WILD BEASTS
Limbo, Panto
(Domino)

By Todd Lavoie

I find myself flirting with hyperbole when I ponder the preening, careening chaos that is Limbo, Panto, the debut from Leeds, England's elegantly lurid Wild Beasts - and I fear I may give in.

Hearing the disc for the first time was a bit of a blindsiding experience, and successive listens have confirmed for me what I'd felt on that initial spin: these guys are clearly out on their own, hurling every idea in their lusty little hearts up against the wall, eager to see which ones stick. Mercifully, nearly every one of the quartet's fits of whimsy does stick - many of them, in fact, do so with spectacular results.

Say hello to my little invisible friend: Los Amigos Invisibles' "Cuchi Cuchi."

Ask and the city provides - good times and solid sounds for all. Here's the good schtuff that didn't make it to print.

WU-TANG CLAN
The Wu is with you - though RZA and Ghostface Killah were MIA when the group last played Ess Ef. Wed/3, 8 p.m., $45. Grand Ballroom at Regency Center, Van Ness and Sutter, SF. (415) 421-8497.

LOS AMIGOS INVISIBLES
This year the Venezuela group impressed at Outside Lands and threw out its first live DVD - and a new studio album is said to be in post-production. With Funky-C and DJ Felina. Thurs/4, 9 p.m., $22. Independent, 628 Divisadero, SF. (415) 771-1421.

By Daniel N. Alvarez

Part of a continuing series: Britpop Faves.

When Pulp, the perpetual Britpop outsiders, went into the studio to follow up their first taste of commercial success, the Gold-certified His 'n' Hers (Island, 1994), few would have guessed the unassuming quintet would craft a groundbreaking album that would transcend the Britpop scene, while also creating a recording that was quintessentially British.



While Different Class (PolyGram/Island, 1995) contains the same new wave/glam hybrid of His 'n' Hers, it surpasses their previous effort due to frontperson Jarvis Cocker's development into the most compelling, perceptive figure in rock music at the time. The full-length sees Cocker, a cross between Robert Smith and Morrissey with a keen understanding of sociology, come into his own as a songwriter, weaving tales of sex, drugs, and the rigid, enduring class system that has afflicted England for centuries. Though many UK bands played with the class system (the Verve, the Happy Mondays), none of them investigated it - and rallied against it - like Cocker.


For the love of...: Pulp's "Common People."

By Kimberly Chun

Jack White and company push forward with their passion for American roots music with this video collaboration - a rework of the Raconteurs' single, "Old Enough," shot by rock photographer Autumn de Wilde - alongside longtime bluegrass revivalist Ricky Skaggs and country vocalist Ashley Monroe.

So sad - and the folksinger legend was just in SF for Hardly Strictly Bluegrass! Here's a link to the Associated Press announcement.

By Marke B.

A sad week -- possibly, see below -- for queer punks and their admirers: beloved monthly Trans Am, which has torn up the floor of Club 8 (and confused quite a few Korean tourists expecting a campy tranny floorshow) for two whole years is calling it quits. Dangit!

The mad punk spirit will live on at weekly dragtastrophe Charlie Horse and Trans Am promoters Bill Picture and DJ Dirty Knees's other monthly joint Chrome, but Trans Am booked a ton of live talent that wouldn't have gotten as much exposure without them. Plus, there were always a few hot boys.

I asked Picture about the club's tearjerking demise and plans for the future (drag ball!). His comments after the jump:

The story: Oasis play "Morning Glory" at Oracle Arena, Oakland.

As I enjoyed the tasteful production design of Oasis' Dec. 3 show and wondered just how many trucks they had parked in the lot, Prof. Fluffy turned to me and yelled, "I'm scared of the singer. He looks like he wants to jump off the stage and poke someone in the eye."

Perhaps it was the way the black-shirted Liam Gallagher was holding his tambourine at the opening of their not-quite-sold-out Oracle Arena show - posing like a statue at the front of the stage with the offending instrument between his teeth. He resembled a skinhead terrier.

He had a right to be proud: solid playing from the band - though they seemed a mite disengaged, likely, due to the audience, who were subdued next to their European fans. The majority of the football-like chanting came from the English- and Irish-accented crew behind me. They marveled that they were able to get such good seats so close to the date of the show.

