If the last Gemini Disco Paradise party was any indication (18-piece disco band Escort, performances at midnight and 3 a.m., packed crowd, go-go dancers, balloon drop, cabaret-style performances), the second Paradise this Saturday night (5/17) should deliver on its promise to be a debaucherous, all-night disco dance party channelling the spirit of Studio 54 or Paradise Garage, the infamous gay NYC nightclub from the '80s.
Christopher McVick's Paradise Disco Trailer
Mezzanine and Gemini Disco are bringing the original disco divas from the '70s Sister Sledge ("We Are Family" and "He's the Greatest Dancer"), as well as DFA's disco-revivalists Holy Ghost! (DJ set), with local supporting DJs Derrek Love and Nicky B (Gemini), BT Magnum and Black Shag (Beat Electric), and Honey Soundsystem. Christopher McVick and his entourage help ignite the disco fever with their outlandish circus/disco/cabaret antics, including theatrical choreography, stick ponies, and glitzy drag performances.
Sister Sledge perform "He's the Greatest Dancer"
Paradise All-Night Disco Party
May 17th, 10 pm to dawn, $15 advance
Mezzanine, 444 Jessie Street, 415-625-8880 www.mezzaninesf.com
I meant to have posted this banger love letter yesterday, but I got caught up in gay marriage drama (did anyone else think the music at the Castro celebration party last was a bit dark for the occasion? Celebrate equal rights with psytrance! I kinda had to love it ... )
So I've jabbered on and on about the banger scene, and about the tecktonik dance that goes with it (in Europe, at least) -- but what about the music and the clubs, eh? Yeah, we'll get to that, but first here's the vid for the new N.E.R.D. song that's everywhere -- it's pretty much an acoustic banger, heh -- and the electro remixes are already flowin' in. It's a scandalously dead-on look at the scene, and I guess when I said that goofy over-accessorizing was out I misspoke, but I still can't find any irony.
And now, click here for this bangin' mix from one of my favorite people right now -- and a damn good DJ -- Richie Panic, called "An Amazingly Lifelike Companion." listen especially for the "Bonus Track" -- kiddie mosh-pit indeed. And an excellent example of the punk roots, or at least aspirations, of the scene.
And then check out 22-year-old local banger Public's jaw-dropping mixtape of his own edits (Metallica! ELO! The Cardigans! "The Promise"?!) -- I figure we'll be hearing a lot more from this one.
As for clubs, kind-of weekly Blow Up at Rickshaw Stop is the epicenter right now, with its sister club Frisco Disco right behind (although Frisco Disco keeps it a little more old-school neon indie, with more actual guitar-driven songs from the past and even a little melancholy.) Here's a couple vids from Blow Up -- there's a hot one tonite if you can make it -- shot by Blow Up's videographer Peter Noble, because no club would be anything without impeccable digital documentation. Noble's editing technique is pretty rad, though.
In this week's Super Ego clubs column, I finally take on the banger scene's hardcore electro glitz riot on the city's dance floors. The sound and style originated in France, mostly, and is helping to resuscitate the much-maligned term "euro" -- commonly associated with over-caffeinated, hyper-sugary tunes that fitted really awful embroidered jeans and Gucci knockoff sunglasses on a couple generations of appletini swillers.
I'm much more into the new euro, needless to say, and in Paris at least, bangers are associated with a dance craze, tecktonik (also spelled tektonik). Here's what it looks like, to the wonderfully banged-up tune of fabulous French rapstress-chanteuse Yelle's "A Cause de Garcons." (Her show here at the Independent last month was off the hook, btw, and she featured a sequined pink Stephen Sprouse-like dress reading "Smells Like Teen Spirit." Fierceness!)
Goofy, but sweetly energetic. The dance in fact originally started in the early-mid 2000s, in Parisian megaclub Metropolis, where it was performed to a much harder sound, a direct descendant of rave music: much more trancey and happy hardcore. (It's said the term "tecktonik" actually refers to the clash of hardcore dance styles coming in from Belgium and the Netherlands then, crashing into each other like techtonic plates.)
