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" »

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Posted by Kimberly Chun at 11:46 AM | 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" »

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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

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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" »

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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

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Kristy Geschwandtner caught up with the pun-happy, former-Brooklyn, art-punk duo Japanther's Ian Vanek after their show at the Hemlock on 4/13.

SFBG: When will Japanther perform “Dump That Body in Rikki Lake” in San Francisco?
Ian Vanek: We are keen to do JAPANTHER performance pieces the world over. DTBIRL was a giant puppet rock opera we did on 06, if you didn't know. The puppets are in art storage so anything is possible. Know any investors?

SFBG: Did Japanther really relocate to Southern California?
Vanek: Yes, we spent the winter in sunny LA and the greater west coast. Now that the spring is here it's back to work! Basically we went homeless to tour in 09. Paying rent in a recession is so 1990s.

SFBG: Where is your favorite place to play?
Vanek: SF is up there for sure (and the whole Bay). We also love Australia, Montreal, Toronto, Juarez and of course our hometown, BROOKLYN.

SFBG: Did you ever make it to Russia to play?
Vanek: Not yet but we got as far as the official invites... We will make there in the next year for sure!

Continue reading "Mini-Japanther: a quick, claws-out Q&A with Ian Vanek" »

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Posted by SFBG at 06:55 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'" »

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Posted by Kimberly Chun at 12:42 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.

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

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" »

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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" »

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

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?" »

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Posted by Kimberly Chun at 01:40 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" »

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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" »

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Posted by Kimberly Chun at 07:21 AM | 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" »

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Posted by Kimberly Chun at 10:58 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?" »

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

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" »

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Posted by Kimberly Chun at 04:20 PM | 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" »

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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

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

Alternate Nation statesmen: Meat Puppets.

Get out, SF - get out... and check out the music pouring the streets of Grog City.

Slough Feg and Hatchet
His majesty meets the teen metallists, thanks to Lucifer's Hammer. With Passive Aggressive. Wed/14, 9 p.m., $7. Elbo Room, 647 Valencia, SF. (415) 552-7788.

Devil Makes Three
Devil lovers gathered round for the band's set at Treasure Island music fest. Thurs/15, 6 p.m., free. Amoeba Music, 2455 Telegraph, Berk. (510) 549-1125.

Continue reading "Sonic Reducer Overage: Meat Puppets, Devil Makes Three, Jeremy Pelt, and Mo!" »

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Posted by Kimberly Chun at 02:00 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" »

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Posted by Kimberly Chun at 01:22 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)

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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

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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.

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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" »

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

On the loose: Los Llamarada.

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

HANK IV'S TOP 10 OF 2008

-Los Llamarada at Cake Shop, November
-Newbridge Mayor-Elect Philly Boy Roy appointing Hammerhead as P.I.G. (Pit Inspector General) on the Best Show on WFMU
-Bassist Chris P. getting propositioned/accosted by a persistent lady superfan in the middle of playing a song at Budget Rock VII
-Los Llamarada ordering Pat's cheesesteaks in Philly slang
-Mission of Burma's road manager (and Clint's brother) Jimmy Conley's story about, as a teenager, being dressed up like a girl by Clint and taken to a mid-1970s New York Dolls show in NYC
-The Shield's final season
-Mayyors live
-In Bruges screening at the Shill Building
-Outdoor day party show at SXSW with Ross Johnson
-Buttholes Urfers live on the seventh floor of a Financial District office building at 4 a.m. for Donny Wyatt's birthday

HANK IV
With Wooden Shjips and E-Zee Tiger
Jan. 22, 9 p.m., call for price
Eagle
398 12th St., SF
(415) 626-0880

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Posted by Kimberly Chun at 12:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Itchy and scratchy: Tomutonttu's Ultra Eczema art.

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

JEFF RAY'S TOP 10

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

Continue reading "Between Oakland soul and the 'Black Sea': A top 10 from Jeff Ray of Mission Creek Music Festival" »

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Posted by Kimberly Chun at 11:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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

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

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

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

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

Continue reading "Sonic Reducer Overage: High on Fire, Fall Out Boy, Black Fag, and so much more" »

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Posted by Kimberly Chun at 10:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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

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

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

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Posted by Kimberly Chun at 11:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Built like a brick house: Impossible Shapes' "Let the People Build What They Will."

O, SF - as if you could ever stop rolling out the intriguing jamz. Here are a few more musical offerings that didn't make it into print.

LOS CENZONTLES
"The Mockingbirds" do it up in the Bay again - with Los Lobos' David Hidalgo - after flying through for Hardly Strictly Bluegrass. Wed/12, 8 and 10 p.m., $20-$30. Yoshi's, 510 Embarcadero W., Oakl. (510) 238-9200.

Continue reading "Sonic Reducer Overage: Usher, Tune-yards, Impossible Shapes, Weasel Walter, Nodzzz, Sean Smith, and more" »

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Posted by Kimberly Chun at 01:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Ripe for the picking? Silver Apples' Simeon back in the day.

By Laura Mojonnier

A snapshot of the Pop Montreal festival, Oct. 2.

Irma Thomas at Ukranian Federation, 8:30 p.m.

The night started off with a bike ride up north into Montreal's Mile End area to catch Irma Thomas and a full backing band play the Ukrainian Federation.

I'd only been to this venue once before, to see Patti Smith play a secret show at last year's festival, and the place certainly seems made for that kind of gig. The venue feels like a cross between a middle school auditorium and a Protestant church, rows of 40-year-old theater seating on the first floor and a pewed balcony for the choir. In conclusion, Ukranian Federation is not great for rocking out, but it's just perfect when watching Thomas belt torch songs for middle-aged Quebecers.

Continue reading "Pop Montreal part two: Irma Thomas, Silver Apples, DD/MM/YYYY, and more" »

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Posted by Kimberly Chun at 10:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Great Northern: Mixylodian.

By Laura Mojonnier

Montreal is the kind of city you only appreciate once you leave for an extended period of time, as I did when I relocated to the Bay Area for a few months this past summer. Living here spoils you - it makes you think that all cities have vibrant art and music communities and cheap rent, that all cities serve poutine (fries, gravy, and cheese curds) at every 24-hour corner food joint for your drunken feasting.

Sure, there are drawbacks: the five-month winters, the unchallenged hegemony of skinny jeans, the fact that the gravely pit in front of my stairwell probably won't return to its former state as a sidewalk until early 2009. But, at its core, this city has a fiercely independent nature that makes festivals like Pop Montreal possible.

What began in 2002 as a series of shows all booked in the same weekend has exploded into a five-day extravaganza that takes over every venue in the city every year in early October. The core of the festival remains the music, but now there's Film Pop, Art Pop, Puces Pop (a craft fair/exhibition), Pop Symposium (panels, discussions, lectures), and Kids Pop. And though a small corporate presence has arisen - rumor has it that all staffers received a fresh pair of Converse this year - Pop is still run mostly by hip 20-somethings and a hoard of volunteers jockeying for five-day wristbands. As a result, the festival has a refreshingly laid-back, organic vibe, even if the published set times are occasionally unreliable.

Continue reading "Pop Montreal, part one: Hot Chip heats up, Sic Alps smashes, Woodhands sweats" »

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Posted by Kimberly Chun at 09:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

By Michelle Broder Van Dyke

Imagine Zeus and Ares, up on Mount Olympus sipping cocktails when suddenly they start arguing about Ares’ old-news fling with Aphrodite. What ensues is more then expected, with lightning bolts flying into trees, morphing them into vertical charcoal, and spears being sent high into the sky as vultures descend upon the slain. The members of Genghis Tron brought a little of that mythical drama when they took the stage at Bottom of the Hill on Oct. 6. The band churns out cacophonous metal that waxes and wanes between caliginous grindcore and mellow yet still moody electronica.

Openers Religious Girls from the East Bay stepped in for Yip-Yip, which couldn’t perform due to a member's illness. The group mirrors the point in which Zeus and Ares are still just sipping cocktails: it’s a good moment because you’re drinking, but it’s not unusual enough to order anything less original then a gin and tonic. They played with passion, pounding beats ferociously on multiple drums, with war chants and shrieks that sounded somewhere along the lines of Animal Collective’s “Native Belle” and “The Purple Bottle.” Not to say that I don’t love Animal Collective, but Religious Girls' sound didn’t come off as entirely original.

