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Tip sheet
Shows to watch out for in July.
By Kimberly
Chun
July 2
Shesus Jesus,
Shesus has been around the block, but the female-dominated band
is nowhere near as calcified as the term "supergroup,"
despite the unholy rumors that the unit includes former members
of Guided by Voices, Brainiac, Lazy, O'Matic, the Method, and Robthebank.
The proof is provided by Loves You ... Loves You Not (Narnack),
on which vocalist Heather Newkirk goads the lone boy, drummer
Craig Nichols, on "The More You Laugh," Michelle Bodine
and now departed Kim Carter go on fragmented guitar jags, and bassist
Kari Murphy holds down the jittery rhythms. Kaito and Kaufax also
perform. 9 p.m., Bottom of the Hill, 1233 17th St., S.F. $8.
(415) 474-0365.
Sun Ra Arkestra
Sun Ra may have long ago blasted off to another galaxy, but his
longtime 15-piece ensemble continues to stretch the sounds of this
world, under the direction of 40-year Arkestra vet and alto sax
player Marshall Allen. 8 and 10 p.m., Yoshi's, 510 Embarcadero
West, Oakl. $10. (510) 238-9200.
July 4
Friends of Dean Martinez
Thank the Desert Rat Pack – the talk and turmoil are firmly
behind Friends of Dean Martinez. At one time, former Friend and
Calexico vocalist-guitarist Joey Burns was happy to gab about being
pitched from the band. Now it's just old schmooze. In any case,
the Bill Elm project is back after a three-year hiatus and
comes bearing a double LP, On the Shore – this time
on Narnack, sho enough. Jimbo Trout and the Fishpeople also perform.
9:30 p.m., Bottom of the Hill, 1233 17th St., S.F. $8-$10. (415)
474-0365.
Beehive and the Barracudas
and the Husbands What strange beasts Beehive and the Barracudas
are: part electro-skronk, part garage punk, part art oddity. Their
third album on Swami, In Dark Love, buzzes with bad attitude,
malevolent use of original vocalist-organist Traci Haze, and unhealthy
amounts of genre mixing. There oughta be a law – but there
isn't, so enjoy before the authorities take it away. Labelmates
the Husbands also celebrate a new release, Introducing. 10 p.m.,
Hemlock Tavern, 1131 Polk, S.F. $6. (415) 923-0923. (Also Husbands
perform with Harold Ray Live in Concert and Afflictions Aug. 1,
10 p.m., Parkside, 1600 17th St., S.F. Call for price. (415) 503-0393.
July 6
Heavenly States and
Low Flying Owls Power pop with fiddles? Somehow the Heavenly
States manage to pull it off on infectious tunes like "The
Story Of," off their new self-titled debut. And why should
you give a hoot about the Low Flying Owls? Well, if you're at all
interested in preventing acid rock from tripping off into the ether
for good, check the gravity-defying Sacto band. Nik Freitas and
AM Magic also play. 8 p.m., Cafe du Nord, 2170 Market, S.F. $8.
(415) 861-5016.
July 7
Ann Dyer Longtime
Bay Area jazz vocalist Ann Dyer gets downbeat, spare, and smoky
with her new album, When I Close My Eyes (Sunnyside), collaborating
with Peter Apfelbaum and Jim Campilongo, putting the words of Emily
Dickinson to music, and covering such disparate characters as Björk
("Bachelorette") and Dan Hicks ("I Scare Myself").
8 and 10 p.m., Yoshi's, 510 Embarcadero West, Oakl. $7. (510)
238-9200.
July 8
Brokeback Past
and present Chicago glitcheratti Douglas McCombs and Noel Kupersmith
of Brokeback flex their aural imaginations when they perform live,
creating what sometimes seems like the most guitar-loving nonguitar
music around – relying on their two basses and delay pedals.
On their third Thrill Jockey album, Looks at the Bird,
the pair look to other players of the same feather, gathering percussion
and organ sounds by McCombs's fellow Tortoise crawler John McEntire,
drums and coronet by Chicago Underground Duo's Chad Taylor and Rob
Mazurek, keyboards by all-around pinch hitter Jim O'Rourke, and
cooing vocals by Stereolab's late Mary Hansen and Laetitia Sadier
(who plays with McCombs in Monade). Lyrical racketmakers Califone
headline; the Eternals also play. 8 p.m., Slim's, 333 11th St.,
S.F. $11. (415) 522-0333.