A very-last-minute dispatch from the deletist, "deleting elitists since 2003":

San Francisco's Fourth Annual Global Headphone Festival
Sat/6, 4 p.m.- 4 a.m., free and all ages and BYOH (bring your own headphones) and 1/4-inch headphone adapters will be available for a small returnable deposit
5lowershop
992 Peralta, SF
(415) 762-3616
More info and live stream at www.deletist.info/plug4.html

Performances by
MICHAEL MANTRA [dronecore]
STRANGELET [noise/improv/buffonery]
MOSB [square recovery]
SONDERKOMMANDO [glitchy industrial noise]
ROGER MILLS [trumpet drones : streaming from AUSTRALIA]
FILTHMILK [cavernous electronics]
SABRETEETH [tesla death ray]
CORVETTE SUMMER [antidoom]
MNEMOTH [deconstructivism]
SKULLCASTER [blackened folk]
MR. CLUCK [circuit bent toys]
SHARKIFACE [hex breaker]
CATSYNTH [ambient]
RUIDOBELLO [processed field recordings]
VSLS [antisonique]
CONFIGURATION AND FUNDAMENTAL GROWTH [experimental]
OZMADAWN [noise and drones]
DANCIN BABY [soundtrack from hell]
MIXILE [ambient/field recordings : streaming from IRELAND]
MOISTURE [electronics]
DESPICABLE ALIEN [electroacoustic duo]
DUBTAIL [electronics]
WELTSCHMERZ [cellos of doom]
JOHN M. BENNETT [sound poetry : streaming from FRANCE]
FOREST ZOMBIE [textured computer noise]
PEREID [electro carnage]
NICOLAS CARRAS [sound art/concret music : streaming from FRANCE]
DELETIST [cover songs gone wrong]
CEREBRAL ROIL [industrial grindcore]
DARPH/NADER [villainy]
A FASHIONABLE DISEASE [noise ass jazz glitch fuck metal]
MOISTURE FARMER [sitar fx]
HORAFLORA [psychoacoustics]
DJ CRACKHOUSE [noisehop]
HEARTWORM [mechanically separated]

By Marke B.

Clubwise, this is an absoschmutely luverly weekend to catch up on your real house music education. Representing the actual, incredible old school is the Godfather of House (and the sqwonky inventor of acid) himself, Marshall Jefferson, moving your body at the steamy B.O.D.Y.H.E.A.T. party at Elbo Room on Friday, Dec. 5. Marshall recently brought it into the new a little with his smash Mushrooms, remixed by SF's own goofy-minimal darling Justin Martin -- which was nice after what seemed too many years of silence from the master.

But he didn't bring it exactly up to the minute, into the realms of underground German microhouse -- for that, I gaily urge you to hit up one of my most favorite minimal techno clubs, Kontrol at the Endup, to catch perennially poignant Perlon records' Cassy at work this Saturday, Dec. 6.

Cassy, oh! Photo by Marietta Kesting

I still don't know if I believe in microhouse -- which to my fuzzy, broken ears often just sounds like minimal techno with a very few softer sounds and soul samples thrown in. But I get that it's the proud polar opposite of the usual overproduced house bombast, even if it can sometimes lean dangerously close to trance at times, albeit barebones, non-carnival trance. Not that there's anything wrong with trance, but there kind of is.

In any case, Berlin native Cassy's on it with some fierce sets of deep-cutting suavity, and Kontrol's booth will see some much-appreciated female power. Its dance floor, however, will be as dark and fantastic as always. The Berlin invasion continues!

Cassy at Hamburg's Camp 77 party

Cassy at the 2008 Detroit Electronic Music Festival

By Marke B.

Oh, hai, the '80s -- ur doin it rong. Unless you've been hitting up the totally awesome roving monthly New Wave City for the past 16 years, right? I remember when NWC DJs Shindog and Skip were just a twinkle in the '90s eyes -- 1992, wha? -- going against the rave-inundated mainstream and reliving the cozy Morrissey-tinged conundrum that was the '80s: shy neon. Love those children. And take that Calvin Harris fans -- the '80s started again the minute they finished! Lather rinse repeat.

'80s! I'm just gonna write that a thousand million blood- and mascara-stained times.

NWC's planned a massive synthalicious hoedown at DNA Lounge this Saturday, Dec. 6, to blow out their Sixteen Candles with appropriate assymetrical haircut aplomb. Special guest DJs they've fi-Nageled for the occasion: Melting Girl, Donimo, and Andy T. PLUS: an '80s fashion contest to win those fancy new Smiths and New Order deluxe compilations! Be there or be Huey Lewis.

