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By Robert Ham
Brooklyn Daily
It is the best of the rest of the fest!
A new edition of the Northside Festival kicks off on June 12, promising a week’s worth of music, film, and tech innovators to stimulate all parts of your creative brain. But if you’re just in it for the tunes, there is a wealth of sounds to partake in, with indie darlings and up-and-comers sharing stages around Brooklyn. Big names such as Chvrches, Sharon Van Etten, and Titus Andronicus need no introduction, but allow us to offer up a quintet of below-the-fold acts that also deserve some attention from your eyes and ears during the week.
Ka
Last year was a great year for hip-hop, and one of the highlights was “The Night’s Gambit,” this Brownsville MC’s third full-length album. The record did for chess what the Wu-Tang Clan did for kung fu — with Ka using the ancient board game as a rich metaphor for his personal and professional struggles.
Europa (98 Meserole Ave. between Manhattan Avenue and Lorimer Street in Greenpoint). June 13 at 8 pm. $12 advance, $14 at door.
Harvey Sid Fisher
You could dismiss this sometime actor and screenwriter as a novelty act, but you can’t deny his work ethic. At the age of 73, Fisher still keeps up regular appearances at festivals such as South by Southwest and Northside, delighting audiences with his quirky “Astrology songs” and anti-F-bomb anthems.
Muchmore’s (2 Havemeyer St. at N. Ninth Street in Williamsburg). June 13 at 8 pm. $8.
White Mystery
Chicago musician Miss Alex White keeps herself plenty busy and creatively fulfilled with a variety of projects, but where she seems to truly shine is when recording and performing with her brother Francis Scott White in the group White Mystery. The Windy City duo stops by Northside as part of a tour in support of “Dubble Dragon,” its ambitious, self-released, two-disc set of fuzzy, bluesy garage rock.
Bar Matchless (557 Manhattan Ave. at Driggs Avenue in Greenpoint). June 13 at 7:30 pm. $8.
Weyes Blood
Philadelphia songwriter Natalie Mering has already made a name for herself in the experimental music world, but is firmly stepping into her own with this project, which finds her balancing an interest in the dark folk sounds of the late ’60s with her delight in the colorful expanse of psychedelic pop. Through this haze, Mering remains constant, offering up her earthy voice and guitar as ballast.
Spike Hill (186 Bedford Ave. between N. Sixth and Seventh streets in Williamsburg). June 13 at 7 pm. $7.
Shamir
Hailing from the suburbs around Las Vegas comes this barely out of his teens R&B-disco talent. Shamir produces passionate tracks that pay tribute to modern icons such as LCD Soundsystem and Miguel, capping them off with his distinctively high-pitched and affecting vocals.
Muchmore’s. June 15 at 6 pm. $7.
More information at www.northsidefestival.com.