sloppy yet endearing
WEDNESDAY 27
Mount Kimbie
Around the time dubstep started making its rounds with American artists and audiences in the late ’00s, a host of Londoners were developing the style into something more experimental. Among the earliest practitioners of this “post-dubstep” style was Mount Kimbie, which dropped its debut, Crooks & Lovers, in 2010 and unwittingly became one of the genre’s most influential practitioners. Though the duo may not skew as pop as its contemporary James Blake, Mount Kimbie has maintained a loyal following among electronic music fans, and it’s esteemed enough to have released its second album, Cold Spring Fault Less Youth, on the prestigious Warp label. Featuring guest vocals from London pop prodigy King Krule, Cold Spring only bolstered the duo’s reputation after its stripped-down sound had already made a mark on the mainstream. (Daniel Bromfield)
9pm, $20
The Chapel
777 Valencia, SF
(415) 286-2334
El Terrible
Not too many people have seen El Terrible yet. The band announced its arrival quietly at the start of the year with the release of its eponymous debut EP, a murky four-track affair that evokes the guttural vocals of Joy Division and the intricate guitar sounds of My Bloody Valentine. While it may be a new band, the members of El Terrible are all journeymen of the SF music scene. Main writer and singer Terry Ashkinos was formerly the frontman of SXSW veteran Fake Your Own Death, while his live band, made up of locals Scott Eberhardt and Adrian McCullough, has also been on the scene for many years. Get ready to celebrate, as the group will be performing and dropping its new single at this show. Also playing are Rich Girls, the solo project from The Black’s singer Luisa Black, and Katelyn Sullivan’s acoustic Kitten Grenade, which has been performing all over the city and making quite a splash over the last few months. (David Kurlander)
8pm, $5
Brick and Mortar Music Hall
1710 Mission, SF
(415) 800-8782
THURSDAY 28
Midnites for Maniacs: Popeye and The Wiz
This might appear to be an unlikely double bill of musicals, until you take a look at its stars: Robert Altman’s mile-a-minute 1980 musical Popeye has the recently departed, greatly loved Robin Williams doing his manic thing in the title role, with Shelly Duvall at his side as Olive Oyl, in a performance that makes it hard to imagine any other (live-action) human taking the part on. The Wiz (1978) features another seemingly divinely-inspired talent gone before his time — a 20-year-old Michael Jackson as the Scarecrow to Diana Ross’ Harlem-dwelling Dorothy. Bonus: Richard Pryor as the Wiz. This could count as tearjerker programming, if each of these films wasn’t so likely to make you grin instead. (Emma Silvers)
7:20pm, $12
Castro Theatre
429 Castro, SF
(415) 621-6350
FRIDAY 29
Mission of Burma
It’s been 33 years since Boston’s Mission of Burma unleashed its initial volley of sound, an EP and an album, Vs., followed by more than 20 years of silence. While the band unleashed 70 minutes of recorded material before an unfortunate breakup spurred by singer and guitarist Roger Miller’s worsening tinnitus, the group grew in stature for the next two decades. After an unexpected reunion in 2004, Mission of Burma has released four additional critically-acclaimed albums. The most recent, 2012’s Unsound, is full of impossibly fast tempos, odd tape-loops, and complex rhythms — generally the band’s modus operandi, but even more amped up than ever before. Truly ageless and anything but a nostalgia act, the band hasn’t visited the West Coast in upwards of four years. This set should include both stuff from the ’80s as well as newer albums, along with (if we’re lucky) a couple of delightfully dissonant Beatles covers the band’s been known to play on special occasions. (Kurlander)
7pm, $20
Independent
628 Divisadero, SF
(415) 771-1421
Dev
If you listened to the radio at any point during 2010, you’ve probably heard Dev’s uncanny-valley croon on Far East Movement’s reference-heavy single “Like A G6.” But she’s since surpassed the shadow of that song, releasing the equally prom-wrecking single “In The Dark.” With her processed vocals and lewd lyrics, Dev is often compared to Ke$ha and her Parisian foil Uffie. However, Dev differentiates herself from those artists with a subdued, detached vocal style and a love of space-age, almost loungey production. Though she may or may not score another pop hit, she’s certainly not going anywhere — she released an excellent and surprisingly experimental EP with producer Nanosaur last month, and she’s currently prepping another EP, Bittersweet July, scheduled to drop Sept. 23. (Bromfield)
9pm, $18
The Mezzanine
444 Jessie, SF
(415) 625-8880
SATURDAY 30
San Francisco Zine Fest
