Noise Pop

Just chill

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arts@sfbg.com

MUSIC Four years ago, in the waning days of the aughts, the befuddling adlib term “chillwave” forged in the throes of the blogosphere, accompanied nearly every story about acts like Neon Indian, Washed Out, and Toro Y Moi. For the uninitiated, chillwave is a cheap, slap-on label used to describe grainy, dancey, lo-fi, 1980s inspired music, and most importantly is a disservice to any band associated with it. Luckily for music writers and listeners alike, this term has died a relatively swift death.

Toro Y Moi, the one-man bedroom project of Chaz Bundick, has exponentially progressed since the chillwave era, in addition to his relocation to Berkeley in August 2011. Bundick is currently on a sold-out tour with his live band and will headline two sold-out Noise Pop shows at the Independent this weekend.

His latest LP, Anything In Return, which came out last month on Carpark Records and was recorded in full in the Bay Area, is a fruitful expansion beyond his earlier albums Causers of This and Underneath the Pine, and a shining foray into experimental styles and sounds.

Anything In Return marks an ambitious departure from anything Bundick has done in the past; Bundick describes it to me as a “bigger sounding album, more accessible and poppy.” The result is a fluent and delicate fabrication of funk grooviness, R&B introspection, and swirling pop melodies. The success — and more importantly, the ethos of the effort — is highly indebted to the late sacrosanct hip-hop producer J Dilla. If Anything in Return signifies a reinvention of Toro Y Moi, then J Dilla and his “try anything, do anything” mantra are its guiding light.

Such a transformation can be daunting to some, but as Bundick notes during our phone call, Dilla “makes everything seem like it’s alright to try.” One of the few Dilla tributes outside of the Paid Dues and Rock the Bells festivals.

Though maturation and cheer remain central themes in terms of sound side of things, Anything in Return is loaded with confessions about Bundick grappling with his relationship and the strain the life of a touring musician has placed on it. The gripes are most poignant on tracks like “Cola” and “Say That,” where he laments the state of flux his and his girlfriend’s different lives have placed on their relationship and the resulting insecurities that arise from such limbo.

His new life in the Bay Area — he moved out here from his hometown of Columbia, South Carolina because his girlfriend enrolled in a grad program at Cal — is expectedly represented in Anything in Return‘s character and aural makeup. One of the first and last things heard on the opening track “Harm in Change” is the crisp noise of a BART train accelerating as it leaves a station — most likely one of the three Berkeley stations.

So far Bundick has fluidly adjusted to life in Berkeley and in the Bay Area in general and signals his health as the biggest benefactor of his relocation. Coming from BBQ-laden South Carolina, the recent vegetarian convert is grateful for the Bay Area’s wealth of veggie options; in a recent interview with SFStation, he listed the revered Berkeley institution Cheese Board Pizza as his favorite food joint. And like pretty much anyone who moves here, he’s been biking, busing, and BARTing more and more.

 

TORO Y MOI

With Sikane, Dog Bite, DRMS (Fri.), James and Evander (Sat)

Fri/1-Sat/2, 8pm, sold out

Independent

628 Divisadero, SF

www.theindependentsf.com

Kacey Johansing goes walking with her ‘Ghosts’

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Singer-songwriter (and former Geographer member) Kacey Johansing released her stunning sophomore album, Grand Ghosts, today. And how grand it is. Lush, moody, and dreamy, too. You can stream it now on her Soundcloud.

Along with Geographer, Johansing was also once a member of Honeycomb, and is currently one-half of experimental folk duo Yesway. Or, you might remember San Francisco’s Johansing from the Localized Appreesh column last fall, in which the Kalamazoo, Michigan-born, Colorado-raised musician told me: “I love it here so much and am incredibly grateful to be a part of such insanely talented, creative, and supportive musical community.”

There’s a welcome maturity to Johansing’s voice (oft favorably likened to that of Joni Mitchell and her kind), a confidence that glides over twinkling piano and subtle, far-away strings, in tracks such as album opener “River” and title track “Grand Ghosts,” the latter opening with a more somber, Amelie score-esque tinkling of the organ keys. In that track, Johansing sings of her wise grandparents and tales of Lake Michigan that build beautifully to a repeated promise “And in the end/if we can’t go on/we will carry each other home.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mo6kfV-2TUk

Johansing’s expert blend of classical, jazz, and folk influences comes together well on “Out to Sea,” with the subtle sound of fingers moving over downbeat acoustic guitar meeting Johansing’s melancholy, “I don’t want you to go/but I want you to be true/what’s best for me is not what’s best for you.” Even her harmonized “oh, oh, ohs,” sound emotive here, giving the sweetness a little gut-punch.

The haunting album as a whole pays tribute to loved ones that died during the making of the record (actual ghosts), along with her current Bay Area home, and her upbringing in Colorado (emotional ghosts), and features accompaniment by other local notables including Robert Shelton (of DRMS) on keyboards, Andrew Maguire (Honeycomb) on vibraphone and percussion, James Riotto (the Moanin Dove) on bass, Jeremy Harris on guitar, pianos, and string arrangements, and Ezra Lipp on drums.

The LP is available for purchase/download on her Bandcamp page, here.

Her next show is part of Noise Pop, of course:
Kacey Johansing
With Thao and the Get Down Stay Down, Sallie Ford and the Sound Outside, Before the Brave
Sat/2, 8pm, sold out
Great American Music Hall
859 O’Farrell, SF
www.slimspresents.com

Young love is war for Blackbird Blackbird

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Our own Blackbird Blackbird makes us feel funny with a grainy new video for “It’s a War” off his 2012 EP, Boracay Planet (Lavish Habits).

The SF-born electronic pop music maker’s song glides through a tale of modern young love, in a seven-minute-long video directed by Patrick Pearse and starring bleached pro-surfer Thom Pringle and freckled model Shenay Carey.

Blackbird Blackbird opens for Portland’s STRFKR this Fri/1 at the Regency Ballroom, as part of Noise Pop.

Which Noise Pop show is right for you?

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It’s all about choice, people. Noise Pop is a well-oiled festival machine at this point — now in its 21st year — cranking out dozens of concerts, nightlife happenings, film screenings, culture club events, photography showings, and all that good stuff we’ve come to expect from the homegrown indie fest. But given all those choices for the week of Feb. 26 through March 3, restless souls such as myself always tend to feel a bit well, overwhelmed.

Do I see headliner Toro Y Moi at one of his Independent showcases, or DIIV at Brick and Mortar Music Hall? (Shouldn’t matter much to most; those are all super sold out by now.) Do I squeeze in a Noise Pop Happy Hour after work, before the cozy Sonny and the Sunsets Bottom of the Hill concert or Kim Gordon’s new project, Body/Head at the Rickshaw Stop? How much is too much booze for one week? I can’t answer them all for you (if you want to see a sold-out show, buy a fest badge), but I can help with those pesky last-minute questions that boil down to which show to choose over another, equally appealing event.

The infographic flowchart for this appeared in this week’s issue (pg. 20 of the Feb. 20 Guardian), but for these purposes, I’ll hook you up with a video for each:

Interested in live music? Are you a “members of” type of fan? Do you prefer distorted guitar?
Answer: Kim Gordon’s newest venture, Body/Head. Body/Head is the newest post-Sonic Youth project for Gordon, who teams up with free-noise guitarist Bill Nace to create noisy experimental mindfucks such as single “The Eyes, The Mouth.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQ4axZa5ZFo
With Horsebladder, Burmese, Noel Von Harmonson
Feb. 26, 8pm, $17
Rickshaw Stop
155 Fell, SF
www.rickshawstop.com

Are you a “members of” type of fan? Do you prefer analog synth?
Answer: Jason Lytle of Grandaddy. The Modesto-born Grandaddy frontperson and singer-songwriter most recently released heart-tugging solo work, Dept. of Disappearance (ANTI-, 2012).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0yMQCcU6NY
With Jenny-O, Will Sprott, Michael Stasis
Feb. 26, 7pm, $14
Brick and Mortar Music Hall
1710 Mission, SF
www.brickandmortarmusic.com

Do you like to keep it local? Do you only go to shows if they are free?
Answer: Noise Pop Happy Hour with Golden Void, Wild Moth. San Francisco psych band Golden Void and local post-punk act Wild Moth (check out 2012 EP Mourning Glow, on Asian Man Records) are both acts to know now.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJC3u_COifo
With DSTVV
March 1, 5pm, free
Bender’s
806 Van Ness, SF
www.bendersbar.com

Do you like to keep it local? Are you willing to spend a nominal sum on live music?
Answer: Sonny and the Sunsets. By now, the band, led by prolific artist-musician Sonny Smith, is a go-to classic for quality SF garage-pop. And yet, last year’s Longtime Companion (Polyvinyl) pumped up the twang.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbctzd9kW1A
With Magic Trick, Cool Ghouls, Dune Rats
March 2, 8pm, $12
Bottom of the Hill
1233 17th St., SF
www.bottomofthehill.com

Can you get into some ’90s slow jams?
Answer: XXYYXX. Woozy XXYYXX is the creation of 18-year-old Orlando, Florida producer, Marcel Everett, whose beat-driven Relief in Abstract albums, have gotten props from the likes of Kardashian baby momma/Kanye West and the like. Our very own DJ Dials brings the wunderkind West.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lG5aSZBAuPs
With DJ Dials, Teebs, Nanosaur
Feb. 28, 9pm, $25
DNA Lounge
375 11th St., SF
www.dnalounge.com

Extra credit:
There will be a feature story on Noise Pop 21 headliner Toro Y Moi in next week’s issue (Feb. 27). He’s playing two sold out shows at the Independent (March 1 and 2). 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0_ardwzTrA

And if you’re able to attend any of the other ticket-less shows, there’s also this great one:
Post-punk Beach Fossils side project DIIV, recent On the Rise act Wax Idols, Sisu (fronted by Sandy of Dum Dum Girls), and Lenz.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L702zw6Ilqs
March 2, 8pm, $15 (sold out)
Brick and Mortar Music Hall
1710 Mission, SF
www.brickandmortarmusic.com

On the Rise: Warm Soda

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The people were itching to be pumped for whatever Warm Soda was going to be. After producer-musician Matthew Melton’s beloved garage pop outfit Bare Wires dismantled ceremoniously early last year, he announced the name Warm Soda, and we collectively gripped our seats. Thankfully, there was no cause for disappointment.

