Noise

What would Woods do?

Site Mover
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The slow sweep of summer break, sunlit days that yawn out into infinity, and the pock of a single snare — those are some of the sleepy, sweet vibes coming off Woods’ At Echo Lake (Woodsist).

The New York combo made an impression on moi at 2009’s South by Southwest, thanks to its gently experimental tendencies — its fuzztone favoritism, love o’ noodling, and interest in dabbing odd dashes of electronics over otherwise unassuming rock. At the time Woods provided a down-low yet daring counterpoint to the lo-fi poppiness going down all around.

This time, the group seems to be taking notes from the twee pop contingent. Backward-masking style touches, folksy acoustic guitar, and little candy-colored shards of noise are added to the lightly pensive nostalgic mood. Picking up the triangle and hosting a small cavalcade of handclaps, Woods wonders, “Who knows what tomorrow will bring / And it shows,” on “Suffering Season” — and you can’t help but echo the sentiment. What would Woods do, next?

Woods perform June 11 at Slim’s, 333 11th St., S.F. 8 p.m., $16. (415) 522-0333, www.slims-sf.com. Woods also play June 12 at the Woodsist Festival at Henry Miller Memorial Library, Highway 1, Big Sur. 3-11 p.m.,$22.50. www.henrymiller.org

 

Nneka hits the concrete jungle

Andrew Lam
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It’s a long journey from Nigeria to Nas and Damian Marley’s side onstage at the Fox Theater (Tues/25). But 28 year old singer Nneka makes the road seem eminently walkable. Born to a father from the Nigerian Igbo tribe, and a German mother, her Erykah Badu like vocalizations didn’t really take off until she moved to Hamburg at 18. Since then, she’s risen to European fame on the verve of lyrics that reposition Africa as it’s own narrator, and are set to driving R&B and hip hop beats. And now the States are taking note of her song. Nneka is opening for Lenny Kravitz, Badu, and Mos Def, garnering comparisons with The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill for her recent US release, Concrete Jungle (an amalgamation of songs previously released on her European albums), and generally heralding a new era of socially driven, worldwide hip hop.

Plus, she showed up to her Manhattan CD release party in pig tails and a hoody. When asked to describe her sound in a single word, she comes up with “bush.” It’s clear that this woman has bigger things on her mind than album sales and accolades. We Skyped her just before she hit the stage for a show in France to ask; what’s good, Nneka?

San Francisco Bay Guardian: I’ve seen you at a lot of your appearances wearing an “Africa is the Future” sweatshirt. What does that phrase mean to you?
Nneka: Just a T-shirt (laughs) of course the saying is something we’ve been saying. Africa is the futre, it is the present the past and the future, this is part of the trinity that I believe in but its not just what I believe in, it’s a fact.

SFBG: You play the guitar in addition to singing. When did you learn how to play?
N: I picked up the guitar three years ago. But I’m still not doing it as you should.

SFBG: Why the guitar when you are already such a great singer?
N: As somebody who has been traveling around for awhile, I noticed that a musician is not just somebody who sings. Other people had the opportunity to grow up playing an instrument. [I didn’t bu I]I decided to use the guitar because it is a process to my heart. It fits best to my style.

SFBG: You just recently started performing in the United States. Were you surprised about Americans’ perception of our country’s place in the world?
N: I wouldn’t be able to make any solid statement about American people, since I have not lived in America enough for me to conclude on that. I had a certain way of seeing Americans — I had heard they were very plastic, artificial, not natural. But I came to see for myself, and I found you meet some people, and you can never generalize them. I’ve met people in the States who are way deeper than I imagined. When it comes to my audience, I noticed the Americans listen deeply compared to a lot of people out here in Europe. When I’m talking about political or religious issues, sometimes [European] people can’t understand. Compared to that, the Americans are like, ‘I understand where she’s at.’ It’s a good thing to have people that understand, that trigger you to understand more.

SFBG: You’ve toured with some of the most incredible performers in hip hop and R&B today. Who, of the people you’ve opened for, has taught you the most?
N: Lenny Kravitz, big time. I was on tour with him, and I was thinking, this man has been working in music for a long time. After doing this, I feel you might go on stage haphazardly, push aside your passion, you just function more or less. To my surprise, I saw that Lenny Kravitz is still passionate about his music. He lives his music. In addition, he’s a very humble personality. That is something I look up to, people who are still human despite fame.

