BORKO
Celebrating Life
(Morr Music)

By Erik Morse

Bjorn Kristiansson, a.k.a., Borko, is not only a chronic day-dreamer but a procrastinator as well. A music teacher and film composer living in Reykjavik, Borko has finally assembled an album, Celebrating Life, to follow his 2001 debut EP, Trees and Limbo (Resonant). The result - a collection of varying electronic and folktronic experiments that reaches back to 2002 - is a pleasing if dilettantish grab bag of bright charmers and absurd homages to the tundra. Kristiansson’s inspirations suggest an ambitious musical mind that seeks grand scope rather than minute detail.

The album’s opener, the appropriately titled “Continental Love,” is a wonderful introduction to Kristiansson’s musical topology, using synthesized horns and sampled vocal beats to simulate the expansive void of the Great North - a space more than a place - and, left largely to the romantic imagination, the perfect wintry allegory for longing. The next track, “Spoonstabber,” abandons these mammoth instrumentals for the doe-eyed vocals and electro-acoustic soundscapes of Amnesiac-era Radiohead, revealing Borko’s m.o. to be one less of tonal focus than generic catch and release. Lest we forget, this is pop and not process music.

Despite the childish titles, “Shoo Ba Ba," “Sushi Stakeout,” and “Ding Dong Kingdom” dovetail into melodrama, using heavily processed keyboards, plangent electric guitars, and hypnotic coos and chimes - not unlike fellow Icelanders múm or Air in its lush soundtracking for The Virgin Suicides. Throughout, the playful melancholia of Borko evokes the cinematic regionalism of Guy Maddin or Dagur Kári, whose works similarly equate romance not with equatorial heat but with arctic hibernation. And Celebrating Life is filled with the kind of hit-and-miss magic that comes when an imagination overburdened with the possibilities of music seeks to create not only a new genre but a whole new continent of sound.

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Posted by Kimberly Chun at 12:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

By Joshua Rotter

Call me overly-dramatic but Duran Duran have and will forever be my favorite band. They have been since I was five. That's probably why one of my greatest regrets is opting for a Nintendo console over tickets to the "Arena" tour -- what was to be the band's final outing (with all five founding members) -- for my sixth birthday back in 1984.

While seeing reformed lineups both onstage and at record signings in the 90's, and even encountering John Taylor one fateful morning at the Noah's Bagels that I worked at in 1997, offered some consolation, nothing would come close to seeing the Fab Five together again on their 2008 reunion tour.

All pics by Quartknee Kwatek

While guitarist Andy Taylor's recent departure from the group may have sprinkled on my parade, I can't say that their Bay Area Red Carpet Massacre tour stop at Sleep Train Amphitheatre in Concord May 2 suffered for it.

The three-act show, which debuted in late 2007 on Broadway, was highly-theatrical, incorporating all the necessary show-stopping elements.

There was unique staging in the band's utilization of a simple skyscraper background and a variety of light sources -- from stage lights to bulbs -- to evoke a variety of moods instead of traditional video screens.

The musical numbers -- from the darker tracks off their Timba-Lake-produced "Red Carpet Massacre" (2007) like bass-heavy opener "The Valley", beat-driven "Night-Runner" and hip pop number "Skin Diver" complete with Timbaland rapping loop to rearrangements of the band's lighter classics such as "Hungry Like the Wolf", "The Reflex" and "Rio" -- were mixed gorgeously.

The mid-section of the show was run entirely on synthesizers and drum machines, so
tracks like "Last Chance on the Stairway" "All She Wants Is" and "I Don't Want Your Love" became even more electro-shocked, blending seamlessly with the band's cover of The Normal's "Warm Leatherette".

Josh and the boys

Continue reading "Duran Duran again again" »

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Posted by Marke B. at 03:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

By Todd Lavoie

Marty Willson-Piper, "Questions Without Answers" (1989)

What a treat! Singer/songwriter/founding member of Aussie atmosphere-masters The Church, Marty Willson-Piper, is doing a special solo-spotlight show--- backed by the alluringly-named Mood Maidens--- at the Great American Music Hall on Sunday, May 4th. As far as I remember, the last time he played here in the city was back in the summer of '06, with The Church, at the same venue. Ah, what a show that was--- ever-genteel bandmate Steve Kilbey joked about spearheading an "Elizabethan Rock" movement, and Willson-Piper obliged by bringing delicate, graceful guitar-dexterity to Church slow-burners and ambience-anthems such as "Under The Milky Way", "Chromium", and "Metropolis". No word yet about whether Elizabethan Rock is still on the front burner for the band, but the charming, quick-quipping guitarist/big-hit-with-the-ladies does have a new album out--- entitled Nightjar (Heyday Records), it's a gorgeous collection of warm-textured folk-rock pushed along by some of the most delicious six string jangles since, well, the last Church album, really.

