Y’all ever have that thing where a week or two will go by without a show you’re particularly stoked on, and then all of a sudden there’s one weekend where you want to go to everything? But you can’t, because you’re human, and science is too busy ensuring you’ll have nightmares of outstanding proportions tonight to get on that teleportation thing, so you have to make all these god-awful decisions?
Yeah, me too. This is one of those weekends. Here we go:
A self-described Army brat who moved around for much of his youth, composer-singer- trumpeter Marcus Cohen grew up on gospel music in church, with a magnet arts school in Philadelphia nurturing his obvious talent at a young age. That explains the unmistakable soul coursing through the veins of The Congress, the 10-piece purveyors of a very danceable funk-soul-hip-hop-R&B stew, who’ll bring their unique sound to the GAMH Friday.
“I tend to write when I’m in transit — on planes, subways,” says Cohen, who recently moved to LA after nine years in SF. We can forgive him the wanderlust if it keeps producing songs like those on last August’s Conversations. Since then, Cohen has been working on new material, adjusting the band’s lineup, and singing more — the record he’s begun writing over the past year sounds more like where he’s at right now, he says. This show should be a good, sweaty dance party, and a good chance to hear some new tunes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82MONdiYGN0
French Cassettes with Major Powers and the Lo-Fi Symphonyat Awaken Cafe in Oakland: Because nothing says First Friday like a local two-fer, featuring crazy-nerdy-glam-rock-costumed-piano-funk (fresh off a spot at BottleRock) followed by danceably infectious indie pop hooks from these SF scene darlings (fresh from the Locals Stage at BFD). All of it for the low price of zero dollars!
Scraper with Midnite Snaxx and So What at Hemlock: Classically and somehow reassuringly misanthropic punk rock with a sense of humor. Yes please.
SAT/7
Oakland’s own tUne-yArDs with dream-team electro-funk-pop East Bay openers (and Goldie winners) The Seshen at The Fillmore: Duh.
Not Dead Yet Fest with Strange Vine, Cellar Doors, Annie Girl & the Flight, Ash Reiter, and tons more at Thee Parkside: Don’t believe the hype — not every single SF musician is deserting for more affordable pastures. It was with that in mind that the Bay Bridged organized this one-day fest, with a nice, diverse lineup of local indie kids. Fresno’s Strange Vine in particular put on a weirdly alluring psychedelic shitshow of a good time.
Les Claypool’s Duo De Twang with Reformed Whores at Great American: Music writer and lady with good taste Haley Zaremba says: Les Claypool has an amazing eye for weirdness. His band Primus has made a decades-long career out of defying every possible genre classification, wearing monkey masks onstage, and naming their albums things like Pork Soda and Sailing the Seas of Cheese. Now Claypool is going the opposite direction, creating the most minimalist, deconstructed music possible, with one vocal, one bass, one guitar, and one makeshift percussion tool — but don’t worry, it’s still bizarre. In his Duo De Twang, which was originally organized as a one-off for Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, Claypool teams up with longtime buddy and collaborator Bryan Kehoe to play originals and tasty twang covers (including the Bee Gees and Alice in Chains). The show promises down-to-earth, intimate weirdness, plus seriously incredible musicianship.
Lagos Roots Afrobeat Ensemble at The Chapel: How often do you get to see a 17-piece afrobeat ensemble in a room like the Chapel’s? Led by Geoffrey OMadhebo, these musicians will temporarily make you forget exactly what decade and continent you currently inhabit, in a good way.
LEFT OF THE DIAL The words “folk music” conjured only cheesy things for me when I was a young teenager. I liked the standard Bob Dylan songs, Arlo Guthrie‘s “Alice’s Restaurant” at Thanksgiving. But to really give in to wind-blown, ocean- and redwood-shaped singer-songwriter stuff just felt like an impossibility to me: That was the music of my parents’ youth, after all. Joni Mitchell was (is) a great songwriter who made quintessential songs about the West Coast, but I just couldn’t quite get over that mental block of an association. Bring on the three-chord punk or bass-thumping hip-hop; anything but the f-word.
About a decade later, of course, I decided that my parents actually had very good taste (a timeless cycle in and of itself) and that I was being an idiot; folk is of course a very simple word for a very wide, complex umbrella of music. But I was thinking on all this recently when I realized that some of the most interesting music coming out of Northern California right now is music that’s for and about California itself — full of words penned by singer-songwriters who’ve been shaped by the coastline, by hikes up Mt. Tam, by the exhilaration of paddling out into the freezing, cleansing Pacific in a salty wetsuit at Ocean Beach. Call it folk, call it surf-pop: Some 46 years after Joni first sang “Song to a Seagull,” at least 20 years after a lot of us rolled our eyes at the stuff our parents wanted to listen to in the car on a family vacation, the nature kids are taking over — and it’s anything but boring.
“The plan is to go down the coast, strap our surfboards to the roof, and do a show one day, surf the next day, the whole way down,” says singer-guitarist Alexi Glickman enthusiastically, of his upcoming tour with Sandy’s. “We only want to go places with waves.”
Glickman has been writing and performing reverb- and sun-drenched love songs for the California coast — both literally lyrics about it and music that just begs to be played while driving down it — for more than a decade now. At the helm of the Botticellis, SF’s reigning surf-pop darlings from 2004 through 2008, he was responsible for the tightly-crafted, intricately composed nature of the band’s dream-moody pop songs.
That band is no longer, but if the Botticellis had to meet their end to get Glickman to sound like he does now, fronting Sandy’s, fans shouldn’t mourn too hard. Possessed of an immersive, wide open space of sound, the band’s debut album, Fourth Dementia, out June 3 on Um Yeah Arts, is just as thoughtfully arranged, but there’s room to breathe around it, maybe a druggier-end-of-the-Beatles-spectrum vibe, a sweet melancholy and nostalgia around shaping the edges of the surf-happy guitar.
“When the band broke up in 2009, I had some songs I’d been working on that just got shelved,” says Glickman, while on a break from his day job — he teaches music lessons at the Proof Lab Surf Shop up in Marin, and he’s happy to report that he just taught two nine-year-olds how to play “Smells Like Teen Spirit” on guitar. Following the Botticellis’ demise, faced with the prospect of rebuilding a musical career from scratch, Glickman went out on the road with fellow surfer-musician Kyle Field, aka Little Wings.
“His approach is very different from mine; he writes these poems, basically, and the music is an accompaniment to that. It’s very lyric-centric, and playing in his group each night was this very spontaneous thing,” he says. “The songs were not super-arranged, not ‘Ok, you hit the crash cymbal three times, then the guitar goes like this and we do a jump-kick,’ none of the preciseness I was used to. So every show was different. A lot of the shows were amazing, a few were total shitshows. But that was a way to do things that had never really crossed my mind, and it had a big influence on me.”
He took the songs he’d shelved and rearranged them, playing them with open tuning, all in D major. “Especially when we play live, I think you can see an openness to the sound that’s new for me,” he says. Certainly it’s reassuring, in part, to have familiar folks at his side for that: The Sandy’s album features includes former Botticellis co-writer Blythe Foster, Zack Ehrlich (of Sonny & the Sunsets and Vetiver), Burton Li (Citay), Ryan Browne (Sonny & the Sunsets and Tortured Genie), Apollo Sunshine‘s Jeremy Black, and Range of Light Wilderness‘ Nick Aive.
As for the pervasive sense of melancholy, Glickman acknowledges that Chris Bell’s I Am the Cosmos — the epically composed folk-power-pop opus by the tortured and underappreciated Big Star songwriter — was on repeat during the year or so after the Botticellis broke up (a time in which Glickman also had a relationship end), during which Glickman was writing these songs.
And yet: “We have a lot of fun at our shows, and I get the sense that the audience comes to shows to smile and have fun, and that’s kinda new for me too,” he says with a laugh. “When I was in my 20s, I had a lot to say and I wanted to make this beautiful music and share this experience with people, but I don’t think anywhere in that experience was the word fun. Now there’s a lighthearted element there.”
Catch Sandy’s at Hickey Fest June 20-22 or at their record release party July 11 at The Mill, which Glickman promises will feature a keg and tacos. Works for me.
ELECTRO-FOREST NYMPH JAMS?
“I think we’re both just naturally more inspired when we can be in nature,” says Emily Ritz, one-half of the psych-folk duo Yesway, who released their self-titled debut June 3. She and bandmate Kacey Johansing, who’ve been moving in musical circles around one another since meeting at the Hotel Utah’s open mic in 2006 (Ritz is in the noir-pop band DRMS, Johansing’s provided vocals for the likes of Geographer, and more recently has enjoyed local success as a solo singer-songwriter) have called from the road — they’re on a mini-tour of the East Coast, with our conversation providing the soundtrack for their drive from Brooklyn to upstate New York.
Though they forged their friendship and musical collaborations in San Francisco, both musicians have since moved to small beach towns in the North Bay, whose lush wilderness and dreamy pace of life unmistakably color songs like “Woahcean” and “Howlin’ Face.” The pair’s voices layer over and call-and-response to one another in unexpected ways over fingerpicked acoustic guitar that flits like light on water; throughout the album, there’s the soothing hush of being surrounded by tall trees as opposed to skyscraper, while electronic elements, vibraphones, odd time signatures, and the odd R&B/hip-hop percussive move keep you wide-awake. This isn’t easy-listening music.
It helps, of course, that they’re strong singers; there’s an easy harmony that feels like they’re letting you in on something. “We do have a really unique musical connection, and I think that comes across to people right away,” says Ritz. “We both have voices that are really different from each other, but they melt together in a way. I think it’s rare to see two front women, two kind of powerhouse vocalists come together, meet each other as equals musically, and create something totally different together.” They’ll headline the Rickshaw Stop June 25, so you can go suss out exactly what that is for yourself.
ALSO: This coming weekend is overwhelmingly packed with good shows, so time to make some decisions. Marcus Cohen & the Congress, who bring their funk-soul-hip-hop-R&B stew to the Great American Music Hall Fri/6, are one option that will not likely disappoint. Last time I saw them live I’m pretty sure no one left without a dancing-tired grin on their face. Check the Noise blog for a conversation with Cohen this week.
DANCE The third Walking Distance Dance Festival — basically three programs of two pieces over two days — was modest in scale. Audience members may have traveled only half a block between venues for this fringe-style event, yet as curated by ODC Theater Director Christy Bolingbroke, these short trips became adventures.
Running through the festival was a simple question: What do we do with what we have? Dance works used to be considered moments in time that left behind only fading footprints. No longer. Dance historians have unearthed huge chunks of the past, and the Internet, with YouTube at its core, opens much of it at the click of a key. Besides, like it or not, the past is part of who we are. We can’t get away from it.
In the festival’s opener, the question for Lionel Popkin became how he, with an Indian mother, was supposed to look at Ruth St. Denis, the pioneering modern dancer who dabbled in what she saw as Indian dance. With the brilliant and sharp Ruth Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Popkin attacked the complexities of these issues with humor, much of it self-effacing, and vigorous dancing for himself, Emily Beattie, and Carolyn Hall. They pushed along the floor and rolled over each other; they also dived into the unholy mess of St. Denis’ fixation on veils as they subverted her pedantic instructions for Nautch, her most famous work. Master accordionist Guy Klucevsek’s score, performed live, was superb.
The festival ended with Amy O’Neal’s cheekily titled solo The Most Innovative, Daring, and Original Piece of Dance/Performance You Will See this Decade. O’Neal is a stunningly captivating performer who slides in and out of hip-hop, club, modern, and even some balletic dancing. She may have been alone on stage, but with her are Dorothy’s red slippers and choreography from music videos by Ciara and Janet Jackson, freely adapted but still recognizable. An accompanying projected text addressed issues of influences (borrowed, stolen, honoring, or accidental) on the creative process. Make them your own, O’Neal asserted. She did.
So did Doug Elkins Choreography, Etc.’s high wire comedy act Hapless Bizarre, in which voguing and musical theater ran smack into vaudeville and physical clowning. The superb Mark Gindick played the clueless outsider who wormed his way into an haute monde — in every sense of that term since all but one of the other performers towered over him. Starting with an elaborate hat trick, the dancers marvelously picked up on voguing’s haughty and competitive struts and poses. As Hapless moved on to romance, the intensity of pratfalls, rejections, and increasingly hopeless entanglements become even more frantic. Glad to say that Gindick finally got the girl.
Three local groups also participated in this fine festival. Garrett + Moulton Productions reprised its A Show of Hands, which premiered last October in the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco’s airy lobby. Dan Becker’s excellent score, performed live, still sounded wonderful.
At ODC, Show, inspired by Charles Moulton’s drawing of hand gestures that were projected as a backdrop, looked tighter and more focused. Hand gestures — so often neglected in Western dancing — came into their own. They poked, touched, and reached. With the dancers stacked on pedestals, their fingers resembled trembling butterflies. But the hands also lifted and carried three of the musicians in a funeral procession, leaving an elegiac cellist behind.
Show offered marvelously full-bodied and fluid dancing with phrases that flew, sank, or simply disappeared into the wings. Nol Simonse injected a comedian’s touch into his duet with Dudley Flores. Newly blond Vivian Aragon, a fiercely balletic dancer, attacked every move as if it were her last. No wonder she could grab and lift Simonse like a puppet.
Show was paired with an excerpt of Bhakti: Women’s Liberation of Love by Kathak dancer Rachna Nivas, in which she attempted to portray Hindu mystic and poet Meerabai as a proto-feminist. An exquisite dancer with a refined sense of rhythmic acuity who is well-schooled in male-female roles, Nivas charmed as the girl devoted to Krishna, but her telling of other aspects of Meerabai’s life needed more complexity.
The festival’s most haunting dancing came from Headmistress dancers Amara Tabor-Smith and Sherwood Chen. Shame the Devil explored the process of what Tabor-Smith calls becoming a crone. Hopping in place and becoming very still, her intensity mesmerized as she called up several lifetimes’ worth of states of being. She should, however, ditch her auxiliary performers.
Mummified in layers and layers of clothing, Chen’s Mongrel channeled Dervish dancing — until he stripped down to acquire a more authentic but also more vulnerable identity. Though it’s a borrowed metaphor, Mongrel convinced because of the rigor and consistency that Chen imposed on his dance making. Replacing Moroccan with Brazilian music, however, seemed just a touch too simplistic. *
In less than two weeks, @HiddenCash, the anonymous millionaire who is stashing money around and then using Twitter to post context clues, has amassed a social media following of more than 441,000. On June 2, an update on the masked money fairy’s feed showed no signs that his “social experiment for good” would be slowing down. “Our only event this week is in San Francisco,” confirmed @HiddenCash, responding to rumors that wads of dough would be stashed elsewhere. Also: “We have copycats. But more exciting news coming soon!” As this game unfolds, what’s it mean that it’s being played in a city where income inequality is highest in the nation? See www.sfbg.com/politics for more.
#YESALLWOMEN
Activists gathered outside 24th and Mission streets on May 30 for a rally to speak out against sexual violence against women. The action was inspired by the #YesAllWomen online meme. While the outpouring of anger about violence against women stemmed from the deaths of Isla Vista victims killed by 22-year-old Elliot Rodger, who was obsessed with punishing women who rejected his affections, #YesAllWomen is also meant as an answer to #NotAllMen, a commonly uttered phrase in conversations about male sexist behavior.
MIME 55
The venerable San Francisco Mime Troupe has announced the play it will be performing throughout the Bay Area this summer: “Ripple Effect.” Says the troupe’s release: “Skyrocketing rents. Loss of diversity. Evictions, Google Glass wearing nouveau riche, The War on the Poor. What is The City coming to? The Tony Award-winning San Francisco Mime Troupe (www.sfmt.org) opens its 55th season with ‘Ripple Effect,’ a musical comedic tale of intersecting lives and cultures that reflect the familiar neighborhood tensions that are polarizing San Franciscans today.”