This time around, Melton, who also co-runs studio-label Fuzz City, teamed up with bassist Chase Oren, guitarist Rob Good, and drummer Ian McBrayer. Similar to the band’s first single album cover (for the song “Reaction”) Warm Soda is like the sonic version of an early ’80s bombshell in skintight Gloria Vanderbilt jeans, sucking down a can of Coca-Cola through a straw, and hitting up the jukebox for early T-Rex, Cheap Trick, and glammy garage acts in that oeuvre. Or as Melton describes Warm Soda’s vision — “lo-fi glam garage pop.”

Sugary and syrupy, with fizzy pop hooks and pump-up drum hits, Warm Soda’s full-length debut, Someone For You, is out now on local Castle Face Records, and sweetly picks up where “Reaction” left off. Lucky we didn’t have to wait long for another Melton classic. As Castle Face describes it, “a lean, mean gang of masterful power pop tunes with just the right blend of studio sweetness, teenage angst, and gritty bubblegum. All killer, no filler.”

Description of sound: “Lo-Fi Glam Garage Pop.”

What you like most about the Bay Area music scene: There’s never a dull moment in the Bay Area — always something cool to check out. A brand new act will pop up as soon as you think you’re clued in on everything that’s happening.

What piece of music means a lot to you: Slade, Slade in Flame — “The Citizen Kane of Rock Musicals” — 1975 essential film (and album) about the perils of being in a traveling rock band. This hilarious movie is a must-see for anyone in a band, and the album Slade composed to “score” the film is a UK glitter rock classic.

Favorite local eatery and dish: Taqueria Cancun (19th and Mission), veggie burrito (no cheese, no sour cream) with extra green sauce!

Who would you most like to tour with: Part Time.

Warm Soda record release party with Bad Vibez, Cocktails. Feb. 23, 9pm. Night Light, 311 Broadway, Oakl. www.thenightlightoakland.com. www.warmsoda.org.

Warm Soda at Noise Pop with Free Energy, In the Valley Below, Miner. Feb. 28, 8pm, $14. Brick and Mortar Music Hall, 1710 Mission, SF. www.brickandmortarmusichall.com

Actual pain

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emilysavage@sfbg.com

TOFU AND WHISKEY Ah, the tormented love song. Chelsea Wolfe does it well. Vocally, she transfixes, sometimes sounding like she’s calmly wringing every ounce of blood from a relationship totem, at other points whispering cries of help from a enveloping darkness, the vibrations of the plucked-hard guitar strings reverberating in the distance. This rush of gloom and pain, in a genre she’s past described as “doom folk,” came forth in a fierce package in 2011’s electric Apokalypsis, and steadily zigzags beautifully through 2012’s meandering Unknown Rooms: A Collection of Acoustic Songs.

This weekend, the LA-via-Sacramento singer-guitarist comes to SF with a fellow dark folk spirit, King Dude (Fri/11, 9pm, $15. Great American Music Hall, 859 O’Farrell, SF. www.slimspresents.com). The two once recorded a split seven-inch together, and have played a few shows here and there, but this will be their first full tour together, which surprises King Dude, as tells me via phone from his homebase in Seattle, because they’re longtime pals who “got on like a house on fire” when they first met.

They’re both on the spectrum of a bubbling rebirth of neofolk and gothic Americana roots, inspired by acts like Death in June, and seen elsewhere in musicians like Emily Jane White and Father John Misty, but really driven recently by Wolfe and Dude, in unique ways.

Though King Dude — a.k.a Seattle’s T.J. Cowgill of black metal bands Teen Cthulhu and Book of Black Earth, and clothing label Actual Pain — also has some experience with tortured love songs. His baritone vocals often sound as if there’s a gravelly demon inside, clawing to get out. The lyrics of his 2012 release, Burning Daylight, tend to reflect inner, unearthly struggles, the occult, fears of death, and tragic old world tales. Or as he told another publication, he’s inspired by “death, religion, love, Lucifer, nature, primal feelings.” Most of the tracks have fully imagined narratives.

There’s the song “Barbara Anne” in which he growls, “I’ll shoot that man in the head if he hurts you, Barbara Anne” and “I’ll run away with you if you’ll have me, Barbara Anne.” It’s the tale of small-town love, set in 1940s, around two characters — a boy and the girl he wants, who’s been wronged by the town. “I think it’s probably the best love song I’ve ever written,” Cowgill says. “The kid is like: ‘I’ll kill everybody in the town for you, if that’s alright with you.’ That’s the most loving thing I think anybody can say for somebody else.”

In his reality, his allegiances lie with his musician wife, Emily, and their seven-year-old black lab, Pagan, the latter of which is currently at the vet getting checked before King Dude heads out on tour with Wolfe, just to make sure everything is OK.

For the complete King Dude interview, see sfbg.com/noise.

 

UNCHAINED MELODIES

There have been countless articles dissecting every shot of Quentin Tarantino’s newest revenge fantasy, Django Unchained. From “the Django moment” (when white people laugh) to Kerry Washington’s costume designer’s secrets to “Why Django Had to Be a Spaghetti Western,” bloggers and squawkers have been raising important, sometimes frivolous theories about the controversial, often brutal film, set in an alternate version of the antebellum era of the Deep South. But what stood out to me, was the Django Unchained soundtrack; no big shocker, given the director.

The music takes over and transports immediately, with “Django (Main Theme)” by Luis Bacalov and Rocky Roberts, a powerful, full-throated song that was also the title track to the 1966 Spaghetti Western, Django. The opening credits are startling enough, setting a vividly emotional tone, but the song adds the outlining whomp, the exclamation mark. The dusty plucking and Elvis-like vibrato of “Jane-gooo” just stick in your brain. While on “Little Steven’s Underground Garage” show on Sirius Radio, Tarantino discussed his reasoning behind the music in the film. Of the theme he said, “When I came up with the idea to do Django Unchained, I knew it was imperative to open it with this song.”

The soundtrack weaves through ominous and plucky original Spaghetti Western themes, Brother Dege’s twangy stomper “Too Old To Die Young,” John Legend’s funky blacksploitation-style anthem “Who Did That To You” (which ended up on the soundtrack after Legend recorded it on cassette and mailed it to Tarantino), and pummeling hip-hop bangers, “Unchained (the Payback/Untouchable)” — a mashup of James Brown’s “The Payback” and 2Pac’s unreleased “Untouchable” — and “100 Black Coffins” by Rick Ross and Jamie Foxx.

Tarantino said on the radio show that this was the first time he’d included new music in one of his films, and it was thanks to the star and title character, Jaime Foxx, who ran into rapper Rick Ross at the BET Awards and invited him back to the set to work on a song together. The song is clearly influenced by the surroundings, with a Western whistle underneath a molasses beat and lyrics like “revenge is the sweetest.” and “I need 100 black coffins for 100 bad men/…I need 100 black bibles while we send ’em all to hell.”

There’s also the deceivingly calmer moments thanks to songs like Jim Croce’s “I Got a Name,” as Django is given his freedom, which left another lump in my throat. That track also has the needle drop and minimal fuzz of the record collector nerd Tarantino is. He’ll often use his own vinyl on the soundtracks. It’s a “whole record experience,” as he describes it. “Pops and crackles be damned.”

 

NEVER SLOWING DOWN?

It’s true, prolific garage rocker Ty Segall has yet another new band. This one’s called Fuzz, and it includes Segall on drums and vocals (just like in his pre-Ty Segall Band band, Traditional Fools!) and longtime collaborator-pal Charlie Moothart on guitar. The dudes just released new single “This Time I Got a Reason,” played Vacation last weekend, and will be a part of Noise Pop 2013: Feb. 28 at the Knockout ($8).

 

CANNIBAL OX

After a period of moody silence, underground Harlem rap duo Cannibal Ox has returned — to the stage, at least. Vast Aire and Vordul Mega announced a one-off reunion show in NY late last year, and that must have gone well, ’cause now they’re heading our way on a full tour. Also noteworthy: Aire and Mega only put out one album as Cannibal Ox, 2001 indie hit The Cold Vein, produced by El-P. Now they’re working on a 2013 followup on Iron Galaxy Records.

With Keith Masters, Double AB, Kenyattah Black, I Realz

Sun/13, 9pm, $15. Brick and Mortar Music Hall, 1710 Mission, SF. www.brickandmortarmusic.com.