SFBG: As a female performer, have you ever felt pressure from the industry to conform to a certain image?
N: If you know where you’re coming from, if you have your identity before you go to your record company than it’s much easier. Most of the acts in the States, they don’t have their own identity, they have their identity imposed on them. It has a lot to do with whether you are courageous about your artistry and creativity. It’s just like writing a book. If you’re sure about your subject, committed to yourself, than it will be much easier to see.

SFBG: What kind of role does music and the musician play in social change?
N: It’s the easiest way to me to express myself and make change possible. In order for me for me to evoke change, the only way I’m able to do that is through my music. This is something that I know won’t hurt anybody. I believe that music can make change when you believe what you say, and you’re part of what you preach. That change manifests eventually in the physical.

SFBG: Do you think the amount of traveling and touring you’ve done has given you a fuller perspective on the global community?
N: There’s a stage you reach when you’re like everything is everything. Whether in Europe, China, the USA, people are people. Everything is everything. And then you’re like, where do I go from here, when everything has been said before. We can’t lose hope now. Somebody has to say something.

Distant Relatives tour:

Nas and Damian Marley feat. Nneka

Tues/25 8 p.m., $39.50

Fox Theater

1807 Telegraph, Oakland

(510) 302-2277

www.foxoakland.com

Streets of San Francisco: Benjamin Barnes

John Elberling
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Streets of San Francisco: Benjamin Barnes

Benjamin Barnes is one of the street musicians interviewed within our “Streets of San Francisco” issue. He’s played with Mr. Bungle, DJ Disk, and a host of other musicians and bands, and he teaches music. His current group Swindlefish is playing a show on Sunday, May 16 at 2 p.m. at Caffeinated Comics Company. It’s the store’s first live music show, though they also have karaoke. Treat your eyes to some comics and your ears to some music.

Name Benjamin Barnes

What styles of music do you play? I play guitar and viola, but violin projects better than those and I know a lot of repertory. I’ve got maybe three hours of Bach memorized. It’s a meditative thing.

There’s six sonatas and and six cello suites and I play the cello suites on viola and violin. They’re nice profound pieces and sometimes people will stop and listen.
I was playing the Bach Chaconne and this guy stopped and listened to the whole piece and tipped me afterward. Several times when I play someone will stop and listen for a while. That’s why I do it.

Where are your favorite sites to play? The first place I played was Powell Street station. It was 1989. I remember I put my can down and basically practiced and made 15 dollars. I packed it all up and went home and threw the money on my bed and laughed. I was working at a coffee shop and putting myself through school and I realized I didn’t have to work at the coffee shop.
In college I had a string quartet [Rilke String Quartet]. We used to play at Montgomery and Embarcadero and people enjoyed it and would hire us out to gigs like weddings and street fairs. We called it practicing guerrilla warfare — we were guerrilla musicians. We’d set up and play for a few hours and sell a lot of CDs at the street fair.
I like to play at 24th Street station. The acoustics aren’t bad — you get a little reverb like you would in a hall sometimes. Now I’m not out there just trying to make a buck, it’s a personal thing.

How long have you been playing in the streets or underground? For several years I didn’t — I just recently started playing again. I also sometimes play with my brother, he plays guitar. We play jazz songs and Beatles songs and David Bowie songs.

What do you like about it, and why do you do it? I used to get stressed out if I didn’t make any money, because I was using it to pay my rent. Now I have students — sometimes they’ll stop by. I do a lot of teaching and I’m not tied to needing to make the money at the BART station. When I do make money it’s always nice, but I can’t be in the mindset where I have to make money — your playing suffers because you’re not playing from the heart.
The Pacbell Canon will bring in tips. The [Rilke] String Quartet would play it for a few hours at Embarcadero and Montgomery and we’d make a fair amount of money. What I’m doing now is a little more artistic. I’ve been working on memorizing all these pieces and finding new ways to interpret them as I play them. If people stop and listen I might get nervous and get some adrenaline going. These pieces are masterpieces for the violin, I have five of the six cello suites memorized.
There’s a few fiddle players [playing outside in SF] and sometimes it’s hard to get a spot. It’s first come, first served. In order to get the spot you have to have the right attitude. It’s good to have extra spending money because times are rough. This buys me coffee and allows me to take my girlfriend someplace nice. I try to put away about half the money I make and save it for special occasions.
I was just in New York and I saw people busking in Central Park and Greenwich Village, but not on the subway because people were rushing by. There’s a famous violinist, Joshua Bell, who played in the New York subway for a couple of hours, and no one recognized him, or that he was playing on a Stradivarius. Most people walked by, or gave him a dollar, and one kid played air violin. He made 26 dollars.

