By Kimberly Chun

You want to wipe away the gloom with some swoony, loony sounds, you know you do. More music than we could cram into ye olde newsprint.

Alternative Tentacles 30th Anniversary Incest-a-Thon
The proceedings kick off with Jello Biafra and the Guantanamo School of Medicine -- and it's going to be raging and ornery from the sound of the outfit's new The Audacity of Hype (Alternative Tentacles). The fun continues with Citizen Fish, Star Fucking Hipsters, and MIA (the hardcore band not the lady) opening tonight; Ludicra, Munly and the Lupercalians, and Knights of the New Crusade Friday, and Alice Donut, Victims Family, and Burning Image Saturday. Sounds like a good, loudly irreverent time for all. Thurs/5-Sat/7, 8 p.m., $20-$22 ($50 three-day pass). Great American Music Hall, 859 O’Farrell, SF. (415) 885-0750.

Hank IV and Celine Dion
Hank Sr. gets a hard twirl in his grave, as the Bay Area troublemakers’ hearts go on. With Blues Control. Thurs/5, 9 p.m., $7. Hemlock Tavern, 1131 Polk St., SF. (415) 923-0923.

Dawes
The early-20-something LA foursome have been listening closely to The Big Pink -- namely the Band, not the UK 4AD duo. With Langhorne Slim and Austin Lucas. Fri/6, Independent, 628 Divisadero, SF. (415) 771-1422.

Continue reading "Sonic Reducer Overage: Alternative Tentacles, Pixies, Paramore, Finches, R. Kelly, and more" »

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by Kimberly Chun at 05:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

FELA KUTI
The Best of the Black President - Deluxe Edition
(Kalakuta Sunrise/Knitting Factory)

By Kimberly Chun

Ripe for revival and just in time for FELA!, the Broadway musical, as well as the real-life black president, Fela Kuti was a legend in his own time -- the fact that he passed more than a dozen years ago seems surreal. Watch him today on YouTube (below) or on the Slice of Fela DVD that accompanies the new Best of the Black President (Kalakuta Sunrise/Knitting Factory) and includes excerpts from the film Music Is the Weapon and a Berlin Jazz Festival performance. You'll get a glimpse of the visonary's shamanistic sonic power.

No need to rely on the visuals though - just let Black President's two discs' full of hypnotic grooves wash over you. "Army Arrangement," "Roforofo Fight," "Lady," "Water Get No Enemy" -- the first in Knitting Factory Records' remastered reissue series of 45 Kuti titles shines a light on his '60s band Koola Lobitos and takes you higher. Guarans. It's the first time all 45 albums will released on vinyl in North America -- something to look forward to in the next 18 months.

Here's a taste of latter-day Fela with Afrika 70, shot by Ginger Baker (not included on the DVD):

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by Kimberly Chun at 10:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

By Kimberly Chun

Halloween and NYE -- yes, it’s amateur hour once again for non-locals, gawkers, and ‘burb brats. Still, ya gotta fill the void -- here are a few more ways that didn’t make print.

Art Brut
Are the Anglo-Teutonic arty farties the next best thing to poppers like Fountains of Wayne? With Princeton Fri/30, 7:30 and 10:30 p.m., $16. Cafe du Nord, 2170 Market, SF. (415) 861-5016.

No Age
The LA twosome skipped the Grammys for the road (“Best Recording Package?”). With Residual Echoes and Magic Bullets. Fri/30, 9 p.m., $16. Great American Music Hall, 859 O’Farrell, SF. (415) 885-0750.

Continue reading "Sonic Reducer Overage: No Age, Soapbox, Emerald Triangle, Kawabata, and more" »

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by Kimberly Chun at 02:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LITTLE DRAGON
Machine Dreams
(Peacefrog)

By Kimberly Chun

“A New,” for sure. Dripping with mellotron sounds and windswept synths, Gothenburg, Sweden’s Little Dragon declares itself definitely, though far from overbearingly, with the opening track of Machine Dreams. Coming on the clicking, clamoring heels of its 2007 self-titled debut, this second full-length is an intoxicating sauce of synthpop bounce, faraway steel drum plonk, percolating bass lines, and Yukimi’s winsome, subtly soulful vocals. You know you’re in good hands when the ever-so-gently sharp synth stabs of “My Step” kick in. This is about machines blissfully dreaming of electric sheep, digital damsels, and Unix unicorns -- all bathed in enticing sweetness and light.

LITTLE DRAGON
With Nite Jewel
Nov. 4, 9 p.m., $20
Independent
628 Divisadero, SF
(415) 771-1421

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by Kimberly Chun at 08:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

By Kimberly Chun

We got places to go, people to see, crazy sounds to hear -- more for your show-going pleasure and more than we could fit in print.

BrakesBrakesBrakes
Cheney better watch himself when the Brighton, England, combo steps on it. With Ezra Furman and the Harpoons and Rachel Goodrich. Wed/21, 8 p.m., $10-$12. Rickshaw Stop, 155 Fell, SF. (415) 861-2011.

Fu Manchu and Dirty Power
Heaviness is as heaviness does -- with the added oomph of the SF-bred Power brokers. With the Solid. Wed/21, 8:30 p.m., $21. Bottom of the Hill, 1233 17th St., SF. (415) 621-4455.

Continue reading "Sonic Reducer Overage: Pelican, Kid Sister, Le Loup, Sunset Rubdown, and more" »

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by Kimberly Chun at 06:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Folk this: Decemberists' Colin Meloy. All photos by Kimberly Chun.

By Kimberly Chun

Ah, washing up on Treasure Isle late in the day Sunday, Oct. 18, seemed like the way - though it was a bummer to miss Vetiver, Beirut, et al. The short and sweet stuff: it was considerably colder and foggier than Saturday, so it was in everybody's best interest to huddle together en masse while Walkmen and then the Decemberists played. And wow, what fabulous animations accompanied the Portland, Ore., band's set - tumbling with wild things, pyramids, geometrics, landscapes of jewel-like mountains and obelisks, star fields, and the like. The perfect accompaniment to the delicate Brit folk and outright psych-prog the band is purveying these days: the standout was the title track of this year's The Hazards of Love album (Capitol).

Greening of YLT: Yo La Tengo's Ira Kaplan, right, and James McNew.

The following set by Yo La Tengo seemed almost anticlimactic, though you had to appreciate the strenuous noise jams the band is rolling out. Ira Kaplan helmed the keyboard from the start then switched over to guitar as the combo abruptly segued into "Stockholm Syndrome," with James McNew on falsetto vocals. Up next, just as quickly: the loveable, cacophonous "Here to Fall" off YLT's new Popular Songs (Matador).

Man in a bubble: Flaming Lips in utero.

The wait was completely worth it, as we tarried in the photo pit (and my camera decided to die on me) and Wayne Coyne and the Flaming Lips set up on the main stage. All-girl backup vocalists with bunny ears, the Lips busting through the pull-apart screen at the exact do-go-there spot where a massive go-go girl opened her legs. (Coyne rolled out in his big bubble, followed by a stage-diving bunny.) Ah, no one delivers a show like FL (though there was a health emergency up front where I was -- the frontman later asked to see if the lady taken off was OK). Coyne offered an opening monologue about how the group is an honorary SF band of sorts since the first show they ever played was at the beloved ole I-Beam in the Haight. We'll take 'em.

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by Kimberly Chun at 06:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Dan Deacon, above, leads the mob, and a fiery dusk off Treasure Isle. All photos by Kimberly Chun.

By Kimberly Chun

Gawg-eous. And I mean both Dan Deacon - in full-tilt follow-me-folks mode and the jaw-dangler of a sunset Saturday night, Oct. 17, at this year's Treasure Island Music Festival. So sad that I couldn't get there early enough to catch Crown City Rockers and Federico Aubele and stumbled out too early to see alphabet-soup Bridge Stage acts MSTRKRFT and MGMT - nevertheless here are a few watercolor, waterside memories of the happenings mid-fest.

You gots to hand it to Dan Deacon - the man knows how to power out a show, either solo or with his current 12-piece Dan Deacon Ensemble. "We can get in the zone in three minutes!" yelped Deacon happily - ever the leader of the flock as he sounded out the air-guitar/air-conductor hand gestures shortly before his set. Way to get the energy up: the band entered on the waves of excitement generated by a stage-diving/ascending chum, who was carried from the audience and deposited onstage. And what a stage - crammed with musicians and sidekicks like the cavorting feller in the orange dot costume and a note-worthy three-piece drum ensemble. Switching it up from jumpy happy beats to piping drone, the outfit sounded for all the world like a spazz-tastic, kiddie digi-hardcore orchestra. Not all of Deacon's endeavors were a raging success - but try organizing a dance contest at the drop of Gucci-patterned fedora - and he continues to sound much better up close and on record than live (and across the Treasure Island compound) - but the man got the soiree started for sure.

The Streets followed, praising the crowd for its fashion-forward garb ("You also look great with it off!") and waxing humble about his own perpetual all-black ensemble and muttering about how well it hides dirt. The UK rapper was in a sexy yet unpredictable mood - dissing Sacramento, recalling his stage dive from a Fillmore balcony box, and commenting on the fact Treasure Isle is known for its solid sounds. At one point, he urged a woman perched on a pal's shoulders to take off her top while also chiding her for blocking the view of other fans. Beatles riffs floated over it all.

Later DJ Krush provided future-beats before for dinnertime while LTJ Bukem broke those beats and picked up the pace. As the sun set in flamingo pinks and outrageous purples, Brazilian Girls provided surprisingly good, if ditzy fun, closing their well-played set with a paean to - did I hear right - pussies as audience members climbed onstage to shimmy.

Other sights: the sad view of a tree broken by some jerk-offs who were watching the Streets from its branches. Puts a damper on the eco-friendly air surrounding the fest, no? A chainsaw came out as we bystanders gawked off to the side (one comment overheard: "Who cares?"). We found respite in the art booths on the adult midway, where we hung out stories written out on hand-painted petals in the Scales Project installation and checked out the live graf art. Sorry signs of the apocalypse: skate-board-ready Megan Fox and Kate Moss tributes.

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by Kimberly Chun at 09:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

By Kimberly Chun

The tao of Au, the Wu of a Killah -- that’s the spirit. More sounds to sit with and move to.

AU - RR vs. D from Rainbow Dropshadow on Vimeo.

Au
Toy pianos, ethereal vocals, and Portland, Ore.-steeped experimentation. With Why?, Mount Eerie, and Serengeti and Polyphonic. Sat/17, 9 p.m., $16. Great American Music Hall, 859 O’Farrell, SF. (415) 885-0750.

Dan Deacon
The high Deacon of the laptop gospel preaches to the choir. With Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, Teeth Mountain, and Nuclear Power Pants. Sat/17, 9 p.m., $10. Mezzanine, 444 Jessie, SF. (415) 820-9669.

Continue reading "Sonic Reducer Overage: Dan Deacon, Ghostface Killah, La Roux, and more" »

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by Kimberly Chun at 11:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

By Dan Abbott

Skyler Fell, who performed at the SF Accordion Club's September gathering.

In an age of accelerating cultural fusion and mutation, it should come as no surprise that the accordion has undergone something of a renaissance. A staple of musical traditions from as far afield as Eastern Europe, Mexico, and Italy, the various permutations of the squeezebox has resurfaced with renewed vigor. The San Francisco Bay Area has become something of a hub for this rebirth, aided by both its location at the hub of cultural ley lines and its rich history as – believe it or not – an accordion exporting powerhouse.

Frank Montoro, president of the, San Francisco Accordion Club has watched accordion culture wax and wane with the times. Until the middle of the 20th century, there were at least five accordion factories churning out instruments in North Beach alone, Montoro says, mostly by Italians who’d brought generations of craft knowledge over from the Old Country.

“I watched my accordion being built, back in the ‘40s,” he remembers fondly. The advent of rock’n’roll and mass culture swept much of the accordion’s prestige (and visibility) away, Montoro says, until it seemed an ethnic relic, the obscure province of nerds, wedding music and Weird Al Yankovic. “Times have changed,” the octogenarian Montoro says. “If you like Swedish music, where are you going to go?”

Continue reading "Squeeze my box" »

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by SFBG at 05:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

By Kimberly Chun

Keep your ears open for the sound of rolling thunder, and your heart dilated with the music of yesterday and tomorrow. Today? Well, here’s some of the musical worthiness coming down the pike right about now.

Mark Eitzel and Victor Krummenacher
Singles going steady? The American Music Clubber meets up with his Camper/Monk chum, who flies solo. Thurs/24, 8 p.m., $12-$15. Red Devil Lounge, 1695 Polk, SF. (415) 921-1695.

Hammer
He won’t hurt you -- though his parachute pants could cause damage. With Whodini. Fri/25, 8 p.m., $45.75-$65.75. Fox Theater, 1807 Telegraph, Oakl. www.apeconcerts.com

Continue reading "Sonic Reducer Overage: Hammer, Indian Jewelry, Rain Machine, MV and EE, and more" »

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by Kimberly Chun at 04:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

By Kimberly Chun

Oh, yes, SF -- you like it hot. And you got the sounds to send off the Indian Summer in a proper freaky styley. Here are the worthies that didn’t fit in print.

Alan Braxe
The French dance pop maestro, a.k.a., Stardust, gets out from behind the remix. With One Man Party and Bad Neighbors. Sat/17, 9 p.m. doors, $12-$15. Mezzanine, 444 Jessie, SF. (415) 820-9669.

Chairlift
Electropop loveliness from Brooklyn, exploding exponentially since its last liftoff in SF, thanks to an iPod commercial. With Magic Bullets and El Ten Eleven. Thurs/17, 9 p.m., $15. Bottom of the Hill, 1233 17th St., SF. (415) 621-4455.

Continue reading "Sonic Reducer Overage: David Cross, Little Boots, Titus Andronicus, and more" »

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by Kimberly Chun at 06:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

By Johnny Ray Huston

PICTUREPLANE

Dark Rift

(Lovepump United)

Tweaker pop from Denver's Travis Egedy, this crystal cathedral of sound will have you trying out '80s new romantic dances in its prismatic mirrors. Industrial-tinged but quite melodic, it creates panicky backing vox from split-second samples of girl pop — Kylie Minogue, is that you, ABBA, and Stevie Nicks trapped Poltergeist-like in "Goth Star"'s spectral tunnel? — while invoking boys in makeup.

