Bard show is psychedelic, melancholy

Psychedelic, dramatic, melancholy, beautiful: "The Elliott Smith Project," which plays Friday, Saturday and Sunday in the Spiegeltent is many things. Uplifting isn't one of them.

The theatrical song cycle based on the singer/songwriter's posthumously released album, "From a Basement on the Hill," features two vocalists who utilize small cabaret tables and the stage of the round tent. The three musicians, who play guitar, ukulele, violin, bass and piano, are stationed in different booths that run the perimeter.

All the while a video artist moves through the audience (also seated at cabaret tables on the teak dance floor) and the performers, projecting the images she captures onto a screen.

"The Elliott Smith Project" will make you feel uneasy. It will disturb you. It will haunt you.

Tickets are $25.

Check out my story, which includes interviews with director Daniel Fish, in the upcoming issue of Enjoy!

(Bard College photo by Joanne Savio)

Start building your soapbox

From bearings and brakes to steering linkages, a workshop this Saturday will prepare you to enter one of the coolest events of the Hudson Valley summer: the 13th annual Artists' Soapbox Derby in Kingston, which takes place Aug. 19.

Saturday is the first of four informational public workshops on the design and construction of soapbox cars. It takes place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Cornell Shops Building, 110 East Strand.

Other workshops take place Aug. 4, 11 and 18.

Now you have no excuse.

(Photo by Poughkeepsie Journal staffer Kathy McLaughlin)

Tori Amos to launch U.S. tour in Albany

Tori Amos will play the Palace Theatre in Albany on Oct. 9 in support of her new album, "American Doll Posse."

I don't know about you, but "Under the Pink" was a pivotal album for my angst-ridden, flannel-wearing college years.

Love her.

For ticket info, click here.

Elliott Smith fans, take note

"The Elliott Smith Project," a new site-specific work, will be performed in the Spiegeltent on the Bard College campus.

The music theater piece is based on the singer-songwriter's posthumously released, “From a Basement on the Hill."

I'm going to check it out on opening night (Thursday) in advance of a story I'm writing about the dramatic song cycle.

"The Elliott Smith Project," directed by Daniel Fish, is performed Thursday, Saturday and Sunday as well as Aug. 3, 4 and 5, all at 8:30 p.m.

Tickets are $25.

(Photo courtesy of Bard College and Autumn de Wilde)

My weekend picks

If I were you this is where I'd head this weekend:

Tonight, 9 p.m., Bearsville Theater, 291 Tinker St., Woodstock



Get your groove on at the Midsummer Clubhouse Party, an underground dance party at the Bearsville Theater. Resident turntablists Lemar Soulflower and Anthony Molina will be joined by guest DJs from Boston Keith Kene and Judea Stonez.

Tickets are $10.


Saturday, 6-9 p.m., Van Brunt Gallery, 460 Main St., Beacon
For any child of the '80s, the "Pretty in Pink" album had plenty of anthem-worthy tunes, including the title track by British rock band, The Psychedelic Furs. I've been a huge fan of the Furs for years, but only saw them in concert once: Site: Opus 40; date -- summer 2000.


So I jumped at the chance to interview Cold Spring resident and lead singer Richard Butler for this week's Enjoy! Bet you didn't know he is a painter as well as a musician. Meet him at the artist's reception Saturday.




Saturday and Sunday

Rosendale Street Festival, Main Street, Rosendale, free!

These Saturday acts, all fronted by ladies, caught my eye: Sarah Perrotta, Emily Zuzik, Carla Rozman and of course, Dar Williams.

On Sunday, I can't wait to check out Bouva.

What I'm listening to now

New York-based DJ and music producer Mark Ronson's new album, "Version," features horn-driven, danceable covers of mostly British songs.

The best tracks are Lily Allen singing Kaiser Chiefs' "Oh My God" and Daniel Merriweather singing The Smiths' "Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before."

Ronson, the one time DJ-to-the-stars, spent time spinning at Hudson Valley parties while he was a student at Vassar College.

It was here that he met Poughkeepsie-based DJ Paul Nice, who Ronson includes in the "thanks" list on "Version."

Nice, who will spin at New York's APT club on July 28, gave a nod to Po-town via "The French Connection" by naming his mix CD of classic 1960s and '70s soundtracks, "Do you pick your feet in Poughkeepsie?"

Nice has produced and remixed Biz Markie, the Beastie Boys, Talib Kweli, Ol' Dirty Bastard and Amy Winehouse.

Winehouse is featured on Ronson's "Version." She does her Motown thing in the cover of "Valerie" by the Zutons.

Small world.

Hudson Valley's best bars

Here are my picks for the valley's best bars (in no particular order). Please add yours to the list by commenting below.

1.) Black Swan, 66 Broadway, Tivoli

This divey Irish pub features great pints, live music by Bard College bands and the occasional DJ from Hudson-based promoters Down in the Valley.


2.) Snapper Magees, 59 North Front St., Kingston

This bar for the tattooed and pierced set has the best jukebox in the Hudson Valley, hands down. The friendly bartenders frequently buy the third round. Stick with shots and bottled beers.


3.) Elephant Wine Bar, 310 Wall St., Kingston

This new wine bar and restaurant has become my home away from home. A selection of tapas or an artisan cheese and meat plate pair perfectly with the high-end beers and wine, which includes many by-the-glass options. There are also champagne cocktails.

The owners, Maya Karrol and Rich Reeve, used to own Brady's Public House in Poughkeepsie. Their album collection -- yes albums -- includes punk rock and dark wave. Omigod, are they playing Siouxsie and the Banshees and Depeche Mode? Yes.


