Loads of Lenode

Playlist 01.23.07

2007-01-29T13:50:00.000-08:00

tuesday, january 23, 2007
3:00 a.m. – 6:00 a.m.

xela – wet bones
doldrums – prog epilogue
rickard javerling – wind play
belong – i’m too sleepy… shall we swim

clinic – family
animal collective – grass
our brother the native – apodiformes
jessamine – pilot-free ignition

tartit – ansari
brush – grey hound bus
the monks – complication
entrance – lost in the dark

black elk – who knew?
1349 – legion
bathory – blood fire death

16-17 – spit it out
dan deacon – big big big big big
fiery furnaces – i’m waiting to know you
swan lake – the partisan but he’s got to know

rahim alhaj – taqsim maqam sharqi rast
tinariwen – aldhechen manin
sierra leone’s refugee all stars – bull to the weak

thuja – track 1 (from ‘pine cone temples’)
ariel pink’s haunted graffiti – helen
chamellows – siggur

mile end ladies string auxiliary – sequences of a warm front

matt shoemaker - … (track 1 from ‘spots in the sun’)

Playlist 01.16.07

2007-01-29T13:48:00.000-08:00

tuesday, january 16, 2007
3:00 a.m. – 6:00 a.m.

bardo pond – adrop

emily hay and marcos fernandes – away from the doom
nels cline / wally shoup / chris corsano - minus mint

j.p. shilo – the sea has done a number on me
the timeout drawer – blue eyed and filled with horror
sonic youth – kim’s chords

entrance – pretty baby
drones – baby
lullabye arkestra - y’make me shake
the mall – adcantage out

the blow – fists up
the boy least likely to – be gentle with me
the spinto band – oh mandy
a hawk and a hacksaw – fernando’s giampari

yaseen mohamed - ni wewe
selda – mehmet emmi
gasper lawal - awon-ojise-oluwa

colleen – i’ll read you a story
torturium - an apocryphal luciferian code
nightbringer – the void
urfaust – der halbtoten dichters schein-existenz

sunn o))) & boris – akuma no kuma
jan jelinek – palmer aus leader
e.a.r. – the calm before

droneaement - wassermonf

Playlist 01.09.07

2007-01-10T13:54:00.000-08:00

tuesday, january 9, 2007
3:00 a.m. – 6:00 a.m.

sunn o))) & boris – etna

burnt by the sun – spinner dunn
mastodon – circle of cysquata
napalm death – turn the knife (slowly)

fucked up – crusades
lightning bolt – hello morning
16-17 – clap trap

weasel walter quartet – we have revolted
sweep the leg johnny – walking home on the emergency bed
honey ride me a goat – curried goat

ui – answers
crime in choir – complete upsmanship
tussle – second guessing

khan jamal creative arts ensemble – inner peace

amon tobin – searchers
faust & dalek – t-electronique
wu-tang clan – triumph
jrk – r.a.w.

japanther – i lo
the blow – the long list of girls
caribou – crayon
dosh – o mexico

robert fripp – red two scorer
our brother the native – track 3
spacemen 3 – set me free/i got the key

entrance – lost in the dark
the fall – big new prinz
pell mell – food clothing & shelter

sunn o))) – o))) bow 1

Playlist 01.02.07

2007-01-10T13:53:00.000-08:00

tuesday, january 2, 2007
3:00 a.m. – 6:00 a.m.

teeko – someone said listen
polyphonic the verbose – container life #473
daedelus – a sneaking suspicion
david behrman – leapday night (from four tet “dj kicks”)

hammers of misfortune – chastity rides
butthole surfers – something
thinking fellers union local 1282 – another clip

jasper tx – help me die
albert ayler – holy ghost

narita munehiro – sublimation

inade – movement & construction
heresi – bevingad och forledd med horn
nortt – glemt
tim hecker – blood rainbow

jessica rylan – untitled
yellow swans – untitled
boredoms – super are you
microwaves – codex vortex

asunder – famine

animal collective – pride & fight

damon & naomi – judah and the maccabees
karen dalton – same old man

Playlist 12.05.06

2006-12-05T07:13:00.000-08:00

tuesday, december 5, 2006
3:00 a.m. – 6:00 a.m.

forgot to write it down, but i played a track off of the ‘women take back the noise’ 3-disc set. it was off the first disc, think it was aedrian hughes. talked over other parts of the disc for the rest of the show. friday night at the 21 grand should be awesome!!!

grey daturas – path of niners
ludicra – veils
nachtmystium – chosen by no one

earth – harvey (remixed by justin broadrick)
geoff mullen – the air in pieces ii
current 93 – inerrant infallible (black ships at niveneh and edom)

karen dalton – are you leaving for the country
joanna newsom – sawdust & diamonds
sean smith – the augur of deviation

califone – a chinese actor
evangelicals – another day (and you’re still knocked out)
white magic – palm & wine

cat power – lived in bars
tom waits – you can never hold back spring
daniel higgs – are you of the body?

blow – pardon me
black moth super rainbow – spiracle
ratatat – wildcat
guilty simpson – clap your hands

michael liggins – standing on the corner
uptights band – devil’s on the run
clarence carter – snatching it back
chester randle’s soul senders – soul borhters testify pt. 1

wight walker brothers – god been good to me
ken boothe – is it because i’m black
noel ellis – memories
dub specialist - banana walk

melvins – the talking horse

Playlist 11.28.06

2006-12-02T13:49:00.000-08:00

tuesday, november 28, 2006
3:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m.

skullflower – track 7 from “tribulation”
james plotkin / tim wyskida – three from “8 improvisations”

tim hecker – chimeras
jesu - dead eyes
my bloody valentine – sometimes

ecstatic sunshine – tuscan
clark – night knuckles
colleen – what is a componium? - part 1
christina carter – words are not my own

tom waits – dog door
wolf eyes – stabbed in the face
dälek – forever close my eyes
roy montgomery – downtown to vesuvio

susan christie – echo in your mind
pretty things – bracelets of fingers
the kinks – big black smoke
the black keys – the flame
pavement – frontwards

annuals – brother
hush arbors – bones by the sea
pearls before swine – images of april
erik amlee – melting trees

califone – our kiten sees ghosts
orso - lf
harvey milk – brown water

hjarnidaudi – pain

You Don't Need to Be Stoned, But It Probably Wouldn't Hurt

2006-12-01T14:36:00.000-08:00

If you didn’t already know where you need to be this evening, you do now: Slim’s. Headlining the night is Om , aka Al Cisneros (vocals and bass) and Chris Hakius (drums), aka 2/3s of seminal stoner metal band Sleep. With a name like Om, there had better be something trance-inducing about the sound, and there is. Repeated, slowly evolving slowed down fuzzy bass, drums and chanted vocals give it a meditative quality. Not having seen them live before, I can’t speak too much about what it’ll be like in person (although you could find out about the sound by following the link I just gave you and scoping out a live recording that’s available for free download). I imagine that it’s going to be easy to lose oneself in the music.

You should remember another band in the lineup, Mammatus , that I have repeatedly told you to check out if you’re into stoner metal, heavy psych, and the like. More trance-inducing goodness.

Starting off the evening is an Australian band I’m super-pumped about checking out, Grey Daturas . It’s noise rock, but there’s definitely a solid foot in the rock category, albeit with a tendency towards metal, no-wave and sludge. These guys just put out a split with Wolf Eyes, after all. I’m excited about all the merch I’m not going to be able to resist purchasing.

Finally, somewhere in the lineup is a band I know jack about, Pearls and Brass . But they’re on the nigh impeccable Drag City label, so that’s good enough for me. And if it’s good enough for me, it better be good enough for you. After all, I can still dish out the melvins, if need be.

No Melvins for You, Loser

2006-11-30T14:57:00.000-08:00

Like the title says, I’m not even going to bother giving all of you melvins, because the Melvins show last night was so fucking good, it's sort of a like a melvin to your soul that you missed it. Two drummers for the whole set, tons of classic material… I’d like to say more, but I’m in a hurry to address your pressing need to know what’s happening tonight. It will suffice to say that your sorry ass missed an amazing show, definitely a highlight in a year of great shows. Sucker.

Thursday, November 30, 2006

My number one pick for tonight would have to be the Evangelicals’ wild and crazy psychedelic pop. These Oklahomans are touring in support their wonderful debut, So Gone. Fans of The Flaming Lips might want to check out the new Oklahoman psych-pop band on the block. I know I do. I tried a couple of times during SXSW this year, but was thwarted. I did see singer/guitarist Josh Jones play a little solo set, and it was good enough to warrant wanting to see him play with a full band. Step on up.

If that doesn’t sound like where you want to be tonight, you can see Dan The Automator (Deltron 3030, Gorillaz, Handsome Boy Modeling School, etc.) performing with a live band, Chali 2na (Jurassic 5) and Casual (Hieroglyphics). We all know Chali’s the #1 MC in J5. Now’s your chance to see him do his thing solo. The show’s $20, but if you’re not on the Mezzanine mailing list and you want to go for $10, I can send you a link that’ll cut the price in half.

Lots of good stuff this weekend, too. Om, Mammatus and Grey Daturas playing together, for god’s sake! Primus! Rjd2! Jana Hunter!

Melvins All Around!!!

2006-11-28T13:53:00.000-08:00

Tuesday, November 27, 2006

For the hip hoppers, check out The Coup and Mr. Lif at the Independent. That is, if you’re willing to shell out $22 to see two great hip hop acts that rarely command so high a cover.

Personally, I’d push towards a jaunt over the Bay Bridge to 21 Grand for something a little more experimental and a little more reasonably priced ($6). Henry Barnes has done the harsh noise thing during his time with Man is the Bastard and Bastard Noise (with noise-god John Wiese, no less). While I love his work with those projects, there’s something for everyone in his guise as Amps for Christ. Using mostly homemade stringed instruments and electronics, Amps for Christ’s output falls all over the place. From straight-ahead folk to experimental electronic weirdness to all places in between, the music’s good enough to warrant repeated playings on my show. And if that’s not enough for you, he also has done 3 or 4 versions of “Scotland the Brave.” That’s enough for me.

Wednesday, November 28, 2006

If you don’t know who the Melvins are by now, you’d better have a really good excuse. They’ve been around for twenty years. That’s long enough to be cited as a major influence by such notables and personal favorites as Nirvana and Boris (who take their name from a Melvins’ song). If weird, sludgy rock is your thing, this is where you should be on Wednesday. And it weird, sludgy rock isn’t your thing, you’ve got bigger problems than figuring out where to be tomorrow night, bud.

That’s all for now. Tomorrow (hopefully), I’ll tell you about Thursday, which brings us the Evangelicals, another Amps for Christ show (this time in the city) and a hip hop throwdown with Dan the Automator and Chali 2na. Don’t even get me started on the weekend… Although you probably won't be getting out too much with all the post-melvin pain you'll be enduring if you miss the Melvins.

Playlist 11.14.06

2006-11-14T22:08:00.000-08:00

tuesday, november 14. 2006
3:00 a.m. – 6:00 a.m.

inca ore – cape meares
jaga jazzist – another day
sterolab – interlock
the blow – pile of gold

subtle – middleclass kill
rjd2 – the proxy
guilty simpson – clap your hands
danger mouse – justify my thug

tussle – elephants
moussa doumbia – keleya
khan jamal creative arts ensemble – untitled (track 2 from ‘drumdance to the mother land’)

joe colley – obstacles
grails – back to the monastery
leviathan – crushing the prolapse oviducts of virtue
ludicra – veils

tim hecker – palimpset
richard youngs – life on a beam
william basinski – untitled (track 3 from disc 1 of ‘variations: a movement in chrome primitive’)
beach house – master of none

jack rose – lenee
bert jansch – high days
nick drake – which will
peter walker – jaleo para angela

white magic – hold your hand in the dark
antony & the johnsons – hope there’s someone
xiu xiu vs. grouper – in dreams

valley of ashes – cavehill hunters magickian & a clock of spoons
helena espvall – nimis & arx

blops - tarde

Playlist 11.07.06

2006-11-14T22:07:00.000-08:00

tuesday, november 7. 2006
3:00 a.m. – 6:00 a.m.

k.k. null – a-side from ‘zentropy’
gong – master builder
ooioo – uma
animal collective – baby day
king crimson – elephant talk

j.d. king & the coachmen – from across the sun
spacemen 3 – honey
califone – burned by the christians
james blackshaw – spiraling skeleton memorial
expo 70 – who left the door to the sun open

ion dissonance – she strychnine
ludicra – in fever
born/dead – endless war
propagandhi – apparently i’m a p.c. fascist (because i care about both human and non-human animals) / nailing descartes to the wall/(liquid) meat is still murder

alasehir – bone fire
dmbq – ohh! baby
black eyed snakes – bo didley

xiu xiu – jennifer lopez (the sweet science version)
grouper – second skin/zombie wind
dead c. – maggot

brian eno/john cale – grandfather’s house
dosh – um, circles & squares
cinematic orchestra – all that you give (dr. rockit mix)

m.e.d. – all i know
dizzee rascal – fix up look sharp
doctor feat. riko – come on

wolf eyes – rotten tropics
parts & labor – a great divide
die princess die – roar of 84

peter walker – celebration
jack rose – yaman blues

adam snider – swamp angel

Diamonds are Forever Brats

2006-11-07T14:22:00.000-08:00

Thursday, November 9, 2006
Anathallo, Page France, Tiny Lights & An Angle
Bottom of the Hill
$8 advance/$10 door

Disclosure: Three of my friends make up Tiny Lights, one of the bands on the bill. And I’ve never even heard the three of them play together. I have seen them each play on their own. Given the fact that they are all multi-instrumentalists and they were performing more experimental pieces when I saw them previously, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Upon inquiry into the nature of their sound at the end of a night where I was doing some drinking, the name Burt Bacharach was thrown out there, but I was warned that that might just be one man’s opinion. Multi-instrumental multi-disciplinary musicians doing Bacharach-esque music? Sounds like you should check it out.

After listening to some of the song’s on Anathallo’s “myspace page”, I’ve come to the conclusion that they play very pretty folkish indie with fairly complex arrangements and lots of instruments (the word “chamber” comes to mind). I certainly feel like I’m going to stick around, given that I read a couple of stellar reviews of their live show. Check out their “proper site” for more info, tunes, etc. Oh, and there’s Page France ( myspace / homepage ) doing more indie/folk/pop. If you want to learn about An Angle, you can check it out yourself because I’ve got other stuff to talk about.

Thursday, November 9, 2006
Islands, Subtitle & Blueprint
Great American Music Hall
$15

I’m not going to lie. When I saw Islands play at Slim’s before, I was somewhat disappointed. It may have been that the sound was (as it so often is at Slim’s) off. They do have a decent number of instruments in use throughout the show, not that that’s any sort of excuse for shitty sound. It may have also been the fact that the little bit I caught of the opener, Cadence Weapon, was great. Or the fact that, as usual, Why? put on a great set as the band in the second slot. Hmmm… Oh, yeah, maybe it’s the fact that Nick Diamonds is, well, just kind of an asshole.

Give a bunch of kids a bunch of bottles of water (whether or not you’re being nice) and you run the chance of having a kid give some of that water back to you, not in the bottle. Well, Mr. Diamonds was thoroughly upset when this happened. Obviously, his pedals are expensive and you don’t want them to get wet. Instead of opting to ask the crowd not to behave as such, he started whining and saying that they weren’t going to play anymore.

I, for one, loved the Unicorns record. Then they broke up and Diamonds and J'aime Tambeur went on to form Islands. And I thoroughly enjoyed the Islands’ take on indie-pop. Now, Tambeur’s gone. Guess he couldn’t take Diamonds anymore either. Why am I blogging about this show after my live experience? Because I’ve heard they can be great live. The sound will be better at the Great American. Oh, and did I mention that Diamonds smashed his acoustic guitar at the end of the show? When was the last time you saw that? It had been a while for me. And that was after he was whining about his pedal getting ruined. Was he being ironic? The world may never know, but the world will know that he is a brat. Brats can be entertaining though. Plus, LA's Subtitle will drop his monotonous, crazy flow after Blueprint does his thing. So there’s also two quality MCs (who will inevitably perform with Islands on at least one track) to figure into the equation.

Thursday, November 9, 2006
Kid Koala & Fog
Mezzanine
$12

Last on the list for Thursday: Some “hip hop” for those who aren’t into the folkier or brattier sides of indie. “Hip hop” because I can’t tell you what to expect from this lineup. Kid Koala has ridiculous turntablism skills. Unfortunately, he doesn’t always use them for good. One time I saw him and he was doing lame-ass mash-ups and a variety of other types of “audience-pandering.” Little did he realize that, even though he was playing to a club, everyone was there to see him scratch, damn it. Oh well. Here’s to hoping he scratches the hell out of those records for those in attendance. The man makes the turntable sound so damn funky and jazzy, they’ll lose it if he does it right. I certainly did. Twice. Also on the bill is Fog, who does experimental folk-hop. When I’ve seen this guy in the past, he goes all over the place in one set, so know Idea where it’ll go. But I see possible collaboration in the evening…

Monday Is Dubday

2006-11-06T15:34:00.000-08:00

More on the rest of the week soon (already started on it), but thought I should get this out here:

Monday, November 6, 2006
Lee “Scratch” Perry
The Independent
$25

I’m not even going to try and get into a biography
of this reggae and dub legend who has been putting out excellent and important records since the 1960s. It suffices to say that if you can go see him tonight, you should.

Playlist 11.03.06

2006-11-05T18:21:00.000-08:00

lenode subbing for jet
friday, november 3, 2006
6:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.

a silver mt. zion – 13 angels standing guard round the side of your bed
isis – weight (fennesz remix)
machinefabriek – bye bye bradford
battiato – plankton

masaki batoh – sham no umi
ecstatic sunshine – perrier
tortoise – blue station

blonde redhead – falling man
beach house – apple orchard
grouper – way their crept
xiu xiu – the fox & the rabbit
black helicopter – casio

genghis tron – asleep on the forest floor
monopoause – why are we the way
monotract – there are hard days
curse of the birthmark – alibis
yellow swans – police eternity

manitoba – crayon
madvillain – great day (four tet remix)
serge gainsbourg w/ michael colombier - psychastenie (miles drum edit)
khan jamal creative arts ensemble –untitled (track 2)

djibril diabate – enkonen sawa
jack rose – rappahanock river rag (for william moore)
califone – the eye you lost in the crusades
animal collective – grass

shogun kunitoki – daniel
jesu – dead eyes
(something i forgot to write down)

junior boys – in the morning
kode9 & the space ape – quantum
milanese – caramel cognac
darc mind – rhyme zone

cerberus shoal – the ghosts are greedy

Subbing Tomorrow

2006-11-02T12:20:00.000-08:00

i'm on the air from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. (PST) tomorrow, friday, november 3, 2006 subbing for jet.

doing it for my non-insomniac, non-meth-using, non-taxi-driving, early-to-bead-early-to-rise folks. oh, and for the kids. always doing it for the kids.

wake up to ambient, grindcore, hip hop, folk, free jazz, dubstep, post-rock or whatever i feel like listening to at 6:00 in the morning. maybe even some good ol' rock and roll.

90.3 kusf, san francisco
itunes -> radio -> public -> kusf
also on live 365 player (www.live365.com)

love,

lenode

Subbing Again

2006-10-31T13:31:00.000-08:00

Loads of Lenode will be on KUSF 90.3 San Francisco from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. this Friday, November 3, 2006. You know you want it. You crave it. No, you need it. Noise, hip hop, jazz, metal, indie, funk, electro, funk, techno, soul, ambient, punk... Who knows what we'll be listening to? Not me. But I'm sure it'll be just what you need to hear at 6:00 in the morning.

Too Cool for the Castro?

2006-10-31T13:27:00.000-08:00

There may be a hell of a lot of music this week up in NYC for the ol’ CMJ Music Marathon this week, but at least there’s plenty going on over on this coast to keep me from missing it too much. Plus, I’m still too bummed out about missing Arthur Nights when it was so close by…

While I believe I will simply be going to a party this Halloween (the first time I have not gone to a show in how many years?) it would be unacceptable of me not to advise you of what’s going on. Word on the streets is that the Castro gets lamer every year. Not that I would know. I usually go to a concert. Hmmm… All this talking about concerts is making my ass want to go to a concert. It’s only going to get worse:

Hmmm… Just discovered that the Halloween show at the 12 Galaxies, featuring Extra Action Marching Band is sold out. So much for one of my top picks for tonight. Lots of skin, punk marching band… Oh well…

I like what I said about The Flying Luttenbachers before, and I still (regrettably) have not seen them and have nothing new to report: “Let the Flying Luttenbachers’ “punk jazz/free death/no wave” do whatever that sort of music does to you (make you bang your head, dance around like a maniac, stand in the back pushing the earplugs in as far as they’ll go, etc.). What with the fact that Mick Barr of Orthrelm, Octis, et al. is playing guitar now, this should be a stellar pick. It’ll be sort of like angry free jazz with a shotgun.” They play at Club 6 with The Jampires, No Doctors and The Microwaves.

Don’t know if The Cramps show is sold out or not, but if you’re into psychobilly, I’m sure you already have your ticket anyway. Should be perfect for Halloween.

At the Hemlock it’s Blectum from Blechdom featuring Blevin Blectum and Kevin Blechdom bringing you crazy electro-craziness.

Finally, the last show I want to recommend this evening would be the Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy show at the Great American. First off, your evening starts off with Sir Richard Bishop of the Sun City Girls, a personal favorite of mine recently. It’s solo acoustic guitar stuff with a variety of different influences, (Spanish, Fahey, et al.). But let’s not forget that Sir Bishop makes some noise with the SCG, and he can certainly make some noise with just an acoustic guitar. But it can also be so delicate and beautiful. Lovely. And that’s just the appetizer. Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy is the main course, and damn, he’s delicious. Will Oldham (he of Palace, Palace Brothers, Superwolf, et al.) is a singer-songwriter of the highest degree. Collaborating with folks from Chavez, Tortoise and even Johnny Cash, most of his work is simple, beautiful and slightly dark. Emphasis on the beautiful. The show should be beautiful.

Playlist 10.31.06

2006-10-31T07:20:00.001-08:00

tuesday, october 31, 2006
3:00 a.m. – 6:00 a.m.

extra evil for halloween

cookie mongoloid – 666

the advantage – ghosts ‘n’ goblins
striborg – embittered darkness
alboth! – libeskind
mord – opus iii

volcano the bear – lifetime
leviathan – are lunartic
necrophagist – the stillborn one
goliath bird eater – falcon arrow

alvarius b – phantom green light
comus – the bite
marianne faithful – there is a ghost
grouper – second skin/zombie wind

six organs of admittance – river of transfiguration

wolf eyes – post civilization muzak 1
circle of dead children – only one per coffin
john wiese – arrythmia
darkthrone – en as i dype skogen

geoff mullen – untitled (track 2 from ‘the air in pieces’)
the dead c. – bitcher
tussle – ghost barber
jaga jazzist – i have a ghost, now what?

farmacia – golondrino
legendary pink dots - a japanese manual for a crooked wheel
coil – it’s in my blood
khanate – too close enough to touch
boris – b-side from ‘vein’

at the mic breaks: bobby beausoleil and the freedom orchestra – lucifer rising (recorded late 70’s at tracy state prison)

Playlist 10.24.06

2006-10-25T13:02:00.000-07:00

tuesday, october 24, 2006
3:00 a.m. – 6:00 a.m.

can’t – miracles of life/night showers
amps for christ – augmented/demented
rubber o cement – tracks 1 – 5 of the new album that i picked up at noise pancakes this week. i forgot to write down the name of the album before emailing myself my playlist this morning so i could post it today at work, and if i keep putting it off it’ll never get posted. perhaps i will remember for next time…

merzbow & john wiese – hypersomnia
carnival skin – iono

(do you know what it means to miss new orleans?)
boozoo chavis – dance all night
african music machine – black water gold
meters – stay away
rebirth brass band – new orleans music

ecstatic sunshine – tuscan
califone – pink & sour
bonnie ‘prince’ billy – the seedling
sir richard bishop – rudra’s feast

christina carter – moving intercepted
keith fullerton whitman – gravicembalo col piano e forte
emperor – thus spoke the night spirit
ludicra – in fear
(christina carter and emperor in the same set, fuck yeah)

circle – usaapui
ooioo – umo
radiohead – skttrbrain (four tet remix)
caribou – dundas, ontario (remix)
ratatat – wildcat

inca ore – spine milk
thurston moore – ono soul
black helicopter – talk out loud
5ive – reso-i

boris – a-side of ‘vein’ (the b-side, assuming boris hasn’t decided to start (a) singing in english and (b) dropping f-bombs, will be featured on 10.31.06)

Playlist 10.17.06

2006-10-25T13:01:00.000-07:00

tuesday, october 17. 2006
3:00 a.m. – 6:00 a.m.