Pictureplane, "Trance Doll"

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by SFBG at 05:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

By Kimberly Chun

Relaxing too hard this Labor Day weekend? Get the blood moving at these musical happenings – so much more than we could fit in print.

AC/DC
The Aussies are slipping on Black Ice and into the record books as the fifth best-selling band in US history. With Answer. Wed/2, 8 p.m., $92.50. HP Pavilion, 525 W. Santa Clara, San Jose. www.livenation.com

Continue reading "Sonic Reducer Overage: AC/DC, Japanther, Invisible Ocean Gathering, White Buffalo, and more" »

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by Kimberly Chun at 12:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

M.I.A. All photos by Kimberly Chun.

By Kimberly Chun

Outside Lands -- here and now gone. A final dispatch from the dusty, green groves.

Sunday, Aug. 30

Keeping your expectations low is key to smorgasbord fests. Still, I expected a sparser crowd today, the day of the canceled Beastie Boys appearance due to Adam Yauch’s cancer diagnosis, and those expectations were fulfilled. There was definitely less of a mob today: not quite as many specially propped-up cleavages and fewer well-heeled, supertanned oldsters (acolytes of George Hamilton?) than yesterday. What can you say? Dave Matthews definitely skewed the demographic toward the middle-aged, if not outright white-haired.

I don’t know how gramps and grammy would have felt about the fence-jumpers, but they were definitely hopping today as well: I spied about a dozen crash over the fence en masse near the Presidio stage mid-afternoon to the sound of congratulatory whoops from bystanders on the inside. Outside a few agile types peered in at the Sutro stage from the trees on the other side of the barrier. Low-key in comparison to last year’s gang fence-vaulting.

Matt and Kim.

Continue reading "Outside Lands: Mighty M.I.A., pale Dead Weather, peppy Matt and Kim, and more" »

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by Kimberly Chun at 05:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder. All photos, except where noted, by el fotografo clandestino.

By Kimberly Chun

O Outside Lands - how sprawling thou art. So many acts in the dusty, leafy grounds of Golden Gate Park, so many goings-on at night at the Independent and Rickshaw Stop. A few dispatches, then, from the periphery and about.

Zap Mama.

Continue reading "Outside Lands: Inside with Deerhunter, Street Sweeper Social Club, Mastodon, and more" »

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by Kimberly Chun at 01:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

By Kimberly Chun

So much to do and so many Mayyors ‘n’ Lamps hoedowns, Outside Lands night shows, and damaged prom benefits to attend. San Fran never disappoints. Here are the worthies still to come.

Big Sur Festival 2009/Party in the Pines
A mini-fest to rival Golden Gate Park’s massive -- with way coolios like Kurt Vile, who puts out his first Matador disc, Childish Prodigy, in October, and SXSW breakouts such as Woods. With Wooden Shjips, Vietnam, Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti, Gang Gang Dance, Dungen, and Saviours. Sat/29, noon-11 p.m., $31. Henry Miller Library, Highway 1, Big Sur. www.henrymiller.org. Dungen also plays with Woods and Kurt Vile Sun/30, 8 p.m., $14, at Bottom of the Hill, 1233 17th St., SF. (415) 621-4455.

Blue Sky Black Death
From Haight to the wide blue yonder, with estimable hip-hop sounds for all. With Boy Eats Drum Machine and Boy in Static. Sat/29, 10 p.m., $10. Bottom of the Hill, 1233 17th St., SF. (415) 621-4455.

Death Angel
You can’t keep the Bay thrash vets down. With Skinlab and Kaos. Sat/29, 9 p.m., $15. Uptown, 1928 Telegraph, Oakl. (510) 451-8100.

Continue reading "Sonic Reducer Overage: Woods at 'Pines', Os Mutantes, Baseball Project, Dirt Bombs, Foreigner, and more" »

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by Kimberly Chun at 12:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

By Michael Krimper

Sub Swara at Burning Man 07

The first use of the word “glitch” traces back to fairly recent innovations in computer technology, initially describing a sudden burst or drastic change in voltage charge. More recently, glitch has become a frenetic pathos, an unexpected musical phenomenon, an intensely dissonant way of looking the world, and a methodology for mother fucking slaying crowds. I’m not even talking about genres; fuck a genre. Enter “Beats by the Bay”, a powerhouse dubbed out nastiness, glitch melter party featuring some of the most ridiculous production innovators of our day. Expect ferocious units geared with space age machinery and foot soldiers parading the illest beats. These cats together posses a schizophrenic style that blasts through free-jazz out thereness, supernovaeing (can I make that a verb?) hip-hop’s monster funk loudness into another dimension of “here I am”. And look at that, it’s right before Burning Man!

Beats By The Bay presented by Infinite Music & ArtnowSF
With Sub Swara, Marty Party, The Gaslamp Killer, Lazersword, The Flying Skulls, Djunya, Majitope, Emancipator, Bogl
Mission Rock Cafe, $20
817 Tery Francois St., SF
415 626-5355
More info: www.myspace.com/artnow

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by SFBG at 04:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

By Kimberly Chun

San Franwindy – that’s what we call you around the house while you’re busy blowing your butt off. It’s time to take refuge in musicland – here are some shows that didn’t get swept off our radar.

Foreign Cinema
Dreamy, chill, and, natch, cinematic – that’s the sound of the year-old SF trio and its trip-hop- and alt-rock-laced new debut EP. With Maggie Morris and Ghosties. Sun/23, 9 p.m., $6. Hemlock Tavern, 1131 Polk, SF. (415) 923-0923.

Chuck Prophet
The SF singer-songwriter unveils his new long-player, live and track by track, alongside Ernest “Boom Boom” Carter, Rusty Miller, and Tom Ayres at “Let Freedom Ring.” Expect the proceedings to be properly documented, with Kelley Stoltz behind the wheels o’ steel. Oh, yeah, and kids wanna know: will there be Donkey Kong? Sun/23, 8 p.m., $10. Knockout, 3223 Mission, SF. (415) 550-6994.

Continue reading "Sonic Reducer Overage: Chuck Prophet, Fruit Bats, 'Audition,' and more" »

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by Kimberly Chun at 06:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

By Marke B

Last week in the paper I wrote about outrageously contagious local tesseractic rapper Odynophagia -- I love his killer live show and Social Masque album on his Millipede Handjob label. (The Alternative Tentacles of the '10s?). Basically he's a flesh alien, beaming up hyperreal art star Ryan Trecartin with a side of Dr. Octagon.

Odynophagia, "The Container is Pervasive" from Social Masque

Welp, just in time for our wobble-kneed Drug Issue, Odyn drops an exclusive freestyle just for us. Strap down your naked lunch and enjoy:

Note: Yo Marke, here's a freestyle. Ya know freestyle in the purist OLD SCHOOL tradition. Which is: writing something over a period of 11 weeks. Focus grouping it, then having your stenographer earpierce buzz it when you battle Kool Herc. The rap's about this retail accident demolecularizing my subjectivity, then me coming back as this ghastly thing assisted by lepers to turn YOU (the listener) into a infected prostitute mannequin that the male community will flock to (because you're hot, and either gender, but really just cuz I dressed you pretty, and slathered on this hot lipgloss. Your lipgloss be poppin')

Continue reading "Odynophagia's ghastly retail accident, demolecularized" »

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by SFBG at 03:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

BIRD NAMES
Sings the Browns
(Upset the Rhythm)

By Kimberly Chun

Who likes to mix Captain Beefheart blues-skronk cacophony and ADD-driven, jazzy razzle-dazzle, with a strong dollop of Deerhoofian experimentation on the side? Chicago’s Bird Names, that’s who -- say their name. Rag-tag and rough-edged, this crazy quilt of a quartet swaps instruments live and in the studio -- and swaps musical ideas in and out just as confidently and punkily. It's as if the members of Bird Names all busily moonlight as carnies at madcap dadaist carnival, and their night job has merrily bled over into their music. Teetering guitar lines tumble against manic tambourine, fading into a dazed middle distance, on “Scandinavia,” and out-folk woodwinds peal against a backdrop of forest-critter chimes and child-like rhymes on “Natural Weeks,” both off the band’s fifth full-length, Sings the Browns. England’s Upset the Rhythm, a big supporter of Bay Area underground combos, got behind the group’s Brown album. And with such cock-eyed yet dulcet paeans to altered states as “Oh, Narcotopic Fantasy,” Bird Names manage to maintain a level of pleasing, if swampily documented, subversion.

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by Kimberly Chun at 09:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Kimberly Chun

Les Paul, Rashied Ali – Big Daddy Death keeps claiming another one. Goddamnit. You can find me at the bar, buried in vodka tonics, till you finally find the strength to perk up, listen to Interstellar Space again, stroke your koa-wood SG, and contemplate all the live music, still kicking all around you.

Society of Rockets and Dominique Leone
The SF psychedelicists bang noggins with the congenial local, NorCal synthesist. Thurs/13, 9 p.m., $10. Café du Nord, 2170 Market, S.F. (415) 861-5016.

Solillquists of Sound
Me likee the bubbling, robo-futuristic beats of the Orlando, Fla., quartet’s new No More Heroes - and the live act is supposed to be pretty awesome, too. With 40Love and Zutra. Thurs/13, 9 p.m., $10. Bottom of the Hill, 1233 17th St., SF. (415) 621-4455.

Continue reading "Sonic Reducer Overage: Lil Wayne, Green Day, Down, and more" »

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by Kimberly Chun at 03:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

By Kimberly Chun

Wow, it’s far from freezing but way too foggy at the beach – so dry off, stop gawking at the sea lion near the Sutro Baths, and check the head at these worthy musical happenings. Black Francis’ acoustic show may be sold out at Hotel Utah tonight, but there’s still too much going on for you to get your grump on.

Concrete Jungle Meets the SF Classic
Yeah, I can tell by your itchy mod finger that you’re just dying to check out the scooter rally afterparty. DJs Selecter Kirk and Prince Omar take the pulse of the mob with two-tone, ska, rocksteady, and more. Sat/8, 9 p.m., $5. Knockout, 3223 Mission, SF. (415) 550-6994.

Frustrations
Wah-wah-wow. The Detroit-based slaves to the skronkadelic grind it up something fierce. With the Mindless Things. Sat/8, 6 p.m., $5. Hemlock Tavern, 1131 Polk, SF. (415) 923-0923.

Continue reading "Sonic Reducer Overage: Los Amigos Invisibles, Caroline Weeks, the Frustrations, and more" »

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by Kimberly Chun at 07:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

FAUST
C’est Com… Com… Complique
(Bureau B)

By Kimberly Chun

Too eclectic for its own good? Not Faust. The combo fully deserves that wretchedly overused “legendary” label: its relatively new full-length, C’est Com… Com… Complique -- is all that and then some, meaning complicated in the most meatily excellent, endearingly awkward way. The band has been around almost four decades, but original members Jean-Herve Peron and Werner Diermaier -- working with Amaury Cambuzat of French post-rockers Ulan Bator -- still put together sounds with a child’s mind, as if they were starting all over from scratch. Never mind that Faust sold 100,000 copies of their third album, The Faust Tapes (Virgin), way back in the day.

This latest Dadaist document starts with the heavy breathing and shattered guitar of “Kundalini Tremolos” and then stops, starts, pauses for a pastoral reverie or two (with and without throat singing), and then squeaks and squeals with bugle peals to an inspired, absurdist close. The strategy, or lack thereof, runs counter to the more popular/familiar beatific motorik musings of, say, Neu!, and even diehard Faust heads are likely to shrug at the group’s attempt at throwaway, goofball dub, mixed up with “derrieres” cries (“En Veux-Tu Des Effets, En Voila”). But otherwise, Complique bears repeated listens -- ‘cause it’s devilish fun.

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by Kimberly Chun at 08:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

By Kimberly Chun

More music – you got it, SF. Just ‘cause you’re you. Here are a few worthy shows that didn’t make the jam-packed issue. (Psst, pass the tissue.)

Clip’d Beaks
The sometime SF-ers share their latest visions. With Boys IV Men, Vice Cooler, and Emily Hoof. Wed/29, 9 p.m., $5. Elbo Room, 647 Valencia, SF. (415) 552-7788.

The Donkeys
Balking? The Dead Oceans combo from San Diego responds to the healing powers of Beach Boys-style harmonies. With Magnolia Electric Company, Val Esway, and El Mirage. Wed/29, 9 p.m., $12. Bottom of the Hill, 1233 17th St., SF. (415) 621-4455.

Continue reading "Sonic Reducer Overage: Bowerbirds, N.E.R.D., Themselves, Dorkfest, and more" »

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by Kimberly Chun at 04:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

By Kimberly Chun

More music – you got it, SF. Just ‘cause you’re you. Here are a few worthy shows that didn’t make the jam-packed issue. (Psst, pass the tissue.)

Clip’d Beaks
The sometime SF-ers share their latest visions. With Boys IV Men, Vice Cooler, and Emily Hoof. Wed/29, 9 p.m., $5. Elbo Room, 647 Valencia, SF. (415) 552-7788.

The Donkeys
Balking? The Dead Oceans combo from San Diego responds to the healing powers of Beach Boys-style harmonies. With Magnolia Electric Company, Val Esway, and El Mirage. Wed/29, 9 p.m., $12. Bottom of the Hill, 1233 17th St., SF. (415) 621-4455.

Continue reading "Sonic Reducer Overage: Bowerbirds, N.E.R.D., Themselves, Dorkfest, and more" »

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by Kimberly Chun at 04:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

By Kimberly Chun

What a beaut of a day -- I’m gonna get me some plein-air crème brulee. And guess what, the night will be even better. Here are a few of the shows worth squeezing in.

Men
Le Tigre’s JD Samson gets us off – “Off Our Backs,” that is – with a recent project. With Tussle and the Younger Lovers. Fri/17, 10 p.m., $10. Bottom of the Hill, 1233 17th St., SF. (415) 621-4455.

Pterodactyl--"December" music video from Pterodactyl on Vimeo.

Pterodactyl
The Brooklyn ménage a trois swoops halcyon, rainbow-patterned skies of cacophony. With Bridez. Fri/17, 9 p.m., $8. Hemlock Tavern, 1131 Polk, SF. (415) 923-0923.

Continue reading "Sonic Reducer Overage: Men, the Audacity, Casiotone, and more" »

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by Kimberly Chun at 02:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

By Kimberly Chun

Entombed in SF gloom? Silly, rabbit, this is the best weather to get your musical kicks in a dark, cloudy bar.

