Julia B. Chan Archives — San Francisco Bay Guardian Archive 1966

Fresh Cuts: The sweeter side of Lemonade and the sensual vocal stylings of Laurel Halo

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May 29, 2012

Fresh Cuts: The sweeter side of Lemonade and the sensual vocal stylings of Laurel Halo

This week in music sees new sights, sounds, and surprises from some of 2012’s most promising players. From San Francisco to New York to France, these bright young things bring the heat and the beat.

Lemonade: Diver (True Panther Sounds)

The San Francisco-Brooklyn trio’s highly anticipated sophomore album Diver is a refreshing plunge into R&B sensibilities and tropical splashes. With new videos online and in the works — shooting just finished for second single “Softkiss” — the boys are gearing up for a summer tour with LE1F in support of their latest effort.

A rave siren signals the start of Diver. Warm and welcoming crescendos soon follow, courtesy of lead track “Infinite Style,” and you’re hooked. The next 40 minutes is a languorous wormhole ride through slow jams, culminating with dance-floor heaters “Big Changes” and “Softkiss.”

The record’s first single “Neptune” (the video above is NSFW) has the makings of a classic love song, while other slow jam highlights include “Vivid” and “Sister.”

Dark Ages: First Born EP (Frite Nite)

Although there are already two metal, one punk, and one ambient act known as Dark Ages, for all intents and purposes this Dark Ages refers to the collaboration project of Trouble & Bass’s resident femme skittle Star Eyes and San Francisco’s own 5kinAndBone5 (although Ms. Eyes has clocked in years of Bay living herself).

First Born finds each producer throwing a bit of themselves into the cauldron — Star Eyes’s haunted house aesthetic intermingles with 5kinAndBone5’s propensity for sounds heavy with swag. A shared love for all things dark and bassy give these two an intersection in which they thrill and hypnotize.

Azealia Banks: 1991 EP (Interscope)

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

Harlem rapper Azealia Banks’ debut is here, finally. Making a huge splash with last year’s dirty-birdy banger “212,” Banks left hip-hop fans intrigued and impatient. The title track off of her 1991 EP is a collaboration with electronic producer Machinedrum that sees Banks spitting her signature rapid fire. Sinister sounding tune “Van Vogue” follows, with previously released singles “212” and “Liquorice” rounding out the tracklist.

1991 is available digitally now with physical copies hitting stores June 12. The Young Rapunzel’s Fantastic mixture drops July 4 and will feature jam “Jumanji,” produced by Hudson Mohawke and Nick Hook. Debut LP Broke With Expensive Taste will be out in September.

Banks will also be featured on a remix of M.I.A.’s “Bad Girls” with Rye Rye and Missy Elliott due out later this year.

M83: Reunion EP (Mute)

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

“Reunion” is the second single off M83’s latest release, the epic Hurry Up We’re Dreaming. Featuring remixes from the Naked and Famous, Sei A, Polly Scattergood, We Have Band, Mylo (my personal favorite), and White Sea, the Reunion EP was like a thesis project for music producers — the result: six interpretations of a triumphant song.

Laurel Halo: Quarantine (Hyperdub)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VoGPL9WxWk

Laurel Halo signed to Hyperdub for her debut full-length album Quarantine. The record follows Halo’s two EPs for label Hippos in Tanks, a tape for NNA, and her self-released Spring EP as King Felix for Mute’s Liberation Technologies imprint.

Sensual, intimate and minimal, Halo’s debut is very vocal — in stark contrast to the dance tunes on 2011’s Hour Logic EP.

Julia B. Chan is a writer and hosts “Play for Today,” a program on Radio Valencia — www.radiovalencia.fm — every Friday from 6 to 8pm. Follow her on Twitter @onTheBeat.

The silhouette of Cass McCombs at Great American Music Hall

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May 28, 2012

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“Shhhhh,” hushed everyone around me. It was like being chided in multi-directional stereo.

It was Friday night in San Francisco and folk rocker Cass McCombs was performing at Great American Music Hall.

The house lights had dimmed and panel displays along the back of the stage lit up. An initial hushed silence rose into a chorus of shushing, which after five minutes, escalated into impatient giggling and of course, more “Shhhhh”ing.