< california noise box set series part 11 of 10 (a little bit more, anyone?) >
open city – dusty sweets, bit parts
< visit www.californianoise.com for more info >

lightning hopkins – trouble in mind
hank williams – rockin’ chair money
furry lewis – lay my burden down
muddy waters – train fare home blues

califone – spider’s house
calexico – ballad of cable hogue
six organs of admittance – the desert is a circle
sir richard bishop – space prophet dogon

tim hecker – chimeras
mogwai – kids will be skeletons
yellow swans – true union

mew – why are you looking grave?
archers of loaf – irony
sebadoh – god told me
the marked men – fix my brain

melt banana – snake song
boredoms – boredoms, vs., sdi
child abuse – age of reason
lightning bolt – birdy
boris – woman on the screen

evan parker – for peter bc reterk
nathan hubbard – die parting landscapes (holding on desperately to memories i’ll never keep)
roberta flack – compared to what
little sonny jones – do you really love me?

mouse on mars – duul
ratatat – lex
dabyre – piano
c-rayz walz – the essence
prince po – too much

ghq – track 3 from ‘heavy elements

Boris + Lenode 4 Evah

2006-10-19T18:18:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I just feel terrible about not blogging about a show. Today is one of those days. There were at least three great shows last night in the city that I should have spoken about: Matmos, The Black Angels (who you are all probably sick of reading about by now) and Boris. While I love Matmos and The Black Angels, Boris rocks my goddamn socks off. They do ambient drone. They do Motorhead-ish metal punk. They do dooooooom metal. They collaborate with Merzbow. They collaborate with Sunn O)))). They destroyed last Halloween when they opened for Sunn, so there was no way I was missing this show.

While I could have passed on Doomriders, who started off the night, I had to get there early so I could browse the merch booth unimpeded. I was relieved to see that they did in fact have copies of the new, super-limited vinyl, Vein, which is already sold out everywhere and fetching upwards of $50 on eBay. I listened to the A-side last night, and it (unsurprisingly) rules. Starts off heavy with a wall of guitar, then drops into drony ambience, then some of the brand of straight-ahead metal that was featured so prominently on Pink. Perhaps a more full review will follow, but, much to my dismay, I passed out on the couch a minute or two before the end of the first side, only to wake up with my back hurting at 5:00 a.m. I have got to get a turntable for my bedroom. If you want to hear Vein, I’ll be debuting it on my show this Tuesday (assuming Boris hasn’t decided to start swearing in English).

The show was (also unsurprisingly) awesome. After a solid opening set from local Sabbath loving doomers Acid King, Boris opened with a heavy, heavy version of “Blackout” from Pink and didn’t really slow down. They concentrated heavily on material from Pink, but scattered some gems from other albums throughout. My only complaint was that they played mostly the more straight-ahead punkish metal and gave us very little in the way of the ambient and slow doom that they do so well. But it was still a great set, and they even played some (new?) stuff that I would consider pop. Well, pop for Boris, at least. Many heads were banged, and a good time was had by all.

Sorry again. Perhaps I can make it up to you with some suggestions for the future. Well, first off, my advice is to head down to LA this weekend for the Arthur Nights festival. First off, you’d get to see Boris. But, folks, that isn’t all. Devendra Banhart, Grouper, Espers, Yellow Swans, The Hidden Hand, Howling Hex, Charalambides, Six Organs of Admittance, Noel Von Harmonson, Comets on Fire, Fiery Furnaces, and tons more are all in tow. Wish I were there. At least there’s about a million things to do in SF. Here are four for tonight:

Don’t know who The Decemberists are yet? You probably do and, if not, you should. Colin Meloy is a masterful storyteller and the band creates a near perfect soundtrack. I’m hard pressed to sum up their music as quickly as I need to, so check out a full song from Picaresque here or check out some samples from their new album here.

If you would rather see something without lyrics, might I suggest Crime in Choir , who are playing a record release show at 12 Galaxies. Intrumental prog from Kenny Hopper, Jesse Reiner, Jarrett Wrenn (also among the founders of At the Drive-In), Tim Soete (of the Fucking Champs), Matt Waters (of the Mass) and Seth Lorinczi (of the Quails and Circus Lupus). If you’re into Hella or the like, get out and see them. Things get even better with Upsilon Acrux dropping some heavy prog to start the show off and local dubby dance rockers Tussle as the meat in this prog sandwich.

If you’re feeling more like taking in some hip hop, I’d recommend hitting up Mezzanine for the Stones Throw 10th Anniversary. Stones Throw has been putting out quality hip hop for (you guessed it) The usual Stones Throw suspects will be there: Madlib and Peanut Butter Wolf. Also in tow will be old schooler J-Rocc on the decks and Percee P on the mic.

For Japanese fuzzy, drony psych, mosey on down to Bottom of the Hill for Suishou No Fune. Mammatus I’ve mentioned before. Twice.

I had really hoped to get to Friday, but you know how it goes. Busy, busy, busy. And now this is probably too late to do any good. But you never know.

Playlist 10.16.06

2006-10-17T12:14:00.000-07:00

monday, october 16. 2006
5:45 a.m. – 9:00 a.m.

that's right, lenode subbed for prem in his first non-graveyard shift (thanks to prem). complete with edge-of-your-seat drama, including but not limited to: (1) there is no graveyard dj this morning. so this is how i turn the transmitter on. (2) why do you keep calling me if you're not going to say anything? i can hear you eating something. onto the playlist:

hotogisu – track 5 from “chimaren dammerung”
amps for christ – scotland the brave

kayo dot – gemini becoming the tripod
jesu – dead eyes
dalek – ever somber

furry lewis – st. louis blues
califone – sunday noises
alastair galbraith – song to the third
stone breath – summer’s night

grails – black tar frequencies
ecstatic sunshine – perrier
blops – especialmente asi no mas
fuzztones – green slime
acid eater – free

cro-magnon – caledonia
parts & labor – stay afraid
curse of the birthmark – alibis
monotract – these are hard days

child abuse – grey lump
n0 things – gutter lover
test icicles – circle, square, triangle
black helicopter – casio

comets on fire – sour smoke
charalambides – dormant love

madvillain – great day (four tet remix)
busdriver – kill your employer (recreational paranoia is the sport of now)
the knife – we share our mother’s health
junior boys – in the morning

film school – p.s.
the books – there is no there
grizzly bear – marla
xiu xiu – vulture piano

colleen – i’ll read you a story
ketawang – puspa warna (from ‘gamelan of central java vol. 7’)
sean smith – die until tomorrow, sleep (from ‘berkeley guitar’)

boris – kuruimizu

More Loads for the People

2006-10-12T14:07:00.000-07:00

Next week, in addition to my normal 3 a.m. to 6 a.m. Tueday morning shift, I'm going to be subbing for Prem from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. on Monday morning. For those that are interested, it's a slightly more reasonable time to turn on, tune in and drop it like it's haute.

I'm Feelin' Lazy, You'd Better Not Be

2006-10-12T13:59:00.000-07:00

Not feeling like writing too much right now, so I’ll let you listen for yourselves.

The brutal noise rock of Portland’s Hospitals paired with the “avalanching, atonal piano runs against brutal machine gun blasts of heavy metal drumming in a shotgun wedding between Schönberg and Pantera” of Silentist ensure that the Eagle Tavern (398 12th St., SF) is the place to be tonight. Don’t forget your earplugs.

On Friday, my radio station is presenting a show at the Elbo Room with Hank IV , T.I.T.S. , Nate Denver's Neck , The Mantles , Shellshag , and KUSF’s Carolyn and WFMU’s Bryan Turner. Hoorah for myspace links!!! It’s a record release show for Hank IV and should be a rock-filled good time.

Also, Friday brings us Bobby Conn at the Hemlock.

Playlist 10.10.06

2006-10-10T14:49:00.000-07:00

tuesday, october 10. 2006
3:00 a.m. – 6:00 a.m.

< california noise box set series part 9 of 10 >
r.h.y. yau – point of separation
< visit www.californianoise.com for more info >

thee midniters – whittier blvd.
deadly snakes – i can’t sleep at night
howlin’ rain – roll on the rusted days
beachwood sparks – the sun surrounds me
brush – grey hound bus

noxagt – wall’s end
jonny x & the groadies – metal brain part one
deathspell omega - kénôse ii

black dice – night flight
hotogisu – track 3 from “chimaren dammerung”

adam snider - swamp angel
robbie basho – cathedral et fleus de lis
steffen basho-junghans – 2nd movement, part 3
john fahey – dalhart, texas, 1967

ovo – voodoo
ooioo – umo
moondog – bumbo
grupo naidy – una mananita

rubber o cement – urine cell humouse hybrid
parts & labor – repair
mr. dibbs – redout brick hemmorage 3.5/mental herpes
el-p – squeegee man shooting

t.i.t.s. – letters to the dead
hank iv – crime of the scene

alice coltrane – something about john coltrane

Playlist 10.03.06

2006-10-10T14:48:00.000-07:00

tuesday, october 3. 2006
3:00 a.m. – 6:00 a.m.

< california noise box set series part 8 of 10 >
gx jupiter larsen – alluring
< visit www.californianoise.com for more info >

matmos – steam & sequins for larry levan
sutekh – daylight (remix)
techno animal – robosapien
jesu – star

bonnie “prince” billy – big friday
castanets – a song is not the song of the world
xiu xiu – bishop, ca

buzzoven – useless
bathtub shitter – world dun hole
striborg – embittered darkness

thomas nola et son orchestre – opening waltz
cul de sac – turok. son of stone
jorrit – dijkestra & john hollenbeck – dub machine
porest – magic carpet of the holocaust revival
yellow swans – velocity of the yolk

pink mountaintops – cold criminals
man man – push the eagle’s stomach
theo angel –cannonball

r.d. burman w/ asha bashle & kishore kumore - aa dekhen jara (edit)
sly and the family stone – sing a simple song
dr. octagon – ants
ratatat – loud pipes

sightings – cuckoo
core of the coalman – closed circuit fist bloc
parts & labor – repair

didn’t write down the end of my set. all apologies. i do remember ending with sunn O))) doing "bathory erzsebet" though.

Lots of Oldies but Goodies

2006-10-09T13:40:00.000-07:00

Thanks to everyone who came out for my first live DJ gig last Thursday. It was going really well until I decided to play two Japanese ultra-heavy Japanese trios back-to-back. The all-girl punk group Kokeshi Doll rocked so damn hard, I should have known that the sound system would need a break. Unfortunately, I didn't give it one and went straight into one of my favorites, Boris, and "Furi" straight killed the amp. I only had about 15 minutes left to play, so it sucked more for Shmeejay, who was on after me and had to play with a crappy old amp until Chris, the DJ who organizes the night, could get back with an amp from his house. That's what I get for playing that heavy, evil shit. All in all, I had a great time and I hope everyone who came out did as well. Perhaps I will look into doing this sort of thing in the future. Who knows what the future will hold? Oh. I do. Here:

Did you get enough hardly strictly bluegrass this weekend? If not, The Knitters, who were one of my favorites from last year’s festival, are playing the Independent tonight. More famous as members of the seminal punk band X, Exene Cervenka, John Doe and D.J. Bonebrake, as well as Dave Alvin of the Blasters, play a bunch of quality country-informed rock and rock-informed country. These guys and girl were playing alt-country in the mid 80’s, so this is your chance to see a very influential band in action.

I’m not sure if they’re all sold-out yet or not, but I feel like I should mention that the original Irish punk band, The Pogues, are playing The Fillmore tonight through Thursday. Considering that tickets are $65, I don’t think I’ll be going unless somebody can get me on the list. Any takers?

If experimental folk and blues is your bag, then I would recommend checking out Califone when they play the Bottom of the Hill on Tuesday. I would totally be there if I didn’t have my radio show tonight. I’m afraid that I’ll be a little too tired to handle their beautiful late night sounds. They’re touring in support of a new album on Thrill Jockey which is garnering rave reviews in the indie press, as their albums always do.

I should probably also mention that grindcore pioneers Napalm Death are playing The Pound on Tuesday. I don’t even know who is in the band anymore. Does it even matter? Napalm. Mother. Fucking. Death.

Slight Change of Plans

2006-10-04T16:46:00.000-07:00

I was originaly supposed to do the 8:30 to 10:30 slot tomorrow night at Lucky 13, but was asked to do the 10:30 to 12:30 slot instead. Well, it works out better for the other DJ and for myself to switch, so if you want to come by while I'm spinning, I'll being doing so from 8:30 to 10:30. Now we can hang out after I'm done for a bit and all still make it to work the next day!!!

What Could Possibly Be More Important than Me?

2006-10-03T13:31:00.000-07:00

What can I say, I’m as busy as ever. Nothing like having the parents in town for a week to keep you busy as hell. Apologies for the lack of the post last week, but it was fairly light week anyway (except for the kick-ass Mastodon and Converge show I attended). Things are picking up again though.

Tuesday, October 3, 2006
Celtic Frost and Sunn O)))
The Fillmore
$29.50

Celtic Frost has been one of the bigger names of metal over the past 20+ years. The Swiss group’s music has traveled through various metal subgenres, with death, symphonic, thrash, power, black and more types of metal all making various appearances. Their importance on the metal scene is obvious. If you like metal at all, you would do well to check them out. There’s an extra special bonus if you do: Sunn O)))) I saw these guys play last Halloween with Boris (who are also playing the Bay soon, more on that as it approaches), and it was unquestionably one of the best shows of the year. The fact that it was on Halloween was the icing on the cake. Down-tuned, ultra heavy, ultra dark, ultra slow doom is on the menu. The bass will turn your soul black. This show is worth it for seeing the reaction of hardcore Celtic Frost fans try to headbang to insanely slow experimental metal.

Tuesday, October 3, 2006
Man Man and Pink Mountaintops
Independent
$12

Here’s a quick review I wrote of Pink Mountaintops’ latest:

PINK MOUNTAINTOPS
Axis of Evol
(Jagjaguwar)
star rating: 4 stars (out of 5)

After delivering one of 2005’s greatest rock albums with Black Mountain, Stephen McBean returns in 2006 with his second stoner-psych rock album as Pink Mountaintops, Axis of Evol. Moving from fucking mountains and an ode to the 69 to searching for salvation and a conversation with Jesus, the subject matter is weightier. The Perfect Prescription-era Spacemen 3 and Psycho Candy-era Jesus and Mary Chain dominate the sound, along with the occasional drum machine. From epic trance inducing psychedelia
(“Slaves”) to dirty stoner funk (“Lord let Us Shine”) to minimalist psych-folk (“Comas”), Axis runs the gamut. Trying to sum up Axis this quickly is like trying to pour a handle into a shot glass. There’s plenty here to keep you coming back, so drink up.

They’re just a great fucking rock band, and they’re great live, whether at Bottom of the Hill, a block party in Austin during SXSW or, presumably, The Independent. The fact that Beefheart-ish rockers Man Man are playing as well, well that’s just goddamn dope. I’m running out of time (and I’ve got some other important news below) and they are difficult to pigeon-hole, so I’ll just say that I’ve never heard anything but stellar reviews of them live. According to a few people I know, they blew the Fiery Furnaces out of the water at the recent Fillmore show.

Thursday, October 5, 2006
KUSF DJ Night featuring Lenode
Lucky 13 (2140 Market St., San Francisco)
Free

That’s right. It’s the first Thursday of the month, so that means it’s time for another KUSF DJ Night at Lucky 13. Cheap drinks, free peanuts, good company, and some of your favorite KUSF DJs spinning some records. One of those DJs: Yours truly. That’s right. My first proper live DJ gig ever. I’ll be playing punk, metal, maybe a little industrial and all sorts of rocking rock from 10:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. so come on out to witness the birth of a legend. Seriously though, folks, this is your chance to hear me play some music at a time when some of you are actually awake. It may not be my freeform anything-goes show on KUSF, but, hey, at least I don’t have to worry about whether or not the tracks I want to play have “fuck” in the lyrics.

In case I am too busy with my folks and my music and my “life” to do another post before this weekend, don’t forget about the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in Golden Gate Park this weekend. The weather got crappy just in time!!!

As Fast as I Can...

2006-09-21T13:34:00.000-07:00

Got no time to do a real post, but I wanted to let you know that DJ Shadow is playing 2 free shows tonight at Amoeba in Berkeley at 4:00 p.m. and Amoeba San Francisco at 8:00 p.m. Get there early, since they’ll be packed. Serena Maneesh plays shoegaze psych at Bottom of the Hill. Sharon Jones bears her funky soul at Bimbo’s. USAisaMonster does psych noise at the Hemlock. All for now. Oh, except that Guns n Roses play the Warfield. Take it however you will.

Gratis (x2) in the East Bay Tonight

2006-09-19T12:48:00.000-07:00

If you missed Ratatat’s sold out show last night at Great American, you’re in luck, because they’re playing a free show in Berkeley tonight. More info here. Requires very little investment on your part and should be good, so why not? The only thing keeping me from being 100% sure I’m going to be there is the coming onslaught of exhaustion, having been up since 2:15 a.m.

If you’re not quite ready to go home after Ratatat finishes, hang out in Berkeley for a bit and then check out this event, which sounds very interesting:

Tuesday September 19th
9PM
Mills College - 5000 MacArthur Blvd, Oakland
Greek Theater
(it's outside, behind the Concert Hall in the Music building)
FREE admission -- but Fred and Soma are on tour
and "gas money" or "snack money" is
happily accepted

FRED THOMAS and SOMA WINGELAAR
Boundless/Countless:

Thomas is a musician, producer and recording artist best known for his work with experimental pop group Saturday Looks Good To Me. Thomas has been touring the world with his music since age 19 in one form or another. Under the auspices of his label Ypsilanti Records, Thomas has spent the last five years releasing his own material in addition to such artists as Genders, Dead Machines, and His Name Is Alive. In April his solo record Sink Like A Symphony debuted, and recent concerts have gone the way of reverb-heavy vocal loops and wordy folk songs, quite the departure from SLGTM's carefree pop and soul.

University of Michigan graduate Soma Wingelaar is an installation artist and printmaker who recently completed a residency at Gallery Project in Ann Arbor. Her work ranges from large-scale drawings and engravings on industrial material to interactive soft sculpture and installation.

"The Boundless/Countless installation is designed to conform to any space. Wineglaan has created a structure that "breathes," fueled by a fan that inflates and deflates the translucent, rip-stop parachute material from which it is made. The audience is invited inside the structure, where musician and record producer Thomas improvises sound while his co-star manipulates ambient lights along with the respiratory intensity of the fan."

Playlist 09.12.06

2006-09-19T07:12:00.000-07:00

tuesday, september 12. 2006
3:00 a.m. – 6:00 a.m.

< california noise box set series part 6 of 10 >
solid eye – live at wfmu, september 13, 1998
< visit www.californianoise.com for more info >

dub gabriel – garden of light in the shade of grey
nai htaw paing ensemble – gwet-rom-sai-che
uske orchestra – sous un mot aux couleurs…
thai elephant orchestra – temple music

philip jeck – pax
machinefabriek – wolkenkrabber

jesu – dead eyes
the goslings – statuette
geoff mullen – untitled (track 5 from ‘the air in pieces’)

espers – mansfield and cyclops
alasehir – bone fire

the necks – abillera

dj krush feat. dj shadow – duality (2006k mix)
massive attack & mad professor – backward sucking (heat miser)
dj shadow – midnight in a perfect world
massive attack – black milk

psalm one – the living
ratatat – loud pipes

the fall – u.s. 80’s-90’s

Past, Present & Future Shows (For This Week)

2006-09-15T14:23:00.000-07:00

Another week behind us, another weekend ahead. At least this week was fairly slow in the show department, making my life easier, both in terms of posting and not having to go out. I did, however, make it out last night for the Tortoise and Curtains show. The Curtains were disappointing, given my enjoyment of their ‘Vehicles of Travel’ album. What came across on the album as quirky experimental pop, came across as sloppy experimental pop when played live. Tortoise played a solid set (or at least the hour of it that I stayed for), touching on different parts of their ten-year catalog. Seeing them in small venue like the Great American was great, but the set seemed to lack that special “something” that they had when I saw them a few years ago. Not quite sure what it was, could have even been just me being tired at a show by myself, who knows.

That’s the past, on to the future. I apologize in advance for typos and lack of links, but am quite busy.

Friday, September 15, 2006

For those of you who like totally just wanna have fun and just wanna drop some serious cash, head on over to the Palace of Fine Arts and see Ms. Lauper herself. Couldn’t resist mentioning that.

Mezzanine’s got Radio Soulwax, featuring Belgian brothers David and Stephen Dewaele (a.k.a. 2manyDJs) rocking the turntables with a full band as Nite Versions Live and doing a 3 hour DJ set as 2manyDJs. Expect a little bit of everything in the mix, just like they did on their excellent release, ‘As Heard on Radio Soulwax, Pt. 2.’ At $20 in advance and $25 at the door, it’s pricy, but for a proper Firday night out in the club, this is my top pick.

If shock rock of the punk variety is your thing, head over to Annie’s Social Club and check out the Womentors, an all-female Mentors tribute band. Apparently the last time they played, each of the women in the band (including KUSF”s Carolyn) had a slave on a leash. And with song titles like “Sandwich of Love” and “Wine You, Dine You, 69 You,” what’s not to like?

Saturday, September 16, 2006

If Beach Boys-informed pop punk with teenage lyrics about girls, farts and your parents making you do shit you’d rather not is your thing, The Queers play 924 Gilman in the East Bay. Just be prepared to stick your middle finger up a lot, as it’s the thing to do whenever “fuck” is sung. And “fuck” is sung a lot. P.S. The Queers’ ‘Love Songs for the Retarded’ will always have a special place in my heart, so I feel pretty strongly about these guys.

Good old Prefuse 73 (a.k.a Scott Heren) plays Club Mighty. Hopefully his experimental hip hop will sound better than it did when I saw him a few years ago at Coachella. I’m a huge fan of his albums, with their deconstructionist cut-up hip hop, so maybe it’s worth a chance?

If more traditional hip-hop is your thing, with conscious lyrics and great MCs, the Fillmore has Zion-I with the Team, Gift of Gab, and Turf Talk. Unlike so many “Blackalicious” shows, you may actually get to see Gift of Gab. Wow!!!

Haven’t heard anything material from Lulacruz, but the description from Luis Maurette, the male half of the duo, at a party a couple of weeks ago sounded quite interesting. The Red Poppy Art House (where the show is) says that Lulacruz “weaves female vocals, South American instrumentation, found sound objects, and field recordings with electronic manipulation.”

Chicago DJ duo Flosstradamus plays Milk. I know very little about them, except that they bust out the hip hop and r&b remixes and their live set is supposed to be killer (or that’s what my friends in Austin say). They’ve got a myspace page, but I’m not doing any linking today, so I can get all this stuff out there.

Last thing I want to mention for Saturday night is a Kontrol night at Rx Gallery, featuring Scottish DJ Alex Smoke who does the minimal house thing that Kontrol concentrates on. Rx is a great space for a low key club night (it’s not really a club even, just a small art gallery), and minimal house is the perfect music for a low key club night. Low key club night anyone?

Sunday, September 17, 2006

Finally getting close to the end here, folks. The Queers are in the city tonight at Café Du Nord.

If prog-rock NES covers are your thing, The Advantage is playing Bottom of the Hill. I just downloaded a bunch of actual NES music the other day, and it fucking kills. No wonder these guys do what they do. And they’re great live.

Breakestra plays the Independent, busting out funk of the variety we have come to consider “breaks,” i.e. the kickass part of a record that makes you move your goddamn ass. So get ready to move your ass, because Breakestra loves the breaks. And so will your ass.

Monday, September 18, 2006

OK, this show is sold out, but I mention it because you should try and go anyway. Just try and score one at the door. Ratatat at Great American. Soaring guitar lines over funky electro beats. Their new album ‘Classics’ is killer, as is their self-titled debut, which also features tons of classics. Having seen them a couple of times, I promise you will not be able to not dance. At least I couldn’t help myself. Maybe you will be able to resist. Some people at the show did. In fact, come to think of it, I was one of a handful of people breaking it down like goobers when I saw them open for Mouse on Mars.

Playlist 09.12.06

2006-09-12T07:03:00.000-07:00

tuesday, september 12. 2006
3:00 a.m. – 6:00 a.m.

< california noise box set series part 5 of 10 >
spastic colon – post expulsion euphoria
< visit www.californianoise.com for more info >

dub gabriel – rumi go through me
bastard noise – untitled (track 3 from ‘throne is melting’)
wolf eyes – dead hills 2
mr. lif – take, hold, fire!
vitalic – la rock 01

bardo pond – isle
hush arbors – oar of bone
grouper – second wind/zombie skin

flaherty/corsano/yeh – we have to check your equipment for bombs

landing – wrapped up in flight
brightblack morning light – star blanket river child
delia gonzalez & gavin russom – relevee

terry day – alto/cello/drums
ghq – cold dark matter
boredoms – 7 (from ‘super roots 6’)

jesu – silver
harvey milk – my broken heart will never mend
ghost – comin’ home

sebadoh – the freed pig
the mountain goats - alibi

Busy, But Not Too Busy For A Post Re: Friday

2006-09-08T15:40:00.000-07:00

Who doesn’t wish there were more hours in the day? If we had an extra hour, I could use it for my writing. Then again, I’d probably just sleep for an extra hour. Actually, in reality, I’d probably just stay out an hour later, giving me an extra hour to consume another drink, lowering the quality of sleep I get and making it even less likely that I actually write anything. I guess we should just leave the day at 24 hours. Here’s my super rushed synopsis of what’s happening this Friday, wish I could tell you more about them all and provide you with links and audio samples, but I am a busy man today:

At the Independent, it’ll be organ and drums improvisation of the jazz with a little rock variety, courtesy of Benevento/Russo Duo. Jacob Fredd Jazz Odyssey will start your Friday night off right when they open up with keys/bass/drums groovin’ rockin’ jazz. Just think of this show as tiding you over until Medeski, Martin & Wood play here on the 26th.