Live Shots: Treasure Island Music Festival 2012

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Music nerds talk lineups the way sports fans manage fantasy teams, particularly with festivals, where suddenly strategy becomes a part of catching a show. Treasure Island Music Festival, is sort of an exception, since in theory you can catch every single act, given the two alternating stages. At the same time, this means that unless you head to the silent disco or take a nap, one of those geeks will be standing behind you during a set, obsessively talking about how the lineup should be slotted differently.

Day 1
SF’s Dirty Ghosts had the challenging task of being a rock band opening the festival on the traditional hip-hop/electronic day. K. Flay followed, and told the crowd “I know it’s early, but we can still party,” and the local MC proceeded to give a hair tossing performance that had her drummer breaking a snare. It was a decent lead in for Oakland’s the Coup. Boots Riley has been off my radar for a bit, but it appears our ambassador of P-funked rap has been keeping more than his afro tight – pulling from now-more-appropriate-than-ever classics like “5 Million Ways to Kill a C.E.O” and the upcoming Sorry to Bother You.

At 2:31pm, a guy in a tie-dye Quicksilver shirt was vomiting near where Grimes was playing: the festival had started. Like Matthew Dear and Porter Robinson, Grimes is a returning acts from this year’s Noise Pop. Maybe it was just her bandmate’s flowing iridescent ponchos, but Grimes’ sound seemed lighter than at the Rickshaw Stop. I decided I preferred this side of Grimes, but the Euro bubblegum quality of the creepily infantile “Phone Sex” was pushing it. Matthew Dear seemed out of place in full sun on the Bridge Stage, fog machines pumping. His set was similar to what I heard at Public Works, but progressed slowly. Nearing the end of his set the band got into a groove with “You Put a Smell on Me” but it’ was a little late.

Toro y Moi sounded just like when I saw it a couple years back, but would probably have fit in better somewhere on Sunday. Near the end you could hear a DJ on the other stage playing snippets and raising the crowd, partly using soundcheck to hype for Public Enemy. When actually starting, Chuck D arrived on stage, introducing the whole support crew but saved Flavor Flav for last.

The hyperbolic performance took me back to a time before reality TV. Chuck D was outspoken (Fuck BET. Fuck urban radio. Fuck Viacom.) but used time well. Flavor was Flavor, and rambled for five minutes after his time is up. AraabMusik, waiting on the Tunnel Stage didn’t seem to mind: he gave an impressive, sample stuttering finger drumming MPC performance, after having a smoke with his crew.

At 6:01 I saw the guy who’d been throwing up earlier, walking arm in arm with a girl, both smiling and probably holding each other up.

Things started to blur, the time between switching stages seemed to decrease. Porter Robinson left no impression on me. Tycho sounded like a person making slow, thoughtful love to a synthesizer, but whereas it could have been a great lead-in to the xx, suffered from being between Robinson and a high energy performance from the Presets.

Speaking of which, I’ve had an aversion to the Presets (largely stemming from issues I have with Australian pop), but their performance, particularly “If I Know You” won me over. An awkward soundcheck delay for the following band, SBTRKT, meant the worst thing I could say about it is that it felt too short. Producer Aaron Jerome and singer Sampha played to their strengths, closing with “Wildfire” and having what seemed like the whole crowd leaning back and strutting like they were the sexiest, smoothest motherfuckers on the field.

Girl Talk opened with the awesome (and oft utilized) “International Player’s Anthem” by UGK before quickly triggering “Dancin’ in the Dark.” I hear the Boss at least once more before I leave twenty minutes later. I’m sure there was confetti.  

Day 2

Between openers Imperial Teen and Joanna Newsom, things were rather low-key, just all around relaxing, emotional, sunny music (including my returning favorites, Hospitality.) The crowd trickled in steadily and the field fills up with blankets faster than the day before. It’s a rather sedate afternoon, aside from one thing.

Who scheduled Ty Segall – noted garage thrasher, guitar mangler, and kick drum stomper – in that mid-afternoon slot? Love the dude, he sounded great, but he was not much appreciated outside the pit. The blanket crowd? It didn’t dig that. Particularly right between Youth Lagoon’s indie emo Bob Dylan and Gavin’s second cousin. That’s prime time nap time, especially when the first half of Joanna Newsom’s performance can’t be heard past the soundbooth. (Seriously, can Nap Time with Joanna Newsom be a real thing? On Nick Jr. after Yo Gabba Gabba?) The collective bombast of Los Campesinos picked things up – back to back with Segall would have been a hell of a way to wake up.

And bake up. Because Best Coast was playing with the sun going down. When this festival is at its best, the music and the environment seem to play into one another, and from there out, it basically went perfect. I haven’t seen the band since a sloppy show at Regency Ballroom with Wavves a few years back. The basic sound is still the same – beachy guitar pop with a stony edge – but has developed since then. Part of it’s lineup changes, as the new drummer is a lot tighter than before (and has easily the loudest snare of the weekend), part of it’s just improvement. Bethany Consentino apologized for singing a slow song, but there’ was no reason. She can definitely carry a ballad now.

Anticipation iwas high for Divine Fits, the “supergroup” featuring Dan Boeckner, Britt Daniels, and Sam Brown. Mainly I’m sure because a lot of fans were there for the Bay Area debut, but also because of the glorious, Hollywood matte painting skyline waiting for them behind the Tunnel Stage. As soon as they hit the chorus of “Baby Get Worse,” complete with the ’80s throwback keyboard, I was sold. Halfway through the set someone up front was apparently amped enough for Boeckner to ask, “Dude, are you on PCP?” Elsewhere in the crowd people pleasantly remarked, “Hey, this sounds like Spoon.”

Previously I’d thought the crowd seemed thicker due to all the blankets, but when I walked back towards the Bridge Stage, I realizes that simply way more people turned out for some combination of the last three bands.

M83 – returning to the Bay for the first time since their sold out Fillmore shows in the spring – opened with an alien, had lots of lasers, and played that one song. One thing I now know for sure: it is possible to play percussion while doing the running man.

The last act on the Tunnel Stage, Gossip was one of the only real surprises for me this festival. Punk diva Beth Ditto opened by welcoming the audience to comedy night, later commenting that the band hadn’t toured the US in three years, because the Euro is stronger. Crowded at the front of the stage were possibly the most intense fans I saw all weekend, clearly attached not only to Ditto’s vocal talent, but also her empowering, Aretha Franklin-esque sense of Pride. Pointing to the already crowded photo pit, Ditto said cruelly, “I wish there was a lot less space. And a lot more photographers.”

You couldn’t really have more photographers than there were in the pit at the end of the night for the xx, stopping in the Bay Area for the last festival date on their current tour, supporting the sophomore album Coexist.

It was clear that in their live performance the xx tries to capture the same sort of intimacy as their albums, with a stark and stripped down stage and singers Romy Madley Croft and Oliver Sim in the front. Either singer could do well alone, but together there’s an undeniable chemistry, like lovers in dialogue.

In their live show they definitely play into that, while producer Jamie XX stays literally more in the shadows; Sunday night he was up a level behind the pair, manning a series of controllers, cymbals, and drum pads to creates the fundamental beats that the guitars wash over. The resulting music takes its time – I’d call it shoegaze dance if that weren’t such an idiotic concept – and the xx did as well, opening with the enrapturing “Angels,” setting a sensual mood that stayed till then end.

Earlier Ditto had called them, obviously, the Sex Sex. Anyone who really felt that way – or just wanted to get to John Talabot and Jamie XX at Public Works – hopefully caught a cab, as the wait for shuttles off the island at the end of the night were upwards of an hour and a half. Note to self: work that factor into the TIMF strategy next year.

Our Weekly Picks: September 26-October 2

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WEDNESDAY 26

Amanda Palmer and the Grand Theft Orchestra

Massachusetts singer-songwriter Amanda Palmer has had a busy year. Well, actually she’s had a busy career. Palmer is a previous high school thespian, street performer, co-founder of the Dresden Dolls, subject of a coffee table book, half of musical duo Evelyn Evelyn, and a prolific blogger — and she’s just getting started. This year alone she’s written a song and produced a music video in defense of pubic hair, starred in a Flaming Lips video, released a new solo album, and now she’s back on the road. When Palmer decided to fund her second solo album Theater is Evil on Kickstarter earlier this year, few would have guessed over $1 million would pour in, shattering the site’s record with more than 24,000 individual donations. It looks like she won’t be slowing down any time soon. (Haley Zaremba)

With The Simple Pleasure, Jherek Bischoff, Ronald Reagan

8pm, $25

Fillmore

1805 Geary, SF

(415) 346-3000

www.thefillmore.com

 

Ghost Parade

Over the past six months, San Francisco-based progressive rock band Ghost Parade has steadily revealed its inaugural tracks, including the particularly catchy “Reach,” whose chorus features the group’s tagline: “we are fast and real.” Intense at times and always poetic, Ghost Parade encourages you to get lost in its hard and fast wall of sound while, simultaneously, inviting you into its stories. These musicians are no strangers to Bottom of the Hill, but this time around they’re headlining. Come for the energy, come for the nascent artistic merriment and, if that’s not enough, come for vocalist-guitarist Justin Bonifacio’s hair. It ranks among the best in San Francisco. Hands down. (Mia Sullivan)

With Stomacher, Soonest

9pm, $10

Bottom of the Hill

1233 17th St., SF

(415) 626-4455

www.bottomofthehill.com

 

Obituary

It may be hard to believe, but pioneering death metal titan Obituary has been grinding out tracks such as “Chopped In Half” and “Turned Inside Out” for more than 25 years now. The Florida based quartet just wrapped up a series of festival shows in Europe, and is now back for its first tour of the US in several years, part of the epic Carnival of Death tour, slaying stages alongside Broken Hope, Decrepit Birth, Jungle Rot, Encrust, and Feast. The band is promising a fan-favorite set, comprised largely of songs off of its first three classic albums, Slowly We Rot, Cause of Death, and The End Complete. (Sean McCourt)

With DJ Rob Metal

6:30pm, $14–$18

DNA Lounge, 375 11th St., SF.