Moving shadows headed toward the stage causing a stir of excitement as the band began setting up. An equipment problem led to more audience participation as the crowd hooted and hollered for the show to begin.

Finally, beautiful music filled the air as Cass McCombs and his band launched into jaunty “Prima Donna” – an excellent tune off of his 2009 LP Catacombs. “Angel Blood, “My Sister, My Spouse,” and “Love Thine Enemy” followed.

But the show lost some of its luster after the first few songs. Zero stage lighting other than the soft glittering panels behind the band resulted in a disconnect. The music sounded fine but fans were only able to to see the musicians’ silhouettes sway back and forth — it got old. I heard a patron complain loudly that he’d rather be listening to McCombs in the dark at home — the beer’s cheaper and there’d be less of a draft. Ouch.

With his music already so mellow and understated, it’s odd that McCombs would chose to deprive his fans of watching him perform live.

Except for the occasional “woo!” the audience kept it chill and low energy after early enthusiasm died down. Most fans started leaving halfway through the concert, and to McComb’s credit, he didn’t seem to notice and continued playing as if to a packed house.

The night’s final performance, to my delight, was a 15-minute rendition of “County Line” off of last year’s Wit’s End. If ever there was a jam to rule them all, this was it, but my sing-a-long dreams were dashed when finally succumbing to the apathy around me, I ended up only mouthing the words. Afterwards, a couple dozen fans knocked around, lingering for an encore that never came.

Julia B. Chan is a writer and hosts “Play for Today,” a program on Radio Valencia — www.radiovalencia.fm — every Friday from 6 to 8pm. Follow her on Twitter @onTheBeat.

The comeback kids: Indie-pop straight poppin’

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May 24, 2012

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The comeback kids: Indie-pop straight poppin’

The Bay Area has always been a warm breeding ground for bands and thus has always had a vibrant music scene. Indie-pop is a rock subgenre that has thrived particularly well here. In the 1990s, indie-pop experienced a significant heyday in the Bay — a phenomenon that may be bubbling up once again.

So what exactly is indie-pop?

SF Popfest organizer Aaron Ehrlich describes it as having “some sort of jangly guitar sounds,” but wouldn’t elaborate with further descriptions, understandably. “It’s kind of like the Supreme Court’s definition of pornography: you know it when you see it. When you hear it [indie-pop music] you can tell it,” he construes. “It’s really hard to provide any pithy definition.”

“As a genre, it goes back to the mid-’80s,” recounts Mike Schulman of Slumberland Records, “when it became a term to describe a specific kind of music that had bands looking back to the Byrds for inspiration, or sunshine-pop stuff like Mamas & Papas, or Sagitarrius and mixing that up with girl-groups and the Ramones.” More pop-oriented punk ala the Buzzcocks, the pleasant sounds of the Smiths and the noisy leanings of the Wedding Present poured out of the indie-pop blender, “It’s a pretty broad banner,” Schulman surmises.

Slumberland Records is an independent label started by Schulman in 1989 and has been operating out of Berkeley the last 20 years. Not a purely indie-pop imprint per se, but Slumberland has been a key player in the scene past and present. Boasting such previous acts as the Aislers Set, Henry’s Dress, and Go Sailor in the ’90s, the label still has its fingers oh-so-delicately pressed on today’s indie-pop pulse with bands like Terry Malts, Frankie Rose, and Veronica Falls.

Towards the end of the ’90s an amazing frenzy of activity popped up in the Bay Area: Indie-pop had exploded into the spotlight, and with it’s tight-knit community in tow. “It was a magical two- or three-year period where there were shows every week,” Schulman reminisces, “you would go to the show and see all these familiar faces and everyone would be down front singing all the lyrics to the songs. It was really thrilling.”

During this time, Schulman and Slumberland were experiencing a career high with signee The Aisers Set, “They started getting bigger outside of the Bay Area and touring nationally,” he says, “and it was just super exciting”

The biggest difference between then and now, is how immediately noticeable the subset has become. “There will always be an indie-pop underground with fanzines and small labels doing stuff. It seems like, maybe now, indie-pop’s a bit more overground … visible.” The industry has changed drastically since the ’90s allowing for music to become more accessible, therefore aesthetically acceptable and almost mainstream. With help from the Internet (and its infinite wisdom and blogs) and the current trend of very melody-based compositions, indie-pop may be experiencing another renaissance.