Is Megadeth still around? Apparently, because they’re playing the Oakland Arena with Lamb of God and Opeth and a shit ton of other metal acts. If you’re interested in going to this show, you probably already know about it. I just feel the need to plug it because I love Lamb of God and their new album kills. Maybe it’s the fact that my first couple of years of high school were spent listening to Pantera, Machine Head, Biohazard, Sepultura, et al., but Lamb of God just sound so tight.

For the East Bay folks, check out Oxbow and Genghis Tron at the Stork Club. I’ve heard different things about who else is on the line up. Maybe it’s Totimoshi, and maybe it’s The Thrones (more on that later). Who cares? Your ears will already be bleeding when Oxbow drops its super heavy, super weird set. I finally saw them at SXSW and they were rocking so hard (Is it metal? Some weird form of harcore? Just really heavy experimental rock?) that I had to be dragged away by friends so that I wasn’t left in some strange part of Austin. Oh and Genghis Tron, who I have not had the pleasure of seeing will no doubt cause not only your ears to bleed, but also perhaps your brain to just melt inside of your skull, what with their grindcore-electronica. You’ll be nice and relaxed during one of their electronic melodic breakdowns until they come right back with an insane blast of grindcore fueled by a drum machine that surely will cause you to hear jackhammers for weeks. That is, if your brain doesn’t just melt.

Where will I be when there are all these other shows? At Bottom of the Hill, where KUSF is co-presenting the Japanese New Music Festival featuring Acid Mothers Temple and Ruins. These legendary psych/noise/rock/experimental/wtf bands (in the loosest sense, given the configurations of these collectives, centering around one member in each group) will be performing in seven different configurations throughout the evening. Want to learn more? Here’s what I snagged off of Bottom of the Hill’s website about each of the acts:

ZUBI ZUVA X (Yoshida/Tsuyama/Kawabata)
Eccentric poly-rhythmic a cappella ensemble. It covers from Gregorian chant to ethnic music, to do-wop to hardcore screaming, heavily using irregular rhythms and polyrhythm. All sorts of ideas and aberrant musicality overturn the image of a cappella. their totally meaningless lyrics and desperate performances throw the audiences into the abyss of the laughter and admiration. it makes the concept of "singing ability"nonsense.

AKATEN (Tsuyama/Yoshida)
Formed in 1995 with the motto of "irresponsibleness" and "perfunctoriness." They easily free themselves from the spell of the traditional seriousness of the art. Using daily commodities like scissors, toothbrush, zipper, camera, and plastic bottle as percussions, and shouting their brand names over and over as the "songs," the show is performed under the concept of low cost and maximum sound effect. AKATEN is the experimental convenience store punk band that provides the sound images of cheap and simple daily lives.

RUINS ALONE (Yoshida)
RUINS is pioneer of Drum & Bass duo. Tunes are complicated and mysterious, and songs are sung in the language of their own invention. It's high-tension, wild, heavy, speedy, acute, and powerful tremendous ensemble never sounds like they are only two players. since last bassist left Yoshida still seeking a bassist and currently he has been playing as RUINS ALONE. playing RUINS songs with sampling bass. this time Yoshida will play songs from Koenji Hyakkei and Korekyojinn too.

ZOFFY (Tsuyama/Kawabata)
Formed in 1998. Zoffy's music hints both at the members' deep musical knowledge via their improvised performances of troubadour music and European trad, and also at their deep love for rock via their destructivist covers of classic rock songs, thatno longersounds like anything but ZOFFY. The group believesthat humor is essential in music, and their unprecedented performances stray far from the beaten track. Is this the Ultima Thule that rock music has long been aiming for?

SHRINP WARK (Kawabata/Yoshida)
A new improvising duo consisting of Yoshida from Ruins and Kawabata from AMT. group inspired by This Heat and band name taken from their song "Shrink Wrap". Cosmic chemical reaction sound that embraces a multidimensional chaos based upon the principles of minimalism, an anarchistic warping of the time axis, and ultra-accelerated revolving of time particles.

ACID MOTHERS TEMPLE SWR (Kawabata/Tsuyama/Yoshida)
Acid Mothers Temple have rapidly become acclaimed as the greatest, most extreme trip psychedelic group in the world. Releases have appeared on labels around the world at an amazing pace, and the magnificence of their live performances is already being whispered of as legendary. SWR is the AMT Family's most powerful battle-formation yet. featuring Tsuyama and Kawabata from the original AMT and Yoshida from Ruins. their crushingly acute freakout sound will pulverize the world's legions of wannabe psych groups.

SEIKAZOKU (Kawabata/Tsuyama/Yoshida)
Formed in 1996. The expansive musicality of the group, which nonchalantly references classic prog and rock, ethnic music, jazz and contemporary composition, is backed up the three members' impressive backgrounds and the depth of their musical knowledge. Improvised music for holy trinity heresy that runs the full gamut of ethnic and electric instruments, primitive stupidity, the suspicious stench of medieval alchemy, the raw power of early rock music, all leavened with a pinch of cosmic incoherency.

Incestuous bunch, no? That’s it for Friday. Hopefully I will have a chance to get the rest of the weekend out there tomorrow, but I should point out that Saturday brings the annual Power to the Peaceful Festival to Golden Gate Park featuring Michael Franti and Blackalicious and bunch of others. Should be good and it’s for a great cause. Who doesn’t want some fucking peace?

What's Not To Like?

2006-09-06T14:07:00.000-07:00

It's a website/email newsletter that points out free and cheap drinks arounf the city. Just don't let too many people know about it, or else we'll have trouble scoring.

http://sf.myopenbar.com/bars.php

Get Hard, Get Soft, Get Drunk, Get Whatever

2006-09-06T13:57:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, September 6, 2006
CocoRosie and Busdriver
Great American Music Hall
$15

I love me some CocoRosie. On record at least. Sisters Bianca and Sierra make fucked up… um… music. I suppose the easiest way to describe it would be as folk-tronica. But the folk is of the weird variety and the “tronica” is fairly experimental as well. There’s an undeniable Billie Holiday influence on the vocals and plenty of pop mixed in with the weirdness. I have no idea what to expect from the duo in a live setting, but I imagine it will either be awfully amazing or amazingly awful. At least Busdriver is opening, and he has never disappointed me. Part of the Project Blowed crew out of L.A., Busdriver spits like you won’t believe. And Great American’s nigh impeccable sound should allow you to actually be able hear what he’s saying, which has been a problem at some shows.

Thursday, September 7, 2006
Vashti Bunyan & Brightblack Morning Light
Great American Music Hall
$20

Not really sure what to expect from Ms. Bunyan, either. After releasing the gorgeous, classic ‘Just Another Diamond Day’ LP in 1969, the British folkie quit music and moved on. Then, 30 some odd years later, she discovered on the internet that she had a huge fan base, and got back to work, re-releasing the aforementioned LP, recording with Animal Collective and putting out a new album, ‘Lookaftering.’ Once again, don’t know what her set will be like. And once again, the opener is strong. Matador-signed locals Brightblack Morning Light make quiet spaced-out rock that sounds best in the middle of the night when your doing whatever it is you do to space out. But it also sounded great in the middle of a hot day down in Saratoga when I saw them at Bleeding Edge a little while back, and it will, I’m sure, sound great through that wonderful system at Great American when they play before Ms. Bunyan.

Thursday, September 7, 2006
Oxbow, Flying Luttenbachers, Genghis Tron and The Mall
The Knockout
$?

If the quiet show is not quite your thing, then I’ve got the perfect alternative for Thursday night. Oxbow’s experimental heaviness, the Flying Luttenbachers free-jazz metal experimentation (now featuring Mick Barr of Orthrelm and Octis on guitar for extra shred), Genghis Tron’s grindcore-with-drum-machine electronic madness and The Mall’s jazz metal (don’t really know anything about the mall, so I hope my description is accurate). Be warned: This show will be H-E-A-V-Y.

Thursday, September 7, 2006
KUSF DJ Night
Lucky 13
Free

If not going to shows period is more your thing, then come hang out a bar with me and all your favorite KUSF DJs while we get drunk and listen to a few DJs spin some records. Great beers on tap!!! Cheap beers in cans!!! More DJs than you can shake a stick at!!!

Loads of Lenode 09.05.06

2006-09-06T10:02:00.000-07:00

tuesday, september 5, 2006
3:00 a.m. – 6:00 a.m.

< california noise box set series part 5 of 10 >
damien romero – monde brutal
< visit www.californianoise.com for more info >

dan deacon – track 1 from ‘acorn master’ (forgot to write down track name, doh!)
amps for christ – scotland the brave
spectre folk – jammers
spring heel jack – obscured

googol bordello v. tamir muskat – when i was a little spy
cay talan – ciftetelli (from ‘beyond istanbul: under ground grooves of turkey’)
dr. octagon – aliens
lady sovereign - random (a. brucker & sinden remix)

oneida – history’s great navigators
pink mountaintops – lord, let us shine
the jesus & mary chain – happy when it rains
coughs – malibu (from ‘zum audio volume 3’)
curse of the birthmark – 1700 witches

todd – the horse soldier
leviathan – courtship of the discarded
striborg – wrapped in a cocoon out of harms way
antaeus – gates to the outside

mayhem – in the lies whereupon you lay
fat worm of error – petulant bureaucrats pummeled
sixes – track 2 from ‘organ cuts ii’
volcano the bear – see me now

john lee hooker – don’t be messin’ with my bread
theo abgell – cannonball
excepter – the “rock” stepper
dj krush feat. anticon – song for john walker (sticky mix)

alçeu valença & geraldo azevedo – mister misterio
keleya – mossa doumbia (from ‘world psychedelic classics 3: love is a real thing’)
grupo naidy – mi gallo corococ (my rooster crows)
nomo – we do we go

ratatat – loud pipes

Loads of Lenode 08.29.06

2006-09-06T07:05:00.000-07:00

tuesday, august 29. 2006
3:00 a.m. – 6:00 a.m.

< california noise box set series part 4 of 10 >
moth drakula – in heaven everything else is fine
< visit www.californianoise.com for more info >

kidd jordan, hamid drake and william parker – forever
lugubrum – holy fools embodied
anaal nathrakh – procreation of the wretched

charalambides – strange matter
rhys chatham – guitar trio
stereolab – la demeure
edip akbayram - kolum nerden aldin zinciri (my arm, where do you got the bracelet from)

lubomyr melnyk – wave-lox
joe colley – side a from “8 phased loops”

the goslings – in may
the artificial intelligence agency – track 10 from “drum > machinegun”
noism – tracks 11 & 12 from “drum > machinegun”
kevin & chad – side b from untitled 7”

darc mind – give me time
pedestrian – o silent bed
quantic – blow your horn
bullfrog – snakeskin

six organs of admittance – black wall
comets on fire – jay bird
jane – berserker
wizardzz – whispers from wallface
parts & labor – stay afraid

paul flaherty-chris corsano – what do you mean this is a dry county?

Ramble On... Quickly!!!

2006-08-24T13:04:00.000-07:00

I seem to be without a lot of time for this post, which is unfortunate, as there’s a lot to talk about. I’ll make it as snappy as possible. Starting with my number one pick, and then moving quickly through my other suggestions. #1:

Thursday, August 24, 2006
Japanther
Hemlock Tavern
$7

I posted about them way back when in February, (scroll down a little on this page where you can read a preview and brief review of their shows). It’s going to be fucking rowdy and fucking great, and from what I’ve heard punk band This Bike Is a Pipe Bomb are also a great time.

Otherwise, if you’re in the mood for something a little less loud, go see Wolf Parade and Frog Eyes at the Fillmore. If you’re in the mood for something much heavier, go see Cattle Decapitation at The Pound. If the name doesn’t give you an idea of what they are going to sound like, you probably shouldn’t check them out.

Oh my god, so much to write about… Friday night brings us a great local indie show at Bottom of the Hill featuring synth-noise-rock from xbxrx and all-over-the-place-weird-but-great-rock from 7 Year Rabbit Cycle (featuring ex-members of Deerhoof). Over in the East Bay, there’s the Drones and Noise show at 21 Grand featuring Ghosting, Bonus, Axolotl and more. I think the name pretty much says it all. There’s a free show (last time I checked at least) at Thee Parkside with some local metal and hard rock, featuring Hightower and Walken.

On to Saturday night: Mix Master Mike plays Mighty. ‘Nuff said. Maybe you’ve seen Zach Galifianakis on Comedy Central. He’s got a huge beard, plays a piano and is freaking hilarious. He plays the Fillmore. South Asian classical meets electronic music collective Dhamaal drops a summer session at Club 6, with a classical/folk room and a room with banging beats and visuals. There’s some Anticon folks spinning at Madrone Lounge, and for $5, it’s a cheap option for Saturday night. One of the more expensive options for the evening, but definitely one of my top picks would be Herbert over at Mezzanine. His dance music is all over the map, but not in a Kid 606 sort of way. Herbert’s is most easily defined as “intelligent house,” perhaps? He’s playing with his very own “big band.” What the hell that means I haven’t had a chance to research, but I’m sold regardless. I played the hell out of his next to last album when it was in currents at the station, so that should be enough for you.

Finally, almost there. Sunday: Get off your ass and head over to my radio station and support us by going to the KUSF Rock and Swap. A bunch of vendors get tables and sell music-related merchandise. It’s mostly vinyl, but there’s also paraphernalia and some used CDs. Definitely for the vinyl freaks out there. I picked up some great stuff last time and will do so again this time. It costs $15 to get in between 5 a.m. and 10 a.m., then it’s only $3. And all that money helps KUSF stay on the air. OK. To wrap up, the experimental music freaks should head to the Hemlock on Sunday to see Ghosting, Bonus, Axolotol and Tom Carter with Inca Ore. The metalheads, on the other hand should go see Venom, Devildriver, Goatwhore and High on Fore at the Fillmore.

Decide for yourself, folks. There’s always so much to do in this city, so just get out and do something. I promise next week will be pretty bad too. Those three day weekends often make matters worse.

Playlist 08.22.06

2006-08-22T08:23:00.000-07:00

tuesday, august 15, 2006
3:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m.

today’s theme: new music and first tracks from albums purchased from an “amazing local record store which policy says i can’t mention on the air” (i.e., aquarius records), the only exception being japanther, who are playing wednesday and thursday nights

< california noise box set series part 3 of 10 >
skaters – wind drapeing incense
< visit www.californianoise.com for more info >

striborg – embittered darkness
anaal nathrakh – the supreme necrotic audnance
poison the well – botchla
ovo – anima morte

< back-to-back bagpipes >
rufus harley – gods & goddesses
cromagnon – caledonia
dead science with shooby taylor – the human horn

j spaceman – guitar loops

gendhing – parisuka (from gamelan of central java, vol. 7)
six organs of admittance – bless your blood
islaja – melodi melodika

think about life – money
aelters – begollar tempus (from soul-junk 1937)
venetian snares – donut

sunroof! – machine
growing – peace offering
machinefabriek – er op uit / dansen met groene groenten / wijn op net bolkol / habbekrats / somerset

grails – dargai
flying – alice
soviet valves – sight that hams / gaze that harms
neatbeats – spoilt girl

japanther – i io
hawnay troof – out of teen
k.k. rampage – lowlife lousy little puke
wolf eyes – post civilization muzak 1

noxagt - histrionix

Anyone Know Where I Can Score Some Math-Rock?

2006-08-21T13:37:00.000-07:00

Not going to the A Silver Mt. Zion show tonight because it’s sold out? Well, I can never go out on Mondays thanks to my radio show, so I have very little sympathy for you. After all, you can always head over to the Great American this evening and try to score a ticket to see the most famous Godspeed You Black Emperor side project post-rock your socks off. I, on the other hand, must simply concentrate on the other shows I will be able to attend this week.

Tuesday, August 22, 2006
The Mountain Goats
Amoeba
Free, 6:00 p.m.

Can’t get enough (a) lo-fi indie rock or (b) free shows at amoeba? Well, get your fix for both on Tuesday night as John Darnielle shares some yarns and some tunes. I would assume the show will probably be just him and his guitar, which means listeners will actually be able to hear what’s being said, unlike with so many Amoeba in-stores. Maybe you’ll even hear this song that keeps getting stuck in my head off of his last EP, “Alibi.”

Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Inca Ore & Skaters/Axolotl
Thee Parkside
Cheap

Don’t know how much this show’ll be, but it’s Thee Parkside, and it’s a noise show, so I’ll bet it’s around $5. Haven’t seen Inca Ore yet, but I’ve heard she has an amzing voice and does amazing things with it. I have, however, seen Skaters and Axolotl. The former are loud and noisy, the latter quiet and drony. What will the bastard child of these two bands sound like when they perform a set together? There’s only one way to find out.

Wednesday, August 23, 2006
Don Caballero
Amoeba
Free, 6:00 p.m.

Did you forget to pick up that CD you really needed when you were at the Mountain Goats in-store on Tuesday? Don’t fret, as moth-rockers Don Caballero will give you another excuse to hang out in an old bowling alley and probably spend wads of cash before you can leave. Their latest, World Class Listening Problem, out on Relapse has a little more metal influence and, while I don’t think it quite measures up to their classics, it’s still great. I cannot, however promise that the sound will be spot on for this one. If you’re willing to spend a little cash to see them in a proper venue, however…

Wednesday, August 23, 2006
Don Caballero and Zombi
Bottom of the Hill
$10/$12

That’s right. Bottom of the Hill. Later that night. The in-store merely whet your appetite for great math-rock? Can’t get enough of those technical repetitive riffs? Go see ‘em again or for the first time with thoroughly entertaining prog from Zombi.

That’s all for now. What is there later in the week, you may ask? Japanther, Wolf Parade, Cattle Decapitation, xbxrx, Growing, Mix Master Mike, and Herbert, to name a few.

First Amoeba, Now Great American Is on Fire!!!

2006-08-15T13:37:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, August 16, 2006
Comets on Fire, Kid 606 and 16 Bitch Pile-Up
Great American Music Hall
$13

Considering I just wrote about them last week, I feel no need to discuss Comets on Fire again. If you want to listen, you can check out their myspace page. I will say that the couple of songs I caught of the Amoeba set killed. As for the other acts, Kid 606 (a.k.a. Miguel Trost Depedro) has made electronic music that’s all over the map. If you’re familiar with the output of his record label, Tigerbeat6, then you have of just how many different kinds of music he’s into. The guys done gabber, glitch, house, dub, mash-ups, and jungle, to name just a few of the electronic genres he’s tackled. And he’s done it all well. Last time I saw him, it was fairly house-oriented. But who knows what we’ll get this time. Perhaps it will have something to do with the friends he brings along. Hopefully, it’ll be nice and noisy. Even if Kid 606 doesn’t make much noise, rest assured the girls of 16 Bitch Pile-Up will, so get there early.

Thursday, August 17, 2006
Cut Chemist
Amoeba Records
Free, 6:00 p.m.

After seeing Jurassic 5 at the Fillmore not too long ago, it’s painfully obvious just how important Cut Chemist was to the 5. While the MCs were, as always, spot on, the quality behind the turntables was not what it was in the group’s heyday. Especially evident on the new tracks was the fact that the production style of Numark sans Cut Chemist seemed to be a little less soulful and a little more radio-friendly. Don’t get me wrong, the show ranks with the best hip hop shows I’ve seen in ages; it’s just that without Cut Chemist, something was missing. Whatever that something is will be on display for free this Thursday at Amoeba, as Mr. Chemist plays a set in support of his new (and first “proper”) album, The Audience’s Listening. It’s all over the place in true turntablist fashion, but it keeps the groove going throughout, just like one of the Chemist’s live shows by himself or with Jurassic 5. Didn’t Ozomatli sort of go downhill after Cut Chemist left, too? Hmmm… I think I see a pattern developing here.

Playlist 08.15.06

2006-08-15T08:47:00.000-07:00

tuesday, august 8, 2006
3:00 a.m. - 6:00 a.m.

< california noise box set series part 2 of 10 >
gerritt - calimega
< visit www.californianoise.com for more info >

edip akbayram - ince ince bir kar yagar (little snowflakes falling)
mammoths melting out of the ice – happy birthday, motherfucker
trapdoor compilation – track 2
psalm one – the living

colleen – the happy sea
jesu – star
sonic youth – do you believe in rapture?
final – the light orchestra

current 93 - the song of solomon vi:10

sharron kraus - looking for the hermit's cave
woven hand – my russia
factrix – ballad of the grim rider
7 year rabbit cycle – 1,2,3,4

karera musication – alphabetical #1
juana molina - malherido
brightblack morning light – friend of time
spacemen 3 – come down easy

the necks – fatal

isan – conundrum
boom bip – roads must roll
the night session – la mirage
lady sovereign - random (a. brucker & sinden remix)
death comet crew – at the marble bar

kid 606 – oakland highsiding
comets on fire – pussy foot the duke

dan deacon – big big big big big

Maybe Thursday Really Is the New Friday

2006-08-09T17:08:00.000-07:00

I'm beginning to think that, with this many great shows, it must really be the weekend.

Thursday, August 10, 2006
Ryoji Ikeda
Recombinant Media Labs
$15 (2 Shows: 7:00 and 10:30 p.m.)

My knowledge of Japanese electronic musician Ryoji Ikeda’s recorded output is limited to his extremely influential 1996 release, +/-. It is a beautiful piece of electronic minimalism that has influenced countless musicians who fall into the glitch school of computer music. What I read have recently about him indicates that there’s digitally processed harsh noise, dub and jungle all figuring into his music these days. Talking with a person who I met at a BBQ last weekend gave me a little bit of insight into Ikeda’s live shows, which make visual stimulation an important part of the overall experience. Apparently, Ikeda makes use of non-conventional screens in his performances. Well, I was just looking at the website to obtain a little more info on what to expect, and apparently both shows are sold out. There is, however, a waiting list if you are very interested.

Thursday, August 10, 2006
Diplo, Bonde Do Role and CSS
Mezzanine
$15

My mind has been made up as to what I’m doing on Thursday, since the Ikeda show sold out. Despite his previous announcement that he was retiring from DJing, Diplo is back to bring us a mix of all things bassy and crunk: Miami, Dirty South, Baltimore, Houston, Baile Funk, et al. Diplo does it all for the bounce, and I can personally guarantee that it will be nigh close to impossible for you not to bounce during the set. Come on, the guy loves H-Town (Houston, TX, for the unfamiliar) rap and even did a radio appearance down there that is super hot and available for any interested parties from me. Diplo might be most famous for his production work for M.I.A. His skills practically made up for a painfully lackluster performance from M.I.A. and whenever she wasn’t “singing” or “rapping,” and he was able to cut loose a little, it was Grade A stuff. (For the record, I, for one, loved M.I.A.’s album but will never suffer through a live performance by her again. LCD Soundsystem definitely stole the show that night.) Diplo seems to be touring again to support the launch of his MadDecent record label, which sports Bonde Do Role as its first release. Theses Brazilians (3 DJs and 2 MCs) seem to some pretty fun stuff (although all the rapping seems to be in Brazilian), and they even go so far as to sample Alice in Chains. Oh yeah. Also out of Brazil, CSS are a recent addition to the SubPop roster and do some wild dance-rock stuff. All in all, it promises to be an evening filed with shaking and popping one’s ass.

I seem to have rambled for too long about the aforementioned shows, but let’s not forget to mention:

Thursday, August 10, 2006
The Gris Gris and Battleship
The Independent
$12

If psych-rock is more your speed, then check out local favs The Gris Gris doing some Southern influenced rock of the psychedelic and garage variety. Another local fav, Battleship, will liven up the evening with some heavy rock and a crazy live show. Black Flag is the name that comes up most often when talking about these kids. Apparently some bleeding is not out of the question. The question is: Whose blood will it be?

Thursday, August 9, 2006
OHSEES
The Eagle Tavern
$???

I’ve never been to the Eagle Tavern on a Thursday, but they have a show there every week and it usually features some top notch local acts, this week being no exception. OHSEES is mainly the work of John Dwyer of Coachwhips fame. OHSEES (formerly OCS, apparently changed because everyone kept mispronouncing it) are very different from the Coachwhips, though. Less in-your-face punk/garage and more quiet weird psych/noise/folk stuff. Although I haven’t seen them live, the albums are a mixture of all sorts of weird and beautiful stuff.