After the jump: My NWC sweet 16 top 7 special requests

This in from the good folks of Bay Area band Tartufi:

"Tartufi signs to Southern Records!!!!

"After months of searching for just the right home for their new album, Lynne and Brian a saw a light on in the far off cabin at Southern Records. A kind maiden at Southern welcomed them in, sat them beside the hearth, and fed them delicious English soup and beer. Well worn from their travels the two musicians listened intently as the label maiden told them tales of battles fought, won, and lost in the kingdom of Indierocklandia. Her eyes were true and her words sure. Their amulet - the one the wizard of the glenn gave them to reveil trickery - confirmed that she was pure of heart. She invited them to stay. They accepted, and and together Lynne and Brian placed the only copy of Nests of Waves and Wire on the great oak table. This is where our story begins...

By Chloe Schildhause

The Morning Benders, a collection of groovy kids from Berkeley, have been working hard to make a name for themselves in the music world. After the release of their first record, Talking Through Tin Cans (+1), they’ve been busying touring, but for their last show of the year, the Cal alums are returning to the Bay Area for a performance at the Rickshaw Stop tonight, Dec. 5. Their poppy love grooves are yummy, and their image is as enchanting as their music. Seriously, they dress well, and I am digging lead vocalist Chris Chu’s pastel pink Ray-Bans. I spoke with Chris Chu on a sunny East Bay day to discuss the band and life.

Srsly bent. Photo by Timothy Norris

SFBG: I saw you guys at Treasure Island this summer. There was a lot of blood involved in that show. Do you guys bleed at every show - what’s with that?

Chris Chu: Joe bleeds a lot, yeah. I don’t know why - it’s just his style. He just hits the strings hard, and he kind of keeps going after the first time, and so he just keeps bursting it open.

SFBG: Does this happen at every show?

CC: It happens a lot, yes. We’re trying to figure out how to get it to work better. At that show I burst my finger, too, so I was bleeding. But that doesn’t usually happen. I’m pretty healthy.

SFBG: You have Britney Spears stickers on your guitars. Why?

CC: Joe’s actually distant relatives with Britney Spears.

SFBG: What’s the connection?

CC: I don’t know what it is - second cousins or something. But the stickers were just sort of a fluke, we just got them. Someone was handing them out on the street - some crazy person. That was on tour in the East Coast, and since there was a little connection there, that’s why we put them on.

Morning Benders, "Dammit Anna"

SFBG: Was it intentional to have your last concert of the year be in your neck of the woods?

CC: Definitely yeah. It’s actually weird - we’ve been touring, and we ended up playing a lot of places more often than we get to play here. It’s been a fluke that when the record came out we didn’t have stops in San Francisco.

SFBG: When you first came to Berkeley, what was your intention in life? Was it to become a member in a band?

By Marke B.

The Guardian's Year in Music issue doesn't come out for a couple weeks, but I'm getting my musical top 10 of 2008 (clubswise) list ready -- check out last year's here -- and I'm pretty sure the loves of my musical life for the past two months will be on it: Clubfeet, a golden trio from Australia, where most great dance-ish music seems to come from. OK, it's not too dance-ish, maybe (although look for the slew of banger remixes to follow), but the tuneful coupling of innocently cynical sentiment with absolutely beautiful production is a marvel that has me skipping around in my undies. Check out Clubfeet's album Gold on Gold (Plant Music -- available on iTunes etc.) and get ready to sing a long ....

Below, the vids for "Teenage Suicide" (if you don't get the reference, then I fear for your Gen-X soul) and the gorgeous "DIE Yuppie Scum" which puts me in mind of Stephen Duffy/Tin Tin, especially the vocals. And I will bestow a million kisses on the first DJ here to play them ...

Clubfeet, "Teenage Suicide"

Clubfeet, "DIE Yuppie Scum"

By Todd Lavoie

Calling all lovers of the heavy 'n' the hazy: Virginia-farmboy stoner-rock band Pontiak will be treating the Bay Area to two doses of riffing and roughing up cochleas. First off, the Blue Ridge Mountain brothers storm the Stork Club in Oakland on Tuesday, Dec. 9. Don't feel like trekkin' on over to the East Bay on a school night? The trio will also be playing here in SF, on Sunday, Dec. 14, at the Hemlock Tavern. Two choices, so really there's no excuse.