Do you have recordings and/or a website? If anyone’s interested I have a lot of songs and string quartet and solo viola stuff that I’ve written and played on the website. You can download it for free. There’s a spot where you can make a donation. I’ve gotten 26 dollars (laughs).
I think some people have become students because they liked the music, or gone to shows by my band. I’m playing a free show at Caffeinated Comics on the 16th. It’s a great place. We’re going to play an acoustic show, with songs I wrote, Bowie covers, Beatles covers, Led Zep and “Devil Went Down to Georgia.” We have an upright bass, two guitars, and an excellent singer who does lead and backup.

What are your best and worst experiences playing? I’ve had a lot of great experiences and bad ones. Lately I’ve been playing really well and there’s one guy that tips me a 20 every couple months. One time a junkie tried to brush me away from my spot and started yelling at me with a story of how long I’d been there. I get a little worried sometimes. You get some pretty rough-looking characters, but most will like what you’re doing. Mostly I’m out here because I have fun and I like people and I’ve spent my life on music. It’s nice to be appreciated and have people enjoy what your’re doing.

SWINDLEFISH

Sun/16, 2 p.m.

Caffeinated Comics Company

3188 Mission, SF

(415) 829-7530

www.caffcom.com

Live Shots: Diane Birch, The Independent, 5/13/2010

Jesse Hawthorne Ficks
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I’ve never been brought to tears listening to Haddaway’s “What is love,” but when Diane Birch sang it at the Independent this past Thursday, the waterworks erupted.

Diane Birch sings with such a high level of emotion and craft that she can mold any song into her own, even if it is a classic electro-pop dance song from the 90s. “Welcome to the Birch church,”  the singer said, letting us know that we were perhaps in for more than a usual concert event. The daughter of a preacher, Birch is making her debut tour with her first album Bible Belt, that incorporates blues, folk, gospel and lots of soul.

Each of her songs comes with a story. In “Don’t Wait Up,” Birch recalls her goth days and the awkwardness of coming home late at night, decked out in scary black make-up, to find her dad sitting in the living room reading his bible.

“Ariel” is about the frustration of not being able to communicate with her boyfriend who was travelling in China, despite the age of advanced technology we live in. Her voice is absolutely gorgeous and as the evening progressed the audience was experiencing high levels of euphoria as this was a true musical religious experience.

If you haven’t yet, check out her super-cute video for “Valentino”:

Watch out sexy Oysters! The Raveonettes are gonna eat you…

Jesse Hawthorne Ficks
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Watch out sexy Oysters! The Raveonettes are gonna eat you…

When I saw that the Danish rock-duo, The Raveonettes, are playing this weekend’s SF Oyster Fest— Sat/15 at Fort Mason– I was quite curious how the two band members felt about the animal/food at the heart of the party. Strangely enough, I found a blog post that lifted the mystery and erected another.

Sune Rose Wagner and Sharin Foo are an interesting pair of slightly awkward and wonderful creatures who pluck out stellar ’50s summer-style pop hooks, add in tainted surf guitar and sweetly sing lyrics that aren’t afraid to address the shitty things in life: rape, drugs addiction, betrayal and other Debbie Downers. I can imagine their sound blasting under the San Francisco sun to an outdoor crowd, but thought it was funny to imagine them strumming at an event created for the consumption of bivalve molluscs, or easier known as oysters or shelled ocean friends. I wondered if their publicist/tour manager had to ask them if they liked eating these slimy things before agreeing to take the stage?

raveonettes dining

Due to the fact that a quick internet browse came up with a blog post from Wagner and Foo themselves, I’m guessing there were no hesitations. The post explains an evening dining experience in New York, chomping on none other than oysters. The photos were obviously taken via camera phone and apparently their waitress “was the best part about the meal.” But here’s what the post had to say about shells:

Foo: “We love oysters. It’s always so interesting to try different oysters at different restaurants.”

Wagner: “They were really great! Well served, fresh, with a nice little sauce that went with them.” 