What’s up for Friday, you ask? Hell yes there is. Flosstradamus, Final Fantasy, Oxbow. Saturday? Yes again. Nels Cline Singers, Hototogisu, Badgerlore. Sunday? Surprise! Yes. Blackheart Procession and the Castanets. Oh and there’s the extremely enticing Bleeding Edge Festival down in Saratoga featuring Matmos, Isis, Yo La Tengo, Brightblack Morning Light and William Basinski, to name just a few. Hopefully there will be more on all of these soon.

Amoeba on Fire

2006-08-08T12:41:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, August 8, 2006
Mammatus
Café Du Nord
$7

I keep plugging these semi-local psychedelic stoner rockers, but they just keep right on playing tons of shows. Get out there and let them take you away.

Tuesday, August 8, 2006
Comets on Fire
Amoeba
Free, 6:00 p.m.

The only thing better than seeing a band play a free show at Amoeba is seeing a kick-ass band play a free show at Amoeba. Well, get ready, because tonight a kick-ass band does play Amoeba. The last time I saw Comets on Fire, when they opened for Dinosaur, Jr., I was slightly disappointed. It had been a while since our schedules were aligned, and it appeared that, in my absence, they had mellowed out a bit. Not that there wasn’t any of the noisy, mind-blowing space-outs of yesteryear, it was just, well, a little more polished. One of the things I had loved about CoF was the sheer insanity of the jams. Like taking a breakdown from Led Zeppelin’s first album and jacking it up on meth and letting it loose. I was expecting LOUD and I only got LOud. After hearing the new album, though, I’ve come around. It’s fantastic. Definitely less noisy than Blue Cathedral, but better in some ways. Sort of like feeding the said Led Zeppelin jam some mushrooms and a fifth of whiskey. Maybe it’s the fact that everyone is off doing a ton of side projects (Six Organs of Admittance, Howling Rain, Noel Von Harmonson, and Colossal Yes, to name a few), maybe not, but CoF’s sound has just gotten so tight. That’s as much as I can devote to the CoF show tonight, but check it out. And, if you can’t, or you can and you like what you hear, they headline a real show at Great American next Wednesday supported by local noise/experimentalists Skaters and 16 Bitch Pileup.

Wednesday, August 9, 2006
Milosh, Nobody & Mystic Chords of Memory and James Figurine
Rickshaw Stop
$10

XLR8R Magazine presents this quaint evening of electronica. While I haven’t heard Milosh, he’s on Plug Research, who tend to put out some quality audio. I saw Nobody & Mystic Chords of Memory opening for Jamie Lidell and Edan back in June, and, while I was not blown away, I definitely saw potential and now they have had a couple of months to work on their live set. An associate of Prefuse 73, Nobody works the samplers, drum machines, etc. while two of the folks from Beachwood Sparks (Mystic Chords of Memory) crank out some beautiful pop songs. James Figurine is the most notorious of the lineup, as he is also known as Dntel and as the man behind the electronics in The Postal Service.

Well, I am out of time for the time being. Hopefully I can find the time to squeeze in another entry before Thursday, because there’s some great stuff that night (Diplo, Ryoji Ikeda, The Gris Gris, OHSEES). Mmmm, mmmm….. Delicious.

Playlist 08.08.06

2006-08-08T08:36:00.000-07:00

tuesday, august 8, 2006
3:00 a.m. - 6:00 a.m.

< california box set series part 1 of 20 >
amps for christ – black eyed susan / march of the mountain / tel aviv / 2 inches per hour
< visit www.californianoise.com for more info >

grupo naidy – dolores
mohammed “jimmy” mohammed – mela mela
cerberus shoal – the land we all believe in
carla bozulich – baby, that’s the creeps

hodag – cotten rore
lugubrum – de totem
fe-mail – rockabilly

double leopards – chemical wedding
paul flaherty & chris corsano – what do you mean this is a dry county?

machinefabriek – somerset
peter wright – hanging bottles (full length version)
belong – the door opens the other way

jorrit dijkstra & john hollenbeck – neuron ringer
moondog – lament 1 ‘birds lament’
rhys chatham – drastic classicism

numbers – solid pleasure
be your own pet – adventure
i object! – teaching revenge
code of honor – what price would you pay?
oxes – track 2 from oxes ep

david byrne & brian eno – come with us
burial – broken home
manitoba – crayon

nomo – hand and mouth

The Monster

2006-08-01T13:24:00.000-07:00

I know I posted the complete upcoming show list fairly recently, but I've done a lot of updating since then, and this mother is l-o-n-g. And that is most definitely a good thing.

8/1 Tue – Independent – Hot Chip
8/2 Wed – Club 6 – Guardian Best of the Bay Party feat. Zion I, Extra Action Marching Band, Scissors for Lefty, Erase Errata, Numbers, Yikes! And lots more ($10)
8/3 Thu – 12 Galaxies – Extra Action Marching Band ($10)
8/3 Thu – Lucky 13 – KUSF DJ Night
8/4 Fri – Greek Theatre – Bloc Party, Broken Social Scene, Mew & Two Gallants
8/4 Fri – Red Devil – Beatnuts ($20)
8/4 Fri – BBR – Dragon Smoke – Stanton Moore, Ivan Neville, Eric Lindell & Robert Mercurio and more ($25)
8/4 Fri – Du Nord – Magnolia Electric Company
8/4 Fri – Fillmore – Xavier Rudd, Wood Bros. & Ane Brun
8/4 Fri – Mighty - Sneaker Pimps 1000 Shoe Tour featuring: Dan the Automator, Kid Koala and more ($12)
8/5 Sat – BOTH – Six Organs of Admittance & Citay ($10)
8/5 Sat – 12 Galaxies – Drums & Tuba ($10/$12)
8/5 Sat – Li Po Lounge – R.H.Y. Yau, Toxic Loincloth, Privy Seals, Kevin Shields, Sex Jesus, Rubber O Cement, Tralphaz, Tern Ternity
8/5 Sat – BBR – Dragon Smoke – Stanton Moore, Ivan Neville, Eric Lindell & Robert Mercurio and more ($25)
8/6 Sun – Stern Grove – Spanish Harlem Orchestra and Ska Cubano
8/8 Tue – Du Nord – Mammatus ($7)
8/8 Tue – Amoeba – Comets on Fire (6:00)
8/9 Wed – Rickshaw - MILOSH, Nobody & Mystic Chords of Memory, tba ($10)
9/9 Wed – BBR – Soulive ($25)
8/10 Thu – Recombinant – Ryoji Ikeda ($15, 7 and 10:30 p.m. shows)
8/10 Thu – Mezzanine – Diplo ($15)
8/10 Thu – Independent – Gris Gris & Battleship
8/11 Fri – BOTH - Final Fantasy, Bob Wiseman & Curtains ($8/$10)
8/11 Fri – Hemlock – Pop Levi (Ninja Tune from Super Numeri)
8/11 Fri – Stork Club – Oxbow
8/12 Sat – Starry Plough – Nels Cline Singers
8/12 Sat – Hemlock – Hototogisu, Skaters and 16 Bitch Pileup
8/13 Sun – GAMH – Black Heart Procession & Castanets ($15)
8/13 Sun – Bleeding Edge Festival – Matmos, Yo La Tengo, Isis, et al. ($50)
8/14 Mon – BOTH – Get Him Eat Him & The Evangelicals ($7)
8/16 Wed – GAMH – Comets on Fire
8/17 Thu – Slim’s – Common Sense
8/17 Thu – Amoeba – Cut Chemist (8:00)
8/18 Fri – BBR – Karl Denson & Benny D Band ($15)
8/18 Fri – The Cave (3201 3rd St) – Death Sentence: Panda, Bronze( first show- members of The Vanishing, Spector Protector, Appreciation), Paradise Island
8/18 Fri – Club 6 – Jeru the Damaja & more ($10)
8/18 Fri – Du Nord – French Kicks ($12)
8/18 Fri – Independent – Dirty Dozen Brass Band
8/18 Fri – 12 Galaxies – Faun Fables
8/19 Sat – Independent – Dirty Dozen Brass Band
8/19 Sat – Misanthropic Agenda – Gerritt & John Wiese, The Cherry Point, Obstacle Corpse
8/19 Sat – Du Nord – French Kicks ($12)
8/20 Sun – Stern Grove – Ozomatli and Crown City Rockers
8/21 Mon – 12 Galaxies – Thor & Zolar X ($10/$12)
8/21 Mon – GAMH – A Silver Mt. Zion
8/22 Tue – Du Nord – Clientele ($12)
8/22 Tue – Parkside - Inca Ore - Skaters/Axolotl - Jap Jap
8/22 Tue – Amoeba – Mountain Goats (6:00)
8/23 Wed – Amoeba – Don Caballero (6:00)
8/23 Wed – BOTH - Don Caballero, Zombi & Triclops! ($10/$12)
8/23 Wed – Lobot – Japanther, Two Gallants ($7-$10)
8/24 Thu – Hemlock – Japanther
8/24 Thu – Fillmore – Wolf Parade & Frog Eyes
8/24 Thu – Pound – Cattle Decapitation
8/25 Fri – BOTH – XBXRX & 7 Year Rabbit Cycle ($8)
8/25 Fri – Thee Parkside - FREE HOMECOMING SHOW-Hightower / Walken / Asshole Parade / Three Weeks Clean
8/26 Sat – Fillmore – Zach Galifianakis (comedian)
8/26 Sat – Mighty – Mix Master Mike ($10/$15)
8/26 Sat – Mezzanine –Herbert ($18)
8/27 Sun – KUSF Rock N Swap
8/27 Sun – Hemlock – Ghosting, Bonus, Axolotl, Tom Carter w/Inca Ore
8/30 Wed – 12 Galaxies – Skerik’s Syncopated Taint Septet ($10/$12)
8/30 Wed – BOTH – Moe! Staiano's Moe!kestra! ($7)
8/31 Thu – GAMH – Radio Birdman ($20)
8/31 Thu – Hotel Utah - Tom Carter, Ghq, Axolotl & Skaters
8/31 Thu – Hemlock - Moe! Staiano, Neptune
9/1 Fri – Elbo Room – Acid King
9/2 Fri ?? – Thee Parkside - The Bellrays / The Spore / S.L.A. (Sonic Love Affair)
9/1 Fri – Oakland Art & Soul Festival
9/2 Sat – Oakland Art & Soul Festival
9/3 Sun – Oakland Art & Soul Festival
9/3 Sun – Oakland Arena – Tool & Isis
9/3 Sun – Hemlock – Still Flyin’
9/4 Mon – BOTH – Cloud Cult ($8)
9/4 Mon – Independent – BJM
9/5 Tue – Independent - BJM
9/5 Tue – GAMH – Deerhoof & Mark Ribot’s Ceramic Dog ($15)
9/6 Wed – Independent – Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk
9/7 Thu – GAMH – Vashti Bunyan & Brightblack Morning Light ($20)
9/7 Thu – 12 Galaxies - Oxbow, Flying Luttenbachers, Genghis Tron, The Mall
9/7 Thu – Independent – Benevento/Russo Duo & JFJO
9/8 Fri – Independent – Benevento/Russo Duo & JFJO
9/8 Fri – BOTH – The Ruins and Acid Mothers Temple will play individually and together as 7 acts. ($10)
9/8 Fri – Stork Club - Oxbow, Genghis Tron, Totimoshi
9/9 Sat – GGP – Power to the Peaceful – Michael Franti & Spearhead,
9/9 Sat – Berkeley Comm. Theatre – A Tribe Called Quest
9/9 Sat – Fillmore – Black Keys
9/10 Sun – Slim’s – Rakim ($30)
9/10 Sun – Mezzanine – Silverjews ($20)
9/11 Mon – Elbo Room – Relapse Records "Contamination Tour" – Facedowninshit, Fuck The Facts, Minsk & Unearthy Trance
9/13 Wed – Du Nord – Laura Veirs
9/14 Thu – GAMH – Tortoise
9/15 Fri – BOTH – The Queers ($10/$12)
9/16 Sat – 924 Gilman – The Queers ($7)
9/16 Sat – Independent – Breakestra
9/17 Sun – BOTH – The Advantage ($10)
9/18 Mon – GAMH – Ratatat ($13)
9/20 Wed – GAMH – Mission of Burma ($20)
9/21 Thu - Bimbo’s – Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings ($18)
9/21 Thu – BOTH – Serena Maneesh ($10)
9/21 Thu – Hemlock – USAisaMonster
9/22 Fri – Greek – Massive Attack & DJ Shadow
9/22 Fri – GAMH – Andrew Bird ($16/$18)
9/25 Mon – Slim’s – Mastodon & Converge
9/26 Tue – Fillmore – Medeski Martin & Wood & Wood Bros. ($27.50)
9/26 Tue – BOTH – Junior Boys ($12)
9/27 Wed – GAMH – Pelican
9/28 Thu – BOTH – Kutur Shock & La Plebe ($8)
9/28 Thu – Slim’s – Mojave 3
9/29 Fri – Fillmore – M. Ward
9/29 Fri – Mezzanine – DJ Krush
9/30 Sat – BOTH – The Gossip ($12)
9/30 Sat – Shoreline – Download Fest feat. Beck, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Muse, the Shins and more
10/1 Sun – BOTH – The Gossip ($12)
10/5 Thu – Mezzanine – adult. ($13)
10/5 Thu – Bimbo’s - Bill Frisell / Jack DeJohnette / Jerome Harris ($25)
10/8 Sun – BOTH – Residual Echoes & LSD March ($7)
10/10 Tue – BOTH – Califone ($10)
10/12 Thu – boca – Vitalic
10/13 Fri – Warfield – Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
10/14 Sat – BOTH – Subtle ($12)
10/16 Mon – Fillmore – Ladytron
10/17 Tue – GAMH – The Hold Steady
10/18 Wed – Independent – The Black Angels
10/18 Wed – GAMH – Matmos
10/19 Thu – Fillmore – Decembrists
10/19 Thu – Mezzanine – Stones Throw 10th Anniversary – Madlib, J-Rocc, Peanut Butter Wolf
10/19 Thu – BOTH – Sushou No Fune & Mammatus ($7)
10/19 Thu – Fillmore – Yo La Tengo
10/20 Fri – Fillmore – Yo La Tengo
10/20 Fri – GAMH – Beirut
10/20 Fri – BOTH – Detroit Cobras ($15)
10/20 Fri – Independent – Cut Chemist
10/20 Fri – L.A. – ArthurNights - Boris
10/21 Sat – Independent – Cut Chemist
10/21 Sat – Fillmore – Yo La Tengo
10/24 Tue – BOTH – Be Your Own Pet ($10)
10/29 Sun – Slim’s – NoMeansNo
10/30 Mon – GAMH – Bonnie Prince Billy
10/21 Tue – GAMH – Bonnie Prince Billy
11/2 Thu – Bimbo’s – Jamie Lidell
11/3 Fri – Independent – Mouse on Mars with Birdy Nam Nam
11/9 Thu – GAMH – Islands
11/9 Thu – Mezzanine – Kid Koala
11/10 Fri – GAMH – Xiu Xiu
11/11 Sat – Bill Graham Civ. Aud. – Asobi Seksu (opener)
11/11 Sat – BOTH – Wolf Eyes ($10)
11/18 Sat – Mezzanine – The Slits ($14)

Playlist 08.01.06

2006-08-01T12:21:00.000-07:00

tuesday, august 1, 2006
3:00 a.m. - 6:00 a.m.

trans am – the campaign --> access control
magma – udu wudu
illes – nem erdkel, amit mondzs
edip akbayram - yakar inceden inceden

coachwhips – prisoner 119
crime – rock ‘n’ roll enemy no. 1
i object! – heard the herd
coughs – garter snake
wolf eyes – stabbed in the face

borful tang – majestic shuffle
unknown – track 7 (from trapdoor compilation)
tivol – tivoloid part 1

richard youngs – wynding hills of maine
beirut – rhineland (heartland)
daniel johnston – some things last a long time
camera obscura – lloyd, i’m ready to be heartbroken

shuggie otis – strawberry letter 23
rufus harley – hypothesis
william carlos williams - and your stuck in traffic while your piano's home having cocktails with the termites

johnny clarke – love up your brothers and sisters
toots tonic meets bill laswell – clean escape (the crew is here)
subtitle – subtalk
lady sovereign – drunk on radiation
psalm one – the living

cut chemist – the garden
jahle – lullaby
bembeya jazz national – republique guinea
orchestra baobad – el son te llama

amps for christ – augmented/demented
gandalf – scarlet ribbons
circulatory system – the lovely universe
ohsees – cool deaths

comets on fire - jaybird

Loads of Shows

2006-07-31T14:18:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, August 1, 2006
Hot Chip
The Independent
$15

Just found out this show is sold out, which has its pros and cons. In addition to the nuisance factor of trying to score a ticket for a sold-out show, this means that the show is going to be packed and you won’t have much in the way of personal space. Of course, since Hot Chip’s high energy indie-pop-hip-hop-soul-tronica is the kind of music feeds off of the crowd, a sold-out show could be a blessing if you decide to try and snag a ticket at the door. Before I saw Hot Chip open for Stereolab, I wasn’t sure quite what to expect. As much as I enjoyed their first album, I wasn’t sure how the music would translate live, as many of the numbers on the first album seemed like they might fail to satisfy live. Plus, as with all electronica artists that venture into rock , hip-hop, etc. terrain, it is unclear how they will fill in the blanks that remain or whether they will perform with just a laptop. Needless to say, since I’m plugging it here, the live show was excellent. Although Hot Chip is comprised of two Englishmen, the touring band had 6 or 7 people, most of which were standing in front of laptops and various electronic devices. The songs from the first album took on a much more dance-rock feel, a la LCD Soundsystem, and were given a lot more energy. The new album, The Warning, is much more upbeat and more in line with the live show. Maybe in some San Franciscans will dance!!!

Wednesday, August 2, 2006
Guardian Best of the Bay Party
Club 6
$10

While “Best of the Bay” is obviously somewhat subjective, there’s no arguing with the fact this year’s party has some top notch local entertainment lined up: Conscious hip-hop from Zion I, punk brass band action from the Extra Action Marching Band, electro-rock from Numbers. That’s just a few of the acts that are playing in the three rooms at Club 6 on Wednesday. At only $10, it’s a great chance to see a heaping helping of local talent for a pittance.

Thursday, August 3, 2006
Extra Action Marching Band
12 Galaxies
$10

If you don’t get to see them at the Guardian party on Wednesday, you’re in luck. The EAMB is playing 12 Galaxies, and promises lots of skin and second line action. If my word isn’t enough for you, David Byrne of the Talking Heads had these lads and lasses opening for him on his tour last year. Is that slightly more credibility?

Thursday, August 3, 2006
KUSF DJ Night
Lucky 13 (2140 Market St. near Church)
Free

First Thursday of every month brings us a KUSF DJ night at Lucky 13. Each month, three DJs will take turns spinning records for the general public. What kind of DJ would I be if I didn’t plug this? Or if I didn’t do my damnedest to make it over there.? With a huge bar, a shit ton of beers on tap and even some cheap options for the more frugal among you (I think PBRs are $2.00 or $2.50), it’s a great way to kick off the rapidly approaching weekend. While the first installment last month featured mostly punk DJs, this week features Irwin, Stevil and Chris Cook. I listen to Irwin and Chris’s shows regularly at work, and Stevil comes on after me on Tuesdays, so my guess is that we will be doing a great deal of border and genre hopping throughout the night. Expect the eclectic and come out and show your support for KUSF and hang out with yours truly.

Thursday, August 3, 2006
Mammatus
Café Du Nord
$7

I believe I’ve plugged this Corralitos band before, so I’ll make it short: Psychedelic stoner rock. Somewhere in between the folkier, softer numbers and the long drawn out heavy jams, your brain will float away on a cloud or get snatched up by a dragon. No bong required (but, then again, it might not hurt).

Friday, August 4, 2006
Bloc Party, Broken Social Scene, Mew & Two Gallants
Greek Theater (Berkeley)
$???

I’m not looking up the price on this because I know it’s more than I care to spend. If someone offers me a free ticket, I’ll totally go though.

Friday August 4, 2006
The Beatnuts
Red Devil Lounge
$20

If this show from these hip-hoppers were half the price, I’d totally go.

Friday, August 4, 2006
Blue Cheer
Café Du Nord
$20

Late ‘60s loud blues jammers Blue Cheer took their name from a popular type of LSD. They are back. And from what I heard from my friend who manages the Black Angels and saw them when the Angels were opening for them in Texas this July, they have still got it. Did I mention they are from SF? So it’s the homecoming show. Ooh la la.

Friday, August 4, 2006
Xavier Rudd, Wood Bros. & Ane Brun
The Fillmore
$20

Don’t know jack about Xavier Rudd, except that the picture on the Fillmore’s website seems to have him playing a didgeridoo. The real highlights here are the Wood Bros. and Ane Brun. The Wood Brothers are Chris Wood of Medeski, Martin and Wood and, well, his brother. Ane Brun is a Norwegian singer/songwriter who crafts stripped-down, minimal ballads that haunt well after the CD is over. Hell, she gets play on Loads of Lenode: The KUSF Show, so she must be good.

Friday, August
Sneaker Pimps 1000 Shoe Tour
Mighty
$10

Last time the Sneaker Pimps tour came through San Francisco, it brought us Mix Master Mike. This time we get Dan the Automotor (Dr. Octagon, Handsome Boy Modelling School, Deltron 3030, Gorillaz, to name a few) and Kid Koala (Deltron 3030, Bullfrog, to name a couple). Dan the Automator and Kid Koala… If only Del would show up for a surprise Deltron 3030 set, you might get to see me cry. Or at least jump around.

Friday, August 4, 2006 and Saturday, August 5, 2006
Dragon Smoke
Boom Boom Room
$25

This one is taking me back to New Orleans just thinking about it. Stanton Moore (drummer for Galactic), Ivan Neville (keys/vocals for the Neville Brothers and his own band Dumpstaphunk), Eric Lindell (guitarist/vocalist who is quite popular down in NOLA) and Robert Mercurio (bassist for Galactic). Don’t forget the inevitable special guests and you’ve got yourself a recipe for some Southern funk that’ll keep you shaking your ass til the sun comes up. Well, 2:00 a.m. This is, after all, SF, not NOLA. Does anyone else miss the all night funk fest? I know I do. Coming out of a club and seeing the sun is such a lovely feeling.

Saturday, August 5, 2006
Six Organs of Admittance & Citay
Bottom of the Hill
$10

Six Organs… is Ben Chasney’s (of Comets on Fire) folk project, and he makes some dark, beautiful music. Citay is a band I seem to be plugging endlessly on here because they play all the damn time.

Sunday, August 6, 2006
Spanish Harlem Orchestra and Ska Cubano
Stern Grove
Free

Don’t know much about these folks, but this show comes highly recommended. I’m going to check it out. Perhaps you should as well. It’ll round out your weekend nicely, I’m sure.

Free and Freaky Festivals... Fantastic!!!

2006-07-26T13:41:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, July 26, 2006
Jazz on Grant
Various Venues in North Beach
Free

After surviving a nearly fatal blow in the form of no longer being able to serve alcohol in the park, the North Beach Jazz Festival starts tonight with a whole bunch of free jazz in clubs, cafes, bars and restaurants all over North Beach. While I can’t speak for most of the bands, it’s free. If you don’t like something, just wander around to another venue. It starts at 7:00 p.m. with a performance from the Realistic Orchestra, and then all the following shows go from 8:00 to 11:00:

• Mojito: Boca do Rio, Motion Potion (late), Brooke Michael, Aimee & Sky - 1337 Grant Ave
• Grant & Green: Urban Quintet - 1371 Grant Ave
• Blanca Cafe: Live Flamenco - 1441 Grant Ave
• Live Worms Gallery - Micha Patri - 1341 Grant Ave
• Magnet: Will Bernard - 1402 Grant Ave
• Royale: the Park - 1326 Grant Ave
• Ristorante Ideale: Gregory James - Grant Ave
• Saloon: Joe Bagale Trio - Grant @ Valejo
• Cafe Trieste: BJ Papa - Grant @ Valejo
• Savoy Tivoli: Dan Lebowitz Quartet - 1434 Grant Ave
• Tony Nic's: Howard Wiley Trio - 1534 Stockton
• Cafe Divine: Craig Ventresco - 1600 Stockton
• Columbus Cafe: DU UY Qunitet - 562 Green
• Café Roma: Josh Jones Trio - 526 Columbus Ave
• Café Figaro: Sarah Jo Zaharako - 1318 Broadway
• Trattoria Pinocchio: Andre Sumelius - 401 Columbus Ave
• Panta Rei: Chuck McKinnon Trio - 431 Columbus Ave
• Steps of Rome: Bob Crawford Quartet - 348 Columbus Ave
• Joe Dimaggio's Chophouse: Alex Budman Trio - 601 Union Ave
• Northstar: DJ Little E'Normous - 1560 Powell
• Pena Pachamama: Freddy Clark - 1630 Powell
• Washington Square Bar & Grill: John Houghton - 1707 Powell

Starting tomorrow and running through the weekend at various venues is the Edgetone New Music Summit brings us “music and sound ranging from raging new improvisation, to electronic manipulation, to harsh noise reflecting an incredible range of genre busting exploration and sonic creativity. In addition, the festival seeks to promote intermedia arts, fostering cross-pollination between music/sound art and experimental film/visual arts.” While I don’t know too much about too many of the artists performing, the few that I do know are doing very interesting things. And it’s a KUSF co-present, so you know it’ll be good!!! Check out the full schedule

Also on Thursday, old-school punk rockers with pop sensibilities, The Buzzcocks, play the Mezzanine. Citay plays 12 Galaxies. Last time I said: “You can see Citay get all 70’s rock on you, featuring Tim Green of The Fucking Champs and Ezra Feinberg of Piano Magic and (apparently) a shit ton of other folks on stage too.” And on Friday, there’s X and the return of The Rollins Band over at the Warfield.

