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Sweden's best banger: Zhala is "Slippin' Around"

05.25.12 - 2:29 pm | Caitlin Donohue |
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See video

So I walked into this Swedish party with cotton snowdrifts and round, mosquito-netted white beds with some pink lipstick... it's a long story, but the scenario (the monthly Donna Scam party, it's a something) was partly the brainchild of Zhala, Sweden's reigning single-maker. The club promoter-singer's single, you ask? Read more »

Memorial Day in Rock Rapids, Iowa, circa 1940s to 1950s

05.25.12 - 2:18 pm |
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(Reprinted by popular demand)

When I was growing up in my hometown of Rock Rapids, Iowa, a farming community of 2,800 in the northwest corner of the state, Memorial Day was the official start of summer.

We headed off to YMCA camp at Camp Foster on West Okiboji Lake and Boy Scout camp at Lake Shetek in southwestern Minnesota. The less fortunate were trundled off to Bible School at the Methodist Church.

As I remember it, Memorial Day always seemed to be a glorious sunny day and full of action for Rock Rapids. The high school band in black and white uniform would march down Main Street under the baton of the local high school band teacher (in my day, Jim White.) A parade would feature floats carrying our town’s veterans of the First and Second World wars, young men I knew who suddenly were wearing their old uniforms. And there was for many years a veteran of the Spanish American War named Jess Callahan prominently displayed in a convertible. Lots of flags would be flying and the Rex Strait American Legion Post and Veterans of Foreign Wars would be out in force. We never really knew who Rex Strait was, except that he was said to be the first Rock Rapids boy to die in World War I and the post was named after him. Read more »

Snap Sounds: Buillon

05.25.12 - 1:30 pm | Taylor Kaplan |
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Buillon
Love Me Oh Please Love Me EP
(Deek)

Releasing singles and EPs as Bullion since 2008, laptop-whiz Nathan Jenkins has managed to avoid the generic, cut-and-paste aesthetic that's corralled so many of his colleagues into mediocrityville. He's always edited his samples with an old-school rock musician's touch, allowing the drums, synths, and guitars to breathe, instead of exposing them to heavy-handed whiplash. Read more »

$3,000 an hour -- is that fair?

05.25.12 - 12:57 pm | Tim Redmond |
(23)

Does anyone really think it's ok for the average CEO to make so much more money than the average worker that a person earning the median income in this country would have to work 244 years to earn what the median CEO earns in a year?Read more »

Live Shots: Spiritualized at the Fillmore

05.25.12 - 12:52 pm | Ryan Prendiville |
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Spiritualized at the Fillmore. Photo by Ryan Prendiville.
Spiritualized at the Fillmore. Photo by Ryan Prendiville.
Spiritualized at the Fillmore. Photo by Ryan Prendiville.
Spiritualized at the Fillmore. Photo by Ryan Prendiville.
Spiritualized at the Fillmore. Photo by Ryan Prendiville.
Spiritualized at the Fillmore. Photo by Ryan Prendiville.
Spiritualized at the Fillmore. Photo by Ryan Prendiville.
Spiritualized at the Fillmore. Photo by Ryan Prendiville.
Nikki Lane at the Fillmore. Photo by Ryan Prendiville.
Nikki Lane at the Fillmore. Photo by Ryan Prendiville.

The guy working security at the Fillmore Wednesday night gave all the photographers in the pit the fingers. Two. Letting them know that rather than the usual three songs, they’d only be allowed to stay there and shoot the first couple. Coming from some bands this sort of announcement would be enough to send the photogs into a hurried panic, but as Spiritualized set the pace with “Hey Jane,” the almost nine-minute rocker that opens latest album Sweet Heart Sweet Light, it was clear the show wouldn’t be so rushed. Read more »

The Performant: Street people

05.25.12 - 11:26 am | Nicole Gluckstern |
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Midnight Mystery Ride. Photo by Nicole Gluckstern.
Midnight Mystery Ride. Photo by Nicole Gluckstern.
Midnight Mystery Ride. Photo by Nicole Gluckstern.
Midnight Mystery Ride. Photo by Nicole Gluckstern.
Total eclipse shadow. Photo by Nicole Gluckstern.
Eclipse on the streets. Photo by Nicole Gluckstern.
Marshall Weber. Photo by Nicole Gluckstern.
Poetry wagon. Photo by Nicole Gluckstern.

Midnight Mystery Ride and Marshall Weber take it to the streets

It’s quarter to midnight, Saturday night in the Tenderloin, and out front a well-known, Geary Street watering hole, a cluster of cyclists is quietly gathering. It’s the May edition of the monthly Midnight Mystery Ride, and comers are mellow, enthusiastic. Lacking the Testosterone Brigade of Critical Mass, or the themed costumery of the San Francisco Bike Party, the distinguishing factor of the MMR is definitely the “mystery” aspect. The address of the meeting location is published the day of the ride only, no route maps or pre-planned itineraries are available, and the ride leaders and locations change each month, keeping everyone on their toes, or at least their pedals. Read more »

Chippy Nonstop gets "Kicked Out Da Club"

05.25.12 - 9:57 am | Emily Savage |
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See video

Oakland's resident twerk master Chippy Nonstop premiered her flashy new video for “Kicked Out Da Club” today. Directed by none other than Kreayshawn, the strobe lights and lasers-enhanced clip features teeny Chippy whipping a freaky long green-twirled braid and stage diving with local pals. Get ready, it's about to be stuck in your head.

