Press

“The Brooklyn label Mixpak, which straddles the electronic and dancehall spheres, is partnering up with the Tryna Function collective to kick off the season, just a few days after the summer solstice. The all-day blowout starts outside, with sets from Spice, the Jamaican dancehall vocalist famous for “Romping Shop,” her duet with Vybz Kartel; Tink, a gifted rapper and R. & B. upstart; the Jamaican d.j. crew Equiknoxx; the Staten Island rapper Squidnice; and Mixpak’s own d.j.s Dre Skull and Jubilee. As the sun wanes, the bash moves indoors, to the Knockdown Center, where the club-music jockeys Tygapaw, DJ Bebe, and DJ Jayhood, as well as London’s Kamixlo, will play loud, fast bounce late into the evening.”

– The New Yorker Staff Editor

“The producer George Clanton makes expansive electronic pop influenced by Eighties sounds. His big drum beats and vintage synth sounds are reminiscent of artists like John Maus, who take on new wave–like pop from a slightly distorted angle. But Clanton, who has worked in the dubious vaporwave meme-genre in the past, is more accessible and less afraid to go all the way into pop territory. His tracks are maximalist, exploding into colorful, exuberant climaxes. For someone who has lurked in some of the strangest corners of the Internet, Clanton makes songs that manage to be truly anthemic, something anyone can enjoy. He’ll play the second week of the VISUALS VISUALS art and music residency at Knockdown Center.”

– Sophie Weiner

“Inspired by her urban surroundings, Lourdes Correa-Carlo has taken photos of construction sites, items abandoned on the city streets, and building facades in New York City. Those images became the starting point for site-specific installations at the Knockdown Center that draw on the site’s history as, at different points, a glass factory and a frame and door company, playing with vestigial architectural features.”

– Sarah Cascone

“For her solo exhibition at Knockdown Center, Lourdes Correa-Carlo has produced seven new works in dialogue with urban embodiment and the visual politics of city space.”

– Pauline Lütgenau

“It’s summer, which means warm weather and of course, parties. Noisey loves a good party, so in partnership with Mixpak and Tryna Function, Noisey is presenting a huge one called Summer Frenzy on Saturday, June 24 at Knockdown Center in Queens. The party goes down from 3pm-2am with the daytime leg of the show (3pm-10pm) featuring dancehall queen Spice and Chicago rapper and singer Tink, who has just been added to the bill, as the headliners. Other acts include Mixpak Sound System, Equiknoxx, and Squidnice. The 10pm-2am afterparty includes set from DJ Bebe, Tygapaw, DJ Jayhood, and Kamixlo.”

– Noisey Staff

“It was 70 degrees and sunny. Visitors who had walked the 17 minutes from the L train, waited for the free shuttle bus, or avoided public transportation altogether by riding their bikes streamed through the parking lot and into the light-filled, high-ceilinged, formerly industrial brick building that housed this past weekend’s BABZ Fair (formerly the Bushwick Art Book and Zine Fair). In its fifth year, BABZ crossed the borough border to set up at the Knockdown Center in Queens, and though the venue is a bit off the beaten path, it was worth the trek.”

– Megan N. Liberty

“The fifth annual BABZ Fair (fka the Bushwick Art Book & Zine Fair) runs all weekend, June 3 & 4, 1 to 7 p.m. daily, at Knockdown Center (52-19 Flushing Avenue, Queens) with over 100 exhibitors including independent publishers and artists — plus workshops, readings etc. It’s FREE and open to the public and the complete rundown of events is HERE.”

– Gary Pini

“For the fifth year, the BABZ Fair will return to New York, this time with over 100 exhibitors from around America. Formerly known as the Bushwick Art Book & Zine Fair, this fair is devoted entirely to small art-book publishers. Among the exhibitors this year are Primary Information, Capricious, Dancing Foxes Press, Pioneer Works Press, and students from Parsons’s Fine Arts M.F.A. program. Alongside the main exhibitors will be a series of talks and events, including Sean J. Patrick Carney’s THE GALA, a play that follows an artists colony preparing to hold a gala that, unbeknownst to them, will be sabotaged by a terrorist cell.”

– The editors of ArtNews

“An industrial space in Maspeth, Queens that was once a glass and door factory was transformed into a mesmerizing temple complete with marigolds, meditation cushions, and a golden cosmic installation of a sun for a one of a kind stellar concert celebrating a newly released, and largely unheard body of work by pioneering musician and spiritual leader, Alice Coltrane.”

-Sandra Guzman

“Five years after their last album, Brooklyn electronic duo Teengirl Fantasy are back with 8AM, a record of spacious pop reworkings that recalls their 2009 debut. A lot has changed since then — at that time, Teengirl were identified with the nascent, nostalgic chillwave genre. On their new album, the group sounds dreamy and explorative, taking notes from r&b artists like the Weeknd and more experimental peers like Oneohtrix Point Never and Balam Acab. But Teengirl Fantasy have always been a dance act at heart. Along with the laser-design crew Nitemind, they should turn Knockdown Center’s cavernous interior into a swirling, neon-lit rave.”

– Sophie Weiner