The two somewhat over-it-looking white dancers in the Yelle video above are famous lookalike tektoniquistes VaVan and TreAxy -- household names in France. Here's a video of them performing an early version of the dance, called "jumpstyle" (some still prefer to call it that, others use the name to refer to the music) and done to a "more traditional" musical style -- you can really see the liquid rave-dance origins here, and yeah, it looks more than a tad ridiculous, but why not?
There's a reason for the term "jumpstyle." Also happening at the time -- around 2005ish, as with all underground phenomena the timing is fuzzy -- and in the same clubs, but to more amped-up happy hardcore, was a revival of the Melbourne Shuffle, an old rave dance from the early '90s that really only looks good when you do it in extraordinarily baggy pants. The "shufflers" often squared off with, or at least disassociated themselves from, the tight-pantsed "jumpers." (In my head, they're like the Jets and the Sharks.) Also, despite its name, "jumping" is much more about the upper body and random skips, whereas "shuffling" is all about lower glide. Here's the Melbourne Shuffle:
So, OK, what does any of this have to do with Justice, and the Ed Banger Records scene and sound?
Electronic Arabic: Jef Stott gets worldly at Bollyhood
By Vanessa Carr
Jef Stott has been a producer and remixer on San Francisco's global electronica scene for over a decade. But this Saturday night (5/10) at Bollyhood in the Mission, Stott celebrates the release of his first full-length album – Saracen – on Six Degrees .
Stott fuses Arabic and Turkish rhythms with both electronic and acoustic beats and textures. What sets him apart from many of his world music peers is that – rather than merely sampling – Stott is a multi-instrumentalist who plays a wide range of instruments. On Saracen, he plays oud (Arabic lutes), saza and cumbus (Turkish lutes), the Persian santur, bass, and percussion. He also invites a number of guest musicians, including well-known Tunisian vocalist MC RAI.
Drawing early inspiration from art rockers lke Glenn Branca, Brian Eno, and Peter Gabriel, Stott got his musical start playing guitar in rock and metal bands is his hometown of Los Angeles in the 1980s. Stott went on to form the band Stellamara, whose blend of Middle Eastern and Balkan sounds and ambient rock awakened his interest in the devotional aspects of music beyond its entertainment value and led him to intensively study the oud under internationally known musicians Hamza El Din and Omar Faruk Tekbilek.
What is especially remarkable about Stott is his humility, reverence for his teachers and peers, and willingness to talk and think deeply about issues of cultural appropriation in world music.
SFBG: You have a background in heavy metal and art rock. When did you get interested in playing Middle Eastern music?
Jef Stott: [Playing in Stellamara] is when I made the big switch. That is when I picked up the oud, sold all my electric guitar equipment, and really got deeply interested in Arabic, Persian, and Turkish music. I almost abandoned everything I had done up to that point and started on a whole new path.
Runnin' through the Supergrass with "Diamond Hoo Ha"
By Todd Lavoie
Supergrass, “Diamond Hoo Ha Man”
Perhaps it’s perfectly fitting that the lads in Supergrass -- cheeky as they’ve always been -- are the ones in the much-ballyhooed Britpop pack having the last laugh after all. Chalk it up to their boyish exuberance, I suppose, or maybe to their steadfast refusal to take themselves too seriously, but the Oxford stompers are now deep into the double-digit years of their career, and still sounding remarkably fresh with each release, while so many of those acts once mentioned in the same breath have either broken up or lost their relevance.
The once-ubiquitous movement, which the British music press essentially heralded as something akin to the second coming of Christ, complete with its share of messianic drama and seething rivalries, had a great run for a while there, beginning around the mid-‘90s and lasting through the turn of the century. Blur, Oasis, Pulp, Suede, Elastica, Sleeper -- they were some of the big-hitters at the center of it all, unapologetically celebrating Britishness, flag-drapery and all, through a spirited revisit of ‘60s Mod culture, punk/post-punk jitters, and New Wave electro-romanticism.