Currently popular bands like the Drums and the Pains of Being Pure At Heart — who refer to indie-pop as a big influence and are clearly informed by it — have garnered both attention and commercial success.

Club nights that cater to indie-pop and the like, such as Shine On in The City and Time Keeps Time in the East Bay, have popped up and fill up fast.

“We’re in a period where it’s cool to be melodic. People are ready to hear it,” Schulman says. Bigger labels such as Hardly Art, Sub Pop, Fat Possum have also lent a hand in shining a light towards the music as press tends to pay attention to those who make the most noise — literally — and in turn the people listen, “… and there’s a knock-on effect,” he concludes.

Droves are expected this weekend to SF Popfest’s three-day event. The festival starts Friday evening at the Hemlock with headliners Seapony and support by BOAT, Black Elephant and Desario. Saturday’s all-day show at The Knockout sees Kids on a Crime Spree, Surf Club, Manatee, Dead Angle, Cruel Summer, plus the Shine On DJs. The event ends on Sunday back at the Hemlock with TV Girl, Allen Clapp and his Orchestra, The Bilinda Butchers, Outerhope. More concert and ticket information can be found at sfpopfest.com.

“Indie-pop is this perennial thing,” breathes Shine On DJ Jamie Guzzi. Indeed.

Julia B. Chan is a writer and hosts “Play for Today,” a program on Radio Valencia — www.radiovalencia.fm — every Friday from 6 to 8pm. Follow her on Twitter @onTheBeat.

SF Popfest 2012: Day 1

Fri/25, 5pm, $10

Hemlock Tavern, 1131 Polk, SF

www.hemlocktavern.com

SF Popfest 2012: Day 2

Sat/26, 4pm, $10

The Knockout, 3223 Mission, SF

www.theknockoutsf.com

SF Popfest 2012: Day 3

Sun/27, 5pm, $10

Hemlock Tavern, 1131 Polk, SF

www.hemlocktavern.com

The Beat: Eclectic events spin heads, shake butts

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May 24, 2012

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The Beat: Eclectic events spin heads, shake butts

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

THURSDAY

Fedde Le Grande

Dutch house superstar Fedde Le Grande is slated to set anchor at Vessel for a spin around the decks. Known for his hard-hitting, dance-floor seizure inducing electro house sound, the DJ and producer hit a high mark in his career when he was asked to remix Madonna’s anthemic “Give It 2 Me.”

Fedde is expected to play some iteration of his massive 2006 single “Put Your Hands Up For Detroit.” The timing is perfect as Movement: Detroit Electronic Music Festival is rolling out this weekend. Bringing at bit of the Motor City madness to those left on the Left Coast, Fedde will have the crowd throwing ’em up and tossing ’em back.

10pm, $30

Vessel

85 Campton Place, SF

www.vesselsf.com

FRIDAY

Cass McCombs

Cass McCombs’ voice doesn’t so much sing as it smooth sails across terrains of simple yet lush harmonies and warm guitars. His music is sparse and quiet with hints of loneliness and despair peeking through almost whimsical sounding melodies. The dichotomy is interesting and McCombs makes it work. At his core, the singer-songwriter is a skilled storyteller – and his stories are bewitching.

Most people probably won’t consider this show as pregame material, but I like to mix it up. Especially before a long night of oonce oonce, it’s kind of nice to get your folk on before getting your freak on.

8pm, $16

Great American Music Hall

859 O’Farrell, SF

www.gamh.com

Secret Circuit

Secret Circuit may not be a secret much longer. Finishing up a full-length LP for Tim Sweeney’s label Beats in Space, Secret Circuit’s Eddie Ruscha Jr. says he’s hoping for a summer release. “It’s all recorded, it’s just about fine tuning it really,” he reveals, “but all the tracks are there.”

The cosmically experimental musician divulges that the new album will sound much like the 12″ single — “Nebulon Sphynx” — BIS released earlier this year. “It’s analog, synth heavy and there are more song-oriented things that appear as the music goes on,” he says. “The 12″ was part of the larger picture of the record, for sure.”

