Chris Cunningham has been away from the public eye for the better part of the last decade with only a handful of commercial and public appearances. His career was a lot more prolific in the 1990s when he teamed up with Warp Records and other musicians to direct some of the most memorable music videos. In 2005, Cunningham performed live for the first time at Electraglide, a two day music festival in Tokyo and Osaka, arranging original and remixed music to film. The performance proved to be a success and was followed up with other events several years later, teaming up once again with Warp. He is now set to recreate his cross visual and audio performance at this year’s SOS4.8, the 48 hour non-stop music, art, and conference festival based in Murcia, Spain. The festival takes place on April 30 and May 1st. Travel more!

No other director is capable of romanticizing New York City like Woody Allen. His love affair with the city on film began in 1977 with Annie Hall but it was in Manhattan where Allen paid homage. From the opening shot of the film, George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue builds from the introductory note of the clarinet and swells to a crescendo while the Manhattan skyline stands at the forefront. Allen embraces all its grittiness in lovely black and white. His appreciation for the music goes beyond its enjoyment, Allen is an extremely talented clarinet player as well. Barbara Kopple’s 1997 documentary Wild Man Blues displays much of this as the camera follows Allen through a European tour. Good news for New Yorkers, its hometown auteur will be performing at The Carlyle every Monday night till May 31st with The Eddy Davis New Orleans Jazz Band.

Since we’re not a music blog, we missed this when it made the rounds. But this is one of our favorites so we can’t neglect the recently released track, “Mrs. Cold” by the Kings of Convenience. The duo have been in the studio recording their latest album and are expected to release it on October 20th reports Billboard. Many of the new tracks can be heard from a live recording of the band’s performance in Seoul from earlier this year. (via Stereogum)

The Ace has aligned itself with some of the biggest music festivals this year. Last month with SXSW and over the weekend with Coachella. Their Desert Gold event was another collaboration with Levi’s where locals and guests lounged poolside at their newest Palm Springs location, an idyllic mid-century-style oasis in the Southern California desert. Combining music and retail, Ace created a diverse line up of bands from the Pacific Northwest and Joshua Tree. And what music festival would it be without the merch, a silkscreen was set up to print up shirts for the event.

Sonar, the international music festival held in Barcelona every summer comes to New York for one evening in a capsule version. Catalan Days: SonarSound NYC will take place on May 12th from 8pm-1am at the Baryshnikov Arts Center. Featuring ReacTable, D.A.R.Y.L., Griffi, Dj2D2, Aqeel, Beans, Invincible, Fibla, Árbol, Balago, Delorean, DJ/Rupture and Prefuse 73. The event is free but reservations are required.

Record stores are suffering from illegal downloads and digital retailers like Amazon and itunes. The tangible form isn’t as respected or preferred any longer. Licensing, merchandising, and touring have become the main revenue generator for many bands. So what’s an independent record store to do in these dark times? Rally for support by working with bands and labels. Record Store Day is an event held on the third Saturday of every April, releasing exclusive vinyl, cds, and merchandise to independent record stores across the country. This year’s event is set for April 18 with an amazing list of participating artists releasing rarities, live performances, and b sides. Have a look at the list of releases and participating stores on Record Store Day’s site.