Clipd Beaks, the onetime Oakland combo, was the lull while you’re trying to get the attention of the bartender to order another drink - hopefully the one that’ll push you from tipsy to drunk. Their sound was simple and synthy. Nic Barbein vocals were filtered with noise as he sang undecipherable lyrics into two mics, once even sticking one into his mouth. Overall, it was like being ignored by the bartender for more than 15 minutes because that more aggressive patron distracts him or her and takes all the attention.

Continue reading "Genghis Tron: electrogrindcore of the gods" »

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Posted by Kimberly Chun at 03:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Shoegazer love-a-gore-gore: My Bloody Valentine at ATP NY. All photos by Jessica Reeves.

By Todd Lavoie

"Nobody puts Baby in a corner!"

Walking around Kutsher's Hotel in Monticello, NY, knee-deep and beyond in Catskills swank-gone-asunder, oohing and aahing and occasionally cackling in shuddered horror upon stumbling across yet another shining example of '50s-era Borscht Belt décor in steady decline, I couldn't help but evoke that priceless line from what is possibly the cringiest of '80s cringefest flicks, Dirty Dancing, as I kicked off day three, Sept. 21, of All Tomorrow's Parties NY.

As it turns out, Kutsher's - the epicenter for all things indie for that weekend - was also apparently the inspiration for the set of Dirty Dancing. Wikipedia away - you'll see. Everything began to make sense. Here we were, on our third day of the festival, and the talk of the town wasn't Saturday night's Les Savy Fav and Shellac double-whammy, or the astounding seven-places-at-once ubiquity of Kevin Shields, who seemed to pop up from every corner - someone has to be in the corner, obviously, since Baby can't - but instead it was the irrefutable suspicion that this place held a singular role in so-bad-it's-good moviemaking history. We indie kids love our irony, after all - and we'd all been thrust upon the motherlode.

Continue reading "ATP Day Three: My Bloody Valentine rips, Dinosaur Jr. rages, Bob Mould sweetens up, Yo La Tengo be jamming" »

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Posted by Kimberly Chun at 10:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Kim Gordon brought much subtle insight when I spoke to her recently in conjunction with tonight’s performance at Montalvo Arts Center – more than we could fit into print. (For more, go to here.)

SFBG: How did you get involved with the “Phantom Orchard” project?

Kim Gordon: Well Zeena Parkins actually made the connection – and she and Ikue [Mori] asked me to join in and also Yoshimi. I’ve played with Ikue and Yoshimi before but never with Zeena, so I’m really looking forward to that.

Stormy weather: Kim Gordon and Ikue Mori at No Fun Fest 2004.

Continue reading "Kims-met: Sonic Youth's Kim Gordon talks about 'Phantom Orchard,' good TV, making art, NYC" »

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

Prickly, angular goodness: Shellac at ATP NY. All photos by Jessica Reeves.

By Todd Lavoie

Ah, the weekend was in need of a good easing-in period - nothing too strenuous, see, considering the epic scale of the Saturday night to come. So, on Sept. 20, we settled into our day by catching a couple of films at the Criterion Screening Room: Albert and David Maysles’ Gimme Shelter and David Markey’s 1991: The Year Punk Broke. The former - a chronicle of how it all went wrong at the infamous 1969 Rolling Stones concert at Altamont Speedway, was absolutely riveting - while the latter was a bit more hit-or-miss, thanks to a nerve-grating focus on Thurston Moore as the documentary’s free-styling, wisecracking prankster. Having thoroughly relished the considerably mellower, less chatty Moore of the night before, I couldn’t cotton to the younger, ever-vibrating version I was witnessing onscreen. Still, the Sonic Youth, Nirvana, and Dinosaur Jr. performances in the film made it all worthwhile.

Next it was rush, rush, rush to the main stage: Fuck Buttons were about to bring the noise! We arrived just in time, and the Bristol, England, duo had just finished sound-check. Focusing largely on their March-released slab of epic gorgeousness, Street Horrrsing (ATP), the set was flush with all of the touchstones of the Fuck Buttons sound: steady electro-drone, pulsating sheets-of-static majesty, and floor-thumping noise-house.

A glistening sheen seemed to have been applied to the entire proceedings, thanks to scatters of night sky-seeking synth sparkles. Dance, drone out, raise arms to the heavens - the choice was ours, and the crowd was evenly split between the three activities.

Go directly to jail: Les Savy Fav vocalist Tim Harrington in prisoner getup.

Continue reading "ATP NY Day Two: Les Savy Fav, Shellac, Fuck Buttons, Harmonia, Om, and - what? - more" »

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Posted by Kimberly Chun at 08:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Busta Rhymes busts a move in "Dangerous" - and at Projekt Revolution at Shoreline this week.

As summer fades into a hazy, chilly miasma of Blood Marys, Krautrock beats, and high gas prices, the time has come to make the rounds at those lingering shed shows, avant-punk readings, burbling throwdowns.

A.Skillz
Sunset Promotions showcases the UK hip-hop-breakbeat turntablist, surfacing at Mighty for his first show in SF in four years. With Murphstar, AnTenNae, and Motion Potion. Fri/8, 10 p.m., $10-$15. Mighty, 119 Utah, SF. www.sunsetpromotions.net

"I'm my own worst enemy": Linkin Park's "Given Up."

Projekt Revolution
A revolution in WTF! pairings begins here: Linkin Park, Chris Cornell, Bravery, Ashes Divide, Busta Rhymes, Hawthorne Heights, and Street Drum Corps. Hey maybe it's time to check those damn assumptions; you're breaking both your back - and mine. Sat/9, 2 p.m., $34-$77. Shoreline Amphitheatre, 1 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View. www.ticketmaster.com

Born free: Born Against back in the day.

Sam McPheeters
Take another, literary look at the local underground. The hardcore legend of Born Against fame reads from his new magazine, alongside Sarah Cathers of 16 Bitch Pileup (who will render love horoscopes from rock lyrics), Erika Anderson of Gowns (who will perform an exorcism), Tara Tavi of Amps for Christ (who will play traditional Chinese music and screen a documentary on the subject), and George Chen of KIT and Club Sandwich (who will do stand-up comedy). And yep, there's even more. Sun/10, 7 p.m., $6-$10, 21 Grand, 416 25th St., Oakl.

Balmorhea
Austin, Texas, ambient bohos dream in elegant, string- and banjo-shaded colors. With Lazarus and Tiny Vipers. Mon/11, 8:30 p.m., $12. Cafe du Nord, 2170 Market, SF. www.cafedunord.com

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Posted by Kimberly Chun at 04:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Heeb mag's Diamond Days - just what brings it to the Bay from Brooklyn? There's no denying that the lineup is doozy, including Audacity, Fences, Glitter Wizard, Thee Makeout Party, Tiny Vipers, Ellen Mary McGee, and Young Animals, as well as a slew of local talents. I traded e-mails with Heeb magazine publisher Josh Neuman and associate editor Amy Westervelt to find out more.

SFBG: How did Diamond Days originate?

Amy Westervelt: It started last year in Brooklyn as sort of a throw-back to music shows you and your friends might have put together in high school or college. One of Heeb's contributing editors, Jay Diamond, grew up in the ‘burbs of Chicago playing in bands and putting together shows and he wanted to recreate that fun, but focus it on really great local bands in Brooklyn. After the first fest, we really wanted to recreate it in different parts of the country.

Josh Neuman: The fest is partially named in honor of Jay, and partially an homage to a Vashti Bunyan song, which is everything a summer song should be.

SFBG: Why did it move from Brooklyn to Oakland this year?

Continue reading "Shining a light on the Diamond Days '08 music fest" »

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Posted by Kimberly Chun at 11:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Wondering what to do this week? Fleeing from visiting relatives - or simply want to lose them in the crowd? Listen closely...

THE JET AGE
Poppy rock powered by Who-like feistiness? Wed/2, 9:30 p.m., $6. Hemlock Tavern, 1131 Polk, SF. (415) 923-0923.

Sex Vid, anyone? Courtesy of Dusted.

SEX VID
Bristly, gristly hardcore for possessed vegans? Thurs/3, 9:30 p.m., $7. Hemlock Tavern, 1131 Polk, SF. (415) 923-0923.

Yes, you're Still Flyin'.

STILL FLYIN', COTILLION, AND CONSPIRACY OF VENUS
Indie rock party jams meet a Bright Eyes-Passionista supergroup meets Conspiracy of Beards' female counterpart devoted to Joni Mitchell and other ladies of the canyon? Thurs/3, 9 p.m., $10. Café du Nord, 2170 Market, SF. (415) 861-5016.