Using the moniker The Laughing Light of Plenty, Ruscha is also working on an album with Rub N Tug‘s DJ Thomas “It’s coming out killer,” he laughs. “We used an old ARP 2600 and so there’s this kind of random, looping, synth blob happening throughout the whole thing. It sounds like old techno.”

Performing a DJ set on Friday at Monarch, Ruscha says he’ll play “freaky dance music” as well as some of his own beats and tunes. See, I told you there would be some freakin’ going on.

9pm, $5 before 12am, $10 after.

Monarch

101 Sixth, SF

www.monarchsf.com

SUNDAY

Lazer Sword

The two halves of Lazer Sword, Low Limit and Lando Kal, are coming back to San Francisco — if only for the night. Hitting up Icee Hot at Public Works on a Sunday (don’t forget it’s an extended Memorial Day weekend for most folks), the boys are crowd-rocking veterans.

The duo is guaranteed to play booming and sexy bass tunes, alongside tracks from sophomore effort, Memory, which will infused the mix with an ’80s-electro musicality. I’d recommend a stretch at home before twerking it full-speed at the club.

10pm, $5 before 11pm, $10 after.

Public Works

161 Erie, SF

www.publicsf.com

Julia B. Chan is a writer and hosts “Play for Today,” a program on Radio Valencia — www.radiovalencia.fm — every Friday from 6 to 8pm. Follow her on Twitter @onTheBeat.

Fresh Cuts: Kimbra makes good, Girls get limited, and the return of an indie-pop institution

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May 22, 2012

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Fresh Cuts: Kimbra makes good, Girls get limited, and the return of an indie-pop institution

This week in new music explores the depths of an ingenue with a siren attitude, the quiet ranges of Mount Eerie, mom as muse, and more.

Kimbra: Vows (Warner Bros.)

I have three words to say regarding Kimbra’s debut album Vows: I like it. The poppier tracks are infectious (backsides and feet are among the first to fall victim) and the slow jams are worthy of a swoon or two.

Thrust into the spotlight thanks to a strong performance on Gotye’s currently ubiquitous hit “Somebody That I Used to Know,” the New Zealander holds her own on her first studio effort. Kimbra’s brand of pop spans the genres, from high-energy dance single “Cameo Lover” to the slow-burning ballad “Old Flame.” “Wandering Limbs” featuring Sam Lawrence is a favorite and a spine tingler with its mix of future soul and simple harmonies.

Vows is a well-crafted stage for the 21-year-old’s burgeoning talent. It shines a bright light on her voice’s ability to nimbly ebb and wane from the soaring highs and whispering lows. And with pipes like that, Kimbra has managed to escape one-hit-wonder obscurity.

Mount Eerie: Clear Moon (P.W. Elverum and Sun)

http://vimeo.com/29463284

Mount Eerie’s Phil Elverum is low-key. And 2012’s Clear Moon is a record about a quiet life led in Anacortes, Wash., a small northwest town 64 miles outside of Seattle.

Following the release of previous album Wind’s Poem in 2009, Elverum spent two years building a recording studio, known as “the Unknown,” in an old church and the last 15 months forging music. He has recorded two new albums in this giant space: one is Clear Moon out today and Ocean Roar will be available in September. Epic echoes captured within this vast space mingle with deep and melodic chimes while Elverum’s voice cuts through clear and resonant.

Girls: “My Ma” b/w “Love Life” seven-inch (True Panther)

San Francisco’s very own Girls have pressed only 1,000 copies of their latest record. The fourth single from the band’s sophomore LP Father, Son, Holy Ghost, “My Ma” will appear on a seven-inch accompanied by B-side “Love Life.” The title song is a heartsick, melancholy ode to frontman Christopher Owens’ mother.

The record is being released as a thank you to the shops that participated in Girls Across America — the band’s nationwide tour of independent record shops in the fall of last year. The rare seven-inch — cover art designed by Owens — will only be available at participating stores.

Saint Etienne: Words and Music by Saint Etienne (Universal)

Words and Music by Saint Etienne is the seminal indie dance-pop band’s first new studio album in seven years and its eighth full-length overall. Still believing in the magic of pop after all these years, Saint Etienne has put together a deluxe two-disc catalogue of new tunes and remixes.