A-Frames and Climax Golden Twins
Three guitars and a rhythm section and soaring gamelan-sludge rawk? We’re talking ‘bout the real team players, Raider Nation. With Hank IV and Fresh and Onlys. Sat/11, 9:30 p.m., $7. El Rio, 3158 Mission, SF. (415) 282-3325.

American Idols Live
Haven’t had enough? Sample A-Lam in the flesh as Adam Lambert, Danny Gokey, Allison Iraheta, Anoop Desai, Kris Allen, Lil Rounds, Matt Giraud, Megan Joy, Michael Sarver, and Scott MacIntyre provide. Sat/11, 7 p.m., $38.50-$66.25. Oracle Arena, 7000 Coliseum, Oakl. (415) 421-8497.

Continue reading "Sonic Reducer Overage: 'American Idols,' Slumber Cats, Slayer, and more" »

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by Kimberly Chun at 10:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

By Mosi Reeves

Kode 9: aborted?

"The mainstream of dubstep is becoming such an abortion," Kode 9 complained to electronic music advocate (and former Bay Area writer) Philip Sherburne in an eMusic.com interview. It's a curious statement from someone who is being marketed (along with Burial, Skream, Benga, and a handful of others) as leaders of the dubstep incursion, a hybridization of 2-step garage, jungle breaks at half-speed and good ol' ragga. (It's the amalgamation of "dub" and "step.") Only two years after Burial's Untrue (Hyperdub) brought pop's cool-hunters to this bastard genre, it seems, dubstep is already eating itself.

U.K. electronic music (and its Anglophile offshoot) is herded by theorists, and Steve "Kode 9" Goodman is one of them. He has a doctorate in philosophy, and recently received a commission from the New Museum of Contemporary Art's Rhizome technology initiative for a forthcoming documentary, Unsound Systems, that explores the use of sound as psychological weapon. His record label, Hyperdub, started out as a Web site spotlighting futurists like Kodwo Eshun and was responsible for the aforementioned Untrue as well as Zomby's recent spin on '90s 'ardkore dynamics, Where Were You in '92? (Werk).

Kode 9's first collection, 2006's Memories of the Future, pairs bleak echoing tones with pummeling bass thuds. One popular track, "Sine," finds vocalist Spaceape reinterpreting Prince's "Sign O' The Times" as dread intonation: "Sign o' the times mess with your mind, hurry before it's too late."

Declaring that a scene is "over" just as the great unwashed embraces it — recent dubstep parties in San Francisco have packed dance floors — seems particularly snotty and perverse. But by disappearing into thicker brush, Kode 9 stays ahead of pop mediocrity. His new singles, particularly "Black Sun / 2 Far Gone," add melancholic melodies and popping bass, retracing a path back to 2-step. Accordingly, U.K. critics have made it an example of a silly new subgenre called "funky." (George Clinton would laugh at that one.)

All this ideological shoegazing shouldn't distract you from enjoying Kode 9's tunes. But it should tell you that U.K. electronic music has traveled very far up its own arse. "I think U.K. electronic music is a bit of a mess right now and very microsegmented, to be honest," said Kode 9 in the eMusic interview. "But there are some lines of intersection that are promising."

THE FUTURE: KODE 9, SPACEAPE, THE FLYING SKULLS Fri/10, 10 p.m., $10 (advance). 103 Harriet, 103 Harriet, SF. (415) 431-8609. www.1015.com/103harriet/events

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by SFBG at 05:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

By Kimberly Chun

Yes, you had to work like a dog for that Fourth of July hot dog - and to get ready for the long weekend. Wasn’t it worth it? Now’s the time to get out and get into trouble.

Sir Richard Bishop and His Freak of Araby Ensemble
The Sun City Girls son and Oakland resident also rises, this time in SF, with Oaxacan as his backing ensemble, on the closing show of his tour. For more on Bishop, go to this edition of Sonic Reducer. With Oaxacan and Rubber O Cement. Fri/3, 10 p.m., $10. Bottom of the Hill, 1233 17th St., SF. (415) 621-4455.

Extreme Animals
The Pittsburgh-San Diego booty melters flaunt it at this light-show-bedazzled happening. With Nero's Day at Disneyland, Bulbs, and Teengirl Fantasy. Fri/3, 8 p.m., $6. Lobot Gallery, 1800 Campbell, Oakl. www.lobotgallery.com

Hospitals
The raging Adam Stonehouse project recently got a lotta love from UK’s Wire. With Photobooth and Baths. Fri/3, 9:30 p.m., $6. Hemlock Tavern, 1131 Polk, S.F. (415) 923-0923.

Continue reading "Sonic Reducer Overage: Sir Richard Bishop, Hospitals, David Dondero, Hightower, and more" »

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by Kimberly Chun at 02:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

By Kimberly Chun

I’m a music lover... get me out of the house! Guess what, help has arrived - in more forms than we could fit into print.

Sugar and Gold\
The Bay dance fiends refuses to drown in their own shit. With Music for Animals and Castledoor. Thurs/25, 8 p.m., $10. Rickshaw Stop, 155 Fell, SF. (415) 861-2011.

The Hunches
Knuckling down for a freaked-out, “Disease Free” frenzy, the Portland, Ore.-Bay Area garage oddballs slough into the sunset with a series of farewell shows. With Long Legged Woman and Blimp. Fri/26, 9:30 p.m., $8. Hemlock Tavern, 1131 Polk, S.F. (415) 923-0923.

Continue reading "Sonic Reducer Overage: Wilco, the Hunches, Chelsea Handler, Lazer Sword, and more" »

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by Kimberly Chun at 01:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Interview by Billy Jam. Photo by Leo Herrera. From SCENE: The Guardian Guide to Nightlife and Glamour -- on stands in the Guardian this week.

Like so much music and art these days, turntablism is easier to find online than in a public space. A turntablist can easily record their scratch practice session, upload it to YouTube, and sit back and wait for feedback to show up on their screen. But for sheer enjoyment, creative interaction, and advancement of the art form, turntable pyrotechnics really need to be experienced in the live, raw setting of DJ battles or sessions. That's why Bay Area turntablist duo Deeandroid and Celskiii recently decided to revive their hands-on scratch DJ club night, Skratchpad. Bay Area turntable fiends, missing the party's lively conviviality since it shut down earlier in the decade, were getting antsy.

The super-skilled, Vallejo-born female scratch duo who've toured with the likes of KRS-One now tears it up twice monthly at the Cellar in San Francisco. There, DJs from the aspiring to the established (Swift Rock, Shortkut, and Teeko have each turned in memorable sets) join the two and others like Winst-One and Bizibeats to carry on the sacred Bay scratch tradition. Skratchpad boasts two rooms, one with open tables for guest beat-juggling and the other for just plain getting down, and takes mighty inspiration from legendary late-1990s hip-hop joint Beat Lounge, where Deeandroid and Celskiii — and many others on the scene — got their start. Skratchpad even hosts the occasional DJ Q&A session, but all answers must be phrased in the form of turntable pyrotechnics only.

SFBG Why revive Skratchpad now?

Celskiii If we want to keep the music and culture alive, then we have to pass it on. A lot of younger cats didn't grow up during that raw '90s era, but that doesn't mean they can't experience what we were so lucky to have been exposed to.

SFBG How exactly does the open turntable policy work?

Deeandroid You must bring your own needles, headphones, and records, sign up on the list, and wait your turn for the MC host of the night to call the DJ names. We have seven turntables and five mixers usually for the open turn session. DJs rotate after they do their thing twice or we tell them to switch.

SFBG Is it ever a problem with some DJ hogging the turns?

Continue reading "SCENE: Deeandroid and Celskiii put the needle on" »

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by SFBG at 05:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

By Kimberly Chun

Going out? Staying out? There's so damn much out there - consider this Sonic Reducer Overage, the Wonder Years/Part I. Look for the sequel in the next day or two.

Poirier
Jump and shake it like the riddim possess ya. The man's Caribbean and South Asian sonics keep it sweaty on his Soca Sound System EP. With Daedelus. Thurs/18, call for time and price. Mighty, 119 Utah, SF. (415) 626-7001. www.mighty119.com

Miike Snow
He has a nice chunky mohawk, but the Swede is "Still an Animal." With Esser. Thurs/18, 10 p.m., $10-$12. Popscene, 330 Ritch, SF. www.popscene-sf.com

Seth and Adrian Tomine
Sacto native, onetime Berkeley resident, ex-zine maker, and now Optic Nerve graphic novelist and New Yorker illustrator Tomine returns to the scene of so many of his yarns, to talk about his Shortcomings and 32 Stories, now both out on paperback on the esteemed indie publisher Drawn and Quarterly. Seth - famed for his Palookaville comics - tags along for moral support (I kid because I love). Thurs/18, 7:30 p.m., free. Park Branch Library, 1833 Page, SF. (415) 863-8688. www.booksmith.com

Continue reading "Sonic Reducer Overage I: Polly, Poirier, Tomine, Ade, and more" »

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by Kimberly Chun at 04:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Juan, two, three: the Juan Maclean. Photo by Troy Bayless.

By Kimberly Chun

Impressionistic sketches, hazy watercolor memories of the way I listened last week, before the veil of forgetfulness falls.

Dang, I wish I had a proper camera in hand to get my shutterbug on at Peaches. The lady wasn't going to let a little vault fire get in the way of her Grand Ballroom performance on June 5: she remains one of the most riveting performers to come out of electroclash on a sheer show-womanship level, and now that she has her live band, the Herms, complete with a leggy, black corseted blond guitar player who obligingly shimmies along to the boss lady's "Shake your tits, shake your dick," she's pretty unstoppable. Essentially - no lie - everyone in the room could not tear their eyes away from Peaches' ever-shifting spectacle, even if Vault Fire II broke out in the next room.

One-man UK opener Drums of Death made me consider suicide, but Peaches made up for it with a bout of crowd-surfing, a romp at the outer edge of the balcony, a slew of impressive costume changes (she poked fun at herself by coming out onstage in a robe at one point), and plenty of brain-teasing visuals, including a video-projected duet with Shunda K of Yo Majesty for "Billionaire" and a dance with super-shaggy Cousin-Its to the tune of "Talk to Me."

The next night, June 6, saw Stockholm's Axel Willner, otherwise known as the Field, hunkered down behind the decks at Mezzanine, opening for the Juan Maclean. Love the dreamy new long-player, though the show drew more from a minimalist techno vein, with assists from Dan Enqvist and Andreas Soderstrom. Still, it was mesmerizing - especially accompanied by video art that spliced images of shipping containers stacks with book piles. I stayed for just a dab of the Juan Maclean, who rocked the Human League-y robotic-pop vibe with mucho energy. Kudos to those who can pull off a nice, big Romulan shoulder pad - I'm scouring the thrift stores for mine soon. The kids were dancing as I departed amid complaints of pop monotony from companion Prof. Fluffy.

Continue reading "Show Diary: Neko Case/Jason Lytle, Peaches, Juan McLean/the Field, Telepathe, Handsome Furs, Au Revoir Simone" »

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by Kimberly Chun at 10:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The true masters never go away, but there's no denying that Serge Gainsbourg is experiencing a posthumous resurgence of late, one that rivals his Gitane-perfumed popularity in the mid-1990s. This go-round, the emphasis is on Out moments more than pop tracks. Here's a Playlist guide to the latest touchstones.

Serge Gainsbourg, "Aux Armes ... "

----------

Aux armes et cætera

(Universal, 1979; 4 Men With Beards, 2009)

Gainsbourg went to Jamaica in the late 1970s and made a full-on reggae record. It's not a novelty at all — in fact, it might be my favorite record of his. Its sizzling, simmering, summertime sound is about as sultry and seductive as any record could dream to be. The equivalent of sinking deep into warm sand and never wanting to wash it off. (Irwin Swirnoff)

------------

Cannabis

(Philips, 1970; Philips vinyl, 2008)

Saint Etienne kicked off its peerless 2004 contribution to the mix series The Trip with the glam title number of this motion picture soundtrack. The overall album is a rangy delight, benefiting from the fact that it isn't as strictly conceived as some of Gainsbourg's other recordings. Highlights include punky blues struts, symphonic hints of his work with Jean-Claude Vannier, tablas-based rhythmic walkabouts, and the occasional soft-core duet between a humming femme and an organ — by which I mean a Hammond keyboard, silly. (Johnny Ray Huston)

-----------

Histoire de Melody Nelson

(Philips, 1971; Light in The Attic, 2009)

Why it's taken Melody nearly 40 years to get a domestic release remains a mystery, since everyone from Massive Attack to Beck to Portishead has borrowed from it in some way. A perverse tale of forbidden love and tragic death, it is not only Gainsbourg's finest studio concept, but an epic collaboration of rock band and orchestra. Its combination of doom-laden bass progressions, sinewy acid guitar, and soaring strings remains unparalleled in terms of exquisite execution. (Scott Hewicker)

Continue reading "Our guide to the Serge Gainsbourg resurgence" »

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by Marke B. at 12:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Bat For Lashes - "Pearl's Dream"

By Kimberly Chun

Color my world grey – you still yearn to romp and play, San Fran-frisky. So get outta the dog park and into the clubs and buy me a drink, hot pocket. Here are a few notable shimmy-shams where you might find me skulking.

Constantines and Crystal Antlers
The Toronto indie rockers venture out to “Islands in the Stream” and stretch their bones in a post-rock, minimalist mode. Meanwhile the LA psych-soul bros carouse in honor of their new Tentacles (Touch and Go). Thurs/11, 7:30 p.m., $14. Rickshaw Stop, 155 Fell, SF. (415) 861-2011.

Headboggle
One-man low-end grumble from the bowels of SF, presented as part of the gallery’s New Music Series. With Commode Minstrels in Bullface, Midmight, and Amphibious Gestures. Thurs/11, 8 p.m., $6. Luggage Store, 1007 Market, SF.

Continue reading "Sonic Reducer Overage: Bat for Lashes, Datarock, Limp Wrist, Constantines, and more" »

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by Kimberly Chun at 04:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

By Johnny Ray Huston

Axel Willner of the Field borrows with the insightful and transformative intent of a master curator. On the title track finale of the Field's almost unanimously acclaimed From Here We Go Sublime (Kompakt, 2007), that means tapping into the Flamingos' 1959 "I Only Have Eyes for You." Kenneth Anger exploited that recording's deeply unsettling quality in the 1972 version of his Rabbit's Moon, paving the way for a dozen or more David Lynch imitations of such a tactic. Willner's trick was to distill the spectral eeriness of the recording into pure essence.