Continue reading "Sonic Reducer Overage: Stevie, Sex Vid, Flyin' 'n' you" »

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Posted by Kimberly Chun at 06:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Kicking up some dust at Pioneer Town. All photos by Jen Snyder.

By Jen Snyder

I feel like I’m airing a secret by writing this, but have you ever been to Pioneer Town? If you haven’t, I’d like to suggest that you think of a reason to go there. If possible, make it a reason full of rock ‘n' roll, music critics covered in dust and beer, and plenty of the locals. On June 7 and 8 in Pioneer Town, two hours east of Los Angeles and deep in the burning June desert, Manimal Vinyl held their first major event, Manimal Festival. The LA label showcased a string of bands including the resurfacing Ariel Pink and his Haunted Graffiti as well as some up-and-coming bands and projects.

Picture a basin dotted with Joshua Trees and red rock. Pioneer Town seems to just appear out of nowhere behind the rust-colored formations, looking more like an amusement park than a bar. There’s a pod of teepees, an entire fake town - complete with bowling alley - full of weathered mannequins, miniature ponies, and tons of bikers. The bar and the outside patio both have separate barbecues. There I saw someone with a Bloody Leroy, a Bloody Mary with a barbecued rib in it.

I don’t know why people aren’t flocking to Pioneer Town constantly. It was a kitsch dream, as you can imagine, stuffed with velvet paintings and chili-pepper lights and boasting the nicest legless bouncer you ever met. To top it all off, the music was incredible. Highlights include Mariee Sioux, We Are the World, and Aeriel Pink.

Continue reading "Manimal Fest makes us feel like animals" »

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Posted by Kimberly Chun at 09:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Singer through the wringer - and at Rickshaw Stop this week.

Bo Diddley's passing has bummed me out - leaving me in a drifting, low-level depression-style funk. But know what, B-Diddley wouldn't have wanted you to sit around and sulk. You got options - some very intriguing ones, in fact.

HELOISE AND THE SAVOIR FAIRE
Kylie added them to her top MySpace chums. The NY electro-rock sensations smash it up with Solid Gold references, trash, rats, and, oh yeah, microphones. Tues/10, call for time and price. Trannyshack at the Stud, 399 Ninth St., SF. (415) 252-7883.

JUDY MOWATT
The crucial member of Bob Marley's I-Three is born again but word has it that she retains that Jamaican fire, backed by the Yellow Wall Dub Squad. Wed/11, 9 p.m., $25. Slim's, 333 11th St., SF. (415) 522-0333.

SINGER
The pedigreed Chicago combo comes bearing a new LP on Drag City, Unhistories, and all sorts of challenging musical notions: what else would you expect from US Maple's Todd Rittmann and 90 Day Men's Robert Lowe? With Sic Alps and the Fresh and Onlys. Thurs/12, 8 p.m., $10. Rickshaw Stop, 155 Fell, SF. (415) 861-2011.

Continue reading "Sonic Reducer Overage: Judy Mowatt, Wolf Eyes, Styrofoam, and more" »

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Posted by Kimberly Chun at 11:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Heavy Mochipettin'.

Why not take on two more for the raucous road leading into Memorial Day weekend? Sunday will be hopping...

Mighty Underdogs at Bonneroo 2007.

LIVE ON THE LANE
Expect to get on up to get down when eight bands and artists converge on Maiden Lane for music, live art by Vulcan, food, and bevvies. Performers include the Mighty Underdogs collective with Gift of Gab (Blackalicious), Lateef the Truthspeaker (Latyrx), and Headnodic (Crown City Rockers) (7:30-8:15 p.m.), Bayonics (6:30-7:15 p.m.), Mophono (5:45-6:15 p.m.), Mochipet (8:25-9 p.m.), Ghosts on Tape (9:10-9:45 p.m.),
Maus Haus (5-5:30 p.m.), Ryan Greene (3:30-4 p.m.), and Egadz (4:20-4:40 p.m.). Proceeds benefit the music program at George Washington Carver Elementary in SF. Sun/25, 4-10 p.m., $12 basic entry; $35 all-you-can-eat-and-drink. Maiden Lane between Kearny and Grant, SF. going.com/liveonthelane

NOTHING PEOPLE AND THE PETS
Hypnotic drone-rockers Nothing People find something to celebrate at a free record-release party. Oakland outfit the Pets also tear it up in honor of their own punky release. Sun/25, 5-7 p.m., free. Lucky 13, 2140 Market, SF. (415) 487-1313.

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Posted by Kimberly Chun at 01:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

By Matt Sussman

Kosmiche godfathers Cluster have been back from the future for more than three decades now, with the core duo of Hans-Joachum Roedelius and Dieter Moebius having offered a rich and varied body of studio albums and collaborations - most notably with Brian Eno - as well as live documentation and solo outings. Through the analog mists and drum machine clicks of their ‘70s albums one can discern many of the splinter groups, such as ambient and synth-pop, which electronic music would break apart into in the ensuing decades.

I engaged in a quickie Q&A session with Roedelius over e-mail, prior to the duo taking the stage at New York’s annual noise jamboree No Fun Fest. (Ed: For more on Cluster, see Matt Sussman's "Cluster luck: Krautrock's darkest stars reappear in our firmament.")

SFBG: Since 2007, you and Moebius have been engaged in a second reunion of sorts, following a ten-year hiatus. Do you find it challenging to work together again, especially in a live setting, after such a long break?

Continue reading "Cluster klatch: Krautrock poobah Hans-Joachum Roedelius gives it up" »

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Posted by Kimberly Chun at 09:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Care to grab a slice of experimental rock/no-wave history? Flying Luttenbachers impressario, XBXRX player, and no wave authority Weasel Walter is putting his Conn C-Melody saxophone up on the eBay action block here. The Bay Area musician and fire-starter says he played the instrument on such recordings as the Flying Luttenbachers' Revenge and Gods of Chaos as well as To Live and Shave in L.A. 2's The 300 Dollar Silk Shirt.

Says WW: "I got this horn in 1988 and played it (terribly) on a lot of my high school 4-track recordings (the best of those were released on CD by Savage Land Records in 2006). After I moved to Chicago I got the beast fixed up and repadded and played it a lot more. This is a working instrument, and you can basically take it out of the box and play it. Basically bills must be paid and I really don't pursue playing saxophone at all anymore - let's leave it to the pros! - so I'm selling it off.

"To some elite weirdos i suppose it's a small piece of history. Let the bidding begin."

(You can also catch Weasel Walter at events for the book **No Wave,** alongside author Marc Masters. Those happen Sat/24, 2 p.m., free. Amoeba Music, 1855 Haight, SF. With Death Sentence: Panda and Ettrick. Sat/24, 9 p.m., pay what you can. 21 Grand, 416 25th St., Oakl. Sun/25, 5 p.m., $6. Artists’ Television Access, 992 Valencia, SF.)

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Posted by Kimberly Chun at 09:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

OK, yeah, I realize that after a 15 year absence or whatever, every one of chthonic "shoegaze" (ugh) legends My Bloody Valentine's fans are supposedly middle-aged Google coders now (or parking Daddy's Pagani Zonda C12S outside Popscene on Thursdays). But $47.50 plus "handling" for their hopefully triumphant and thalassically massive comeback appearance at the Concourse on September 30? What am I, Jarvis Cocker?

Rollin' and gazin'

Still, when I saw them in '89 (?) they ripped my world apart. And the ceiling of the club actually rained down plaster from their ampage. I'm gladly going to fund Kevin Shields's apparently still raging extasy habit. Fuck my dreams of front-row Cher in Vegas -- bring on the luxury Googe!

Obligatory vid of "Soon" by MBV here:

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Posted by Marke B. at 12:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

In this week's breathless Super Ego clubs column, I gush over the lazer bass sound coming out of Montreal-SF-LA and blowing my mind-woofers lately. Below are some of the sites and sounds -- but first, please enjoy this frikking hilarious mashup vid that makes me feel really weird

I LOVE LAZER BASS (BEAMZ System Remix) by Snalepa

Now, on with the shower ...

50 Cent, "I Get Money" (Lazer Sword remix) video remix by Lonnie Gallegos

Lunice x Lazer Sword, "Gucci Sweatshirt"

Continue reading "Lazer BASSics -- vids" »

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Posted by Marke B. at 01:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Indian Jewelry - fun people toting Free Gold. I talked to member Tex Kerschen about all manner of things the other week; the Houston, Texas, ensemble makes some noise tonight at the Hemlock Tavern.

SFBG: What are you up to right now?