Gotan Project
Paris's Gotan Project fiddle with various formulas – blending
the instrumentation of Argentine folk music and tango with house
and dub in a languorous fusion that's found its way onto dance floors
via 2000's favorite "Triptico," comps by Gilles
Peterson and Buddha Bar, and their U.S. debut, La revancha del
tango. "Santa Maria (Del Buen Ayre)" goes "Triptico"
one better with thrumming violins and accordions that threaten to
slide off the reverberating surfaces. 9 p.m., Bimbo's 365 Club,
1025 Columbus, S.F. $20. (415) 474-0365.
Mos Def Critics'
favorite hip-hop underdog is top dog nowadays when it comes to his
alternative career – Mos Def most recently showed up (and learned
to drive) in The Italian Job. Otherwise, amid an avalanche
of acclaim, including an Obie, a Theatre World Award, a BET acting
prize, and an Essence Award, Mos Def hasn't been making too many
moves to the studio – his last deft musical turn was on
Black Eyed Peas' new album, and his next is expected to appear on
the upcoming Massive Attack release. Here, he performs with Pharoahe
Monch, at a KMEL Summer Jam Session. 9 p.m., Ruby Skye, 420 Mason,
S.F. $39.50. (415) 593-0777.
July 9
Pepper Formed
in Hawaii and now hanging 10 in Cali, Pepper describe their sound
as Kona dub rock. But if that sounds too much like what you just
ordered down at the Daily Grind, think a poor man's Sublime. The
Expendables and Griswald also perform. 8 p.m., Slim's, 333 11th
St., S.F. $10-$12. (415) 522-0333.
July 10
Soul of John Black
Former Miles Davis protégé and ex-Fishbone multi-instrumentalist
John "JB" Bigham shows off the generous perimeters of
his musical soul, joining Christopher "CT" Thomas –
co-songwriter and sometime player for Betty Carter, Marianne Faithfull,
and Macy Gray – for the duo Soul of John Black. After
forming and disassembling and then getting together once more in
Everlast's touring band, the two skillfully evoke such godfathers
as Sly Stone, Al Green, and Curtis Mayfield on their self-titled
No Mayo debut, although to keep things from getting too oldie and
moldy, they also conjure more recent influences like the Neptunes'
Pharrell Williams ("Lost") and Lenny Kravitz ("Carolyn").
9 p.m., Cafe du Nord, 2170 Market St., S.F. $5. (415) 861-5016.
July 11
Aaron Nudelman and
the Moore Brothers Self-proclaimed acid casualty and responsible
party for Mensclub and Sunless Day, Aaron Nudelman tag-teams with
Amazing Grease labelmates and folk pop whizzes the Moore Brothers,
who give pretty music and Simon-and-Garfunkel-style duets a good
name again. Luminar also plays. 9:30 p.m., Cafe du Nord, 2170
Market, S.F. $7. (415) 861-5016.
DJ Zeph and DJ Solomon
(2x4) These turntable warriors have been around: Zeph is still
basking in the afterglow of last year's solo album, whereas Solomon
has held down a regular date for years with the Golden State Warriors
as their resident DJ. J-Boogie also performs. 10 p.m., Elbo Room,
647 Valencia, S.F. $7. (415) 552-7788.
Eels Seems Eels'
E, otherwise known as Mark Oliver Everett, has finally gotten over
his 1996 number-one alt-rock hit "Novocaine for the Soul."
The Aries son of Hugh Everett III (of Everett's Many Worlds Theory
of Parallel Universes fame), his fifth studio full-length, Shootenanny!,
sounds nothing like his biggest rock smash – it's an unpredictably
listenable and multitextured hoot of sorts, heavy on the more deeply
felt songcraft and lighter on the snappy yet forgettable yuks. MC
Honky also performs. 9 p.m., Fillmore, 1805 Geary, S.F. $20.
(415) 421-TIXS or (415) 346-6000.
July 11 and 12
Meshell Ndegéocello
Nearly a decade after she was tabbed as the Next Big Thing, the
former Michelle Johnson is still waiting for that big bang to happen.
Nonetheless, the exceptional multi-instrumentalist can depend on
her devoted following, which would adore her even if she spent the
rest of her career busking in BART. Ledisi also plays. 9 p.m.,
Great American Music Hall, 859 O'Farrell, S.F. $20-$22. (415) 885-0750.
July 12
The Weegs Hot
to record after catching many an ear at the Mission Creek Music
Festival, Bay Area band the Weegs make buoyant, abrasive rock with
weirdly bouncy keyboards, plenty of distorted guitar, and antsy
vocals. What's not to love? The Lovemakers also perform. 10 p.m.
Hemlock Tavern, 1131 Polk, S.F. $6. (415) 923-0923.