STOP BEING POOR
“Google Google Apps Apps” was the quintessential jam of summer 2013 — simultaneously a call to the dance floor and a call to arms against rapidly gentrifying San Francisco. Now, gender-defying musicians Daddie$ Plastik and Persia are ready to release their follow-up, “Stop Being Poor.” They’re kicking it off with a Stop Being Poor art show featuring more than 20 artists and performers exploring the wealth divide in today’s San Francisco. Opening party Fri/6, 6-10pm, free. Runs through June 8 at Incline Gallery, 766 Valencia, SF. www.inclinegallerysf.com.
LIGHT IT UP
Sometimes BART and Muni trains can be heard moving under the streets of Market, but soon you’ll see them move too — with lights. A new proposed art installation called Lightrail would string thousands of LEDs along Market street which would light up, mirroring movement of underground trains. “By beautifully visualizing the real-time movement of underground trains, LightRail will transform San Francisco’s preeminent thoroughfare—our Champs-Elysées– into a scene of wonder and awe for millions of people, re-establishing Market Street as a place of destination rather than a mere route of passage,” say those proposing of the project.
BOTTLEROCK, REBOOTED
The Cure playing for over two hours Friday night (6/31) was a highlight of this year’s re-booted BottleRock Napa Valley festival — that is, until the bummer of a 10pm curfew kicked in and organizers cut the band off. Still, the 40,000+ crowd sang along to “Why Can’t I Be You” with aplomb. On Saturday, classic hip-hop act Outkast received a rather tame reaction from the (rather pale) crowd despite putting on a stellar show. Still, popular consensus suggests that the three-day festival deserves a grade of Way Better Than Last Year. More coverage on at www.sfbg.com/noise
DRINK FOR CHARITY
Nothing like supporting good causes simply by bellying up to the bar: Negroni Week, from June 2 through June 8, will see more than 1200 bars around the world serving up the classic gin-vermouth-Campari cocktail and donating $1 or more from each Negroni sold to local charities. At Tosca and 15 Romolo your mild alcoholism can help fund the SF-Marin Food Bank; Blackbird, the American Diabetes Association, and so on. See www.negroniweek.com for more. Tosca Negroni pic by Tablehopper
BOOZY TREAT
Our cover story this week points out more than 50 local treats for under $10. But we had to put in a good word for one of our favorite summer treats of all that fell a bit out of that price range. For $9–$12, nothing beats the boozy kick of a one of Ice Cream Bar‘s “remedies.” The cool Cole Valley hotspot mixes booze into shakes and fountain drinks, yielding genius items like the “Angostura Phosphate” (pictured) — Angostura bitters, lemon juice, fountain syrup, acid phosphate, gum foam, and soda. Yum. Photo by ??
Q NO MORE
Oh noes! That 16-year-old shrine to funky homestyle eats, Q Restaurant (www.qrestaurant.com), recently announced it’s closing shop permanently, leaving many Inner-Richmond residents crying out “We’re still cool, we swear!” In a farewell letter to the neighborhood, owners Andrew and Brinn said they decided it’s “time to move on to life’s next adventure…we will miss you tremendously. Now, go out and save the world!”
SUPER EGO A few weeks ago, Heklina, lippy doyenne of uproariously venerable, 20-year-old drag hole Trannyshack, contacted me. She had an idea about writing an op-ed for the Guardian about why she was changing the name of Trannyshack — “possibly to T-Shack, in response to the growing controversy over the word ‘tranny.'”
“What a great move,” I thought at the time. “Tranny” in San Francisco has almost always meant “over-the-top drag queen” — mostly due to Heklina’s party. Yet as trans issues begin to get more attention in the mainstream (and Heklina’s party continues to grow as a global brand), a lot of people’s first encounter with the word outside the Bay Area is as an insult to transgender people, a word slung hatefully by right-wing press and pundits, calling up images of hypersexualized monstrosities. By “rebranding,” Heklina was respecting trans people’s real-world experience, while also — brilliant marketing move here — throwing open her barn doors to a new generation of clubgoers whom the T word makes queasy.
“That’s one canny tranny,” I thought.
Well, we never figured out the timing of the op-ed, so it didn’t happen. But the minute Heklina posted the change last week, the Internet exploded. Or rather, the gay, white, somewhat well-to-do male Internet exploded. (“How dare people less powerful than we are make us change one word of our vocabulary out of respect!” they typed, all-caps. How quickly we forget.) And then the trans Internet exploded back, revealing a dazzling diversity of opinion on the topic, but generally agreeing that gay, white, somewhat well-to-do men don’t really have a horse in the race, so kindly join the fight for tolerance or STFU.
I’m just fine with dropping “tranny” to make people feel a little safer. Yes, I enjoy deliciously offensive things as much as the next whatever-I-am. But I don’t believe there’s any such thing as “the word police” (though I can imagine the fabulous uniform) — and if someone asks me to stop saying something because they’re scared, then OK. Anyone who knows how language works knows “tranny” will reappear ironically in a couple years, hopefully when this country has made incredibly necessary advances in its consideration of gender identity.
And the controversy over “tranny,” which was stoked by various insensitivities on RuPaul’s Drag Race and the disappointing attitudes of gay men who seem to be using their newfound powers of assimilation to try to silence their sisters, brothers, and others has hit a peak. Heklina and T-Shack are all over the news. That T really was canny! Anyway, for the record, T-Shack already officially rebranded long ago, when it started throwing Lady Gaga tribute nights, imo. Can we all shut up and dance now?
UNTOLD
The fantastically deep (yet somehow bubbly) UK bass kid and Hemlock label honcho is sure to pack them into the tiny new Mercer with his new live A/V show.
Thu/29, 9pm-2am, $16.50 advance. Mercer, 255 Rhode Island, SF. www.mercer-sf.com
ANIMAL COLLECTIVE
Following a fine format of indie bands who DJ on the side (why not, it’s cheaper than making a new record), the Beach Boys of our age bring “sonic free form electronic horror gospel hip hop soul pop madness” to 1015. I’m down.
One of SF’s raddest roving crews touches down at F8 for some banging techno bliss. Berlin’s Mike Dehnert debuts his raw and dirty sound, backed up by SF all-stars Jason Kendig, David Javate, Bells and Whistles, and more.
Fri/30, 8pm-4am, $12–$20. F8, 1192 Folsom, SF. mikedehnert.eventbrite.com
LAST NITE
Nostalgia for the ’90s is for old people. The great Last Nite parties have already upped the party ante by retro-izing 2000s indie, now they’re going for 2000s hip-hop. Strap on your Neptunes and get ready to ghost ride that whip.
The prolific Iranian American’s career is a master class in how to achieve popular success while remaining true to your underground roots (a lesson that bears a lot of repeating lately). Slightly trance-y techno that often drops into deep house bliss is on the menu.
Fri/30, 9:30pm, $25. Audio, 316 11th St., SF. www.audiosf.com
GLAMAMORE’S NUTZ!
One of our most revered drag queens is insane. Or is she? (She is.) Join her and the wildest crew of SF characters you’ve seen since last week, as she turns the Powerhouse into her personal playpen. Her fellow nuts will be falling out all over the place. With DJs John F*cking Cartwright and Hoku Mama Swamp
The flamboyant UK producer makes lovely, too-catchy tech house hits that occasionally morph into soul-stirring dance floor anthems. At the Lights Down Low party with Sleazemore, Split, and Shiny Objects.
Sat/31, 10pm-3am, $10–$20. Monarch, 101 Sixth St., SF. www.monarchsf.com
LEFT OF THE DIAL Earlier this month, Oakland singer-songwriter Ash Reiter was at Hipnic, an annual three-day music festival in Big Sur thrown by promoters folkYEAH!, featuring Cass McCombs, the Fresh & Onlys, the Mother Hips, Nicki Bluhm & the Gramblers, and plenty of other Bay Area folky faves. Held at the Fernwood Resort and campgrounds, with families gathering under the shade of redwoods, it’s one of the cozier, more homegrown summer festivals in the greater Bay Area — there’s nary a Coachella-esque VIP section in sight — but a three-day pass still comes in at a cool $240.
Looking around, Reiter saw how the ticket price had shaped the crowd.
“There was obviously some great music, but that kind of boutique festival thing is so expensive that a lot of the audience seemed like older, well-off folks, parents — I mean, those are the people who can afford to go to these things,” she recalls. “I’m sure a lot of the bands playing wouldn’t be able to go to that festival, if they weren’t playing.”
It was that kind of thinking that sparked the idea for Hickey Fest, a three-day festival now in its second year and named for its location in Standish Hickey State Park in Mendocino County, “where the South Fork of the Eel River shimmers against the backdrop of the majestic redwoods,” according to the fest’s flyers. Born of the desire to curate a “musical experience outside of just your average festival, a chance for musicians to actually hang out and talk to each other and get to know each other that’s not just in a loud rock club,” Reiter launched Hickey Fest over Memorial Day weekend last year, with a lineup of friend-bands like Warm Soda, Farallons, Cool Ghouls, and Michael Musika. The goal: A festival her musician friends would actually enjoy, in an atmosphere that wouldn’t be “as overwhelming as a BottleRock or an Outside Lands.” She estimates some 500 to 600 people attended in total.
This year’s festival, which runs June 20-22 in the same location, includes another local-love lineup, including Papercuts, Sonny and the Sunsets, Black Cobra Vipers, and more. A $60 ticket gets you three days of music and camping. “I wanted it to be about community, about putting the fun back in music,” says Reiter, who will also perform. “So I did intentionally try to make it as cheap as possible.”
It’s a sentiment rarely heard from music promoters, especially as the days get longer and the work-ditching gets ubiquitous and the college kids are all turned loose for the summer. Festival season is upon us, Bay Area, and make no mistake: It’s a great way to see touring bands from all over the country. It’s a great platform for local bands, who get the chance to play bigger stages and reach new audiences. And as a music fan, it’s a great way to spend a shit-ton of money.
FIELD OF DREAMS
In the summer of 1969, when Woodstock was changing the meaning of “music festival” on the East Coast via Jimi solos and free, mud-covered love, plans were taking shape for a San Francisco festival that, had it actually taken place, would have been legendary: The Wild West Festival, scheduled for Aug. 22-24, was designed as a three-day party, with regular (ticketed) concerts each night in Kezar Stadium, while other bands performed free music all day, each day, in Golden Gate Park.
Bill Graham and other SF rock scene movers and shakers worked collaboratively on organizing the festival, which — had it happened — would have seen Janis Joplin, the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Sly and the Family Stone, Santana, Country Joe and the Fish, the Steve Miller Band, and half a dozen other iconic bands of the decade all taking the stage within 72 hours.
Why’d it fall apart? According to most versions of the story, too many of those involved wanted the whole damn thing to be free. Graham, among others, countered that, while the free music utopia was a nice idea, lights, a sound system, and other basic accoutrements of a music festival did in fact cost American dollars. The plans collapsed amid in-fighting, and the infamous Altamont free music festival was planned as a sort of make-up for December of that year — an organizational disaster of an event that came to be known for the death of Meredith Hunter, among other violence, signaling the end of a certain starry-eyed era.
So yeah, money has always been a sticky part of live music festivals. But the industry has boomed in a particularly mind-boggling way over the last decade; never before have ticket prices served as such a clear barrier to entry for your average, middle-class music fan. Forget Hipnic: In the days after Outside Lands sold out, enterprising San Franciscans began plonking their three-day festival passes onto the “for sale” section of Craigslist at upwards of $1,000 each.
The alternative? The “screw that corporate shit, let’s do our own thing” attitude, which is, of course, exactly the kind of attitude that’s birthed the bumper crop of smaller summer festivals that have sprung up in the Bay Area over the past few years, like Phono del Sol (July 12, an indie-leaning daylong affair in SF’s Potrero del Sol Park, started by hip-kid music blog The Bay Bridged in 2010, tickets: $25-$30) and Burger Boogaloo (a cheekily irreverent punk, surf, and rockabilly fest over July 4 weekend in Oakland’s Mosswood Park — weekend pass: $50). Both pair bigger, buzzy acts with national reach like Wye Oak (Phono del Sol) or Thee Oh Sees and the great Ronnie Spector (Burger Boogaloo) with a slew of local openers.
“I’ve played a few festivals, and when it’s a really big thing, you realize there are just so many other huge bands that people would rather see,” says Mikey Maramag, better known as the folk-tronica brains behind SF’s Blackbird Blackbird. He’ll be sharing a bill with Thao and the Get Down Stay Down, Nick Waterhouse, White Fence, A Million Billion Dying Suns, and others at Phono del Sol — which, judging by last year’s attendance, could draw some 5,000 to 6,000 people.
“I think at smaller festivals you have more people who take the time to really listen, appreciate the music more, really big fans,” he says. “There are fewer artists on this bill [than at large festivals] but they’re all great ones — I’m especially excited to see Wye Oak.”
Maramag will be debuting some songs from his new album, Tangerine Sky, out June 3; the show will serve as a welcome-home from a quick national tour to promote it.
Then there are the even more modest summer offerings, like SF Popfest, which takes place over four days (May 22-25) at various small venues in the city. It’s not exactly a traditional festival — you’re not likely to find slideshows online of the “BEST POPFEST FASHION!!1!” the way we’ve unfortunately become accustomed to from Coachella — but for the small contingent of super passionate ’90s indie-pop fans in the Bay Area (hi!), this is one not to miss.
“I’ve been getting a lot of calls from people who think it’s a very different kind of festival than it is. App people. This one guy had some kind of offer about a parking app for festivals, I think? Which would really not make any sense at all,” says Josh Yule, guitarist for SF jangle-pop maestros Cruel Summer, who received the mantle of SF Popfest organizer from his predecessor in the mid-aughts (older history of the festival is a little hazy, as it’s always been primarily organized by musicians for musicians — for fun and, says Yule, absolutely no profit whatsoever). There was talk of getting some beer sponsors at some point, but he decided against it. “We have friends working the door at most of these things. I was a punk kid in high school, I guess, I tend to stay away from things that would make this go in a more corporate direction.”
This year’s fest is centered around reunions of bands who’ve been broken up for a while, like cult-favorite Sacramento popsters Rocketship, who haven’t played together in at least a decade; the band will be at the Rickshaw Stop Fri/23 for a Slumberland Records showcase. Dressy Bessy, Dreamdate, the Mantles, Terry Malts, and plenty others will all make appearances throughout the fest, as well as a few newer bands, like the female-fronted Stockton garagey-punk band Monster Treasure.
“Obviously it’s not gonna be thousands of people, it’s not going to be outside — it’s going to be 100 to 200 like-minded individuals who all enjoy the same thing, and they all get it,” says Yule. “We got these bands back together to play and they’re all excited about it even though there’s no [financial] guarantee…It’s that community that I’ve always been involved in and sometimes I feel like it’s not around anymore. So it’s nice to go ‘Oh wait, there it is. It’s still there, and it’s still strong.'”
CROWD SURFING
For local bands just starting to make a name for themselves, of course, there’s nothing like a larger and yes, very corporate festival for reaching new audiences. Take the locals stage at LIVE 105’s BFD, the all-day radio-rock party celebrating its 20th year June 1 at the Shoreline: Curated by the station’s music director, Aaron Axelsen — aka the DJ who’s launched 1,000 careers, thanks to his Sunday night locals-only show, Soundcheck, as well as booking up-and-comers for Popscene — the locals stage at BFD has a pretty good track record for launching bands onto the next big thing. The French Cassettes, one of SF’s current indie-pop darlings, sure hope that holds true for them.
“Aaron Axelsen has been really generous to us. I think we’re all clear that none of this would be happening without him,” says singer-guitarist Scott Huerta. The band will be playing songs from its newest album, out on cassette (duh) at the end of May. “But we’re super excited just to be in there. Hopefully we make some new fans. I know I used to find out about new bands by going to BFD and just passing by that stage. It’s by all the food vendors, so as long as people are hungry, we’ll be good. Don’t eat before you come.”
For the Tumbleweed Wanderers, an Oakland-based soul-folk-rock band that’s been hustling back and forth across the country for the past year, hitting the stage at Outside Lands (Aug. 8-10) — that festival everyone loves to hate and hates to love — will be the culmination of years of playing around the festival, quite literally.