Hailing from small-town farmlands north of Charlottesville, Pontiak is composed of three brothers: Van (guitar, lead vocals), Lain (drums, vocals), and Jennings Carney (bass, organ, vocals). I don't think anyone in the band would necessarily flinch at the mention of the phrase "power trio": for all of their affinity for murky, sludgy sounds, Pontiak roars away with remarkable precision, pulling off that men-as-machine ethos quite convincingly. Maybe it's a sibling thing?

There is a level of familial intuition that's quite palpable on the recent re-release of their second full-length, Sun on Sun (Thrill Jockey), after all - and while I hardly would expect first-time listeners to mistake any of the disc for Rush, the sheer force with which the threepiece locks into a groove could warrant the comparisons. Instead of touching upon "Tom Sawyer" or "The Temples of Syrinx," however, the disc taps into the doomscapes of Black Sabbath as well as the psychedelia of the Doors.

By Marke B.

I would seriously follow local turbocrunk duo Lazer Sword to the ends of the earth -- and I just might have to, once they embark on their European Tour in February (come back, come back ...). One of the last times to see them rock the little electronic boxes live will be this Thursday at the fun-filled monthly Work party at UndergroundSF, hosted by the Unicrons crew.

I've had a few small reservations about the Work parties -- they've been popular, and I dig all the local music-making talent they've brought in. Particularly, I'm partial lately to Unicrons members Futuristic Prince, whose jam "Amok Time" has lodged itself in my ears. But the party seemed to follow a kind of tired banger party template, and the promotion has at times seemed a tad desperate. Once they even claimed to be celebrating the release of the new G4 iPhone and The Dark Knight Returns! I hope that was in jest, and I certainly understand that you gotta do what you gotta do to build a party. Twenty Myspace bulletins an hour, though, usually only serves to turn me off. (Can we make that a rule for all club promoters at this late point in the MySpace thingie?)

HOWEVER!

By Marke B.

But will he ever find sunrise?

Look, I love all kinds of nightlife -- even zillion-selling sellout nightlife on occasion (yes, I've been to Ibiza) -- and I've championed a lot of dumb music just because it's fun. Ain't nothing wrong with a little fun, and I'm comfortable with being accused of being gushy about absolutely silly things at times.

But I've also spent most of my life trying to convince people that electronic dance music is so much more than lazy, repetitive drivel made for a million blank-minded lockstep androids -- that it can have true soul and experimental meaning, inducing both chills and progress in a subcultural community -- only for many of my arguments to come undone by this horrid bombast:

Jump in: Too $hort's "I'm a Player."

Party-hopping, penny-pinching, craft-making and cookie-baking, and singing for your supper - the holiday activities never let up - and the city responds in kind...with more, more, more shows. Here's what you might be missing...

All righty: Cold War Kids' "Something Is Not Right with Me."

VAMPIRE WEEKEND AND COLD WAR KIDS
"Golden Gate Jumpers" alert. The combos warm up Not So Silent Night with this toasty pre-show. Wed/10, 8 p.m., $25. Mezzanine, 444 Jessie, SF. (415) 625-8880.

By Justin Juul

BrokenCYDE: the musical equivalent of chopped fingers and molested children:

When anthropologists encounter bizarre rituals in faraway lands, they don’t pass judgment because it would defeat the purpose of the discipline. They try to remember that every culture has its own set of norms and taboos and that none of these belief systems is any more or less “right” than the next. Think about marriage for a minute. Most Americans insist that the nuclear family is the right way to go, but anthropology has shown us that other lifestyles are just as natural. Some men in India marry an entire line of sisters at the same time, rebellious Mormons may have twenty wives, Hugh Hefner lives in a robe and has sex with triplets half his age, etc.

These situations may seem fucked up to “us,” but you know what? Those people are happy and they get by just fine. Cultural objectivity is necessary because it promotes tolerance (pay attention CA voters!) and it encourages self-analysis. It is the key to enlightenment. Well, the same thing goes with music.

By Jen Snyder

Last Saturday, Dec. 8, at El Rio marked the cementing of yet another dirty brick in the growing wall of West Coast punk. I could talk about the amazing performances by the Traditional Fools, who thankfully seem to be playing shows again after a short hiatus. Or I could talk about Hank IV, who were bad as hell - by which I mean good - but I’d much rather talk about the gnarliest show ever performed by the Mayyors hailing from our state capital of Sacramento.