Is an introduction to The Church necessary? Probably not, so how about a reminder, then: ever since releasing their debut Of Skins and Heart (Arista/EMI) back in 1981, the band has released well over a dozen albums and EP's matching (frequently) melancholy neo-psychedelic atmospherics with mystical subject matter, and Willson-Piper has, along with lead singer Kilbey, been a constant in their two-decades-deep career. Much of their success should be attributed to his ability to float just the right color of aura to their formidable mood-making; it's tough to imagine the smoldering majesty of Church classics like 1985's "Myrrh", 1988's "Antenna", or 2003's "Sealine" without Marty's sublime textures. Then, of course, there's the perennial crowd-fave of "Spark"--- the taut, sneering Mod stomper from 1988's Starfish (Arista) gave the band's usual backing-vocalist a truly inspired turn at the lead mic. Two particularly fascinating recent-additions to the band's catalogue--- 2004's El Momento Descuidado and 2007's El Momento Siguiente (both Liberation Music)--- both offer exquisite "unplugged" revisits to career-highlights, and here, free of feedback and pedal effects, one can gain a whole new appreciation for his intricate guitar-work. Perhaps they also had an effect on the recording of Nightjar, as this new solo jaunt seems to share a kinship with the lush folk ambience of both albums. Granted, the disc does indeed have its electric moments--- it even occasionally rocks out in that slow purposeful grind associated with latter-day Church recordings--- but it's easy to imagine Nightjar as a younger, rougher-around-the-edges sibling to the Momento twins.

Continue reading "Church lets out with Marty Willson-Piper" »

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Posted by Kimberly Chun at 09:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

As you'd expect from her brainy, rambling songs, Kimya Dawson is a pleasure to chat with. Here's more from a brief chat; she performs tonight at Herbst Theatre with her friend Matt Toby on ukulele.

SFBG: So your life must have really changed after the Juno soundtrack?

Kimya Dawson: I love the movie and I love everybody that worked on the movie. I know that for a lot of the other people who worked on it that I liked and for my family it's super-exciting and that makes me happy. It's just one of those things, where this was never the goal for me. I never made music thinking someday I'm going to make it big.

Continue reading "Anti-folks get together for Kimya Dawson" »

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Posted by Kimberly Chun at 07:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

No foolin': Traditional Fools at the Eagle. All photos by Jen Snyder.

By Jen Snyder

Remember when you were never held accountable for anything - save for your room being clean? Man, I do.

I've got to say, the Oh Sees, Traditional Fools, and Master Slash Slave show at the Eagle Tavern this past Thursday, April 17, dredged up feelings of nostalgia for me. I don't know if it's the comfy charm of the most relaxed gay bar ever, or if because past Bay Area indie gods dotted the crowd, as members of Coachwhips and Erase Errata buzzed around, but there was a carefree feeling about the show. If you like reminiscing about your childhood, I can only suggest listening to at least one of these local bands the next time you find yourself hunting for tunes.

Remember how much of a bummer it was when you had to go to school for eight hours every day, starting at 8 a.m.? That was insane - especially if you went to an extremely ill-equipped public high school with no money to upgrade computers straight out of the Oregon Trail days. The Traditional Fools reminds me of the days you feigned sickness, stayed home, and watched Wayne's World three times in a row.

Continue reading "The Ohsees, Traditional Fools ride the radio dial in my time machine" »

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Posted by Kimberly Chun at 12:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Man Man, oh, man.

Man, there's too much to do - you can blame it on Coachella for luring so many interesting acts westward.

MAN MAN
Beards, stuffed animals, and the sound of Philadelphia - this is what Man Man shows are made of. Man Man's new album, Rabbit Habits (Anti-), has also been touched by facial hair. Count on much instrument passing, a palpable sense of humor, and fever dreams revolving round cheesetofu sandwiches. With Yeasayer. Wed/23, 9 p.m., $16. Great American Music Hall, 859 O’Farrell, SF. (415) 885-0750.

RACONTEURS
A pretty fun rockin' time was had by all at the supergroup's last show at the Warfield. Consolers of the Lonely sound like the combo are up to their mad, sad old tricks. With Birds of Avalon. Wed/23, 8 p.m., sold out. Bimbo’s 365 Club, 1025 Columbus, SF. (415) 474-0365.

HER SPACE HOLIDAY
San Mateo rising! Suburban savant Marc Bianchi is back from holiday with a new album to come on Mush Records - and his first children's book, The Telescope, which was released in Japan. With Lymbyc System and Head Like a Kite. Thurs/24, 9 p.m., $12. Bottom of the Hill, 1233 17th St., SF. (415) 621-4455.