“In 2011, we busked outside, and I think that’s the year [our keyboard player] Patrick almost got arrested?” says Rob Fidel, singer-guitarist, with a laugh. “Then the next year we got asked to play Dr. Flotsam’s Hell Brew Review, which is this thing in the park just outside Outside Lands, and we did that for an hour and a half every day for free. And then busked outside. I like to say we played Outside Lands more than any other band that year.
“But to be on the other side of that all of a sudden is awesome,” he says, noting that the band will be playing some tunes from a new record set for release later this year. “It was the same when we played the Fillmore for the first time — we used to busk outside of there and the venue would get super pissed, and now, oh look, that same guy’s carrying our amps…but I think the experience of working our way up like that has kinda taught us you’re gonna see the same people on the way up as on the way down. And we’ve worked really hard these past few years. It’s nice to feel like we’ve earned it.”
It’s only a slight exaggeration to say there are roughly 1,000 other music festivals happening throughout the Bay Area this summer — at the Guardian, our inboxes have been filling up with press releases and show announcements since February; check out the roundup below for a mere smattering of what’s going on. And, ticket price hand-wringing aside, you don’t need to be rich to rock out: Stern Grove’s free Sunday lineups, with heavy hitters like Smokey Robinson, Andrew Bird, Rufus Wainwright, and the Zombies, are among the best we’ve seen. In the East Bay, the Art+Soul Festival is always a source of up-and-comers in hip-hop, funk, and more — this year for the whopping price of $15.
So, yeah, we never got that Janis and Sly and Jefferson Airplane show. So be it. As a music fan in the Bay Area, there’s no better time than summer to smack yourself, remember that you’re super lucky to live here, grab a sweater (because layers), and get out to hear some music. Call it your own damn three-month-long Wild West Festival. We’ll see you in the bathroom line.
May
SF Popfest, May 22-25, locations vary throughout SF, www.sfpopfest.com
Audio on the Bay, Craneway Pavilion, Richmond, May 23-25, www.insomniac.com
Carnaval San Francisco Festival: Sat/24-Sun/25, entertainment begins at 11am, free, Harrison between 16th and 24th Sts, SF. Parade: Sun/25, 9:30am, free, starts at 24th and Bryant Sts, SF; www.carnavalsf.com. The theme of the 36th annual event is “La Rumba de la Copa Mundial,” so prepare to catch World Cup fever as part of this spangly, sparkly celebration of international music, dance, cuisine, crafts, and more.
San Francisco International Beer Festival Festival Pavilion, Fort Mason Center, SF; www.sfbeerfest.com. 7-10pm, $75 (“Brewmaster” early entry ticket, 5pm, $175). More than 100 international and local craft brewers showcase their wares at this 31st annual event. Plus: pizza, sausages, beer-infused gelato, and other treats to soak up the suds. All proceeds benefit the Telegraph Hill Cooperative Nursery School.
MAY 31
Chocolate and Chalk Art Festival Shattuck between Rose and Vine, Berk. www.anotherbullwinkelshow.com/chocolate-chalk-art. 10am-5pm, free. Chalk artists compete for prizes while turning the sidewalks into eye candy — and speaking of candy, sweet tooth-ers can pick up ticket packs ($20 for 20) to sample chocolate items galore, including exotic treats like picante habañero chocolate gelato.
MAY 31-JUNE 1
Castroville Artichoke Food and Wine Festival Monterey County Fair and Events Center, 2004 Fairground, Monterey; www.artichokefestival.org. May 31, 10am-9pm; June 1, 10am-7pm. $5-10. See why Castroville is “the Artichoke Capital of the World” at this fest, which has grown so big it shifts locations this year to the fairgrounds in nearby Monterey. Try the fan favorite, artichoke cupcakes.
JUNE 7
Philippine Independence Day Celebration: Lumago Lampas (Grow Beyond) Rhythmix Cultural Works, 2513 Blanding, Alameda; www.rhythmix.org. 7pm, $15-25. Celebrate with performances by Parangal Dance Company, musician Ron Quesada, artist Kristian Kabuay, and more. Presented by the American Center of Philippine Arts.
Yerba Buena Art Walk Between Market and Folsom and Second and Fifth Sts, SF; yerbabuena.org/artwalk. 12:30-6pm, free. Yerba Buena Alliance presents this neighborhood showcase, highlighting galleries, exhibitions, and institutions throughout the downtown cultural center.
JUNE 7-8
Union Street Festival Union between Gough and Steiner, SF; www.unionstreetfestival.com. 10am-6pm, free (tasting tickets, $30-35). This 38-year-old festival features tasting pavilions highlighting Bay Area craft beers and wines. Each block of the fest will also have a themed “world,” centered around fashion, culinary arts, tech, locals, crafts, and fitness.
JUNE 7-15
San Mateo County Fair San Mateo County Event Center, 1346 Saratoga, San Mateo; www.sanmateocountyfair.com. June 7-8, 10, and 14-15, 11am-10pm; June 9 and 11-13, noon-10pm, $8-10. All the classics (horse show, the Zipper, funnel cakes), plus modern touches like hip-hop dance performances, poetry readings, pig races, and concessions geared toward health-conscious fairgoers. Evening concerts include Air Supply, Brian McKnight, and War, plus tributes to Neil Diamond, Journey, and the Beatles.
JUNE 8
Haight Ashbury Street Fair Haight between Stanyan and Masonic, SF. www.haightashburystreetfair.org. 11am-8:30pm, free. Live music on two stages, plus over 200 vendor booths, highlight this groovy tradition.
JUNE 14-15
Crystal Fair Fort Mason Center, 2 Marina, Bldg A, SF; www.crystalfair.com. June 14, 10am-6pm; June 15, 10am-4pm. $8. The one-stop shop for all your crystal needs, for both jewelry and healing-arts purposes.
Live Oak Park Fair Live Oak Park, 1301 Shattuck, Berk; www.liveoakparkfair.com. 10am-6pm, free. The 44th annual fest hosts over 100 artists and craftspeople selling jewelry, clothing, contemporary art, quilts, pottery, and more, plus tastings of food by local artisans.
North Beach Festival North Beach neighborhood, SF. www.sresproductions.com/north_beach_festival.html. 10am-6pm, free. Historic North Beach hosts its 60th annual festival, with 125 arts and crafts booths, 20 gourmet food booths, live entertainment, and more, plus the ever-popular blessing of the animals (2-3pm both days at the National Shrine of Saint Francis of Assisi, 610 Vallejo).
JUNE 20-AUG 9
Stanford Jazz Festival Venues and prices vary; www.stanfordjazz.org. Both legends (Chick Corea, Arturo Sandoval, Joe Louis Walker) and up-and-comers (Taylor Eigsti, Meklit, Pacific Mambo Orchestra) fill the schedule at this annual fest.
JUNE 28-29
San Francisco Pride Venues and prices vary; www.sfpride.org. Amid the zillion parties, performances, and events that’ll go down this week, the biggest are the celebration (June 28, noon-6pm; June 29, 11am-6:30pm, $5, Civic Center), and the parade (June 29, 10:30am, starts at Market and Beale). This year’s theme is “Color Our World with Pride.”
JUNE 28-SEPT 21
Free Shakespeare in the Park Venues and times vary; www.sfshakes.org. Free. Get thee to a park (including the Presidio, Aug 30-Sept 14) for a free, professional production of The Taming of the Shrew.
JULY 4
Fourth of July at the Berkeley Marina Berkeley Marina, 201 University, Berk; www.anotherbullwinkelshow.com. Noon-10pm, $15. Family-friendly fun with live entertainment, pony rides, arts and crafts, and fireworks (9:30pm).
JULY 4-5
“The Ripple Effect” Opening weekend: Dolores Park, 19th St at Dolores, SF; www.sfmt.org July 4-5, 2pm, free (donations accepted). Continues through Sept 1 at various NorCal venues. The veteran San Francisco Mime Troupe stays current by skewering San Francisco’s ever-dividing economy; think rising rents, tech-bus protests, and (natch) Glassholes.
JULY 5-6
Fillmore Jazz Festival Fillmore between Jackson and Eddy, SF. www.fillmorejazzfestival.com. 10am-6pm, free. The largest free jazz fest on the West Coast fills 12 blocks with music, arts and crafts, gourmet food, and more.
JULY 17-27
Midsummer Mozart Festival Venues, times, and prices vary; www.midsummermozart.org. Two weeks paying tribute to Wolfgang Amadeus, with highlights like a San Francisco Boys Chorus guest appearance, and (in honor of the fest’s 40th season), a performance of Symphony No. 40 in G minor.
JULY 19-20
Renegade Craft Fair Fort Mason Center Festival Pavilion, 2 Marina, SF; www.renegadecraft.com. 11am-6pm, free. DIY crafters unite at this celebration of indie design. Hey, it’s never too early to get a jump on your holiday shopping.
JULY 25-27
Gilroy Garlic Festival Christmas Park, Gilroy; www.gilroygarlicfestival.com. 10am-7pm, $10-20. Garlic is the pungent star of this annual food fair. Garlic ice cream gets all the press, but don’t sleep on the garlic fries, 2012’s most popular purchase (13,401 servings!)
JULY 26-27
Berkeley Kite Festival Cesar E. Chavez Park, Berkeley Marina. www.highlinekites.com. 10am-6pm, free. Because where else are you gonna see the world’s largest octopus kite?
Vintage Paper Fair SF County Fair Building, Ninth Ave. and Lincoln, SF; www.vintagepaperfair.com. July 26, 10am-6pm; July 27, 11am-5pm. Free. Relive the days before digital ruined everything with this showcase of vintage postcards, photographs, labels, sports memorabilia, and “all manner of curious, beautiful, and interesting old paper.”
JULY 27
Up Your Alley Fair Dore between Howard and Folsom, SF; www.folsomstreetfair.com/alley. 11am-6pm, $7 suggested donation. Folsom Street Fair’s naughty little brother fills Dore Alley with leather-clad shenanigans.
AUG 1-3
Eat Drink SF Fort Mason Center, 2 Marina, SF; www.eatdrink-sf.com. Times and prices TBD. Formerly known as SF Chefs, this Golden Gate Restaurant Association-hosted event brings together food, wine, and spirits. Foodies, start your engines.
AUG 2-3
Art + Soul Oakland Downtown Oakland (adjacent to the 12th St/City Center BART station); www.artandsouloakland.com. Noon-6pm, free. Live music is Art + Soul’s main draw, but a new event — the Oaktown Throwdown BBQ competition — will surely be a popular addition.
Bay Area Aloha Festival San Mateo County Event Center, 1346 Saratoga, San Mateo; www.pica-org.org. 10am-5pm, free. The Pacific Islanders’ Cultural Association showcases Polynesian dance and island cuisine at its annual event.
Nihonmachi Street Fair Post between Laguna and Fillmore, SF; www.nihonmachistreetfair.org. Times TBD. This long-running community event celebrates Asian-Pacific American life with performances, food, activities for kids, and more. Plus: the crowd-pleasing dog pageant and accompanying parade.
AUG 3
Jerry Day Jerry Garcia Amphitheater, McLaren Park, 45 John F. Shelley, SF; www.jerryday.org. 11:30am, free (donate for reserved seating). Live music (lineup TBD) honors the legacy of the Grateful Dead legend, who grew up on nearby Harrington Street in the Excelsior.
AUG 16
Stumptown Brewery Beer Revival and BBQ Cook-off Stumptown Brewery, 15045 River, Guerneville; www.stumptown.com. 1-6pm, $75-100. Over 30 breweries and 30 BBQ teams await at this event, which makes the following claim: “If you can’t have fun at this one … you can’t have fun.” ‘Nuff said. AUG 23-24 Bodega Seafood, Art, and Wine 16885 Bodega Highway, Bodega; www.winecountryfestivals.com. Aug 23, 10am-6pm; Aug 24, 10am-5pm, $8-15. It’s there in the name, folks: tasty seafood, a juried art marketplace, and wine (and beer) tastings. Plus: three stages of live entertainment. Golden Gateway to Gems SF County Fair Building, Ninth Ave. and Lincoln, SF; www.sfgemshow.org. 10am-6pm, check website for price. It’s the diamond jubilee (60th anniversary) of this San Francisco Gem and Mineral Society event, and the 2014 theme is “Heavy Metal” — so prepare for face-melting encounters with rock, gem, and jewelry dealers; educational lectures and demos; and a “stump the expert” mineral ID station. Rock on! *
Is it hot in here, or is it just — sorry, no, that’s all of San Francisco, doing that delightfully freakish 85-degree Actual Summer thing while the East Coast is still clawing its frost-bitten way out of the 60s.
In addition to skipping work to drink margaritas on patios and texting your Boston-based friends pictures of your feet on the beach just to be a dick, there are quite a few rad, summery shows going on this week — so make some new cut-offs, fill up your water bottle, and go get sweaty with some strangers. Try not to get into any fights in elevators. And enjoy it while it lasts! By June we’ll all be wearing hoodies again.
THU/15
Cool Ghouls
SF’s own Cool Ghouls make some of the most unpretentiously happy, jangly, beach-brat garage pop you’ve ever heard; they’ve been on many a “why-aren’t-they-bigger-yet” list for a while now. Last year’s self-titled debut was a pretty perfect drive-down-the-coast soundtrack, and the dudes say their second full-length is in the works — chances are there’ll be some new stuff to hear at this Chapel show, which is the first of a few local dates this summer before they head down to Monterey in August to support Beck, The National, Best Coast, et. al. at the First City Festival on August 23. — Emma Silvers With Mr. Elevator & the Brain Hotel and Mane 8pm, $12 The Chapel 777 Valencia, SF www.thechapelsf.com
Anti-Nowhere League and T.S.O.L.
