Photoshop assist courtesy of a very sad Jesus Diaz.

​Once, he infiltrated Michael Bolton's house, where he proceeded to photograph the innocent singer's Scrabble board and College Dropout platinum plaque. At least one regular reader was moved to write an entire song in tribute, the first line of which was: "WHAT? HARVILLA PROMOTED ANOTHER MILLIONAIRE?" He called his long-running print column "Down in Front" because he was indeed tall and difficult to see over at shows, and felt bad about that fact. Da Capo gave him both awards and honorable mentions; a not insignificant number of pieces he edited went on to win more of the same. His office couch was comfortable, his kindness legendary, and now, five years after showing up here from the hinterlands of California, he's headed back. We'll miss you Rob. And since your fame is sure to be more enduring than MIMS', let's all just pretend you drafted this nifty graphic with yourself in mind and remember it forever. From left to right, all together now:

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Robert Glasper, bringing along his continuing Experiment

​As we have previously opined, January's annual two-day Winter Jazzfest is one of the season's signature live-music events, packing an ever-expanding number of downtown clubs (five this year) with an ever-expanding cabal of folks inexplicably angling to hear tough, ambitious downtown jazz. 2011's slate is set for January 7-8 at Le Poisson Rouge, Kenny's Castaways, Zinc Bar, Sullivan Hall, and Bitter End; tickets are on sale Friday, $25 per day, $35 for the both of 'em. As with globalFEST, you are guaranteed to encounter something you haven't heard before but will be very glad you did -- maybe this year it'll be, uh, Mike Pride's From Bacteria To Boys. To that end, here's the early lineup:

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​Gorgeously clattering Brooklyn duo Buke & Gass are fast becoming an SOTC favorite (download a track from their new record, Riposte, here), named after the bizarre homemade instruments that fuel their arty, chaotic noise-pop. They've made a quick, loud, exuberant video for the Riposte track "Page Break" that seems to accurately convey the sensation of taking a road trip while nursing some sort of head injury. Observe:

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​A rough week for canceled shows around here: Devo has scrapped all their upcoming dates, including Saturday night's Hammerstein Ballroom fete (which is now a free show with the Drums and Neon Trees), after a glass shard sliced guitarist Bob Mothersbaugh's right thumb to the bone. The band was touring behind this year's actually quite excellent Something for Everybody, which remains "pure Devo, triumphantly Devo, sincerely Devo, Devo without scare-quotes." All affected dates below:

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Red Baraat. Pic by Amy Touchette.

​Good news: globalFest 2011 met their $10,000 Kickstarter goal, so the show (reliably the years wildest, most ambitious one-night buffet of international talent) will go on January 9 at Webster Hall. And here's the lineup:

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​What a pleasant surprise to stagger into the Guggenheim Saturday and, in the midst of the museum's YouTube Play: A Biennial of Creative Video exhibit -- an elaborate display of 25 clips guest-curated by a panel featuring everyone from Laurie Anderson to most of Animal Collective to Ryan McGinley to Takashi Murakami -- encounter the famously mesmerizing Dark Side of the Moon-referencing shot from Die Antwoord's "Zef Side" video. Yes, everyone's favorite South African meme-rappers were, albeit briefly, hailed as High Art.

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Kylesa's Laura Pleasants, mid-wail. Pics by Rob, more below.

​Kylesa/Hull
Public Assembly
Monday, October 25

Better than: Watching Tony Romo get knocked out for the season on Monday Night Football, which is saying something.

You know you're in for some shit when you walk in the club and there are three full drum kits onstage. The first belongs to Brooklyn's own Hull, a five-man Sabbathian monolith of slow-headbanging fury, occasionally breaking into a jump-cut double-time gallop but more comfortable when gradually roiling to a deliberate, rumbling, drum-fill-heavy, hypnotizing boil, each tune moody and violent and miniseries-length, with loud parts so loud you can't think straight and quiet parts so quiet you can hear the drummer loudly exhaling. Between songs they earnestly thank us for Supporting the Scene and sheepishly admit that one of their guitarists (Carmine, I think) was headbanging so hard he threw his back out. Consider that an omen.

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​Alas. Crocodiles (left) had a show at Maxwell's in Hoboken tonight; Dum Dum Girls were set for Music Hall of Williamsburg with Frankie Rose and the Outs on November 1. Both shows/tours have been scrapped entirely, per a family emergency (Brandon Welchez from the Crocs and Dee Dee from the Dum Dums are married). Respective statements below...

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​Gregory Isaacs, the Cool Ruler, "the most exquisite voice in reggae" (per the Times), "one of the most sensual and intelligent singers from Jamaica or anywhere" (per Ann Powers), and/or "one of the three geniuses I've known in the reggae music business" (as one industry cohort put it), died this morning of lung cancer, in his homebase of London, at 59. Expect a flood of eulogies, written and otherwise, in the next several days, the best of which might be taking place on East Village Radio this evening, per the weekly, two-hour, vinyl-centric reggae blowout Deadly Dragon Sounds, which will pay musical tribute to Isaacs while chatting with a special guest or two, including, apparently, this guy, so. Listen here; below, a few of the Cool Ruler etc.'s biggest hits to get you in the mood:

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​The news that Trent Reznor is readying a personally approved remaster of Nine Inch Nails' 1989 debut Pretty Hate Machine (and promising "a greatly improved sonic experience") is excellent news in the event you haven't bought that record like five times already, particularly due to the new package's one bonus track: an unapologetically porn-y cover of Queen's "Get Down, Make Love" that I don't mind telling you I thought was totally awesome when I was, y'know, 14. Let us now reindulge:

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