(415) 626-1409

www.dnalounge.com


THURSDAY 27

“Shocktoberfest 13: The Bride of Death”

The Thrillpeddlers have been killing it lately, with endlessly extended runs of Cockettes revivals and a recent hit production of Marat/Sade. Now the company is poised to kill it again — live! Onstage! With gruesome gore! — in its annual “Shocktoberfest” production. This year’s lucky 13th incarnation includes a classic Grand Guignol one-act (Coals of Fire by Fredrick Whitney, which caused a scandal in 1922 Britain); two contemporary world premieres about mad scientists (The Bride of Death by Michael Phillis and The Twisted Pair by Rob Keefe); and Scrumbly Koldewyn’s “musical spectacle” Those Beautiful Ghouls. And if you think you’re safe just sitting in the audience, wait until the uniquely terrifying spook-show finale — if you’re not afraid of the dark, you will be! (Cheryl Eddy)

Through Nov. 17

Opens Thu/27, 8pm; runs Thu-Sat, 8pm, $25-35

Hypnodrome

575 10th St., SF

www.thrillpeddlers.com


FRIDAY 28

“Animate Your Night: Where It’s AT-AT”

As part of the Walt Disney Family Museum’s new “Animate Your Night” series of after-hours events, tonight’s “Where It’s AT-AT” party celebrates the opening of a new exhibit, Between Frames: The Magic Behind Stop Motion Animation, which looks at the innovative ideas and technical wizardry of the art form that has brought life to a host of magical characters and creations. Among the items party-goers will be able to get a first look at is a classic Gumby figure, the armature of the “Robot Chicken” mascot, and a model of the awesome AT-AT Imperial Walker made by Phil Tippett, as seen in The Empire Strikes Back. (McCourt)

7-10pm, $5–$10

Walt Disney Family Museum

104 Montgomery, SF

(415) 345-6800

www.waltdisney.org

 

Vir

While “on” Vir, I can’t decide if I’d rather take mass quantities of psychedelics and, well, gaze at my shoes, or embark on an epic, intergalactic quest with a few of my closest tribesmen. Luckily, these options aren’t mutually exclusive. This Oakland-based experimental noise pop trio originally hails from New Zealand and cites Kiwi post-punk groups Gordons, Bailter Space, and HDU as chief influences. Characterized by driving, tribal beats, sardonic, echoing lyrics, and ample fuzz pedal, Vir’s music is, at times, like marching through a lush jungle-like space field and, at other times, like My Bloody Valentine. Could it get much better? (Sullivan)

With Here Come the Saviours, Erik Blood

9:30pm, $7

Hemlock

1131 Polk, SF

(415) 923-0923

www.hemlocktavern.com


SATURDAY 29

Balboa Skatepark opening ceremony

Shredding (on a skateboard) and shredding (with a guitar) go together like pizza and hot dogs — which, incidentally, there will be a whole lot of at the Balboa skateboard park opening this week. While skaters grind their newly opened park behind, local thrasher act Haunted By Heroes — a.k.a. the world’s youngest rock band — along with the Nerv, and Big Shadows will perform out front. Plus, the free event includes the aforementioned ultimate snack foods, skateboard accessory giveaways, and the Youth DJ Collective with DJ/MC Ace, of Reality Check TV. Make like the ramp locals of Thrashin’ (1986) and bring your board, check out frenetic live music, munch cheesy pizza, and relive youth, glorious youth. (Emily Savage)

Noon-5pm, free

Balboa Skatepark

San Jose Avenue and Ocean Avenue, SF

Facebook: BalboaSkateparkOpening2012

 

Vintage Couture Ball

Let’s hear it for the grown and sexy. While the rest of us drink beer and chug from flasks in the bathroom, they drink Manhattans (up) and sip from nicer flasks, out in the open because unlike some, the motion only serves to make their surroundings more G&S. Class it up and join their ranks for this weekend’s openair fashion gala in the Fillmore — the Vintage Couture Ball (once called the Black Couture Ball) brings Chicago step dancing, a vintage car show, burlesque and swing dancing to SF’s jazz district. Most importantly, heed the dress code — everyone’s fancy black gowns and suits should make the evening pop. (Caitlin Donohue)

7pm-1am, $20

Fillmore between Eddy and Geary, SF

(800) 352-4315

www.vintagecoutureball.com


SUNDAY 30

Hot Water Music

It’s been an exciting year for post-hardcore. It marks the release of industry pioneer Hot Water Music’s first album in nearly a decade and the 19th anniversary since the band’s foundation in 1993. In these two decades, the band has broken up and reunited three different times, taking years off to explore side projects and family life. Though it has been touring sporadically since 2008, the Gainseville band’s eighth album Exister truly marks its triumphant return to the rock scene. The first single off the album, “State of Grace,” tackles the issue of the additives that we ingest every day in our over-processed foods. Whether you care about GMOs or not, you’ll want to catch this tour before Hot Water Music disbands again. (Zaremba)

With Dead To Me, Heartsounds

8pm, $21

Slim’s

333 11th St., SF

(415) 255-0333

www.slimspresents.com

 

Bebel Gilberto

New York City and Rio de Janeiro are a potent combination. As proof, we offer you Bebel Gilberto, daughter of famed bossanova boss João Gilberto and international star in her own right. Bebel’s 2009 release All in One relies less heavily on the electronic bends and flourishes of her past, its mainly acoustic, gentle guitar strums and chimes behind Brazilian coos. In other words, go to this concert to lower your blood pressure, it will smooth you out. In fact, we’d be hard pressed a better soundtrack to your weekend comedown, or swayfest with that new boo you picked up on last night’s dancefloor. (Donohue)

7pm, $35-70

Herbst Theater

401 Van Ness, SF

www.cityboxoffice.com

 

Maria Minerva

Like a ’90s TRL countdown as envisioned by Peaking Lights, Maria Minerva’s fuzzed-out hypnagogia is the stuff of bygone pop anthems, filtered experimentally and relentlessly through Macbooks, cheap software, and a boatload of filters and effects. Commended by The Wire for her contribution to the blossoming meta-pop movement, the elusive Estonian producer strikes a captivating balance between high art and radio trash, traditional top-40 conventions and anarchic nonconformity. Minerva’s newly released Will Happiness Find Me? might be her most accessibly structured statement yet, but that doesn’t stop her dubby sonic fog from enshrouding everything in its path. Fans of electronic hooliganism everywhere: meet your new pop diva. (Taylor Kaplan)

With Father Finger, Bobby Browser, EpicSauce DJs

8pm, $12

Rickshaw Stop

155 Fell, SF

(415) 861-2011

www.rickshawstop.com


MONDAY 1

Garbage

When it first arrived on the alternative rock scene back in the mid ’90s, Garbage could have been some sort of pre-fabricated hit machine, considering its members consisted of some of the biggest producers of the time — Butch Vig, Steve Marker, and Duke Erikson — with ex-Angelfish singer Shirley Manson joining the fold. As fans know, however, it quickly became evident that they were much more than that, a band that coalesced as one and produced some of the most memorable tunes of the era. After a series of hiatuses, the quartet is back with an excellent new album, Not Your Kind of People, and a welcome return to the live stage. (McCourt)

With Screaming Females

8pm, $38–$48

Warfield

982 Market, SF

(415) 345-0900

www.thewarfieldtheater.com

 

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Eat to the beat

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emilysavage@sfbg.com

EAT BEAT Good food was never the part of the concert plan. In high school, the punks and shredders ate giant Pixy Stix, filled to the plastic brim with unnaturally purple sugar dust — purchased from the all-ages venue snack counter — followed by late night Del Taco red burritos slathered in Del Scorcho and stuffed with crinkle fries. Flash forward a decade or so, and the vegan Malaysian nachos with spicy peanut sauce and pickled veggies from Azalina’s were all I could talk about after Outside Lands, save for the requisite “oh my god” Metallica utterance.

I wasn’t the only one. From every corner of that packed festival, people — and of course, bloggers — were raving about The Whole Beast (featuring pop-ups from the Michael Mina Group) tucked away by Choco Lands, Andalu’s fried mac and cheese, and Del Popolo’s massive, industrial-looking rustic pizza truck.

While the higher-end meal options have now been going strong at Outside Lands for a few years — and, granted, food has long been a part of the festival equation — the gourmet pop-up thing, and locally-sourced, quality food offerings are on the menu more and more in brick-and-mortar music venues in San Francisco. Last week, the Great American Music Hall hosted an event dubbed the Great American Pop-Up. Seems it’s more open to experimentation in the slower summer months.

