By Vanessa Carr

Jef Stott has been a producer and remixer on San Francisco's global electronica scene for over a decade. But this Saturday night (5/10) at Bollyhood in the Mission, Stott celebrates the release of his first full-length album – Saracen – on Six Degrees .

Stott fuses Arabic and Turkish rhythms with both electronic and acoustic beats and textures. What sets him apart from many of his world music peers is that – rather than merely sampling – Stott is a multi-instrumentalist who plays a wide range of instruments. On Saracen, he plays oud (Arabic lutes), saza and cumbus (Turkish lutes), the Persian santur, bass, and percussion. He also invites a number of guest musicians, including well-known Tunisian vocalist MC RAI.

Drawing early inspiration from art rockers lke Glenn Branca, Brian Eno, and Peter Gabriel, Stott got his musical start playing guitar in rock and metal bands is his hometown of Los Angeles in the 1980s. Stott went on to form the band Stellamara, whose blend of Middle Eastern and Balkan sounds and ambient rock awakened his interest in the devotional aspects of music beyond its entertainment value and led him to intensively study the oud under internationally known musicians Hamza El Din and Omar Faruk Tekbilek.

What is especially remarkable about Stott is his humility, reverence for his teachers and peers, and willingness to talk and think deeply about issues of cultural appropriation in world music.

SFBG: You have a background in heavy metal and art rock. When did you get interested in playing Middle Eastern music?

Jef Stott: [Playing in Stellamara] is when I made the big switch. That is when I picked up the oud, sold all my electric guitar equipment, and really got deeply interested in Arabic, Persian, and Turkish music. I almost abandoned everything I had done up to that point and started on a whole new path.

Continue reading "Electronic Arabic: Jef Stott gets worldly at Bollyhood" »

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

Posted by Marke B. at 01:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The storied Metro Bar in the Castro moved down the street to Church and Market a while ago (the old space became the suspiciously Metro-alike Lookout) -- and people worried for its future. Luckily, the minds behind the Metro are sharp enough to know they need a draw, and the new Metro has already become a premiere trash-drag venue (multiple Joan Crawford tribute nights aside.)

It's even managed to lure one of San Francisco's bloody, beloved drag traditions, The Cookie Dough Monster Show, run by Cookie Dough herself (with her cute DJ partner MC2), from its pleasant perch at Harvey's.

The biweekly Saturday night drag-stravaganza may be big on low-budget thrills, but its offal-covered heart is always in the right place. This Saturday, May 10, features the freakishly unexplainable House of Salad, whom I adore. These underaged children will grow up to be starz someday, I tell you -- starz.

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

Posted by Marke B. at 03:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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" »

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

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

Party with me, plus. All photos by Joshua Rotter.

By Joshua Rotter

Going out dancing can be a confidence-buster for peeps of all sizes. But the extreme shame imposed on plus-size women often outweighs their desire to hit da club. Full-figured party promoter Lady Tigress was no different. “I was never a clubber in my twenties because I didn't feel like I would be comfortable in a nightclub setting,” Tigress said. “I bought into what I saw on TV and thought everyone in bars or dance clubs looked like Beyonce or Britney.”

In a world where the Barbie doll reigns supreme, these notions are only reinforced by a media that has little love for big girls. Rarely on the covers of magazines, large women remain the laughing stock of hip-hop videos, the early eliminations on reality showmances, and stand-up fodder for late night television: think Jay Leno’s Jonah and the whale jokes about Lewinskygate. And Lady Tigress knows that clubland is no kinder.

“There are gorgeous plus-size women in all types of clubs all over the Bay,” Tigress said. “But even if they are confident, there is snickering that sometimes happens when a crew of big girls shows up at a mainstream club, or they are sometimes ignored because a lot of people don't want to admit that they are attracted to women who live outside of the super-skinny American beauty standard.”

After Tigress started going out to Bay Area BBW parties such as Big Boogie Nights, Sexy at Any Size, and Heavy Rotation in her thirties, she realized that if the event was fat-friendly, these women would come out and party. So Tigress was inspired to create an even larger night, a hip-hop party for plus-size women and their fans called Full Figure Friday, and decided to host her evening, unlike similar hotel-based events across the Bay, at the stylish San Francisco club Bambuddha Lounge.