4.) Mojo Grill, 942 Rt. 376, Summerlin Plaza, Wappingers Falls

One word: Caipirinha


5.) The outdoor bar at Shadows on the Hudson on the Poughkeepsie waterfront

I'm not much for the giant television over the inside bar, but I love the outside patio for its tasty cocktails and gorgeous Hudson River views.



Places I still need to hit: The Country Inn of Krumville, Katana Sake Bar in New Paltz and Mahoney's Irish Pub in Poughkeepsie. Yes, it's true, I've never been to Mahoney's.

Indian food + indie film = perfect evening

On the recommendation of my new hair stylist, I finally tried Red Hook Curry House last night. I passed over the $11.95 buffet —- very popular and deemed fresh and tasty by my husband -- so that I could try the tikka biryani with chicken. The huge portion cost $14.95 and had just the right amount of heat. It also made a great leftover lunch today. The mango lassi was a yummy accompaniment.

We then headed to Upstate Films in Rhinebeck to catch a screening of "Paris Je T'aime." This fun film is actually a number of shorts about love inspired by different neighborhoods of the city of light.

The who's who of directors includes Sylvain Chomet, Alfonso Cuarón, Wes Craven and Gus Van Sant.

Juliette Binoche, Willem Dafoe, Elijah Wood, Maggie Gyllenhaal and the legendary Fanny Ardant are among the featured actors.

For me, the standout segments were the hilarious "Tuileries," directed by the Coen Brothers and starring Steve Buscemi; the beautiful "Faubourg Saint-Denis," directed by Tom Tykwer and starring Natalie Portman and Melchior Beslon; and the heart wrenching "Loin du 16ème," directed by Walter Salles and starring Catalina Sandino Moreno.

According to IMDB, Upstate is the only moviehouse in the country where you can watch "Paris Je T'aime" this week.

Great Indian food and a great indie movie. And I didn't have to leave Dutchess County.

(Poughkeepsie Journal photos by Lee Ferris and Karl Rabe)

Face Stockholm makes Rhinebeck blush

Swedish cosmetics company Face Stockholm, which operates its United States headquarters in Hudson in Columbia County, has opened one of its antique-filled boutiques in Rhinebeck.

Face Stockholm's NYC locations feature professional makeup artists to assist buyers.

The Rhinebeck store is located in the former Rhinebeck Hardware on East Market Street.

Hours are Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. I can't wait to check it out.

For more info, call 845-876-2200.

Director chats about 'ecological time bomb'

Chris Metzler will discuss his documentary, "Plagues and Pleasures on the Salton Sea," after a 3:10 p.m. screening Sunday at Upstate Films in Rhinebeck.

This is another in a long line of environmentally charged movies that Upstate has featured this year.

It's always fun to attend screenings that are accompanied by a talk with the director in such an intimate setting. Audience members' questions are usually intelligent and the director's comments are often quite candid.

Admission is $7.50.

Not a bad way to spend a Friday

One-woman punk rock band The Laura Pepitone Show is headlining the New York State Beer Expo at Terrapin Catering, located at Dinsmore Golf Course on Route 9 in Staatsburg.

The $25 entrance fee includes all the beer and food you can eat and entertainment by Pepitone, Johnnie Wang and The Meg Johnson Band.

The expo takes place Friday from 5 to 10 p.m.

For more information, call 845-876-3330.

R.I.P. Jane

Jane magazine, the follow-up to Sassy a.k.a. "the greatest teen magazine of all time," has folded.

I stopped subscribing to Jane in early 2001, after discovering the much more Sassy-like Bust magazine.

But it was still my go-to purchase at the newstand in the train station and airport.

Jane's demise is a loss for young women who want more than just beauty ads and "how to please your man" articles from their magazine.

But like Jane, maybe we're a dying breed of the 1990s too ...

Sip and spit, but don't get sloshed

Apparently, the Hamptons crowd has moved the party to the North Fork wineries, prompting some to bar buses, limos and bachelorette parties.

Thank goodness the wine scene in the Hudson Valley is sedate by Long Island standards.

I attended last year's Bounty of the Hudson at Adair in New Paltz. The crowd skewed fairly young, but the oenophiles-in-training were there to sip, not to get sloshed. (Poughkeepsie Journal photo by Michael Sibilia)

This year's Bounty takes place July 28 and 29 at Brotherhood in Washingtonville.

One rep from a winery in the Finger Lakes told me she enjoys coming to the area for festivals like the Hudson Valley Wine & Food Fest because "it is a wonderful atmosphere of people who appreciate wine."

For a local primer, check out the Wine Goddess blog.

Here's to us.

I got your Spiegeltent menu here

No interest in cooking tonight? Head to Bard's Spiegeltent every Thursday-Sunday evening now through Aug. 19.

From 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., choose from a menu of summer foods, including local beef burgers, grilled house-made sausage, falafel with grilled pita and berry shortcake, plus Millbrook wines and Magic Hat beers.

Click here for the full Spiegeltent menu.

Eat and drink outside on picnic tables or inside in the cabaret atmosphere of the Belgian palace of mirrors.

The photo is by Poughkeepsie Journal photographer Lee Ferris. To view a gallery of his Spiegeltent photographs, click here.

The Spiegeltent is back!

Get ready for seven weeks of cabaret, cool music and clubbing inside the Spiegeltent on the Bard College campus in Annandale.

Pick up a copy of this Friday's Enjoy! for my preview of the cabaret offerings at SummerScape.

For a full schedule, click here.

Also, if you are headed to the tent Friday night, be sure to say hi to Chrissie of Odd Couple fame and me. We will be taping a video about the Spiegeltent scene for use on the PoJo Web site.