Continue reading "Sonic Reducer Overage: Her Space Holiday, KUSF, Raconteurs, Pre, Basia Bulat, Night Marchers, Man Man, and so much more" »

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

Singer-songwriter Brett Dennen has been getting a bunch of attention of late - appearing on Jay Leno among other late-night staples. He appears at the free Green Apple Festival show in Golden Gate Park on Sunday, April 20. Word had it he was a major-league recycler and composter, so I spoke to him in honor of Earth Day; here's what he said.

SFBG: So you're a pretty eco-conscious guy - would you say you make green music?

Brett Dennen: I guess the biggest reason is that it seems like the smartest thing to do, to invest in and live in a way that creates instead of destroys. Y'know, leave as little trace as possible. I don’t think it really inspires me on an artistic level - I don’t think I'm passionate about it in that way. It's just something I've always lived with - it was the way I was raised. I grew up composting, recycling food scraps, recycling, walking, and riding a bike everywhere. It's not like a cause I found - it doesn’t move me to write about it.

Continue reading "Green, according to Brett Dennen" »

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Posted by Kimberly Chun at 02:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A recent performance by Kate Maki in her home province of Ontario.

By Todd Lavoie

Front porch romantics and summer sunset swooners, set your heartstrings a-flutter in anticipation. Canadian alt-country-folk songstress Kate Maki will bring her enchanting "No Depression" melodies to Café du Nord Thursday, April 24, opening for weirdly wonderful Giant Sand mastermind Howe Gelb. Trust me: if you've ever tumbled weak-kneed and flustered over the down homey charms of a blue highway-rambling singer-songwriter in your lifetime, you'll fall hard for Maki. I certainly have.

Boasting an arrestingly gentle, plainspoken delivery, Maki fashions impressive levels of pull-up-a-chair-and-stay-awhile intimacy out of uncluttered arrangements and emotionally direct lyricism. A cross between Suzanne Vega and Iris DeMent, perhaps, though I do detect threads of similarity with Gillian Welch - albeit with considerably less of that tattered black-and-white Dorothea Lange photo vibe going on here - as well as with fellow Ontarian Sarah Harmer.

It's immediate, familiar-as-an-old-friend kind of stuff - and yet it's all quite stimulating and at times even challenging. It ain't easy to craft deceptively simple, homespun little charmers like those on Maki's recently released American debut, On High (Confusion Unlimited/Ow Om) - a lot of folks try and fail, often out of succumbing to cliché or insisting upon self-perceived limitations of the genre. Not an issue here: this 27-minute introduction is loaded with forcefully understated little wonders. Can't wait to hear 'em live.

Continue reading "Swooning over alt-folkie Kate Maki" »

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Posted by Kimberly Chun at 01:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A recent clip of Tony Scherr performing "I Could Understand."

By Todd Lavoie

So so so many choices of what to do this weekend, I know, but let me throw another one your way: this Saturday and Sunday, April 19 and 20, the Independent will be hosting a mighty fine double-bill for fill all your strummed-up twang-age needs. As part of the Green Apple Festival, Brooklyn singer-songwriter and endlessly versatile collaborator Tony Scherr and Australian roots-folkies the Waifs will be playing two nights of rustic goodness at the adventurously booked Divisadero joint.

Now, the Waifs are a marvelous folk-rock group; their latest, sundirtwater (Compass), was just released over here after hitting it big back home in Australia last year. The disc offers a looser, dustier version of their familiar harmony-rich folk meditations, instead opting for deeper forays into the blues and country-soul. Particularly ear-catching is the title track, a swampy little rumba driven by Josh Cunningham's jazz-sweating guitar slinks and Vikki Simpson's lusty vocals:

I want to focus on Tony Scherr, though: the guy boasts a massively impressive resume, as a band member, collaborator, and solo artist. Before eventually heading down the dirt roads and rolling fields of country- and blues-flavored songwriting, he was a jazz bassist, adding both acoustic and electric low-end to a variety of ensembles. Scherr started off - and only a teenager at the time - as a member of one of Woody Herman's latter-day lineups, and then went on to perform with Russ Gershon's Either/Orchestra, an ensemble well-known for its anything-goes approach to interpreting the work of others. (Bob Dylan, Bobbie Gentry, Robert Fripp, and Duke Ellington have all at one point or another been given the Either/Orchestra overhaul.)

Continue reading "Songwriter Tony Scherr dances with Waifs" »

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Posted by Kimberly Chun at 10:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

By Todd Lavoie

Charmed, I am - former Arab Strap post-folkie Malcolm Middleton has just released his fourth album, Sleight of Heart (Full Time Hobby), and it's a corker, I'm telling you. A fitting title, too - there's some lovely little magic at play here, fashioning such shimmers and sparkles from the sadder reaches of the emotional continuum.