The latest LP is a warm and dizzy trek through ’90s-sounding dance music, complete with the lighter and darker sides of pop. Although its signature sound hasn’t changed much, the group’s music has evolved on this album with hints of house and balearic beats, and lyrical prowess. “I’m growing older,” sings Sarah Cracknell. “Heaven only knows what’s on its way.”

Julia B. Chan is a writer and hosts “Play for Today,” a program on Radio Valencia — www.radiovalencia.fm — every Friday from 6 to 8pm. Follow her on Twitter @onTheBeat.

The Beat: The two sides of Birds & Batteries

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May 17, 2012

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The Beat: The two sides of Birds & Batteries

What do a parrot and a vibrator have to do with a well-known San Francisco band you ask? Well let me tell you.

Birds & Batteries is the indie-pop project of singer and multi-disciplined musician Mike Sempert. Together with Christopher Walsh and Jill Heinke, the band is a homegrown, hometown staple in The City’s arsenal of great local acts.

I meet with Sempert and band manager Dan Koplowitz — also of Friendly Fire Recordings fame — at the Lone Palm in the Mission for what turned out to be a series of stories and Manhattans. Initial probes into the name Birds & Batteries brings us to the story of Antonio the parrot.

Antonio was incredibly despondent, tells Sempert. “He was just a really sad and lonely bird,” he says, “and he was always crying.” A solution popped up in the form of a battery-operated orgasm-yourself appliance (read: B.O.O.Y.A.!). “We found that if we were to give the bird a vibrator that it would comfort him … it wasn’t sexual at all, it was purely a comforting vibration.” One day, however, Sempert and his college roommates ran out of batteries and Antonio died of sadness.

Gripping, I know.

A moment of silence followed this tale as we sipped on our drinks and avoided eye contact, contemplating the fragility of life. But then the absurdity sunk in, eyes met and laughter burst forth.

Now, it should be said that while Sempert is a force of musical talent, there is also a great streak of whimsy and humor to the man. I can’t help but also mention the band’s moniker might be a reference to the Tom Robbin’s book “Still Life with Woodpecker.” Whether it’s because of Antonio and the vibrator, or “Woodpecker” (I’m sensing a theme here) Sempert wanted Birds & Batteries to express both the organic and synthetic elements of his music.

Performing at Public Works tonight for “Broke & Classy: Broke-Ass Stuart’s 10-year anniversary of living in SF,” Sempert and band are gearing up for the release of their next full-length LP Stray Light in August. Having just dropped the EP Unfold last month, Sempert wrote and recorded both records at the same time. By a happy accident, a dichotomy emerged from the results of his studio sessions — some songs were of pain but most were those of happiness and love.

<a href="http://music.birdsandbatteries.com/album/unfold">UNFOLD by Birds & Batteries</a>

The more harrowing tunes cover darker territory and ended up on Unfold. Truths and spirits “loom in the future” on track “Greatest Minds” while Sempert finds himself breaking down and questioning his cool on “Epic Fail.” He croons over foreboding synth melodies, melancholy and dejected. Sempert says he wanted to “filter the ones [songs] that felt that they would get in the way of joy.”

As for the joy, jubilance was reserved for Stray Light. “The goal of this record was to tap into those moments of clarity with love,” Sempert says. “The idea that light and happiness and joy are accessible to us.” The album is positive and upbeat. Lead off number “The Golden Age of of Dreams” is about a bright future — in stark contrast to Unfold‘s “Greatest Minds” — and is brimming with hope. Triumphant harmonies swirl about while synthetic plinks and plunks sparkle throughout. Stray Light is a blast into the cosmos sonically (nerd note: Sempert is a recently-converted Battlestar Galactica addict). This time around, Sempert sings with hint of a promise, as if paradise is right around the corner. The album ends with ballad “Arctic Flowers” in which the singer surmises “we are new again.”

For those B&B fans who fell in love with 2010’s Panorama and its quirkily rad video for single “Strange Kind of Mirror,” Stray Light will be decidedly more synth-tacular. B&B “dials down the Americana,” explains Koplowitz, “the music is getting richer, the song structures more interesting, and Mike has a way of coaxing these really interesting sounds out of his instruments.”