Tex Kerschen: Free gold. Putting everything on the line. I'm just kididing - I'm being glib. Yeah, I guess in terms of what we’re literally about to do - we’re literally driving from the country to the city, moving things. We spent the past year in Houston, in a house, and when we’re really busy we hole up in the country.

SFBG: Got a lot of jewels to move?

TK: Bracelets and necklaces and baubles - a couple year's worth of stuff. Got bits and pieces of musical gear that I neglected to pick up before. We just have a diehard postivitist attitude.

Continue reading "Indian Jewelry babbles 'n' baubles" »

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Posted by Kimberly Chun at 06:18 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 (2)

Reflections on Enon. Photo by Emily Wilson.

So much to do and see, Lee. And Prince headlining Coachella on Saturday, April 26, doesn't make the schedule any easier. Check out all these worthy shows that were fit for print but simply didn't make the trim this week.

KING BROTHERS AND THE FLAKES
Kawaii-cute Japanese distorto-rockers meet Bay Area garage first-schoolers. With Shellshag and Bananas. Thurs/10, 8:30 p.m., $10. Bottom of the Hill, 1233 17th St., SF. (415) 621-4455.

HERCULES AND LOVE AFFAIR
"I cannot hold / a half a life / I cannot be / at half a wife." So goes "Time Will" off Hercules and Love Affair's new self-titled DFA/EMI album. Dulcet warbles care of Antony of Antony and the Johnsons meet cool synthetics with keys by Andrew Butler and drum programming by DFA's Tim Goldsworthy. Instant love affair, for sure. With Timo Maas and Honey Soundsystem. Fri/11, 10 p.m. doors, $15-$30. Mezzanine, 444 Jessie, SF. (415) 820-9669.

Continue reading "Sonic Reducer Overage: Mocheeba, Hercules and Love Affair, Enon, David Banner, and mo'" »

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

Holy Spazmosis!. Jumpy young rockers Anavan drove up from Salt Lake City to play the queer (and friends!) punk monthly Trans Am at Club Eight for a rapturous beer-spurtin' crowd last Saturday.

Anavan, "You're Taking Me Out"

The frantic foursome greeted us with mucho fog machine, trademark hockey helmets, drum, bass, and a wall of synths. And then everything got crazy in a voices-in-your-head way (mostly thanks to the skittering, hyperactive vocals mixed waaaay back in the echo-delay mix.)


Courtesy of the muthafuckin' LA Times

In the case of the hockey helmets, visual connections to those masked masters Daft Punk, MSTRKRFT, and occasionally (if primly painted-on facial scruff counts -- yes, I'm calling those skinny French boys out) Justice might be made. And sonically they can sometimes resemble those glam-tech outfits a teeny-tad, mostly in their boppy keyboard riffs. But Anavan adds its own cymbal-crashing, wildly energetic No-Wave twist, sure to please the art school crowd (Richard Hell is all the rage again, haven't you heard?) and dance floor maniacs as well as indie kids. I expect you'll hear them burning down discos near you soon.

(Next month a Trans Am, Sat May 3, features SF native cuties Ex-Boyfriends -- should be rocking'.)

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Posted by Marke B. at 05:47 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)

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)

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)

The Boredoms' Eye Yamantaka is ordinarily a man of few words, but the Japanese experimental music veteran let the flood gates fly open via my e-mail interview. No snores here - just expect to whet your appetite for the Boredoms' Tuesday, March 18, show at the Fillmore. Ex-Black Dice drummer and current Soft Circle impressario Hashim Kotaro Bharoocha provided the translation.

SFBG: The new album is amazing -- it sounds like positively symphonic! What was the idea, goal, or focus?

Eye Yamantaka: Recently I have been getting into symphonic progressive rock. I
want to buy music like that, but I don't know who's making it. I'm also a fan of progressive heavy metal from Scandinavia. On the album, I am taking a minimalist approach by manipulating sounds on the turntable (I am using church pipe organ music by Jon Gibson).

The sub-patterns from the church organ sounded like human voices to me, so we had that scored, and had an actual choir sing it. We weren't doing anything on Christmas Eve, so we decided to do a show that day, and the choir fit the night perfectly.

SFBG: I remember interviewing Eye and Yoshimi years ago in the late '80s in San Francisco. How would you say the band has evolved since then? What has your muse been telling you? Where have your
interests led you?

EY: The band went through significant changes on SPR and GO!!!!!! We started to take a minimalist approach from SPR, but after this album we took that approach to the extreme. I think that those records were a rebirth point for us. After those records, we got rid of the guitar and bass in the ensemble, and I started to DJ a lot more (I was DJing a lot more than performing with the band). We started to think in terms of performing as if we were a record player, rather than playing as a normal band.

Continue reading "Best Boredoms interview ever: Eye gives up the goods on eve of Fillmore show" »

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Posted by Kimberly Chun at 05:28 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)

Totally high on High on Fire. All photos by Kimberly Chun.

"Purple is the color of sexual frustration," quips one English SXSW conventioneer to two ladies asking about their wardrobe choice in the elevator. Not so over at Stubb's and Vice's metal showcase yesterday, March 13. I missed Napalm Death, damn it all, but made it to see High on Fire totally kick arse! Lordy, who knew Matt Pike and company had it in 'em? All assembled would have to confess: they totally blew away metal-punk grandpappies Motorhead. (OK, I only stayed for a portion of Motorhead's set but chances looked slim that they were going to kick up more dust.)

"This song goes out to all my friends who came here from Oakland!" Pike exclaimed before launching into a brute, pummeling rendition of "Speedwolf." Holy mother of fuck...

You can't envy Lemmy and his weathered road warriors, following that. But you can admire the devil horns getting thrown up front.

Continue reading "SXSW: High on Fire blows away Motorhead; cruising Ms. Bea's and Typewriter Museum" »

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

Curious about what some of the groups we feature in this week's Noise Pop cover story sound like? Anyone remember when reading about music meant that the quality of the writing alone had to convey individual sonic textures? Well, no more! Thank you, Internets! Behold!

Below are some introductory vids -- more info on these stellar performers (as well as a full fest schedule) is available at www.noisepop.com/2008

The Dodos, "Fools"

Holy Fuck, "Milkshake"

MSTRKRFT, "Street Justice"

Continue reading "Noise Pop video attack" »

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Posted by Marke B. at 02:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

By Vanessa K. Carr

There's club sandwich and then there's Club Sandwich: one is a chicken-bacon-mayo-double-decker, and the other is a Bay Area show promotion collective committed to hosting all ages shows for under-the-radar local and touring bands. Both layer elements that don't necessarily seem like they'd go together – but are notoriously tasty for that precise reason.

True to form, Club Sandwich shows cross traditional genre boundary lines (noise, punk, folk, etc.), bringing together different subcultures within the Bay Area's underground music scene that don't usually overlap.

Club Sandwich: Raccoo-oo-oon 21 Grand

In the spirit of similar DIY show promoters like Todd P in New York or the Upset the Rhythm collective in the UK, Club Sandwich organizes shows at a host of different venues, ranging from legitimate gallery spaces like ATA in San Francisco and Lobot in Oakland to warehouse spaces where people live – and even an Oakland swimming pool.

"Part of what we do is connect the warehouse and art spaces with touring acts who do not have these intrinsic connections," says Club Sandwich founding member (and Guardian contributor) George Chen.

Club Sandwich: Some Dark Holler at Totally Intense Fractal Mindgaze Hut Oakland

Continue reading "Club Sandwich bites into all-ages hunger" »

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Posted by Marke B. at 05:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Recently on display at 21 Grand: works by Kerri Lee Johnson (above) and Chela Fielding.

By Dina Maccabee

To be honest, I don't go to 21 Grand that often. I live in San Francisco, and 21 Grand is in Oakland. Plus, I have a tardy streak, and it's really better if you get to shows there in a timely manner, since once the music starts, it tends to have a sit-down-and-listen type of vibe - which is as it should be; performances there are unique enough to deserve an audience's full attention.

Still, it's important for me to know that 21 Grand endures, even if I only enjoy its spartan decor and mismatched chairs in my imagination. Considering recent Grammy hype, I take comfort in the idea that there are songs, pieces, and players that can't be assigned to any nomination category.

Sure, I haven't composed any graphic scores lately for coloratura and Tickle-Me Elmo. But the point is, if I wanted to, I could, and I could probably perform them at 21 Grand. Not to say that, in this case, egalitarianism begets mediocrity. The roll call truly influential underground luminaries and celebrated artists that have visited 21 Grand since it opened in 2000 is too long to list here. Some of my own favorites have included locals like Myra Melford, Ben Goldberg, Phillip Greenlief, ROVA Saxophone Quartet, and Fred Frith.