Sleight of heart? Sleight of hand, while we're at it. Middleton plays a swift game of "now you see it, now you don't" in his songwriting, tossing up chippy-chip-chipper bluebirds of melody only to smother them in his smog-gray handkerchief with the turn of a devastating phrase. Ol' Malcolm's a master at such trickery, often creating a mighty impressive gulf between the listener's initial surface-level perceptions of the song and the eventual under-the-skin burrowing that takes place later, if given the chance. Simply put, our man crafts some of the most immediately accessible brittle-hearted music you're likely to hear anytime soon.

It's been a curious journey for Middleton. Back in 1995, he and Aidan Moffat forged a distinctively stark, soul-baring form of epic disturbo-folk under the eyebrow-raising name Arab Strap (noun: a contraption used by a man to maintain an erection during intercourse). As the moniker would suggest, the duo didn't shy away from matters of a carnal nature, but even more arresting was their willingness to dredge up the uglier, less flattering aspects of the human experience.

Continue reading "Arab Strap's Malcolm Middleton gets up the gritty magic" »

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Posted by Kimberly Chun at 08:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

By Nathan Baker

Tift Merritt is giving something away. It seems delicate but could be strong as steel, a gift from a solitary place but one that she openly shares. It is Another Country (Fantasy). When Lost Highway Records broke things off with the Grammy-nominated songwriter in 2006 she retired to a room in Paris to put down this portrait of a spirit that is at once resilient and vulnerable. "Sometimes you fall up these stairs," Merritt sings on "Tender Branch," bruised but not beaten.

If there is a bit of the expatriate in this record it is not the decadent self-destruction of Papa Hemingway but the anxiety and awe of a stranger navigating a mysterious place. In "Love is Another Country" her sentiment is simple and perfect: "I wanna go with you."

Produced by George Drakoulias, whose clients include the Black Crowes and the Jayhawks, Another Country both reflects and refracts country music. "Tell Me Something True" and "My Heart is Free" illustrate what all the Bonnie Raitt and Lucinda Williams comparisons are for, but mostly Merritt's is an Americana of the mind - the vernal pleasures Saint-Sulpice, a pastoral stroll along the Seine, the silver needle of a Parisian clothier pushing through a linen summer dress.

TIFT MERRITT
With Sara Watkins of Nickel Creek
April 14, 8 p.m., $16
Great American Music Hall
859 O’Farrell, SF
(415) 885-0750

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

Amber Asylum isn't metal, but band leader Kris Force has been a longtime participant in the scene, while metal fans have gravitated toward her dark-ambient-folk group. Terrorizer named Amber Asylum's last album, Still Point (Profound Lore), as one of their top 40 albums of 2007, and her project has consistently found a home on metal labels. I caught up with Force recently on the phone as she relaxed at home in Pacifica on a sleepy Saturday afternoon. And by the way, Amber Asylum plays their first show in a year and a half on April 19 at El Rio.

SFBG: What's going on with this new release?

Kris Force: Grey Force Wakeford - it's apocalyptic folk or postindustrial music, kind of like Death in June or David Tibet. I worked with Tony Wakeford [Death in June/Sol Invictus] - he's in London - and Nick Grey is in Monaco. We did a lot of it remotely. I had been corresponding with Tony because I liked his music and reached out to him, and he asked me to do some string parts on something.

I found Nick through MySpace. I was really despairing one night and found his MySpace page. He didn't have many friends. I played his music and totally loved it, and I wrote him an e-mail, and he was familiar with my work. I suggested we do a mail-art collaboration, and he sent me a fabulous track. Then it turned into five tracks. It turned out Nick and Tony had four. We decided to put them together and see what happens. I mixed it all and I think it seems cohesive. It's come out on a French label called Athanor.

Continue reading "METAL: Chillin' with Amber Asylum/Frozen in Amber's Kris Force" »

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Posted by Kimberly Chun at 03:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Birthed in New Zealand and suckled on Cali pop, Maori folk, and assorted indie-rock eclectic undefinables, the Ruby Suns plucked the title for their new sophomore album, Sea Lion (Sub Pop), from our very shores: the critters basking off Highway 1. I exchanged e-mails with Ruby Suns' king Ryan McPhun, who appears with his band tonight, April 4, at Bottom of the Hill.

SFBG: So why title your new album after the sea lions who live near San Francisco? What sort of experiences have you had with them?

Ryan McPhun: I guess my explanation is not too complicated. My girlfriend and i were driving down the coast on Highway 1 and came across this colony. We sat and watched these animals for about an hour. We were really close. They were making some amazing noises. It was a great time, so that's why. It was an inspiring trip.