Foo: “Well also, the fact they’re an aphrodisiac, we’ll have to deal with that later on too…”

raveonettes oysters

Have to “deal with that later?” Aphrodisiacs? What??? Foo didn’t believe him either and writes something about not “feeling anything yet” while chugging her glass of wine. But with another quick interweb click, I discover that oysters are in fact a sexy food. Here’s how LiveScience.com described this weird fact:

“Many foods (bananas, asparagus, carrots, avocados) are considered aphrodisiacs because they resemble the penis or testicles. Oysters resemble a vagina. The Romans placed the oyster high on their list of prized aphrodisiacs. Casanova, the legend goes, would eat 50 raw oysters for breakfast. Yet interestingly, oysters (and pine nuts, another ancient aphrodisiac) are high in zinc, which is necessary for sperm production. Raw oysters are also high in D-aspartic acid and N-methyl-D-aspartate, which increased testosterone levels in one study on male rats, which could in theory increase libido, according to Karen Boyle of Johns Hopkins Hospital. “The data is questionable and mixed, but oysters do make a nice appetizer,” she said.”

Oysters resemble the female genitalia? Well, ok yes. Eat up San Francisco…

oyster vag

 

The Raveonettes w/Cake, Jackie Greene, Thao & The Get Down Stay Down

Sat/15, 11am, $30

The Great Meadow at Fort Mason

(Intersection of Bay and Laguna Streets)

www.oreillysoysterfestival.com/

 

Live Shots: Julieta Venegas, Fox Theater, 5/5/2010

Jesse Hawthorne Ficks
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Julieta Venegas is a sparkling bubble of cuteness, with maybe just a hint of Amy Sedaris and Frida Kahlo mixed in.

The Mexican singer and musician performed to an ecstatic crowd on Cinco de Mayo at the Fox Theater, as part of her tour to celebrate her new album “Otra Cosa.” The first time I heard Julieta was in Puerto Rico while on family vacation. I was watching music videos (a great way to learn about new music while traveling, I’ve found) and “Lento” came on:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yK4EUL4EEyE

It’s probably the most adorable music video ever made and I immediately decided I wanted Julieta to be my new best music buddy. Her music is so happy and full of sunshine; yet, it still brims with complex melodies and rhythms, creating pristine pop/rock perfection. Her tunes have been the soundtracks to many of my dinner parties, road trips, and workouts over the years. I loved being at the concert with so many other die-hard fans, belting out Julieta’s all-Spanish lyrics at the top of our lungs. Ceci Bastida opened for Julieta with some spunky rock pieces that definitely set the mood for the evening of fantastic music. It was by far the best concert I’ve been to all year. Julieta … TE AMO!

Another Brit pop princess goes rebel (kinda)

Andrew Lam
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Kate Nash’s song “Foundations” was what originally won me over to listen to the poppy British singer. In it, her sweet little girl’s voice and bright piano tunes trill over biting conversation of a relationship gone bummer.

“You said I must eat so many lemons/Cuz I am so bitter/I said I’d rather be with your friends mate/Cuz they’re much fitter.”

You write lyrics like that, I reasoned, it doesn’t matter how precious the sound of the songs are — you had to have some bitch in you. So when I saw she was playing an already sold out show at Bottom of the Hill (Sat/8), I figured I give her new stuff a spin.

And I did — but even after my earlier diagnosis of teeth, I was a little shocked at the Brit School (the public institute over in ‘Ol Blighty that’s also churned out Motown whities Lily Allen and Amy Winehouse) graduate’s newest effort “My Best Friend Is You.” It’s got some spoken word interludes in which Nash turns in an interesting little monologue about cocaine, recovering one’s underwear after a threesome, and getting “fucked like the best of men.” “Best Friend” has some tracks, like “I Just Love You More” and “Mansion Song” that seem to deviate into an almost punk feel. By which I mean she does some shrieking. There’s also some M.I.A.-like electro-marching songs. 

“So, what were you listening to when you recorded the album,” I ask Nash. “Oh, a lot of Bikini Kill, Sleater-Kinney,” says the amenable 22-year old vocalist. “I think you should always change and develop as you get older.” She’s been performing with a punk band recently, The Receeders. She talks to me some about regaining control over her own schedule. “The amount of pressure that just never, ever gives up, you know? I learned the first time around that I’m the only person that can say ‘enough.’ ”

So, maturation — which is good, since judging from the album she’s dealt with the slings and arrows better than Brit School classmate Winehouse. Although she does lapse into adorableness by the album’s end. “I hate burning my finger on the toaster/And I hate nits,” she tells us on the laundry list of irritants that heads up “I Hate Seagulls,” a song which eventually turns to things she does like. “I like when your hand is in mine.” Love. Hey, I like that too!