When Supergrass showed up, still in their teens and hardly concealing it, the bright-eyed scruffs seemed like the younger, sillier siblings to the art-school grads of Blur and Pulp. I imagine many folks would’ve never guessed at the time of their breakthrough 1995 single “Alright” (yep, as in “We are young/ we run green/ keep our teeth nice and clean/ see our friends, see the sights/ feel alright” -- recently snagged by Walt Disney world for their feel-good commercials) that the band would still be going strong thirteen years later. Nothing against them, of course, it’s just that bands sticking together for more than a decade are a bit of a rarity.
But here they are, and their recently Brit-released sixth album, Diamond Hoo Ha (Parlophone/EMI) – to be released here 6/10 on Astralwerks -- is a winner. With the demise of Pulp and Elastica and Sleeper and Suede fading further by the day, and in view of Blur’s highly unlikely on-again/off-again reformation rumors and Oasis’s having long since lost the plot, it looks like Supergrass might strike the double-bonus of longevity and sustained relevance. Hmmm, feel alright, indeed.
Call me overly-dramatic but Duran Duran have and will forever be my favorite band. They have been since I was five. That's probably why one of my greatest regrets is opting for a Nintendo console over tickets to the "Arena" tour -- what was to be the band's final outing (with all five founding members) -- for my sixth birthday back in 1984.
While seeing reformed lineups both onstage and at record signings in the 90's, and even encountering John Taylor one fateful morning at the Noah's Bagels that I worked at in 1997, offered some consolation, nothing would come close to seeing the Fab Five together again on their 2008 reunion tour.
All pics by Quartknee Kwatek
While guitarist Andy Taylor's recent departure from the group may have sprinkled on my parade, I can't say that their Bay Area Red Carpet Massacre tour stop at Sleep Train Amphitheatre in Concord May 2 suffered for it.
The three-act show, which debuted in late 2007 on Broadway, was highly-theatrical, incorporating all the necessary show-stopping elements.
There was unique staging in the band's utilization of a simple skyscraper background and a variety of light sources -- from stage lights to bulbs -- to evoke a variety of moods instead of traditional video screens.
The musical numbers -- from the darker tracks off their Timba-Lake-produced "Red Carpet Massacre" (2007) like bass-heavy opener "The Valley", beat-driven "Night-Runner" and hip pop number "Skin Diver" complete with Timbaland rapping loop to rearrangements of the band's lighter classics such as "Hungry Like the Wolf", "The Reflex" and "Rio" -- were mixed gorgeously.
The mid-section of the show was run entirely on synthesizers and drum machines, so
tracks like "Last Chance on the Stairway" "All She Wants Is" and "I Don't Want Your Love" became even more electro-shocked, blending seamlessly with the band's cover of The Normal's "Warm Leatherette".
OK, yeah, I realize that after a 15 year absence or whatever, every one of chthonic "shoegaze" (ugh) legends My Bloody Valentine's fans are supposedly middle-aged Google coders now (or parking Daddy's Pagani Zonda C12S outside Popscene on Thursdays). But $47.50 plus "handling" for their hopefully triumphant and thalassically massive comeback appearance at the Concourse on September 30? What am I, Jarvis Cocker?
Rollin' and gazin'
Still, when I saw them in '89 (?) they ripped my world apart. And the ceiling of the club actually rained down plaster from their ampage. I'm gladly going to fund Kevin Shields's apparently still raging extasy habit. Fuck my dreams of front-row Cher in Vegas -- bring on the luxury Googe!
Oh, U2 -- they might not have changed the world as much as they’d hoped (or, not yet, anyway), but at least they’ve made it a warmer, more hopeful place, yes? Hard to fathom a band more deserving of the tag “global phenomenon,” but there it is, slapped upon every stirring chorus and grand sweeping gesture from Bono’s anointed fingers -- the sheer enormousness of it all would be mighty hard to take if the guys didn’t have the goods to back it up. But they do, and what’s more, they’ve kept the flow for longer than some listeners have even been alive -- to whom else on the international airwaves could we ever say such a thing? Michael Jackson? Once upon a time, sure, but not anymore. Mariah Carey? Please. And you’d best bite that lip before suggesting Britney! But honestly: has anyone else in modern-day rock/pop ubiquity had the same level of social impact as U2? For all of the mumbles and grumbles about Bono’s perceived messiah-complex, it’s worth remembering that he and his mates have pushed far beyond the familiar celebrity-pose of half-hearted idealism in favor of honest-to-goodness optimism, championing countless causes with honest-to-goodness conviction. Take that, Ms Spears.