Continue reading "Clubs: Bootyful action at Full Figure Friday" »

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

Posted by Kimberly Chun at 01:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Justin Juul caught up with DJ Primo , of Attic, Ferrari, West Add Radio, Knockout, and Mods vs. Rockers fame – and lived to tell the tale.

I met Primo a couple of years ago when we were both waiting tables at a small restaurant near The Castro. I resented the job because I knew that every hour I spent working meant an equal amount of time away from writing. As a result, I really sucked. I was always late and cranky and tired and I had a really hard time being nice to customers. Primo seemed to be going through the same stuff. He tried to act happy, but he couldn’t hide his fatigue or general loathing for the work, and it was obvious he’d rather be spinning records or sleeping. It was no surprise, then, that neither of us lasted more than three months.

I forgot about the dude for a while until I noticed him spinning records at The Attic on 24th and Mission one night. Then I started bumping into him everywhere I went. The last time it happened, we sat in the park for an hour and talked about obscure soul music, the mod scene, graffiti, and hard times. Check it out.

Primo: Whatcha reading there?

SFBG: Oh it’s the new Juxtapoz, I think I stole it from the gym last week. Pretty cool shit in here, sometimes.

Primo: Yeah, the dude who did the cover, Parra, I like his stuff. It’s like French Old School, graffiti-based stuff, taken from weird pop and mod art, with this strange New York influence. It kinda reminds me of this writer named REES. Just like hand drawn letters with this weird, like, metaphysical, “fuck-you,” Daffy Duckness to them.

Continue reading "Buggin' in the Attic with DJ Primo" »

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

Posted by Marke B. at 04:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

By Jamilah King

Bay Area DJ Kero One likes to say that he got his Seoul from Korea. Regardless of its origins, his talents as a producer, DJ, and MC are creating a big buzz in hip-hop. He's collaborated with Grand Puba, Aloe Blacc, and Ohmega Watts. His smooth sound takes hip-hop back to its roots while also moving it forward. Tonight, March 11, Kero One performs at 111 Minna Gallery; he also has a monthly at Madrone Lounge.

He sat down to talk about his music, and more.

SFBG: You're from the Bay. Where in the Bay did you grow up?

Kero One: I grew up in the Santa Clara area, and moved to the city about three years ago to get more serious about my music career.

SFBG: When did you fall in love with music?

KO: I remember being really little and staying up into the wee hours of the night to listen to the radio and stations like KMEL. My mom would come in and try to get me to go to bed, then I'd get right back up and turn the radio on and listen to stuff like Boogie Down Productions, and all the stuff that was big in the late '80s.

Continue reading "Clubs: producer-DJ-MC Kero One looks to the Bay and abroad" »

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

Posted by Kimberly Chun at 08:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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'" »

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

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

Ocean Drive divas. All photos by Robin Russell.

Contributing photog Robin Russell closes her WMC dispatches with a stop at Giant Step Presents Sunset Soiree at the Delano Hotel on March 29. Look for Turntables on the Hudson, out with Supreme Beings of Leisure at Mezzanine on April 18.

Nickodemus steals over to the wheels o' steel.

Turntables on the Hudson melded classic house textures and afrobeat rhythms.

The scene down south.

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

Posted by Kimberly Chun at 09:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Marcus Worgull got the crowd going. All photos by Robin Russell.

Winter Music Conference in Miami rolled onward as contributing photographer Robin Russell checked out the popular local party Aquabooty Music2 at Opium Garden on March 29. Innervsions artists like Ame, Dixon, Henrik Schwarz and Marcus Worgull appeared along with DJ Harvey and Miguel Migs.

Rich Medina spun Philly soul.

Mr. White and Marcus Worgull took the stage.

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

Posted by Kimberly Chun at 07:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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'.)

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

Posted by Marke B. at 05:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

King Britt and Victor Duplaix make the scene. All photos by Robin Russell.

Contributing photog Robin Russell made a stop at the fourth annual Art of Seduction party at the Victor Hotel on March 29 during Miami's Winter Music Conference. King Britt and Duplaix headed a bill that included DJ Rashida, Eleonora, Manchild Black, Taylor McFerrin, DJ Dozia, and Kayree.

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

Posted by Kimberly Chun at 10:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Groove Junkies got the junk out of the trunk at Terry Thompson and Friends Presents. All photos by Robin Russell.