Continue reading "Sweet, sweet Ruby Suns shine a light tonight" »

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Posted by Kimberly Chun at 11:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A little bit o' London Souls.

By Kandia Crazy Horse

A SXSW diary concludes...

SATURDAY, MARCH 15

As mentioned before, other than an in-and-out at Brush Square Park for a Japanese lineup, I simply did not make it to day parties, including the Frank 151 one where I had hoped to catch Game Rebellion again on Friday since they’d so courteously invited Kimberly and I en route to the Ironworks for ‘cue (did catch them rush the stage during N.E.R.D.’s disappointing non-starter of a late-night set at Stubb’s). Thus I missed Harp’s own shindig at the French Legation (and thus the chance to commiserate with my fellow contributors), the ‘ting of NYC-based Kemado Records for which I actually had a lam, and my annual Sunday trip down South Congress for western wear and eats (sorry Andy!).

Last minute, I did make the scene at Jelly NYC’s rooftop thang down West Fifth in the vicinity of Town Lake. And I am glad I did, as this foot-hobbling sojourn off the beaten track enabled me to let some ghosts go while hip-switching through the sequential, heavy volume-dealing sets of London Souls (actually from Brooklyn also, and fronted by a palpably Hendrix-loving brer) and Earl Greyhound. Before a rickshaw took me back to the Hilton, I made and re-met some friends, was hailed by some cool new folks (like sometime Rolling Stone lensman Michael Weintrob) and finally scored a decent drink.

The afternoon was enjoyable due to a very satisfying morning during which I arose early, 9 a.m., from the groggy swamp to breakfast at the soon-to-be-defunct Las Manitas on Congress with NYC friend Tim Broun and his Oaktown musician bud Paul Manousos - all in order to see Daryl Hall’s official SXSW interview at noon. Not only were Tim and I first in line, but we had a great front row view of Brother Hall being interviewed by my colleague Ann Powers of the LA Times. Seeming to be aloof behind shades, seated next to his compadre T-Bone Wolk and their six strings, the sometime 50 percent of Hall and Oates was actually very engaging and sharp, and it was clear from his responses that he never suffers fools gladly.

"Engaging and sharp": Daryl Hall and Kandia Crazy Horse.

Continue reading "SXSW: Scoping out Daryl Hall, Darondo, Bonnie Bramlett, Justin Townes Earle, David Garza, and more" »

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

Saw your baby, lady: Kimya Dawson.

By Kandia Crazy Horse

A SXSW night-and-day diary continues...

THURSDAY, MARCH 13, AND FRIDAY, MARCH 14

The day began with my first IHOP run, and the late rising set me permanently behind on the day-party trail. In fact, I ultimately only made the scene at one on Sixth with our fearless leader/SX roomie Kimberly Chun, wherein we were irritated by “free” drink tickets that only provided low-shelf liquor.

It was fun to make the scene in the upper reaches of the Convention Center, catching up with such friends and colleagues as Manhattan cultural instigator Jim Fouratt, NC-born upstater Holly George-Warren at her trade show book signing for Punk 365 and her fine Gene Autry bio, Perfect Sound Forever honcho Jason Gross, veteran esteemed rock critic Dave Marsh, and (erstwhile) Harp editors Fred Mills and Randy Harward who, alas, came bearing bad tidings about the music magazine’s demise. I also met rock scribe/wife Laurie Lindeen, rockbiz vet Danny Goldberg (whose account of apprenticing to Led Zeppelin’s famed manager Peter Grant was thrilling), Hanson vox Taylor, rockwrite/rock orbit luminaries Jaan Uhelszki and Danny Fields, and played text tag with some other folks before and after dropping too many ducats at Flatstock for posters of the Black Crowes, Stevie Wonder, and the great Alejandro Escovedo (who I was saturated with in ’07 but very sadly missed this year).

The Day Stage tended to be dull or between bursts when I breezed through from the trade show, but I did see Kimya Dawson and her man keeping up with their toddling baby girl. That’s not to say there were no good-to-great performances provided within the Convention Center’s walls: in succession, I saw Hanson, the Noisettes, and (an amazing set by) X, all mercifully recorded for DirectTV.

Continue reading "SXSW: Kimya baby sighting no. 1, meathead hair-tossing at RTX, She and Him hrumphed" »

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Posted by Kimberly Chun at 02:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Learning to love again with Ra Ra Riot. All photos by Kimberly Chun.

O SXSW, what a mixed bag thou art. Good-looking from across a crowded Kiwanis Hall, good-looking (if somewhat huge-pored and flushed with Lone Stars) close up, and even better-looking receding in the distance. Yes, I'm waving, not drowning, with this, a last, lingering, photo-centric dispatch from Saturday, March 15.

