The way to prep yourself for more rain -- go out a lot.
Mates of State The once-SF based Kori Gardner and Jason Hummel Re-Arrange themselves and land at two different SF spots in one fell swoop. With the Red Wine Boys and John Hodgman. Sun/31, 8 p.m., $25 advance. Mezzanine, 444 Jessie, SF. (415) 820-9669. Also Mon/1, 8 p.m., $20. Cafe du Nord, 2170 Market, S.F. (415) 861-5016.
By Kimberly Chun
The way to prep yourself for more rain -- go out a lot.
Mates of State The once-SF based Kori Gardner and Jason Hummel Re-Arrange themselves and land at two different SF spots in one fell swoop. With the Red Wine Boys and John Hodgman. Sun/31, 8 p.m., $25 advance. Mezzanine, 444 Jessie, SF. (415) 820-9669. Also Mon/1, 8 p.m., $20. Cafe du Nord, 2170 Market, S.F. (415) 861-5016.
Dusted: Bananas foster french toast at Boulevard Cafe. Photo by Kimberly Chun.
Maybe it’s just me, maybe it’s just the rain, or maybe it’s just breakfast, but French toast has been looking pretty damn good lately. Especially when you’re a wild bruncher like moi. Et vous? If you’re in agreement, get that sweet tooth tout suite to Toast Eatery in Noe Valley and Boulevard Cafe in Daly City.
SONIC REDUCER What do you get when you mix air and earth, combine boisterous and baroque exuberance and densely layered yet bouncily buoyant guitars, incorporate baby Scorpions with full-blown ELO?
Voila, you just ordered Citay, the city's musical mega-maximalists — now jumpier, rockin'-er, and more exhilarating than ever, judging from the sound of the new 'un from this fab fantasy confab of Bay Area music-makers, Dream Get Together (Dead Oceans), all united under the imagination of one man: songwriter and guitarist Ezra Feinberg.Read more »
SONIC REDUCER Riddle me this, Indie Rocker: what happens when life kicks the nice, cozy crutch of irony out from under you? Where do you go the morning after cynicism, after tearing it all down and finding the ground crumbling below? The joke may be on guess who. Read more »
Tired of stressing on the visiting family, appropriating food without asking during the holidays? Dig these words of wisdom from truth-teller Kool Keith -- on how to stay cool when it comes to the fridge food.
While you were dozing, longtime Bay maven, XBXRX frontman, and KIT drummer Vice Cooler has been busy evolving. This fall's Daggers at the Moon both cuts to the bone, taking a stab at a kind of ruthless "troof," and takes the music to more complicated places than before. This time out, the man was assisted by co-producer and mixer Greg Saunier of Deerhoof -- he also called in contributions from friends and artists like High Places' Mary Pearson, Grouper's Liz Harris, Erase Errata's Jenny Hoyston, Evangelista's Carla Bozulich, and the Melvins' David Scott Stone. Read more »
SONIC REDUCER Ah, if only one could give the gift of foresight, how many of us would just throw in the towel, ditch the bitching squeeze, and descend into a netherworld of never-again when faced with the prospect of a dubious New Year's Eve celebration? Oh, the effing pressure to perform, to live it up and to have a ball, especially when booting out a good-riddance-already year like '09.Read more »
Richard Youngs is a shaman of sorts -- of the neodruid variety. With Under Stellar Stream, his latest solo collection of compositions, the English artist compels listeners to stop and pay heed to the small moments, the cycles of life, and the minimal music of repetition. His voice also sounds like it’s gained new strength: it’s clarion-like on numbers like the beautifully spacious “Cluster to a Star.” I keep returning to the second track, augmented with sparse bass and slowly ascending and unfolding organ: “All day Monday and Tuesday, the fuel of day, the fuel of day. Read more »
SONIC REDUCER "I saw mommy fellating Santa Claus /Under balls so snowy white last night."
Rude and crude — yes. But outrageous and sacrilegious — and worth stumbling out of the Las Vegas Hilton as fast as your aged legs can take you? Maybe. Though Twisted Sister's Dee Snider gave us plenty of goofy warning that he was going there, giving us "the real story" — meaning his bawdy, rowdy rock 'n' roll story — behind the voyeuristic kicks of "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus," our last illusions were shattered, sorta, in the spirit of the gently taboo-busting song.Read more »
Espers sailed through the Independent not long ago, spreading their ecstatic breed of folk rock tither and fro. I spoke to Meg Baird before the date, while she was getting ready for a show in the band’s hometown of Philadelphia.
SFBG: How did you approach this new album, III (Drag City)? Were you working with any particular narrative or set of images?Read more »