Although Sempert admits, “I take some pride in unpredictability,” he has always had a taste for what he calls his “dancey future-flavor.” Synthy elements have existed throughout B&B’s 8-year career as heard in 2009’s Up to No Good EP and other singles.

As for Sempert, is he unfolding or enlightened? Is his future bright? He smiles and answers, “Blindingly so.”

Julia B. Chan is a writer and hosts “Play for Today,” a radio program about new music on www.radiovalencia.fm every Friday from 6 to 8 p.m. Follow her on Twitter @onTheBeat.

Fresh Cuts: Sunshine-y jams take spotlight as summer approaches

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May 16, 2012

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Fresh Cuts: Sunshine-y jams take spotlight as summer approaches

With dream-pop favorites and a randy R. Kelly, this week is both guilt-free and not-so-innocent. Fresh Cuts has selected the finest new records to blast at your next barbecue; the following truly sizzle.

Beach House: Bloom (Sub Pop)

Baltimore’s dreamy pop duo Beach House flourishes this week with the release of new record Bloom. The easy, breezy album sees the pair doing what they do best: pretty melodies. Larger sounding than its predecessor on the Sub Pop imprint, Bloom picks up where Teen Dream left off.

The band’s signature hazy and ethereal sound is more powerful this time around. With her distinct mid-to-lower register, singer and keyboardist Victoria Legrand’s voice becomes an instrument that propels the music forward, asking the listener to both lean in closer and lie back.

Craft Spells: Gallery EP (Captured Tracks)

Craft Spells is a quartet from Seattle started by Justin Vallesteros, a musician from Stockton, Calif. who briefly lived in San Francisco. The band’s new EP Gallery is now available for consumption and is a fabulous homage to new wave. Steeped in a deep love for ’80s synth-pop, the record is reminiscent of all the greats: New Order, Pet Shop Boys, and Depeche Mode.

Violens: True (Slumberland)

Violens’ sophomore effort True is an indie pop release with all the fixings. With smooth and polished vocals and heart-squeezing harmonies, True manages to both tap the toes and spin the head. Driving crescendos in songs such as “Microarc” and “Unfolding Black Wings” uplift while darker tunes such as “Lavender Forces” and “Lucent Cares” offer a reprieve from the atmospheric trip Violens is bound to take you on.

R. Kelly: “Feelin Single” (Jive/Sony Music)

R&B don Robert Kelly’s latest single was released last week in anticipation of his new album Write Me Back on June 26, which was just announced Tuesday. The ladies man’s 11th full-length record will be the follow-up to 2010’s Love Letter. Kelly garnered critical acclaim on his previous album for its retro sound, and if the disco-esque “Feelin Single” tells us anything, it’s that Kelly intends for his new LP to follow suit.

Julia B. Chan is a writer and hosts “Play for Today,” a radio program about new music on www.radiovalencia.fm every Friday from 6-8pm. Follow her on Twitter @onTheBeat.

The Beat: dirtybird’s Justin Martin gets rough, tough, and tender

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May 11, 2012

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The Beat: dirtybird’s Justin Martin gets rough, tough, and tender

Like many four-year-olds, Justin Martin abhorred piano lessons. Unlike most adults however, he’s now grateful for those tedious moments in practice and memorization. “Now that I look back, I’m so thankful that my parents forced me to do it,” he says, “because the lessons of music I learned at a young age I’ve taken with me my whole life.”

The world-traveling DJ and electronic music producer has recently accomplished a self-imposed goal: a full-length album. An ambition that has previously eluded Martin, debut LP Ghettos and Gardens (dirtybird) is almost 10 years in the making — his very first record “The Sad Piano” was released on Ben Watt’s Buzzin’ Fly label in 2003.

“I don’t think it [releasing an album] is the most important thing in dance music,” Martin says, “but it was on my list of things to do.”