Maimi's Winter Music Conference kept the beat going as contributing photographer Robin Russell stopped into both Push FM/R2 Records' soiree at Love Hate and the Terry Thompson and Friends Presents event at the Chelsea Hotel on Friday, March 28.

Push FM DJ Abicah Soul manned the decks at the bash hosted by the London online radio station.

The crowd at Push FM/R2 Records' night.

John "Julius" Knight made an appearance at Terry Thompson's Baltimore/DC house throwdown.

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

Posted by Kimberly Chun at 09:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Before he jetted off to be all jetset in Miami at the WMC, SF-native DJ Ruben Mancias jammed EndUp last Saturday night for the Devotion 7-Year Reunion party. Oh yes, I'm one o' them dancing hands-up fools in this clip:

Ruben and his partner Eric left to find fortune and fame in NYC a few years ago, taking their regular EndUp Sunday night party Devotion with them. It was great to have it (and them) back for one night only -- if only to get that ol' EndUp Saturday at 5 in the morning bangin' house feeling back (one day I'll write about all the crazy amazing -- cramazing! -- night people you encounter on the dancefloor at that time.)

Ruben -- who I've known since we used to run with legendary SF house maestro Aaron O (RIP, croissant goddess) back in the early '90s -- really turned it out, playing some of my favorite tracks, like Teddy Douglas's "Whatcha Gonna Do," and classics like the '88 Ralphi Rosario barnstormer above. The mood was electric-atmospheric with a bouncy bass undertow and more than a little nostalgia. The crowd was mixed and ready. Work.

PS -- Devotion may be ovah, and somewhat similar-tracked Fag Fridays long gone, but you can still get a taste of the above with DJ David Harness, another well-known Aaron O acolyte, when he returns from the WMC to play new goodies all night long at Super Soul Sundayz this coming Sunday, 4/6 10pm-4am at the EndUp. See you (sweaty) there.

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

Posted by Marke B. at 03:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Ruben Mancias, Wumni, and Jellybean Benitez meet in Miami. All photos by Robin Russell.

The Winter Music Conference's Jellybean Soul label party at Hotel Victor on Friday, March 28, was next on contributing photog Robin Russell's schedule in Miami. Here's what she caught.

Little Louie Vega and Mike "Agent X" Clark are all smiles.

London-born singer-dancer Wumni lent her vocals to Ruben Mancias's "Let It Rain (Ko Ma Ro)."

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

Posted by Kimberly Chun at 10:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Vikter Duplaix and Daz-I-Kue (Bugz in the Attic) get down at the Om party. All photos by Robin Russell.

Contributing photographer Robin Russell swung through Miami's Winter Music Conference, which ran from March 25-29, and sent these dispatches. First up: the fete thrown by SF-based Om Records at Y Ultralounge on Thursday, March 27.

Cobblestone Jazz settles in.

Things heat up at the Om party.

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

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

Amazing and vivacious electro-kitty Lady Tigra takes over Cafe Du Nord tonite. Look out! She's "always got her foot firmly planted up asses": (Watch those little spoons, kids)

Lady Tigra, "Bass on the Bottom"

I've been cel-chasing her all over town for an interview, following her lady tracks, but all I have to offer you is the video below and sweet memories of her purr on my voice mail. Here's the decades-old hit you may know her flirty chirp from (hello, Avenue D, Fannypak, etc!) From 1988, boy-eee:

L'Trimm, "The Cars That Go Boom"

"When lo and behold there appeared a mirage, he was hooking up his speakers in his daddy's garage." See you there.

LADY TIGRA
Fri/28, 8:30 p.m., $15
Cafe Du Nord
2170 Market, SF
(415) 861-5016
www.cafedunord.com, www.myspace.com/theladytigra <

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

Posted by Marke B. at 02:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

First off: How old does it make me feel that some kid at UPenn is writing his dissertation on the techno parties I threw in Detroit in the early '90s? *Ancient sigh*. Second off: the nine-year-old Detroit Electronic Music Festival, sometimes known as Movement for legal reasons but basically Mecca for tech-heads, has announced its initial lineup for May 24-26 (Memorial Day weekend). The big news is not that it's sponsored by Big Boy this year (eek!) but that fest originator and knob-twiddling god Carl Craig is returning to perform.