This weekend brings us two days of free jazz at Washington Square Park as part of the North Beach Jazz Festival. Hopefully I’ll do another post on it and give you some advice on the other shows this weekend (Om, Mushroom, KRS-One, SF Opera, Brightblack Morning Light), but get out there and see some free music. Saturday is “world” music and Sunday is “NOLA” music. More on NOLA in quotes later, hopefully.

Playlist 07.25.06

2006-07-25T21:59:00.000-07:00

charlie christian – benny’s bugle
cat power – the moon
alexander ‘skip’ spence – weighted down (the prison song)
mammoths melting out of the ice – track 4 (from “meow hit lot dood,” forgot to write down the title, damn it)

vetiver – red lantern girls
the hidden hand – draco vibration
circle – lokki

circle of dead children – barbarians and henchmen
ovo – mammut
noxagt – the impious one

guitar wolf – rumble
pink mountain – flight of the wizard
thrones - senex
400 blows – the root of our nature

battles – hi/lo
magyar posse – intercontinental hustle
boredoms – super going

matthew herbert – sugar
five deez – let the people know
breakestra – family rap
hot chip – over and over
notwist – the string (remix)

tuung – beautiful and light
growing – cumulusless
calla – only drowning men
brightblack morning light – fry bread
thuja – track 2 (from “pine cone temples” disc 1)

7 year rabbit cycle - puppies

Sonic Youth... And Some Other Stuff If You Didn't Already Get Your Ticket

2006-07-12T14:31:00.000-07:00

Where does the time go? Seems like only yesterday when I did my last show preview when, in reality, it was over a week and approaching two. Time flies when you’re having, um, fun. Whether or not you’re having fun right now, you will be. When you attend one of the following amazing shows:

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

Tonight, you have two options:

Go see some great Sabbath inspired stoner metal (in the vein of the Bay’s own High on Fire) at Slim’s, courtesy of Austin’s The Sword. For $11, you’ll also enjoy (hopefully) the Saviours and Akimbo.

Or, let the Flying Luttenbachers’ “punk jazz/free death/no wave” do whatever that sort of music does to you (make you bang your head, dance around like a maniac, stand in the back pushing the earplugs in as far as they’ll go, etc.). What with the fact that Mick Barr of Orthrelm, Octis, et al. is playing guitar now, this should be a stellar pick. It’ll be sort of like angry free jazz with a shotgun. (p.s. if anyone wants to go let me know, as I’m thinking about it, even though I probably shouldn’t but probably will if anyone else expresses interest). Your $7 also enables you to check out Zs and The Sword & Sandal (which is either (1) an Italian movie, (2) an Italian movie that John Dwyer (Coachwhips, OCS, et al.) stars in, or (3) a band that Dwyer likely plays in).

Thursday, July 13, 2006

Hmmm… Still Flying proves that a bunch of indie-rockers can make reggae at 12 Galaxies.

At Café du Nord, you can see Citay get all 70’s rock on you, featuring Tim Green of The Fucking Champs and Ezra Feinberg of Piano Magic and (apparently) a shit ton of other folks on stage too. They are opening for The Dilettantes, which features Joel from Brian Jonestown Massacre, for what it’s worth.

My pick for Thursday is over at Annie’s Social Club for hardcore-punk aggression with LA's 400 Blows, experimental-jazz-meets-heavy-something aggression with Oxbow and the jazz-meets-metal aggression of The Mass. Aggression… Yeah, this show’ll be good.

Friday, July 14, 2006

Everyone should be at Sonic Youth at the Fillmore. What’s that? You didn’t get a ticket either? Yeah, it’s sold out. What were we all thinking? Well, we can either head over to the Fillmore and scope out the ticket situation, or we can head over to the 12 Galaxies and see NOLA’s Quintron and Miss Pussycat drop electro-swamp-boogie and dance like we’re retarded. Because that’s the only way to dance to Quintron.

Saturday, July 15, 2006

Caught Sonic Youth last night and pissed that you missed Quintron? No worries. Just head over to 21 Grand in Oakland, where they’re playing again. Score you. For those of us who had to settle for Quintron instead of Sonic Youth, I suggest:

POREST (who also plays with Mono Pause and Neung Phak) will be doing some weird sound tomfoolery at the Hemlock. His website says: “For hundreds of years, Oakland, California's POREST (aka Mark Gergis) has exploited reckless composition, performance and worldwide documentation via multi-instrumentation, field recordings, perverse cut-uppers, dirty bomb audio downers and whatever else gets in the way.” That’s probably as good of an idea of what to expect as I can give you.

Monday, July 17, 2006

Mother-fucking Cannibal Ox at the Independent. Vast Aire and Vordul Mega. Was “The Cold Vein” the best hip hop album of 2001? I can’t decide that for you, but it’s up there. At least if you like your hip hop raw and gritty and produced by El-P instead of made for the radio and produced by the good Dr. Has it really been that long since they dropped it? Um, I suppose so. Did Cannibal Ox cancel the show I bought advance tickets for in London? Yes. Did I ever get my money back? Fuck Ticketweb’s UK division (they never refunded a Darkest Hour show that got cancelled as well). Oh, how much did the Cannibal Ox show in London cost? Let’s see 5 or 6 quid, so like $9 or $10. How much is the show here? It’s $18. Shit, dude. I know. But it could be fucking dope.

Playlist 07.11.06

2006-07-12T14:30:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, July 11, 2006
3:00 a.m. – 6:00 a.m.

Machinefabriek – Somerset
Black Dice – Smiling Off (DFA Remix)
Isan – Yttrium
Boards of Canada – Left Side Drive

Caribou – Medium Size Working Dog
Hot Chip – The Warning
Luomo – Class

Matmos – Steam and Sequins for Larry Levan
Bucketrider – My Education

Can – Pinch
Kiila – Crystal Fields
Caroliner – Track 8 from An 1800’s Affectuant in an Instrumental Revue

Growing – Fancy Period
Richard Youngs – Life on a Beam
Susumu Yokota – Love Bird
Rauhan Orkesteri/Lauhkeat Lampaat – Mylviva Ullako

Espers – Dead Queen
Angels of Light – The Provider
Bardo Pond – Endurance

Acid King – Heavy Load
Alexander Tucker – Old Fog
OHSEES – Island Raiders
Vashti Bunyan – Lately

Charalambides – Spring
Spoils of War - Lightning Snakes
Brutal Truth – Dementia
The Melvins – Night Goat

Coachwhips – My Job Down at the Hive

The Calendar Is Back!!!

2006-06-28T12:48:00.000-07:00

It's unedited, and I've gotten somewhat lazy about the prices. Hey, I'm a busy man, damn it!!! Use it as a starting point to figure out how many grand you're going to drop on concert tickets in the next few months. Yeah disposable income!!!

6/28 Wed – BOTH – Be Your Own Pet
6/29 Thu – Mezzanine – Jamie Lidell, Edan with guest Dagha, and Nobody & the Mystic Chords of Memory ($15)
6/30 Fri – Hemlock – Numbers
7/1 Sat – Independent – Band of Horses
7/1 Sat – 21 Grand – Hans Grusel's Krankenkabinet (a tribute to Twig's BRAIN WAVE), 16 Bitch Pileup, Luz Alibi and Mr. Georgio Marauder, Rubber ()) Cement (a tribute to Twig's PLEISTOSCENE MUdb CROWN & LIQUID SKULL), Ecomorti, Slimelord (a tribute to Nautical Almanac, Ann Arbor), Lazers and Razors
7/2 Sun – Stern Grove – Rebirth Brass Band and Geno Delfose & French Rockin’ Boogie
7/2 Sun – Independent – Garage a Trois ($25)
7/5 Wed – 12 Galaxies - Slough Feg ($8)
7/6 Thu – Hemlock – Magik Markers & Skaters
7/6 Thu – Hemlock – Magik Markers
7/6 Thu – Independent – Aesop Rock, Murs & Blockhead
7/7 Fri – Oakland Metro – Sleepytime Gorilla Museum ($13)
7/8 Sat – Shoreline - Nine Inch Nails / Bauhaus / Peaches ($50 reserved/$24 lawn)
7/8 Sat – Pier 30 – Warped Tour (Against Me!, NOFX, Less Than Jake, Bouncing Souls, et al.)
7/8 Sat – Oakland Metro – Sleepytime Gorilla Museum ($13)
7/9 Sun – Stern Grove – San Francisco Symphony
7/9 Sun – 21 Grand – Parenthetical Girls, Snowsuit
7/9 Sun – Hemlock – Battleship, Pterodactyl & Hank IV
7/10 Mon – Hemlock - Parenthetical Girls, Snowsuit (Early Show)
7/11 Tue – 21 Grand – The Flying Luttenbachers
7/12 Wed – Slim’s – The Sword
7/12 Wed – Flying Luttenbachers
7/13 Thu – 12 Galaxies – Still Flyin’
7/13 Thu – BOTH – P.O.S. & Jel ($8)
7/13 Thu – Du Nord – Dilettantes and Citay ($8)
7/13 Thu – Annie’s – 400 Blows, Oxbow, The Mass and more ($10)
7/14 Fri – 12 Galaxies – Quintron & Ms. Pussycat ($8/$10)
7/14 Fri – Fillmore – Sonic Youth
7/15 Sat – 21 Grand – Quintron & Ms. Pussycat
7/15 Sat – Hemlock – Porest
7/15 Sat – BOTH – Birdmonster
7/15 Sat – Hemlock - Parenthetical Girls, Snowsuit
7/16 Sun – Stern Grove – Makaha Sons and ??? (Hawaiian)
7/17 Mon – Independent – Cannibal Ox
7/18 – 7/22 – L.A. – Devendra Banhart Curated Festival
7/18 Tue – Fillmore – Gnarls Barkley
7/19 Wed – Fillmore – Gnarls Barkley
7/19 Wed – Hemlock – The Drift & Roots of Orchis
7/19 Wed – San Jose HP Pavillion - Slayer / Lamb of God / Mastodon / Children of Bodom / Thine Eyes Bleed ($39)
7/19 Wed – 12 Galaxies – Moe!kestra, Weasel Walter Quartert and Sleeping People ($8)
7/20 Thu – StudioZ – Extra Action Marching Band
7/21 Fri – Independent – Ween
7/21 Fri – GAMH – Peeping Tom ($25)
7/21 Fri – Du Nord – The Avengers ($12
7/21 Fri – Slim’s Mr. Life & Cage ($16)
7/22 Sat – Du Nord – The Album Leaf, Lymbyc System ($12)
7/22 Sat – 12 Galaxies – Oneida, 400 Blows & No Doctors ($8/$10)
7/22 Sat – Fillmore – Jurassic 5
7/22 Sat – BOTH – Saros (CD release), Stolen Babies, Giant Squid & Frozen In Amber ($8/$10)
7/22 Sat – Greek – Flaming Lips, Ween & the Go! Team ($41)
7/23 Sun – Stern Grove – Mavis Staples and Jackie Greene
7/23 Sun – Fillmore – Jurassic 5
7/24 Mon – Fillmore – Os Mutantes ($37.50)
7/26 Wed – Jazz on Grant (FREE)
7/27 Thu – Mezzanine – The Buzzcocks
7/27 through 7/30 Edgetone Fest at various venues see: (http://www.edgetonemusicsummit.org/summit.html)
7/28 Fri – Warfield – X & Rollins Band
7/29 Sat – Washington Square – North Beach Jazz Fest – World in the Park - Daara J., New Monsoon, Agualibre, Stooges Brass Band and Slammin (FREE)
7/29 Sat – BOTH – Om ($10)
7/30 Sun – Red Devil – KRS-One ($20)
7/30 Sun – Stern Grove – San Francisco Opera
7/30 Sun – Du Nord – Brightblack Morning Light ($10)
7/30 Sun – Washington Square – North Beach Jazz Fest – A Taste of NOLA - Jon Cleary & The Absolute Monster Gentlemen, A.L.O., Delta Nove and Firme (FREE)
8/1 Tue – Independent – Hot Chip
8/4 Fri – Greek Theatre – Bloc Party, Broken Social Scene, Mew & Two Gallants
8/4 Fri – Red Devil – Beatnuts ($20)
8/5 Sat – BOTH – Six Organs of Admittance & Citay ($10)
8/6 Sun – Stern Grove – Spanish Harlem Orchestra and Ska Cubano
8/8 Tue – Du Nord – Mammatus ($7)
8/9 Wed – Rickshaw - MILOSH, Nobody & Mystic Chords of Memory, tba ($10)
8/10 Thu – Mezzanine – Diplo ($15)
8/10 Thu – Independent – Gris Gris
8/11 Fri – BOTH - Final Fantasy, Bob Wiseman & Curtains ($8/$10)
8/12 Sat – Hemlock – Hototogisu, Skaters and 16 Bitch Pileup
8/13 Sun – Bleeding Edge Festival – Matmos, Yo La Tengo, Isis, et al. ($50)
8/14 Mon – BOTH – Get Him Eat Him & The Evangelicals ($7)
8/16 Wed – GAMH – Comets on Fire
8/16 Wed – BOTH – Don Caballero ($10/$12)
8/18 Fri – Du Nord – French Kicks ($12)
8/18 Fri – Independent – Dirty Dozen Brass Band
8/19 Sat – Independent – Dirty Dozen Brass Band
8/19 Sat – Du Nord – French Kicks ($12)
8/20 Sun – Stern Grove – Ozomatli and Crown City Rockers
8/20 Sun – Giants v. Dodgers
8/21 Mon – GAMH – A Silver Mt. Zion
8/23 Wed – BOTH - Don Caballero, Zombi & Triclops! ($10/$12)
8/23 Wed – Lobot – Japanther, Two Gallants ($7-$10)
8/24 Thu – Hemlock – Japanther
8/25 Fri – BOTH – XBXRX & 7 Year Rabbit Cycle ($8)
8/27 Sun – Ghosting, Bonus, Axolotl, Tom Carter w/Inca Ore
8/26 Sat – Mezzanine –Herbert ($18)
8/31 Thu – GAMH – Radio Birdman ($20)
9/4 Mon – BOTH – Cloud Cult ($8)
9/5 Tue – GAMH – Deerhoof & Mark Ribot’s Ceramic Dog ($15)
9/7 Thu – GAMH – Vashti Bunyan & Brightblack Morning Light ($20)
9/8 Fri – BOTH – The Ruins and Acid Mothers Temple will play individually and together as 7 acts. ($10)
9/10 Sun – Slim’s – Rakim ($30)
9/10 Sun – Mezzanine – Silverjews ($20)
9/15 Fri – BOTH – The Queers ($10/$12)
9/16 Sat – 924 Gilman – The Queers ($7)
9/20 Wed – GAMH – Mission of Burma ($20)
9/21 Thu - Bimbo’s – Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings
9/21 Thu – BOTH – Serena Maneesh & Film School ($10)
9/22 Fri – BOTH – Serena Maneesh & Film School ($10)
9/26 Tue – Fillmore – MMW
9/26 Tue – BOTH – Junior Boys ($12)
9/29 Fri – Fillmore – M. Ward
9/30 Sat – BOTH – The Gossip ($12)
10/1 Sun – BOTH – The Gossip ($12)
10/5 Thu – Mezzanine – adult. ($13)
10/10 Tue – GAMH – Do Make Say Think
10/12 Thu – boca – Vitalic
10/16 Mon – Fillmore – Ladytron
10/18 Wed – GAMH – Matmos
11/3 Fri – Independent – Mouse on Mars with Birdy Nam Nam
11/10 Fri – GAMH – Xiu Xiu

Playlist 06.27.06

2006-06-27T18:26:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, June 27, 2006
3:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m.

Machinefabriek – J’Espere Ca
Efterklang – Swarming
Trio – Flordigan

Ariel Kalma – Gongmo
Magyar Posse – Sudden Death
Secret Chiefs 3 – Renunciation
Mohammed “Jimmy” Mohammed – Altchalkoum

Carla Bozulich – Steal Away
Dog Faced Hermans – Les Femmes Et Les Filles Vont Danser

The Slow Break – Inside the Dark Mountain
Sonic Youth – Do You Believe In Rapture?
Tortoise & Bonnie Prince Billy – Daniel
Brightblack Morning Light – Everybody Daylight
BRMC – Take Them On, On Your Own

Aarktica – Snowstorm Ruins Birthday
Richard Youngs & Simon Wickham Smith – 2005
Abstrackt Keal Agram – Yo, Rap !
Super Numeri – The Babies

Show Spotlight
*Nobody and Mystic Chords of Memory – Broaden a New Sound
*Jamie Lidell – What Is It This Time?
*Edan – Promised Land
Sleeper and ID – Mechanized Breath

Hair Police – Constantly Terrified
Earwicker – Pentagono Dose
The Pope – Kool Khristian Kids

Asobi Seksu – New Years
Architecture in Helsinki – Souvenirs
Think About Life – Paul Cries
Oneida –Lavender
Fiery Furnaces – I’m Waiting to Know You

Decembrists – Picaresque

Mic Break Music: Wendy Carlos – Beauty in the Beat (seemed like a shame to hear how good this album was while I was talking over it, perhaps I need to pick it up…)

Watch For Falling Angels

2006-06-22T16:07:00.000-07:00

Thursday, June 22, 2006
Lansig-Dreiden and The Black Angels
The Independent
$12

What I previously said about The Black Angels:

“Disclosure: One of my friends manages the band. Disclosure: It doesn't matter because they're fucking good and I’d be going to the show regardless. Much like the truly great bands that immediately come to my mind upon hearing Austin's the Angels (Velvet Underground, The Doors, early Pink Floyd), the music may be dark, psychedelic, etc. while remaining universally accessible. Who doesn’t like VU, The Doors and Pink Floyd? That’s how people should feel about The Black Angels, because their brand of “drone ‘n’ roll” (not my term, but I love it) will have them blowing up before too long. It wasn't accidental that BBC Radio 1's Zane Lowe was giving them a lot of play last year and it isn't coincidence that they are headlining a showcase at SXSW.”

I saw them 4 times during SXSW, and didn’t get tired of it. They’ve been touring and gigging a ton, and the live show is loving them for it. Do yourself a favor and check these guys out tonight. If you’re not yet convinced, check their MySpace page and stream some tunes.

Oh, and to make matters even better, enigmatic art-rockers Lansing-Dreiden (on tour as L-D Section II) are headlining the gig with a set of something of the electro-orchestral-post-punk variety. Oh, the opening, opening band is named Hot Shit. Hot shit, indeed.

Playlist 06.20.06

2006-06-20T23:42:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, June 20, 2006
3:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m.

Stars of the Lid - Lactate’s Moment
Lightning Hopkins - In the Evening, the Sun Is Going Down
Michael F. Cote – Spike Driver Blues
Richard Leo Johnson – Side Road To Splendor

William Basinski – dlp 1.3
William Parker –There Is a Bomb in Gilead
Hall, Ronaldo, Hooker – View from Bellvue

Man or Astro Man - Invasion of the Dragonmen
Messer Chups –In 3 Minutes till Massacre
Mr. Lif – Murz Iz My Manager
Antipop Consortium – Nude Paper
Subtle – Skullz

Cobra Killer & Kapajkos – Heavy Rotation
Dada Swing – Hand Yr Claps
Charming Hostess – Szerelem
Comus – Drip Drip

Sibyll Baier –Softly
Juana Molina – No Seas Antipatica
Nobody – You Can Know Her (feat. Mia Doi Todd)
Booka Shade – Body Language
Hot Chip – The Warning

Notwist – This Room (Four Tet And Manitoba Remix)
Herbert – Sugar
Matmos –Germs Burn for Darby Crash
Cul De Sac – Death of the Sun
The Psychic Paramount - Napoli / Perpignan Pt. Two

(Concert Spotlight)
*Lansing-Dreiden – Part of the Promise
*Black Angels – Young Men Dead
Serena Maneesh – Drain Cosmetics
Exploding Hearts – Throwaway Style
The Satelliters –Where Do We go?

Japanther – Dragon Rider

At Mic Breaks: Brian Eno – Another Green World

My Most Schizophrenic Post Ever? So Much To Do...

2006-06-16T13:20:00.000-07:00

Where to begin? This weekend is so jam packed with shows, I don’t even know.

Friday

Baaba Maal plays the Masonic Auditorium and graces us with a visit from Senegal bringing his fusion of traditional African music with pop and reggae as part of SF Jazz’s always great lineup.

For the more electronic musically minded, head over to the Hemlock and see Kid 606’s album release party so he can beat you upside the head with some sort of electronic music which will blend different electronic genres with his indie/punk attitude.

Steve Stapleton’s Nurse with Wound makes a rare U.S. appearance at the Great American, giving us a chance to see an extremely influential musician who has stayed fresh and relevant for 28 years. The man has covered so much ground in his ears (psychedlia, jazz, krautrock, industrial, free jazz, et al. all influence his work), so it’s difficult to determine what to expect, but you can certainly expect a great show. Note: NWW plays again on Saturday, and I’ll be there with freaking bells on.

I don’t know much about The Slip, but I saw guitarist Brad Barr play solo at SXSW, and I would expect great things from this jam band, who draw on a wide array of influences in their music.

If you want to get drunk and listen to ridiculous songs about , say, washing and pwdering your nuts, the Boom Boom Room has New Orleans’ Morning 40 Federation who play something that could only come out New Orleans: jazz funk swamp rock.

Calexico bring their Southwestern indie rock to the Fillmore with dark and heavy indie rock from Black Heart Procession opening. Note: They play again on Saturday.

Whew…

Saturday

Round Two of Nurse With Wound and Calexico/Black Heart Procession.

Tapes & Tapes at Café Du Nord. This one is sold out, but if you’re a Pixies fan, I would suggest trying to pick up a ticket at the door. I’ve only paid over face once since I’ve lived in San Francisco. But that’s just me. I didn’t try and see Coldplay at the Fillmore.

Tom Verlaine of Television fame is touring support of a couple of new releases. I’ve only heard the instrumental guitar release, but it is far from what I expected since I hadn’t heard any of his post-Television work. It’s damn fine, and I expect that this is a rare chance to see a legendary guitar player.

Kool Keith and Kutmasta Kurt play Mezzanine, and Mr. Keith is back with his oh-so-crazy alter-ego Dr. Octagon. You know the one. “Dr. Octagon is an incompetent, time-traveling, possibly extraterrestrial surgeon who pretends to be a female gynecologist and molests his patients and nurses.” Yeah, that’s fucking right.

Sunday

First Stern Grove concert of the season with Aimee Mann & Seu Jorge. If the weather is as nice as it is today, you’d better head out there. I don’t know jack about Ms. Mann, but Seu Jorge is most famously known for providing the Brazilian versions of David Bowie songs for The Life Aquatic’s soundtrack. Who cares anyway? If its this nice, I’ll go sit in Stern Grove and listen to Godsmack.

The evening brings us British post-punk/new wavy posters The Futureheads. Get more post punk from the openers, French Kicks.

And, finally…

Monday

Zu, Pink Mountain and Citay at Bottom of the Hill. Read what The venue’s website has to say:

Frenetic Records Triple Record Release Show:

ZU
Members have worked with Ken Vandermark, Jeb Bishop, Fred Lonberg-Holm, Mike Patton, Thurston Moore and Jim O'Rourke
(Amazing drum, sax and bass trio from Italy)

Pink Mountain
Members (Kyle Bruckmann, Sam Coomes, John Shiurba, Gino Robair and Scott Rosenberg) are in or have worked with: Quasi, Blues Goblins, Fred Frith, Anthony Braxton, Thinking Fellers Union 282, Tom Waits, John Zorn, Lozenge, and Molecules.
(Heavy / Progressive / Psych / Rock)

Citay
Ezra Feinberg -- Piano Magic
"For Citay, heaven is filled with the spooky acoustic guitars, mandolins and organs of Led Zeppelin, the massive twin guitars of Thin Lizzy, and the blissed-out vocal harmonies of The Byrds. This music is beautiful, and seriously original." Village Voice

If I can work up the courage to get no sleep before my shift on Monday night/Tuesdday morning, I’m totally there. You should be too.

Man, That Was Some Fiery Talk About Throwing The Demonic Man In the Furnace

2006-06-14T15:02:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, June 14, 2006

Tonight you could head over to Cafe Du Nord and do the “folktronic hop” thing with Talkdemonic, a duo out of Portland who perform their instrumental post-rock over programmed beats. Not sure how it will sound live, but their sophomore release, Beat Romantic, is on playlist right now at KUSF and I’m loving it.