In 2001, Martin bought a computer and dove into making electronic music — however with technology came irresponsibility. “I wasn’t very disciplined when I first started out,” Martin says. While catching his first break as a DJ, Martin found the experience enthralling. He was being pulled in directions far and wide from San Francisco and was enjoying his new found success. “It was all so crazy and amazing,” he recalls. “I was finally getting my name out there.” And although Martin considered making an album amid the the initial height of his career, he admits, “I wasn’t quite ready.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTtEnfxua6Y

It was after years of reveling in the fun that often accompanies success, that inspiration struck Martin in the form of producer and dirtybird label founder Claude VonStroke in 2009. Martin witnessed the long strides VonStroke was making firsthand and realized that he could achieve the same fortune through hard work — “the sky’s the limit,” he discerned. “That was when I really got motivated to sit down and write an album,” he says.

A labor of true love, Ghettos and Gardens will be released May 22. “It’s a real exciting time for me,” Martin exhales. The DJ claims his album captures the opposite sides of his personality and elaborates on the duality of the soft and hard elements of music that he is drawn to. “I’ve always tried to combine an audible tough and tenderness,” Martin explains. “I make music that has nice melodies but also has gritty undertones – nasty basslines and stuff like that.”

As for the album’s title, Martin drew fancy from a fountain many artists have dipped in before: a fight with the sweetie. After a squabble, the couple found themselves at an impasse – one headed to the liquor store and the other to a flower shop. A quick reconciliation resulted in a bouquet of roses resting comfortably in an empty 40 oz. bottle and the image of such proved powerful to a slightly-buzzed Martin.

“That image summed it up for me: this raw thing with beauty coming out of it,” he recollects, “and I thought, ‘This kind of represents my sound’.”

Performing at the quarterly Dirtybird party at Mezzanine on Friday, Martin will be debuting most of Ghettos & Gardens. Martin says he feels “like a kid in a candy store,” and has high hopes that his new material will be well received. “The harder I work, the more fun I have,” he exalts. Not a bad mantra.

Ghettos and Gardens release party and dirtybird label showcase

Fri/11, 9pm; $5 before 11pm, $20 after

Mezzanine

444 Jessie, SF.

www.mezzaninesf.com

Julia B. Chan is a writer and hosts “Play for Today,” a radio program about new music on www.radiovalencia.fm every Friday from 6-8pm. Follow her on Twitter @onTheBeat.

Fresh Cuts: Blur singer belts an opera, a new spin on Afrobeat  

Tony Robles

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May 8, 2012

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Fresh Cuts: Blur singer belts an opera, a new spin on Afrobeat

This week in new music sees an “English Opera” through the eyes of a Britpop prince, Afrobeat kings, and Adam Bainbridge’s kind change of mind.

Damon Albarn: Dr Dee (Virgin)  
Dr. Dee is an opera by director Rufus Norris and musician Damon Albarn that debuted in England last summer as part of the 2011 Manchester International Festival — the work explores the life of Elizabethan academic John Dee.

The studio album by Albarn features his vocals alongside contributions by Afrobeat drummer Tony Allen, the BBC Philharmonic, and others. Busy-bee Albarn managed to squeeze this release out between dropping Gorillaz’s “Rocket Juice & the Moon” in March and a show of Olympic proportions this summer in London.

Fela Kuti: Live in Detroit, 1986 (Knitting Factory)  
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4AA6EuZe-k
Speaking of Afrobeat, Knitting Factory Records has released a full-concert LP of Fela Kuti‘s 1986 show at Detroit’s Fox Theatre. The recording was part of Fela’s debut tour in the United States with Egypt 80. This is the first time since Fela’s 1992 studio album Underground System that new material has been issued for the Nigerian musician. Bonuses include extended live renditions of “Just Like That”, “Confusion Break Bones”, and “Teacher Don’t Teach Me Nonsense.”

Kindness: World, You Need a Change of Mind (Casablanca/Terrible)  
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BI73NFINsyo
Groovy lo-fi god Adam Bainbridge’s World, You Need a Change of Mind — released under his Kindness moniker — is a smooth slide into chill world where blissful vocals and wonked-out synths live together in harmony. It’s a toe tapping, head bopping, summertime kind of album — grab the sangria and take this to the park.