Further testimony can be found on the recently-released In The Name Of Love: Africa Celebrates U2 (Shout! Factory). An intriguing collection of interpretations from U2’s catalogue by some of the continent’s most notable musicians, the disc serves as more than just a reminder of the band’s utmost uber-importance -- this tribute also offers fresh insight into their unimpeachable songwriting skills. Language barriers? Pshaw! How nineteenth century!
Neon Neon hop in the DeLorean, speed back to the future
By Todd Lavoie
Neon Neon, “I Lust U (featuring Cate Le Bon)”
As far as concept albums go, it couldn’t get much odder: Neon Neon’s Stainless Style (Lex Records) -- the new collaboration between Super Furry Animals frontman Gruff Rhys and underground electro/hip hop producer Boom Bip -- takes a body-rockin’ trundle on the time-machine back to the heady life and times of John DeLorean, and mercifully, it works and works and works. It could’ve been so completely naff -- concept albums often are, frequently falling prey to their own ambition and overly-serious dedication to the subject matter concerned -- but the impish Welsh singer/songwriter and L.A. beatmaster handle the conceit with humor, reverence, and more than a little insight as well. Better yet, the album just as successfully when considered merely as a collection of songs, no more, no less. Isolate any of these synth-wigglers from the concept album construct, and you’ll still end up with a solid stand-alone track worthy of your hips and ears.
A neon yellow DeLorean: ready
Stainless Style is steeped a-plenty deep in the Back to The Future era. Much like the infamous DeLorean vehicle itself, the album is slick and sleek, squeaking from a hard polish that lands midway between glitzy and tacky beyond belief -- in the best possible way, mind you. Any recording which intends to faithfully, convincingly pay tribute to the 80s must speak with a fluency in the rhythmic- and synth-cheeses of the times, and Neon Neon apparently has taken a full-immersion course in the language.
Marty Willson-Piper, "Questions Without Answers" (1989)
What a treat! Singer/songwriter/founding member of Aussie atmosphere-masters The Church, Marty Willson-Piper, is doing a special solo-spotlight show--- backed by the alluringly-named Mood Maidens--- at the Great American Music Hall on Sunday, May 4th. As far as I remember, the last time he played here in the city was back in the summer of '06, with The Church, at the same venue. Ah, what a show that was--- ever-genteel bandmate Steve Kilbey joked about spearheading an "Elizabethan Rock" movement, and Willson-Piper obliged by bringing delicate, graceful guitar-dexterity to Church slow-burners and ambience-anthems such as "Under The Milky Way", "Chromium", and "Metropolis". No word yet about whether Elizabethan Rock is still on the front burner for the band, but the charming, quick-quipping guitarist/big-hit-with-the-ladies does have a new album out--- entitled Nightjar (Heyday Records), it's a gorgeous collection of warm-textured folk-rock pushed along by some of the most delicious six string jangles since, well, the last Church album, really.
Is an introduction to The Church necessary? Probably not, so how about a reminder, then: ever since releasing their debut Of Skins and Heart (Arista/EMI) back in 1981, the band has released well over a dozen albums and EP's matching (frequently) melancholy neo-psychedelic atmospherics with mystical subject matter, and Willson-Piper has, along with lead singer Kilbey, been a constant in their two-decades-deep career. Much of their success should be attributed to his ability to float just the right color of aura to their formidable mood-making; it's tough to imagine the smoldering majesty of Church classics like 1985's "Myrrh", 1988's "Antenna", or 2003's "Sealine" without Marty's sublime textures. Then, of course, there's the perennial crowd-fave of "Spark"--- the taut, sneering Mod stomper from 1988's Starfish (Arista) gave the band's usual backing-vocalist a truly inspired turn at the lead mic. Two particularly fascinating recent-additions to the band's catalogue--- 2004's El Momento Descuidado and 2007's El Momento Siguiente (both Liberation Music)--- both offer exquisite "unplugged" revisits to career-highlights, and here, free of feedback and pedal effects, one can gain a whole new appreciation for his intricate guitar-work. Perhaps they also had an effect on the recording of Nightjar, as this new solo jaunt seems to share a kinship with the lush folk ambience of both albums. Granted, the disc does indeed have its electric moments--- it even occasionally rocks out in that slow purposeful grind associated with latter-day Church recordings--- but it's easy to imagine Nightjar as a younger, rougher-around-the-edges sibling to the Momento twins.