The Field, "Everybody's Gotta Learn Sometime"

On the new Yesterday and Today (ANTI-/Kompakt), Willner's something-borrowed gambit is a cover of the Korgis' glacial 1980 ballad "Everybody's Gotta Learn Sometime." On the surface level of trend, this is almost a stale move: Justice recently incorporated the Korgis' original into a mix, and Beck also has recorded a version. But Willner's interpretation is far superior. It is both minimalist and majestic. Here the sublime resides in what Willner leaves out: the chorus. In place of words, he piles layer upon layer of his trademark ghostly hums and drones so that a sonic cave becomes a cathedral. It's gorgeous.

Marke B chimes in: And check out this abso-brill recent collab between my favorite band of 2008, Foals, and Mr. Field-good. Rumor is more to come with the release of Foals' second album this year ...

The Field, "Foals Xiii (Foals Remix)"

The Field
opening for The Juan Maclean
Sat/6, 9 p.m., $20
Mezzanine
444 Jessie, SF
(415) 625-8880
www.mezzaninesf.com

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by SFBG at 11:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The grey can stay – it is, after all, summer in fog city – but you know you gotta get out. Leave home and get an earful of inspiration at, hey, maybe these worthwhile shows.

Parson Red Heads
The cute-as-a-button LA combo polishes up Cali folk rock for every parson, be it the preacher or Gram. With Cotton Jones. Tues/2, 8 p.m., $10. Cafe Du Nord, 2170 Market, SF. (415) 861-5016.

Rosewood Thieves
Going their way? The New York indie rockers are California dreaming and in love with the sun. With Mississippi Man and Lemon Sun. Wed/3, 9 p.m., $7. Hemlock Tavern, 1131 Polk, SF. (415) 923-0923.

Continue reading "Sonic Reducer Overage: BFD, Wale, Handsome Furs, Holy Fuck, and more" »

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by Kimberly Chun at 03:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Memorial Day weekend - the wind is down, and the moment has come to break out the hibachi, dust off those sassy hot pants, and kick back for at least a day or three. And of course, there's more worthy music to fit in there, in between the sunbathing, cookie-baking, and electroclashing.

Fischerspooner
Does the GE halo give me a double chin? And does it electroclash with the rubber tubing? The jaw-dropping live act whips out a dour, synthpop Entertainment, as well as a new stage show. Fri/22, 9 p.m., $29.50. Fillmore, 1805 Geary, SF. (415) (415) 421-8497.

TV on the Radio and Dirty Projectors
The praise-rattled TVs were peppy as all get out at Treasure Island fest last year - and here they come again with the better-than-ever Dirty Projs, which blew everyone away at SXSW this spring. Fri/22, 8 p.m., $30. Fox Theatre, 1807 Telegraph, Oakl. (415) 421-8497.

Continue reading "Sonic Reducer Overage: TV on the Radio, Bun B, Fischerspooner, Webbie, Floating Goat, Passion Pit, and more" »

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by Kimberly Chun at 01:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Everybody panic. Don't worry, electronic-symphonica mastermind Mason Bates, who I rave about in this week's issue, isn't gonna freak peeps out. But seriously, do not miss the premier of his orchestral suite for full orchestra and laptop, The B-Sides, which he'll be performing for three nights with the ever-game SF Symphony, Wed/20, Fri/22, Sat/23. After Friday night's performance (free with ticket!) you'll get ushered into a really cool secret space by Davies Symphony Hall for an afterparty, featuring Mason's Mercury Soul project, which kicks ambient-like trip-hop ass and will feature himself behind the decks, as well as some live, avant-garde surprises (and hottie conductor Benjamin Shwartz, *swoon*). If you haven't been to the symphony, or if you're in the mood for something spectacular oracular, this is the time to go.

Here's two views of Mason, aka DJ Masonic, at Carnegie Hall with the YouTube Symphony Orchestra in April, debuting the "Wharehouse Medicine" portion of The B-Sides.

The balcony view, complete with trippy visuals:

and here's from right down in the fray (I'm dying to know what the tiny grand piano behind his is for! Hello, Carl Stalling?) Note the dramatic use of drum pad:

I would be totally, regrettably remiss if I didn't also pump Bates' co-performer on the program, the heartbreakingly talented and just all around fierce Yuja Wang, who'll be performing Prokofiev's Piano Concerto #2, which at around the seven-minute-mark will honestly start to kill you with beauty. Girl's got skills.

Here's her performing at Carnegie Hall. Um, hi hotness.

Also featured: the majestically haunting, almost-4AD-foretelling Fourth Symphony by Sibelius, who's all the rage among young turk composers these days.

Mason Bates, Yuja Wang, and the SF Symphony
Wed/20, Fri/22, Sat/23
8 p.m., $35–$130
Davies Symphony Hall
201 Van Ness
(415) 552-8000
www.sfsymphony.org

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by SFBG at 12:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

By Kimberly Chun

Could it be any prettier, any more delicately dewy, any more enticing, out there in this stone-beauty by the Bay? And when the sun goes down, you must go out to play - or watch others play. More worth-while sights, sighs, and sounds for you, more than could fit in print.

Steve Earle
Far from Nashville and an outlaw and songwriter-activist born a little too late, Steve Earle is rattling the chains of his past and looking back on the music of his late brilliant and damaged mentor Townes Van Zandt with the new Townes (New West). Thurs/14, 6 p.m., free. Amoeba Music, 1855 Haight, SF. (415) 831-1200.

Loney Dear
Dudes, make up your mind - comma or no comma? Ah, hell, none of it matters when the Loneys wash those sad-and-lonelies away with their sweet indie-rock melodicism. With Headlights and Audio Out Send. Fri/15, 10 p.m., $10. Bottom of the Hill, 1233 17th St., SF. (415) 621-4455.

Continue reading "Sonic Reducer Overage: Dead Meadow, Steve Earle, Fracas, Loney Dear, and more" »

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by Kimberly Chun at 11:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

By Johnny Ray Huston

In addition to making music, Christopher Willits is a guiding force behind the art and experimental music site Overlap (www.overlap.org). In conjunction with Overlap's next event, I caught up with him by e-mail.

SFBG What was it like to collaborate with Ryuichi Sakamoto on Ocean Fire (12k, 2008)?

Christopher Willits It was surreal. We fell into an oceanic trance, and a bunch of music suddenly emerged. Then a Godzilla-like sea monster morphed out of his piano and he vaporized it with his max patch.

SFBG You've also worked with Brad Laner of Medicine. Are you an admirer of that (ahead-of-its-time) band?

CW Medicine [had] a mind-splittingly original sound — it was a soundtrack to many high school adventures. Now it's an absolute joy to be friends with Mr. Laner. Together we are the varsity band members (guitar I and II) of the North Valley Subconscious Orchestra. We're aiming for nationals next year.

SFBG What do you like about the Bay Area's close proximity to the ocean?

CW The smell of fresh wind, and dreams of flying great white sharks.

SFBG I saw a fave list of yours once that had Magma, the Carpenters' "Close to You" and Sun Ra's Lanquidity on it. Who is inspiring or obsessing you at present?

CW That is a timeless list — can I say them again? Let's add Morton Subotnick, Wild Bull (www.merlindarts.com), all Eliane Radigue, all Elvin Jones, John Coltrane, and that band that plays at El Rio on Sunday night.

SFBG You recently toured in China, including a performance with images on ice. What did you discover?

CW I discovered a resilient community of artists and experimental musicians pushing against the grain (and firewall) of this mammoth country or force. They understand my history and what I'm doing — another win for Chinese bootlegs? I also found some of the best food ever: huajiao (flower pepper) with asparagus! But hold the boiled big brains. Those I'm definitely not into.

LISTEN/VISION 06 With Christopher Willits, Taylor Deupree, and Classical Revolution. Sun/10, 8 p.m., $10. Café Du Nord, 2170 Market, SF. (415) 861-5016. www.overlap.org.

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by SFBG at 11:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

By Kimberly Chun

Rain-day women, overcast men - it's drizzling all over SF, but the music keeps coming. Here are more worthy shows than we could drip into print.

Brilliant Colors
The SF trio surfs the latest wave of girlish lo-fi pop with sweet, primal punchiness. With Abe Vigoda, High Castle, and No Babies. Wed/6. 8 p.m., $7. 21 Grand, 416 25th St., Oakl. www.21grand.org

Myka 9
Everyone seems to be borrowing from the rapid-fire Freestyle Fellowship fella, who has lent a hand to performers like Busdriver and Prefuse 73. Thurs/7, 9 p.m., $15. Independent, 628 Divisadero, S.F. (415) 771-1422.

Continue reading "Sonic Reducer Overage: the Dead, Alela Diane, Myka 9, Destroyer, Ponytail, Brilliant Colors, and more" »

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by Kimberly Chun at 11:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Wherein Marke B. does go on about dance music past and present. View the previous Nite Trax here.

In the current issue of the Guardian, I have a little devilish fun with white labels and tell a few possibly apocryphal tales of foundational electronic music label Warp Records' genesis. Before I multimedially augment that article a bit, here's a spectral white label that really calls up the toe-tingling ghost of the unknown in my third ear:

Reese, "Power Bass"

The 1990 white label rumbler above, whose B-side apparently played inside out, was produced by Detroit techno god Kevin "Master Reese" Saunderson -- he later released it under his E-Dancer guise. (When I hung with Kevin at last year's Detroit Electronic Music Festival, I believe he was drinking Black Label, however.)

My own former prize possession white label turned out to be "The Green Man" by Shut Up and Dance that I snagged from Detroit's amazing Buy Rite Records in 'round 1991-- somehow an unlabelled test press had found it's way from London and into my bin. Below is a vid of a promo copy version. Warning: Never, ever, let go of your records. I could retire a bit if I had this slice of vinyl on me now ....

Shut Up and Dance, "The Green Man"

Thank you, magic of youtube. OK, then ... Warp Records. It's their 20th this year, and in a typically nifty yet slightly desperation-whiffy marketing gimmick, you can vote online for your favorite Warp tracks to be included in their forthcoming anniversary comp.

Continue reading "Nite Trax: White Warp bleep" »

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by SFBG at 07:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Babes in Ty land: Ty Segall messes with ya as part of Total Trash Weekend.

By Kimberly Chun

Bay rap vets and raucous rock sprats - it all goes splat this week. I'm guessing you'll find plenty of trouble to get into - and musical artistry to appreciate - when you're not busy downing scrump-dilly-icious (and cheap!) pastor tacos at the Gallo Giro taco truck at 23rd and Treat.

Goapele
Oakland's own draws the curtain on new music: check her site for the spanking, sinuous "Milk + Honey." With Cody Chestnutt. Fri/1, 9 p.m., $27. Independent, 628 Divisadero, SF. (415) 771-1422.

Zion-I
This is the weekend Bay hip-hop stages The TakeOver. The local twosome takes it to another level in honor of its new long-player. With Kev Choice Ensemble and Trackademicks and the Honor Roll. Fri/1, 9 p.m., $19-$23. Slim's, 333 11th St., SF. (415) 522-0333.

Continue reading "Sonic Reducer Overage: Paris, Total Trash Weekend, Garrett Pierce, and more" »

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by Kimberly Chun at 01:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

By Nicole Gluckstern

Throbbing Gristle blur the lines at the Regency Ballroom, 4/23. Photos by Morlock E.

It’s a veritable rogue’s gallery at the Regency Ballroom on April 23, every single statesperson of the Bay Area underground having emerged from their respective lairs for Throbbing Gristle, the first, the foremost industrial noise band come back to destroy the universe, one eardrum at a time. The last time I saw such a profusion of familiar faces was, well, last week at Leonard Cohen. And just like at Leonard Cohen, the faces around me bear expressions that are expectant, electric, slightly starstruck. Unlike Leonard Cohen though, the band launches first into a sweet little ditty penned in tribute to the Moors Murderers Myra Hindley and Ian Brady, “Very Friendly”.

Genesis P-Orridge, hand out

“Could you imagine what might have happened if Myra Hindley and Ian Brady had met me and Cosey back than?” quips Genesis P-orridge, who wears the role of flamboyant frontperson like a comfortable pair of bright pink polka-dotted stockings. An array of “greatest hits” follows: “Persuasion”, “Something Came Over Me”, the infinitely creepy “Hamburger Lady”. The set may verge on this side of predictable, but honestly, these are the songs we all want to hear.

The venue lights stay on, loud; the sound system cranked, loud; Genesis P-orridge channeling Marianne Faithfull in a bright orange Stevie Nicks tunic, loud. More “disciplined” than dangerous, the evenly rhythmic computer-generated beats smack just as much of Coil as chaos unleashed. Still, at certain points in the evening, the relentless throb threatens to dislodge both my intestines and my equilibrium. “If I stand with my legs apart I get an erection,” I hear someone mutter. And ultimately, that’s the crux of this whole experience, this sonic onslaught. Industrial at its hard core is precisely the music of solitary erections, the music of intestinal distress, the music of bondage games, vertigo, and boots of shiny leather (just like Cosey’s). That said, all those iMacs onstage? Neither sexy nor disturbed. The blue-screened sea of iPhone photogs below me? Ditto. The price of progress, I suppose, disturbance demystified.

Continue reading "How To Destroy Your Eardrums, Part 6" »

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by SFBG at 02:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

By Brandon Bussolini

Now two years old, I Put A Record On (Monika Enterprise, 2007) is a record worth lingering over. In addition to being the first solo release from Berlin-based musical gadabout Gudrun Gut, it's remarkable for how unhurried Gut was in getting around to it: she's been appearing on recordings and taking part in bands, including a very early incarnation of industrial pioneers Einstürzende Neubauten, for more than 25 years. Her intervening projects give her the aura of a post-punk Zelig: the all-female punk band Malaria! formed in 1981, toured with the Birthday Party, put out records on Belgian boutique label Les Disques du Crepuscule, and performed with Nina Hagen at Studio 54. That the group's "Kaltes Klares Wasser" would later be covered by Chicks on Speed was a foregone conclusion.