British hardcore punk stalwarts the Anti-Nowhere League have made a name for themselves over the past three decades with an unabashedly aggressive and in-your-face approach, as evidenced by their signature songs “I Hate People” and the profanity-laced “So What” — the latter was even notoriously covered by Metallica. In a perfect pairing, Southern California punk icons T.S.O.L (True Sounds of Liberty), who became infamous for the police riots that would break out at their shows, and the tune “Code Blue,” an ode to the joys of necrophilia, join the bill for what promises to be one hell of show. — Sean McCourt With The Riverboat Gamblers and Dime Runner 9pm, $18-$20 DNA Lounge 375 11th St, SF (415) 626-1409 www.dnalounge.com
FRI/16
Zion I
Last time Zion I was at the Independent was for a guest appearance during the venue’s 10th anniversary celebration, but this time, the stage will be all theirs. Baba Zumbi and AmpLive of Zion I have been making music together for over 15 years. AmpLive brings the electronic dance beats that vacillate between reggae and drum ’n’ bass, while Zumbi carries the vocals with socially conscious lyrics. Originally formed in Atlanta, the Berkeley-based duo creates a sound that’s difficult to define — neither West Coast hip-hop, nor East Coast rap, the band’s musical influences remains deeply engrained in songs that deliver messages of unity and hope. — Laura B. Childs 9pm, $25 The Independent 628 Divisadero, SF (415) 771-1421 www.theindependentsf.com
SAT/17
A Minor Forest
One of the best-loved melodic math-rock bands of the ’90s, San Francisco’s A Minor Forest probably made lots of fans pee their pants last year when they announced their reunion. Then came the re-issue of two iconic albums, Flemish Altruism and Inindependence, for Record Store Day. And then, just for good measure, a national tour. They’ll be coming home this week, and a hometown show to close out a tour is always a fun one — they’ll be tired, sure, but they’ll be happy to see us. Bonus: You can go give Andee, the drummer and co-owner of Aquarius Records, an in-person review of the show at his Valencia Street record store. Maybe just give him a day or two to catch up on work. — Emma Silvers With Phil Manley’s Life Coach, Golden Void 8pm, $15 The Chapel 777 Valencia, SF www.thechapelsf.com
SUN/18
Iggy Azalea
First things first, she’s the realest. The Australian beauty and hip-hop performer, Iggy Azalea, has been making waves in this hemisphere since her Clueless-inspired music video for her hit single “Fancy.” With sassy raps and catchy hooks about the glam life, Azalea’s sound is reminiscent of the “it” girls of the early 2000s. Think Gwen Stefani’s vocals and Lil’ Kim’s beats, but this former model adds personal flair with her zero-fucks-given charisma and unabashed obsession with America. She’s opened for household names such as Beyoncé and Rita Ora, but since the release of her debut album, The New Classic, Azalea is on the prowl with her Monster Energy Outbreak Tour. — Childs 8pm, $35 The Fillmore 1805 Geary, SF (415) 346-6000 www.thefillmore.com
Remember slowly drifting off while watching documentaries during history class on a warm afternoon? Well, if there’s anyone who can make a historical documentary interesting, it’s the great Ken Burns. If you’ve ever used iPhoto, iMovie, or Final Cut Pro, you’re familiar with “The Ken Burns Effect.” Known for bringing life to still photographs, the Ken Burns Effect is back with The Roosevelts: An Intimate History. Burns will present a sneak preview of his seven-part, 14-hour documentary after an onstage conversation about the film, which will premiere on PBS in September. The film takes the unique perspective of weaving together the lives of Theodore, Franklin, and Eleanor Roosevelt, illuminating the influential stories of how two presidents and a first lady played integral roles in shaping American history — from human and civil rights battles to the creation of National Parks to the defeat of Hitler. (Laura B. Childs)
If you’ve never seen Sleepbomb do its thing at the band members’ main stomping ground, you’re in for a rare treat. This postindustrial improvisational band, made up mostly of Zeitgeist employees and regulars, will play a live soundtrack to Metropolis, the cult-classic silent film by German Expressionist filmmaker Fritz Lang. Sleepbomb has done live soundtracks to Metropolis and Nosferatu before in the Zeitgeist beer garden, and it’s always an eerie, artsy, urban, robotic, drunken good time. (Steven T. Jones)
British hardcore punk stalwarts the Anti-Nowhere League have made a name for themselves over the past three decades with an unabashedly aggressive and in-your-face approach, as evidenced by their signature songs “I Hate People” and the profanity-laced “So What” — the latter was even notoriously covered by Metallica. In a perfect pairing, Southern California punk icons T.S.O.L (True Sounds of Liberty), who became infamous for the police riots that would break out at their shows, and the tune “Code Blue,” an ode to the joys of necrophilia, join the bill for what promises to be one hell of show. (Sean McCourt)
Fou Fou Ha, our favorite cartoon performance troupe, makes a big leap forward as it returns to its roots for its latest original show, In Living Colors. This psychedelic dance journey through an exotic world is described as “Alice in Wonderland meets the Forbidden Zone,” combining elaborate 3D pop-up sets and projections by Obscura Digital. It’s a new twist on the lively choreographed comedy that is classic Fou, but on an occasion that’s a little bittersweet for Mama Fou (aka Maya Lane) and the rest of Family Fou. The troupe got its start in this location back when it was CELLspace, the players kept it as their home during its evolution into Inner Mission, and now this looks like it will be Fou Fou Ha’s final performance in a space that is being shut down this fall and converted into condos. So come laugh, cry, dance, and laugh some more. (Jones)
Last time Zion I was at the Independent was for a guest appearance during the venue’s 10th anniversary celebration. Tonight, the Bay Area indie hip-hop duo is back. Baba Zumbi and AmpLive of Zion I have been making music together for over 15 years. AmpLive brings the electronic dance beats that vacillate between reggae and drum ‘n’ bass, Zumbi carries the vocals with socially conscious lyrics. Originally formed in Atlanta, the Berkeley-based duo creates a relatable sound that’s difficult to define. Neither West Coast hip-hop, nor East Coast rap, the band’s musical influences remains deeply engrained in songs that deliver messages of unity and hope. (Childs)
Secrets, truths and lies…Black Market SF is hosting one of its legendary events tonight for the curious: Rendezvous. They say, curiosity killed the cat, but in this case, let your curiosity run wild. This clandestine discovery market will carry an assortment of local craft and food vendors as well as many secret activities to be discovered on the night of. Explore one of SF’s best-kept secrets in the intimate setting of the Folsom Street Foundry. If the city’s best craft artisans and food purveyors don’t pique your interest, an exclusive live set of up-and-coming acts will spearhead the dance party. This mysterious night will be one for the books. (Childs)
Many tribal people living on parched lands engage in ritualistic dances to encourage the falling of precious rain. Since water is the world’s most important and most endangered natural resource, we might as well try dancing. It just could help. For this weekend the bi-national Dance Monks, an interdisciplinary ensemble that works both in the Bay Area and Mexico, has enlisted local artists — Dohee Lee, NAKA Dance among them — to help out drought-stricken California. NOMAD: The Blue Road, takes audiences along the path of Strawberry Creek, Berkeley’s beloved small stream that still burbles and runs under the urban asphalt of downtown Berkley. The piece starts on the UC campus and winds its way along the creek’s trajectory with performances along the path. (Rita Felciano)
If you have friends participating in the race but, like so many of us, you also feel a local’s urge to get the hell out of town during Bay to Breakers weekend — or at least as far away from the costumed, beer-soaked debauchery as possible — get the best of both worlds by hitting one of the rival Hayes Street house parties along the course, with DJs, more than you could ever want to drink, and probably very little pressure to be athletic in any way. Alternatively, hit Alamo Square for an amazing view of some 30,000 people all making their way up the Hayes Street Hill. Just remember: The cops have pledged a zero-tolerance policy for public drunkenness this year. We’ll see how that all shakes out. (Emma Silvers)
First things first, she’s the realest. The Australian beauty and hip-hop performer, Iggy Azalea, has been making waves in this hemisphere since her Clueless-inspired music video for her hit single “Fancy.” With sassy raps and catchy hooks about the glam life, Azalea’s sound is reminiscent of the “it” girls of the early 2000’s. Think Gwen Stefani’s vocals and Lil’ Kim’s beats, but this former model adds personal flair with her zero-fucks-given charisma and unabashed obsession with America. She’s opened for household names such as Beyoncé and Rita Ora, but since the release of her debut album, The New Classic, Azalea is on the prowl with her Monster Energy Outbreak Tour. (Childs)
In the 17 years since his old band, Ben Folds Five, burst onto the national scene with “Brick” — likely the catchiest, most radio-friendly song ever penned about an abortion at Christmastime — pianist-singer-songwriter-storyteller Ben Folds has proven to be so much more than a flash in the pan. On this tour, he’s been performing solo with orchestras and symphonies around the world; if you’re not quite sure how his songwriting would stand up to such elaborate instrumentation, search for videos online of his performances with the Western Australian Symphony Orchestra. This one-off show should be a treat for devotees of the singer’s nearly three-decade career as well as symphony fans — nothing like a little pop-rock-classical synergy on a Monday night. (Silvers)
Who says writing isn’t a contact sport? The monthly Write Club, which bills itself with the motto “literature as bloodsport,” pits local lit figures against each other in a competitive readings series, with writers arguing such topics as “snow vs. fire,” “ham vs. turkey,” and “Santa vs. Jesus.” This month’s will see six writers, including Caitlin Gill, Rachel Bublitz, and founders Steven Westdahl and Casey Childers arguing over topics such as “beginning” vs. “end.” The audience picks the winner, and proceeds go to a charity of the winner’s choice. Reading, arguing, a full bar — what’s not to like? (Silvers)
Serious Damien Jurado fans — and the folksy indie-rocker does seem to inspire a certain (well-deserved) fervor amongst a certain set — know the songwriter’s gift for storytelling owes as much to a willingness to get weird as it does to playing with narrative. Jurado’s latest release, January’s Brothers and Sisters of the Eternal Son, is the third piece in a three-part collaboration with producer Richard Swift, and it shies away from neither the religious overtones nor the heady, spaced-out hero’s journey type of tale 2012’s Maraqopa laid out; it’s more stripped-down, if anything, so those themes are laid bare. Live, he’s known for making even large rooms feel intimate; this show shouldn’t disappoint. (Silvers)
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DANCE The Mother’s Day weekend premiere of Sarah Bush Dance Project’s reconceived 2011 Rocked by Women was a tenderly raucous, often humorous celebration of an overly sentimentalized holiday. Bush looks at the education of a “girlchild” in the “not-so-promised land” by paying tribute to the mothers who raised us physically. But it was pioneer “mothers” — the feminists of the 1970s, the lesbian activists of many decades, artists and entrepreneurs like Olivia Records and Club Q — who made us the women we have become. Their legacy, Bush realized, was in danger of being forgotten by the current generation of women for whom the battles had been fought. Molded into a convincing piece of dance theater, Rocked by Women is a joyous and self-effacing acknowledgement of prices paid and gains won.
Just as music energized the civil rights movement of the 1960s, feminism in its earlier and later stages drew inspiration from talented musicians who started the women’s music movement. Bush drew on that rich heritage and shaped Rocked‘s three parts around contributions from two generations of songwriters such as Holly Near, Cris Williams, and k.d. lang, as well as Janet Jackson, Tracy Chapman, Missy Elliott, and Bikini Kill. Julie Wolf also contributed music arrangements and wrote original songs.
Rocked derives its impressive energy as much from music as from dance. Yet Natalie Aceves, Krystal Bates, Joanna Gartner, Bianca Mendoza, Juliann Witt, and Bush performed with an intuitive grace, passion, and an almost delirious delight at the choreography’s lush physicality. Much like works by Dance Brigade (Bush’s home company), Rocked contains personal material that also feels universal, speaking to those who don’t fit into given norms, and who have had to struggle to become who they are meant to be. Using contact improv, disco, jazz, and hip-hop in an almost narrative way, the individual dances comment on the songs but do so from a distance. At its best, Rocked became a weighty yet explosive expression of the power of an indomitable spirit and embracing courage.
The show opened and closed with Near’s iconic “Mountain Song.” At first, a trio of kicking “babies” are cuddled by their mothers. It ends with the dancers facing the audience in a sing-along about the unstoppability of women who refuse to have “their dreams taken away.”
Each of the work’s movements explored a different aspect of growing up. In “Her Childhood,” the dancers engaged in circle games and playfully sculpted a mountain from their bodies. One of them triumphantly climbed it. They also donned masks cut from fashion magazines and tugged and pushed their bodies in an attempt to reshape them. Here, ballet’s preoccupation with perfection came in for a kick or two. The choreography had a sense of humor but you couldn’t miss the underlying pain and rage.
The emergence of a young girl’s sexual identity permeated the whole piece and resulted in a number of awkwardly tender duets. In one, the group’s smallest dancers, Mendoza and Bates, discover each other’s differences: Mendoza is Latina, Bates African American. Second movement “Her Adolescence” brings group pressures and rejections, driving and exploring of sexual identity; the choreography veered between plaintive and painfully funny. With Jackson’s “Control” providing the beat, the ensemble performed impressive unison hip-hop that opened into individually athletic feats. It was followed by a dancing-with-“boys” number as an awkward, one-sided groping session. In “Gossip,” teens entangled themselves in yards and yards of telephone lines. For Chapman’s “Fast Car,” they built themselves into a monster automobile that, predictably, crashed, leaving Mendoza stunned and bereft. In an achingly lovely courting duet, Mendoza gently reaches towards Aceves who keeps turning away.
The third movement — “Herself” — opened with a video of the Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival and rather unfocused dancing on stage. The pace picked up with mock taiko drumming to recorded drum. Another playfully confrontational scene involved a boom box, one set of headphones, and Mendoza and Aceves’ different musical tastes. They come to a meeting of minds and take it from there.
The tribute to Club Q, as both a sanctuary for lesbians and a place for fierce dancing, is wonderfully evoked by Bush’s own fierce dancers. It ends in dreamy slow dancing duet for Witt and Bates. Choreographing anger is not easy. When Bush interrupted the lovers, her danced fury felt like an arrow shooting straight at them.