The one-off (for now) event was a family affair for the Great American Music Hall. There were six pop-up food vendors set up in between the grand bronze pillars of the Tenderloin venue, chosen by security guard Drake Wertenberger, who stepped forward at a managers meeting to coordinate. Jessica DaSilva, who works in the box office at both GAMH and sister-venue Slim’s, was there selling imaginative sweet treats for Milk Money/Dora’s Donuts Shut Yer Hole Truck, including a strawberry cheesecake push-pop, and the chewy chocolate raspberry cookie I devoured. There was also local, sustainable sushi by Ricecrackersushi, some colorful Asian fusion dishes via Harro-Arigato & Ronin, and a whole lot of sausages sliced by the Butcher’s Daughter.

It felt nearly illicit to be in the venue without the anticipation of a live set, like we were sneaking in. And the warmer lighting opened up the intricacies of the architectural design. But this event was focused squarely on the food, with the tables pushed out onto the floor, and a flannel-clad DJ spinning inoffensive hip-hop while munching on something from a paper plate.

Last year, Slim’s created something similar, but broke it down to one chef at a time hosting rotating gourmet pop-ups once a week for the month of August. Those too were more about the unique food offerings, less about music. There were dinners served in the venue by Jetset Chef Alex Marsh and Cathead’s BBQ (which now occupies its own legitimate space down the street from the venue).

GAMH and Slim’s both already serve dinner nightly at live shows, but publicist Leah Matanky tells me there were no hard feelings from the in-house restaurant staff.

On regular show nights even, Matanky says she’s seen an increase of interest in gourmet food at the venues. “We have seen our kitchen sales numbers increase noticeably over the last couple of years. We’ve started running nightly food and drink specials that include things we don’t normally offer and people have really responded to that. We still offer the full array of bar food…but you can also get gourmet specialties like the baked polenta pizza with smoked mozzarella or the grilled tri-tip steak with garlic-herb potatoes.”

Mountain View’s infinitely larger Shoreline Amphitheater also recently got an in-house food upgrade. So the story goes, when the GM of Shoreline dined at Calafia in Palo Alto, Chef Charlie Ayers pointed out the stadium’s lackluster food, and was then summoned to create a tastier menu. Ayers now has a “Snack Shack” at Shoreline that generates $8,000 per show, selling vegan lentil bowls, pork bowls, and salad wraps with Dino kale and feta cheese.

At the bars-with-bands level, El Rio seems to also be upping its epicurean pop-ups. Along with the now-frequent Rocky’s Fry Bread (side note: Rocky is also in the band Sweat Lodge, which often plays El Rio) stand, there’s Piadina homemade Italian flat bread, and the occasional Mugsy pop-up wine bar, which offers bubbly and red wine varieties.

There was an entirely separate event that took place Aug. 4 in San Francisco, which combined all of this: the high-end food, the live music, the ubiquitous pop-ups. It was a food and music festival (Noisette) at a brick-and-mortar venue (Public Works, where it moved after switching venues from Speakeasy Brewery).

The event was put on by Noise Pop Industries. The production company, which does Noise Pop and the Treasure Island Festival, began dipping into independent food culture a few years back with the Covers dinners, pairing well-known chefs with corresponding cover songs for a relatively small group. Noise Pop’s Stacey Horne came up with the Noisette concept after talking with DJs Darren and Greg Bresnitz of New York promotion company Finger on the Pulse, who do an event out there called Backyard Barbecue, which also pairs live music and gourmet food.

From the beginning, the Dodos were the first choice of headliners at Noisette. Merrick Long is a “professed foodie,” has worked in the restaurant business, and was on a panel at SXSW talking about food and music. Horne says they chose chefs that do things a little differently, and are more attuned to the pop-up mentality.

“Something that struck me at Noisette that I loved was that we were eating such good food and then were able to wander over and hear amazing music. It wasn’t one or the other. It was nice to have that as an option,” Horne says. “The chefs we’re focusing on are kind of the indie version of that world, and that’s what Noise Pop has always been interested in, independent music, independent film and art. It just seems like a logical extension.”

Noise Pop is also again looking to do a variation on the Covers dinners with the upcoming Treasure Island Festival. Sound Bites is more of a passed appetizer event with little bites inspired by the bands playing at the festival.

So what does it all mean? Are we, as the generalized concert-going public, getting soft, both physically from all those readily available treats, and mentally because we’ve expanded beyond a minimalist punk rock lifestyle? Should we all go back to Pixy Stix and Del Scorcho hangovers?

“Look, the reality is that most nights that you go to hear a band in a club, there’s no food or if there is food, it’s not going to be anything great. So you can still have your punk rock experience, but something like Noisette and other events like ours that are popping up around the country are just offering another type of event, and people are interested in it, as we’re seeing,” Horne says.

I guess, if you want to see your life as a black and white cookie, you’ll see this change as against type. Or maybe if you’re in the teenage angst subset, you’re just getting in to the greasy post-concert routine. But perhaps this mashup is just another trend — participate if you will. It goes far beyond the music scene, to the way Americans eat now, looking for quality, locally sourced food, seeking creative options.

“Speaking for myself personally, I still love going to see shows,” Horne says, “but if I can have both things in one place, it’s win-win.”

www.slimspresents.com

www.noisepop.com

www.elrio.com

shoreline.amphitheatermtnview.com

Fools in love

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>>Check out our complete FALL ARTS PREVIEW 2012

emilysavage@sfbg.com

FALL ARTS “You’re at the right place,” Tim Cohen mutters, holding a large laundry sack swaddled like a burrito to his chest as he walks up to the tri-level white Victorian on McAllister Street in San Francisco’s Western Addition. A prolific singer-songwriter with morose pop vocals and a gruff exterior, Cohen is preparing to once again tour with his band, the Fresh and Onlys. And Cohen is flying out to the East Coast earlier than the others so he can play a few shows in his other incarnation, Magic Trick.

After dropping off his laundry sack upstairs in the top tower of the Victorian, Cohen climbs down the steps and stands against a railing on the front stoop with the band’s newest member, pony-tailed drummer Kyle Gibson, who really isn’t all that new. Gibson’s first show with Cohen, bassist Shayde Sartin, and skinny, pompadoured guitarist Wymond Miles, was at Noise Pop on Feb. 26, 2009. Before he came along, the band dilly-dallied around with a bunch of different drummers for around eight months, says Cohen.

The cohesive four-piece hit the ground running, creating psychedelically swirled darkly moving garage and psych-pop in home recording studios, and releasing records and EPs at a dizzying speed, touring nearly nonstop through the past three years.

Now signed to Mexican Summer, the Fresh and Onlys have slowed down a bit, spending the end of last year recording 2012’s Long Slow Dance (which sees release Sept. 4), their fourth long-player and first since 2010’s noisier Play It Strange. This fall they’ll again pick up the pace, and tour the West Coast, East Coast, and Europe through early next year.

“I feel like this is the record we all wanted to make, we’ve been wanting to make this record for a long time,” says Miles, who slinks up last to Cohen’s stoop on this unseasonably warm summer day in SF. If not for the occasional cool breeze, the day would be downright hot. I ask him to expand and he laughs and says, “Take it, Tim.”

“We were all a lot more patient with the process,” says Cohen. “It was like, it’s already been this long, let’s do it right. Let’s get the sounds right, let’s get the takes right, let’s get the feelings and the moods right.”

Moods come up frequently in both the stoop conversation and the record itself. The dark poetic drawl is inherent within Cohen, that Morrissey-Robert Smith pain paired to jangly pop. Album opener “20 Days and 20 Nights” has a classic hook, but matched to Cohen’s words, it’s actually quite sad. “Something so heavy/in my mind/I think I want to try and get it out/So I cry/and I cry.”

Many of Cohen’s lyrics come lifted from his dreams, so naturally he keeps a notebook by his bed in the tower. “When I write something down, I’ll look at it a few days later and be like, ‘wow, that’s kind of strange,’ and I’ll usually turn that into something.”

He feels he may be subconsciously influenced by the absurdist and surrealist fiction he reads, by authors such as Kafka, and conversely, classic radio pop. On jangly “No Regard,” he opens with “ever wonder why fools fall in love?”

“I don’t know how aware Tim was of Frankie Lymon when he wrote it,” says Sartin. “Not only is it a classic lyric, it’s a classic sentiment in pop culture in general. Whenever you hear that song, Frankie Lymon still lives, even though he died a miserable death.”

After a hot pause of silent remembrance, Sartin continues, “So I think sometimes those things pop up in Tim’s lyrics. They get mangled by the time they get to the pen and paper in Tim’s hand or onto the record for that matter.”

“That’s exactly right,” Cohen says. “What I intend to do with lyrics is make them clear cut with a twist. Put sad lyrics over happy music, or happy lyrics over sad music, just to create a juxtaposition of moods that’s a more compelling listen.”

Gibson pops up, “Morrisseying. I made Morrissey a verb. That’s what he would do, he’s one of the best at that. So really macabre and dark over this like, jangle.”

While Cohen is the frontperson and lead lyricist, he doesn’t always get his way. He’s quick to bring up the example of “Foolish Person,” a dreamy ’80s-esque pop song — which dissolves into battling psychedelic guitarwork — that made it on Long Slow Dance after at least three different iterations. “Some people in the band really wanted to see it through, to see it to completion. I wasn’t totally into the idea, but I’m sort of glad we did it,” he says with a sniff. “At least, I never have to record it again.”

Gibson laughs, slipping on his sunglasses.

The band has had their share of rough spots, especially during grueling tours, but they’ve learned to communicate. “We wouldn’t have lasted this long if we couldn’t reign that toxicity in, and direct it elsewhere,” Cohen says.