Thursday, June 15, 2006

Tomorrow night is all about the Fiery Furnaces. The brother and sister duo Matthew and Eleanor Friedberger give you two chances to see them do their experimental- while-remaining-accessible rock shtick (think Capt. Beefheart) twice. First, you can see them at Amoeba at 6:00 p.m. for free. Or, if spending ~$20 is what you’re feeling, you should head over to the Fillmore. Not only will you get a longer set and infinitely better sound, but Man Man is opening. One of my biggest regrets of SXSW this year was missing these guys. They played like a dozen times, but it was always too far away or conflicted against something or nobody else was interested and it would have been a paint o meet up later. Blah. Anyway, while the Furnaces channel the spirit of Beefheart in their eclectic combination of genres, Man Man’s sound derives heavily from Beefheart’s while still being original. Also, everything I’ve read says their amazing live. They don’t stop at all, just rock straight through their set.

Playlist 05.29.06

2006-06-14T11:29:00.000-07:00

Monday, May 29, 2006
12 a.m. to 3 a.m.

Sugar Minott – Dance Hall Style
David Byrne – Help Me Somebody
Public Enemy feat. Paris – Rise
Sobanza Mimanisa - Kiwembo

Charming Hostess – Szerelem
Badawi – I Said Oblivion

(Upcoming Show Set)
Tarentel – Everywhere the Damn Echo
Mono – The Flames Beyond The Cold Maountsin
Pelican – Last Day of Winter

The Sword – Winter’s Wolves
The Black Angels – Young Men Dead
Jimi Hendrix – 1983… (A Merman I Should Be) (from NYC Apartment Tape 1968)

Sunn 0))) – Bathory Erzasebet
Mord – Opus IV

James Plotkin/ Tim Wyskida – One
Don Caballero – Sure We Had Knives Around
Be Your Own Pet – Fire Department
Figurines – Continuous Songs
The High Dials – Sick with the Old Fire

Marissa Nadler – Old Love Haunts Me in the Morning
Richard Youngs – Illumined Land
Matmos – Semen Song for James Bidgood
Matthew Herbert – These Branded Waters

Freddy y Sus Afro Latinos – Maltratado
Sutekh – Baila con los Ninos (Trabajadores mix)
M83 – Saves from the Flames (Remixed by Boom Bip)
Prefuse 73 –With Dirt and Two Texts – Later Version with Love

Steffen Basho-Junghans – 1st Movement

Playlist for 06.13.06

2006-06-14T11:04:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, June 13, 2006
3 a.m. to 6 a.m.

Shalabi Effect – Harpie
Pelt – Outside, Listening
Tom Verlaine – Flame

Belong – I’m Too Sleepy… Shall We Swim?
Richard Youngs – Once It Was Autumn
Young People – R&R
Juana Molina – Malherido

August Born – Birds & Sun & Clay
Charalambides – Two Birds
Bob Drake – Spirit drapery veils the hiatus

Bathtub Shitter - World Dun Hole
Earl Shilton – European Kanone
Don Caballero – And and and, he lowered the twin down
The Flying Luttenbachers –The Elimination of Incompetence
Haino Keiji and Yoshida Tatsuyo –West Broadway

Think About Life – Money
Architecture in Helsinki – Maybe You Can Owe Me
Danielson – Did I Step on Your Trumpet?
Beachwood Sparks – Desert Skies

Cabaret Voltaire – Protection
David Byrne & Brian Eno –The Jezebel Spirit

DNA – You & You
The Seconds – Dedicated to the One Eye
Shoplifting – Cover to Cover

Joy Division – Disorder
This Heat – Twilight Furniture
Coil – The Last Amethyst Deceiver

Fiery Furnaces – I’m In No Mood
Sonic Youth – Washing Machine

Sly & the Family Stone – Sing a Simple Song

Radio Killed the Blog Star... Or, Tonight in the East Bay

2006-06-13T16:13:00.000-07:00

As you can see below, I’m going to start posting my playlists on the blog. You never know when these things might come in handy. Plus it’s very little work for me, since I’m already posting them on KUSF’s Tribe.net website.

I don’t believe I’ve informed you about my new permanent-for-eight-months shift. It’s every Tuesday morning from 3 a.m. to 6 a.m. PST. I know this is a bit early for most of you in the Bay Area (but if you wake up in the middle of the night or just have a rowdy evening, tune in). On the bright side, East Coast and Third Coast readers (you know who you are, although it isn’t entirely clear why you read a blog that’s mostly about shows in San Francisco (oh, its cuz the blog is just so damn good)), this is good for you 9-to-5’ers who can tune in when you get up in the morning.

Enough about the show (which has been keeping me swamped and depriving you of my compiled show knowledge), and on to some show advice for tonight:

Tuesday, June 13, 2006
Green Milk from the Planet Orange
The Stork Club (Oakland)
$5

First thing about GMftPO: Great name. Second thing: They’re a Japanese rock band, and we all know how much I love my Japanese rock. Third thing: They started off as a grindcore band, but now play heavy, experimental psych-rock. Fourth thing: I’ve been meaning to catch these guys for over a year but haven’t been able to. And they play here more than any other Japanese band I can think of. Seems like at least 6 times in the past year. Damn it. One of these days… Just not tonight, as I’m all sorts of tore up after my graveyard last night and the East Bay seems so far. For those interested, rounding out the bill: Metal/progressive noise power-trio Totimoshi out of Oakland, avant-rock Bay Area transplants No Doctors and local noise-folks Sixes.

Playlist for 06/05/06 12 a.m. - 3 a.m.

2006-06-13T09:39:00.000-07:00

the toids - seek
porest - levantine spirit
citay - shalom of safed
need new body - show me your heart

test icicles - circle, square, triangle
the fall - blindness
apes - tapestry mastery

the slow break - it'll be alright
coachwhips - prisoner 119
love is all - make out fall out make up
satelliters - our world will pass
fatal flying guilloteens - take it on the teeth

beirut - postcards from italy
talkdemonic - bering/human til born
jonathon kane - i looked at the sun

super numeri - spies of st. ives
ravi shankar - sandhya raga

laconnor - circle
susan alcorn - twin beams
tom abbs & frequency response - holding on

sir richard bishop - al-darazi
sun city girls - bacchanalia
sir richard bishop - burning caravan

final - golden
tone - evolution

william parker - in case of accident
iranian orchestra for new music - sonata ii

bird show - greet the morning
james blackshaw - ??? can't remember which track

What's Better Than Free Jazz?

2006-05-26T16:28:00.000-07:00

FREE free jazz in Golden Gate Park. Tomorrow (Saturday, May, 27, 2006) at 12 noon, there’s a show in The Park featuring Murder Murder, Weasel Walter/William Winant/Josh Allen Trio and Sword and Sandals. There’s also BBQ, although I’m not sure if the eats are free, or you’re supposed to bring your own, or what. Just head over to the Golden Gate Park trail near Fulton + 11th and listen for the freeness.

Loads of Lenode Back Online and... On the Radio?!?!?

2006-05-25T14:44:00.000-07:00

I know, I know. I promised regular posting. What’s been keeping me away:

(1) Some heavy family stuff
(2) My new DJ gig over at KUSF

I did my first shift last Sunday, from 12 a.m. to 3 a.m., and I’ve got another one coming up this Sunday at the same time. To give you an idea of what I played: free-folk, psychedelic stoner rock, experimental jazz, ambient, good old fashioned indie rock, etc. etc. etc. More details in the Sunday section.

Thursday… Didn’t get your ticket to see Beck’s sold out show at the Fillmore? Or perhaps you traded it for a ticket to one of the sold out Radiohead shows? Either way, I can offer up one suggestion: Indie pop from Thee More Shallows, screaming heavy rock (with organ) from The Mall and Anticon DJ Odd Nosdam filling in the blanks. At $8 in advance or $10 at the door, it’ll be probably be a little cheaper than buying a Beck ticket outside the Fillmore, although the Beckstravaganza is worth a hefty cover charge, in this man’s humble opinion. Plus, Jamie Lidell is opening, and he puts on a very entertaining show in which he samples himself beatboxing and making a variety of noises and incorporates that into his pre-progammed beats over which he sings. Good stuff, good stuff. Too bad it’s sold out. And

Friday… If you’ve never seen Jurassic 5 do their thing live before and have $40 burning a hole in your pocket, I have a treat for you: They’re playing at the Mezzanine along with Dilated Peoples, The Beat Junkies, Supernatural and DJ set from Shortkut Cut Chemist. That there’s quite the hip hop lineup. If you’re looking to spend less money on cover ($8) and on drinks (I forget how much a beer will run you at Mezzanine, but I’m sure it’s more than they’ll be at this show), you could head on over to the Hemlock and see some Brits doing country in the form of The Country Teasers. Openers E-Zee Tiger & 16 Bitch Pile Up will get the weekend started right with danceable psych noise rock and just plain noise, respectively.

Saturday… Didn’t get your ticket to see Mogwai’s sold out show at the Fillmore? Or perhaps you traded it for a ticket to see Beck’s sold out show which you traded for a ticket to see one of thee sold out Radiohead shows? If you pulled that one off, I’ve got good news and bad news. Which do you want first? Bad news? The bad news is that when I saw Mogwai a few weeks ago, they fucking ruled. Which was refreshing because the previous time I’d seen them they had disappointed. Not this time. They post-rocked my freaking socks off. So quiet, so loud, then so quiet again, then so loud again. Now for the good news: You’ve got Radiohead tickets and you can decide whether to see the show or sell the tickets on eBay and make like a 5,000% profit. That’s about all the good news I’ve got, though, since even folks that are going to Mogwai can make the only show I’m posting about on Saturday. Its Peanut Butter Wolf playing a free set from 6:30 to 7:30 over at Canvas Gallery out in the Inner Sunset. This guy’s vinyl weighs a ton. Or so he claims. But he did drop a kick ass mixtape called “My Vinyl Weighs a Ton” and he does know how to rock a party.

Sunday… I cannot in good faith advise you to go out on Sunday night, because then you might miss my show. Actually, I just don’t have anything to suggest for you. So get your BBQ on, get your drink on, and then get your caffeine on so you can stay up ‘til 3 a.m. and hear my show in its entirety. Don’t forget: 12:00 a.m. Sunday night/Monday morning on KUSF 90.3 FM or you can listen on iTunes in the Radio – Public section.

Wednesday… Great show at Great American: Mono/Pelican co-headline with Tarentel opening. If you missed the Mogwai show, you’ve got another chance to post-rock out with your post-cock out: Mono. The Japanese quartet like to start there songs very, very soft and let them grow very, very loud. Think more My Bloody Valentine style sheets of sound, especially in the live setting. Pelican does beautiful, instrumental metal with post-rock influences. Local rock group Tarentel has done a very different set every time I’ve seen them ranging from harsh noise rock to mellow experimental rock, but its always been good. I think I’ll probably bust out a set on my show with these three artists to get you all worked up for the show.

Twonight: Twosday: Two Shows

2006-05-09T13:35:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday, starting the evening over at Bottom of the Hill is experimental instrumental electro rock group Octopus Project out of Austin. Not only one of the many highlights of my SXSW experience, but considered by many folks I know to be the best band in Austin these days. Note: The played Coachella because they won a contest on Myspace based on people voting for their favorite up and coming band. $8 in advance and $10 at the door. If your feeling like spending a little more money, you could head over to the Great American Music Hall with yours truly and check out Slow Music, a collective experimentation in ambient music involving Peter Buck (R.E.M. guitarist), Fred Chalenor, Matt Chamberlain, Robert Fripp (King Crimson guitarist), Bill Rieflin (ex-Ministry/current R.E.M. drummer) & Hector Zazou. Read more about it here. Then you can decide is you want to shell out $25 for this likely one-time show.

Things seem to slow down a bit after tonight (halle-fucking-lujah, since tonight will be my 6th night out in a row) , with the only exception being lo-fi indie psych-popsters Elf Power playing Café Du Nord on Friday. But that doesn’t mean you can rest easy. Radiohead tickets for the Greek go on sale this Sunday and will surely sell out extremely quickly. They are shooting for intimate on this tour – playing smaller venues, cutting back on the light/video show and performing mostly new material. Don’t sleep on those if you want to go. Oh, and the Mission Creek Music Festival starts this Sunday and brings us over a week of great music, mostly rock and experimental. More on that later when I provide you with my picks.

here

Who Feels Like a Quickie?

2006-05-04T15:52:00.000-07:00

I do:

As for Thursday, Cat Power and the Memphis Rhythm Band perform tonight at the Palace of Fine Arts. Despite all the negative reviews I had heard of Chan Marshall’s live performances, she seemed confident and put on what I discerned through my pounding headache to be a beautiful show on Saturday night at the festival. The early show at 6:30 p.m. at the Hemlock features Joe Morris, Henry Kaiser, Damon Smith and Weasel Walter, all respected improvisers on their own, performing some collective improvisational experiments.

Friday night, over in Berkeley at 924 Gilman, you can check out a rare live performance from local experimental jazz grindcore band Total Shutdown. In the city on Friday, Still Flyin’, a reggae group composed of local indie rock musicians, plays the Hemlock, and from everything I’ve heard (which is reviews from a number of sources) they are supposed to be great fun.

Mission:KUSF:2Nite

2006-04-25T12:33:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, April 25, 2006
KUSF’s 29th Birthday Celebration
12 Galaxies
$5

Some of you know that I’ve been volunteering at this little local radio station. Perhaps you have heard of it? It’s called KUSF. If you haven’t, you need to check it out. If the fact that I’m going to be a DJ there as soon as they’ll let me isn’t enough to get you interested in checking out the station, what about the fact that they play great diverse music? What about the fact that they give away free tickets all the damn time? KUSF has been the main source of free tickets for me in the past couple years, and I’ve seen some great stuff because of it: Aesop Rock, McCoy Tyner, Six Organs of Admittance, Sleater-Kinney, Meat Beat Manifesto, Deerhoof, Method Man & Redman, Decembrists, Rebirth Brass Band, The Mars Volta, Pelican, Calexico, Iron & Wine, Negativland, Animal Collective… And that’s just scratching the surface. Perhaps you should check it out.

Even if you don’t want to actually listen to KUSF, you could still come out to their 29th B-Day Celebration at 12 Galaxies tonight. You’d be showing love for your local independent commercial-free radio, as the show is a fundraiser for the station. Those of you who have gone to free shows with me or have gotten discounted tickets to shows when we went in groups could look at it as getting the station back that hooked up those tickets in the first place. Or you could just look at the fact that the show is full of value for only $5.

It’s an all-local bill that’s gotten together to help out KUSF. Up first is Toshio Hirano, who will sing and yodel his way into your heart with classic country tunes. Next, bring on the amour with Salut Matelot with French cabaret music from the 1940s and 1950s. Then, get ready for some spacey rock with The Wendy Kroys (featuring KUSF DJ Carolyn on bass). Headlining the gig are punk-disco-new-wave-dance-rock Numbers, who will get everybody moving at the end of the night (with a little help from all the alcohol that will have been consumed by that point).

If anyone is interested in grabbing some Taqueria Cancun beforehand and making an evening of it, holla at me.

Dinner Is Served

2006-04-20T15:55:00.000-07:00

Friday, April 21, 2006
Kronos Quartet with Matmos and Walter Kitundu
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theatre
$35/$25 regular, $29/$21 students, seniors & teachers, $26/$18 YBCA Members

Saturday, April 22, 2006
Kronos Quartet with Matmos and Walter Kitundu
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theatre
$35/$25 regular, $29/$21 students, seniors & teachers, $26/$18 YBCA Members

Quoth the YBCA: “Kronos Quartet joins forces with local experimental music superstars in this celebration of sound art. Matmos makes music from everyday sounds - amplified crayfish nerve tissue, a kiss between lovers. Their world premier collaboration with Kronos is a score for video, software interface, sample banks and stringed instruments. Kitundu makes instruments that rely on wood, water, fire and earthquakes for their power and pitch. His piece for the Quartet honors jazz great Charles Mingus in a way he could never have imagined, on instruments only Kitundu can play.” For the uninitiated, Kronos Quartet is legendary chamber string quartet that has worked with an insane number of composers. I wish I could tell you about the time I saw them in Amsterdam. But I can’t seem to remember it all that well. I remember thoroughly enjoying it, though. And Matmos are supposed to be great live as well.

Saturday, April 22, 2006
Sangati Opening Night (Read on for Artists)
The Sangati Center (1232 19th Street | Studio 8 | Oakland, CA | 94607)
$15

One of my friends is having an opening for the Sangati Center, which will be an institution dedicated to promoting South Asian music. They are having a number of events this weekend, but this is the one I’m going to attend. Check out the website. In addition to the music, a dinner at 6:00 is included in the price. $15 isn’t as bad as it might have initally seemed. The performances: 7:00 Tabla Solo Performance (Duet) -Ferhan Qureshi (tabla) and Sameer Gupta (tabla); 9:00 Sitar and Tabla Performance - Rabindra Narayan Goswami (Benares) (sitar) and Ramchandra Pandit (Benares) (tabla); and 11:00 Sitar and Tabla Performance - Srinivas Reddy (sitar) and Sameer Gupta (tabla)

Spend 4/20 with 3 Japanese Girls!!!

2006-04-19T20:39:00.000-07:00

It’s not too late to decide to head on over to the Great American Music Hall and check out Dinosaur Jr. with support from Comets on Fire and Priestess. So gosh darn rock, right there. If you've already got plans, perhaps we should move on to the less immediate future.

Thursday, April 20, 2006
Ex-Girl
Bottom of the Hill
$10

Flower costumes. Stuffed frogs. Body paint. Don’t be fooled by Japanese all-girl trio Ex-Girl. They aren’t going to play Japanese pop. They are going to rock you out of your mind with their guitar/bass/drums/voice experimental-opera-metal-prog-fusion-wtf music. Their last show at Bottom of the Hill is down as one of my favorite shows ever. The opera-esque vocals are completely mesmerizing and you will have no idea what is coming next for the entire show. Looking for some music to accompany your 4/20? This is the show for you. Abstaining? This is the show for you. Highest possible recommendation.

Saturday, April 22, 2006
Beginners Meditation Class
Berkeley Buddhist Priory
Free (9:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.)

In the spirit of mixing it up a little, here’s a free event (although you need to RSVP in advance, as space is limited). It’s a meditation seminar consisting of a talk on mediation, a meditation, and a discussion on mindfulness and meditation. A reliable source informs me that the Priory is quality. Website: Click here Now you can’t say I didn’t help make your life a little more peaceful, bitches.

Saturday, April 22, 2006
Single Frame and The Arm
Hotel Utah
$7

Austin is (once again) invading San Francisco. Single Frame will smack you across the face with their acid-kraut-arena-punk-new-wave-disco-disaster-art-rock-freakout-nuclear-wasteland-soundtrack. I think that’s what I wrote in my SXSW preview. I don’t have it with me, but I’ll try and hook it up for you. It'll save me time and provide for more throught-through writing for you. Right now I’ve got to run. Priestess beckons me.

Tonight's the Night for Loads of Experimental Hip Hop

2006-04-07T15:34:00.000-07:00

Friday, April 7, 2006
Subtle, Fog and Jel
Slim’s
$15

Doseone’s voice isn’t for everyone. I can understand how some of his more experimental stuff, like Themselves (Dose and Jel) and cLOUDEAD (Dose, Jel and Odd Nosdam), could be a little challenging. I’ve heard people use “extremely nasal” and “shrill” to refer to Doseone’s MCing. While I don’t agree that those are necessarily negative adjectives, even naysayers should enjoy Doseone with his band, Subtle, which finds Dose singing more accessibly, but still keeping his voice weird and otherworldly enough to satisfy his hardcore fans. Subtle features Dose and the aforementioned Anticon producer Jel, Marty Dowers, Jordan Dalrymple, and Alexander Cort and Dax Pierson (who many of you may have heard of through Amoeba suffered a serious spinal injury in an accident on tour, but who is apparently improving and receiving a great deal of help thanks to everyone’s generosity). As far as the sound goes, its electronic drums, kit drums, electric cello, keyboards, samplers, guitar and Doseone’s vocals with elements of hip hop, rock, and electronic music in the mix. Check out a track here and see for yourself. Fog (a.k.a. Andrew Broder), who is associated with Lex Records and Ninja Tune, opens with his blend of experimental, hip hop and lo-fi rock. Also opening is the aforementioned Jel, who is touring in support of his recent experimental hip hop/electronica LP, Soft Money. Utterly delectable.

Fancy a Trance or Taking a Chance?

2006-03-31T14:34:00.000-08:00

I’ll assume that, since I didn’t see any of my readers who I know at the Kieran Hebden and Steve Reid show last night, you all got together for the Why? show. Let me know how it was. You definitely missed a banging set over at the Great American. Hebden dropped much funkier, groove-driven stuff that appeared on his most recent LP as Four Tet. Unfortunately, this was the first time that I’ve ever had to complain about the sound at the Great American. The sound guy had Hebden up way too loud, so that it seemed to be more of a Kieran Hebden featuring Steve West lineup, which was quite disappointing. It only became a problem when Hebden dropped some nasty bass or just got plain loud on the decks, which he did often. Once I recognized that there was nothing I could do and just decided to be Zen about it get into the groove, it was a great show. And I always love picking up a free copy of XLR8R magazine. Enough with the past, on the future:

Saturday, April 1, 2006
Helio Sequence and Band of Horses
Mezzanine
Free

Saturday, April 1, 2006
Band of Horses
Amoeba, 2:00 p.m.
Free

I mentioned the show at Mezzanine previously and told you to RSVP. Did you? Even if you didn’t you can still go with someone who did, apparently according to the response to my RSVP. If you attend this show you will (1) see an amazing rock drummer (1/2 of Helio Sequence) who also tours with Modest Mouse breaking it down, (2) see a buzz band (Band of Horses) who recently dropped an LP, Everything All the Time, which is garnishing great reviews for its country-tinged indie-rock and (3) receive free beer (Pilsner Urquel and Peroni) from 9:00 to 11:00 p.m., according to that RSVP response again. If you don’t feel like hitting up the Mez that night, head over to Amoeba at 2:00 p.m. to see Band of Horses.

Saturday, April 1, 2006
Mammatus and The Grey Daturas
Hemlock Tavern
$7

The only time I have seen Mammatus, when they opened for Up-Tight at the Hemlock, the Corralitos quartet sent my friend and I into trance with their psychedelic stoner rock. And who doesn’t like to be put into a trance? Its freaking awesome. Its their record release party, so go support the semi-locals. Another heavy psych rock band, Australia’s The Grey Daturas open, and this is one of the bands I wanted to see at SXSW but missed. Now’s my chance. And yours. Mmmm…. Trance….

Saturday, April 1, 2006
Kid Koala
Independent
$17

At this price, I’m hesitant to recommend this show. I’ve seen Ninja Tune DJ Kid Koala a few times, and when he is on, he’s freaking on. He definitely has the skills on the turntables to blend together all sorts of crazy samples (see: a song based around sneez samples), into something beautiful and he’s one of my favorite scratchers. But I’ve also seen one show where he just did mash-ups and fooled around. But everybody has an off-night now and again. Feel like gambling? Then check it out, because when he is at his best, he’s well worth seeing, even with a $17 price tag.

Noise Pop Shows of Note for Tonight

2006-03-30T14:15:00.000-08:00

Well, at least I managed to go less than a month between postings. Between planning for South by Southwest, attending SXSW, recovering from SXSW, catching up with personal/work stuff post-SWSW and seeing bands that I missed at SXSW that I really wanted to see but couldn’t, I’ve kept myself busy. I’ll have an SXSW report up here stat for you to peruse, but my goal right now is to get back to the business of advising you of happenings in San Francisco that I feel are worth attending. Back to work:

Thursday, March 30, 2006
Kieran Hebden and Steve Reid
Great American Music Hall
$18

I already mentioned this one here. Since then I’ve sampled a little of the first collaboration album, and it is exactly the tripped-out free-jazzy electronic goodness I expect will be great live. Since then I also bought my tickets. I’m excited.

Thursday, March 30, 2006
Why?
Rickshaw Stop
$10

If lo-fi experimental emo-hop is more your thing, then this show will suit you. Local Yoni Wolf has, like much of his Anticon brethren, moved further and further away from a traditional hip hop sound on each release. He has, unlike his Anticon crew, chosen to go so far down the rock road that he is now categorized there in record stores. What is left of his foundations in hip hop are his occasional hip hop style MCing and the occasional beat. For the most part the recent album, Elephant Eyelash, is pure beautiful lo-fi and it’s also group effort involving some very talented multi-instrumentalists Doug McDiarmid and Yoni’s brother, Josiah. The live show is even more stripped down, and even more beautiful for it. Drums (played mostly with brushes), xylophone, piano, guitar, and (if you’re lucky) a guest on trombone provide the backdrop for Yoni to sing/rap his strange and moving lyrics.