Continue reading "Show your love for 21 Grand" »

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

By Matt Sussman

Should bands just stick to their guns and stay broken up? Now that the seemingly impossible has happened and the formerly estranged members of My Bloody Valentine have caught the reunion fever - along with fellow British shut-ins Portishead, who follow on last year’s much ballyhooed reunion of Scottish depressives the Jesus and Mary Chain - what’s to stop other fantasy reformations from coming true? Every other week Pitchfork’s news feed seems to include word of some impending resurrection. Sure, Marr and Morrisey won’t take the stage together until hell freezes over, but honestly, concerts these days really seem like a buyer’s market where any number of groups whose flame was once considered snuffed - whether the Pixies or the Stooges or the Fire Engines - can be seen playing alongside younger bands who openly ape their sound and cite them as formative influences.

Don’t get me wrong. I appreciate wish fulfillment as much as the next music nerd. I thoroughly enjoyed watching the new cross-generational formation of ESG and shaking my ass to “The Beat” played live on a loud sound-system. But I know it’s a far, far cry from hearing the Skroggins sisters and cousin Tito funk up the Paradise Garage’s last party ever. And my friends who saw the Stooges - yeah, I really missed the boat there - couldn’t stop effusing over how much it fucking rocked, despite the fact that Iggy qualifies for the Grand Slam at Denny’s. (At least art punks Wire were being frank when they said that their live dips into their classic first two albums Pink Flag and Chairs Missing were convenient means to get back into proper physical shape. I wish the Spice Girls were as forthcoming since, clearly, this last reunion didn’t exactly turn into the sisterhood of the traveling Cavalli, girl-powered slumber party it was hyped as).

But all griping and throat-clearing aside, if I had the kind of dough that Coachella and All Tommorow’s Parties regularly wave under the noses of some their more resistant would-be reformed headliners, I would send an offer, pronto, to Mizutani Takahashi and his partners in crime in ‘70s underground legends Les Razilles Denudes, who ceased activity around 1996 (even though their first official CD wasn’t released until 1991).

Continue reading "Les Razilles Denudes laid bare" »

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Posted by Kimberly Chun at 01:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We're not quite done with artist Mike Kelley, profiled this week in Sonic Reducer. Easy-going, amiable, and eager to ramble at length on the phone from his base in LA, Kelley - a founding member of influential Ann Arbor, Mich., art-noise band Destroy All Monsters - will show his first feature, Day Is Done, Thursday, Jan. 31, at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.

SFBG: Day Is Done has been changed significantly since its installation at Gagosian Gallery?

Mike Kelley: Oh yes, it's been radically changed, completely chopped up and intercut. When it was installed, it was on multiple screens and computer-synched, and because the space was so large, we would have it run at two points simultaneously. Nevertheless you couldn't take it in as you would a normal film - it was spatialized and treated more as a sculpture, so you could sit and watch sections and follow it over to here and over to there. But it would be hard to follow it in a very linear way. And also you wouldn’t have this very purposeful crosscutting that you have in a single-channel version, where we take all the various scenes and treated them as if they were simultaneous action and played with that kind of filmic language.

Continue reading "Video Mutants: Mike Kelley on chopping, screwing, and playing with Superman" »

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Posted by Kimberly Chun at 12:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Which is the real Coachella?

By Erik Morse

Last Monday’s announcement from Mexico City of the lineup for the upcoming Coachella Festival in Indio had more than a few prospective ticket buyers flummoxed. Where were all the celebrity headliners Goldenvoice had so skillfully assembled in years past? Where were the electro hipsters and indie-rock stalwarts whose appearances had succeeded in making Coachella the American Glastonbury?

After all the behind-the-scenes campaigning and Internet rumor-mongering that promised everyone from the Smiths to Gang of Four to Aphex Twin to Leonard Cohen, the unveiling was an extraordinary exercise in bathos. Thank goodness for Portishead. The biggest omission was the newly reunited My Bloody Valentine, who performs for the first time in over 15 years beginning this summer in the UK. After the major coup that brought the Jesus and Mary Chain to Indio last year, hopes were high that a second miracle might find Kevin Shields and co. headlining over the likes of Jack Johnson or Roger Waters.

My, my: My Bloody Valentine.

Continue reading "Coachella lite: where are the Valentines?" »

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

Gotta love those Liars, the most interesting band to come out of the turn-of-the-century NY rock scene that begat the Strokes and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Not only do they continue to turn out stellar LPs like 2006's Drum's Not Dead (Mute), they are freakin' amazingly powerful live. Magnetic frontman Angus Andrew fielded a few e-mailed questions earlier this week - you can peer at him yourself when the band headlines at Slim's, Friday, Jan. 25.

SFBG: So what's new with Liars?

Angus Andrew: We've just finished a brief but much-needed break from touring. Being let back in the world after so long on the road can be shocking and exhilarating. What is Zoey 101? Who is Hannah Montana? What are they eating in Boston? I guess you could say we've been immersing ourselves in culture, but more specifically, it has enveloped us.

SFBG: The last time I talked to you, Angus, you were about to move to Berlin, i believe. What's happened in the interim?

AA: Yes, I moved to Berlin, and we recorded our last two albums there. It's a great city that's energized in some ways by its dark history and the need to prove itself otherwise. In Berlin, quite apart from Germany, there is no economy, but rather an overcompensation of humanity.

Continue reading "Liars, Liars, band on fire..." »

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

Everybody's talkin' 'bout Health - as well as Dan Deacon, who the LA noise combo plays with tonight, Jan. 17, at Great American Music Hall. It'll be an awesome show. I traded e-mails with the outfit this week, and here's what they graciously coughed up.

SFBG: How did your name come about?

John: We wanted a name like Television, an everyday word. Went down a list with the interweb. Health was left.

SFBG: What makes you play music?

John: Gets me AMPED, man. Unless you're a little kid, music is the only way you get someone to rage with you.

Jake: Is that a big question or a small question?

SFBG: What sort of "Health"-y things do you do?

John: Kombucha

Jake: Watch out for excess sodium.

Continue reading "Get Health! The LA noise combo gives up their secrets" »

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

'Fro sure: Richard Pinhas Trio.

The Society of Rockets member ushers in his favorites for 2007.

1) Hanging out on Jean Herve Peron's farm in Schiphorst, Germany, at his annual Avant-garde Festival, and hearing sounds differently afterward.

2) Being part of something that led to a 12-inch vinyl gatefold, the Society of Rockets' Our Paths Related (Underpop)

3) Reissues, good for oldsters and kids alike: from Bee Gees: The Studio Albums 1967-1968 (Rhino) to Cluster’s Sowiesoso (Water).

4) Two nights of the Richard Pinhas Trio live.

5) Ornette Coleman with his son on drums and three bassists at the Masonic Center, Oct. 28. Not the soaring, almost liturgical music of 2005's SFJAZZ performance, but a blistering of angry, almost punk evaluation on the state of the union.

Continue reading "Benjamin Tinker's top 10 musical experiences and releases" »

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Posted by Kimberly Chun at 03:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Vice Cooler of XBXRX, KIT, and Hawnay Troof comes with his other favorite gigs of 2007. For the rest, go to his list here.

- While I was performing in France an orgy broke out (which I did not partake in).

- I played on three boats.

- KIT had a great tour with Deerhoof in the United Kingdom. While in Wales we got to hear an enormous drunken man who resembles a tree trunk take a horrible jab at singing along with Satomi Matsuzaki. Afterward a kid came up and said it was the most inspiring show he had seen. I asked why, and he answered, "Well, I'm a drummer. Seeing you and Greg [Saunier] play was great because you guys are always missing the drums and hitting the rims and stuff. That's cool!"

Continue reading "Vice Cooler's other fave shows of '07" »

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Posted by Kimberly Chun at 03:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yellow Swans' Gabriel Mindel Saloman (left) and Pete Swanson.

By Gabriel Mindel Saloman

Here are five more musical selections for 2007. See www.sfbg.com for the rest.

FIVE MORE TOPPERS FOR 2007

1. Top way to take the money and run: the career of Andrew WK
After a few years of cult celebrity and corporate bucks, Andy has found some excellent ways to throw curveballs to those who think they have his number. In 2007 he did amazing production work for Sightings, joined Current 93, did a dance party-lecture tour, paraded with Karen Black, provided multiple online and print advice columns and features, and is now working with Lee Perry. What a life.