The keys to the Fresh and Onlys’ success, both personally and musically, include their diverse sonic backgrounds, and relative age. Unlike youngster bands, the four musicians were already established, and had played in previous bands (including Black Fiction, and Kelley Stoltz’s band), when they came together all hovering around the age of 30.

Each blasted a different kind of noise from their childhood stereo. Cohen listened exclusively to hip-hop in Virginia (“I just listened to the way people put their words together. I would never really go off the beat — I never really have, I’m not really capable of this shambolic, careless approach to words and vocals.”). Miles came from an array of guitar schools of thought in Denver, Colo., listening to the Cure, goth, punk, and hardcore. Sartin came from the Florida punk scene, but also loves country, and his bass-playing is rooted in soul music. From DC, Gibson listened to punk and Dischord bands, which justifies his muscular drumming.

“In a fearless way, we welcome each others music genealogy into the fold,” Cohen says.

The band also thrives thanks to its San Francisco location. “I can call up any of my friends and say ‘let’s go play music.’ And if they don’t want to do it, someone else will,” says Sartin, adding “We also have a ton of inspiration from other people who live here, other bands, other artists.” He mentions former Girls drummer Garret Goddard, and Gio Betteo from Young Prisms, along with perhaps the most prolific musician in San Francisco, aside from Cohen, Thee Oh Sees’ John Dwyer (formerly of Pink and Brown and Coachwhips).

“You can have a conversation with John Dwyer and go fucking write three songs, just off the energy absorbed from him barking at you,” says Sartin.

All four musicians on the stoop shake their heads in agreement.

FRESH AND ONLYS

With Terry Malts, DJ Britt Govea

Sept. 8, 9pm, $15

Independent

628 Divisadero, SF (415) 771-1421

www.theindependentsf.com

 

Suspended in the groove

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arts@sfbg.com

MUSIC Out of nowhere an isolated house groove surfaced from the ether of the Internet and touched an unexpected chord. It was called “Love Me Like This,” a throbbing re-edit of the early 1980s track of the same title from R&B group Real to Reel. Its author was an unknown British musician going by the name of Floating Points, a gerund whose aerial element reminded me at the time of another producer closer to home, Flying Lotus.

Apart from names, both applied jazz tendencies to their electronic compositions. And both were involved respectively in a loose constellation of musicians and producers, whose inspired theorizing on low end frequencies had just begun to crack apart the stale course taken by much of dance music, exploding it into countless directions.

This was the case in, at least, that nebulous sphere of grassroots creativity that many still lovingly call the underground — in which the alleged distinction between dance and head music (or, in industry parlance, between electronic dance music and intellectual dance music) just doesn’t make any sense. Is it head music dancing? Dance music getting head? How about this: dance music about dance music. That’s heady enough. And if you think I’m dancing around the issue, then I would be so lucky to have got my point across.

Putting my word games aside, Floating Points’s music hits a sweet spot. Something about “Love Me” suspends you in midair. Syncopated percussion lurches ahead, offset by a wandering snare. The song unravels joyously, arriving and departing from a series of peaks where the programmed drums and swirling vocal refrain come to be utterly overwhelmed by lush arpeggios, sweltering keys. Most of what we tend to place under the category of dance music operates precisely this formula in which claustrophobic discomfort builds and holds itself back until it’s finally spent in an expulsive release. Again and again. Floating Points, who is also called Sam Shepherd, often executes this to brilliant effect.

But something else can happen too, where the difference between claustrophobia and release is suspended. It’s as if, against all odds, you feel both restraint and letting go at the same time. And there you are, floating in the delay between them — in an extraordinarily ecstatic shuffle where the climactic drop that has become so essential to the huge financial success of EDM festival acts just doesn’t even count anymore. You’ve been taken instead somewhere else, outside of the drop’s comfort zone.

“Love Me Like This” appeared from nowhere more than three years ago, before anyone really knew the name Skrillex, before dub-step would begin to sell its signature wobble to the popular consumption of American cars and Brittney Spears’ songs. Then, Californian producers were in the midst of reinventing instrumental hip-hop, while others toyed with the boogie funk of Prince, as the sounds of UK club culture filtered into this experimental space.

I remember waiting impatiently for two specific aspects of these worlds to collide — waiting for someone to take what Dam-Funk was doing in Los Angeles with bounce driven soul and fissure it with the two-step drum patterns that made all the sub-genres splintering from and around dub-step sound so interesting. Floating Points answered my silent wish.

I exaggerate my prescience here, though, because Shepherd far exceeded whatever I could muster in anticipation. His first proper release was a seven-inch record that debuted Eglo Records, which he co-founded with Alexander Nut in London. The single’s two tracks stem from the disorienting free jazz belonging to another incessant breaker of rules, Sun Ra. “Radiality” warps Ra’s “Lanquidity” into a plosive shattering of synthetic rhythms and melodies. The way the groove lobs in time is a bit like the floating I mentioned earlier — there we are, languishing warmly in rhythm.

A couple EPs, a number of singles, remixes, and collaborations followed. On Vacuum, Shepherd shows that he can just as well make a no frills house groove. Subtle narrative arcs made up of punchy bass lines and sticky keys invite you to surrender willingly to the beat. Shadows is a bit more experimental. The extended compositions are fractured: bass lines disappear into quiet piano solos, chords dissolve into pulses spiraling in concentric circles around themselves. From these shallow swirls of sound arise huge swells of energy, only to dissipate once again.

Some of Shepherd’s most magnetic music, though, features fellow Eglo signee Fatima on vocals. She not only sings wonderfully with the Floating Points Ensemble, but has also done significant work of her own with Shepherd on production. What sticks with me most is last year’s Follow You EP, a subtle and lovely take on the intoxicating inner visions that music can conjure.

It turns out Floating Points is a classically trained musician, who only moonlights on analog drum machines and synthesizers. A great deal of his waking hours are otherwise devoted to pursuing a Ph.D in neuroscience. I assume that’s why it’s taken Shepherd this long to touch down in San Francisco for a live performance. And thanks to the curatorial teamwork between DJ Dials and Noise Pop’s Dawson Ludwig, he’ll join the eclectic bill for the upcoming Scene Unseen event.

Set among other headliners — including both the extravagant rapper, Riff Raff (who will be played by none other than James Franco in an upcoming film directed by Harmony Korine), and the showy Chicago duo, Flosstradamus — I’m not sure what to expect. Add to that set list two experimental beatsmiths from LA, Dibiase and Groundislava, as well as locals Ghost on Tape and the DJ crew KM / FM, among others, then you’ve pretty much run the risk of nullifying any categorical expectation. It’s really quite a gamble. Then again, that’s the liminal space in which Floating Points has thrived, and in which tomorrow’s music has always thrown its dice.

FLOATING POINTS

With Riff Raff, Flosstradamus, and others

Fri/17, 10pm, free with RSVP

1015 Folsom, SF

www.1015.com

Heads Up: 8 must-see concerts this week

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You’ve got a midweek day off? You’re stoked. Go see some live music with that hard-earned free time. Oh, and happy independence, America. That’s what we’re celebrating, correct?

Eat a barbecued tofu dog slathered in relish and drink some park beers in celebration of such things as country pride and days without responsibility. Then fill those Bay Area music venues, checking in on America’s favorite proto-punk troubadour, Mali’s favorite virtuoso progeny, the Big Time Freedom Fest, woozy dream poppers, a punk rock museum benefit, and more.

Here are your must-see Bay Area concerts this week/end:

Jonathan Richman
Last time the Modern Lover cult hero Jonathan Richman did a slew of shows at the Make-Out Room, he brought drummer Tommy Larkins to the outings, performed for hours on end, sang in multiple languages, chatted awkwardly, mixed up his pacing and flipped his set list so time floated by without a lull. He also danced samba-like solo – twisting his thin frame as a contortionist. Who’s to say this round should be any different? We know Larkins is back at least.
Mon/2-Tue/3, 7:30pm, $15
Make-Out Room
3225 22nd St., SF
(415) 647-2888
www.themakeoutroom.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjFU98mEem4

Vieux Farka Toure
The son of Ali Farka Toure, Malian singer-guitarist is legend in his own right. Oft referenced as a “guitar virtuoso” or more specifically  “The Hendrix of the Sahara,” Vieux’s graceful, quick-fingered guitar skills rival those of the rock’n’roller regime, yet he blends in traditional West African influences. Fresh off the Touré-Raichel Collective (his collaborative album and tour with Israeli musician Idan Raichel), Vieux this time swings into town solo, his strumming again center stage.
Mon/2, 8pm, $22
Yoshi’s SF
1330 Fillmore, SF
(415) 655-5600
www.yoshis.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IecSMEH9ZVg

“Big Time Freedom Fest”
What’s more deliciously new America than the string-lit back patio at El Rio? That’s where dreams are made and shattered. People fall in momentary beat-fueled lust, cheap beers with lime wedges are sipped en masse, and fried food is gobbled up without a second thought. It’s tradition, years in the making. This seventh annual Big Time Freedom Fest features some awesome local heavy-hitters: Religious Girls, Tartufi, Finn Riggins, Battlehooch, and Night Call, all for $8, in the outdoor heavy-hung fog.
Wed/4, 3:30pm, $8
El Rio
3158 Mission, SF
(415) 282-3325
www.elriosf.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mMUsyZY4kA

