It's 1998 and I'm on a trans-Pacific flight to Japan with my mom to visit my "Japanese grandma" Kiyo. I've just received my first mix tape from my super-cool older "sister" Leenie, with cuts on it that range from the Runaway Bride soundtrack to Sash!'s Encore Une Fois. And then there's one of the last tracks, "On and On" by Erykah Badu. I blast this tape on my walkman for almost the whole 17-hour flight and play it throughout the trip, from bullet train rides through lush fields of tea plants to visually overstimulating jaunts in the neon-saturated neighborhood of Shinjuku in Tokyo.

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SCENE OF ACTION

20 Minute Hourglass

(PopSmear)

San Francisco needs its own Stone Temple Pilots, no? One with a good dose of Killers sprightliness?

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By Ben Hopfer

If you haven't heard about Richie Cunning yet, take a peek at his new Ferris Bueller-inspired video.

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Alexis Penney

“Lonely Sea”

(demo)

“I'M A HARD-LIVING, YOUNG QUEEN WITH A BIG HEART AND A LOT TO SAY.”

I'm listening. Alexis Penney is part of Party Effects, which Marke B. wrote about recently. This solo track is like if a badass version of Erasure and Crystal Waters' “Gypsy Woman” had a love-hate child. But way better. Read more »

MOON DUO

Escape

(Woodsist)

I've been thinking about how Moon Duo's name sounds a little like Amon Düül. Maybe that's just tangential coincidence, but the SF twosome's songs allow for the kind of daydreaming that produces such thoughts.

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DJ Similak Chyld doesn’t mess with inspiration. When asked how she came up with the idea for Afro Chico Electro, her dance party that hits the floor at Triple Crown on Wed/10, she’s narrowed the concept down to a single visual. It’s a purple pencil drawing by graffitist Mode 2 that shows a swath of party people intertwined, their arms thrown in the air, eyes closed, smiles open. There’s a bald girl, a blonde girl, some b-boys, a cool guy in a hat- but they’re all dancing to the same beat. Quote the pint sized Similak, “the idea is basically merging all the genres that I love, to bridge the gap between different crews, djs, artists, etcetera. I figure it makes sense to me- why not throw a party that represents who I am at the core?”

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I hate to be objectifying, but journalistic integrity be damned- Orchid and Hound are damn good looking. The queer pop duo, comprised of satyr-esque John Constantine and the coyly shaggy Lawrence Alarcon, were also charming and beautifully turned out when I met them for drinks the other night- and, of course, they are brilliant onstage. Their upcoming show at The Blue Macaw (Thur/11) promises to look a lot like what would happen if High School Musical came out of the closet, hired a better stylist and started partying. So you’re going to have to excuse me if the following article starts to sound like Tiger Beat at times. I’m a little smitten, so shoot me.

This is what you will see at an Orchid and Hound show. Lawrence Alarcon will bang out lovely up and down tunes on his piano, while John Constantine provides jazzy vocals that ease over here to a sound reminiscent of Broadway, then smooth down there to recall a smoky lounge somewhere in Vegas. They’ve dubbed it “queer pop”- a highly listenable, intimate little cabaret. "We like to think of 'queer' as 'different,' like melodrama," says Constantine of their sound.

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