Here We Go Magic: A Different Ship (Secretly Canadian)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqaMEMIBPIw
Brooklyn-based indie rock band Here We Go Magic’s A Different Ship is a warm, warped, and loopy dip in the pool. Luke Temple’s expanded five-piece band delves into percussion-driven melodies as vocals layer over playful synths. Here We Go Magic has created a record both choppy and calm at the same time — kind of like the seas themselves.

On the move: Former SF outfit Lazer Sword announced a tour in support of its latest album Memory on the Monkeytown imprint. Lando Kal and Low Limit dropped their sophomore effort on April 27. The record is considered significantly minimal compared to previous releases, but the duo’s obsession with hip-hop can still be heard throughout. Sexy sounding with thick bass thumps and the more playful elements of UK funky and electro, Memory is versatile — also dipping into darker territories with super sinister melodies. The boys head to San Francisco for the next edition of Icee Hot at Public Works on May 27.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhechSNr32o&feature=youtu.be

Julia B. Chan is a writer and hosts “Play for Today,” a live radio program about new music on www.radiovalencia.fm every Friday from 6 to 8pm. Follow her on Twitter @onTheBeat.

Fresh Cuts: Weird-fi, dual-meaning Deutsch wort, and so much more

Tony Robles

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May 2, 2012

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Fresh Cuts: Weird-fi, dual-meaning Deutsch wort, and so much more

This week in new music sees SF-originated the Brian Jonestown Massacre speaking in tongues (not really) with thirteenth release “Aufheben” and the Mowgli Sound The Drum with its debut album featuring the song “San Francisco.” Move it or lose it, city slicks!

Lower Dens: Nootropics

Baltimore’s weird-fi, bass driven Lower Dens returns with its sophomore effort Nootropics.

Led by vocalist and songwriter Jana Hunter, the band is back with its usual dark and ghostly vibes however, epically more substantial sounding. Hunter spans the scale with her androgynous vocals, able to be both ethereal and guttural from one interval to the next. An audible yearning can be felt while Hunter’s voice reaches certain heights – the effect is both chilling and deserving of a swoon.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GafB7NQvQWg

Persistent percussion and fuzzy guitars round out the Lower Dens’ sound, making for a mood-changing record – good or bad, you decide.

Santigold: Master of My Make-Believe

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIMMZQJ1H6E

Now known as Santigold with an I – previously she was Santogold with an O – Santi White is back in the spotlight with Master of My Make-Believe. This highly-anticipated release follows a significant studio absence from the Philadelphia-born electro-rock star – her debut album dropped back in 2008.

Enlisting creative collaborations from the likes of Karen O (featured on single “Go!”) and Nick Zinner of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, David Sitek of TV on the Radio and Diplo, Santigold proves that sometimes it truly is worth the wait.

The Brian Jonestown Massacre: Aufheben

The Brian Jonestown Massacre’s Aufheben was recorded in Berlin and in German the word itself has several contradictory definitions. “To abolish” and “to preserve” are the most prevalent meanings, giving the album an underlying social subtext.

The music itself is what one would normally expect from BJM – psychedelic sounds, groovy melodies and smooth vocals.

Original BJM member Matt Hollywood joined back up with band leader Anton Newcombe for Aufheben – BJM’s thirteenth studio release and the follow-up to 2010’s Who Killed Sgt. Pepper?.

The Mowgli: Sound the Drum

The Mowgli is a seven-piece band from Southern California. Full of love and soul, the group’s debut album Sound The Drum is energetic and easy – worthy of campfire sing-alongs and that long drive up the coast.

Song “San Francisco” is a love letter to The City complete with doo-doo-doos, proclamations of losing one’s head, and smiling rainclouds – we’ve all been there, right?

Reptar: Body Faucet

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMr8d8fvzAw

First off, yes, the band is named after that cartoon dinosaur from the ’90s kid show Rugrats.

Straight out of Athens, Georgia with its debut full-length release, Reptar hits the ground running with Body Faucet.

Fun and powerful pop, Body Faucet is full of rock you’ll want to clap your hands to. A dancey trek into African-inspired melodies and sounds, the new album evokes sun-drenched visions and a thirst for fruity drinks.

Julia B. Chan is a writer and hosts “Play for Today,” a radio program about new music on www.radiovalencia.fm every Friday from 6-8pm. Follow her on Twitter @onTheBeat.