Pitchfork

Frida Hyvönen [Skirball Center at NYU; 8 p.m.]


Swedish pianist Frida Hyvönen plays soft dinner music with jarringly sexual lyrics, and she likes grapes. "It's a very social fruit," she explained. As her fingers dashed playfully across the ivories, Hyvönen sang about cocks and reminded us not to take off our pants. The smattering of New York University kids who arrived early, before the Wrens and Walkmen-- "I've got, like, two papers due tomorrow"..."Dude, why are you even HERE?"-- politely applauded.

The Wrens [Skirball Center at NYU; 9 p.m.]






Whatever it is, the Wrens still have it. They came out one at time, with singer/ multi-instrumentalist Charles Bissell hidden somewhere within a huge hooded jacket. Before the show was over, he'd harmonized a cappella with the crowd, climbed on top of a speaker, and invited the more fervent fans to sing along onstage. If everyone chooses sides, at least we were all on the same one.

The Walkmen [Skirball Center at NYU; 10 p.m.]






The Walkmen followed the Wrens' emotive crescendos with Hamilton Leithauser's scratchy-chested howls. The Dylan-tinged fare from the New York indie rockers' most recent album of original material, A Hundred Miles Off, makes a bit more sense in a live context, enhanced by horns on songs like "Louisiana". And yes, they still played "The Rat".

Califone [Tonic; 11:15 p.m.]




Let's just hope Califone aren't the next casualty of airline luggage-losing. Despite their rootsy sound, Tim Rutili's troupe rely on a stage-filling assortment of gear, from 12-string guitars to laptops. Rutili sprinkled in a spot-on Willie Nelson cover for kicks, but most of the set explored the atmospheric post-Americana of this year's Roots & Crowns.