The Mayyors certainly proved that Sacramento is a crazy, corrupt place. From the moment they played their first song, the entire room trembled with angst and energy. Vocalist John Pritchard pummeled through the crowd thrashing and screaming, stoking the fire in the crowd. Pritchard salivated endlessly while he sang, barking and demonically whipping around as strings of spit flew everywhere. It was undeniably awesome. All of my disdain for mosh pits and people knocking into me kind of melted away into a nostalgic appreciation for a reckless youth.

This in from Special Lord B - and hurry it's tonight:

"CLUB INTERNATIONALE!!! Thursday, Dec. 11.

"Hear obscure pop, psych, disco, and funk from Turkey, Italy, Thailand, India, Japan, Germany, France Africa, and more!

"Guest DJ LOACHFILET, aka, Bobby Adams (Mummers, Caroliner, Honeywell)

News from the Lady Sovereign camp:

"Lady Sovereign is back and got her own label through EMI and has a new record for April. She has just put up a new song on her MySpace for fans to download.

"Midget Records is her label that has a global partnership with EMI. Her upcoming record is called Jigsaw and will be out April 7, 2009."

The song is "I Got You Dancing" and it's a free download on the performer's Web site as well. The lady calls it "an early Christmas gift" and goes on to write: "Hey, hey! Just to let you now I'm alive!... I just finished writing the new album in London... The album is the next chapter. It's a massive leap forward for mankind!!! Love, Sov."

Ponderosa stomp: James Johnson of Wilderness. All photos by Lisa Weiss.

By Michelle Broder Van Dyke

Up above the still of a serene California night, a dry thunderstorm is brewing. Like the tom-heavy drum patterns of Wilderness’ William Goode and the angular guitar lines of Colin McCann, the dry lightning splits from the sky striking down on Earth, igniting wildfires. The blaze destroys in a gradual and shapeless but fierce trail that builds as James Johnson’s howls brew from the bottom of his belly, filling his throat before rising and bursting forth like a clairvoyant issuing forth the voices of the dead, while Brian Gossman sustains the flames with long-held bass notes.

Or at least that's what I imagined as I watched Wilderness perform at Bottom of the Hill on Thursday, Dec. 11. Their distinct post-punk sound builds on echoes that resound throughout the space, stirring the vibrations until trance-like they seep into your pores and take over, completely hypnotizing you. I wouldn’t have been surprised if the audience began speaking in tongues.

This in from SFJAZZ's people (a total aside: I'm looking forward to Brad Mehldau, Jenny Scheinman, pictured below, as well as Seun Kuti, pictured above. And you know Allen Toussaint and Tinariwen are going to be awesome):

"Randall Kline, the Executive Artistic Director of SFJAZZ - the leading non-profit jazz organization on the West Coast and the presenter of the San Francisco Jazz Festival today announced the complete artist lineup for the 10th Anniversary SFJAZZ Spring Season. The unique and spectacular four-month-long concert series begins on March 6 and continues through June 21. The season will present some of the most illustrious names in jazz, world, and related music including McCoy Tyner, Branford Marsalis, Madeleine Peyroux, Bill Frisell’s Disfarmer Project, Ahmad Jamal, Jenny Scheinman, John Scofield and the Piety Street Band, Kayhan Kalhor and Brooklyn Rider, Tinariwen, Chris Potter Underground, Will Bernard, Mariza, CéU, Mingus Dynasty with John Handy, Allen Toussaint, Karrin Allyson, Idan Raichel, Michael Feinstein: the Sinatra Project, Brad Mehldau, Richard Bona and Lionel Loueke, Roy Hargrove, James Carter, Kenny Burrell, Michael Wolff, Hiromi’s Sonicbloom, and many others.

“'For 26 years, SFJAZZ has been guided by a simple principle: we absolutely love music—and we want to present it in the best possible context for all those who share our passion,' said Kline. 'In 2000, we took a huge step forward in that mission by launching the SFJAZZ Spring Season, marking our expansion into a year-round concert presenting organization. Over the last 10 years, the Spring Season has grown exponentially. This year we will present nearly 40 concerts over four months, purposefully matching each artist with the ideal venue for a high-quality listening experience. Our aim is to reflect the tighter, more culturally close-knit nature of today’s world, and the positively open-minded, "multi-culti" city that we call home - San Francisco.'