In this week's breathless Super Ego clubs column, I gush over the lazer bass sound coming out of Montreal-SF-LA and blowing my mind-woofers lately. Below are some of the sites and sounds -- but first, please enjoy this frikking hilarious mashup vid that makes me feel really weird
I LOVE LAZER BASS (BEAMZ System Remix) by Snalepa
Now, on with the shower ...
50 Cent, "I Get Money" (Lazer Sword remix) video remix by Lonnie Gallegos
Like perhaps everyone in the world for the past two years, I can’t stop watching certain YouTube clips. And blogging about them. There’s the Danzig vs. Shakira mideo, the Mike Tyson montage, The Mini-Mall Rapper Guy , Trapped in The Closet (duh), and now there’s Ashkon, a Bay Area rapper whose latest song/video “Hot Tubbin’”, was released to YouTube on March 24.
It unexpectedly got placed on the site’s front page the very next day, propelling the relatively unknown artist into the weird world of Interstardom. The Guardian caught up with Ashkon recently (by calling the phone number he forgot to edit out of the final cut for Hot Tubbin’) to see how it feels to be Internet-famous.
SFBG:Hello, is this Ashkon? Ashkon: Yeah man. It’s me. Who’s this?
SFBG:It’s Justin Juul from The SF Bay Guardian. I just wanted to find out if the rumors were true, that the number you show in your Hot Tubbin’ video really connects to you. Ashkon: Ha! Yeah. It’s me. Definitely.
SFBG:That’s pretty brave dude. Has your life changed at all since your video hit the front page on YouTube? Ashkon:Ha ha. Yeah it has. Now I get thousands of phone calls a week from random people like you.
SFBG:Have you gotten any weird ones? Ashkon: Oh hell yeah. I had this one stalker, some guy, who was calling me like every day. That was kind of creepy. Also, a lot of people have taken it as an opportunity to just call up and mess with me, as you could probably imagine.
I met Primo a couple of years ago when we were both waiting tables at a small restaurant near The Castro. I resented the job because I knew that every hour I spent working meant an equal amount of time away from writing. As a result, I really sucked. I was always late and cranky and tired and I had a really hard time being nice to customers. Primo seemed to be going through the same stuff. He tried to act happy, but he couldn’t hide his fatigue or general loathing for the work, and it was obvious he’d rather be spinning records or sleeping. It was no surprise, then, that neither of us lasted more than three months.
I forgot about the dude for a while until I noticed him spinning records at The Attic on 24th and Mission one night. Then I started bumping into him everywhere I went. The last time it happened, we sat in the park for an hour and talked about obscure soul music, the mod scene, graffiti, and hard times. Check it out.
Primo: Whatcha reading there?
SFBG:Oh it’s the new Juxtapoz, I think I stole it from the gym last week. Pretty cool shit in here, sometimes.
Primo: Yeah, the dude who did the cover, Parra, I like his stuff. It’s like French Old School, graffiti-based stuff, taken from weird pop and mod art, with this strange New York influence. It kinda reminds me of this writer named REES. Just like hand drawn letters with this weird, like, metaphysical, “fuck-you,” Daffy Duckness to them.
Holy Spazmosis!. Jumpy young rockers Anavan drove up from Salt Lake City to play the queer (and friends!) punk monthly Trans Am at Club Eight for a rapturous beer-spurtin' crowd last Saturday.
