Last night we attended the latest installment of Live at the New York Public Library for Miranda July & Friends. July read two stories from her recently published book of short stories, No One Belongs Here More Than You, followed by three songs (and a sing-a-long) from Lavender Diamond singer Becky Stark.

Stark struck me as a quirky breakfast waitress from Denny's who could be learning guitar during cigarette breaks, but as soon as she began to sing the room was fixated. She has a delicate voice, with just the right "balance" of heartache and humor. I assume it's no small feat to get the entire NYPL audience to perform a hushed sing-a-long too, which she achieved with endearing force. Friday nights will do that to you.

After the delicious cheese and wine intermission July was interviewed by Talking Head David Byrne, armed with his trusty PowerPoint sidekick to dissect clips from July's Me and You and Everyone We Know. Miranda joked that he didn't really have questions, rather statements which ended "what up?" While true, he picked up on some of beautiful subtleties of her film, web, and performance work. I wished there'd been an open floor of questions like last time we saw her at the NYPL.

Becky Stark then came out for one more number, with Byrne accompanying her on guitar, whom she directed authoritatively. Only she could do that!

Notable attendants included Dimitri Martin, Mike Mills, Jon Spencer, and Cristina Martinez. I wanted to pester Mike Mills to make a new record with Butter 08, but it probably wasn't the right time...