Here's an interview with new-cumbia whizzes Bersa Discos -- on the eve of their party Tormenta Tropical's first anniversary this Friday at the The Elbo Room -- as published in this week's Scene: The Guardian Guide to Nightlife and Glamour magazine, on stands inside the Guardian...

DJ oro11 and Disco Shawn. Photo by Conor Collins.

"The reception to our sound has been amazing here," says new-style cumbia pioneer DJ Oro11 — who, along with partner DJ Disco Shawn, heads the Bersa Discos label (www.myspace.com/bersadiscos) and puts on the packed Tormenta Tropical monthlies at Elbo Room. "A place like the Bay Area is a perfect spot for new cumbia sounds to take hold. People here are always looking for new music, plus there's obviously a huge Latino population. A lot of younger Latinos who grew up hearing cumbia also listened to hip-hop and electronic music. They're really into what we're doing."

Cumbia, the irresistible traditional accordion-driven dance music of Argentina, has undergone a mutation of sorts, opening up to include electronic augmentation, hip-hop beats, and even punk styles. The new iteration has taken hold in clubs like the cutting-edge Zizek, in Buenos Aires, where Oro11 was living and performing when Disco Shawn sought him out in 2006 for a taste of the electro-cumbia sound. The two returned to San Francisco, their home base, to form the Bersa Discos label as a kind of sonic nexus. "DJs and producers were selling burned CDs and swapping MP3s, but nothing was very organized at the time," says Disco Shawn. "We just wanted to get some of these amazing tracks pressed up on vinyl and circulated a little more officially."

Bersa Discos is now on its fourth release, titled, appropriately, Bersa #4 and featuring Afro-Colombian-tinged tracks by Brooklyn's Uproot Andy and deeper sounds from the Netherlands' Sonido del Principe. And the Tormenta Tropical party has seen legends like DJ/Rupture, South Rakkas Crew, Buraka Som Sistema, Toy Selectah, and even the Zizek folks burn up the stage. Shawn says to keep a 2k9 ear out for DJ Panik's Texan "crunk cumbia." Meanwhile, UK "bashment" crew the Heatwave hop in Dec. 19 to enliven the party's first anniversary.

SFBG What originally attracted you to the new cumbia style?

Hang time: High on Fire's "Hung, Drawn, and Quartered."

Cool, ain't it? The fun just keeps coming in chilly-chilly-chill SF. Here are a few more musical note-worthies.

BART DAVENPORT
Soulful and sweet as it comes - thanks to the Oakland singer-songwriter. With Brian Glaze and the Night Shift, the Dry Spells, and DJ Lithuanian Prince. Thurs/18, 9 p.m., $8. Bottom of the Hill, 1233 17th St., SF. (415) 621-4455.

HIGH ON FIRE
Get an earful of this week's "Year in Music" cover dude Matt Pike and his Bay power trio, High on Fire, a band that has gone far beyond being, as Guardian contributor Mike McGuirk put it, an "outlet for aggression/Yeti poems Pike uses in place of his defunct first band, Sleep, San Jose's most seminal export." With Drunk Horse. Thurs/18, 9 p.m., $16. Great American Music Hall, 859 O’Farrell, SF. (415) 885-0750.

HIGHTOWER
The SF thrashers throw a benefit for Bordertown-Oakland Skate Park. With the Ferocious Few. Thurs/18, 9 p.m., $5. Thee Parkside, 1600 17th St., SF. (415) 503-0393.

Old-school musical mash-ups - hold the torture: DeLeon.

By Michelle Broder Van Dyke

Eight days of fun packed into one night: two bands, DJs, latkes, He’Brew beer tastings, halvah, Hanukkah survival kits, and a menorah-lighting ceremony - this surely surpasses any party Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donder, and Blitzen are planning to throw this holiday season.

New York band DeLeon reinterprets pre-Spanish Inquisition Sephardic folk melodies sung in Ladino (a Judeo-Spanish language), Hebrew, and English into postmodern rock compositions. Fusing Spanish and Middle Eastern percussion and electronic rhythms along with a mixture of each aforementioned language, DeLeon's songs commandeer an array of emotions, ranging from lovelorn and woeful to lighthearted and gleeful, while reclaiming an ancient folk tradition for a modern audience.