The synthy Matador followed Malaria!'s collapse, but Gut's ear eventually led her, like any good punk, to techno. With typical great timing too: Berlin had just undergone a techno surge, spearheaded by local duo and label Basic Channel. Abandoning the constraints of playing in a rock-derived idiom in favor of more uncharted territory, Gut also had the good fortune to run across Thomas Fehlmann, a producer with post-punk roots who had recently collaborated with Alex Paterson's downtempo pace-setters the Orb. The two founded Ocean Club, producing a weekly genre-stomping radio show as well as parties that paired up the likes of experimental techno producer Thomas Brinkmann and splay-shirted southern gothic aficionado Nick Cave.

Gudrun Gut, "Move Me"

None of this is new information, yet all of it is useful in figuring out how something like I Put A Record On came to be. It's beguiling, though free of big emotions — a left-field album that functions as an homage to the hypnotic state that arrives when you're sucked into your favorite records. The best indication of its intentions is provided by the sole cover, of Smog's "Rock Bottom Riser." Gut's multitracked delivery, over a pistoning and downtrodden bass drum, is affectless enough to make Bill Callahan's stoic delivery on the original seem fraught. But by the end, she's wracked by giggles, as flecks of color appear like dried spittle around the monochrome production's edges. Gut is not an innovator: both she and Callahan are committed to the old, inexhaustible pleasure of listening, regardless of genre. And this is exactly what allows them to give back to their respective genres, if we care to name them, some missing essence.

FIRST PERSON MAGAZINE BENEFIT PARTY FEATURING GUDRUN GUT with Thomas Fehlmann, Grecco Guggenheit, and Nate Boyce. Fri/24, 10 p.m., $10-$15. Mezzanine, 444 Jessie, SF. (415) 625-8880. www.firstpersonmag.com/events.htm

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by SFBG at 10:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

By Marke B.

Throbbing Gristle, "Discipline" live at Kezar, 1981

"Like always I persuaaa-aade you." My audiophile pals have been burbling for weeks about Throbbing Gristle's return to the Bay Area -- an event of enormous sonic-historical magnitude that both Brandon Bussolini and Nicole Gluckstern write about in this week's issue. And they've mostly been taken by the series of vids recorded at Kezar Stadium ("the stadium of dead souls") in 1981 that documents the raw, uninhibited mind-warp of the group at the time -- a perfect tonic for our still-obsessed post-punk indie-bop era. It's pretty amazing, and I'm loving the obvs tripped-out audience. Also, it looks to have much more in common with composer John Adams' Berkeley music-concrete happenings than the overloaded, multimedia Wax Trax spectaculars that industrial would soon veer into, livewise.

The above extended cataclysm, plus this one below by Germany's Liaisons Dangereuses from 1982, tells a seedy, sweaty, and dirty-sexy industrial story, with a space for women even ("are you ready boys, are you ready girls?"), that I wish had been pin-patched and bedazzled onto Haight Street kids' jackets rather than the hypersteroidal/paranoid-pop Skinny Puppy-Nitzer Ebb-Ministry one (and hey, doesn't Depeche Mode have a new album out?)

Liaisons Dangereuses, "Los Niños Del Parque"

It's a wonder to me how all those macho mid-80s big-time industrial acts could simultaneously be so testosteronal and yet so castrated. Maybe it was all the trying too hard (and it kind of happened again in the 90s with, ew, rap-rock). But, you know, I shaved off my devil lock and fled the industrial dance floor once KMFDM's "Control" became inescapable. Now that was torture, even though now I find them quite adorable. It'll be very interesting to see what kind of crowd shows up at the TG show on Thursday, to say the least, and whether they'll have the spikes to ride the experimental thrust into polysexual purgatory, industrial's true Valhalla (not hell at all), with barest, brief release.

From the LA Times Coachella blog: "I think I've had three orgasms already," Genesis P-Orridge said after the first song of Throbbing Gristle's set. All right, so we know it was good for the fair-haired, transgendered leader of the British industrial act, but how was it for us?

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by SFBG at 04:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

By Michael Harkin

Grass Widow's harmonious post-punk tension is fostered below SF street level, in a former meat locker containing, among other things, a very charming quilt with the band's name patched into it. In anticipation of an impending record release -- the band plays Thursday at ATA -- I met there with bass player Hannah Lew and drummer Lillian Maring (guitarist and trumpet player Raven Mahon was overseas), who, although living far apart — Maring is on the East Coast at present — were clearly very happy to be together.

"It's not like there are any dispensable characters," explains Lew. After the dissolution of Shitstorm, Lew's former band with Mahon, the two started playing together in 2007 with Maring, who was in the city for the summer from Washington state. Though Maring went back up north for a bit, she says she quickly returned and the trio "got really serious" — serious enough to tour the U.S. the following summer after cranking out a wonderful demo CD-R/ cassette that makes up most of their upcoming self-titled 12-inch on the local Make a Mess label.

Continue reading "The Bay's Grass Widow sounds out mesmerizing shapes" »

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by SFBG at 03:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Take the wheel: Vivian Girls' "Tell the World."

How to destroy a weekend - or, for that matter, a weeknight? Sticky, sweaty, and sill up for fun - SF knows how it's done. Telling ya, there's so much more to see and hear than we could fit into print.

Dry Spells
Folk rock gets another angelic kick upstairs when the Bay Area band gets onstage. With Pillow Queens and Vultures. Wed/22, 9 p.m., $6. Hemlock Tavern, 1131 Polk, SF. (415) 923-0923.

The Pets
The Oaktown garage-rock threesome preps for its European journey. With International Espionage and Master Volume. Wed/22, 9 p.m., $5. Kimo's, 1351 Polk, SF. (415) 885-4535.

Continue reading "Sonic Reducer Overage: Vivian Girls, Ghost, Spinal Tap, How to Destroy the Universe, and more" »

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by Kimberly Chun at 06:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

By Michelle Broder Van Dyke

I first saw Dan Deacon perform at Oberlin College's venue the ’Sco, a den of nascent creativity that eventually brought me to a city sometimes referred to by the same three-letter abbreviation. Deacon was there, balding and bearded, his glasses taped to his head, his muffin-top iced by a bright pink T. He set up his mad scientist's table of electronics in the audience's usual domain. Different colored cords sprang out in every direction and there were multiple mics for his one-man show. Lit by a neon green skull, Deacon began stretching, then implored the audience to stretch. They did.

Not only did we all stretch with Deacon, we danced with Deacon. For a generation that has been taught that to move is to be judged — or whatever excuse keeps scenesters so static — such an act is similar to the miracle of the Virgin Mary getting pregos. Deacon's inhibition-less philosophy was infectious: not only were the undergrads dancing, they were willing to participate in a high-five conga line and compete in a dance-off.

Dan Deacon, "Crystal Cat"

Although the complexities of Deacon's music become clearer when heard on an iPod, the experience verges on seizure-inducing. Live, the same music becomes hypnotic. Like his earlier work, Deacon's newest album Bromst (Carpark) is as much a singular composition as a collection of tracks, which should make it exhilarating to encounter. In concert, he has arranged for it to be played by a 15-piece ensemble. Now that he's decidedly bigger — in band, popularity, and girth — it's hard to predict how the intimacy and audience participation aspects of his performance will be affected. But it is sure to be a blast. And a bromst. (Deacon said he made up the word for his album title because it doesn't have a meaning and he likes the way it sounds.)

DAN DEACON With Future Islands and Teeth Mountain. Thurs/23, 9 p.m., $13. Great American Music Hall. 859 O'Farrell, SF. (415) 885-0750, www.gamh.com

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by SFBG at 01:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Manic panic: Silversun Pickups' "Panic Switch."

Lucky you, you aren't broiling in the desert at Coachella - you're keeping your cool in SF, and boy, you've got a lot to keep your bad self outta trouble. So partake in the Coachella spillover - and then some...

Intelligence
"Icky Baby" is in the eye of the beholder - and the mind of the Intelligence, those hard-driving, gristly lo-fi smarty-pants. With Thee Oh Sees and Ty Segall. Fri/17, 9 p.m., $8. Annie's Social Club, 917 Folsom, SF. (415) 974-1585.

Loop!Station
Loops, vocals, and cello are Robin Coomer's and Sam Bass' tools, arriving now with a new CD.
Fri/17, 8 and 10 p.m., $10. Yoshi's, 1330 Fillmore, SF. (415) 655-5600.

Continue reading "Sonic Reducer Overage: Silversun Pickups, Bloc Party, Atmosphere, Kylesa, free shows, and so much more" »

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by Kimberly Chun at 07:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

By Marke B.

Get ready, kids -- this Saturday night's all about the new-bass (and I go in deep on it in this week's Super Ego clubs column). Do like I said and hit up both mindblowing parties featuring this amazing nightlife sound of now.

Ghislain Poirier, helloooo

In one corner is Montreal's "King of Bounce" Ghislain Poirier, whose Bounce Le Gros monthly in the MTL not only helped launch the careers of such wiggy Canadian future bass purveyors as Megasoid and the tres-tres atmospheric Sixtoo, but also put Quebec on the world dance music map. Ghislain will storm the Tormenta Tropical monthly's electro-cumbia castle at Elbo Room.

Below are two video examples of how Poirier wonderfully "plays it both ways" as it were -- super-danceable and brainily abstract -- with the dancehall boinger "Blazin'" and the headphone freaker "Hit & Red." The third vid, "Don't Smile, It's Postmodern" is his awesome kinda middle ground (although the visuals are waaaay goofy.)

Ghislain Poirier, "Blazin'" featuring Face-T

Ghislain Poirier, "Hit & Red"

Ghislain Poirier, "Don't Smile"

AND in this other corner, righteous kings of woofer-blowing abstractitude Flying Lotus, Kode9, and the Bug hit Mighty for a jam called "The Future." I'll let the videos after the jump give you an idea of each of their genius individual styles, but DO NOT MISS THIS PARTY.

Continue reading "Super Ego: New-bass invades the Bay" »

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by SFBG at 01:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Brooklyn cheer: Japanther's "Challenge."

"Rising above the smoke and debris" - yes, we can. More to do, see, and hear...

Undebateable: Eef Barzelay's "I Love the Unknown."

Clem Snide
Hungry Bird (429), the latest release by the Boston-born band, almost succeeded in killing Clem Snide. Yet Eef Barzelay carries forth - sweet Snide 'tude in hand - alongside Brendan Fitzpatrick and Ben Martin. With the Heligoats and Pepi Ginsberg. Wed/8, 9 p.m., $10-$12. Bottom of the Hill, 1233 17th St., SF. (415) 621-4455.

Love X Nowhere
Immaculate shoegaze and anthemic pop stream from the SF fivesome's new self-released High Score Blackout. With Headlights and the Love Language. Thurs/9, 9 p.m., $10. Bottom of the Hill, 1233 17th St., SF. (415) 621-4455.

Continue reading "Sonic Reducer Overage: Brit, Devendra, Japanther, Fleet Foxes, and more" »

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by Kimberly Chun at 01:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

TALK NORMAL
Secret Cog
(self-released)

Call it no wave, noise, avant-skrock, or simply the harsh, grinding sound of the daughters of Mars and DNA writhing on their guitar necks and drum sticks beneath the light of a fiercely perturbed Venus. Though it might be less than visible on club bills of late, the underground of women testing the limits of dissonance never quite died, especially in the Bay where 16 Bitch Pileup, T.I.T.S., and Zeek Sheck have staked their ear-wrenching claim in a scene that can be as boy-heavy as any Mastodon show. Though the field has always been varied in its aural strategies, more contemplative, though no less challenging, music-makers like Grouper and Inca Ore - both with ties to these shores - have risen to the fore these days, thanks to last year’s Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill (Type) and Birthday of Bless You (Not Not Fun). Perhaps everyone - iconoclasts included - has toned themselves down for hard times, reserving judgement and preserving rage in anticipation of big-time change.

Brooklyn twosome drummer-vocalist Andrya Ambro and guitarist-vocalist Sarah Register, otherwise known as Talk Normal, do have their meditative moments, bent beneath Buddha Machine-y piano notes and sawed-at strings on the Secret Cog EP’s last track, “Rest With Me” until the drone dissolves into fragments of melody then miniature surges of glittered noise. But otherwise Ambro and Register embrace an aggro approach, issuing high-pitched squeals, horn peals, and lumbering counter rhythms on “Grinnin’ in Your Face,” which evoke not only Teenage Jesus and the Jerks but Pussy Galore and later NYC noise-mongers as well as Amphetamine Reptile rageaholics. Talk Normal, what’s normal?

Continue reading "Talk Normal unearths the secret world of 'Cog'" »

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by Kimberly Chun at 12:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

San Francisco just can't, just won't stop. More musical - and comedic - worthies than one can jam into print.

The Get Up Kids
These lesser-known monsters of emo, progenitors of punk-pop, are back. With Approach. Thurs/2, 8 p.m., $26-$29. Great American Music Hall, 859 O’Farrell, SF. (415) 885-0750.

Continue reading "Sonic Reducer Overage: Snoop Dogg, Eugene Mirman, Jeremy Jay, Skin Horse, and so much more" »

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by Kimberly Chun at 02:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Pros to go: "A song by the Mae Shi celebrating the life and work of Xtian Bale."

You have until Monday to find your place in the sun - or in the shadows. More fun musical offerings than we could fit into print - as usual in super-sweet SF.

Lil Wayne
The Nawlins rapper is said to pumped a good deal of performance-enhancement production values into his stage show - courtesy of a full band, a smoke machine, pillars of fire, and a set of backup dancers. But will Wayne deliver the goods? Or at least appear on time? With T-Pain, Gym Class Heroes, and Keri Hilson. Fri/27, 7 p.m., $42.50-=$147.75. HP Pavilion, 525 W. Santa Clara, San Jose. www.livenation.com

The Mae Shi, Pre, and Past Lives
Hey, it's all good here. Well, I've never seen Pre but the Mae Shi are monsters (gag songs or no) and Past Lives - a band of ex-Blood Brothers - impressed at South by Southwest. Seems to me, though, that Skin Graft's Pre combines squealing girly vocals with propulsive, clanging post-punk in a way that I'm sure SF kids can get with. Fri/27, 9:30 p.m., $8. Hemlock Tavern, 1131 Polk, SF. (415) 923-0923.

Starfucker
Don't hold the fucked-up name against them - the Portland, Ore., combo could be the next Glass Candy, with a newly amplified sense of humor. With Grand Lake and Guidance Counselor. Sat/28, 9:30 p.m., $8. Hemlock Tavern, 1131 Polk, SF. (415) 923-0923.