Trying to Keep It Free in the City by the Bay

2006-03-02T13:55:00.000-08:00

I’m probably as sick of apologizing for the infrequent nature of my posts recently as you are sick of hearing about it. So, I’m not apologizing this time. I’ve been busy. Busy writing my first articles that are going to be published in print (previews of Austin bands playing during South by Southwest for one of my friend’s publications). Busy seeing kick ass shows. Like the amazing Orthrelm show I saw on Monday. At least 45 minutes of insane riffing and drumming without a single pause for applause, a drink of water, a sniff of coke, or anything else. I say “at least 45 minutes” because they put me into a trance and that’s my best guess. I really have no idea though. Could have been five minutes. Could have been two hours. Couldn’t have been much better. I lied though. Because I am going to apologize. Because I feel bad when I don’t do my darnedest to keep everyone informed.

There's so much going on this weekend I'm not even sure where to start. This post is all about the free gigs. I know SF can be so expensive, so I tries to keep it real. Before I get to down to business, I wanted to give you a heads up on a couple of shows that were just announced. Frank Black of Pixies fame is playing a couple of solo gigs at super-intimate Café Du Nord on March 14 and 15. Cover is $20. It will sell out quickly, so I suggest that you get those tickets now. Its not too often you’ll get a chance to see Black Francis in such a small joint.

Thursday, March 2, 2006
3rd Annual Dhamaal Sights & Sounds Opening Party
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
6:30 – 8:30 p.m.
Free

Dhamaal is back from a world tour and their gearing up for a bunch of events as part of their 3rd Annual Sights and Sounds Festival. This Thursday night is the free kick-off party at Yerba Buena. If you’ve got something better to do for a couple of hours after you get off work, by all means do it. The party features the all-female Nrityagram Dance Ensemble Showcase performing contemporary interpretations of classical Indian dance. On the Dhamaal front, we’ve got Maneesh the Twister on the wheels of steel, Ferhan Qureshi on the tabla, Skip Intro on visuals & Samba Guisse doing the MC thing. I can’t promise that I will embarrass myself attempting classical Indian dance this time like I did last Saturday at Dhamaal’s monthly party at Club 6, but I certainly wouldn’t rule it out either.

Friday, March 3, 2006
Mix Master Mike vs. DJ Swamp
Club 6
9:00 p.m. – 2:00 a.m.
Free

OK. Beastie Boys. Invisibl Skratch Piklz. Michael Scwartz hardly needs an introduction, after all nobody can do it like he can do it. DJ Swamp might be a little more obscure, but he’s got some heavyweight DJ battles under his belt. And he’s Beck’s DJ, so obscure hardly seems appropriate. And they’re battling each other. From what I’ve gathered, this is a Camel sponsored event, and that’s why it’s free. So, maybe they don’t come on until late (the event is only scheduled to go until 2:00 a.m., so that’s not really late for a Friday night at Club 6), maybe they only play for an hour, maybe even just half an hour, maybe they only half-ass it on the decks. It’ll still be worth the $0 you paid to get into see two of the worlds top DJs spinning together. And, please, if you want to get in, arrive relatively early. Free Mix Master Mike vs. DJ Swamp shows on weekend nights don’t come around all that often.

Friday, March 3, 2006
New Orleans Klezmer All Stars
Independent
$10 advance/$12 door

Friday, March 3, 2006
New Orleans Klezmer All Stars
Amoeba
6:00 p.m.
Free

Saturday, March 4, 2006
New Orleans Klezmer All Stars
First Congregational Church in Oakland
???

Confession: I inexcusably managed to make it through four years in New Orleans without seeing the New Orleans Klezmer All Stars. That doesn’t mean that I won’t try and catch some of their free set at Amoeba, because I will. And it certainly doesn’t mean that I won’t plug them, because I will. Over the years, I’ve heard great things about their NOLA-inspired takes on traditional Yiddish music, incorporating Dixieland jazz, funk, modern jazz and more. I’ve seen many of the musicians who play with them in different groups over the years. Rob Wagner, who plays clarinet, was one of the best sax players I saw in the Crescent City and the first sax player I saw bust out the two-saxes-at-once trick. Sax player Ben Ellman and Willie Green III (or “Mean Willie Green” as most know him) are probably the most notorious of the bunch, given that Ellman plays in Galactic and Green has been the drummer for the Neville Brothers for 14 years. Guitarist Jonathon Frielich was one of the best jazz guiatrists I saw in my time in New Orleans. With everything that’s happened in their city over the past six months, I certainly can’t imagine who exactly will be playing on this tour, but I can imagine that it’s going to be great. Hmmmm… Which show to go to? There’s the free show at Amoeba, the show at the Independent and the mysterious show at the 1st Congregational Church in Oakland. I left a voicemail at the church trying to get some details for you, the reader, in case you’re interested. I’ll keep you posted. I have to confess that I’ll be at the sold-out Stereolab/Hot Chip show at the Fillmore on Saturday night. So, here’s to praying that the show at the church is in the afternoon. Praying for it to be free couldn’t hurt either.

Who's Up for a Challenge Tonight?

2006-02-27T17:59:00.000-08:00

Monday, February 27, 2006
Orthrelm, Zombi and Subarachnoid Space
Bottom of the hill
$8

Guitarist Mick Barr and drummer Josh Blair make up the D.C. based duo Orthrelm, who play what I can describe in the minimal amount of time I have today before I shoot off to a KUSF Music meeting as some sort of instrumental-minimalist-prog-metal-trance-inducing-hardcore-avant-jazz. Imagine a fairly short heavy metal riff repeated over and over again (hundreds of times) with slight variations. VO, the duo’s recent LP which I purchased this weekend, is one 45-minute track of many of these of sonic explorations. It is quite challenging, but also quite rewarding. While their records are based largely on composition, the live shows rely heavily on improvisation. If nothing else, seeing these musicians’ technical ability as they hammer away at their instruments should cover the $8 cover. Prog enthusiasts Zombi and local space-rock outfit Subarachnoid Space round out the lineup.

Wait Long by the River... or Head Over to the East Bay if You Didn't Catch that VD Shit Yesterday

2006-02-15T14:08:00.000-08:00

Wednesday, February 15, 2006
Japanther
818 Pine St., Oakland, CA 94607
$?

I went to the show last night and I can’t remember the last time I danced so hard in a pit when I wasn’t wasted. There was less violence on-stage than I would of liked, and I didn’t know a single song they played, but it didn’t matter. I rocked hard for the whole set, with plenty of bruises, a headache and a sore jaw to show for it. For those that missed the show last night, fear not: There is another show in the East Bay tonight. All I’ve got is an address, but that’s enough to have me seriously enticed after the previous evening’s show. House party? Warehouse party? Who cares. It’ll be a party.

Wednesday, February 15, 2006
The Drones
Café Du Nord
$10

Thursday, February 16, 2006
Supersuckers and The Drones
Café Du Nord
$15

Part of the reason I can’t totally commit to the East Bay Japanther show tonight is my desire to go see some great Australian garage-blues rock. I’m running out of time to get this post up to you, but this band makes some dark rock ’n’ roll (see most recent album title: Wait Long by the River and the Bodies of Your Enemies Will Float By). It sounds like it belongs in a place with more “character” than Du Nord, but que sera sera. Singer Gareth Liddiard growls, stammers, yells, and howls all over the place. Without having read any live reviews, I imagine he’s worth seeing live. The opening track on Wait Long…, “Shark Fin Blues,” is, for what its worth, one of my favorite recently discovered tracks.

VD Isn't Just for Lovers Anymore

2006-02-13T23:46:00.000-08:00

Tuesday, February 14, 2006
Japanther
Hemlock
$5

As I write, another Valentine's Day is rapidly approaching. Touching yourself while watching curling not how you envisioned your February 14 this year? Do you think taking your date out for an expensive dinner will get you laid? Allow me to assist the singular and plural among you: Sound-collage-art-punk-noise-pop at Hemlock Tavern. Microphones? NYC's Japanther don't need microphones. They use old telephones that distort their voices and make them nearly impossible to understand even on record. Violence? Rest assured that there will likely be at least a touch of violence. Apparently they've calmed down somewhat since their earlier notorious shows, but one of my friends spent a portion of the last show he saw avoiding being hit by a chair. Does that sound romantic enough for you? You may be thinking to yourself, "It sounds great, but what does found-sound-art-punk-noise-pop sound like?" Fucking loud and fucking beautiful. It'd take a track-by-track review of Master of Pigeons (the only Japanther album I possess, unfortunately) for me to express their sound to you, its late, and this is just a blog after all, so you're going to have to settle for this: Heavy riffs, distorted vocals, sampling, pop melodies, and feedback, for a start. Its some of the noisiest music I can't help but dance to every time I hear it. Listen to a song off their new record here. If you don't like it, sit back, watch some curling and wonder why you aren't getting laid. Maybe you should get out more.

T.G.I.F. (Totally Great Ideas for Friday)

2006-02-09T14:03:00.000-08:00

Look at me, back to regular posting again. And tooting my own horn. These are GREAT ideas, folks (if you disagree, just substitute "Good" for "Great," but it sounds to me like you don't really know what you're talking about anyway).

Friday, February 10, 2006
Stars
Amoeba
7:00, Free

Friday, February 10, 2006
Stars
The Fillmore
$20

For those of you who decide to stay and see some chamber pop after The Black Angels’ set on Thursday night and can’t get enough of the whole chamber pop thing, I’ve got some good news for the rich and poor alike. Montreal’s Stars bring their electro-chamber pop thing to both Amoeba (for the poor) and the Fillmore (for the rich) on Friday. Vocalists Torquil Campbell (sound like Morrissey anyone else?) and Amy Millan do the boy-girl back and forth singing re: mostly breaking up and relationship problems over some catchy, happy pop hooks. If you feel like pining over a lost love while dancing awkwardly, go check ‘em out.

Friday, February 10, 2006
The Fucking Champs
12 Galaxies
$10

I know, I know. I plug these guys every time they play. Perhaps you should go check them out so they can shove their instrumental metal riffage down your throat. Just try not to bang your head. Good luck with that. Let me know how it works out for you.

Friday, February 10, 2006
Club 6
Interwoven
Free before 9 p.m., $5 after

Something a little different for those who want to take in art while they rock out. Local Heather Hannoura, best known for her work on the Alakline Trio album covers, has the solo exhibit and there's a huge group exhibit in the main room. Live music by the noisy Jarboe (of Swans fame), local metal act Ludicra, Amber Asylum and Norther Emily Carson. And there's DJs too to make sure you don't get bored.

My lunch break is over so I'll have to get back to you on the rest of the weekend. Sometimes you just have to wait for it...

The Coming of Spring Signals... Invading Angels

2006-02-08T23:07:00.000-08:00

Ah… It’s starting to feel a little like spring here in San Francisco. The arrival of a little nice weather brings with it the possibility of long walks on the beach, picnics in the park, barbeques, cuddling under the stars, and… festivals. There’s been a lot going on in the festival department over the last couple weeks. Not only were there more additions to the already brutal-to-read-from-start-to-finish South by Southwest lineup, but we also got initial lineup information for So Cal’s Coachella , and the SF’s own Noise Pop. Going to be an expensive year for me in the festival department, I fear.

Here’s a one that almost slipped off my radar: ArthurBall. Fresh off the success of last fall’s ArthurFest (which I’m still upset that I didn’t attend), Arthur Magazine is bringing us another two-day festival on February 25 and 26 in Los Angeles. Acts include Joanna Newsom, Unknown Instructors (Saccarhine Trust/Minutemen side project), Om, Pearls & Brass, Colleen, The 5:15ers (new Joshe Homme project), Growing and more. In other words, they are bringing us a bunch of great (mostly) experimental music. One day tickets are $22 and two day tickets are $40. In addition to informing you of this one, I’m asking if anyone wants to go with me and happens to have friends that we could crash with. Or perhaps you just have someone who would be kind enough to put me plus one up? Let me know.

Noise Pop is going down a little later than usual (March 27 – April 2), but it will be bringing us, as always, a few really amazing shows and bunch of not particularly exciting shows. Some of the highlights of Noise Pop: Flaming Lips (at Bimbo's, no less), Feist, ISIS, Dirtbombs, Kieran Hebden (Four Tet) & Steve Reid, Two Gallants, Xiu Xiu and Kid Koala. Count me in for the Hebden & Reid show, for sure.

I just listened to Steve Reid’s excellent Nova a few days ago, am presently listening to Four Tet’s Pause and have officially confirmed that I definitely need to be checking at this show. Drummer Steve Reid, who has played with such notables as James Brown, Fela Kuti, Sun Ra, Miles Davis and Ornette Coleman (to name just a few), has incorporated many different styles into his drumming over the years but he has never lost touch with jazz, both free and in the groove. Kieran Hebden has been consistently putting out beautiful organic electronic music, incorporating elements of jazz and hip hop. The live shows that spawned the pair's collaboration on 2005's Spirit Walk and two upcoming releases received rave reviews, so expect a great show.

Did I mention the Flaming Lips are playing Bimbo's? Because they are. Tickets go on sale this Sunday, and you are advised to get them quick because this show has “scalpers” written all over it.

Coachella is taking place in April 19 and 20 in its ridiculously hot and unsurprisingly unshaded usual spot in the middle of the desert down in Indio near L.A. Near heat stroke aside, I had a blast when I went a couple of years ago (seeing the Pixies followed by Radiohead, both for the first time definitely sealed the deal). The lineup this year has the desert calling me back (although I think I might be up for some off-site camping or even a cheap hotel if I can get some other folks interested). See for yourself: Daft Punk, Franz Ferdinand, Sigur Rós, Damian Marley, Common, TV on the Radio, Ladytron, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Cat Power, Animal Collective, Devendra Banhart, The Walkmen, Lady Sovereign, Deerhoof, Tool, Massive Attack, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Bloc Party, Scissor Sisters, Matisyahu, Sleater-Kinner, Mogwai, Wolf Parade, Coldcut, Digable Planets, Seu Jorge, Ted Leo/Pharmacists, Gnarls Barkley (Cee-Lo and Danger Mouse), The Go! Team, Murs & 9th Wonder, Mates of State, and The Octopus Project.

Now, perhaps you might like to know about some events going down a little sooner:

Thursday, February 9, 2006
The Black Angels
Cafe Du Nord
$10

Disclosure: One of my friends manages the band. Disclosure: It doesn't matter because they're fucking good and I’d be going to the show regardless. Much like the truly great bands that immediately come to my mind upon hearing Austin's the Angels (Velvet Underground, The Doors, early Pink Floyd), the music may be dark, psychedelic, etc. while remaining universally accessible. Who doesn’t like VU, The Doors and Pink Floyd? That’s how people should feel about The Black Angels, because their brand of “drone ‘n’ roll” (not my term, but I love it) will have them blowing up before too long. It wasn't accidental that BBC Radio 1's Zane Lowe was giving them a lot of play last year and it isn't coincidence that they are headlining a showcase at SXSW. Listen to “Black Grease” right here and judge for yourself. Just hear that riff drop and tell me you don't want to come check these lads and ladies out. More samples here. If you're coming, better get there early. Show starts at 9:30 p.m. and the Angels are the first band playing. Local chamber pop groups the Botticellis and Papurcuts headline and open, respectively.

Here are a couple of shows to check out after The Black Angels if you don't care much for chamber pop. Going to have to make it quick because I need to score a few z's:

Thursday, February 9, 2006
Meat Beat Manifesto and Dalek
Mezzanine
$18

Jack Dangers and Jonny Stephens make up Meat Beat Manifesto and have been doing their extremely influential dub, hip hop, trip hop, noise, jazz, et al. electronica thing for almost 20 years and it shows. When I saw them last year, the music was banging along to some impressive (albeit slightly disturbing) videos. Noise-hop trio Dalek open and they alone are worth a journey over to Mezzanine, with their industrial, dark beats and lyrics.

Thursday, February 9, 2006
U-Roy, Scientist and Fully Fullwood
The Independent
$20

Billed as the "Wild West Dub Tour," this show promises to be the best dub bill in SF for a while. All legends in the world of dub, DJ (slightly confusing, as he's actually a vocalist, but that's how it goes) U Roy, studio engineer Scientist, and bassist Fully Fullwood will be playing some heavy live dub, together no less. Just writing briefly about it is making me feel like I have to go see this once-in-a-lifetime gig.

Finally, to make amends for my somewhat irregular posting over the past couple weeks, here's the always tantalizing list of shows to come:

2/9 Thu – Mezzanine – Meat Beat Manifesto and Dalek ($18)
2/9 Thu – Du Nord – Black Angels ($8/$10)
2/9 Thu – Independent – U-Roy and the Scientist ($20)
2/10 Fri – Independent – Stars & the Elected
2/10 Fri – 12 Galaxies – Fucking Champs ($10)
2/10 Fri – Onesixgallery – Living Jarboe (ex-Swans)
2/11 Sat – BOTH – Ariel Pink ($8/$10)
2/11 Sat – 330 Ritch – Wolfmother
2/11 Sat – Rickshaw – Goblin Cock ($10)
2/12 Sun – RDL – Beatnuts ($18)
2/12 Sun – 21 Grand - Why?, Bat Rays, Telephone Jim Jesus + Pedestrian, Clovis Heald, Lucid, Newagey No Friends, DJ's Odd Nosdam and Jel + Vegan Treats and Stuff for Sale ($4-10)
2/14 Tue – Hemlock - Hey Willpower, Japanther, Madeline Adams and Two Tears ($5)
2/15 Wed – Independent – The Juan Maclean ($12/$14)
2/15 Wed – Café Du Nord – The Drones ($10)
2/16 Thu – BOTH – Archer Prewitt ($10)
2/16 Thu – Du Nord – Supersuckers with The Drones ($15)
2/17 Fri – Davies Symphony Hall – Philip Glass
2/17 Fri – DNA Lounge – DJ Revolution (?)
2/17 Fri – Mezzanine – Madlib's Sound Directions Live 8 Piece Band + DJ's Peanut Butter wolf, J-Rocc, Hakobo and Proof ($15)
2/17 Fri – Independent – Dirty Dozen Brass Band ($15/$17)
2/17 Fri – Café Du Nord – Jacob Fred Jazz Oddessey & The Dead Kenny G’s
2/18 Sat – Independent – Rjd2 and Aceyalone & Busdriver ($22)
2/18 Sat – Club6 – Special Enter the Dancehall with Live Performances
2/18 Sat – Café Du Nord – Jacob Fred Jazz Oddessey & The Dead Kenny G’s
2/18 Sat – Davies Symphony Hall – Philip Glass
2/18 Sat – Hemlock - Flossin (Willits, Zach Hill, Kid 606), Christopher Willits & Bevin Blectum, Safety Scissors (deejay sets)
2/19 Sun – Davies Symphony Hall – Philip Glass
2/19 Sun – Elbo Room - Dub Mission Special Dancehall Bhangra Edition ($8)
2/21 Mon – Concourse – Belle & Sebastian and The New Pornographers
2/22 Wed – BBR - Jazz Mafia Brass Band ($5)
2/23 Thu – Mezzanine – Dilated Peoples and Little Brother ($18)
2/23 Thu – Mighty – Cobra Killer ($10)
2/25 Sat – GAMH – Buckethead ($20)
2/26 Sun – Red Devil – Souls of Mischief
2/27 Mon – BOTH – Orthrelm ($8)
3/1 Wed – Bimbo’s – Yeah Yeah Yeahs & the Gris Gris($20)
3/2 Thu – Bimbo’s – Yeah Yeah Yeahs & the Gris Gris ($20)
3/2 Thu – Fillmore – Stereolab ($25)
3/3 Fri – 924 Gilman – xbxrx and Battleship ($6)
3/3 Fri – Independent – New Orleans Klezmer All Stars
3/3 Fri – Hemlock – Afrirampo, Mae Shi and The Husbands ($8)
3/4 Sat – Fillmore – Stereolab ($25)
3/4 Sat Independent – Low & Damien Jurado ($17)
3/5 Sun – Fillmore – Animal Collective ($22)
3/8 Wed – 12 Galaxies – Jackie-O-Motherfucker & Tarentel ($6)
3/9 Thu – Slim’s – Flogging Molly ($22)
3/9 Thu – Popscene – Test Icicles
3/10 Fri – BOTH – Pink Mountaintops ($10)
3/10 Fri – Mezzanine – Goblin Cock ($9)
3/12 Sun – BOTH - Oneida ($8/$10)
3/13 Mon – Fillmore - Matisyahu
3/18 Sat – Independent – Robert Walters Super Heavy Organ
3/18 Sat – BOTH – Howling Hex
3/19 Sun – Boca – Ellen Allien ($13/$15)
3/20 Mon – BOTH – Art Brut ($12)
3/21 Tue – BOTH – Serena Maneesh ($8)
3/21 Tue – Boca – Birdy Nam Nam ($8/$10)
3/21 Tue – Independent – Art Brut ($12)
3/23 Thu – Boca – Vitalic ($15)
3/24 Fri – GAMH – Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
3/24 Fri – Fillmore – Metric and Islands ($20)
3/24 Fri – Mezzanine – Ghostface Killah and M-1 (Dead Prez) ($18)
3/24 Fri – Concourse Exhib. Ctr. – The Strokes
3/25 Sat – GAMH – Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
3/27 Mon – Knockout – A Fir-Ju Well
3/28 Tue – GAMH – Isis (Noisepop, $13/$15)
3/28 Tue – Bimbo’s – Feist (Noisepop, $18)
3/29 Wed – Slim’s – Subhumans ($10)
3/29 Wed – Independent – Dirtbombs (Noisepop)
3/30 Thu – Independent – The National (Noisepop)
3/30 Thu – GAMH - Kieran Hebden (of Four Tet) & Steve Reid (Noisepop)
3/31 Fri – Bimbo’s – Two Gallants (Noisepop, $15)
4/1 Sat – Independent – Kid Koala (Noisepop, $17)
4/6 Thu – Fillmore – James Blunt and Boy Least Likely To
4/7 Fri – Slim’s – Subtle & Fog ($15)
4/12 Wed – GAMH – Jamie Lidell
4/17 Mon – GAMH – The Books ($15)
4/19 Wed – GAMH – Dinosaur Jr.
4/20 Thu – GAMH – Dinosaur Jr.
4/20 Thu – BOTH – Ex-Girl ($11)
4/21 Fri – Yerba Buena – Kronos Quartet
4/22 Sat – Yerba Buena – Kronos Quartet
4/28 Fri – Mezzanine – Ladytron ($18)
4/28 Fri – GAMH – Mates of State
5/1 Mon – Independent – TV on the Radio ($15)
5/2 Tue – Independent – TV on the Radio ($15)
5/2 Tue – Mezzanine – Coldcut & Blockhead ($20)
5/5 Fri – 924 Gilman – Total Shutdown
5/6 Sat – Independent – Soul Position
5/7 Sun – BOTH – Acid Mothers Temple

Coming Back at You with Brews and Beats

2006-02-07T16:26:00.000-08:00

I know I’ve been posting less than usual. Doesn’t exactly encourage loyal readership, does it? What can I say? That I have a big post coming, and it’s not quite ready? Just in case people are looking for something to do tonight, I wanted to offer some guidance.

If you haven’t been to Magnolia Pub and Brewery and you enjoy beer, you are now officially advised to make it over there for some delicious brews. Also, please be advised that February is “Strong Beer Month.” I’ve already sampled four of them, and they were all delicious. And they all clocked in around 10% in the alcohol department. Dangerous. Especially so on Tuesday, when pints are half-price and will run you a mere $2.50. You know where my roommate and I will be every Tuesday this month.

If you’re not in the mood for drinking, but rather from some hip hop (feel free to drink at the show if you go, of course):

Tuesday, February 7, 2006
The Vowel Movement
StudioZ.tv
$5 - $15 sliding scale

I just heard one of KALX’s DJs talking up this and it sounded interesting, so I did a little research and I assure you it will be. The Vowel Movement is a monthly beatboxing party with all sorts of other stuff (breakdancing, instrumentalists, poets, MCs, etc.) going on. The two headliners this month are locals Infinite & Soulati of Felonius. I’ve seen these two beatbox together at a Felonius show, and it was some of the best beatboxing I’ve seen (excluding seeing Rahzel do his thing a couple times back in college). You will not believe some of the sounds that these guys make. Support from DJ Kid Beyond and a bunch of guests should round out the bill.

Filming the Rebirth of Montreal's Wise Uses for Suicide Machines

2006-01-25T22:48:00.000-08:00

Thursday, January 26, 2006
Film School
Bottom of the Hill
$10

Thursday, January 26, 2006
Film School
Amoeba Records, Haight Street
FREE, 6:00 p.m.

Join SF's own Film School for their record release show at Bottom of the Hill or a free in-store at Amoeba and hear some indie, post-punk, shoegaze, psych rock. The few songs I've heard off the new album on the radio indicate a good rock show. And the fact that its their hometown record release party at Bottom of Hill suggest a better than good show.