While Rocked‘sdocumentary clips are convincingly integrated into the stage action, earlier uses of video — shadowy images, dancers sitting as if in lecture by Judy Grahn, crawling from beneath the screen — are not telling enough. That needs rethinking. But Rocked is a warm, skillfully created, and generous show that just might become a Mother’s Day tradition. * sarahbushdance.com/rocked-by-women
Wonderfest, “the Bay Area Beacon of Science,” is a nonprofit that has been organizing fun, funky science events and meet-ups for nearly two decades, and best of all, most of them are free. This talk, presented at the SoMa StrEat Food Park (with all of the delectable food truck and beer options that entails) will tackle one of the last great biological mysteries — something we spend one-third of our lives doing, yet something scientists still understand very little about. Matthew P. Walker, an associate professor of psychology at Cal, will describe the latest research that suggests sleep is actually a highly active process, necessary for improving our learning processes, memory, creativity, and emotions. So grab a friend, grab some grub and get your education on, then go home and get a good night’s rest — you’ll be smarter for it. (Emma Silvers)
Got a bike? Ride it. Today marks the 20th anniversary of San Francisco’s Bike to Work Day, and it’s never been more rewarding to be a two-wheeled commuter. With thousands of cyclists on the road today, not only do tailpipe emissions decrease dramatically, but the visible presence of cyclists encourages motorists to share the road. What’s more, many small businesses will have special treats for bikers, and the SF Bicycle Coalition will have safety classes, workshops, parties, raffles, and energizer stations (snacks, beverages, and goodie bags) throughout the city. If you’re a two-wheeling newbie, don’t fret. The Coalition will also have Commuter Convoys leading you through the city. Keep an eye out for bike-friendly businesses: Yoga Tree is offering a free class to anyone who shows up on two wheels. Don’t forget your helmet! (Laura B. Childs)
“The New Forty-Niners” and “Scavenger: Adventures in Treasure-Hunting”
For centuries, stories of treasure hunters and great explorers have dominated American history. From the Gold Rush millionaire Samuel Brannan to Huck Finn to Lewis and Clark, the thirst for adventure and wealth is a building block of the American Dream. Tonight, Rayko Photo Center presents two exhibits based on this dream. “Scavenger: Adventures in Treasure Hunting,” by Jenny Riffle, documents one man’s treasure hunt, accompanied by his metal detector. Riffle romantically captures the mythical adventurer as he ventures out into rural Washington like a 21st century Mark Twain character. The second exhibit, Sarina Finklestein’s “The New Forty-Niners,” is a four year-long photo project chronicling modern-day gold prospectors in California. In gritty and rugged photographs, the exhibit reveals a small self-sustaining society dependent on gold mining, reminiscent of the original Gold Rush. (Childs)
Last November choreographer Katharine Hawthorne premiered Timepiece at the Joe Goode Annex. Bringing a background in physics and dance to her artistic practice, she had created an intricately structured and intriguing piece of choreography in which she explored the concept of time — not just dance as a time-based art, but time as a way of structuring the way we live our lives and think about the world. In the new The Escapement, she continues that process by examining the way clocks have enabled us to divide time into regular intervals. The invention of the “escapement” mechanism, apparently, was central to the process. Performing with Hawthorne will be Jesse L. Chin, Katherine Disenhof, Suzette Sagisi, and Megan Wright. (Rita Felciano)
With advice like “money looks better in the bank than on your feet,” #GIRLBOSS is one giant kick in the butt. The CEO, founder, and self-proclaimed “chief troublemaker” at the online fashion retailer NastyGal, Sophia Amoruso isn’t your typical CEO. Before reaching meteoric fame with her $100 million brand, Amoruso was an anarchist who survived off dumpster-diving and shoplifting. Dubbed the “Cinderella of tech,” Amoruso started an eBay store while living in San Francisco, selling old clothes; some eight years later, it’s a global marketplace specializing in scandalous and trendy clothing for 20-somethings. Filled with quick-whips and snarky illustrations, #GIRLBOSS covers all the nitty-grittiness of owning a company, and demystifies any ideas that because you were popular in high school, you’re guaranteed success — you have to work for it. (Childs)
Black Sabbath may be past their prime, but Berlin’s Kadavar is keeping the ’70s heavy metal dream alive — psychedelic, snarling, seething, dope-smoking, and very hairy. Drawing heavily —very heavily— from Sabbath and Pentagram (with some nods to Zeppelin), Kadavar have joined the time-travelling ranks of Electric Wizard and Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats in producing some seriously killer heavier metal tunes. Though Kadavar wears its influences on its sleeve, as these guys are singing through their prodigious facial hair about wizards, witchcraft, and lost souls, they are undeniably genuine. Their love for the music is clear, and entirely impossible not to headbang to. (Zaremba)
If you are a cat fan — or simply fond of Internet kitty videos — today is basically Christmas, Hanukkah, your birthday, Talk Like a Pirate Day, and every other awesome holiday rolled into one. In SF, the Roxie rolls out its “First Annual San Francisco Intergalactic Feline Film and Video Festival for Humans,” a meow-thful of a name befitting a fest that promises “a two-week film festival in the span of 12 hours.” In Oakland, OakCatVidFest presents an entire day of pussy magic; in addition to outdoor screenings, there will be cat-themed bands and dance performances, plus adoptable cats and the chance to sign up to be a kitten foster parent. Superstar Internet feline Lil Bub (of documentary, talk-show, and tongue-wagging fame) will appear at both events. And so should you! (Cheryl Eddy)
20th Anniversary Serial Mom Tribute with Ricki Lake
“I don’t like to read about movies. They’re so violent,” picture-perfect suburban hausfrau Beverly R. Sutphin (Kathleen Turner) tells a couple police officers during a brief non-lethal moment in Serial Mom. John Waters’ 1994 comedy about a secretly demented wife and mother with very, very high etiquette standards — you really do not want to wear white after Labor Day around he r— remains his personal best since the breakthrough of Hairspray (1988). That film’s discovery Ricki Lake, cast as Sutphin daughter Misty, will appear in person for Peaches Christ’s “Mother’s Day celebration to die for,” also featuring a pre-show performance with D’Arcy Drollinger and “the erotic dance stylings of SexiTude.” There will be blood. (Dennis Harvey)
Reassuring us all that growing up doesn’t mean you have to lose your sense of humor, the Old 97’s — the solid, steady fathers of alt-country, who never quite exploded (or imploded) like some of mid-’90s their counterparts did — are currently touring the country with their tenth studio album, Most Messed Up. The tour also functions as a 20th anniversary party for the band, and the record serves as perfect accompaniment: Never have songs about the ravages of road life and the slights of middle age sounded so fun. The band’s die-hard fans know they’re in for a helluva rocking live show, too, though the guys claim to never rehearse; if you’ve only heard a few radio singles, this is your chance to see what the fuss is actually all about. (Silvers)
Let’s start with the burning question: Is this guy for real? Part of the intrigue of Riff Raff’s over-the-top, ultra-campy hip-hop persona is that it might be totally genuine. This caricature-like white guy from Houston with a BET tattoo, a grill, and cornrows, who raps about Dolce and Gabbana, could be an elaborate joke. Nut authentic or not, Riff Raff is a hot commodity; “Feat. Riff Raff” seems to be the most popular phrase on iTunes. He’s tight with Drake, Justin Bieber, has over 50 million views on YouTube, and scored some seriously solid guests for his upcoming record Neon Icon — Action Bronson, Childish Gambino, and Diplo, to name just a few. Love him or hate him (it’s one or the other) Riff is undeniably fascinating, and this performance won’t be one you forget any time soon. (Zaremba)
You know the upside to life’s hideously embarrassing moments, right? Like that time you broke your ankle by slipping on a banana at the Muni station, at rush hour, and had to have Muni employees help you off the platform while covered in banana mush? And also you were headed to a job interview? (Note: this recently happened to an actual friend.) The upside, of course, is that you have an awesome story to tell, and this monthly “story slam,” based on the award-winning New York-based series The Moth, rewards naked honesty as much as it does storytelling flair. Fact-checkers won’t be on hand, but stories must be true and take five minutes or less to tell; contestants can’t use notes or cheat-sheets of any kind. But beyond that, anything goes, so start your storytelling engines.(Silvers)
Sure, she’s had her share of troubles over the years: prison time for tax evasion, comments about race that gave PR people across the nation simultaneous heart attacks, a laundry list of tardiness and other diva-tastic behaviors. But at the end of the day, Lauryn Hill is still among the most gifted musicians of the last two decades; her Grammy-sweeping album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, which turns 16 this August, still graces many a Top 10 list (this critic’s included). Live, she’s been experimenting with a more reggae-fied and big band sound over the last few years, giving hits like “Doo Wop (That Thing)” the weight of a pseudo-religious revival experience. And if the new music she dropped following her release from prison in the fall of last year is any indication, this tour should be a good one. She might be late, she might be ornery — she won’t be boring. (Silvers)
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You might not be alone if you do a double-take when hearing José James’ new single for the first time. The song, “EveryLittleThing,” off the singer’s forthcoming album on Blue Note Records (While You Were Sleeping, out June 10), recalls a grinding club hit more than the effortless mix of jazz and neo-soul that made him famous. It is a surprise, to say the least — the driving, electric sound is nothing like the mellow and easy cool of his previous record, No Beginning No End, released in 2013.
And that’s just fine with James. The 36-year-old singer is a perpetual denier of expectations. He was born and raised in Minneapolis, maybe not the first city that comes to mind when you think of jazz. After appearing as a finalist in the prestigious Thelonious Monk International Vocal Competition in 2004, James released two albums with a heavy influence of electronic house music, produced by British DJ Giles Peterson. His third album was a duo set of jazz standards with pianist Jef Neve, but it wasn’t until he recorded the groove-based single for No Beginning No End that he was signed to the legendary Blue Note Records.
That album and platform brought him to a broader audience worldwide, compelling listeners with its sophisticated grooves and his rich tenor voice. The presence of some of the modern messiahs of cool (the band included Grammy-winning keyboardist Robert Glasper and bassist Pino Palladino — the later revered for his work on D’Angelo’s Voodoo), cemented James’ place at the forefront of the hip young jazz and soul scene.
But even on that album there were hints of a broader agenda. Landing right in the middle of the record was a track that could only be described as guitar-driven acoustic pop, a left turn in a career of left turns. Perhaps the defining trait of his generation is the habitual rejection of genre boundaries, and James has no intention of letting up. As part of his tour to promote the new record, James will hit The Independent Saturday, April 26. We spoke over the phone while he was in Chicago.
San Francisco Bay Guardian You’re on tour previewing your new album which, based on the single “EveryLittleThing,” has a very different sound from your previous work. What was the inspiration to go in this direction?
José JamesA lot of people don’t understand the lifespan of a project. It was three years from the start of writing No Beginning No End to the last tour. By that point we had gotten really comfortable with the material. I wanted more energy. I love neo-soul and R&B, but I wanted to go back to how I used to feel about music as a teenager, when it was all about the Beastie Boys, A Tribe Called Quest, and Nirvana.
SFBG For this album you’ve started writing on guitar. What sparked that decision?
JJ The guitar came back into my life when I was recording the song “Sword + Gun” in Paris with Hindi Zahra (off No Beginning) because we didn’t have a band at that session. It’s how we came up with the initial riff. From that moment on I thought: “I should play guitar again.”
SFBG What’s different about the band on this tour?
JJ No horns, just keys, bass, drums and guitars. Almost everybody is doubling. If they’re not alternating on two instruments they’re singing as well. It really feels like a band now, instead of just a jazz band.
SFBGEvery album you make sounds really different. Is this an intentional decision or product of musical exploration?
JJ I think it’s both. I would never be happy just doing the same thing. Whatever I release an album I have to tour it for a year, maybe two, which is a long time. Coming from a jazz background I really need things to be fresh night after night, so it has to be material that can grow.
After working on No Beginning No End for three years, I had explored every option in a hip-hop/groove/neo-soul/jazz project that I wanted to do. It was the same with Miles and Coltrane: they would exhaust all the possibilities of a certain style, so moving on wasn’t really a choice. It’s not like I’m sitting there thinking “I’m going to mess up people’s heads with the next one” — it just kind of happens like that. For me it’s such a natural progression, but when you release a single or album it takes people by surprise, especially if they haven’t been with you for the journey.
SFBG How has the response been so far?
JJ It’s been really great. I think people are surprised by the sound and hearing me in that sound on Blue Note Records. It was cool of them to drop “EveryLittleThing” as a single. People are curious when they hear it — it makes them more interested in what the album’s going to sound like.I think honestly it’s the best album I’ve ever made. The songwriting and production are way above anything I’ve ever done, so I’m super excited.
SFBG So Blue Note has been supportive of your decision to make this kind of music?
JJ There are a lot of people who work at Blue Note. Don Was is super supportive and he’s the president, so that energy flows from the top down. There are definitely some stone-cold jazz people, both at the label and in the community, but honestly Blue Note hasn’t been a stone-cold jazz label for a long time. I think the single took everybody by surprise, especially because they were so in love with “No Beginning No End,” which is an easy album to fall in love with.
SFBGThere’s a young generation of Blue Note musicians (yourself, Robert Glasper, Derrick Hodge, Takuya Kuroda, etc.) that are redefining the terms of modern jazz. Do you feel like you guys are part of a community, in terms of exploring and expanding what jazz can be today?
JJ Yeah, absolutely, we all help each other along. It’s just a generational shift. It’s not such a huge deal for us; I don’t even know if it’s expansion. Hodge and Glasper play with Maxwell, and they play with Mos Def, and then they play their own stuff. It’s just the normal reality of musicians of that level now. We just want to play music. It’s different for me, because I’m not an instrumentalist, so it always comes under my name and that brings a little bit of pressure, you know what I mean? But it’s a cool scene and I can’t wait to see what they come up with next.
SFBG Do you expect to reach a wider audience with the new sound?
JJ I mean, that’s always the goal for anything, really. I think there’s a core José James fan who understands I’m going to do something different on every album. With each album I definitely hope to bring in different people. When I did Blackmagic, I connected with Flying Lotus and other DJs and producers. It’s not necessarily a conscious effort but the music takes it in different directions. We’re still playing some jazz clubs in the US — which is kind of funny, hearing a song like “EveryLittleThing” in a jazz club. You’d be surprised: we played at a jazz club in Boston two nights ago and people loved it. It’s all in the presentation. I don’t start with that song. I lead people to it so they understand it musically.
SFBGWhat shows did you go see when you were growing up?
JJ Mostly I would see any hip-hop show I could get to, like Das EFX or De La Soul or basically anybody who came through Minneapolis. It was a good music city to grow up in; First Avenue was still pretty fresh and Prince had a club downtown where he would play sometimes. I remember seeing Ice-T perform “Colors,” and he came out for the second set and did the Body Count stuff. It was cool to see Ice-T do heavy metal. I think people forget about that because now it’s so straight-laced: bands just do one thing. But back then people were really mixing it up in cool ways. I remember Digable Planets touring with horn players.
SFBG Did you listen to jazz?
JJ I didn’t see jazz live, but once I discovered the archives – Blue Note, Prestige, impulse! – I turned into a crazy record-buyer. I bought everything I could and became obsessed with getting the whole catalogue. It was something that nobody else knew about at my school, and I thought I was that much cooler because I was checking out all the music that Q-Tip and those guys were sampling.
SFBG What do you think about the future of jazz?
JJ Jazz is a at place where it’s going to be firmly museum-music, and there’s something to be said that as much as people can hate on new music, it’s music that people like. It speaks to them. This is the point where jazz artists need to decide whether we are going to be keepers of the flames or we’re going to stay current. I know that people like Herbie Hancock or Quincy Jones were able to take their jazz skills and make amazing music. Anytime I listen to “Off The Wall” or any of the Al Green stuff I think to myself: a jazz mind is responsible for this.
SFBGDo you have any influences that might surprise people?
JJ Kurt Cobain. I know it’s the anniversary of his death, but he’s one of the artists who really had an impact on me at an early age. His influence is like a John Coltrane or a Marvin Gaye. I think the unplugged album that Nirvana made shows what a great band they were and what a great songwriter he was.That’s what I’m focusing on right now. More so than a sound I really want to write great songs that have meaning and really mark a time and place.
D.C.-based quartet Deleted Scenes’ third long-player, Lithium Burn, continues to complicate easy categorization of their accessible art rock, deploying everything from what sounds like a children’s choir on opener “Haircuts, Uniforms” to “Teenage Girls”‘ 70s Steve Miller-ish synth sounds in service of diverse, unpredictable yet hooky and emotionally direct new songs. There’s room for spacious ballad “Landfall,” very non-Debussy-like instrumental “Debussy” and raucous “Stutter” alike. The latter’s video has Dustin Diamond, Saved by the Bell‘s erstwhile Screech, as an actor highly harassed en route to an audition nobody wanted him at in the first place.) It’s a disc whose positive first impression you know will deepen with each listen. Mall Walk and Weatherbox open. (Dennis Harvey)
For the past decade, a glorious, gloryhole-ious little Thursday night party in the Tenderloin has been the soul of San Francisco. There, on Aunt Charlie’s Lounge’s carpeted dance floor, festooned with vintage homophilia memorabilia and twinkling holiday lights, you’ll be transported to the classic sounds of the gay disco underground. DJ Bus Station John’s priceless, rare record collection (most of it passed down through a generation of intense collectors) is your silver spandex spaceship — no “YMCA” or “Funkytown” here, just hot, steamy, impeccably produced tunes that will take you higher, higher, higher. Tubesteak Connection’s tribute to the ’70s gay bathhouse has become an international destination for DJs and party people, and it’s now the longest-running queer weekly in SF: This 10-year celebration is the perfect occasion to “make a new friend” and get down. (Marke B.)
Wed 21, the latest from Argentinean artist Juana Molina, is the sort of beguiling record that might send you grasping for references, the more outré the better, until you end up with a list that includes Os Mutantes (rhythmically), Radiohead (technically) and Bjork (strangely?). That’s a list flattering in its members’ distinctiveness, but has really no center to hold, especially when Wed 21 is an album of persuasive dance beats, occasionally punctuated by eerie psych and weird folk elements. Perhaps the missing referent is Matias Aguayo, whose recent work has been equally focused on lyrical wordplay that loops and entrances (even if the meaning is utterly foreign).) (Ryan Prendiville)
With Emily Jane White
8pm, $15
The Independent
628 Divisadero, SF
(415) 771-1421
Contemporary Music Players: Sweet Thunder Festival
“The oldest new music ensemble in the West” has been on fire lately, producing some incredible, mindbending-yet-accessible events that include everything from hypnotic pieces for a dozen guitars to an entire score composed of nothing but musicians turning pages. Sweet Thunder is the name of its electrifying four-day “electroacoustical” festival, rumbling into Fort Mason this week. Legendary electronic composer Morton Subotnick, dashing quartet JACK, the International Contemporary Ensemble, and more will unleash works by Steve Reich, Kaija Saariaho, Edgard Varèse, Natacha Diels, Turgut Ercetin…Highlight: Fri/25, Subotnick will perform his seminal From Silver Apples of the Moon to a Sky of Cloudless Sulphur IV: Lucy, a work that’s inspired countless young electronic dreamers/composers. Ears will be opened, hip points will skyrocket. (Marke B.)