Bonfire Madigan
Sometime SF dweller Madigan Shive whoops it up for her blessed b-day - and for the release of her new EP. With Excuses for Skipping. Sun/29, 8 p.m., $12. Cafe du Nord, 2170 Market, SF. (415) 861-5016.

White Magic
The Brooklyn psych-folk spell-casters send us spiralling. With Avocet. Sun/29, 5 p.m., $10. Hemlock Tavern, 1131 Polk, SF. (415) 923-0923.

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by Kimberly Chun at 08:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Taken from SCENE: The Guardian Guide to Nightlife and Glamour -- on stands in the Guardian now. Interview by Marke B. Photo by Pat Mazzera. Art Direction by Mirissa Neff. Mens room courtesy of Matador.

Ultraviolet, Kozee, Roommate, Rob Cannon, and Blackheart

To say that the woofer-rumbling, ragga-ripping dubstep sound has exploded on the club scene in the past few years is an understatement almost as low as the genre's freakiest frequencies. Dubstep seems perfect for our hyper-multicultural, urban-nomadic age, blending street rhythms with the most intricate laptop sonic technology available. It's especially perfect for the Bay, with its shimmering blend of moody menace and artistic bombast, and has duly been embraced by a number of DJs here, many with roots that stretch back to the early days of 2-step, drum 'n bass, and even rave.

DJ Ultraviolet (pictured in red, at left), heads up the fab two-year-old RedLine dubstep collective, and has been bringing her immaculate technique and overflowing energy to the decks in San Francisco since 1997. She was a seminal player in the drum 'n bass and breakbeat scene, as part of the Sleeveless collective with the Femmes Fatales, and was associated with the legendarily raucous Sister DJ crew. As a true vinyl fetishist, she was being booked at the tender age of 19 to play jungle at underground '90s raves and played a part in the Future Breaks FM (miss you!) juggernaut of the early aughts.

Now, along with the wonderfully gifted DJ Kozee, her "second in command," Ultraviolet reps the burgeoning female dubstep explosion, producing tracks and bringing a touch of grimy glamour to the scene with the MakeOut Sessions, RedLine's regular blowout at Matador. The upcoming installment of MakeOut features Matty G of Santa Cruz (www.myspace.com/mattygbeatz) pumping tracks from his new album, Take You Back.

MAKEOUT SESSIONS
Fri/27, 9pm, free
Matador
10 Sixth Street, SF.
www.myspace.com/redlinedjs

SFBG Who's all involved in RedLine?

ULTRAVIOLET Kozee and I, who do a lot of the event planning and are working on a big project together; Babylon System (www.myspace.com/thebabylonsystem), a.k.a Roomate and No Thing, is one of the top production crews in dubstep, currently on tour in Europe; the three DJs of Blackheart (www.myspace.com/lordsofblackheart) from Oakland are our newest addition; DJ Rob Cannon (www.myspace.com/djrobcannon), our youngest member; our L.A. residents Emu and Pawn, who are also a part of the SMOG crew down there, and on our business end, Cyn, Bruxxy, and Dymphna.

SFBG Do you think the dubstep sound is reaching a critical mass? Is the scene in danger of getting stale?

Continue reading "SCENE: RedLine shakes the bass up" »

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by SFBG at 04:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

By the light of the moon: PJ Harvey and John Parrish at Stubb's.

South by Southwest peters out with... Peter, Bjorn and John. Actually, not really - I dig those Scandinavian whistle-bait popsters and they were playing multiple shows - but there were other less familiar artists and rare diversions to seek out on Saturday, March 21, in Austin, Texas.

The sweet 'n' sunny Saturday morn started with slowly with some quality, low-price thrifting at Texas Thrift Store (Joanna Newsom and folk-psych gals would have appreciated the dusty rose, homemade patchwork vest and nautilus-shell purse) and a visit to western wear superstore Shepler's, both off I-35. Then off to the Convention Center - which, by the end of the week during each SXSW, starts to seem a little like home (that is, if home was strewn with fat bundles of The Austin Chronicle and free bottles of Fuze green tea). There, Neil Young's famed manager Elliott Roberts and his documentarian Larry Johnson talked up Young's forthcoming series of box sets, starting with Neil Young Archives Volume 1 (1963-1972), on BluRay, DVD, and CD. Pretty amazing stuff - the BluRay edition will offer interactive components that will allow Young and company to offer up new photos, music, and film when they become available (one example, Robert said, are the Mynah Birds recordings made by Young and Rick James, which aren't the now-locked box set - they just managed to license the tracks from Motown so when they're available the BluRay owners will be notified and can likely download them directly).

Mystery crust theater: Imperial Battlesnake takes aim.

Pedal mettle: Increased bike presence at this year's SXSW and surrounding day shows.

Continue reading "SXSW: Petering out with PJ Harvey, AIDS Wolf, Moriarty, Sons of Albion, and more" »

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by Kimberly Chun at 04:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Funky love: Brazil's Garotas Suecas seduces at Emo's.

SXSW memories - fading now, but hey, it's only Friday. Among the highlights yesterday, March 18: Brazil's Garotas Suecas - the bright-eyed, fun 'n' funky heirs to Booker T. or at least Sharon Jones. My Portuguese is a bit nonexistent, but we got the picture loud and clear, thanks to the ensemble's hyper-expressive vocalist.

Even more mind-blowing: Flower Travellin' Band at Smokin' Music. The band sometimes best known for its nekkid, motorcycle-riding album shot finally made it to the states for the last of five shows on its first U.S. tour. Previous sojourns have been scuttled for various reasons, but wow! Deeply eccentric power-centered psych-stoner rock - Hideki Ishima's huge sitarla is only part of the story, generating resonant, almost boomingly bass-like sounds. Have to see more of them if/when they get to SF.

Massive massive: Hideki Ishima wields his mighty sitarla.

Continue reading "SXSW: Quick fixes with Flower Travellin' Band, Fleet Foxes' J. Tillman, Garotas Suecas, and more" »

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by Kimberly Chun at 04:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Chapel of the chiming guitar: SF's Girls fill the Central Presbyterian Church March 19.

Impressions - watercolor, guyliner-streaked, skinny jeans-clad impressions - of SXSW. Here are a few from the frontlines on what turned out to be a stellar Thursday, March 19: I may have missed the Jane's Addition reunion with Eric Avery at the Rock the Bunny after-hours bash at an old Safeway, but who needs the LA grunge-era implants when there's so much happening elsewhere?

Rumor has it that Kanye West will be headlining the last Fader Fort show Saturday - a sweltering mecca of lines and bees drawn by the spilled fruity cocktails, out on the other side of I-35 - and that Neil Young is in town. Otherwise the vague official word round the Austin Convention Center is that attendance is down about 10 percent, though artist attendance is up. "Not bad, considering" - the new buzz words?

Charm (in)offensive: Quincy Jones gives the SXSW keynote.

Continue reading "SXSW: Q queue, Devo, Dirty Projectors, Girls, and more" »

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by Kimberly Chun at 03:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Back to the basics: The Bronx whip it out March 18. All photos by Kimberly Chun.

Get away from the grip-and-grin events and rambles through parties that offer free drinks and barbecue (though Jackpine Social Club's Nick Tangborn supposedly threw an ace bash yesterday for ex-Parkside honcho Sean's Batter Blaster pancake spray product) - there's music out there if you seek it out. The corporate sponsors may be relatively absent, but there's still plenty of intrigue, sonically, if you seek it out: PJ Harvey and John Parish, J. Tillman of Fleet Foxes going solo, the Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Blk Jck, We Have Band, et al.

One great budding band of women: Portland, Ore., trio Explode Into Colors. An all-power two-drum approach draws from the Slits and Gang of Four to fashion impassioned, sinewy primal punk. Fully formed and in full possession of their own voice. The group played March 18's Finally Punk-curated all-ages music-made-by-women show at Ms. Bea's, which also included Pocahaunted, Yellow Fever, Micachu, and the East Bay's Splinters.

Boy meets girls: Explode Into Colors.

Continue reading "SXSW: Explosions as Sahm, Floyd are toasted, the Bronx pounds, Tara Jane O'Neil tears it, Explode into Colors does just that" »

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by Kimberly Chun at 04:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

More Mochi: 215 the Freshest Kids hurl some words at Daly City Records' Pre-SXSW/St. Patrick's Day Party at Beso Cantina March 17. All photos by Kimberly Chun.

Or is a whimper more accurate. Yes, the signs are in the air and in the program, as we scan the pages of the official guide and the unofficial day party lists. Welcome to South by Southwest on the downlow, rocked by the turbulent winds blowing off a global economic meltdown.

The big conference keynote names like Pete Townshend, Neil Young, Robert Plant, and Lou Reed? This year we get the uber-talented and esteemed but nonetheless much less sexy - sorry, Quince - Quincy Jones. Instead of the Stooges and Morrissey, we will have onstage interviews with Carlene Carter and the Hold Steady. The corporate banners are still here, but with a not-quite-as-splashy, diminished presence - just where is that MySpace South By Party Bus? The major labels and glossy publications are quieter than usual - whither the Vice party? Is there a Vice party?

Instead Rachael Ray - wholesome indie rock fan incarnate - is serving up the New York Dolls and the aforementioned Hold Steady at her showcase. Hey, after all, we're all eating in these days - we can use some new recipes. This is SXSW on the cheap, forced onto a low-budg diet by a still-suffering music biz. Yes, music continues unabated, but can its makers afford to make it out here this year? The underground bashes around SXSW appear to slowing down or maybe they just aren't on the public radar - in any case I still want to make Todd P's Ms. Bea free all-ages shows and the French Legation outdoor bills - now Arthur-free (R.I.P.). We'll see if there's anything as fun as Dan Deacon and Fucked Up's guerrilla throwdowns shaking up the university campus and the bridge, after hours.

Continue reading "SXSW: It begins... with a whisper?" »

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by Kimberly Chun at 01:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Men at work: MSTRKRFT's "Work on You."

Yes, San Francisco, you're unstoppable. As usual, the city by the Bay bays - nay - howls at the moon. More worthy sounds that didn't make it to print.

Judgement Day
The Bay Area band is using the tools of Bach and Beethoven for... devil horn-throwin' eve-ill! Wed/18, 8 p.m., $10. Cafe du Nord, 2170 Market, SF. (415) 861-5016.

Eleni Mandell and Victor Krummenacher
The LA singer-songwriter strikes an arch, jazzy note with her praised **Artificial Fire** (Zedtone) and the ex-**Guardian** art director digs deep with **Patriarch’s Blues** (MagneticMotorworks, 2008). Thurs/19, 8 p.m., $12-$15. Cafe du Nord, 2170 Market, SF. (415) 861-5016.

Continue reading "Sonic Reducer Overage: Farflung, MSTRKRFT, Eleni Mandell, the Homosexuals, and mo'" »

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by Kimberly Chun at 12:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

By Marke B.

Rupture goes there

"A DJ mix that stands alone as an album is a rare thing, but leave it to Jace Clayton, a.k.a. DJ/rupture, to make one, as he has with Uproot (Agriculture)," wrote the Guardian's Brandon Bussolini last year. "Deeply, er, rooted in the bass plate tectonics of dubstep and cut with the finest in eclectic samples, ranging from experimentalist Ekkehard Ehlers to lazer bass don Ghislain Poirier, Uproot rolls deep with dubbed-out ambience, but DJ/rupture is just as happy to turn things upside down, as when he plunks down Ehlers' gorgeous string loop, "Plays John Cassavetes, Pt. 2," around the mix's halfway point. And if bangers of the future don't sound like "Gave You All My Love (Matt Shadetek's I Gave You All My Dub Remix)," which subs out dub's organic space for Fisher-Price primary-color contrasts that split the brain evenly in two, I'm not sure it's a future worth living in."

I'd have to agree with all of that, but also emphasize DJ/rupture's extremely thrilling versatility when it comes to global musical styles with regards to both his recordings and live sets. That's why I'm tickled hot pink that he's putting together a special cumbia set for this Saturday's Tormenta Tropical with the Bersa Discos boys, who've consistently stirred some of the world's best DJs into their electro-cumbia-hop stew. Tormenta Tropical was bangin' last month, and this one should be a real ruptured doozy.

Tormenta Tropical
w/ DJ/rupture
Sat/14, 10pm, $10
Elbo Room
647 Valencia, SF
www.myspace.com/bersadiscos

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by SFBG at 02:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Wake and bake: ...And You Shall Know Us by the Trail of Dead's "Another Morning Stoner."

It all sounds so ethereal this week: dream-pop, shoegaze, and even, well, ...And You Shall Know Us by the Trail of Dead. Here, you'll know us by these breadcrumbs - and perhaps you'll find a few intriguing musical diversions to check out on a chilly night.

Azeda Booth
Enter the echo chamber with the Calgary, Canada, threesome, then look for its music for the Bay's Absolutely Kosher imprint. Wed/11, 10 p,m., $6. Knockout, 3223 Mission, SF. (415) 550-6994.

Elvis Perkins in Dearland
The Hudson Valley likes it sweet and low: this blues-folk combo likes to riddle their indie with Nawlins second-line lyrical soul. Wed/11, 9:30 p.m., $13-$15. Cafe du Nord, 2170 Market, SF. (415) 861-5016.

Continue reading "Sonic Reducer Overage: Trail of Dead, Asobi Seksu, Gunslingers, and more" »

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by Kimberly Chun at 09:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

You choose: Clues.

By Kristy Geschwandtner

I had the opportunity to check out some shows during the Noise Pop festival, starting with the opening-night performance by Deerhunter at Mezzanine on Feb. 25.

Deerhunter didn’t let anyone down. It played a majestic set that created feelings of isolation and reflection. The bright back-lighting and smoke machine setup helped create the mood. The music and performance made me feel as though I left the building and was somewhere alone. Not many performers can bring you into their realm.

Continue reading "Noise Pop: A look back II, starring Deerhunter, Clues, No Age" »

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by Kimberly Chun at 07:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Kewl: Kool Keith's "Aliens."

By Andre Torrez

For a minute there I became enraged at the thought I was missing out on the latest drink sensation. Everyone had these shiny cartons in their hands as my mind raced, fantasizing about all the possibilities. What could that be? Oddly, my head had me convinced it was some sort of coconut concoction. No, wait, what’s that trendy fruit right now? Acai berry! That had to be it.