2. Top example of righteousness: Harry Belafonte
No doubt about it, the man threw down during his keynote speech at the Gathering for Justice in Oakland. It's rare these days to hear an artist speak with such clarity about the past and the present. Hearing him talk - thanks to Davey D’s great online resource - is like eating food after fasting for days. And his amazing records are still $1 at most thrift stores.

3. Top elephant in the room: punk rock economics
The new realities of MP3s, peak oil, and a looming recession ... well, you do the math. DIY shows have been $5 a head since the ’80s. That won't even pay for a meal anymore, much less a tank of gas on a trip to any big town north, south, or east of the city. Something's going to change, but what?

Continue reading "Yellow Swans' Gabriel Mindel Saloman picks his final five music faves of 2007" »

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Posted by Kimberly Chun at 04:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

There's been a rash of Warholia on the club scene of late: A number of art-party installations, an attack of Joe Dallesandro clone-looks among the gay, and, of course, big sunglasses and drugged-out looking stares everywhere. Thank goddess the whole screw-on fright wig thing has yet to take off, but I bet someone's tryin'! Could it be our continued spiral into decadence caused by political powerlessness? Maybe. Or maybe it's just another generation discovering the silver-clouded joys (although hopefully not the overdoses) that fueled the Factory.

Whatevs, it's a joy. And the funnest manifestation is Club Heat, a tribute to the giant influence -- and even gianter "personalities" -- that Warhol's superstar system effected on modern club life (and art, and politics, and means of production ... ). Heat's a new monthly at the Stud -- last month's was off the hook, and this Friday is electro-stud DJ Donimo's b-day, which will most likely be scandalous -- that combines all the arty with the party to bring back the golden early years of Clublandinalia. Plus -- this one's got an '80s/kind of post-Studio 54 theme going on, which is a little mixed up, timeline-wise, but hey -- post-postmodern!. Pour one out for poor Edie, darling.

PS. I WANT MY MONEY! JUST GIVE ME MY MONEY! (Sorry, you can't call something Heat without me quoting the movie!)

Oh, Little Joe

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Posted by Marke B. at 06:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Oh, you need another reason to go out tonight, Nov. 14? How about Pink Reason, who I missed at this year's SXSW but who royally tore schitte up, from what I heard. They play along with, for the first time ever in the Bay Area, Psychedelic Horseshit, at the Hemlock Tavern, on the bill with Goldies winners Wooden Shjips. Horseshit, I saw down in Austin, Texas, and they were superfun: cantankerous late '70s-styler NYC rock-punk with plenty of good stage patter -- me thinks at this point in the evening, Mr. PH announced, "This song is about Deerhunter and their samplers." Snark!

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Posted by Kimberly Chun at 05:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Mighty Reatard-ed. All photos by Michael Harkin.

By Michael Harkin

There had been murmurs all week among college radio music-director types that this year’s CMJ line-up wasn’t as cool as in years past, and this seems correct to a certain degree. For one thing, there should have been more hip-hop and electronic showcases than there were, even if only to break up the obvious indie-rock bent of the overall conference. That said, the showcases that did go down often felt pretty representative of the best in the various represented genres: this week saw Mariee Sioux, Erol Alkan, Mika Miko, Earthless, and the Dirtbombs pass through the city limits and give it a go amid the abundant crowds of music industry hawks.

It was a week of late nights, little sleep, and perhaps one Belgian fry too many, but there was a lot of music to be taken in each day from 1 p.m. onward, one had to arise by 11 a.m. if he/she wanted a chance at sighting the next big thing. Here are some highlights from the last three days of the NYC festival:

THURSDAY

Memphis's Jay Reatard is still pretty young, but he's already got a certain mythological status among garage-punk mavens: as a former member of the Lost Sounds and the Reatards, and now with his solo career, he's had a King Midas touch of tunefulness that's ramped up lately. The dude's on a roll in the studio, having cranked out the spotless Blood Visions LP last year, as well as some brilliant slabs of vinyl on the side, like the glorious "I Know a Place" single, whose B-side is a stunning acoustic cover of the Go-Betweens' "Don't Let Him Come Back." Tonight at a crowded Cake Shop, he greeted the crowd with "Hey douchebags!" and proceeded to play most of Blood Visions at triple speed, finishing his set in less than 20 minutes. Every song was introduced with the song title and a "LET'S GO" - superb punk from a fiery, poofy-haired, tough-looking group of dudes. Jay will be rolling through the Bay Area in November (12 Galaxies and the Stork Club), and he remarked in a conversation after the show that there are a series of singles coming next year, so look out for that!

Double Dagger take a stab.

Following Mr. Reatard, Double Dagger brought punk of a different flavor: a more sinister, Fugazi-like intensity characterized their set, as vocalist Nolen Strals hap'ly danced about the stage in his blue, black, and white
camo tee. They didn't face quite as thick a crowd as the preceding set did, but those that stayed paid witness to a spastic stomp-along series of howls and tight bass grooves. These guys channel the nerdy anger of Shellac and the slanted guitar riffs of Swell Maps in a convincing way, and form yet another piece of evidence that the Baltimore music scene is blooming.

Continue reading "CMJ 2007: Deerhunter, Japanther, Islands, Santogold, and more cake for all" »

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

Yep, it's that time of year again - time to break out the old headphones and plug into some experimento sounds at [:]PLUG3[:], San Francisco's third annual Global Headphone Festival. Expect the transmission of 48 live local performances, in conjunction with the tenth annual International Headphone Festival, Le Placard X, a self-organized, nonstop streaming, migrating "interaural" experiment.

Organizers advise you to BYOH or bring your own headphones to the event running Sat., Oct. 13, to Sun., Oct. 14, 1 p.m.-1 a.m. both days., at the Lab, 2948 16th St., SF. $5 sliding scale. (415) 864-8855.

Performers include:
100S OF DISMEMBERED HANDBAGS
666GANGSTAZ
ANTHONY MARIN
BEATLE
BEYTAH
BLUE VITRIOL
BLOODY SNOWMAN
CATSYNTH
CONRAD LEWBEL
CYPOD
DELETIST
DOUBLE VISION
DUD
FILTHMILK
FORMS OF THINGS UNKNOWN
GATHER THE BONES (trance viola drone)
HALCYON HIGH
HEADBOGGLE
HEARTWORM
HORAFLORA
JUSTINO
LANCE GRABMILLER
LES TROIS FEUILLES / 3 LEAFS
LNA
LX RUDIS
MAGNANIMOUS
MATT DAVIGNON
MNEMOTH (black noise)
MOISTURE
MY HELICAL ELK
NOMMO OGO
NO NO SPOT
OZMADAWN (sci-fi noise drone)
PAGAN/PRESLEY (electronic improvisation)
PATRICE SCANLON
PISTOLS WILL AIR
PU22L3
RASTER ROOBIT (strings & pedals)
RESPECTABLE CITIZEN
SAKANA
SLITHER SYNDICATE
SOUNDTRACK FOR A MOVIE ABOUT A DREAM ABOUT NOTHING
TROY BYKER (ambient/experimental)
TELEPATHIK FRIEND
TULLAN VELTE
WELDSCHMERTZ (dual cello drones by members of FILTHMILK + DELETIST)
WESTERN ADDITION
ZENTROPIA

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Posted by Kimberly Chun at 02:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We've been compiling a little archive of local movers and shakers' favorite super-gay videos, either in context, influence, or just plain awesome swishiness. (Check out Part 1 here.) It's an webxperiment! Many of the participants appeared in our Gayest. Music. Ever. cover story from last week.

This week, local queer rock impressario Bill Picture of monthly punkrock live-act throwdown Trans Am (happening this Saturday at Club Eight and featuring The Passionistas) chimes in with a few limp-wristed doozies. Check it!

Bill peeks slyly from behind his partner, DJ Dirty Knees

For me, "gay" is more than just a more-palatable alternative to "poo-stabber." I also use it to describe things that I think are totally hot, really silly shit, and stuff that's totally lame. Check out my favorite "totally gay" videos, and you'll see what I mean:

David Bowie featuring Klaus Nomi, "The Man Who Sold The World"
Then-fence-sitting David Bowie performing "The Man Who Sold the World" with tranny-from-another-planet Klaus Nomi and future-drag-cabaret-superstar Joey Arias singing background. This "gay" falls under the "totally hot" heading. I was seven years old and fascinated by these gender-fluid freaks...