Friday, January 27, 2006
Rebirth Brass Band with Shotgun Wedding Quintet
The Independent
$20

Saturday, January 28, 2006
Rebirth Brass Band with Albino!
The Independent
$20

Fact: I’ve seen New Orleans’ Rebirth Brass Band live more times than any other band. I’ve seen them dozens of times, and will continue to do so whenever I can, even if it means dropping a hefty $20. The reason? So damn good. Founded in 1983, the RBB features a traditional brass band lineup (snare, bass drum, tuba, trumpets and trombones) and plays traditional NOLA second-line brass band music while incorporating a variety of modern musical styles, borrowing especially heavily from funk and hip hop. Continuous lineup changes over the years have kept the sound fresh from album to album and from tour to tour (although I hope for all attendees' sake that they take it back to the early '00s for a little "Casanova"). Dancing shoes required.

Friday, January 27, 2006
Gossip, Numbers & Tussle
Bottom of the Hill
$12

I believe there are three articles on the Gossip in the Guardian this week and I also believe that the show is sold out (Perhaps you would like to score some guest list and give me a call? Then again, I've never really had a problem scoring a ticket for no more than $5 over face value at a show). Its still one of my top picks for the week, I’m just going to keep it short and sweet. The Gossip do punky blues rock with all sorts of
genres thrown in for good measure. Local act Numbers do noisy disco punk with a heaping helping of electro. Tussle do disco punk cum dub. I’m pretty sure if you search below, you’ll find more on the Tussle.

Saturday, January 28, 2006
Of Montreal
Bottom of the Hill
$12

Another one that I'm pretty sure is sold out (and the Feb. 3 show at Great American appears to also be sold out). Athens, GA Elephant 6 Collective associates Of Montreal's brand of psych-pop comes at you hooks ablazing. With a huge discography and some recent genre defying work, Of Montreal is difficult to sum up quickly, so I'll just say dreamy melodies of the psych-pop of yesteryear fused with, well, a lot of crap. But that's crap in a good way. Like when you're on the road and you've been waiting for a gas station for 40 miles. That kind of crap.

Sunday, January 29, 2006
Pennywise, No Use for a Name and Suicide Machines
Warfield
$19.50

Gots to be true to my roots. Pennywise’s “Waste of Time” was one of the songs that got me started on punk. I still remember hearing it in a skate video and falling in love. I wish I could remember the name of the video. Biohazard, Sepultura, Bad Religion… That video turned me onto some bands that would reveal themselves to be crucial listening throughout my high school years. No Use for a Name’s Leche con Carne and Making Friends (especially Making Friends) were two of my favorite albums my senior year of high school. Suicide Machines may have only dropped one great album, but Destruction by Definition was just that: A truly great punk/ska album. The soundtrack to the movie about my life will definitely have “Hey” on it, for sure. Plus, I bet there’s going to be some pop punk teenie girls at the show. Does that do it for you? It does it for me.

For Those Who Do Not Like It Heavy

2006-01-19T15:36:00.000-08:00

I apologize for the last minute posts of the past couple days. Perhaps the page could also be used as a last-minute “what should I do tonight?” reference. I’ll hit you guys up with the weekend as soon as I can. In the meantime, think about how much you’re into dub and what you are up to on Sunday night. More on that soon, but here’s what’s happening tonight:

Thursday, January 19, 2006
Vetiver, Espers and Feathers
12 Galaxies
$10

Local psych-folkie Andy Cabic’s Vetiver makes beautiful, quirky, simple folk. Imagine a less eccentric Devendra Banhart (who plays guitar on Vetiver’s first album and with whom Cabic started the record label Gnomonsong) with a more delicate voice, and you are on your way. Different stringed instruments (mostly guitar, cello) provide most of the non-vocal elements of the sparse yet warm music. Honestly, I haven’t listened to psych-folk Espers self-titled album in over a year, but I remember thoroughly enjoying it when I did. As for Feathers, I’m getting very busy at work, so I’ll leave you with a review and a track to download here. My money is on tonight being a night of beautiful psych-folk over at the 12 Galaxies.

For Those Who Like It Heavy

2006-01-18T13:23:00.000-08:00

Wednesday, January 18, 2006
High on Fire
12 Galaxies
$12 advance/$15 door

Heavy, heavy doom/stoner metal from NorCal trio Guitarist Matt Pike (ex-Sleep), bassist Joe Preston (Thrones and ex-Melvins) and drummer Des Kensel. Heavy heaviness for those who like their heavy metal heavy.

Free Folk/Psych in the Park? Sounds Like SF to Me

2006-01-12T14:03:00.000-08:00

Saturday, January 14, 2006
Tecolote Fest
Golden Gate Park, Fulton & Funston, Starting at 12 Noon
Free

Telecote Records, a fledgling local CD-R label, is introducing itself to the world with a bang. Before even dropping their first release, they’ve organized for a rather large festival to take place this Saturday in Golden Gate Park. The artists: The White White Quilt, Chinatown Bakeries, Ryan Stively + His Poison Band, Port O'Brien, Brenda Malvini, Adam Lipman, Mandarin Dynasty, The Owl & Ironic Pancakes, Wax Museum Pandamonium, Brown Recluse, Son Valley, Breezy Days Band, Sneaky Pines, Thanksgiving, Belly Boat and Whysp. To be frank, I haven’t heard of any of these groups before, but that doesn’t stop me from wanting to go. After all, an indie folk/psych fest in Golden Gate Park, how Frisco is that? I can smell it now…

NES... Noise... Noi!!!

2006-01-10T00:09:00.000-08:00

Thursday, January 12, 2006
The Advantage
Bottom of the Hill
$8

I'll lay it out for you: The Advantage will rock you harder than two dozen Gannons, a couple of Mike Tysons and a shitload of Contra. Two guitarists, a bassist and a drummer covering 8-bit Nintendo songs could be so terribly wrong, but it is so incredibly right (it doesn't hurt that the drummer is Spencer Seim, the guitarist from Hella, who I spoke of a couple posts back, if you're keeping track). Math rock seems to be the perfect vehicle for giving new life to these amazingly simple songs. They play the songs in such a straight-ahead, technically impressive way with such a reverence for the source material that you can't help but enjoy it. Super Mario Bros. 1 & 2, Ducktales, Wizards & Warriors, Batman, Ghosts and Goblins... Oh and Mega Man 2. Mega Man freaking 2. If you grew up on NES, this show is a wet dream. If not, come see how great some of the music really was.

Thursday, January 12, 2006
Qbert
Milk (8 - 10 p.m.)
Free

While we're on the subject, we've got one of the world's most skilled turntablists, who took his name from a game you might have played on the NES. He's playing a free set at Milk. Furthermore, according to the flyer, there is free Red Stripe as well. Since it only goes from 8 - 10 p.m., there's plenty of time to make it across town for the Advantage.

Friday, January 13, 2006
Pharoahe Monch and The A-Team (Aceyalone and Abstract Rude)
Mighty
$15 advance/$20+ at the door

On Friday, Mighty gives us a night of crucial underground MCs from the 90s, only now they’re all grown up. MC Pharoahe Monch got his start as one half of the early 90s seminal underground hip hop duo Organized Konfusion. The A-Team is Aceyalone (of another early 90s seminal underground hip hop group,The Freestyle Fellowship) and Abstract Rude (LA's Project Blowed). UK d’n’b duo Shy FX and MC Armanni and locals Romanowski (Future Primitive Sound) and Radioactive (Spearhead) will also be working the crowd.

Saturday, January 14, 2006
Sleepytime Gorilla Museum and Secret Chiefs 3
Great American Music Hall
$16 advance/$18 door

Oakland’s Sleepytime Gorilla Museum bring their crazy live show and prog-metal that’s heavy on the strings and classical influences. Secret Chiefs 3 consists of all of the members of Mr. Bungle, minus Mike Patton, playing a schizophrenic musical mélange. Noise, metal, prog, middle eastern music, classical, surf rock, film music, etc., etc., etc., all work their way into the music without it sounding too crowded, allowing for experimental music that is still accessible (relatively speaking).

Saturday, January 14, 2006
Dead Machines, Rubber O Cement, The Skaters and 17 Bitch Pile Up
Hemlock (Early Show at 6 p.m.)
$6

Last week, I promised the triumphant return of noise to SF, and here it is. Dead Machines is the husband/wife duo of John Olson (Wolf Eyes) and Tovah O'Rourke. (Wooden Wand and the Vanishing Voice). While I’m not familiar with the Dead Machines’ incredibly large body recorded output, I am acquainted with Wolf Eyes’ brutally uncomfortable noise and WWVV’s dreamy free-folk explorations. If Dead Machines fall somewhere in the middle, we will be in for a treat. Good ol’ AMG says that they “utilize rewired electronics, homemade reed instruments, and metal percussion to create hazy post-psychedelic landscapes.” Sounds promising. For those who have not seen Rubber O Cement, I have nothing to say except that you must. I don’t want to say too much, except that it’s loud, they are crazy costumes and dancing and (seriously) watch out for the bass player. It’s a true spectacle and you will not be disappointed. I’m having trouble finding too much out about the Skaters, but here’s a review that seems to suggest that we can expect some serious vocal manipulation. 16 Bitch Pile Up? Sounds like they don’t really need an introduction. Let me close by saying that the one time I saw Wolf Eyes (I should add that this was my first noise show and that Rubber O Cement opened), there was a man in the audience who kept asking the band to kill him. Over and over again. Come for the people watching, stay for the noise.

Sunday, January 15, 2006
The Helio Sequence
Rickshaw Stop
$10

No work on Monday? Don't have to worry about waking up to drop the kids off at school? Head on over to the Rickshaw Stop and take in Portland duo the Helio Sequence’s dreamy electronic neo-psychedelia a la the Beatles and My Bloody Valentine. Highly recommended by Lenode’s roommate.

Sunday, January 15, 2006
KUSF Rock N Swap
McLaren Hall on the University of San Francisco Campus
$15 6 a.m. - 10 a.m., $3 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.

KUSF, who I am forever indebted to, raises their money by having CD/vinyl/memorabilia swap meets a few times a year. I know a few of you out there who, like myself, compulsively buy music. So come out and support your local indie station and have something to show for it.

Speaking of Slight Freak Outs...

2006-01-04T22:44:00.000-08:00

I have a serious love/hate relationship with my computer. There's nothing quite like spending a bunch of time working on something and almost finishing, only to have your computer tell you that the application has to close and that nothing will be saved. Its especially fun when you're tired and its getting close to your bedtime. Really.

Anyways, I apologize for the holiday/sickness-related delay in keeping up on my posts. I trust everyone found something to do on NYE in SF. There were quite a few options. To those of us who were fortunate enough to experience sweat dripping from the ceiling in at least two different venues: Mmmmm..... To everyone else: Jealous much?

On to the present, the post-NYE show landscape in SF seems to be slightly barren. Fear not, though: There's always something in our wonderful city.

Thursday, January 5, 2006
The Fearless Freaks
Red Vic (7:15, 9:25)

Director Bradley Beesley has been friends with Wayne Coyne for 15 years and has been documenting the Flaming Lips just as long. In addition to the interviews and footage he shot, there's home movies and music videos. Oh, and there's footage of Steven Drozd not only talking about his problem with heroin, but also cooking up. Fans of music docs and/or the Flaming Lips probably shouldn't miss out on this intimate portrait of this great band.

Friday, January 6, 2006
Chow Nasty and Peanut Butter Wolf
Mighty
$7

This Friday at Mighty marks a video release party for local electro-swamp boogie trio Chow Nasty. I'm not sure what to say about these guys except that, while I haven't seen them yet, I've heard rave reviews from all who have. On the wheels of steel, we have Stones Throw record label head Peanut Butter Wolf. I've seen him drop some serious soul and hip hop gems (as well as quite the melange of everything else) and seriously aid and abet those trying to get their freak on.

Saturday, January 7, 2006
B-Side Players and the Spam All-Stars with Pee Wee Ellis
12 Galaxies
$15

San Diego's B-Side Players do Latin reggae and they do it well. The Spam All-Stars are a latin group with DJ Le Spam mixing all the instrumentation live to create latin dub. Pee Wee Ellis will be playing with Spam, and this guy has street cred, considering he played with James Brown in the 60s and 70s. I personally guarantee a high level of groove (and, therefore, some freaking, if you're interested) at this one.

Can't wait for the next post? Too bad. I'm tired and need my beauty rest. But I can give you a taste of what's coming up next week. The Advantage's CD release party, a free Qbert show (with free brews to boot), Slum Village, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, KRS-One and the Helio Sequence. You can also expect the the triumphant return of noise to San Francisco in 2006. I can hear you breathing heavy already. Control yourself, you freak.

Fridays Can Be Hella Good for Dancing

2005-12-08T13:27:00.000-08:00

Well, folks, I have to apologize for a measly showing this week, but I've been sick and busy. So I'm keeping it short and sweet. I didn't want those of you that check up on my blog to go without. And I certainly don't want people not going out and seeing music just because I've been sick.

Thursday, December 15, 2005
Fred Frith, Larry Ochs and Scott Amendola
21 Grand (Oakland)
$10

I, for one, was super bummed I didn't make it to see Fred Frith's solo performance a few weeks ago at Hemlock. I didn't have any good reason not to go, except that it was a $15 show, and that doesn't usually stop me. I just wasn't feeling it that night, which was weird because I was really excited about the show since Frith plays guitar or bass on many of the CDs I've purchased recently due to my obsession with avant-garde musician John Zorn. Well, I may have missed the show, but in my bummed-ness I did a little research on Mr. Frith and discovered that he teaches composition at Mills College in Oakland. Which means more crazy improvisation shows like this one: Frith, who played in the renowned avant-garde groups Massacre and Naked City; Larry Ochs, founding member of Rova Saxophone Quartet; and Scott Amendola, a highly respected young drummer.

Friday, December 16, 2005
Future Primitive 10 Year Anniversary With Z-Trip & Radar + Strings, Faust & Shortee, Romanowski and more
Mighty
$20

Future Primitve has been bringing us cutting edge DJ music for 10 years and they're celebrating it with the reunion of the Bombshelter DJs who brought us the classic mash-up turntablism CD, Live at the Future Primitive Soundsession, Volume Two. Oh, and apparently they will also be featuring a live string section. And Faust & Shortee will be spinning. Plus a whole bunch of listed guests and surprise DJs and MCs. Oh, and there's audio stimulation with live graffiti from Doze and live video as well. Should be an event.

Friday, December 16, 2005
Breakestra and Cut Chemist
DNA Lounge
$15 advance/$20 door

Basically a live breaks band, Breakestra plays classic funk/soul/r&b tracks that we all know and know and love because they have become classic hip hop sampling material. I have heard that the Meters have gone soft in their old age, but at least we can see some shake-your-ass funk this Friday in the form of Breakestra. And let's not forget Cut Chemist, the DJ from Jurassic 5 and Ozomatli, whose been known to bust out more than a little hot funk on his own.

Friday, December 16, 2005
Dead Prez
1015
$15 pre-sale/$? at the door

Florida-based rap duo Sticman and M-1 have been making politically charged, social activist hip hop for half a decade now, and they show no signs of slowing down, with a constant touring schedule and repeated appearances in the Bay. Lyrically, Dead Prez question and challenge the system that keeps blacks down. Heavy stuff, but the truth often is. Dead Prez songs like "They Schools" certainly ring true. But in addition to being lyrically heavy, the beats are too and they will make you want to get your bounce on. Also, the event is being filmed as part of a documentary about the burgeoning politically conscious hip hop movement.

Friday, December 16, 2005
Tussle
Hotel Utah
$7

The cheapest of my Friday picks and a band I've mentioned numerous times in my postings/emails, Tussle plays instrumental disco-punk-cum-dub that will, like all of the above, make you want to dance.

Monday, December 19, 2005
Hella
Bottom of the Hill
$10

Fresh off of arena tours opening for System of a Down, The Mars Volta and Les Claypool, NorCal duo Hella are hella tough to pin down. They play some sort of rock, but what kind of a rock is up for debate. Indie, prog, spazz, metal, electronica, jazz, noise, classical, and a whole lot more are all at work in Hella's music, but the end result of the guitar/drums duo just sounds, well, "right." At times a little crazy, but right. Hella right.

Indie Hip Hop Superstars, Freestyle Champions, Grime Princesses and... God. That's Right, God.

2005-12-02T14:26:00.000-08:00

Thursday, December 8, 2005 and Friday, December 9, 2005
MF Doom
The Independent
$25

Daniel Dumile, a.k.a. MF Doom a.k.a. Fingers a.k.a. King Geedorah a.k.a. Viktor Vaughn, has been very busy the last few years. Busy hooking up with hot-shit producers (i.e., Danger Mouse, Madlib and Rjd2) and dropping some of the best in independent hip hop (i.e., Vaudeville Villain, Madvillainy and The Mouse and the Mask). He’s treated us to all sorts of story raps, enigmatic disses and just plain wild wordplay, all with his oh-so smooth flow and oh-so deep voice. He will be performing incognito, spitting through his Metal Face, as he always does and, even if you don’t get all of his lyrics, he’ll make it sound so good it won’t matter. Pigeon John and Willow the Gaslamp Killer open.

Friday, December 9, 2005
Supernatural
Amoeba Records, Haight Street
Free

Honestly, I’ve never heard Supernatural. I’ve heard about him though. He’s arguably the best freestyler. Ever. I’m sure that Amoeba isn’t the best place to see this kind of thing (it never is), but its free. Although, if you’re anything like me, there is no such thing as a free show at Amoeba Records.

Saturday, December 10, 2005
Lady Sovereign
Amoeba Records, Haight Street
Free

From the moment I heard her first single, “Cha Ching,” I was sold. The 5’1” 18 year old British MC, recent Def Jam signee and self-dubbed “multitalented munchkin” spits like the crowned princess of the UK grime scene. Witty rhymes, wicked flow. What more do you want? Check her out yourself here, then check her out at Amoeba Records. If you’re feeling like your wallet’s a little thicker and you want to see her in a place with decent sound, you could check her out for a mere $12 at Live 105’s Not So Silent Night Afterparty at Club Six on Friday, where she will be headlining.

Sunday, December 11, 2005
Immortal Lee County Killers
Bottom of the Hill
$10

Perhaps the loudest of this decade's major blues-based rock duos, the Immortal Lee County Killers come on like the Black Keys if they were into Charles Manson and the Sex Pistols. Not only do they manage to successfully fuse Chicago Mississippi Delta blues, punk and garage, but their live show just oozes with the aura of violence without any violence actually taking place. At least it did when I saw them a couple of years ago. Very rawk.

Wednesday, December 14, 2005
Yellow Swans, WORLD, Axolotl & Inca Ore and God
Hemlock Tavern
$7

Oh, sweet, sweet noise. Oakland duo Yellow Swans make it. Of the industrial, grinding variety. With lots of electronic devices (enough to fill two large tables worth of space when I saw them at Bottom of the Hill). There is a beauty in it that not everyone can appreciate, evident on their 2004 LP Bring the Neon War Home, that I find difficult to describe. I have read other people's writing about them and those that feel the same way I do describe it as something akin to finding the calm at the eye of the storm. Works for me. Other highlights: WORLD (don't know anything about them other than they feature members of essential experimental outfit Jackie-O Motherfucker). Collaboration between punk-drone vocalist Inca Ore and electro-organic noise/drone duo Axolotl. And God is playing. We'll probably be subjected to some serious Wrath going down since the Supreme Being got stuck with the opening, opening, opening slot. A shower of frogs or the death of all first-borns in San Francisco should cover the $7 admission.

If You Aren't Into Dancing, What About Gardening?

2005-12-01T21:18:00.000-08:00

I heard about this on KUSF and it sounds like it should be interesting, if you're into this sort of thing. Shoot me a message if you're thinking in going. I'm planning on registering for it tomorrow. If you can't make it, but think it sounds interesting, you should check out the website of Garden for the Environment at www.gardenfortheenvironment.org. Looks like there are a lot of useful classes for the horticulturally challenged, such as myself.

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 3 - PERENNIAL VEGGIES & UNUSUAL CROPS THAT GROW WELL IN SAN FRANCISCO
Grow something yummy that your neighbor has never heard of! There are many edible plants that are grown as food crops in other parts of the world that do perfectly well in the Bay Area climate. Learn some of these secrets, as well a few easy herbs & greens that will keep your salad bowl brimming all year. Long live permaculture! Recipes, samplings, seeds, & starts provided.

Garden for the Environment, 7th Ave. at Lawton Street. 10am – 12noon. Pre-registration required. $15. Please call 731-5627 to pre-register or for more information.

Care to Dance? Here Are A Few Options

2005-12-01T12:24:00.000-08:00

Thursday, December 1, 2005
Mighty's 2 Year Anniversary Party
Club Mighty
Free

DJs Brad Robinson & Mancub, Murphstar & Brett Pinkin, Shissler & Smoove, Russ & Derek, Samira & Aaron Jay, Syd & Laird, and Aaron Pope & Melyss spinning. Although I recognize a few names, I don't really know anything about these DJs. My guess is that you can expect a mélange of electronic styles, including the mainstays such as house, trance, breaks, d'n'b plus all the popular current styles such as baile funk, miami bass and grime. And I would bet on some mash ups too. Besides being free, this party features an OPEN BAR for 2 hours, from 10 to midnight. And that's why I'm sharing it with you.

Friday, December 2, 2005
No-Neck Blues Band
Bottom of the Hill
$10

Large ensemble of anonymous multi-instrumental musicians that performs what I would describe generally as free folk, but incorporates elements of countless experimental musical styles (drone, noise, avant-garde, free jazz). At all interested? Well, definitely go, because NNCK mostly play lofts, rooftops and various public spaces in NYC and your chances to see them are few and far between. They are touring in support of their recent release on 5RC, Qvaris. Although I haven't picked it up yet, its on my shortlist of desired albums and, from what I've heard and read, is a haunting affair. Show begins with one act featuring members of local gypsy punk group Full Moon Partisans and The Alps, featuring members of local experimental rock/noise outfit Tarentel and disco-punk/dub/dance-rock group Tussle.

Friday night
Friday, December 2, 2005
Amon Tobin
Mezzanine
$15

Native Brazilian/UK resident Amon Tobin has been one of my favorites since I discovered him back in college. Starting off as a drum'n'bass DJ with a penchant for sampling jazz, Amon Tobin's music quickly evolved into something difficult to describe succinctly, as he leaps back and forth between so many genres of electronic music. I won't let that stop me from getting you thinking about what to expect: Drum'n'bass beats, jazz samples, big-beat, orchestral samples, ambient electronica, traditional Japanese instrumentation, cut'n'paste hip hop. What is clear is that he is a top-notch producer. As far as the live show, I have seen him do sets with turntables and sets with only a laptop. Audio-visual sets focusing on his ambient soundscape material and straight-ahead d'n'b sets. Oh, and the time when he rocked the crowd as hard as anything I've ever seen at Scala in London with an old-school Metallica riff/heavy d'n'b mash-up. Highly recommended.

Saturday, December 3, 2005
The Earlies
Bottom of the Hill
$8

I have only heard one track and a mixtape that The Earlies have on their website (http://www.theearlies.com), but I love it. Its an across-the-pond collaboration, with half the band from West Texas and half from Manchester, England. It started off in Postal Service/Foreign Exchange fashion with DAT tapes going back and forth. Going on the little I've heard its indie-psych rock with electronic influences. And I've also heard from sources in Austin that they put on a great show. Bring The Byrds to the 21st century, sign them to Secretly Canadian, give them a sampler, and let the substance ingesting commence!!! P.S. Local acts Habitforming and Henry Miller Sextet open.

Sunday, December 4, 2005
Rjd2 and Lyrics Born
Pauly Ballroom (Berkeley)
$???

Alright, this one is a shot in the dark. Its posted on various websites, but I can't get any legit information on it. Rjd2 and Amon Tobin in town the same weekend. Unbelievable (and perhaps not happening). Rjd2 is Def Jux's answer to DJ Shadow, dropping an unbelievably good debut (Deadringer) and producing some amazing tracks that ensure Def Jux will have some funky production and won't slip too far into noise-hop or whatever you want to call the lovely post-modern production that EL-P often puts out (check out Cannibal Ox). Lyrics Born is blowing up right now, from what I understand. I haven't heard anything of his for a while, so I'm going to refrain from embarrassing myself and trying to talk about him, but I know he's been getting radio play and TV commercial lovin'. But he's on Quannum after all, so to those who fear mainstream hip hop: Don't. And I can tell you he's got great flow. I'd appreciate any help confirming this one. Not that I'm necessarily going to trek to the East Bay on Sunday with Friday and Saturday looking so hot, but I might.

Wednesday, December 7, 2005
!!!
Mezzanine
$12

Bay Area to NYC disco punk/dance rock outfit !!! (pronounced most commonly as "chk chk chk" but any monosyllabic word x3 will do) will do their damnedest make sure that everyone in the club is shaking his or her ass - due in no small part to singer Nic Offer's energy on the mic and incessant dancing as he stammers and shouts. The disco/speed-dub bass, angular guitar and trance-inducing drumming combine with percussion, horns and electronics and give !!! what they need to become Gang of Four on the disco floor. I seriously dare you to try and stand still at this show. SF's fellow dance rock bands Von Iva and Tussle open.