Through Apr. 27
$20 per performance ($10 student), $100 full pass ($40 student)
The first time I listened to a mix by meme-baiting/embracing Norwegian producer Cashmere Cat — the one with the Miguel “Do You…” trap-infused rework overlaid with “meow” sound effects — all I could think of was Audrey. Her owner had been in the habit of spending his downtime listening to R&B/soul records while smoking a Möbius bowl of pot. The long-haired tabby became so accustomed to the combination that one without the other put her at a loss. Just play a song, and she’d sit by your feet, plaintively mewing, with a needy, confused affection: Do you like hugs? Do you like love? Or do you like drugs? (Ryan Prendiville)
With Bleep Bloop, DJ Dials, DJ Balance, The Pirate, and more
In spring, the Bay Area Dance Week returns as regularly as the tourists to Union Square. So it’s most appropriate that this free annual event — with hundreds of opportunities to taste dance in the city and beyond — kicks off in what some consider shopping heaven. Friday at noon, Union Square is the place to be for iconic dance moves from pop culture. From there you can spread out to classes in every imaginable style. There are classes for big people and classes for people with disability. How about pole dancing? Hip-hop? Contact juggling? Social dancing in the park? Korean Three Drum Dancing? Over 600 events are scheduled, all of them free. Get your calendar and download a schedule of what, when, where. Brochures can also be found in libraries, coffee shops and dance centers. (Rita Felciano)
Through May 4, free
Various locations around the Bay Area, check website for details
For one night only, 111 Minna Gallery is hosting an exclusive exhibition where art and tech truly combine. Before we start spewing out tech boom jargon, let’s take this one step at a time, or rather, one iPod at a time. Jeff Grady, the inventor of iPod accessories and founder of Digital Lifestyle Outfitters, has been collecting thousands of recycled iPods for over a year. Grady carefully places the gadgets, which have evolved from giant white blocks to tiny colorful squares, together to form giant pixelated images of digital and 8-bit characters. Think Pac-Man ghosts made up entirely of iPod shuffles. Rumor has it, a couple Mario Bros. characters will be making an appearance, too. Not only does Grady combine art and tech but by using these quintessential Apple products to create tech icons of the past, he bridges the gap between generations. A must see! (Laura B. Childs)
The statistics are shocking: One in four women will be raped in her lifetims. One in 11 men will be victims of the same crime. It’s unacceptable that this abuse continually goes unpunished, and even worse, undiscussed. For nine years, thousands of men and women have marched in the Walk Against Rape to raise the discussion and awareness of sexual violence. Inspired by the tradition of “Take Back the Night,” this yearly walk contributes to Sexual Assault Awareness Month. In an attempt to mobilize the community and raise funds for organizations that aid rape and sexual assault survivors. The 3.5-mile walk begins at the historic Women’s Building in the heart of the Mission and ends at Portrero del Sol Park, where the afternoon festivities include dance, spoken word, music, and speeches. (Childs)
Spring this year is hatching new avenues of performance courtesy of a brand new festival of ensemble-driven work. Inspired by last summer’s wildly successful summer intensive in performance-making offered by the UK’s University of Chichester and Z Space, the pilot season of Hatch: A Festival of Devised Performance is a collaboration between nine accomplished Bay Area producer-artists taking matters into their own hands, cross-curating each other’s work, and riffing on the too timely theme of “meltdowns” (that’s emotional, nuclear, environmental, economic, or what have you). The resulting seven new pieces, no doubt a strange and wild flock, will be performed together over three nights at the Joe Goode Annex. (Robert Avila)
Any fan of burlesque in San Francisco likely knows the name Bunny Pistol by now — she’s been dancing and culling together diverse lineups of other dancers for the Barbary Coast Burlesque series — “the city’s most sophisticated burlesque show!” — for nearly a decade now. This Yoshi’s performance will feature Honey Mahogany of RuPaul’s Drag Race as hostess of ceremonies, alongside dancers Lady Satan, Sugar Cane Jane, Dottie Lux, Babraham Lincoln, and, of course, Bunny herself; chorus girls The Tartlettes will also perform. In short: A class act. You could do a lot worse on a Sunday night. (Emma Silvers)
Yeah, it’s cliché to say someone’s “big in Japan” — but really, Yoshiki’s huge in his home country of Japan. As the bandleader of X Japan, a metal band that enjoys mainstream success on that side of the pond and is credited with being a pioneer of “visual kei” (an androgynous, glam-rock aesthetic and subgenre), the songwriter-composer-drummer-pianist goes a different route when performing solo — original classical music. This show at Davies Symphony Hall will have him playing the piano in front of a seven-piece string ensemble; it comes on the heels of a performance at the Grammy Museum, at the launch for an exhibit there all about the musician. He’s currently promoting Yoshiki Classical, which is currently topping the classical charts in 10 different countries. If you prefer your genres bent, look no further. (Emma Silvers)
For someone who deals in such emotional songwriting, San Francisco indie darling and powerful personality-in-a-small package Thao Nguyen never fails to put on a grin-inducing dance party of a live show. This one will be particularly special, though: As part of the San Francisco International Film Festival, Nguyen and her band will perform a live, original score for an assortment of historic films, including Charlie Chaplin’s The Pawnshop, Slavko Vorkapich’s The Life and Death of 9413: A Hollywood Extra, animation by Harry Smith, and classic newsreels. Nguyen has experience with this sort of thing from scoring the Radiolab Live tour in 2012, so there’s no doubt she knows how to accompany film — but with a stage presence as infectious as hers, the trick will be keeping your eyes on the screen. (Emma Silvers)
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SUPER EGO Whoever decided to pack Disclosure (charging $50 for a DJ set!), the adorable Martinez Brothers, Easter with the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, 420 in the Park, two insane undergrounds, and 200 bottomless mimosa brunches into one blurred weekend deserves to be packed into a giant pastel plastic egg and rolled down Mt. Tam. My head feels like a gargantuan green Bunnyzilla hopped upon a ketchup packet, not cute. So here are some brief items of interest before I lay down for just a minute.
Stylish Portrero-ish club and gallery Project One is no more. Longtime party people Sean and Isabel Manchester of Wish, Mighty, and Chambers have snatched it up, rejiggered it with a chic vibe, programmed lots of Bay-favorite DJs, and christened it Mercer (251 Rhode Island, SF. www.mercer-sf.com), a lounge and “micro-club” named for the famous street in their beloved native Soho, NYC. The space is still bumping the Turbosound system inherited from 222 Hyde (RIP) Check it out.
Time to cue up — the 2014 DMC San Francisco Regional DJ Battle and Scratch Competition (Sat/26, noon-7pm, $15 advance, $20. Mighty, 119 Utah, SF. www.mighty119.com) will fill Mighty all day long with epic pyrotechnics. The Bay Area holds intimate acquaintance with the all-powerful DMC World DJ Championship title: We’ve won it several times in the past 30 years — once, in fact, with this year’s host, DJ Apollo. This is the first time in three decades that there will be “test run” of a separate scratch competition (scratching was introduced to the DMC in 1986), so I’m itching to see who steps up.
Two new killer fancy cocktails for your face. SF’s been exploding with mezcal bars and
classic Negroni cocktails — combine the two for a knockout mescal Negroni ($11) at the awesome Lolo (3230 22nd St, SF. www.lolosf.com). And, at my new favorite Thai spot, downtown’s Kin Khao (55 Cyril Magnin, SF. www.kinkhao.com), grab the zesty, incredible Kathoey Collins, a.k.a. the “ladyboy” ($12). Flavored with traditional Thai blue flowers, it changes color before your very eyes to a lovely lavender, “for something you don’t quite expect,” says jovial owner Pim Techamuanvivit.
SHLOHMO
Aw, known this LA bass-head darling since he was a wee glitcher, chopping up slabs of raw atmosphere and layering on pretty discombobulations. Now he and his sound are all blown up, coming straight from Coachella for two days at Great American. With Purple, Jim-E Stack, and Chad Salty.
Wed/23 and Thur/24, 8pm doors, 9pm show, $20–$25. Great American Music Hall, 859 O’Farrell, SF. www.gamh.com
#TURNUP
We love our hometown queer hip-hop heroes and their party crowd of radiant children. Rump-pumping duo Double Duchess will take the floor at this throwdown, with Guardian cover star Micahtron motormouthing on the mic.
Fri/25, 10pm, $10. Elbo Room, 647 Valencia, SF. www.elbo.com
FEATHERS AND FEDORAS
The Guardian’s hosting a roaring ’20s evening knees up at the de Young Museum, grab your favorite flapper and hightail it over. With live Parisian speakeasy band Trio Zincalo, Decobelles dance troupe, our very own astrologer Jessica Lanyadoo giving live readings, a full bar, and oodles more.
Fri/25, 6pm-8:30pm, free. De Young Museum, 50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Dr., Golden Gate Park, SF. www.tinyurl.com/SFBGfeathers
EDU IMBERNON
So excited to hear Edu again. Valencian hero of Spanish techno, he added some much-needed swing to the Berlin sound of the late 2000s with the classic “”El Baile Alema” (along with another Spanish favorite, Coyu). He easily slips crowds under his spell.
Sat/26, 10pm-late, $10. Audio, 316 11th St., SF. www.audiosf.com
6TH BOROUGH PROJECT
Craig Smith and Graeme Clark (a.k.a. The Revenge) are quality re-edit hypnotists from the UK, introducing new audiences to very deep soulful disco, Latin funk, and deliciously strange grooves via their quick-handed cut-and-pastes.
Sat/26, 9:30pm-3am, $10–$15. Monarch, 101 Sixth St, SF. www.monarchsf.com
FELIX DA HOUSECAT
The sweet, eccentric Chicagoan may still be revered here mostly for his sassy electroclash output in the early 2000s, but he really does have banging house running through his veins. With the funky pastiche-master Todd Edwards and Australian Tornado Wallace (whose beard rivals our own Jason Kendig’s).
Kenny Dope and Mr. V’s beloved NYC party debuts in SF — and will surely show us some masters at work, bopping from soulful house to disco classics, funky hip-hop to Latin jazz and beyond.
LEFT OF THE DIAL Dayvid Michael, a West Oakland native and member of the CaliMade hip-hop crew, clearly has some mixed feelings about his debut record, Frienemy.
“I mean, I wrote those songs when I was 18,” says the rapper, drinking boba milk tea during an interview in downtown Oakland. “I’m still proud of them, but I’ve learned so much since then.”
That album dropped the last week of December 2012 — which means Michael’s reminiscing at the ripe old age of 21. But, to be fair, the past couple years have been big ones for someone who calls himself a “reluctant rapper” (until about age 17, he mostly wanted to sing and play guitar).
With CaliMade, a loose collective of Oakland-born guys who’ve been friends from elementary school, as well as other young DJs and producers, he performed at Hiero Day, steps away from Bay Area hip-hop legends. He’s guested on a few songs by Iamsu, a rapper whom, Michael rightly notes, you will hear if you put on 106.1 KMEL for more than 15 minutes right now; CaliMade is now working closely with the (slightly) elder rapper’s own crew, the HBK Gang. And 2014’s shaping up to be a big one: He just got done recording a new project with Azure, an Oakland rapper poised for big things in his own right as well as being Iamsu’s DJ, and Clyde Shankle, another member of CaliMade. Michael’s also working on his sophomore solo album, which will be out by the end of the year.
In other words, he’s an Oakland kid to keep your eye on — which makes him a perfect selection for Oakland Drops Beats, a new free, all-ages, quarterly music festival that features some 30-plus East Bay artists, spread out over 10 different stages and venues in downtown Oakland; the kickoff festival is April 19.
Its lineup is, in and of itself, a testament to the range of music coming out of Oakland right now: From the jazz-hip-hop blend of the Kev Choice Ensemble to the underrated indie rock of Oakland mainstays B. Hamilton to the funk-soul dance party music of Sal’s Greenhouse — not to mention a distinctly family-friendly vibe courtesy of Bay Area Girls Rock Camp and the presence of Youth Radio — the music “crawl,” as organizers are billing it, aims to serve as both a celebration of the city’s established artists and a new platform through which up-and-coming musicians can get some stage time.
Inspired by the Venice Music Crawl in LA, musician-organizer-founder Angelica Tavella first began reaching out to Oakland event producers over the summer, with the idea in mind that there are lots of community organizers and promoters “already doing cool stuff in other parts of Oakland, but really doing their own thing,” she says.
“This was, here’s a space where we could all do that together, for a couple hours, on this one day. And I really had in mind that it should be downtown Oakland — specifically not in Uptown, which already has the Art Murmur…there are a lot of great small shop owners, a lot of great energy, and cool new things going on downtown. But there aren’t a lot of venues for something like a public music performance to happen.”
Tavella was quickly overwhelmed by the level of interest and enthusiasm from business owners and event producers — especially considering that the festival is all volunteer-run for now (including pro bono performances by musicians). The goal for the next one, which will take place in the last week of July or the first week of August, is to fundraise enough to pay musicians for their performances, while keeping admission free to the public.
Eventually, Tavella hopes to have the free daytime performances segue into a nighttime music crawl that would bring business to the venues in downtown Oakland. And with more and more musicians and artists getting priced out of San Francisco and heading East, organizers shouldn’t have too hard a time finding fresh talent to fill a bill every three months.
Dayvid Michael will be performing in the afternoon with the CaliMade crew at Le Qui Vive, a gallery at 15th and Webster. He feels at home there — it’s one of the first venues where CaliMade began performing a few years ago, and he says the folks behind it are part of the community that makes him feel so lucky to be calling Oakland home.
“When people from outside the Bay Area think about the Bay Area, they think of two things — we’re hyphy, we know how to have fun; and also the diversity of the city,” says Michael, who also does graphics work for Youth Radio (he basically “hung around” until they let him). “I feel like as representatives, the HBK Gang and Cali Made can fulfill both of those perceptions. And my personal goal is to show the world that we’re more than just party music. We can do that too — but we want to offer more than that.”
“This place is so rich in culture, intelligence, legacy. I love it here,” he says, and thinks for a minute. “If Oakland had waterfalls, I would never go anywhere else.” Fair enough.
Oakland Drops Beats Sat/19, 2pm (all day), free 10 venues between Broadway and Harrison/14th and 19th St, Oak. www.oaklanddropsbeats.com
ONLY YOU CAN SAVE COLLEGE RADIO
Talk about “left of the dial.” If you’ve only been in the city a couple years, you might not be aware that there was a time when KUSF — that’s the student-run radio station of the University of San Francisco — wasn’t in exile. It’s been over three years since the university sold the station (which had been broadcasting since 1963 at 90.3 FM) without public input or comment, for $3.75 million, to the Classical Public Radio Network, aka CPRN, via a complex three-way deal between the University of Southern California, that station, and the corporate broadcasting giant Entercom.
Since that time, KUSF DJs and friends of the station have been operating the station online, 24 hours a day, from the Lightrail Studios, growing a registered nonprofit arm with a new name: San Francisco Community Radio. All the while, those who love the station have been embroiled in — to use the technical legal terminology — a bureaucratic shitshow, as they try to prove that the sale was illegal. They’ve had some small successes in proving certain aspects of the transaction were unlawful, and currently have an appeal before the FCC.
Then, at the end of 2013, the FCC began issuing low-power FM licenses for the first time in about a decade. KUSF-In-Exile has an application in for 102.5 — but they’re up against at least seven other groups, including, as KUSF members understand it, a mega-church. The central goal, say organizers, is simply to get back on the (non-internet based) airwaves, one way or another. But “It’s a lot of hurry up and wait,” says SFCR board member and treasurer Damin Esper of the situation. “Which, obviously, isn’t very satisfying to us or to our supporters.”
In the meantime, the station has been throwing fundraiser shows to help pay for ongoing legal fees, and the one this April 20, naturally, is the third incarnation of their annual stoner-rama affair. Oakland punks Violence Creeps, who’ll be opening for the current incarnation of Black Flag at Brick & Mortar in May, will be headlining, alongside psych-rockers Mondo Drag and plenty of other wild, weird, woolly favorites; visuals, should you happen to have ingested anything that would make you want to look at cool visuals, will be provided by veteran stock-footage auteurs Oddball Films. All of the funds raised will go to SFCR’s legal fight; there will also be members on hand to talk volunteer opportunities — college radio-loving grantwriters, are you out there?
When it comes to the original sale, Esper says, “It’s clear that laws were broken. It could be found to be illegal in court…but one of the reasons the big guys always win in situations like this is it’s hard to keep people engaged, reminded of the situation. This is bigger than just KUSF. This is happening all over the country. College radio is under attack.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0MiS923Jfo
SFCR’s Blown-Out, Blowout Benefit III Sun/20, 8pm, $7 Thee Parkside 1600 17th St, SF www.theeparkside.com
Oh, one last thing: There’s also a little event called Record Store Daycoming up, so get out that piggy bank — this is what people mean when they talk about having an “emergency fund,” right? Anyway: So much going on, so little space. Check the Bay Guardian’s Noise blog this week for special in-store events and one-day-only releases.
SUPER EGO I’ve been a huge, squealing, panty-tossing fan of the Bronx-born Martinez Brothers since they were 14 and 17. Don’t call NAMBLA: If you’ve ever seen Chris and Steve work their supreme magic on the turntables, you know these two bopping, smiling dudes have wise old souls and an infectious spirit of musical joy.