Toilet Boys, "You Got It"
Tranny-fronted headbangers Toilet Boys' "You Got It." Again, "totally hot." The first time I saw the guitarist Sean, who happens to be straight, I thought, "God, I wish I was a guitar so Sean would rub his sweaty business against me every night."

After the jump: Debbie Harry meets the Muppets, and Madonna gets exxxed

Continue reading "Gayest. Videos. Ever. (Pt. 2)" »

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Posted by Marke B. at 11:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Pulling it together: Doug Martsch of Built to Spill at Treasure Island fest. All pics by Kimberly Chun.

By Steven Touchton

This past Sunday was the first time anyone had ever rented out West Oakland's DeFremery Pool in order to throw a late afternoon pool party featuring spazzy bands. Since it was a private rental, you could only attend by purchasing advance tickets from the Club Sandwich Bay Area Web site. It nearly sold out. The weather was perfect for the occasion.

My band KIT shared the bill with Los Angeles's Captain Ahab and Foot Village, as well as local band Cell Block. Cell Block, which includes people from Ex Pets and Coughs, got things going with their brand of aggro-distorto noisy hardcore. People were already pumped just to be at an event like this, and Cell Block's set just ramped up the excitement level that much more.

Foot Village are a vocals-and-percussion-only quartet who stole the show, in my opinion, with a sweat-drenched set of primal energy. Captain Ahab (winner of the Snakes on a Plane-song competition) closed it out, rave style. He brought along a fancy sound system and a dancer guy whose job is to “sexually harass” dudes in the crowd while singing along sans microphone. The dance-party covers included a Vocoder-soaked version of Avril Lavigne's "Sk8ter Boy.”

Earlimart wear their fall colors.

Most of those who attended left this party excited and energized, making plans for one of the post-show hangouts that ensued. But I had to load out my gear and take off right away, skipping the after-parties, in order to catch Built to Spill at the Treasure Island Music Festival.

Continue reading "Treasure Island fest - another view" »

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Posted by Kimberly Chun at 03:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This weekend's clubs and parties: It’s a classic case of B&T this Labor Day weekend. Not B&T as in bridge and tunnel -- although the fact that the BART’s open 24 hours while the Bay Bridge gets some fixin’ promises to flood the city with thankfully non-drunk driving revellers. (I myself plan to take advantage of this BART generosity by exploring some East Bay haunts I haven’t been able to visit in a while, like the White Horse Inn, the Ruby Room, and the Bench & Bar … look out Oaktown!)

Nope, it’s B&T as in bears and trannies, and a fab club called Trans Am (and more!). This week’s Super Ego column gave the lowdown on some of the events going on this week and next, here’s some more. Just for us.

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Look out!

Continue reading "Freakend Alert! Wild bears, trannies ...." »

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Posted by Marke B. at 02:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

By K. Tighe

The Lollapalooza Chicago skyline: don't stare at it too hardit might bite. Photo by Cambria Harkey.

Dear readers, I have failed you.

I've been attempting to experience the whole of Lollapalooza, which of course includes after-parties, and their obligatory next-morning results. However, while Lupe Fiasco and Amy Winehouse were playing on day 3, Aug. 5, I was stretched out on a yoga mat, trying not to hurl.

Lucky for you, I have spies everywhere. The little birds told me that Fiasco - Chicago's resident geek-rapper - delivered a stellar, irreverent performance that left his crowd wanting more. In contrast, the petite Ms. Winehouse fell short. During most of her set, she appeared to be consumed by boredom, and even the infectious strains of "Rehab" couldn't shake her out of it. A crowd hoping for a train wreck of some sort continued to watch, but Winehouse never turned it up. Hey, at least she showed up, right?

The punk rockers are old. The alt-rockers are old, too. Hell, even the electro-clash kids are showing some wear these days - though it's nothing a cowbell couldn't fix. Age be damned - the highest energy performance of the weekend belonged without question to Stooges frontperson Iggy Pop. With raggedy long hair sticking to his bare back, Iggy charged the stage like a sinewy beast and didn't pull back once during the set, prompting hoards of fans, young and old, to get Iggy with it.

Continue reading "Lollapalooza day 3: Pearl Jam censored by AT&T, Stooges, Yo La Tengo, and more" »

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

By Sean Manning

Ah, the end of summer. A time to wake back up to reality - be it the impending school semester, a new work opportunity, or simply the realization that you’ve been lying face down in a pile of your own dirty laundry for the past few months. It’s the year’s second wind, a time for renewal and our last chance to come out on top.

It’s also, as you may have noticed, as great time for stuff in general. From movies trying to land their way onto Roger Ebert’s goo-rag to a flurry of albums being unleashed on an unsuspecting public, our wallets never seem too deep. Here’s just a few things to salivate over in the coming weeks.

Liars, Liars (Aug. 28): Every guy I know loves the Liars, and each guy’s respective girlfriend seems to hate them. What’s the deal with that? These guys are heavy, though, and this new one proves that Drum’s Not Dead was no fluke. In addition to the face-melting stuff, you get a couple of nice melodic tracks, including the bouncy “Houseclouds,” which is everything Beck wishes The Information was.

Animal Collective, Strawberry Jam (TBA): This band came back on my radar in a big way earlier this year with Panda Bear’s terrific Person Pitch, so there’s plenty of expectation surrounding this release. While not quite as joyously blissful as that album (or even Feels), Strawberry Jam is an adventurous album that further expands Animal Collective’s range (wait til you hear “Unsolved Mysteries,” which sounds like it was pulled straight of Super Mario Sunshine).

Thurston Moore, Trees Outside the Academy (Sept. 18) Good old Thurston Moore is going unplugged on this one. Gasp! Does that mean he’s winding down, getting ready for his golden years John Denver style? No, it pretty much sounds like Sonic Youth, with some nice folkly flourishes. And a gem of a recording of Thurston at age 13, experimenting with a tape recorder, hitting random objects, and narrating for your listening pleasure.

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Posted by Kimberly Chun at 01:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

By K. Tighe

The power of Cat Power. All photos by K. Tighe.

To kick-off the Pitchfork festivities on Saturday, July 14, I decided to check in with some Bay Area denizens.

I'd been hearing excited murmurings about cheap subscriptions to Ready Made magazine, so I headed over to see how the Berkeley publication was faring in the Chicago heat. The corner booth was swarmed with people eager for a turn at custom-designing their own organic T-shirts. Mike Senese, the magazine's product and online manager, made the trip out from California to organize a crew of local volunteers. This was Ready Made's second year at Pitchfork, and Senese explained that they've decided to offer festival-goers the chance to get a year's subscription for only $5. It's a huge hit. According to Senese, the booth has been constantly busy between the T-shirt making and subscription-peddling -- he's barely had time to see any of the bands.

Ready Made's Mike Senese spreads the T-shirt-making word.

Next I checked in with Cory Brown, founder of Emeryville’s Absolutely Kosher Records. Brown and his two little nephews were busy doling out T-shirts and albums to ecstatic festival-goers, but he managed to find a few minutes to tell me that all of the AK bands -- across the board -- are selling really well. At the fest for a third year, the AK was now joined by hoards of other small imprints from coast to coast in the WLUW Record Fair tent.

Absolutely Kosher honcho Cory Brown chillin' with chillen.

Later I headed over to the FlatStock Poster Convention on the other side of the park to check in with Terrance Ryan, a.k.a., Lil Tuffy, San Francisco's premier rock poster artist. Tuffy told me he was doing well, selling many posters, and having fun. A quick look around at the other vendors -- who are all extraordinary -- solidifies in my mind that SF does it better: Lil Tuffy's prints were one of the highpoints of the convention for me.

Lil Tuffy peddles his posters.

Finally it's time to take in some music. I head over to the Aluminum Stage, where Grizzly Bear is about 10 minutes into their set. Having been underwhelmed by the band in the past, I wasn't really expecting much from their mid-afternoon slot. With a sweeping, ethereal momentum that seemed to sprout out of some deep flirtation with rock opera, the Brooklyn quartet positively thrived in the festival environment. The drummer seemed to be working on about 13 internal metronomes, anchoring a set list largely pulled from their 2006 album, Yellow House. A flourish of delicate melodies were layered over the driving rhythm, and the whole thing sounded like an experiment in wrangling chaos. The end result was so charged, I'm surprised the band didn't collapse after the final song. I suspect they at least had to go bury their feet in the earth of Union Park to ground themselves after such a stellar showing.