Anavan, "You're Taking Me Out"
The frantic foursome greeted us with mucho fog machine, trademark hockey helmets, drum, bass, and a wall of synths. And then everything got crazy in a voices-in-your-head way (mostly thanks to the skittering, hyperactive vocals mixed waaaay back in the echo-delay mix.)
Courtesy of the muthafuckin' LA Times
In the case of the hockey helmets, visual connections to those masked masters Daft Punk, MSTRKRFT, and occasionally (if primly painted-on facial scruff counts -- yes, I'm calling those skinny French boys out) Justice might be made. And sonically they can sometimes resemble those glam-tech outfits a teeny-tad, mostly in their boppy keyboard riffs. But Anavan adds its own cymbal-crashing, wildly energetic No-Wave twist, sure to please the art school crowd (Richard Hell is all the rage again, haven't you heard?) and dance floor maniacs as well as indie kids. I expect you'll hear them burning down discos near you soon.
(Next month a Trans Am, Sat May 3, features SF native cuties Ex-Boyfriends -- should be rocking'.)
Before he jetted off to be all jetset in Miami at the WMC, SF-native DJ Ruben Mancias jammed EndUp last Saturday night for the Devotion 7-Year Reunion party. Oh yes, I'm one o' them dancing hands-up fools in this clip:
Ruben and his partner Eric left to find fortune and fame in NYC a few years ago, taking their regular EndUp Sunday night party Devotion with them. It was great to have it (and them) back for one night only -- if only to get that ol' EndUp Saturday at 5 in the morning bangin' house feeling back (one day I'll write about all the crazy amazing -- cramazing! -- night people you encounter on the dancefloor at that time.)
Ruben -- who I've known since we used to run with legendary SF house maestro Aaron O (RIP, croissant goddess) back in the early '90s -- really turned it out, playing some of my favorite tracks, like Teddy Douglas's "Whatcha Gonna Do," and classics like the '88 Ralphi Rosario barnstormer above. The mood was electric-atmospheric with a bouncy bass undertow and more than a little nostalgia. The crowd was mixed and ready. Work.
PS -- Devotion may be ovah, and somewhat similar-tracked Fag Fridays long gone, but you can still get a taste of the above with DJ David Harness, another well-known Aaron O acolyte, when he returns from the WMC to play new goodies all night long at Super Soul Sundayz this coming Sunday, 4/6 10pm-4am at the EndUp. See you (sweaty) there.
Every metal show contains plenty of dudes who merely headbang softly to themselves with their hands stuffed into the pockets of their tight black hoodies. A sea of empty faces they are. What fun is that? In honor of our metal issue this week, here are a few ways you can cheerlead the next time you're at a metal show.
Classic horns A staid gesture to be sure — but fairly reliable. You know the drill here. Turn it to the side and pump it like a fist for added pleasure.
The Claw When deploying just one hand to exhibit the claw, as opposed to the invisible orbs, bring it close to your face and pull downward for a melodramatic affect. Growl a little, too, like it just can't get any more metal ... when deep down you know it really can.
Land ho There's really never been a sufficient name for outright pumping your fist or fists at a show, but some folks around here are calling it "land ho." It's better off with no distinct title. Fist pumping during violent blastbeats or a huge, doomy breakdown is raw and organic, like the beginning of time. It needs no name. And it spans genres. We advise, however, that you reserve dual fists for truly metal moments. The members of Portland, Ore.'s Tragedy have been known to throw out a fist or two while playing, but this is extremely dangerous and should be done by professionals only.
Invisible orbs This is a variation of the Claw, except that you do it with both hands and hold them out in front of you rather than near your face, as if you're holding two invisible orbs. We contend that the invisible orbs should be savored while you're listening to Scandinavian metal or anything heavily influenced by it. If you scan the artwork on old black metal records, the bands are often posing with some version of the orbs, gritting their teeth and trying to look as menacing as possible.