The comeback kids: Indie-pop straight poppin'

05.24.12 - 3:38 pm | Julia B. Chan |
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The Bay Area has always been a warm breeding ground for bands and thus a vibrant music scene. Indie-pop is a rock subgenre that has thrived particularly well here. Back in the 1990s, indie-pop experienced a significant heyday in the Bay - a phenomenon that may be bubbling up once again. Read more »

Danzig on Doyle, his fans, Verotik, and that Metallica anniversary

05.24.12 - 2:43 pm | Sean McCourt |
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Glenn Danzig has spawned a cult following with his dark and brooding voice, and the sinisterly seductive imagery of his lyrics. From the early days – some 35 years back – as front person for horror punk icons the Misfits, to metal-infused Samhain, and finally to the eponymous Danzig, where he achieved a degree of mainstream success, he has taken macabre themes, blasted them with an obsessive sheen, and come up with some of the most hauntingly memorable songs this side of hell. Read more »

Vibrators! Aliens! Cops on the edge! New movies are here!

05.24.12 - 12:27 pm | Cheryl Eddy and Guardian Staff Writers |
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As we all breathlessly count the days — nay, milliseconds — until the June 1 release of Piranha 3DD, there's still plenty to gnaw on this Memorial Day weekend. Chernobyl Diaries screens tonight (i.e., the night before it opens) which is usually not a great sign, but it's likely critic-proof anyway (even for me, someone who's not entirely opposed to the idea of a new genre: nuclear-meltdown-sploitation! Sit down, 1979's China Syndrome. This one's got screaming teens and spooky spooks!) Er, anyway ... check back tomorrow for my review of that one.

Meanwhile, apply your brain and/or sense of social justice while watching Michael Glawogger's final entry in his "globalization trilogy," Whores' Glory (Dennis Harvey's review here), or adjust your popcorn levels accordingly for these other recommends:

Read more »

Hej, creativity! 4 bonkers Stockholm art projects

05.24.12 - 8:16 am | Caitlin Donohue |
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What creative forms would you expect at the near-ends of the earth? My recent trip to Stockholm, Sweden was weird in the way that travel usually is, more just-like-home moments than alien fears realized of winding up cold and frozen because I forget to transcribe the 17th letter in the name of the street I was staying on.

Honestly, I went for the close-to-the-North-Pole party (did you know you can swim just about anywhere in Stockholm? Sunrise after-afterparty dips abound), but surprise! I ran into artistic inspiration. That's really having your herring burger and eating it too. Here's four people and projects that really did it for me, Swedishly speaking.

Read more »

The Beat: Eclectic events spin heads, shake butts

05.24.12 - 3:35 am | Julia B. Chan |
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Having too many options can prove paralyzing, but sometimes it can be the reason you end up shaking that ass for days on end. This week, much like the wind, I found myself swirling in four different directions -- musically that is. Not able to focus on just one artist or event (and in a city like San Francisco, why should you have to?) I decided to map out all of my fancies this week. Here are four appealing acts traveling to and performing in The City this weekend -- suck on a Red Bull and see you at the show. Read more »

City weighs artificial turf fields in Golden Gate Park

05.23.12 - 3:26 pm | Steven T. Jones |
(76)

[[UPDATE 5/25: The project was approved]] The San Francisco Planning and Recreation & Park commissions will hold a special joint hearing tomorrow (Thurs/24) afternoon to consider approving the Beach Chalet Athletic Fields Renovation, a controversial city proposal to replace the natural grass fields on the west end of Golden Gate Park with artificial turf.Read more »

SF duo Tidelands returns with even more flugelhorn

05.23.12 - 2:16 pm | Shauna Keddy |
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We’ve Got a Map boasts the title of experimental folk band Tidelands’ upcoming sophomore album – and do they ever. You may remember seeing Tidelands’ stunning animated music video for their song “Holy Grail” last summer off debut album If....

Well Gabriel Montana Leis and Mie Araki are back this summer, with a relatively minimalistic follow-up to that orchestral introduction. And a show this week at Bottom of the Hill. Read more »

A few problems with Facebook

05.23.12 - 1:04 pm | Tim Redmond |
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I'm (clearly) not a stock market analyst or Wall Street Whiz (if I was that smart, how come I'm not rich?), but I have to say, some of the stuff that's coming out about the Facebook IPO makes this social media company that lives on its users' content and that's been portrayed as the company of the future look an awful lot like some rotten companies of the past. Sfist has an overview here.Read more »