The sassy genre-spanning spastics Battles christened the cooling weather with an unabashedly raucous shit storm. Pulsing with hipster smugness, the New York prog-electro-funk-metal-kitchen-sink group pounded through an unsurprisingly mind-melting set to an audience that just couldn't get enough. Sewn into the fabric of Battles' success is their ability to produce sound that seems to shed irony. Indeed, the festival crowd was coated with a heavy gloss of the stuff, igniting a theme of "Fuck being cool -- let's just dance!" for the duration of the evening.

Continue reading "Pitchfork Music Festival Day 2: Life-changing moments with Yoko Ono, Cat Power, Dan Deacon, Battles, Girl Talk..." »

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Posted by Kimberly Chun at 02:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

By K. Tighe

The sweet Chicago sky. All photos by K. Tighe.

When the folks at Pitchfork decided to add an extra day to this year's festivities, I doubt anyone suspected this. As the lineup for the July 13 kick-off evening was announced, jaws across the blogosphere dropped. In collaboration with All Tomorrow's Parties/Don't Look Back, Pitchfork Music Festival was packed with ringers: Slint, GZA, and Sonic Youth all performing their most important albums in their entirety on the same soil, in Chicago's beautiful Union Park.

As I walked through the press gate of the festival an hour before the first band was set to begin, a lingering air of "Holy shit, are we really going to see this tonight?" hovered above the crowd. The lawn in front of the Connector Stage was full with people chomping at the bit to see Slint open the event. Across the park, the Sears Tower loomed large behind the Aluminum Stage, where crowds were already busy defending prime spots for later performances from GZA and Sonic Youth.

Knowing it would be awhile before any rock began to ensue, I decided to explore the community that had sprouted for the weekend.

'Nuff said.

It seems that the only presidential candidate with guts enough to rock the vote -- or should we say Barack the vote? -- was Illinois Senator Barack Obama. Sure, there might be a little hometown heroism explaining his booth, located directly across from a satellite Whole Foods Market doling out bento boxes to hungry, hungry hipsters. Volunteers were busy spreading the Obama love, signing people up to vote, and selling some kick-ass Obama '08 merchandise.

A conversation about Barack always makes me feel warm and fuzzy -- as does shopping for records, so I high-tailed it over to the WLUW Record Fair. A bit overwhelming, the record fair is one of the largest structures on the grounds. It's no Amoeba, but the fair does offer a pretty good selection of new and used vinyl, and a great way to kill time between sets. Adjacent to the vinyl-junkie fix, is the Department Clothing and Crafts fair. A bunch of Chicago crafters set up booths selling various handmade wares. Festival-goers were snatching up jewelry, iPod-holders, and obligatory mini-buttons. I noticed that someone had figured out how to make fruit bowls out of melted records, which left me pretty hot and bothered for a second.

Next, it was time to head over to the Connector Stage to hear Slint play their 1991 album **Spiderland** live. Slint seems like an unusual choice to kick off such a festival: the minimalist Louisville rock band packs a lot of punch, but it's the low-key kind. No danger of the Kool-Aid man bursting through a wall at any point during their set. In addition, the idea of hearing the highly influential **Spiderland** in stark daylight is a bit confusing. Most people in the crowd are probably accustomed to crouching in the fetal position in the corner of a dark room, breaking the pose only to flip the record. When singer-guitarist Brian McMahan took the stage in wraparound sunglasses, some preconceptions were shattered. When the band played the Great American Music Hall last year, they set a pretty high precedent for themselves.

Slint glints like crazy, opening the Pitchfork fest.

As they took the stage on July 13, people cheered like crazy, and the guy in front of me almost had a heart attack. The set was very casual, and the crowd went into hysterics during every break between songs. By the time McMahan began howling, "I miss you," at the end of “Good Morning Captain,” it became clear why **Spiderland** has remained a critic's darling for so many years -- a powerful, beautiful album that hasn't lost one iota of its luster. Today, it positively glimmered under the Chicago sun.

Continue reading "That's Pitchfork Music Festival you're soaking in!" »

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Posted by Kimberly Chun at 02:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Step right up for the git-pickin' pick o' the litter at the first annual San Francisco Picker’s Picnic on Friday, July 6, at Bottom of the Hill.

King City with child.

Joe Price with Vicki Price, King City, Craig Ventresco with Meredith Axelrod, Gaucho, and Pat Johnson will be your shred-meisters. Your host: Chewy Marzolo - player of heavy metal, bluegrass, cartoon swing Latin soundtrack, rag, burlesque, abso-futurist black/death metal, gypsy jazz, cabaret, country, and he says, "a few other types of not-very-popular-to-the-hipsters styles of music in San Francisco for...well...let me see here...um...a very long time."

Joe Price in action.

This time Marzolo bites into a first - the Picker's Picnic. Among the offerings are the Iowa Blues Hall of Fame inductee Joe Price; gypsy jazz combo Gaucho (with Ralph Carney); and Marzolo's own band, King City, who describe themselves as "a five-piece ragtime/tango/Latin/spaghetti western
instrumental San Francisco bonifiedly warranted excuse for a good time." By the way, King City's first official CD, The Last Siesta, comes out this summer on Spencer Muray's Antebellum label and the cover was painted by graf giant Twist, aka, Barry McGee.

It's all on July 6, 9 p.m., at Bottom of the Hill, 1233 17th St., SF. $10. For more info, go to www.myspace.com/pickerspicnic. Be there - or be home pickin' on your own.

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Posted by Kimberly Chun at 06:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If it's Wednesday, this must be SXSW... sorta. IMHO, the affair is off to a slow start though peeps at the last party I sloshed through were bemoaning missing the interactive part of the conference from March 10-14. Another theory floated around out there: The humongoid, pricey official SXSW dinner that all the industry titans attend is tonight and nothing must detract from the rubber chicken. Ahem.

But that's OK -- we'll start slow, too. All the better to catch the 1,300 or so artists and bands that are performing at this year's event. Efficiency geeks out there will be pleased to know that the speed of registration has greatly improved -- gone are the long langorous lines that snaked through the second floor of the Austin Convention Center in years past. You got to know your neighbors, but the joint feels a lot more together, organizationally, in 2006, and the mood is catching. Last heard in the press room from a local radio reporter: "Do you want to interact with me or just talk?" Glad there's a clear option.

At 1 pm, I was still bleary-eyed from the three-hour layover in Phoenix. It always seems like the SXSW air ferries will turn into party jets/soul planes any sec -- what with the many musicians, writers, industry-types aboard -- but the layover bit didn't improve anyone's mood. Nonetheless I dropped into the Riverboat Gamblers/Thrasher/Volcom Party but nada was going on -- just the faraway music of a distant jukebox. So I moved on down the street to IUMA's bash at Emo's Annex (it's like restaurant-going in SF; if everything's quiet or too crowded on one front, just stroll to the next joint). Tim Mitchell of the Decoration (and IUMA, where he works with Noise Pop founder Kevin Arnold) knows how to throw a party! Empenadas, drink ticks, and music by the Herms (singing brainy songs and rocking a noisome organ; they're ready for the release of their upcoming debut LP) and Phosphorescent (who were doing the zany, mile-long horn section thang as the singer sported strings of holiday lights). All lit up and it's not even 2 pm.

Note to self: Folks seem psyched about the Beastie Boys' press conference for their upcoming concert doc, Awesome: I Fuckin' Shot That! And yo yo yo, the Beasties are giving a press conference shortly. An antidote to the doodness might be Pick Up the Mix, the doc on gay, lesbian, and transgendered hip-hop featuring the Deep Dickollective.

Otherwise, tonight, my untrained eye is roving over and considering Houston hip-hop showcases including sole Oaklandish type Balance; the Birdman Records showcase; Kris Kristofferson and Jessi Colter at the Austin Music Awards; Lesbians on Ecstasy with the Metrosexuals; the Castenets with Wooden Wand; Octopus Project; Field Music with Serena Maneesh and Of Montreal; Jose Gonzalez with Annie, the Presets, and Wolfmother (the hype was turned on full blast for them, with lonnnng-ass infomercials on cable last night); Absolutely Kosher showcase; Cut Chemist with Jean Grae; Austin's Weird Weeds; Matador Showcase; Immortal Technique; King of France; the excellent Envelopes with the Ponys, the Grates, and standout non-"s" band Art Brut.

What does it all mean to you? I have no idea. But it sure sounds like I'll be busy.

Here, my deer: This comes with your chicken-fried steak
at the Broken Spoke honky-tonk in Austin.

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Posted by Kimberly Chun at 12:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)