Amazing and vivacious electro-kitty Lady Tigra takes over Cafe Du Nord tonite. Look out! She's "always got her foot firmly planted up asses": (Watch those little spoons, kids)
Lady Tigra, "Bass on the Bottom"
I've been cel-chasing her all over town for an interview, following her lady tracks, but all I have to offer you is the video below and sweet memories of her purr on my voice mail. Here's the decades-old hit you may know her flirty chirp from (hello, Avenue D, Fannypak, etc!) From 1988, boy-eee:
L'Trimm, "The Cars That Go Boom"
"When lo and behold there appeared a mirage, he was hooking up his speakers in his daddy's garage." See you there.
First off: How old does it make me feel that some kid at UPenn is writing his dissertation on the techno parties I threw in Detroit in the early '90s? *Ancient sigh*. Second off: the nine-year-old Detroit Electronic Music Festival, sometimes known as Movement for legal reasons but basically Mecca for tech-heads, has announced its initial lineup for May 24-26 (Memorial Day weekend). The big news is not that it's sponsored by Big Boy this year (eek!) but that fest originator and knob-twiddling god Carl Craig is returning to perform.
Carl Craig: BACK
Carl bought my video camera in 1994 so I'd have money for Amtrak to move to SF (sweetheart!) so blame him for my presence here. Also performing will be a number of other wicked-wonderful characters from back-in-tha-D days, like my spiritual twin brother Alton Miller, who will be a highlite of the more complex, jazzy house side of the fest.
Alton Miller: You should see him dance, really
Other NAMES on the pretty soulful hitlist: Speedy J, Buzz Goree, Terrance Parker, Girl Talk, Moby, Mike Grant, Alex Under, Konrad Black, and for some hip-hop new old-schoolness Cool Kids. More lineup and info here. I'll be there covering every backstage minute for SFBG. Put your hands up for Detroit.
(That's not me in the vid, it's my cuz. I'm in no way responsible for his dancing or this entire music video.)
Gurl, I was brought to. The inimitable DJ Jeffrey Sfire from NYC (2 cute!)
blasted classic Bam Bam acid house track "Give It To Me" from 1988 at Sunday's Honey Soundsystem Dancer From the Dance party at 103 Harriet -- underneath 1015 Folsom, and the new party hotspot -- and the roof burnt down. Yes, I'm ancient/legendary enough to have been there when this was originally tearing up the floors (at London's Second Summer of Love, no less), but the kids went wild last weekend as well. Time for another acid revival? (DJs Derek B and Silence Fiction tried this a few years back with their Jack the Club night in 2005, and it was awesome, bring it back). No real vid, but song below:
Sfire, who also specializes in gritty Italo Disco and slinky rare Euro tracks, will be on local-hottie DJ Josh Cheon's West ADD Slave to the Rhythm show tonite 9pm-11pm, www.westaddradio.com and then live tonite at Booty Call, an actually pretty great party at Bar on Castro (I know, gag, but go! Juanita More hosts!)
PS Rumor has it Sfire will also be making many guest appearances throughout the weekend at select Portland underground venues ...
Winnetka? Why-not-ka? Apologies to lovely Del Tha's underground East Bay, but if there's gotta be a new epicenter of nouveau-Cali alternative hip-hop (cue the searing lazer bass and sympho-poetic glitches) then you could do no better than the Outer-LA hometown of mixmaster amazo Flying Lotus, who's currently stealing hearts and heartbeats on his WARP Records tour. And yeah, he's this cute:
If you're in the mood for some woozy bottom-blasting with a high-hat twinkle, Lotus will be numbing Dr. Scholl's at dread bass mecca night Surya Dub at Club Six this Saturday night, March 22. Lotus's own releases get us where DJ Shadow hurts, and his remix of Mia Doi Todd's 2006 soulful torcher "My Room Is White" has brightened our rhythmic footfalls to work for the past month. So yeah, come get zigzagged in a headtrip melancholy way this weekend ...