After all, wine in a box had long since become passe. My jealousy abated only when I realized it was merely a carton of Plant it Water. Those things were everywhere. Still, the evening wasn’t about sponsorship. No, this festival was about the music. Now just a blur of a memory, bars, clubs, and venues alike opened their doors last week to welcome musicians (and music types who like to live vicariously through them) for Noise Pop’s 17th showcase in weirdo San Francisco and beyond. Here’s my personal account:

Continue reading "Noise Pop: A blurry look back" »

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by SFBG at 11:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Woof! Har Mar Superstar's "DUI."

You're stormy, San Francisco - yet you still partay like no other city. Here's even more worthy music - more than we could squeeze into print.

Har Mar Superstar
Sean Tillmann, Sean Na Na - hey whatever your name is: we know you got the stuff to write songs for the Cheetah Girls. With the New Trust and the Limousines. Wed/5, 8 p.m., $12. Rickshaw Stop, 155 Fell, SF. (415) 861-2011.

M. Ward
She and Him? No, him! The former South Bay teacher has made a pretty swell name for himself - though I'd love from him to break out of his Hold Time (Merge) shell.
Wed/5, 8 p.m., $29.50. Palace of Fine Arts, 3301 Lyon, SF. (415) 563-6504.

Color me evocative: Christopher Willits' "Colors Shifting."

Ghostly International Live
Michna, Tycho, Christopher Willits, and other phantoms party like it’s the label’s 10-year anniversary. With the Sight Below, Lusine, Kate Simko, Deru, and Eliot L. Fri/6, 10 p.m. doors, $15-$20. Mezzanine, 444 Jessie, SF. (415) 820-9669.

Continue reading "Sonic Reducer Overage: Ghostly, M. Ward, Har Mar Superstar, and so much more" »

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by Kimberly Chun at 05:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Shining through: Sholi. Photo by Peter Ellenby.

More musings from a href="http://www.sholimusic.com/">Sholi's thoughtful vocalist-guitarist Payam Bavafa. For the first part of this interview, go here. Sholi performs Saturday, Feb. 28, at Bottom of the Hill, as part of Noise Pop '09.

SFBG: How did Sholi come together?

Payam Bavafa: We went into the studio with Greg Saunier in 2006. Then we took the record home and deconstructed the recordings and redid a lot of the recordings and recorded in a lot of different spots and apartments and various home setups. [Greg would] poke his head in every now and then to just give advice and help out on mixing. It was kind of a long labor of love.

Continue reading "Noise Pop: Memory spied - Sholi's Paym Bavafa on Googoosh, recording, and more" »

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by Kimberly Chun at 01:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Wailin': Antony and the Johnsons at the Masonic. All photos by Ariel Soto.

By Ariel Soto

Antony and the Johnsons performed at Nob Hill Masonic Center on Feb. 24, the first night of the Noise Pop music festival. The stage was lit by nothing more than seemingly soft candle light. The audience grew ever so quiet as Antony began to play the piano, his voice stretching and weaving throughout the auditorium. Between songs, he spoke about how he felt to be back in San Francisco, remembering the days when he used to panhandle down near Union Square.

Times have obviously changed: instead of shivvering in the cold, he's now playing to packed concert halls full of adoring fans. Antony is the star of the band, but it's obvious that he's rather shy, dipping behind shadows, letting the audience just barely get a glimpse of that luscious black hair.

Continue reading "Noise Pop: Antony and the Johnsons emerge from the shadows" »

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by SFBG at 09:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Well, we all know the RSVP list to the free Noise Pop opening party with Deerhunter at the Mezzanine is closed (though try going early - rumor has it you're likely to get in anyway). But, hey, here's yet another chance to catch Deerhunter: a "MySpace Secret Show" at Rickshaw Stop with the Pains of Being Pure at Heart (look for a story on their label Slumerland in an upcoming issue of the Guardian).

DEERHUNTER
With the Pains of Being Pure at Heart
Wed/25, 8 p.m., free
Rickshaw Stop
155 Fell, SF
(415) 861-2011

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by Kimberly Chun at 05:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

By L.C. Mason

The drum gods were smiling down on Bottom of the Hill Feb. 18 as drum-centric bands Foot Village and the Drums pounded out thunderous reveries that undoubtedly had even the stars in the sky dancing to their rhythm.

Heating things up good and hot was psychedelic noise outfit T.I.T.S., an all-girl ensemble that definitely brought the ruckus down on an unsuspecting crowd. Their deafening, doom metal-tinged jams would have made Metal Machine Music-era Lou Reed proud and filled the space with minor key dirges and menacing, monotone lyrics about the void and phantom animals. Bassist Mary “Elizabreast” Yarbrough dazzled as she punched her guitar strings in an attempt to make the ceiling fall, while the rest of the girls, dressed in mismatched flower-print housewife garb, maintained professional poker faces as they laid down riffs so heavy you couldn’t get under them if you tried.

Continue reading "It takes a Foot Village - and the Drums and T.I.T.S. to make a glorious noise at Bottom of the Hill" »

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by Kimberly Chun at 10:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

NELS CLINE
Coward
(Cryptogramophone)

By Brandon Bussolini

By the third track of his new solo LP, Coward, Nels Cline has already limned sruti box-assisted drone (opener "Epiphyllum"), applied John Fahey's fingerpicking style to British folk revival harmonies ("Prayer Wheel"), and, with the aptly titled "Thurston Country," written what could pass as an outtake from the Sonic Youth guitarist's solo outing Trees Outside the Academy (Ecstatic Peace!, 2007).

It's tempting to describe the album as an identity crisis commited to tape, but that would involve delving into the fact that I've never quite understood what Cline was doing playing guitar for Wilco in the first place, even though the choice also seems perversely satisfying. Coward feels less like the jazz-reared guitarist is blowing off steam from his day job and recalibrating his personal goals, and more like he's picking back up on a solo and collaborative career that has precious little commercial potential and an embarrassment of merit.

Continue reading "Not just about talent: Nels Cline turns in a mercurial 'Coward'" »

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by Kimberly Chun at 04:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

News from Recombinant Media Labs, over the transom yesterday:

"As some of you may or may not know, the Recombinant Media Labs facility located south of Market on Brannan Street in San Francisco closed its doors last spring. No formal announcements were made at that time due to legal complexities surrounding the closing. No further remarks will be made on this matter, but I think we can all agree that the RML Soma facility will be greatly missed. For those who are curious about what the future hold for Recombinant Media Labs please be on notice: RML is back in view.

"After Asphodel, Ltd. gave birth and support to the worldwide Recombinant Festivals of the '90s, and then to the artist residency lab from 2005 through 2007 the RML nomadic initiative re-emerged after traveling in '08 between Europe and North America, seeking new nodes of operation for performance, installation and exhibition. RML has moved on with fresh partnerships and independent alliances to resurface in a number of international configurations, which will be announced in the seasons to come.

Continue reading "Grey way: Recombinant Labs re-emerges" »

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by Kimberly Chun at 03:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

By Danica Li

Grim news: Chicago indie label Touch and Go pronounced its distribution arm well and dead in a press release yesterday, with an unknown number of pink-slipped staff to take down their concert posters and fold their vintage T's. Little known but critical to its operations, the powerhouse's distribution outfit has provided as many as 20 record labels manufacturing and distributing services since its conception 28 years ago.

The label itself most emphatically won't fold and will continue to release records from its fabled back catalog. But various media sources are clueless as to whether the imprint will sign any new bands in the future. Small mercy - the records slated for release this upcoming spring season are still getting the greenlight go-ahead. Phew.

Continue reading "Gone? Touch and Go to end its distribution arm" »

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by SFBG at 09:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Scan the meshes of those dusty Internets for Clues and you come up almost empty, as far as the Montreal combo goes. But lookee here at this week's Sonic Reducer for the first part of a talk with the Montreal band, and here's even more from Alden Penner, formerly of the Unicorns, on Clues, their first show as part of Noise Pop '09 on Feb. 28, and their gentle beginnings.

SFBG: There's little info about Clues out there. Can I get a clue about how the group came together?

Alden Penner: Well, this project is actually something that’s been coming together for a quite a while. It just happens to be rearing its head now. It's been the goal and desire of Brendan Reed [once of Arcade Fire], a friend of mine, and me to form a band. We’ve known each other since I've lived in Montreal - 2003. We put out a split 7-inch in 2005 - that was the landmark.

Continue reading "Noise Pop: Clues to use - more from the Montreal mystery band" »

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by Kimberly Chun at 10:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

By Brandon Bussolini

To borrow from writer Jessica Hopper, the nature of the Internet is to refer. Before I encountered San Francisco's Lazarus as a Web entity, I'd seen them open for Beach House at the Swedish American Hall and had met the band's vocalist-personality, Trevor Montgomery, a couple of times.

He's super-tall, not a giant but approximately when dressed in a too-small trenchcoat buttoned up all the way to the top as he was when I first met him through my friend Yoni. A long face with attenuated features, he's like a half-remembered Æon Flux character. The music I later heard Lazarus perform - the band started as a collab with Marty Anderson, but the lineup live and in the studio now includes Sacto natives Kelly Nyland and Kathryn Sechrist - was harrowing and gooey. Spacemen 3 can make opiate addiction sound like a religious experience. Lazarus, on the other hand, makes music where using, being broken down and waiting for redemption isn't any more attractive or transcendent than, like, a John Ford rewrite of Waiting for Godot.

Continue reading "Raising Lazarus, contemplating the SF band's dirty-faced realism" »

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by Kimberly Chun at 07:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

By Michelle Broder Van Dyke

Wildbirds and Peacedrums' pristine and primal music is a hybrid of reverent pop, bare blues, and ecstatic soul music with a twist of pitch and tone that creates an undefinable sonic experience. This sparse expressive pop by Scandinavian vocalist Mariam Wallentin and drummer Andreas Werliin bouncingly builds with just enough simple percussion and vocal intensity to allow space and silence, like unanswerable questions, to hang between sound, asking to be filled in by the listener’s interest and intent.

Powered by feeling-infused drums and goosebump-invoking vocals, W and P’s debut, Heartcore (Leaf, 2008), is a powerful, emotive invitation into the minds of these music school drop-outs/masters.

Continue reading "'Core corps: Wildbirds and Peacedrums take flight with 'Heartcore,' opens for Lykke Li" »

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by SFBG at 08:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

By Todd Lavoie

Prepare to be riveted - loop-and-layer-loving Argentine experimentalist Juana Molina will be bringing her bewilderingly intricate electronic/acoustic hybrids to the stage of the Great American Music Hall Friday, Feb. 13.

If you've wondered how the impossibly layered constructions of her recordings could ever translate to the live setting - here's your chance. Having caught her solo Swedish Hall performance from a couple of years ago, I can attest to her ability to mesmerize. Armed with an acoustic guitar and a battery of electronics and effects pedals, she didn't merely perform her songs - instead, she built them from the ground up, laying down basic components at the beginning of each song and gradually adding them together one by one.

Continue reading "Lush 'n' loopy: Juana Molina to blow out her sound with a full band in SF" »

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by SFBG at 01:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

By Danica Li

It's about time that the lineups for the two biggest of the bigwig music festivals on the continent, Coachella and Bonnaroo, leaked online, precipitated by a now traditional annual flurry of bizarre Internet rumors, faux photo-manipped posters, and jittery, cross-fingered posts on Stereogum. Naturally there's plenty of cross-pollination between the two, and no stunners, except that Phish hasn't played Bonnaroo ever before, where most of the bands on both lineups are religious frequenters of music festivals as well-established as South by Southwest in Austin, Texas, and as far-flung as the Roskilde Festival in Denmark and Punkkelpop in Belgium.

The big names aren't so dimunitive, but then Coachella has a long and storied history of luring in bomb marquee reunions that it's struggled to live up to since the legendary Pixies jammed together onstage in 2004. Paul McCartney headlines on Friday, the Killers on Saturday, and the Cure on Sunday. My Bloody Valentine's playing on Sunday, too, while Leonard Cohen, Superchunk, Okkervil River, Morrissey, MSTRKRFT, Franz Ferdinand, Girl Talk, Crystal Castles, TV on the Radio, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Throbbing Gristle, and Lykke Li are all scheduled to play during the fest's three days of music, California sunshine, and wacky art installations.

Continue reading "Does Coachella or Bonnaroo have the better lineup?" »

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by Kimberly Chun at 09:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

HAUSCHKA
Snowflakes and Carwrecks
(Fat Cat)

By Brandon Bussolini

Sometimes, a listener can correctly infer a lot from an album’s artwork. The cover of Snowflakes and Carwrecks, the follow-up EP to last year’s full-length Ferndorf (130701), maintains a Bauhaus-meets-art deco style, but substitutes a winter scene for the sunset and bather that graced the LP. Taking descriptions of Ferndorf at face value risked overheated nostalgia - the album’s inspiration was, after all, composer Volker Bertelmann’s upbringing in rural Germany.

Actually listening to it was something else altogether: these compositions for prepared piano and chamber orchestra ride the minimalist pulse of non-suck Philip Glass minimalism with worthy little melodies that aspire to the repetitive potency of Erik Satie’s Vexations or the Buddha Machine. Neither snobby or pandering, the album was the sort that’s easy to imagine, but hard to find.

Accordingly, it’s the sort of album that’s easier to praise than make time for. I play it during shifts at a café, and as noncontroversial background music I can say it’s nonpareil, but also the sort of music that feels vulgar next to a decent amount of movement and exertion. “Heimat,” the full-length's high point of contemplativeness, sounds best suited for playing at extremely low volume in a sad but dignified brasserie.

Continue reading "Feeling the chill: Hauschka's 'Snowflakes' tugs and putters" »

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by Kimberly Chun at 08:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Wanna see my 'stache: Eagles of Death Metal's "Solid Gold."

Confucius may not have approved of 1015's big ole Chinese NY beat-down - but, hey, he never really knew how to par-tay. Here's more fun schtuff that shoulda, coulda, but didn't make it to print.

Delta Spirit
Northern soul and indie rock - just the combo for the San Diego unit. With Other Lives and Dawes. Wed/4, 8:30 p.m. doors, $12. Bottom of the Hill, 1233 17th St., SF. (415) 621-4455.

Origami Ghosts
Raul Sanchez hosts the contemplative Seattle indie-rockers at his monthly semi-acoustic Penny Arcade showcase. With Eyes, Il Gato, and Floating Robot Familiar. Wed/4, 8 p.m., $7. Make-Out Room, 3225 22nd St., SF. (415) 647-2888.