Carl Craig: BACK

Carl bought my video camera in 1994 so I'd have money for Amtrak to move to SF (sweetheart!) so blame him for my presence here. Also performing will be a number of other wicked-wonderful characters from back-in-tha-D days, like my spiritual twin brother Alton Miller, who will be a highlite of the more complex, jazzy house side of the fest.

Alton Miller: You should see him dance, really

Other NAMES on the pretty soulful hitlist: Speedy J, Buzz Goree, Terrance Parker, Girl Talk, Moby, Mike Grant, Alex Under, Konrad Black, and for some hip-hop new old-schoolness Cool Kids. More lineup and info here. I'll be there covering every backstage minute for SFBG. Put your hands up for Detroit.

(That's not me in the vid, it's my cuz. I'm in no way responsible for his dancing or this entire music video.)

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

Posted by Marke B. at 06:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Honey! All photos by Joshua Rotter.

By Joshua Rotter

It's a story as old as disco. Attractive "straight" Midwesterner moves to the big city to find himself, only to get blindsided by a barrage of drugs, sex, and tea dances. True, dancing became a major component of gay life in the post-Stonewall '70s, when the dance floor served as both a place of expression and escape for many gay men. It's this defining period in gay history that novelist Andrew Holleran highlighted in his 1978 novel, Dancer from the Dance.

Taking his title from poet William Butler Yeats's 50 year-old line, "How can we know the dancer from the dance?" Holleran attempted to examine this brain-twister in his chronicle of gays looking for companionship and understanding in pre-AIDS New York City and Fire Island, by focusing on the misadventures of his beautiful yet provincial protagonist Anthony Malone, who loses himself in the shuffle and shag club scene.

Thirty years later, the Honey Soundsystem collective - DJs Pee Play, KenVulsion, Robot Hustle, Jason Kendig, and Josh Cheon - took cues from this groundbreaking work for their most recent theme party.

Continue reading "Clubs: Honey Soundsystem looks to 'Dancer from the Dance'" »

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

Posted by Kimberly Chun at 10:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Gurl, I was brought to. The inimitable DJ Jeffrey Sfire from NYC (2 cute!)

blasted classic Bam Bam acid house track "Give It To Me" from 1988 at Sunday's Honey Soundsystem Dancer From the Dance party at 103 Harriet -- underneath 1015 Folsom, and the new party hotspot -- and the roof burnt down. Yes, I'm ancient/legendary enough to have been there when this was originally tearing up the floors (at London's Second Summer of Love, no less), but the kids went wild last weekend as well. Time for another acid revival? (DJs Derek B and Silence Fiction tried this a few years back with their Jack the Club night in 2005, and it was awesome, bring it back). No real vid, but song below:

Sfire, who also specializes in gritty Italo Disco and slinky rare Euro tracks, will be on local-hottie DJ Josh Cheon's West ADD Slave to the Rhythm show tonite 9pm-11pm, www.westaddradio.com and then live tonite at Booty Call, an actually pretty great party at Bar on Castro (I know, gag, but go! Juanita More hosts!)

PS Rumor has it Sfire will also be making many guest appearances throughout the weekend at select Portland underground venues ...

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

Posted by Marke B. at 12:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Winnetka? Why-not-ka? Apologies to lovely Del Tha's underground East Bay, but if there's gotta be a new epicenter of nouveau-Cali alternative hip-hop (cue the searing lazer bass and sympho-poetic glitches) then you could do no better than the Outer-LA hometown of mixmaster amazo Flying Lotus, who's currently stealing hearts and heartbeats on his WARP Records tour. And yeah, he's this cute:

If you're in the mood for some woozy bottom-blasting with a high-hat twinkle, Lotus will be numbing Dr. Scholl's at dread bass mecca night Surya Dub at Club Six this Saturday night, March 22. Lotus's own releases get us where DJ Shadow hurts, and his remix of Mia Doi Todd's 2006 soulful torcher "My Room Is White" has brightened our rhythmic footfalls to work for the past month. So yeah, come get zigzagged in a headtrip melancholy way this weekend ...

Flying Lotus, "Tea Leaf Dancers"

Flying Lotus
at Surya Dub
Sat/22, 10pm-4am, $10
Club Six
60 Sixth St, SF
www.suryadub.com
www.clubsix1.com

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

Posted by Marke B. at 04:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Polish me off, Chrome. All photos by Joshua Rotter.