Giraffage, James & Evander
“Glitchy” seems to be the key word for San Francisco’s electronically-constructed solo project, Giraffage. I’m on board. Those little glitchy effects break up otherwise endless ambient affairs, spinning the act from dream-pop to hip-hop in a cotton candy pillow. Tonight’s a co-headlining set with fellow Bay Area suspected Ambien-poppers, James & Evander. That “synth/stoner pop” Oakland act released magical debut LP Bummer Pop last month. How many more pops can we squeeze in this show description? Pop.
With Astronautica, Young Pharaohs
Thu/5, 9pm, $6
Milk Bar
1840 Haight, SF
(415) 387-6455
www.milksf.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrrL0sYLgA0

Liars
“This year’s WIXIW (say wish-you) finds Liars reinventing the wheel again, to produce their most synthified affair yet; picture the rocktronic fusion of Kid A-era Radiohead, approached with the finely calibrated ambience of Bjork’s Vespertine, Trent Reznor’s swagger, and Tom Waits’ lumbering dynamics.” – Taylor Kaplan 
With Cadence Weapon
Thu/5, 8pm, $22.50
Great American Music Hall
859 O’Farrell, SF
(415) 885-0750
www.slimspresents.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggR6RuBh8I0

Shana Falana
Formerly of San Francisco, the now New York-based psychedelic dream popper Shana Falana returns to her beloved Bay in support of new In the Light EP, bringing along a new multimedia show. Falana’s lilting church choir-like vocals matched to looping guitar and percussion gives the impression of a surreal religious experience deep in the X-Files woods. I want to believe.
With Kelley Stoltz, the She’s, B and Not B
Fri/6, 9pm, $15
Cafe Du Nord
2170 Market, SF
(415) 861-5016
www.cafedunord.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUqgXal-knk

Punk Rock Museum Benefit
Given punk’s lasting impact on so many musical branches, and influence on the raw sounds of countless beloved acts, a Punk Rock Museum seems absolutely necessary. Why didn’t we think of this? The new museum – spearheaded by Taquila Mockingbird and based in LA – has been established to “further preserve the punk rock genre.” For this show, parts of the museum travel to San Francisco. There will be a mix pieces (photographs, old fliers, art by the likes of Winston Smith, etc.) from the permanent museum collection, and of course, live music to carry on the legend: Debora Iyall (of Romeo Void), Metal Circus (A tribute to Husker Du), and Meri St. Mary and the Housecoats. Also, DJ Big Nate will be spinning classic punk cuts.
Sat/7, 9pm, $15
Thee Parkside
1600 17th St., SF
(415) 252-1330
www.theeparkside.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePIImGMjn_8

Cool Ghouls
Local psych-rockers Cool Ghouls seem to be everywhere lately, opening up Noise Pop retrospective shows, making appearances at lots of local venues, playing Save KUSF benefits; a.k.a traveling around town with beer-fueled, good-time rock’n’roll in tow. They’ve got a bright and free EP currently up for grabs on their Tumblr, an upcoming slot at the Independent before Sonny and the Sunsets, and a full-length LP coming in the fall; this Hemlock show is a good chance to check out the five-piece in smallish setting.
With LA Witch, the Sister Ruby Band
Sun/8, 9pm
Hemlock Tavern
1131 Polk Street, SF
(415) 923-0923
www.hemlocktavern.com

Treasure Island Music Fest lineup is out: xx, M83, Public Enemy, Best Coast

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It’s not ’till October, but the Treasure Island Music Festival lineup was let loose on the web today — and tickets go on sale this week. The popular San Francisco fest, created and curated by Noise Pop, this year includes a buzzy, bloggy mix of EDM and chillwave, rock’n’roll and pop.

As opposed to previous years, the split two day lineups (Saturday and Sunday) seem less rigidly defined by genre. Headliners include Girl Talk, xx, the Presets, M83, Porter Robinson, and Gossip. There are some locals in there as well – Tycho, Dirty Ghosts, K. Flay, Imperial Teen, and the like.

See the current list below (undoubtedly, others will be added down the line).

Saturday: Oct. 13, 2012
Girl Talk
The Presets
Porter Robinson
Public Enemy
SBTRKT
Tycho
Araabmuzik
Matthew Dear
Toro Y Moi
Grimes
The Coup
K. Flay
Dirty Ghosts

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtH68PJIQLE

Sunday: Oct. 14, 2012
The xx
M83
Gossip
Best Coast
Divine Fits
Youth Lagoon
Los Campesinos!
The War on Drugs
Ty Segall
Hospitality
Imperial Teen
Neighbourhood

Two-day tickets ($109.50-$129.50) are on sale Wednesday, June 27 at 10am.
One-day passes ($75) are on sale Friday, June 29 at 10am.

Keep tabs on the festival here.

Heads Up: 6 must-see concerts this week

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How can a week go wrong with a Big Freedia show on the horizon? Knock on wood. Especially since this is a makeup show (she had to cancel her Noise Pop appearance due to an emergency surgery). The return alone would be cause for celebration. And yet, this week there’s also a night of gritty Canadian punk, an exotic R&B dream, and some club time with Brooklyn’s Day-Glo neo-gothsters.

You can only hope for such a fun and messy variety, perhaps in some sort of hand-picked exquisite corpse of a show: you draw the sexy rounded hips, vintage Fender, and luxurious shiny-pony hesh hair; I’ll add the shredded T-shirt revealing glittery star pasties and some Joan Crawford brows.

Enjoy these sublimely sunny afternoons sucking down ice cold beverages on outdoor decks (hey there Zeitgeist, Thee Parkside, Dr. Teeth, and the rest of you) and these naturally cooled down evenings inside venues with your favorite music-makers. Go, start prepping for the exquisite chaos soon to arrive.

Here are your must-see Bay Area concerts this week/end:

White Lung
Vancouver, BC bred post-punk act White Lung boasts rapid, heart-pumping energy lead by driving guitars, smashing drums, and screaming melodic vocals casually reminiscent of Pretty Girls Make Graves. The band just dropped brutal sophomore LP Sorry (Deranged) last month. With hooky Oakland badass punks Wax Idols in the lineup as well, your ears should bleed by night’s end.
With Wax Idols, CCR Headcleaner
Mon/11, 10pm, $6
Knockout
3223 Mission, SF
(415) 550-6994
www.theknockoutsf.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PoQhaNiXvg&feature=youtu.be
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xrrg_XTVMdI

Buffalo Tooth
The local garage rockers, who described their sound as “Blue Cheer/Black Flag, basically bands with colors in their names,” this week finally celebrate the release of their psychedelic new seven-inch. The self-titled release was recorded by rock’n’roll renaissance man Matthew Melton (formerly of Bare Wires, currently of Warm Soda). They share this show with sister band Poor Sons, and party-punks Uzi Rash and Parmesans.
Wed/13, 9pm, $5
Elbo Room
647 Valencia, SF
(415) 552-7788
www.elbo.com

Big Freedia
Finally. New Orleans’ queen diva of sissy bounce is back in the Bay to make up for her unfortunately canceled Noise Pop show early this year. But let’s not dwell on the past, Ms. Azz Everyone is here now (presented by Noise Pop and Hard French with Future | Perfect DJs) and ready to shake it. Wear your best Crayola pastel short-shorts for the IRL booty battle.
With Hard French DJs Brown Amy and Carnita, and Future | Perfect DJs S4NtA Mu3rTE, Water Borders, Vin Sol, 5kinAndbone5, Richie Panic
Thu/14, 9pm, $16
Public Works
161 Erie, SF
(415) 932-0955
www.publicsf.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-cT6SwFIHA

RØSENKØPF
Brooklyn’s Day-Glo neo-gothster crew RØSENKØPF comes to our coast in support of its debut self-titled album, out this month on Wierd Records. Along the way the band has gathered comparisons to the following acts: Nine Inch Nails, Depeche Mode, Massive Attack, early Black Dice, Hawkwind (hmm), Birthday Party, and…Bats Day at Disneyland? Full disclosure: that last one was me.
Fri/15, 8pm, $6
Retox Lounge
628 20th St., SF
(415) 626-7386
www.retoxsf.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_J20Vmwzt4

How to Dress Well
“[Experimental pop producer How to Dress Well] is able to translate dreams into signature ethereal compositions full of dark emotions and R&B passions.” – Julia B. Chan
With Babe Rainbow, Finally Boys
Fri/15, 9pm, $14
Rickshaw Stop
155 Fell, SF
(415) 861-2011
www.rickshawstop.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbdeacVXbik

Japanther
So you missed out on purchasing tickets to the now-sold out Japandroids show at the Independent earlier in the week (check out our interview with that act in this week’s print issue); no mind, the similarly punny yet elder Japanther – kindred in name and vibe mostly – is here this week too, and it should be just as riotous, perhaps a bit scrappier. The early Aughts-formed art-punk band is know for its spazzy parties of live shows, screaming through a modified telephone, and the like. 
With Pharmacy
Sun/17, 9:30pm, $7
Hemlock Tavern
1131 Polk, SF
(415) 923-0923
www.hemlocktavern.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJmn59mizGQ

Localized Appreesh: A B & the Sea

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Localized Appreesh is our weekly thank-you column to the musicians that make the Bay. To be considered, contact emilysavage@sfbg.com.

You already know A B & the Sea, right? The creamy surf pop act last year released the perfect summer pop song and matching video – “In the Sunshine” – all hand-holding, first kisses, and  beach frolicking.  And earlier that year, the band played Noise Pop again, amid a sea of punks before Ted Leo.