Just breathe: Inca Ore.

Solo artists (from Portland, Ore. by way of the Bay) Inca Ore and Grouper stole an intimate house party, organized by Guardian contributor and Club Sandwich mastermind George Chen. A nice alternative to Todd P's day-shows at Ms. Bea's - on the sleepy, leafy, chill side of the Colorado River. Chen's combo KIT also tore it up, following up their Upset the Rhythm showcase earlier that week.

Meow! KIT.

Off-kilter harmonies from the twins of Scary Mansion.

Continue reading "SXSW: Up on Duffy, Ra Ra Riot, Carbon Silicon, Inca Ore, Kate Nash, and more" »

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Posted by Kimberly Chun at 12:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Oh you're not so silent, Jens. Photo by Kimberly Chun.

If imitation is the most sincere form of flattery, then Swedish indie pop maestro Jens Lekman must be feeling pretty swell: by his own estimation, he's accrued an army of faux MySpace and Facebook followers-poseurs since he took his own MySpace site down. The 27-year-old singer-songwriter - currently based in Melbourne, Australia, though not, he claims, for long - is embracing both the love and fictitious narratives being spun by his Jens puppets/impersonators, and likewise, he encouraged me to make up more outta-hand tales when I spoke to him at the eerily generic, brass 'n' business-class Omni Hotel in Austin, Texas, during South by Southwest.

We'll see how wild it gets - and how crazy Lekman will be tonight, March 23, at Bottom of the Hill, when he plays solo, sans band, and full of, he promises, surprises.

SFBG: What have you seen at South by Southwest so far?

Jens Lekman: Tough Alliance - it's really interesting because they're such a Swedish phenomenon in one way. I think they're the most influential band in Sweden right now. But it's so hard - the crowd there at that place, I think, were a bunch of bloggers, who were like, "Hmm, what should I think about this," you know. And they got so frustrated because they're very much about energy. They play for 10 minutes and they just go offstage.

SFBG: Do you get that tough blogger crowd?

JL: No, when I play in New York, maybe. I think I've always had those people standing there smiling. That's my favorite reaction.

SFBG: Any superfans?

JL: I met this guy last night, this 45-year-old guy. Well, I dunno if he's 45 but he's in his 40s. He's going to see eight shows, I think, on this tour, with his whole family, and they're organizing this big barbecue party in Madison when we get there.

SFBG: So the last album, Night Falls Over Kortedala [Secretly Canadian, 2007], is a collection of older songs? What made you want to put them out in an album format?

JL: Yeah, I think all my albums have been like that. They've always been a collection of what I've been doing in the last three or four years. I just write songs - that's all I do. I can't put them together into an entity. So this time I had a bunch of friends pick them for me. I gave them about 30 songs, and they called me up and had a little bit of a Eurovision song contest. They'd say, "Song number eight - that's definitely 10 points, yeah, and song number seven, that's seven points." I think I'll do that in the future as well. It works so well. They saw the golden thread through the songs that I couldn't see myself. I always had a problem with putting things together like that. I couldn't see the connection myself.

Continue reading "SXSW: Indie pop genius Jens Lekman makes it up as he goes along" »

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Posted by Kimberly Chun at 06:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's all Santogold. All photos by Kimberly Chun.

South By - why, a week later, the wrap-up keeps coming. Here's what was on the plate Friday night, March 14 - in addition to the beef rib barbecue and banana pudding with Nilla wafers at Iron Works.

Soft sweat: Kim Hiorthoy.

I was glad to catch a few songs by Kim Hiorthoy in the SXSW day stage at the convention center's cafeteria. The Oslo, Norway, knob-twirler headed up the Smalltown Supersound showcase Wednesday night - here he performed with a percussionist pal, making more meditative, ambient sounds than the house-tinged music he ended up delivering at the Boredoms SF show on March 18.

Don't hate me because I'm beautiful - hate me because of my bad band name: the Ting Tings.

The evening started out at Stubb's for the Ting Tings, art-pop duo from Salford, UK - the twosome has been surprising listeners with their infectious, dancey sass. Spunky, model-esque Katie White managed to hold the stage on her lonesome, thrashing away at her guitar.

Continue reading "SXSW: Santogold is golden along with Sightings, the Ting Tings, Torche, and more" »

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

By Todd Lavoie

Old Weird America, indeed - the spectral-twangin', gorgeously raggle-taggle ghost-folkster Matthew Houck, a.k.a., Phosphorescent, will be throwing mad shadows upon the walls of the Independent Sunday, March 23, when he takes the stage in support of his October-released spine-tingler Pride (Dead Oceans).