When the brothers burst onto the scene, a new generation was rediscovering disco and house via the Internet: here, suddenly, like Athena springing from Zeus’s brow, appeared two vinyl wunderkinder versed fluently, it seemed, in Warehouse, Loft, and Paradise Garage — thanks, in part, to their club-hopping dad. Now they’re barely in their 20s, have gone through their globetrotting headliner and Ibiza-residency phases, tuned their style to a deeper post-minimal vibe (including some ace hip-hop), and started digging more extensively into their roots.
“You know, we just want to play good music, to treat music as an adventure again for everybody, not play to any tired expectations,” Chris told me over the phone as he headed from the brothers’ studio in Queens back to his house. “But we also want to bring our cultural background into it, keep repping where we and the music are from.”
To that end, the brothers have launched their own label Cuttin Headz, and paired with Detroit’s Seth Troxler for another label, Tuskegee, devoted to releasing dance music from black and Latino origin.
Cuttin’ Headz (the name’s cribbed from an ODB Wu-Tang demo) “is all about freedom for us,” Chris said. “We put so much care into each release, and now we’re taking that to a new level, learning some new skills to put it all in place.” As for Tuskegee, it’s bringing a necessary corrective to the pale, pale dance scene, as well as unearthing some surprising roots.
“Our point of view right now is coming from that moment in the ’90s right before house music became taboo to young kids into hip-hop. We want to bring the ‘urban environment’ feel back into house, real deep house and real techno that feels like the city.”
Meanwhile, they’re hitting Coachella before making it up here. “San Francisco has such a place in my heart,” Chris gushed. “We wish we were there back in the day when SF was so crazy, but luckily there’s still remnants of that spirit to be found. Hang in there, we love you!”
AS YOU LIKE IT WITH THE MARTINEZ BROTHERS Fri/18, 9pm-4am, $20–$25. Monarch, 101 Sixth St, SF. www.monarchsf.com
Excellently deep electronic grooves with an intelligent, psychedelic glow from this Swedish duo. This party’s being put on by the Symbiosis folks, so there’ll be a little burner fairy dust in the air.
Another brother act, Andrew and Daniel Aged from LA come on like “Black-winged angels of nu-R&B” and head up an evening of pretty darkness at the fantastic 120 Minutes monthly. With Brogan Bentley, S4NtA_MU3rTE, and Chauncey_CC. Fri/18, 10pm, $15 advance. Elbo Room, 647 Valencia, SF.www.elbo.com
FLIGHT FACILITIES
Looking back, 2009 was a year of epic (as in actually epic) house records. The dancefloor-devastating treatment these two remixing Australians visited upon the Lowbrows’ “Dream in the Desert” was a high point. They make their own lovely, hugely popular tunes as well.
No matter where you fall in the polarizing debate about what she represents in terms of the current state of DJ stardom, Russia’s Nina Kraviz is defintely kinda weird and also definitely kinda magic. And she will make you dance.
Sat/19, 9pm-3am, $25 advance. Harlot, 46 Minna, SF. www.harlotsf.com
Okay, so maybe I’m a little biased because how often does a music video shoot take place in yours truly’s little podunk hometown of Albany, California — which is where the dollar-beer-covered racetrack glory that is Golden Gate Fields technically lies, friends, not Berkeley — but this new Atmosphere video for the song “Kanye West,” which the hip-hop duo premiered today on Noisey, does feel a little like a “spot the East Bay shooting location” rendition of Where’s Waldo.
There’s plenty else to like, though: That’s also Oakland writer-superstar Chinaka Hodge in the role of leading lady, and local comedian/erstwhile Guardian opiner Nato Green as a scared-shitless corner store worker. Check it out below.
The duo’s new album Southsiders drops May 6 on Rhymesayers; this song will also be on The Lake Nokomis Maxi Single, released exclusively on vinyl for Record Store Day (that’s next Saturday, April 19, kiddos). They’ll be in town in August for Outsidelands.
Sitting cross-legged on a pillow on the hardwood floor of a bare room in East Oakland, Korean-born, conservatory-trained composer JooWan Kim is doing two things that aren’t usually paired together: Conducting an elaborate, traditional tea ceremony and expressing his passion for N.W.A. Kim thrives on unexpected combinations: The composer, who spent seven years in Berkeley studying Zen meditation and Taoist internal alchemy (breathing exercises, he explains), has just finished his second of three arrangements of songs from Enter the 36 Chambers, the Wu-Tang Clan‘s seminal 1993 debut.
Kim leads Ensemble Mik Nawooj (his name backwards), a composer’s ensemble that could be termed a hip-hop orchestra, a chamber rap group, or maybe just the oddest band west of the Mississippi. Kim simply says: “We play pop music.” Of course, most people don’t imagine a pop group consisting of flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano, a Soprano opera singer, upright bass, drums, and two MCs.
Most people are not JooWan Kim.
The result is a sound that juxtaposes the rapid-fire staccato of rap with the bombastic percussiveness and dramatic tension of western classical music. It’s unapologetic and truly like nothing else.
Kim, who moved to the US from Korea at age 20, had a somewhat different upbringing from your average hip-hop enthusiast. “My parents listened to classical music, and just like all Asian kids, I had the choice of playing piano or violin,” he says. ” I liked the piano.” He emigrated to study at Boston’s prestigious Berklee College of Music, then followed it up with a masters in composition from the SF Conservatory of Music. It was while at the Conservatory that Kim first began experimenting with a classical/hip-hop hybrid, presenting the first live piece “as a joke” in 2005. He began to consider doing it seriously when the performance received some unexpected attention from local press and musicians.
His first experience as a hip-hop listener, however, was less encouraging. “I hated them. I hated them so much, with a passion,” Kim says of the first songs he heard. Not a native to the language, he struggled to interpret the music. As his English began improving, however, his attitude towards hip-hop changed. “Once I realized the social context and the kind of things that they were saying, it blew me away. I could understand the necessity in the music — it’s a very sincere and powerful expression,” he says. “If you listen to concert music, it doesn’t have the same urgency,” says Kim, who has decided to prioritize making music for a broad audience (what he calls “pop”).
A broad audience is indeed front and center for EMN. The orchestra is returning to Yoshi’s Oakland on April 17 to preview the Wu-Tang arrangements, in addition to an upcoming residency at the Red Poppy Art House. The group has been performing in rooms normally considered rock clubs — Milk Bar, Brick & Mortar Music Hall, The New Parish — and are raising funds for their debut EP.
Kim’s hardly alone in his embrace of cross-cultural pollination. To celebrate their 21st anniversary, the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts commissioned the orchestra to arrange a total of six pieces for a November show called Clas/Sick Hip Hop II: 93 Til’ (a nod to local hip-hop legends Souls of Mischief, and the significance of the year 1993 in hip-hop). YBCA Director of Performance Marc Bamuthi Joseph affirms: “It is part of my gig to authentically recognize hip-hop as a great canonical American form.”
Joseph picked Kim as an arranger for his project in part because of his fresh perspective, coming from Korea and the conservatory — “there’s a playfulness that’s possible,” not being weighed down by certain historical precedents, he says. Though Joseph recognizes the s substantial history of both hip-hop and classical music in the Bay Area, he says he wasn’t entirely surprised that it took an outsider to fuse the two.
“When I came here, I realized it was very different in the sense that pop music was deeply associated with subcultures,” explains Kim. “Koreans don’t have that. Europeans don’t even have that either, in terms pop music. I thought that was weird, so I continued to listen to whatever I wanted to.” What marks EMN as unique is the marriage of classical techniques to this omnivorous disregard for cultural authority (a definitively hip-hop attitude).
Indeed, JooWan Kim has a bit of a rebellious streak. “I decided to add drums and MCs to make people pissed off, and certainly I did,” Kim says of his first performance with the Ensemble. As he walks over to a grand piano to play selections of Wu-Tang’s “Shame on a Nigga,” there is a striking contrast between Kim’s clear delight in ruffling feathers and his calm, controlled demeanor, maintained through two to three hours of meditation each morning — a practice Kim began after studying with Taoist master Hyonoong Sunim at the Zen Center in Berkeley.
Kim believes meditating has transformed both him and his music. “It’s the most valuable thing I’ve ever done,” he says. “I don’t feel angry or depressed that often anymore. I’m at a point where I can let things pass.”
He reflects on the artistic potential that has opened up as he finishes his tea. “A lot of times people have it backward in terms of understanding art or music — that you’re learning all these techniques and then you’ll somehow write this great music,” he says. “It’s actually the other way around. All these qualities that you have, anger or depression or love: they come out in the music. That’s why people who didn’t learn anything about music can write great music, because they somehow overcame themselves.”
TABLEHOPPING If we were finance people, we’d say Q1 of 2014 was a hella strong start to the year. But since we’re food people, we’re just going to hook you up with our version of a PowerPoint slideshow of all the latest openings, hot spots, and new dish faves. Please, leave your Google Glass at home, turn off your iPhone flash when taking food pics for Instagram, and just dig in.
WHAT’S THAT? I CAN’T HEAR YOU OVER THE BUZZ
Any of you SF old-timers will remember how nuts it was when Blowfish and Tokyo Go Go opened in the city. Yeah, both those places were bonkers. Well, the new incarnation of ICHI Sushi and NI Bar (3282 Mission, SF. www.ichisushi.com) in Bernal is registering on the same Richter scale, with hip-hop blasting, hour-plus waits at the sushi bar — on a Tuesday! — and crazy-delicious izakaya dishes, like miso asari clams (you will want to drink the entire bowl of porky and garlicky broth, trust) and ICHI’s famed yuzu-fried chicken wings. Why have spinach gomae when you can have asparagus gomae? Exactly. And deep-fried ocean trout in dashi is the best of both worlds: beautiful sushi-grade fish with a homey and belly-filling presentation. Be sure to try the ICHIBIER, a partnership with local brewer Almanac: It’s a shiso-yuzu ale that’s built for lather, rinse, repeat.
YOU HAVE TO BE HOT TO WORK HERE
Well, that’s not exactly true, but it sure seems that way at the new Valencia Street digs of Loló (974 Valencia, SF. www.lolosf.com). When you’re not busy ogling the darling servers, the caliente bartenders making you mezcal-y cocktails, or the cute clientele, the menu will also be winking at you with sabrosito dishes like fried-in-panko avocado tacos (you gotta get ’em!), smoky and juicy gorditas with mezcal barbecue beef, and the tuna tacon with seared albacore and a shellfish aioli. Ay, papi. The megawatt interior provides all kinds of color therapy — you’ll definitely leave even happier than you were when you arrived, for a multitude of reasons.
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A classic Margherita pizza at Il Casaro
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THE NEXT GREAT HAWT BRUNCH
Have you hit Verbena (2323 Polk, SF. www.verbenarestaurant.com) yet on Russian Hill? What, you don’t like the sound of sourdough pancakes with maple butter, biscuits and herb sausage gravy with pepper vinegar, and poached eggs with braised duck ragout with peas and their leaves — plus excellent craft cocktails, handsome dining room decor, and an appealing wine list? Maybe the new brunch launching the weekend of April 5th is what’s going to get you to come visit. Really, you ought to experience the flavor-packed vittles from chef Sean Baker, also of beloved Gather in Berkeley.
IT’S OK TO DRINK YOUR DINNER (BUT REALLY, YOU SHOULD EAT SOMETHING, TOO)
You may be inspired to simply hit the sauce once you look over the thirst-inducing drink lists at Trou Normand (140 New Montgomery, SF. www.trounormandsf.com) and The Coachman (1148 Mission, SF. www.coachmansf.com), both new joints in SoMa with exceptional cocktail pedigrees. But that would be a mistake, because you would miss the beef tartare topped fried smelt at The Coachman, or the charcuterie plate and the honking pork chop at Trou Normand. You can still down a whiskey-laced Calvados cocktail at Trou, or let ye olde Coachman’s barkeeps fix you up a sherry cobbler or three. Just do it all. More is more.
PIZZA! PIZZA! PIZZA! OH, AND PIZZA.
Just because our city likes to prove that you can never have enough pizza, here are four more pizza outposts for you, starting with another place for a legit Neapolitan-style pizza: Il Casaro (348 Columbus, SF. www.ilcasarosf.com). Since casaro means “cheesemaker,” you should dive into the raspa dura, a cheese shaved off its wheel and served in a cone. Plus there’s housemade fior di latte mozzarella, pure heaven. Looking for something new to North Beach? Try the panuozzo, a pizza dough sandwich. Sounds good, huh!
Pizza lovers are making the pilgrimage to La Lengua to sink their choppers into the pies by Jeff Krupman at PizzaHacker (3299 Mission, SF. www.thepizzahacker.com). A good place to start? The Yo Vinny (marinated onions, Mama Lil’s pickled goat horn peppers, 4505 hot Italian sausage, tomato sauce, mozzarella). The arugula pie with lemon, chile paste, and garlic is also big on flavor. Grab a seat and share a slice with some strangers at indoor picnic tables. Drink beer. Good times.
Another quest-worthy pie can be found in Dogpatch at Long Bridge Pizza Company (2347 Third St, SF. www.longbridgepizza.com), whose pizzas are a little bit New York and a little bit Neapolitan in style. Pile on the toppings with a Loading Dock, or go tomato-less with a White Pie. Small or large — wait, scratch that, isn’t the answer always large?
The Mission has a new slice shop, and it’s definitely not one of those nasty places you so often find around town claiming to be the best. (Like, the best of the worst at 1am, maybe.) Anyway, swing by The Pizza Shop (3104 24th St, SF. 824-1840) for a $4 slice or $19 whole pie. Thin crust, yes! Check out the white spinach. Be impressed. And bring your cash.
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Cochon de lait po’boy at High Cotton Kitchen
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MEAT-SEEKERS, HUNT THESE DOWN
Not like we’re trying to exclude vegetarians here, but here are five meaty dishes that really have us sharpening our canines.
— There is some very special fried chicken and waffle (2-piece plus side, $9.25) action for brunch — and that’s all-day brunch during the weekend, people! — at soul food respite Little Skillet’s expansion into the kitchen of Victory Hall & Parlor (330 Ritch, SF. www.victoryhallsf.com). Cocktails too. Fun.
— The $6.95 El Frijolazo hot dog at Los Shucos Latin Hot Dogs (3224 1/2 22nd St, www.losshucos.com) is gonna be your next bad habit. A toasty bun comes with a bacon-wrapped frank, refried beans, smashed avocado, mayo, imported salsa chapina (a green sauce from Guatemala), and queso fresco. WHAT?! Ridiculous!
— The $8 housemade chorizo burger — with a runny fried egg, oh you know it — at New Central Café (301 S. Van Ness, SF. 722-0601) is great for breakfast, lunch, brunch, whenever. Plus it comes with sautéed kale, roasted squash, and cilantro mayo, and you get sweet potato fries. Sweet.
— The $9 cochon de lait po’boy at High Cotton Kitchen thrills at Second Act Marketplace (1727 Haight, SF. www.secondactsf.com). Juicy, mustardy, drippy, messy as hell. And made by a legit New Orleans native, which means it’s big enough to share. (Really, you should.)
— The $5 bacon Twix at Pinkie’s Bakery (1196 Folsom, SF. www.pinkiesbakery.com) is also on this list. I was lucky to work with owner Cheryl Burr on this custom-treat twist for a special promotion, and now she’s offering these bad boys for sale. Dare we say they’re better than the original? We dare!
THE LATE-NIGHT BERMUDA TRIANGLE
We often complain that San Francisco shuts down too early — but, in fact, we’re the ones who can’t stay up. So many restaurants open with the noble intention of wanting to feed us late into the night. But six weeks after opening and seeing too many empty tables at midnight, well, they start rolling back the kitchen hours to 10pm. Unless. We. Support. Them. So here are three new spots serving up post-midnight snacks. Do your civic duty and hit them up after bar time. (And hey, if you’re a night owl, you should download my app, Tablehopper’s Top Late-Night Eats, ya heard?)