Well now, it’s basically summer 2012 (we have to make up seasons ’round these parts) and the band has just released its newest contribution to our cultural zeitgeist, the full-length Constant Vacation.  Produced by Wallpaper and Jim Fairchild, and full of bouncy, beachy harmonies, it’s got that infectious aforementioned “Sunshine” single plus more contenders for song of the summer (“California Feeling”). There’s got to be a frozen cherry Popsicle we can split around here somewhere.

And you know what happens next right? The requisite, much ballyhooed album release party.  Check ’em out in post-release bliss headlining the Great American Music Hall this week.  You know you want to.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7mVeiYCy5c

Year and location of origin: 2008 Oshkosh, WI.

Band name origin: the cleverly brothers.

Band motto: constant vacation

Description of sound in 10 words or less: cruisin’ the pacific banger highway; no rearview, no destination.

Instrumentation: vocal harmonies and sunshine.

Most recent release: new record Constant Vacation record release show May 3rd at Great American Music Hall. No…not Six Flags Great America…maybe next time.

Best part about life as a Bay Area band: the babes.

Worst part about life as a Bay Area band: nonsense.

First album purchased: Coolio, Gangstas Paradise cassette.

Most recent album purchased/downloaded: Miniature Tigers, Mia Pharaoh.

Favorite local eatery and dish: Mission Cheese ched or die sammy. So scrummy…

A B & the Sea
With Tommy and the High Pilots, Yellow Red Sparks
Thu/3, 8pm, $15
Great American Music Hall
859 O’Farrell, SF
(415) 885-0750
www.slimspresents.com

Heads Up: 6 must-see concerts this week

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Is it mundane to still be talking about the weather? What if we’re reminiscing about fickle San Francisco, and a rejuvenating weekend full of beaming hot sun, melted sundaes, and stretches of eternity park lounging with thousands of your closest compatriots?

What if that much-needed industrial shot of Vitamin D super charged our brains for the week ahead? Why can’t we believe in the goodness of the occasional bright weekend to dismiss week in, week out monotony?

What else drags our tired souls from the pits of a dull routine? Why, the ebb and flow of musical intake, of course. That jolt of bass, the kick of drums, the oom-pah of brass, the buzzing expanse of synth: it kick-starts our brains with a correspondingly industrial shot of adrenaline, rolling fog or shine. 

Here are your must-see Bay Area concerts this week/end:

The She’s
The melodic teenage rock’n’roll group seems to be living the garage pop dream right about now. The local quartet has a sparkly newish album making serious waves, has opened for dream-show Girls, and recently played Noise Pop before Surfer Blood to a sold-out crowd. While yes, a tad bit jealous, we must admit, it’s deserved: the She’s talent – bassist Samantha Perez has been playing since she was 7, and the others started around then too – and, their surfy fun vibes keep us coming back for more.
With Bilinda Butchers, Trails and Ways
Wed/25, 8pm, $10.
Rickshaw Stop
155 Fell, SF
(415) 861-2011
www.rickshawstop.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KhxRuEf5ho&feature=relmfu

The Touré-Raichel Collective

Both wildly popular in their home states, Malian guitarist Vieux Farka Touré and Israeli pianist Idan Raichel came together for the languid, subtly gorgeous joint album The Tel Aviv Session – mixing in respective cultures of music through gentle plucking and steady drum beats – and bring that magic tonight to the Herbst.
Thu/26, 8pm, $25-$85
Herbst Theatre
401 Van Ness, SF
(415) 621-6600
www.sfwmpac.org

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmfHid85XoM

Opeth and Mastodon
A doomy double bill of Swedish heavy metal and Southern-fried sludge. Both acts are epic in their own special way.
Fri/27, 8pm, $32.50
Fox Theater
1807 Telegraph, Oakl.
(510) 302-2250
www.thefoxoakland.com

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VUm1jzqth4

Public Access: Hype Williams
Hype is indeed the word. The Xanax-slow atmospheric pop duo from London, named after the filmmaker, is making a name — and sound — all its own. Once shrouded in wobbly synth mystery, as these things usually are at the start, Hype Williams keeps the buzz a-growing. With openers Gatekeeper, Teengirl Fantasy, and Zebra Katz, it’s going to be a trippy goth pop carnival of a night.
Fri/27, 9pm, $15.
Public Works
161 Eerie, SF
(415) 932-0955
www.publicsf.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FeZsad3s3hk

Tragedy
The crust punk band, born of the early Aughts, is three parts His Hero Is Gone (depths-of-hell growling vocalist- guitarist Todd Burdette, guitarist Yannick Lorrain, and drummer Paul Burdette) and three parts Death Threat (overlapping others, plus bassist Billy Davis), and all parts blistering, head-banging, good times. Playing twice in the Bay Area this weekend.
With Talk is Poison, Hunting Party, Replica, Negative Standards
Fri/27, 7pm, $10
Oakland Metro
630 Third St., Oakl.
www.oaklandmetro.org

With Needles, Sete Star Sept, Permanent Ruin, Stressors
Sat/28, 9pm, $10
Thee Parkside
1660 17th St., SF
(415) 252-1330
www.theeparkside.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgtXLWxDlvg

Sonya Cotton
Sonya Cotton is a folk force, an endearing vocalist and musician (known to swing a delicate uke) with church of nature-like calm; it’s not difficult to picture Cotton tearfully cradling a fallen deer in a lush forest, singing with woeful empathy of its journey. See below. Note that it’s difficult to watch, but her tone brings significance to the sadness.
As part of the Power of Song Series
With Conspiracy of Venus
Sun/29, 9-11pm
Brava Theater Center
2781 24th St, SF
www.songbirdfestival.org
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udDyGA1vInE

Heads Up: 6 must-see concerts this week

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In the days leading up to veritable sweaty behemoth Coachella, many national acts are cooling their jets, taking breathers, stretching their hamstrings before the big back-to-back weekend shows.

Those in the Bay Area smart enough to avoid that desert feather clusterfuck are to be rewarded this week with some mighty fine local and touring acts; musicians preferring to opt out of the chaos (or those that are simply stopping by on their way to the fest).

In that latter mix – bands dropping in before plopping down in the desert sun – a few ’90s big sellers and underground giants of the same era are indeed here this week, but their shows are, naturally, already long sold-out or too damn near it to call (Jeff Mangum, Mazzy Star, Radiohead, fIREHOSE). But if you already have tickets, mazel tov!

With that, I present your must-see (and might actually have the chance to catch) Bay Area concerts this week/end:

Emily Jane White

The gloomy finger-picking folk songstress just returned from a tour with fellow local Jolie Holland (the two kicked it off during Noise Pop with an enchanting night at the Swedish American); and she’ll likely play new tunes of her equally enchanting new release, Ode To Sentience, out June 12 on Antenna Farm.
With Foxtails Brigade, Paula Frazer
Wed/11, 9:30pm, $10
Cafe Du Nord
2170 Market, SF
(415) 861-5016
www.cafedunord.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-fJcO52LFw

Sepultura
Playing a pummeling, hardcore-influenced mix of thrash and death metal, Sepultura put Brazil on the metal map with a run of vaunted albums that culminated in 1996’s sublime Roots. (Ben Richardson)
With Havok
Wed/11, 7:30 p.m., $25
DNA Lounge
375 11th St., SF
415-626-2532
www.dnalounge.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2oRsw1wuhaA

Trust, with Blood Orange
Buoyed by rolling dark wave synth, pulsating ’80s beats, and danceable rhythm, Trust’s debut full-length, TRST, is both beautiful and eerie – much like the music of Toronto contemporary Austra (which shares member Maya Postepski). The band opens for that soulful burst of flavor, Blood Orange (aka Lightspeed Champion, aka Dev Hynes).
Thu/12, 9:30pm, $12
Rickshaw Stop
155 Fell, SF
(415) 861-2011
www.rickshawstop.com
Trust
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tc1xj7Nblc
Blood Orange
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18ew9nwn1HY

Festival of Resistance
Psychedelic farmageddon witchcraft act Future Twin (also a featured On the Rise band), Apogee Sound Club, Black Swans, and the Rabbles play this daytime benefit for the 99 Cent Print Committee – a group of writers, musicians, and artists who support activism through print. While a good cause, it’s also your last chance to see Future Twin for the next few months as it’s about to embark on a national tour.
Sat/14, 3-8pm, $5-$10
El Rio
3158 Mission, SF
(415) 282-3325
www.elriosf.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFH4Ehi74d0

Art Beat Bazaar
Presented by the nonprofit Art Beat Foundation, it’s a pop-up indie craft mart set to the twist-worthy ’60s beat of Francophone Brooklyn-based pop act Les Sans Culottes (“Allo Allo”), and local all-girl garage rock band Female Trouble.
Sun/15, 3-7pm, free
Starry Plough
3101 Shattuck, Berk.
(510) 841-2082
www.starryploughpub.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fb5uxIWPfg

Ximena Sariñana
Sariñana is a sweetly-piped, Mexican singer-songwriter who bounces between exuberant youthful pop and crisp jazz standards. She made a handful of those requisite SXSW who-to-know-now lists in various pop culture publications this year – and for good reason.
Sun/15, 8:30pm, $18
New Parish
579 18th St., Oakl.
(510) 444-7474
www.thenewparish.com