Now on album number three, the Athens, Geo./Brooklyn-based Houck has expanded beyond the largely go-it-alone parameters of Pride to include a backing band for this tour; should be interesting to see how the deep-in-the-earhole intimacy of the almost entirely self-recorded disc translates to the stage in the form of a full-fledged quartet. Not that there's much cause to worry: if the guy can bring backwoods-gothic to Bed-Stuy, by crikey, I'm sure he'll find a way to channel onstage the same gossamer-gospel hocus-pocus that makes Pride such a fascinating listen.

It's an intriguing proposition, fashioning such distinctly rural sounds while surrounded by so much concrete, but Houck has done exactly that, and quite convincingly as well. This is no pard'ner-grabbing, knee-slapping hoedown, however: instead, Pride arrives in misty drifts, sighing and swaying over pine-cloaked hills, across Civil War battlefields and weed-overrun graveyards. If there's a trace of Brooklyn on this record, I have to hear it - and while we're at it, most of the time I'm not picking up too much 21st century here, either. (Other than the production, of course, which is goose-pimplingly exquisite.)

Continue reading "Phosphorescent shimmers with strange beauty" »

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Posted by Kimberly Chun at 04:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Signage modification - Austin, Texas-style. All photos by Kimberly Chun.

What a weird lil' South By this is? Can it get any stranger than the evening of March 13, which started out at Stubb's for a sold-out anti-war concert, "Body of War," linked to the feature documentary on 25-year-old Tomas Young, who was paralyzed from a bullet to his spine, taken after serving in Iraq for less than a week. System of a Down's Serj Tankian accompanied himself on piano, Billy Bragg presented a powerful "Farmer Boy," and Kimya Dawson, Ben Harper, and RX Bandits filled out the bill. (Sightings of the Dawson's infant being cartered by her partner, abounded throughout the fest).

Gimme more Ex Cocaine.

Then it was off to the Siltbreeze showcase at Soho Lounge for a hand drum-driven Ex Cocaine from Missoula, Montana, and the stirring guitar-electronics invocations of Blues Control from Brooklyn. Good to see such a sizable crowd out for what many might see as a micro-niche night.

Outta-hand Blues Control.

Made few pitstops at Friends for the soon-to-be capacity Carbon/Silicon showcase (witness the scores of disappointed Clash fans milling around before their 11:30 p.m. set outside, cordoned off by police tape just so they don't get raucous). London's Noah and the Whale plied their rootsy folky harmonies with sweetness and high spirits.

Swallow this: Noah and the Whale.

More ambitious but definitely more streamlined lineup-wise, was Florence and the Machine, also from London town, over at BBC/Steve Lamacq's event at the Rio. Like a sweet, over-the-top cross between Kate Bush and a high school musical theater star, Flo mimed drowning, quasi-tap-danced, and threw her gold-sequined jacket to an audience member when she grew encumbered. All accompanied only by ukulele. And with plenty of drama for all.

The Fantasticks, anyone? Florence and the Machine.

Time to queue for the Playboy/C3 (presenters of Lollapalooza, et al) ninth annual late-night party. The line wound round the block of the "301" warehouse and the media line (through the back entrance - I felt like I ought to be helping with the dishes!) was just as crazed. Once inside, after watching oodles of would-be media types getting turned away at the list, I spied Perez Hilton all in white, with white shorn locks, got my beverage (check the ample barbecue midnight snack), and studied the Heavy as they cozied up to playmates in sad drooping bunny ears and cotton tails.

Things got Heavy.

Continue reading "SXSW: Playboy bods and yobs, "Body of War," sniffing a Siltbreeze" »

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Posted by Kimberly Chun at 01:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Stomp! Scotland's Sons and Daughters walk all over us at SXSW's Domino showcase. All photos by Kimberly Chun.

Showcases at SXSW: it's a strategic sport - which ones can you get into, which ones will be futile endeavors (the Carbon/Silcon show, for instance, last night, on March 13 at the renamed "Clash"/Friends club), which ones will be too far off the Sixth Street beaten path? I hovered round a few joints the first night, Wednesday, March 12, first catching Paper Rad at the Knitting Factory showcase.

A packed crew of hip kids in bright clothing showed up early for the 8 p.m. set, which started out with a series of videos: Rihanna melted into/mashed up with the Cranberries and Bobby McFerrin's "Don't Worry Be Happy" cavorted with happy face snowmen and rainbows, undulating kids in home-made hip-hop dance clips broke down into pixelated Halloween revelers in skull face paint. Eye candy for the DIY-infatuated art-punker and to top it off Paper Radster Jacob Ciocci got behind the mixing board with a drumming/laptop-rocking pal to make some righteous noise after 20 minutes of visuals.