Put down your iPhone, tablet, or other glowing device and stop thinking about zines in the past tense. DIY culture is thriving, and the San Francisco Zine Fest — which returns to Golden Gate Park this year — spotlights indie artists and writers, small presses, and the readers who love them. This year, there’ll be panels on “Race, Gender, and the Future of Zines” and “Creating Feminist Spaces in DIY Culture;” an “Intro to Silkscreen” workshop; and a rather impressive slate of exhibitors and special guests, including Ryan Sands (Youth in Decline), Tomas Moniz (RAD DAD), and illustrator-cartoonist Hellen Jo. (Cheryl Eddy)
Today, 11am-5pm; Sun/31, 11am-4pm, free
SF County Fair Building
1199 Ninth Ave, SF
SF Shakespeare Festival’s The Taming of the Shrew
Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew has always been one of his most controversial plays, both for its rampant misogyny and its unique framing device — the protagonist, Petruchio, performs the entire play as a diversion for a drunk. The production he puts on is a retelling of the courtship of his wife Katherina, the “shrew” in question, who he eventually manipulates into being a devoted wife. Despite its turbulent reputation, the play is frenetic and funny, replete with sexy (and yes, particularly sexist) banter and a series of subplots involving winning women through feats of athletic and mental strength. The San Francisco Shakespeare Festival presents the play in its original setting, Renaissance-era Padua, and promises to play up the physical comedy, costumes, and clowns that punctuate faithful versions of the text. Cross your fingers that the weather is sunny, bring a picnic blanket, and enjoy the Presidio and the brilliance of the Bard. (Kurlander)
Through Mon/2
2pm, free
Presidio Lawn
Between Graham St and Keyes Ave, SF
(415) 558-0888
SUNDAY 31
Pookie & the Poodlez
I saw Pookie open this year’s Burger Boogaloo with a toothbrush still in his mouth; the story was that he’d overslept for his slot but luckily lived close enough to Oakland’s Mosswood Park to drive over in 15 minutes. Though I have no idea whether or not there’s any truth to this story, it’s a neat anecdotal summary of Pookie & the Poodlez’ aesthetic — sloppy yet endearing in an almost teen-idol way. Pookie’s pinched, nasal voice isn’t that far removed from that of Seth “Hunx” Bogart, with whom he has a degree of separation through performing with Bogart’s old flame Nobunny. But Pookie is weirder, more stoned, more affable, and less concerned with performance or with subverting pop tropes than he is with banging out minute-and-a-half pop-punk songs with little pretense or pretention. (Bromfield)
8:30pm, $7
Hemlock Tavern
1131 Polk, SF
(415) 923-0923
Oakland Pride Parade and Festival
San Francisco may get all the glory, but Oakland? Oakland’s where Sheila E.’s from, and that, friends, is why Oakland’s annual pride celebration gets the drum queen as a headliner and celebrity grand marshal. The festival, which will take over downtown Oakland until 7pm, features three stages with a stacked bill full of live music, a children’s area, a senior area, and a “wedding pavilion” where couples will be able to tie the knot — there’s a story for the grandkids. And of course, food, booze, and all your favorite LGBT organizations will be out in style. Worth the BART trip? And how. (Emma Silvers)
Parade starts at 10:30am, festival 11am-7pm, $10
Parade: Broadway & 14th St; festival: Broadway & 20th St, Oakl.
(510) 545-6251
MONDAY 1
The 12th Annual Cowgirlpalooza
Dust off your best boots and work up an appetite for hooch, because this party on the Mission’s sunniest patio — that’s El Rio’s — will have you cuttin’ a rug to the best country crooners the Bay Area has to offer, including the Patsychords (a Patsy Cline tribute band), Velvetta, Jessica Rose, and more. Enthusiastically encouraged: Boots, checkered shirts, creative belt buckles, lassos, getting there early. This annual shindig, thrown by the bar’s beloved, longtime sound guy Frank Gallagher, fills up in less time than it’d take you to watch City Slickers again. (Silvers)
4pm, $10
El Rio
3158 Mission, SF
(415) 282-3325
www.elriosf.com
TUESDAY 2
Gina Arnold
Bloomsbury’s 33 1/3 series of compact volumes examining popular albums offers a range of both musical styles (Dusty Springfield, ABBA, Jethro Tull, DJ Shadow, Sonic Youth, Van Dyke Parks, Guns N’ Roses, Celine Dion) and authors (John Darnielle, holding forth on Black Sabbath). The 96th entry comes from veteran rock journalist and recent Stanford Ph.D Gina Arnold, whose take on Liz Phair’s 1993 grunge-grrrl thesis Exile in Guyville offers what the New York Times calls “the most curious” entry in the 33 1/3 canon, taking a “free-form” approach rather than simply combing through each of Phair’s lo-fi anthems. Seems kinda perfect, considering Phair’s own unconventional music-biz approach — plus, any excuse to revisit “Fuck and Run” is always welcome. (Eddy)
7:30pm, free
Booksmith
1644 Haight, SF
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