Continue reading "Sonic Reducer Overage: Social Distortion, SF Bluegrass Festival, Eagles of Death Metal, Chinese NY dance party, and more" »

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by Kimberly Chun at 05:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Haunted 'n' flaunted: Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti.

This in from the Ariel Pink people:

"On paper it wouldn't really seem like these two bands, Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti and Vivian Girls, would have that much in common, but the two bands have struck up a friendship that has resulted in a 13-date tour this spring, which will end with both bands making their first appearances at Coachella. Both bands have other upcoming tour dates, Vivian Girls will open a string of dates for M. Ward, including an appearance at the Apollo, and will be playing SXSW. Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti will tour in March with Canadians Duchess Says and have a couple one-off shows in L.A. with Animal Collective and Gang Gang Dance."

Theory of devolution: Ariel Pink's "Politely Declined."

Continue reading "Ariel Pink teams with Vivian Girls" »

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by Kimberly Chun at 04:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

USA and Bay byways: Sic Alps' "Semi-streets."

Where to find our current garage-rock faves? Cover kids Nodzzz - see this week's story in the Guardian - will be playing a show with Lake and Little Wings March 11 at Hemlock Tavern, 1131 Polk, SF; (415) 923-0923. It starts at 9 p.m. and is $7.

Nodzzz will also be performing with Blank Dogs, Naked on the Vague, and Brilliant Colors March 29 at the Knockout, 3223 Mission, SF; (415) 550-6994. Call for the time and price.

Also worth a looky-loo, as pointed to here: Sic Alps, who play a warehouse show with Thee Oh Sees and Pins of Light. Artwork by Skott Cowgill will also be on display. It goes down Feb. 13 at OCD Warehouse, 758 Natoma, SF. Art and food happen at 8 p.m., bands begin at 9pm, and it costs all of $5.

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by Kimberly Chun at 12:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Text by Nicole Gluckstern, photos by Morlock E.

It’s a good thing so many of the gents are equipped with vintage aviator goggles this year, since otherwise it would seem they’d run the risk of getting their eyes poked out—whether by parasol, peacock feather, or plunging décolletage. It’s the ninth annual Edwardian Ball -- a two-day affair that took place this past weekend -- and like most excuses to get all gussied up in San Francisco, the masses have appointed themselves with gusto. Though most of the costumes here are decidedly more Deadwood than dead and gone, more sumptuous than spooky, the spirit of patron saint Edward Gorey still wafts faintly through the proceedings like a clammy graveyard breeze. Black-and-white cutouts of Gashlycrumb Tinies adorn the walls along with cunning Paxton Gate-style dioramas of dressed-up rodent skeletons, while the Jules Verne-like “Goreyscope” offers microscopic evidence of the haunting qualities of Gorey’s curious bibliography.

A Jill Tracy accompanist

Friday Night at the Edwardian World Faire, headlining act geek-girl cello combo Rasputina sets toes to tapping with such “classics” as “Hunter’s Kiss”, “Watch TV”, and “Saline the Salt Lake Queen”, while upstairs in the fine arts gallery, fairies are being robotically squeezed to make libations (at least that’s what the sign says. Too bad January is my libation-free month, no freshly-squeezed fairy for me).

Jill Tracy (at keyboard)

Downstairs at the “fair”, much steam engine activity is on display thanks to the Kinetic Steam Works, and fabulous trinkets are for sale, mainly in the “jewelry made from sprung watch cogs, and studded leather utility belts” five-and-diamond vein.

Continue reading "Ballin' - Edwardian style" »

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by Marke B. at 12:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Motor-vated: Kinetic Steamworks at Coachella 2007.

Because once is never enough. More ear-teasers to tantalize...

Edwardian Ball
Break out the corsets and strap yourself in, girls. The ninth annual event - now three days strong - bids you to party like it's 1899, follow the green fairy, and partake in music, art, burlesque, circus acts, and all things Edwardian and Edward Gorey-esque. (OK, Gorey was born a bit too late, but you get the general drift of the proceedings.) With Rasputina, Abney Park, Kinetic Steamworks, Rosin Coven, Vau de Vire Society, Jill Tracy, Cirque Berzerk, Agent Ribbons, and more. Fri/23-Sun/25, call for times, $25-$35. Regency Center, 1290 Sutter, SF. (415) 435-7527.

Thunderheist
The Toronto electro-funk party-starters gave a lil' impromptu show in London in December (above). Tonight they do it the legal way, courtesy of Blasthaus. Next up: a new album on Big Dada, coming March 31. Fri/23, 9 p.m., $10. 103 Harriet, SF.

Unagi
The slippery DJ brings the knowledge - "real hip-hop on real records all night long" - to his regular event, 442 Fridays, with DJ Animal. Fri/23, 9 p.m.-2 a.m., $5 after 10 p.m. Madrone Lounge, 500 Divisadero, SF. (415) 241-0202.

Continue reading "Sonic Reducer Overage II: Edwardian Ball, Unagi, Dragging an Ox Through Water, and more" »

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by Kimberly Chun at 08:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Color blogged: Metronomy's "Radio Ladio."

Hey, get out! Here are a few more shows that make it worth missing - or recording - the new episodes of Lost and Battlestar Galactica.

Tippy Canoe
Let the uke revolution carry on - thanks to strummer stunners Tippy Canoe of Oakland and Anna Ash of Ann Arbor, Mich. With Antonetteg. Wed/21, 9 p.m., $6. Hemlock Tavern, 1131 Polk, SF. (415) 923-0923.


Metronomy
Creepy, conceptual electronic pop, anyone? The UK combo brings out the breakbot - just for fun - in honor of Popscene. With the Mae Shi. Thurs/22, 10 p.m., $12. Popscene, 330 Ritch, SF. (415) 902-3125.

Continue reading "Sonic Reducer Overage: Metronomy, Bored Stiff, Extra Action, and so much more" »

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by Kimberly Chun at 06:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I knew it. I knew it! This weekend is the first holiday weekend I'm gonna be in town for the past year -- and I'm totally gonna blow my wad early and end up watching old episodes of Mad Men in bed, dutifully stoned. Why? Because Thursday night sees the launch of Daly City Records and ArtNowSF's ' new monthly Bass Camp at 111 Minna. And their bringing in all the big Montreal names in lazer bass, damn. I'm so lazer there.

Freakin' Megasoid, freakin' Lunice, freakin' Hovatron -- and a little somethin' I like to call Lazer Sword.

All that, PLUS Robot Koch and Bass Science -- with way-too-cute residents Mochipet, Epcot, Quitter, Salva, and MC Buddy LeRoy. It'll be the blaps, y'all ...

I LOVE LAZER BASS

Bass Camp
Third Thursdays, 9pm, $10 advance
111 Minna, SF.
www.111minnagallery.com

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by Marke B. at 07:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Mind that One Track Mind: Egyptian Lover's "Freak-A-Holic."

San Francisco stirs itself, shakes its shaggy head, and leaves home. Here are a few more reasons.

Leopold and His Fiction
The many moods of the SF indie-folk-rock combo turn toward...celebration with the unveiling of their new full-length Ain't No Surprise. Electric! With the Healing Curse and Candy Apple. Fri/9, 9:30 p.m., $6. Hemlock Tavern, 1131 Polk, SF. (415) 923-0923.

LoCura
Living la vida LoCura? That means an eye-opening blend of flamenco, rumba, reggae, and hip-hop complete with bellydane and plenty of Animas. Fri/9, 9 p.m., $15. Great American Music Hall, 859 O'Farrell, SF. (415) 885-0750.

Continue reading "Sonic Reducer Overage: Magic Bullets, LoCura, White Cloud, Chuchito Valdes, and more" »

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by Kimberly Chun at 09:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

ROBBIE BASHO
Bonn Ist Supreme
(Bo Weavil)

By Max Goldberg

Steel-string master Jack Rose emphasizes the gravity of Robbie Basho's playing in a brief note introducing this second-generation recording of a late Basho performance: "For me, 12-string guitar begins and ends with Blind Willie McTell and Robbie Basho."

Basho was loosely affiliated with the "American Primitive" movement centering around John Fahey's Takoma label, but from early on he displayed a unique voraciousness for cross-cultural transfusions. Besides adapting his last name from the Japanese haiku poet, his extended "ragas" were as likely to veer into Moorish and Persian terrain as the typical Indian-blues hybrid.

Bonn Ist Supreme is a generous helping of Basho's searching guitar spirals, and while 66 minutes worth of his immersed playing may be too much for one sitting, dipping in piece by piece makes for lovely swimming.
In spite of coming in the midst of Basho's much-derided Windham Hill period, the 1980 concert shows the guitarist still hard at work at compositions he wrote 15 years earlier. Dewy epics like "Rocky Mountain Raga," "The Girl and the Lotus," and "California Raga" are all given energetic run-throughs, and though Basho's occasional baritone wails make for an easy mark, they're also a powerful indicator of the guitarist's unembarrassed zeal.

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by SFBG at 02:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Under pressure: Vice Cooler in repose. Photo by Manjari Doxey.

We saved the worst for last. Another in a series of year-end picks from Bay Area musicians, writers, scene-makers, and music lovers. Here's the rest of Hawnay Troof/Vice Cooler's best (or worst) of 2008; for more, go here.

HAWNAY TROOF/VICE COOLER'S TOP 10 SHITTIEST TOUR HAPPENINGS IN 2008

1. The police stole my rental car.

On the third to last day of my first US leg we were cruising through eastern Arizona when a policeman pulled us over. He thought we had drugs and illegally searched the car. After not finding anything he was bummed. My friend Rory Rabut was driving, and when the officer looked up his license he found out that Rabut had a small parking ticket that hadn't been paid yet. He used this as a basis for seizing our vehicle.

Continue reading "Adventures! Bodily injury! No sleep! Hawnay Troof/Vice Cooler's 10 patience-testers of '08" »

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by Kimberly Chun at 01:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Take me down to the paradise kitty: gotta love that theremin cat.

Another in a series of year-end picks from Bay Area musicians, writers, scene-makers, and music lovers. Here's more of Hawnay Troof/Vice Cooler's best of 2008; for the first part of his best-of list, go here.

HAWNAY TROOF/VICE COOLER'S TOP 10 THINGS

1. A goat saying, "Mom."

Continue reading "Theremin cat, faux GN'R, guit-playing Lil Wayne: Vice Cooler's 10 things of '08" »

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by Kimberly Chun at 12:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Another in a series of year-end picks from Bay Area musicians, writers, scene-makers, and music lovers. Here's the rest of Mi Ami's best of 2008; for more of their selections, go here.

MORE 2008 PICKS FROM MI AMI'S DANIEL MARTIN-MCCORMICK AND DAMON PALERMO

- Omar-S, "Psychotic Photosynthesis" (both the original and beatless versions) (FXHE)
- Rhythm Based Lovers, "Boogie Vision"/"Snow Drift" 7-inch (Future Times)
- Group Inerane, Guitars from Agadez (Sublime Frequencies)
- Zomes, Zomes (Holy Mountain)
- Kyle Hall, Worx of Art EP 1 (Wild Oats)
- Liquid Liquid, Liquid Liquid (Grand Royal)
- Theo Parrish, Sound Sculptures Volume 1 (Sound Signature)
- Silver Apples, Selections from the Early Sessions (ChickenCoop Recordings)
- Droids, Star Peace (Barclay)
- La Düsseldorf, Viva (Water)
- Methusalem, Journey into the Unknown (Ariola)

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by Kimberly Chun at 10:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Life force: Dead Science.

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

MORE PICKS FROM SHOLI'S PAYAM BAVAFA AND ERIC RUUD

- Dead Science, Villianaire (Constellation)
- Deerhoof, Offend Maggie (Kill Rock Stars)
- Bon Iver, For Emma, Forever Ago (Jagjaguwar)
- Chief Briggum, Ambiguous Garment (self-released)
- Buildings Breeding, LP2 (self-released)
- Deerhunter, Microcastle (Kranky)
- Why?, Alopecia (Anticon)
- Beach House, Devotion (Carpark)
- Fennesz, Black Sea (Touch)
- Matmos, Supreme Balloon (Matador)
- Dodos, Visitor (French Kiss)
- What's Up, Content Imagination (Obey Your Brain)
- Vampire Weekend, Vampire Weekend (XL)
- Love Is Chemicals, Song of the Summer Youth Brigade (Near Earth Objects)

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by Kimberly Chun at 07:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Ox-y contained: Dragging an Ox Through Water.

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

SONNY SMITH'S "FINE AND GOOD" LIST

- The Dry Spells
- The Fresh and Onlys
- Nodzzz
- Brilliant Colors
- Thee Oh Sees
- Sic Alps
- The Sandwitches
- Jeffrey Lewis
- Dragging an Ox Through Water

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by Kimberly Chun at 05:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Caffeine-d: Sonic Youth's Hits Are for Squares (Starbucks Entertainment)

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

YELLOW SWANS' GABRIEL MINDEL'S TOP TEN KILL-YR-IDOLS MOMENTS OF 2008

1. Sonic Youth's "Hits Are for Starbucks"
Crap, you guys — really?
2. Obama's cabinet
Ah, hope and change, I hardly knew you ...
3. Guns N' Roses, Chinese Democracy (Interscope)
What about this isn't beating a dead horse?
4. Scarlett Johansson, Anywhere I Lay My Head (Atco)
I think my crush has worn off.
5. Ian Curtis' gravestone gets stolen
6. The "free market"
Too late, capitalism.
7. Heath Ledger.
8. MIA "retires"
I hope she's better at this than Jay-Z.
9. Indian Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (Steven Spielberg, US)
10. The USAISAMONSTER announce their breakup
This is probably only a big deal to about 50 people, but it really does bum me out.

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by Kimberly Chun at 02:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Doing it better: Chromatics.

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

MICHAEL HARKIN'S TOP 10

- Nobunny, "I Am a Girlfriend"
If the original Ramones replaced Tommy with a drum machine, it might've sounded as amazing as this track from Love Visions (1-2-3-4 Go!).
- Danzig at the Warfield
"Mother"... kicking a pizza box out of a roadie's grasp ... Glenn still rules.
- Nodzzz, Nodzzz mini-LP (What's Your Rupture?)
Fantastic, distortion-free guitar pop.
- Special Disco Version at Mighty
God bless James Murphy and Pat Mahoney for their brilliant edits and many mirrorballs.

Continue reading "'Girlfriend,' Special Disco, Danzig: Michael Harkin's tops for 2008" »

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by Kimberly Chun at 02:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)