Way west at Antone's, I settled into the Domino showcase, missing the buzzed-about New Puritans but catching hot lavendar boy Lightspeed Champion, who unearthed a slew of acoustic guitar-propelled tunes, accompanied only by friends on occasional fiddle and backup vocals.

Continue reading "SXSW: Lightspeed show-going with Kills, Lightspeed Champion, Sons and Daughters, Lindstrom, Naked Raygun, and the Dicks" »

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Posted by Kimberly Chun at 03:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

By Todd Lavoie

The name might not set your world on fire, but damn these guys are on to something good: Brooklyn's Nation Beat will bring their one-in-a-billion blend of Brazilian Maracatu, Appalachian roots music, and New Orleans-style funk to the Elbo Room this Saturday, March 8. What - scared at the prospect of such brazen genre-colliding, are you? Ah, don't be, sweet cheeks. By the time the night's over, you'll have long forgotten about silly little things like musical genre-pigeonholing. Honestly, why over-think when you can just follow your feet instead?

First, an explanation to the band's name. In northeastern Brazil - the birthplace of the percussion-heavy Afro-Brazilian dance/performance style known as Maracatu - practitioners of the genre identify their ensembles with the word nação ("nation"), a reference to the African countries from where they (or their ancestors) originally came. Most groups in Recife - the epicenter of Maracatu - begin their names with the words "Maracatu Nação," usually followed by some form of geographical reference.

Now, Nation Beat plays a variant of a traditional Maracatu known as "Maracatu de Baque Virado" - literally, "Maracatu of the Flipping Beat" (baque is "beat" in Portuguese). So, the band whittled down the name from these origins and translated it back to English rather than keeping it in Portuguese. What the moniker lacks in flow, it at least compensates for in cultural reverence.

Continue reading "Beating the drum for Nation Beat" »

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Posted by Kimberly Chun at 04:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

By Todd Lavoie

Sweet sufferin' divine, I'm smitten! Liam Finn's just-released debut, I'll Be Lightning (Yep Roc), is quite the fully formed, sure-footed opening howdydoo - nothing but pure shiver-me-timbers falsetto flutters and endearing pop-thrills melodies, frequently offered with disarming vulnerability. It's an honest-to-goodness gem - the musical equivalent of a late-night get-together with an old friend. It's warm and comfy and familiar, yet still pulsing with the potential to surprise. Most impressive of all, Finn practically orchestrated the whole thing himself: guitars, drums, keyboards, you name it. And apparently our man knows how to work the same go-at-it-alone magic onstage - see for yourselves Friday, March 7, when the veritable one-man-band headlines the Bottom of the Hill.

Diehard Kiwi-pop fans will be quick to point out that I'll Be Lightning isn't Finn's first charge out of the gates: prior to going solo, the 24-year-old son of Crowded House crooner Neil Finn was the lead vocalist of Betchadupa, a New Zealand band specializing in oddball pop. Good luck finding any of their stuff over here in the States, though, and if you do, expect a hefty import-price sticker slapped on the front of that baby. And if we're going to indulge in any further hair-splitting, I might as well mention that Finn's solo spin has been available in Australia and New Zealand since August of last year. For most of us, though, it's a fair bet to say the guy's only just now sliding within the reach of our radar. Hell, last night I even caught one of his videos on MTV while flipping channels - and I didn't even think they still played music on MTV anymore!

First off, I'll address the inevitable question sure to be a-popping in the minds of many: yes, Liam does indeed share a few vocal similarities with his dad, the honeyed tenor gliding atop such timeless swooners as Crowded House's "Don't Dream It's Over," "Better Be Home Soon," and "Private Universe," as well as Split Enz classics such as "I Got You." Finn the Younger is hardly a dead-ringer for Finn the Elder: Liam appears more willing to show off his rougher edges than Neil ever was, but it doesn't exactly require much straining to pick up on the likeness, either.

Continue reading "Liam Finn sends hearts a-flutter" »

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Posted by Kimberly Chun at 01:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Okay! All photos by Brandon Joseph Baker.

Photographer Brandon Joseph Baker checked out the Feb. 29 Okay performance at Bimbo's 365 Club and the same night's Blacks opening set at Great American Music Hall, and the March 1 Port O'Brien and Delta Spirit co-headlining show at Cafe du Nord.

Continue reading "Toot-toot, Noise Pop: Port O'Brien, Delta Spirit, Okay, and friends whoop it up" »

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

Thar she blows: Or, the Whale. All photos by Brandon Joseph Baker.

Photographer Brandon Joseph Baker checked out Noise Pop's sold-out Dodos/Or, the Whale/Bodies of Water/Willow Willow show at Cafe du Nord on Feb. 28. The sets were eclectic with Willow Willow quietly st