By Marke B.

I'm a-freezing my hanukkah latkes off in Detroit right now (-10 wind chill), so maybe it's appropriate, among the blizzard of end-of-year lists, that I pop in my hot mix of the year. All 45 Ghostworld conga-line minutes of Detroit wizard Jeff Mills' triple-table symphonic techno tour de force, "The Exhibitionist."

Before the techno purists claw my ears out, yes this mix came out in late 2k7 -- but I'm on drag time. What really got me about this mind-blowing performance (the sleeve clean at 17:20 made me burst into tears) was how Mills tweaked the massive global rhythms that have always existed subconsciously below fine techno's surface to come up with the kind of polyrhythmy that dubstep can only achieve at its best. Not that it's a competition -- and I was addicted to more dubstep mixes this year than I can count -- but I'm a technoist at heart, and this mix really said something I've been trying to say for years: that machine music possesses a global soul.

I will eternally worship the person who transcribes this for the New York Philharmonic. Or whips out the entire set at Carnaval.

BONUS: SF-made mixes I loved this past year:

Lazer Sword: Future Blaps

Kontrol: XLR8R techno tear-up

Richie Panic: An Amazing Lifelike Companion

Public: all mixes (esp. Metallica)

ISOBEL CAMPBELL AND MARK LANEGAN
Sunday at Devil Dirt
(Fontana International)

By Todd Lavoie

In this week's new pop canon spread, I got a chance to hail hosannas upon the late great Lee Hazlewood, whose presence has been quite deeply felt in some of the finest music of 2008. Perhaps the stamp of influence was most deeply inked, however, with Sunday at Devil Dirt, the second collaboration between wispy-piped ingénue Isobel Campbell and croak-baritoned brooder Mark Lanegan.

Here, sad-eyed orchestral pop meets dusty country blues, frequently with dreamlike results - much like Hazlewood's signature showdowns with duet-partner Nancy Sinatra. Pitching Lanegan's growls and grumbles against Campbell's decidedly sweeter murmurs makes for a fascinating update of the Lee 'n' Nancy blueprint, but there's a twist.

Whereas Hazlewood played the Svengali to Sinatra - writing the songs and arrangements and often taking the second seat, vocally speaking, to his partner - here the roles are switched, with Campbell at the helm musically but sticking largely to the second mic in deference to Lanegan's bellowing lead. Having written almost the entirety of the disc, as well as handling all arrangement and production duties, Campbell has worked some spine-tingling trickery from her place in the shadows: Lanegan gets the bigger boom in the mix, yes, but behind the whisper-thin sighs and coos, it is Campbell who is in control.

By Michael Harkin

"Why'd they have to do the concert on this day, when they knew it'd be rainin'?" You posed a good question, Mr. Passerby. I arrived at Great American Music Hall at 11:45 a.m. on this damp, overcast Sunday morning, Dec. 22, and 150 people were already lined up around the corner from the club. Mostly teenage girls around, but lots of parents toted umbrellas and blankets - what good sports! - knowing full well that they'd be out there another seven hours with their kids before doors.

My neighbors in line had variously traveled from Stockton, Mountain View, and San Jose, willing to pay far more than the $20 door price to see Fall Out Boy that night. Their health 'neath those Decaydance hoodies wasn't quite as important as the close proximity the venue would afford them.

I can't readily provide a sufficient rationale for standing out in the rain this long, especially when the band in question is the embodiment of commercial rock's absurdity - they headlined the Honda Civic Tour last year, for heaven's sake - and regularly employ such overwrought, cumbersome song titles as "I'm Like a Lawyer with the Way I'm Always Trying to Get You Off (Me and You)." That said, I like 'em anyway - hard to say why. And this beats paying 60 bucks to see them with some terrible bands at the HP Pavilion next summer, right?

Itchy and scratchy: Tomutonttu's Ultra Eczema art.

'Tis the season - here's another in a series of top 10s from Bay Area musicians, writers, and scenesters.

JEFF RAY'S TOP 10

- Favorite album: Fennesz, Black Sea (Touch)
Should be renamed Endless Winter. So incredibly lush and can warm up any long Ukrainian winter night.
- Favorite band: MGMT
Fun, danceable, catchy but not stupid.
- Favorite music series, “Relay” at the Lab, Oct. 22–Nov. 15
Great experimental music series hosted by the Lab. Folks from Finland and Fonal Records, Tomutonttu, Thuja, and Loren Chasse all performed, along with others. The sonic works were inspiring to listen to and watch. The Lab is awesome: www.thelab.org.