By Joshua Rotter

Chrome makes me think of those metallic-plated bicycles that kids ride around on. It also reminds me of the same-name rock band that formed in San Francisco in the late '70s. Promoter Bill Picture (Trans Am) managed to meld both elements together at monthly rock night Chrome at the Gangway.

Showcasing DJ Dirty Knees (Trans Am, Charlie Horse) and special guest DJs including March’s Metal Patricia, this metal night gets gear heads banging with heavy favorites like Bad Company’s “Feel Like Makin’ Love” and Motley Crue’s “Too Fast for Love." It’s like a metal hall of fame with something old and something newer.

Headbanging purists might divide the genre into two phases: the early years with bands like Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, and Black Sabbath and the later, new wave of British metal (NWOBHM), led by tougher, harder acts like Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, and Motorhead. But I chronologize it differently: BRHCO and ARHCO, before Rob Halford Came Out and After Rob Halford Came Out, which finally brought the genre out of the closet.

Continue reading "Clubs: Chrome gets our headbanging rocks off" »

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

Posted by Kimberly Chun at 02:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

By Todd Lavoie

My ears might still be ringing, but it's totally worth it, I tell you: checked out English quadruple-lunged soul powerhouse Alice Russell's white-hot-and-beyond groove-a-thon last night, March 11, at Mojito, and it was the best decision I've made all month.

Girl could sing the ass clean off everybody in that room, honestly, and so that's exactly what she did - two explosive 45-minute sets and an encore later, she'd leveled that place. Best part of all? Russell pulled it all off with buckets of charm, quipping and chuckling and getting on with the crowd like a house on fire: no diva moments, no attitudinal posturing.

And while I didn't exactly take a poll afterwards, I've got a sneaking feeling most folks in attendance felt the same way I did: we'd witnessed something very, very special. If you didn't make it to either show (she also slammed the Mojito crowd this past Monday, March 10), you're free to kick yourselves, but don't get too carried away: there's a good chance Russell might be coming back again soon. Most likely, when she does, she'll be hitting Mojito once more, having played there a few times already and having clearly cultivated a love-love relationship between artist and venue.

Continue reading "Alice Russell has our ears ringing" »

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

Posted by Kimberly Chun at 02:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Scenesters go with the soul at Missouri Lounge. Photo by Joshua Rotter.

By Joshua Rotter

If it's a soul night - be it Memphis, Philly, or Northern - I'm the first on the floor, spinning, flipping, and back-dropping. Still, I’ve never fully understood why white people, myself included, so identify with the genre - and seeing The Commitments several times has done little to clarify this for me.

So like a modern-day Penelope Spheeris, I took an anthropological adventure - to what felt like 20,000 leagues under and across the Bay via BART - to Berkeley’s Missouri Lounge for Soul Knockout to gain a better understanding of this phenomenon.

About to hit its first anniversary, Soul Knockout is hosted by DJ Hot Grits, Sweats the Bed, and seasoned veteran E Da Boss (Slept On Records) at a renovated dive bar that has become a pit stop for hip white kids, while still remaining down-home.

Continue reading "Clubs: Got soul? Succumb to Soul Knockout" »

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

Posted by Kimberly Chun at 04:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

By Michael Harkin

The South American sound of cumbia has its very own hour-of-power in San Francisco: Tormenta Tropical, whose fourth incarnation rolled up to the Mezzanine last Saturday after prior appearances at Rickshaw Stop and the Dark Room at Club Six. Tormenta is a new monthly party thrown by Bersa Discos, an Oakland record label showcasing the experimental cumbia/electro/dancehall underground of Argentina.

Bersa especially digs into what's up around Buenos Aires, where the label's two founders, Disco Shawn and Oro 11 (say that 11 as "once"/OHN-say), moved separately from the Bay Area and met up amid the woolly, melodica-filled excitement to be had at club nights like Zizek.

It was, in fact, several regulars from Zizek that started off the night as Zizek Urban Beats Club, including sets by El Remolón, Frikstailers, and other fixtures from the Buenos Aires night that so inspired Bersa's founders as well as such hip jocks as DJ/Rupture and Diplo of Hollertronix and Mad Decent. The crew are touring to SXSW this week, also making appearances in New York and Chicago later this month.