SHE’S A VERY KIN KHAO GIRL
Pim Techamuanvivit’s Kin Khao (55 Cyril Magnin, SF. www.kinkhao.com) a very unique Thai place — how often do you get Devil’s Gulch Ranch rabbit in your handmade green curry? But it also boasts late-night bites, 11pm–1am, and a full bar, with a cocktail list created by the Bon Vivants. Try the Thai chili-spiced Priew Wan Sour or the mezcal-kicked Kafe Mao if you need a little boost. Don’t miss the pretty hot wings, the kua kling ribs (fried pork ribs in a dark and spicy dry rub, you do the math), Dungeness crab rice noodles that will make you give up pad Thai forever, and the beautiful yum yai salad with tempura asparagus and chili jam. Bonus tip: the restaurant is just blocks from ACT, making it a perfect pre– and post–theater stop — go see Venus in Fur, right now.
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Yum Yai salad at Kin Khao
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HIGH LIFE
It’s not like we ever get tired of the late-night hours of our beloved Zuni, but just a few blocks down Market Street is Alta CA (1420 Market, SF. www.altaca.co), a new-ish NorCal bistro from the Daniel Patterson Group. It opened in December, with a kitchen serving until 1am. Chef de cuisine Yoni Levy’s housemade bialy and pastrami, a mighty-fine burger, and the much-lauded cracked wheat porridge with mushrooms are as awesome at 11:30pm as they are at lunch, when you’ll probably have some Twitter folks (the HQ is kitty corner) and City Hall types filling the room. Late night draws more of an industry crowd (der). It’s a handsome space with a horseshoe bar, where you can get your craft cocktail on too. Winos, you’ll be happy here as well.
CIRCLE GETS A SQUARE
North Beach is usually where the wheels come off the proverbial party bus. (Girls! Girls! Girls! Drinks! Drinks! Drinks!) Fortunately, there are a number of tasty places that can catch you before you fall (Comstock Saloon and Golden Boy Pizza, I’m looking at you). But there’s a brand-new kid on Washington Square, appropriately called The Square (1707 Powell, SF. www.thesquaresf.com), with a bit of a pedigree: The owners are behind lauded Sons and Daughters. Unlike that upscale restaurant, this lovely spot is less about tweezer food and more about shareable, satisfying fare, like gougères, steak tartare, an aged cheddar cheeseburger, and some large-format feasting: whole roasted crab and guinea hen, a delectable rack of ribs. Manly! Cocktails, check. All until 1am Wed—Sun.
Marcia Gagliardi is the founder of the weekly tablehopper e-column: Subscribe for more at www.tablehopper.com. Get her app: Tablehopper’s Top Late-Night Eats. On Twitter: @tablehopper.
Mark Growden had a passion for jazz and classical music from a young age, growing up in the small northeast California mountain town of Westwood. So he set out to be a composer. He only learned to sing as an adult — out of necessity, when his instruments were stolen — and only then did his rich baritone vocals become a way to book gigs and get his music heard.
Now he’s teaching others to sing — often, amateurs who have never sung before — and writing original songs for them to perform. His Calling All Choir, now in its second season, is a 150-person choir made up of singers who, for the most part, have never taken the stage before in their lives.
Growden has always found inspiration in unexpected places. His take on American roots music blends his love of jazz with influences as varied as Appalachian folk, cabaret, and prison work songs from the old South. He started out composing for local dance companies, mainly on saxophone, before learning to play more folk-oriented instruments such as banjo and accordion. He’s spent the last 20-some years nomadically touring the country as a one-man band and in ensembles. In between shows, he’d stick around a city long enough to hold a singing workshop, which was as much about technique as it was about playful exercises that opened people up to music. Soon, Growden was known for both his songwriting and teaching abilities.
“The people in SF [in particular] kept coming back to the workshop,” said Growden, now an Oakland resident. “They asked ‘why do we have to stop for two months while you go on tour?’ I had it in my mind that I had to be on the road to make money.”
In September of last year, having just moved back to Oakland to settle down, Growden told his San Francisco workshop members, “Let’s try it.” He studied the community choir model, in which members pay dues to compensate the director, and started designing a program around his original compositions. He knew from the beginning that there would be no auditions; to reinforce its inclusive nature, he called it The Calling All Choir.
Growden spread the word online and through his previous workshop attendees, forming chapters in Sonoma and the East Bay, in addition to San Francisco. He set the dues on a sliding scale, ranging from $0 to $500 per person for the 18-week season. The inaugural season last year kicked off with about 40 members in each location. The three groups rehearsed separately — once a week for two hours a night — before coming together in January for dress rehearsals and final performances at The Sebastopol Center for the Arts and The Crucible in Oakland. The choir also performs at local hospitals and retirement homes.
First season member Gianna Smart had never heard Growden’s music before joining, but it ended up being part of the appeal.
“I imagined I’d find a Christmas choir in a church basement somewhere, and was okay with that, but when I met Mark and discovered that he wrote all of his own original compositions, I was really excited,” said Smart, who lives in Healdsburg. “The choir is a safe place to explore your own voice and be a part of a bigger sound. You don’t have to hit all the notes because you’re supported — someone always has your back.”
The second season is already five weeks under way, with 150 members. They’re set to perform four compositions by Growden in the coming weeks, plus a 1936 cantata by Ralph Vaughan Williams called “Dona nobis pacem.”
“It’s a classic round that the older generations know,” Growden said. “It’s important to keep those rounds alive in our culture.” So how do amateurs go from zero experience to singing in Latin? Growden said it usually comes down to practice: “There were people who couldn’t match pitch, but I kept having them come in early to work with them one-on-one or with a buddy,” he said. “People who I thought absolutely couldn’t sing, end up being able to sing.”
During a recent rehearsal, his patience seemed endless and his energy infectious. When the choir formed a circle grouped by vocal ranges — sopranos, altos, tenors, and basses — Growden sprinted from section to section, signaling with his arms and voice when and how to sing. He encouraged them “to lean” into their next notes, reminded them not to bury their heads in their black binders filled with sheet music, and even stopped them when they sounded flat. Sure, there were a few off-key, cringe-worthy moments.
But there was also something beautiful in those imperfections. “I don’t like to use the word spiritual – it’s way overused – but there is something sacred in people singing together. Even if they’re just drinking together,” Growden said later by phone.
Each rehearsal begins with vocal exercises, many of which Growden borrowed from theater, and usually some form of dancing to encourage people to use their entire body as an instrument. The rehearsals also end with a dance party, for which Growden lowers the lights and blasts everything from hip-hop to ABBA. For the rehearsal he let us sit in on, it happened to be James Brown.
The second season will culminate with a finale June 20, at a venue TBD, and the third season will begin in September 2014. The choir accepts members within the first three weeks of the season, though Growden said he makes exceptions for experienced singers who know how to read music.
“When you’re writing for amateurs, it’s harder. I’ve got to set them up for success,” he said. “But as a composer, I am really lucky. Vivaldi was a music teacher at an all-girls orphanage, Duke Ellington had his band…I mean, do you know how hard it is for composers to have their music made?”
24th and Mission BART Station, SF. evictionfreesf.org. 11:30am, free. Eviction Free San Francisco will lead “a spirited lunchtime march and picket” to the Mission offices of Vanguard Properties, in response to an Ellis Act eviction that has been filed against longtime tenant Benito Santiago, a Duboce Triangle resident who was born and raised in San Francisco.
THURSDAY 3
Public meeting on tech shuttle plan
City Hall, 1 Dr Carlton B Goodlett, SF. 3pm, free. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors will vote on a controversial pilot program that will allow private shuttles, such as Google buses, to use Muni bus stops for a fee of $1 per stop per day. The program, approved by the San Francisco Metropolitan Transportation Agency in January, has been appealed on the grounds that it should undergo a full environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act. The Board will vote on whether the appeal should move forward.
FRIDAY 4
IMPACT
Laney College, 900 Fallon, Oakl. www.destinyarts.org. 7:30pm, $20. This is the opening night of IMPACT, a full-length work featuring a cast of 42 talented youth ages 9 to 18 performing a combination of hip-hop, modern and aerial dance, theater, spoken word, rap and song. This group has chosen to take a stand around issues that have powerful impact on themselves, their communities and their world: Environmental destruction, unhealthy food and water, negative attitudes about their bodies, and violence of all kinds.
Talk: Robots and new media
Banatao Auditorium, Sutardja Dai Hall, UC Berkeley. 2594 Hearst, Berk. robotsandnewmedia.com. 9am-5pm, free. The Center for New Media at UC Berkeley will host this daylong symposium to explore “a new range of more social, personal, expressive, nurturing, and emotional robotic platforms and applications.” Featuring talks by philosopher Hubert Dreyfus of UC Berkeley, Mark Pauline of Survival Research Labs, UC Berkeley robotics professor Ken Goldberg and more.
SATURDAY 5
SF LGBT Center’s Annual Soiree
City View at Metreon, 135 4th St, SF. tinyurl.com/lgbtsoiree. 6:30-8pm VIP reception; party admission 8pm-midnight; $150 or $95 respectively. Come out in support of San Francisco’s Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender (LGBT) Community Center, which offers free services like career counseling, job fairs, social activities, mentorships, youth meals, daycare and a space for LGBT people to organize and secure equal rights. With a hosted bar, gourmet morsels, silent auction, music, dancing and live entertainment it promises to be a fancy affair.
SUNDAY 6
Ending Solitary Confinement Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists’ Hall, 1924 Bonita, Berk. www.bfuu.org. 2pm, $5-10 suggested donation, no one turned away for lack of funds. Laura Magnani of the American Friends Service Committee will be speaking on Solitary Confinement in California prisons, and what we can do to work to abolish it or promote its more limited use. She will be joined by Marie Levin, sister of a prisoner who has organized and participated in prisoner hunger strikes in the past few years.
Take it from this one: Most music journalists are not secretly very talented musicians, toiling away in writers’ clothes. Most emcees, of course, are not Rocky Rivera — a San Francisco-born rapper whose love of hip-hop first took the form of a journalism career, including covering the Bay Area’s hip-hop scene for this very publication, Rolling Stone, and others.
In 2008, “trading her Moleskines for microphones,” as she puts it, she became Rocky Rivera, cribbing her stage name from a fellow Filipina-American heroine in the 1996 novel Gangster of Love, by SF author Jessica Hagedorn. The book now also shares a title with Rivera’s second full-length album, which dropped in October 2013.
It’s an album that commands hip-hop fans to sit up and take notice — sharp but not overproduced, lyrical and gutteral, with beats that both pay homage to the ’80s and ’90s (when Rivera was a teenager going to Balboa High School, then SFSU, listening to Queen Latifah, Salt n’ Pepa, and MC Lyte) and showcase the emcee’s lightning-quick tongue and take-no-BS feminist message. Her devotees range from hardcore rap fans across the country to the East Oakland kids who are part of the after-school programs she helps coordinate in, yes, her other other life as a teacher. Suffice it to say, she’s a busy woman.
What were your inspirations for this record?
The new album was inspired by all the happenings in the world since my first album in 2010. So much had transpired politically across the globe, from the Arab Spring, to Oscar Grant, Pussy Riot — all of that affected my need to write something as a soundtrack to an uprising. I also got a ton of inspiration from reading the Hunger Games trilogy, which made me want to create something that would be a drumbeat to political and social change and have the perfect amount of agitation and aggression.
I also have the fun songs in there. “Jockin’ Me” was one where I just told my best friends and bandmates, DJ Roza, and Irie Eyez, to drink a bunch of whiskey and hop in the booth and talk shit.
What are you most proud of so far as a musician?
Providing people an alternative to the kind of hip-hop music that is damaging to the human psyche. There is no more introspection or social analysis in music anymore, and every song I write is a personal way to connect to my fans. I found myself complaining about the lack of this and that and saw it was more constructive to create what I found missing in hip-hop, not just as a woman, but as a progressive person of color who is proud of her history and of growing up in San Francisco.
Weirdest thing that’s happened at a show?
Someone heckled me about Breaking Bad not being progressive or something. They obviously have no idea what the hell they’re talking about. I almost kicked her out for not respecting the legacy of Walter White.
Bay Area food item you couldn’t (metaphorically) live without?
“If Rakim and MC Lyte had a baby” is the short version, when you ask the Oakland duo Nu Dekades — made up of writer-emcees RyanNicole and K.E.V., for Kickin’ Every Verse — for a description of their sound. But the longer version is worth hearing, too.
“By iTunes standards, we are defined simply as hip-hop, but we describe our sound as the convergence of Black music combining elements of jazz, funk, soul, and reggae…as expressed through hip hop,” explains RyanNicole, an Oakland native who’s also stage actress — this spring she’ll appear in the California Shakespeare Theater’s production of A Raisin In The Sun. The pair considers themselves anthropologists for the genre, describing their second full-length album, 2013’s NEXUS, as “a love song to our people…people of the African diaspora, experiencing life in the context of color, be it beautiful or tragic.”
What that means sonically: A warm, energetic landscape of old-school hip-hop built over the French producer Dela’s jazzy beats, be-bop influences that recall Digable Planets, but with the emcees trading verses that displays a thoroughly modern determination — a lyrical focus that’s not afraid to be directly political or spiritual, or both at the same time.
“We’re not studio revolutionaries,” says RyanNicole. “Kev and I are products and servants of our community, and our stances and statements do not come from a thin veneer of political experience or social awareness, as may be the case with many ‘conscious’ artists.” The duo is at work on their third record, tentatively titled Recomposition, and have plans to tour in the second half of 2014.
How do you survive here as a musician? What’s the best and worst thing about being a musician in the Bay Area?
A mentor of ours used to say to us that “Real MCs have day jobs.” We certainly do, as we are the primary funders of our own projects&ldots;also, we are learning that, ironically, as much as we love the Bay, the best way for the Bay to love us back is to perform elsewhere. Gil Scott Heron said “home is where the hatred is.” We’ve come to learn that home doesn’t necessarily love you until another place validates you. That truism is the best and worst thing about being a musician in the Bay.
Weirdest /coolest thing that’s happened at a show?
Everything about performing is cool and weird! Rocking shows and being respected in cyphers with people we grew up listening to, like MC Lyte, Camp Lo, and Phife of A Tribe Called Quest. One of our weirdest shows — we performed in front of a very small audience of mostly drug addicts. It was one of the smallest and liveliest crowds we’ve ever rocked!
Have you heard the news? Bohemia is dying. All the musicians are leaving San Francisco. Our favorite venues and dingy little clubs are all closing up shop, and being replaced by artisan cocktail bars filled with Google Glasses and reclaimed wood toilet seats.
OK, so some of that is true. The music scene is changing, to be sure; how could it not, with the influx of wealth over the past few years? Yes, we’re sad about Cafe du Nord. Yes, we’re worried about the Elbo Room.
What’s also true: We still have one of the richest musical histories anywhere in the world, and artists aren’t going to stop flocking here anytime soon. One glance at our listings section will tell you there’s live music to be found every single night of the week, and San Francisco’s small size relative to its population — a major factor in the current wave of gentrification and the state of the real estate market — also means that the vast array of genres here, and the communities that exist around different music scenes, all hum along pretty much on top of each other.
In one night, you could take in a jazz jam session in the Haight, a hardcore band in the outer Mission, an Irish folk quartet in North Beach, a synthwave producer in SoMa, a hip-hop show in the Western Addition, and, um, Macaulay Culkin’s pizza-themed Velvet Underground tribute band in the Richmond. (I’ve done all of these recently, and I only regret that last one.) That’s not even touching on the East Bay, which — despite being pronounced almost like an epithet in the city lately, as in “Everyone’s having to move to the East Bay” — is arguably fostering some of the most interesting, nascent micro-scenes in music right now.
With that in mind, we at the Guardian set out to pick 10 artists that we thought deserved our attention in the coming year. We couldn’t narrow it past 11. (Click that first photo up there for a slideshow.) This year’s On the Rise acts come from so many different worlds, have been inspired by so many different artists — Freddie Mercury, MC Lyte, and the 19th century composer Hector Berlioz all make appearances, to give you a taste — and, unsurprisingly, they all make incredibly different kinds of music. Some of these artists are Bay Area natives; some were born on other continents. What they have in common (aside from talent) is a love of this place, its people, its weirdness, and yes, its challenges.
We love them back. And we don’t plan on letting them go anywhere else anytime soon.