July 14
The Witches Something
this way witchy comes. Detroit's spooky four draw from the first
wave of '60s garage rock, never stinting on the reverb, Stonesy
rhythm guitar, and psych(o) drama. Of course, that's to be expected:
vocalist Troy Gregory has indulged his fixation on multiple-personality
maven Sybil with his last solo project, enlisting groups such as
the Dirtbombs, Slumber Party, and the Come Ons to back him and do
his bidding as he explored her many phases. Nowadays the Witches
include former members of Mice Termite, Blush, and the Sights. Electric
Six headline. 8 p.m., Great American Music Hall, 859 O'Farrell,
S.F. $11. (415) 885-0750.
July 15
Natural History
Upper East Side-bred and now Williamsburg, Brooklyn-based, Natural
History's double-brother team, guitarist-vocalist Max Tepper
and bassist Julian Tepper, come naturally steeped in city lore.
Is it any shock that the insouciant vocals and sinewy guitars on
their Star Time International debut album, Beat Beat Heartbeat,
are a dead ringer for the Strokes and dozens of other bands in the
naked city? Spoon and Rogue Wave also perform. 9 p.m., Fillmore,
1805 Geary, S.F. $16.50. (415) 421-TIXS or (415) 346-6000.
Ral Partha Vogelbacher
Ral Partha Vogelbacher brainiac Chadwick Bidwell proves he can
spin a mean – and bizarre – story, judging from his Megalon
album, Kite vs. Obelisk. You suspect he's the life of the
party, with his yarns of dachas and soused Russian bureaucrats,
illin' bobcats, and jai alai fans. His music also bears the marks
of a restless mind: it's all over the map, from bare-bones acoustic
guitar to bursts of dadaist noise. The Gunshy also play. 10 p.m.
Hemlock Tavern, 1131 Polk St., S.F. $6. (415) 923-0923
Matt Sharp "Undone
(The Sweater Song)" and "Friends of P" seem far away,
as former Weezer bassist and Rentals front nerd Matt Sharp returns,
playing melancholy, lovely folk pop off a lowdown and lonesome EP,
Puckett's Versus the Country Boy. Gaslighter Theater, 400 E.
Campbell Ave., Campbell. Call for times and price. (408) 866-1408.
July 16
Turbo AC's Born
of the same bad blood that sustains Sick of It All and H20 –
namely the identical NYC punk scene – Turbo AC's instead soup
up their thrash with surf guitar riffs and a gear-daddy sensibility.
Hence their current album, Automatic, has been given the
gas by Gearhead Records. Sixer and High School Hellcats also perform.
10 p.m., Parkside, 1600 17th St., S.F. Call for price. (415)
503-0393.
July 20
Rube Waddell The
kids are all right. One of the great unsung Bay Area combos, Rube
Waddell got their start in the timeworn ways of the classic rock:
Live at Leeds, their shows in front of the old Mission shoe store
(now a Sketchers), skirting the weird fringes of old-timey music,
newer-fangled jump blues, hepcat-revivalist oddball-jazz, and, they
swear, "Southeast Asian ditties." Now after debuting a
new song, "Yo Tengo Hambre," in Virginia the Tamale Lady's
birthday documentary, the trio blow their own horn – and kazoo,
harmonica, and tin whistles. The Japonize Elephants and Faun Fables
also play. 5 p.m., Bottom of the Hill, 1233 17th St., S.F. $7.
(415) 474-0365.
July 22
Clem Snide "Niceness
is strewn throughout." Uncommon praise for an artist who might
get slotted near Slayer in the rock/pop aisles. Still it rings true:
Brooklyn foursome Clem Snide purvey a suave, soft-spoken brand of
reverb-doused, lazy, loungey country pop on their latest full-length,
Soft Spot (spinART). Picture a loose-limbed, big old softie
Ryan Adams, equal parts Kurt Wagner and Josh Haden, and you begin
to get the good, not snide, vibes in singer-songwriter Eef Barzelay's
vocals and his tunes of summer, ice tea, and acts of spontaneous,
good-natured civil disobedience. The Long Winters also play, proffering
classic Bacharach-inspired pop, as evidenced by their second album,
When I Pretend to Fall (Barsuk). 8 p.m., Cafe du Nord,
2170 Market, S.F. $12. (415) 861-5016.
July 26
Jay-Z and 50 Cent
Uptown meets downtown at the Roc the Mic Tour. Jay-Z may irk with
his smooth, annoyingly materialistic ways – on full display
in the video for "Excuse Me Miss" with the multiuse, recycled
vocal line by Pharrell Williams – yet regardless of what you
think of 50 Cent's old-school gangsta image, Curtis Jackson is likely
to draw you in, along with BET (who busted out two awards for him
last week) and his Bay Guardian fan club, with crowd-pleasers
like "In Da Club." Busta Rhymes, Blackalicious, and Obie
Trice also perform. 4:30 p.m., Shoreline Amphitheatre, 1 Amphitheatre
Parkway, Mountain View. $30-$55. (650) 541-0800. .
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