiered with a sold-out run at P.S. 122, plus a collaboration with Dan Graham for Beyond, his first American retrospective, on exhibition at the Whitney this summer. Tut Tut, Now Shake Ya Butt (Wantage USA) is an album of punk songs and poetry expanding on Japanther’s work with legendary Crass co-founder Penny Rimbaud as they set off on a wild sonic romp 'round Africa, the Bronx, San Pedro and Brooklyn, complete with faeries, bicycles and a few cans of spray paint. Japanther's infectious, free spirited trash hasn't let up a teeny bit – it’s gotten more focused and rad somehow, while Rimbaud's churning, clever, degenerate cadence is an oddly fitting balance for Japanther's two-minute blasts. On a special note, this record features a sleeper cover of Portland's New Bad Things' "The Dirge!” Japanther has performed at Automotive High School in Brooklyn (a community benefit to save students’ imperiled production of Guys and Dolls from budget cuts), on street corners, in people's bedrooms, in historic concert halls, on boats, and the Williamsburg Bridge. Japanther is a party band that brings much more to the show.
“Upstairs at the Square,” which celebrates three years this June, has paired authors such as William Gibson, Tom Wolfe, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, David Lynch, Anna Gavalda and Min Jin Lee with musicians including Duncan Sheik and members of the cast of Spring Awakening, Badly Drawn Boy, Sondre Lerche, Au Revoir Simone, Aimee Mann, Craig Finn and more. An archive of recordings is available on Barnes & Noble.com, where “Upstairs at the Square” is enjoyed by listeners around the world in addition to its live audiences.
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