Park life: Department of Eagles.

Another in a series of year-end picks from Bay Area players.

THE MORNING BENDERS' TOP 10 PICKS OF 2008

1. Department of Eagles, In Ear Park (4AD)
(and the rest in no particular order)
- Beach House, Devotion (Carpark)
- Deerhunter, Microcastle (Kranky)
- Synecdoche, New York (Charlie Kaufman, US)
- Coldplay, Viva la Vida (Capitol)

Here's a very select blast of bubbly, DJ-driven New Years Eve parties. All events take place Wednesday, Dec. 31 — and those marked "late" go afterhours for your party-hopping pleasure.

Afrolicious

Feel a warm, wet vibe of the new with DJ Sabo of Sol Selectas, residents Pleasuremaker and Señor Oz, live percussionists, and hundreds of gyrating lovelies.

10 p.m., $20. Elbo Room, 647 Valencia, SF. www.elbo.com

Bootie Pirate Party

Arrrr — it's 2k9! Swing from the mashup club's mizzenmast with Smash-Up Derby live and DJs Adrian and Mysterious D, Party Ben, Dada, and Earworm.

9 p.m.–late, $25 advance. DNA Lounge, 375 11th St., SF. www.bootiesf.com

Booty Call NYE

Drag mother Juanita More, playboy Joshua J., DJ Initials P.B., performer Hoku Mama Swamp, and star photographer Brandon — look smart! — bring all the hot boys together to pop a few corks.

8:30 p.m., Check Web site for price. The Bar, 456 Castro, SF. www.juanitamore.com

Eclectic Fever Masquerade

Shake your feathers and bhangra in the new with the NonStop Bhangra dance troupe, and then get global with Sila and the Afrofunk Experience, Daronda, and DJ Felina.

9 p.m.–late, $55. Gift Center Pavilion, 888 Brannan, SF. www.eclecticfever.com

Imagine

Spundae and Mixed Elements explode with local house heroes Kaskade, Trevor Simpson, and baLi — plus, a jungle room and "shiny confetti rain."

8 p.m., $60 advance. Ruby Skye, 420 Mason, SF. www.rubyskye.com

Love Unlimited

Almost every fab disco crew — Gemini Disco, DJ Bus Station John, Honey Soundsystem, Ferrari, Beat Electric — comes together for this all-night beat blast with DJ Cosmo Vitelli.

9 p.m., $15 advance. Paradise Lounge, 308 11th St., SF. www.myspace.com/honeysoundsystem

Ladies do the same: Charles Hamilton's "Brooklyn Girls."

Another in a series of year-end picks from Bay Area musicians, writers, scene-makers, and music lovers.

DANIEL N. ALVAREZ’S TOP 10

10) Lil Wayne, Tha Carter III (Cash Money/Universal)

If for no other reason, Tha Carter III belongs on this list, because it proves that in the age of illegal downloading, hip-hop can still commercially thrive. While the record is uneven, its widespread success was achieved by Wayne’s hard work and prolific output. Most of his mixtapes, especially the ones in the “Da Drought” series, are stronger than this record, yet this album does have some dizzying high points. His expansive collaboration with the elder with Jay-Z, “Mr. Carter,” brilliantly builds to an explosive crescendo, where Wayne lets his hair down and destroys Infamous’ soulful beat.

“Next time you mention ‘Pac, Biggie, or Jay-Z, don’t forget Weezy, baby!” - Mr. Carter

9) Kidz in the Hall, The In Crowd (Duck Down)

Bursting out of hip-hop hotbed, the University of Pennsylvania, the duo’s breakthrough effort is one of the slickest of the year. Riding old-school soul beats, provided by Michael Aguilar (a.k.a., Double-O), the group’s MC Jabari Evans (Naledge) effortlessly cruises through downtown Chicago, putting a premium on storytelling. Often unfairly lumped in with the “hipster-hop” crowd, Kidz in the Hall’s sound actually aligns more with the Chicago scene, drawing striking parallels to Common and pre-robot Kanye West.

“And I’m looking blessed, like I said achoo.” - “Drivin’ Down The Block (Low End Theory)”