Continue reading "Clubs: Cumbia/electro underground surfaces at Tormenta Tropical" »

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

Posted by Kimberly Chun at 02:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)

I've made no secret of my audiolust for Brooklyn grime-pop chanteuse (and former punk band Stiffed frontwoman) Santogold, but the new vid for her "LES Artistes," directed by Nima Nourizadeh, is blowing me away:

Santogold's heavily related to the stripper-loving Spank Rock scene, sharing some producers, remixers, track appearances, and party bills, although on a much higher intel tip (everyone kind of over "bitches and ho's" DJ Assault circa 2002 ripoffs say "He-eyyy!") -- and look for many, many tired comparisons to MIA to follow in the wake of the release of her self-titled album Santogold (Downtown), which drops on April 22, and her performance at Coachella this year -- because, you know, freaky women artists of color sure are similar. Still, her already-legendary bass-heavy ragga crawler club jam "Creator" has swept people onto the same global-hop dancehall dancefloors as Ms. MIA, and the more like that (and the above) the merrier, say I ...

And this quote from a recent NYT article on her is priceless: “You get these images of women in sexy clothes, walking around in, like, panties,” she said. “Even Beyoncé — that’s what it is to be a woman and make music. But now there are all these other women doing cool, interesting things, wearing styles they came up with, and it’s not about being naked.”

Santogold, "Creator" (live at Fader 51 party)

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

Posted by Marke B. at 10:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

NYC socialite Andrew Butler and warble-meister Antony Hegarty of Antony and the Johnsons have teamed up with slinky songstresses Nomi and Kim Ann Foxmann to create Hercules and Love Affair -- and have produced killer club tune "Blind" that's been rocking after-dark boxes from the Transfer to Pink lately.

Hercules and Love Affair

(Anyone who caught DJ Frankie Knuckles throwing down his own lush remix of the jam at the final Fag Fridays won't soon forget it -- or Frankie's entire tearjerking surprise set, either.) When we walked into A Different Light Bookstore in the Castro this weekend to snag a copy of super-faggotty Butt Magazine (featuring local fashion superstar duo Nice Collective showing their junk and the former drummer of local glamsters Mon Cousin Belge pounding the skins naked) and heard this loveliness pumping thru the speakers we knew it had arrived ....

Self-titled album "Hercules and Love Affair" dropped March 10 on EMI/DFA and we can't get enough of it ...

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

Posted by Marke B. at 10:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Too too much going on this Saturday March 8, kids, and these are just the above-ground parties! I don’t know how I’m gonna make ‘em all, but we just finished work on the next issue of Scene, our nightlife mag which drops next wednesday in the guardian (look for it!) and I'm ready to party my pumps off. Good thing I always carry an extra pair of bedazzled flats in my Safeway paper bag purse …

Leslie and the Lys, spaz-hop queens straight outta Iowa (via Boston) who recorded the immortal line “Wearing gold spandex pants/ I made a hip-hop album” will be rocking their goddam GEM SWEATERS at an early set (9pm) at the lezbo-rock heavenly Cockblock at Rickshaw Stop for only 10 stinkin’ bucks, which lets you stay the whole evening to hear the adorable DJ Nuxx and friends throw down.

Then it’s off to Kafana Balkan at 12 Galaxies (more info here), the city’s premier Romany dance party, with awesome, way-deeper-than-Balkan-Beatbox DJ Zejlko and friends. If it’s anything like the last one (with crazy pics we featured in the last Scene nightlife magazine) then we may not be able to tear ourselves away ….

Brass Menazerie at Kafana Balkan

to hit up one of the best-sounding parties at Mezzanine in, like, a week – Zizek featuring DJ/Rupture and Tormenta Tropical.

Continue reading "Clubs: Gem sweaters, buenos Zizeks, grimy Rupture, divas" »

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

Posted by Marke B. at 05:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Were you at Trannyshack this past Tuesday? Gurl, you missed it. Miss Juanita More put on a fierce and seamless 40 minute extravaganza of "Minnie the Moocher" Victrola soul-era tributes, complete with her signature "pass out spliffs to the crowd" move. It was all pretty breathless. And my pashmina reeked of weed!

A different context ("Edge of Aquarius" night at Trannyshack) but the same smoky gist

Anyway, what I really want to announce here is that it's time for another Trannyshack Reno. That's right, a 2-day, Easter weekend, 100+ drag queen blackout/road trip on a bus to see Trannyshack take over Reno, brough