Clubs: Gem sweaters, buenos Zizeks, grimy Rupture, divas
Too too much going on this Saturday March 8, kids, and these are just the above-ground parties! I don’t know how I’m gonna make ‘em all, but we just finished work on the next issue of Scene, our nightlife mag which drops next wednesday in the guardian (look for it!) and I'm ready to party my pumps off. Good thing I always carry an extra pair of bedazzled flats in my Safeway paper bag purse …
Leslie and the Lys, spaz-hop queens straight outta Iowa (via Boston) who recorded the immortal line “Wearing gold spandex pants/ I made a hip-hop album” will be rocking their goddam GEM SWEATERS at an early set (9pm) at the lezbo-rock heavenly Cockblock at Rickshaw Stop for only 10 stinkin’ bucks, which lets you stay the whole evening to hear the adorable DJ Nuxx and friends throw down.
Then it’s off to Kafana Balkan at 12 Galaxies (more info here), the city’s premier Romany dance party, with awesome, way-deeper-than-Balkan-Beatbox DJ Zejlko and friends. If it’s anything like the last one (with crazy pics we featured in the last Scene nightlife magazine) then we may not be able to tear ourselves away ….
Brass Menazerie at Kafana Balkan
to hit up one of the best-sounding parties at Mezzanine in, like, a week – Zizek featuring DJ/Rupture and Tormenta Tropical.
Curious about what some of the groups we feature in this week's Noise Pop cover story sound like? Anyone remember when reading about music meant that the quality of the writing alone had to convey individual sonic textures? Well, no more! Thank you, Internets! Behold!
Below are some introductory vids -- more info on these stellar performers (as well as a full fest schedule) is available at www.noisepop.com/2008
There's club sandwich and then there's Club Sandwich: one is a chicken-bacon-mayo-double-decker, and the other is a Bay Area show promotion collective committed to hosting all ages shows for under-the-radar local and touring bands. Both layer elements that don't necessarily seem like they'd go together – but are notoriously tasty for that precise reason.
True to form, Club Sandwich shows cross traditional genre boundary lines (noise, punk, folk, etc.), bringing together different subcultures within the Bay Area's underground music scene that don't usually overlap.
Club Sandwich: Raccoo-oo-oon 21 Grand
In the spirit of similar DIY show promoters like Todd P in New York or the Upset the Rhythm collective in the UK, Club Sandwich organizes shows at a host of different venues, ranging from legitimate gallery spaces like ATA in San Francisco and Lobot in Oakland to warehouse spaces where people live – and even an Oakland swimming pool.
"Part of what we do is connect the warehouse and art spaces with touring acts who do not have these intrinsic connections," says Club Sandwich founding member (and Guardian contributor) George Chen.
Club Sandwich: Some Dark Holler at Totally Intense Fractal Mindgaze Hut Oakland
It's hard to tell sometimes with the French: how much of their dry humor and peculiarity is due to their French-ness, and how much is straight up eccentricity? For French electronic music producer and Tigersushi label manager Joakim (Versatile, K7), it's most definitely the later. Due in part to his inordinately tall, praying mantis-like frame and understated manner, Joakim's idiosyncrasy is what makes his magic; the fact that his fantastically hypnotic live performance is also sort of awkward, for example, makes the experience all the more immediate and real.
Joakim, 31, burst onto the notorious Paris electronic music scene nine or ten years ago by starting encyclopedia music website (and now label) Tigersushi and releasing several of his own tracks on Versatile. Since then, Joakim has released three full-length albums and a storm of 12"s and remixes. His most recent album, Monsters and Silly Songs (K7 2007), spans an impressive range of genres, from electro and hard techno to dark pop and ambient noise. You can stream the full album here.
Joakim and his Ectoplasmic Band perform live this Friday night (2/15) at Fat City, courtesy of Blasthaus, with Portland electro/disco duo Glass Candy; DJ sets by Foreign Islands, Sleazemore, and Honey Soundsystem; and visuals by the fabulous DJ Pee Play.
SFBG: What kind of music did you listen to growing up?
Joakim Bouaziz: I started to grow up very early. I was mostly listening to classical music.
SFBG: Where you classically trained as a musician?
JB: Yeah, but every time I hear that expression, it sounds really weird.
SFBG: Why is that?
JB: It sounds like I've been in the army or something.
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