It’s a faintly derivative mix. But it’s nice to see Nash trying to complicate her pop cartoon of an artsy, retiring good girl. Why make it easy on the critics?

Kate Nash feat. Supercute

Sat/8 9 p.m., $20

Bottom of the Hill

1233 17th St., SF

(415) 621-4455

www.bottomofthehill.com

Lydia Pense & Cold Blood shake the Biscuits and roll the Blues

Jesse Hawthorne Ficks
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By Lilan Kane

After 41 years together, local blues-funk outfit Cold Blood still sounds exactly like I imagine they would have when they were fresh to the scene back in the Bill Graham days. I never had the chance to see them before, so the evening I finally caught them, on April 23, was a particular treat for me, an avid Lydia lover. Of course I’m talking about lead singer Lydia Pense. It is near unbelievable how such a big a voice comes out of her pint-sized frame. Time has not faded her soulfulness by any means — she still holds it down like a female James Brown.

On this night, Cold Blood served up a bucket of soul at the popular SF live music venue Biscuits & Blues.  The band consisted of a multi-faceted trumpet-flugelhorn-congas-percussionist, a keyboardist, guitar, bass, and drums.  Opening the night with a cult classic, they performed the popular Willie Dixon tune “I Just Wanna Make Love To You.” This song segued into several cuts from their album, Transfusion, and other hits. The first set also offered a sneak peak into some of the new material that will be released this fall on their first record in years. Fans will not be disappointed from what I heard.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8WAW-7FAXA

But it was their second set that really got me hummin’. They pulled out several hits off their most popular record, Sisyphus, including “I’m A Good Woman,” “Funky On My Back,” and for the first time in twenty years, “Too Many People.”  Their cover of “Kissing My Love” was tasty and would have made Mr. Withers proud.  The mélange of macaroni & cheese croquets and original Fillmore soul was the perfect fit for a Friday night in the city.  Their horn section is still on point, the guitar is funky, the keyboards are fresh, the bass and drums are locked in the pocket, and Lydia is on fire.  If you haven’t heard of them or haven’t seen them live, imagine this: Janis Joplin & Big Brother meets Tower of Power meets James Brown.  Be on the lookout for their album set to release this fall.

Why don’t we love you enough, Beyonce?

Jesse Hawthorne Ficks
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Why don’t we love you enough, Beyonce?

Editors Note: Before the Bobo defense squad piles tearily on, a surprising many of us here at the Guardian do, indeed, love Beyonce — perhaps a bit too much. We wait on baited tenterhooks for the mashup of her latest with that MIA vid.

I’m sorry, Beyonce. I’m just not buying it. Glycerin tears and and “naughty” Bettie Page-inspired get-ups (in your new video for “Why Don’t You Love Me?”) do not a believable actress make, and we know that this is a ludicrous question for either you — or your bad girl alter-ego Sascha Fierce (who, should you need reminding, you killed off at the beginning of the year) — to ask.

First off, you are in, by all accounts and gossipy speculation, a happily drama-free relationship with J. Second, you are loved and adored by billions of fans the world over (perhaps a more accurate complaint would have been, “Why don’t you love me more?”).

Now, I understand that this is a pop song, and that you are inhabiting a persona in order to telegraph a certain emotional state many of us have experienced, so that when your fans hear you song they can say to themselves, “B knows my pain. She is speaking to my heartache. Etc. Etc.” But for that magical bit of transubstantiation to work — as it does when, say, Etta James, turns plain old “just” into an ugly, gnarled invective in “I’d Rather Go Blind” —  we need to be confident in your selling capabilities. There is no doubt that you can sell “sexy” and “drunk-on-the-sweet-nectar-of-love” and “empowered” and even “empowered-when-wronged.”  But just plain wronged, hurt, unappreciated? To passably summon that kind of grit takes a bit more finesse and skill, especially from someone who seems as, well, just plain nice as you.

 

Friday electronic triple dip: Lemonade, Active Child and Solid Gold

Jesse Hawthorne Ficks
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Friday electronic triple dip: Lemonade, Active Child and Solid Gold

TGIF, right? Tonight’s (Fri/30) dance-dance lineup at the Rickshaw is hotter than Topanga in a crop top. Ambient synth, sharp electronics, disguised sadness, choral talents and acid-friendly bangers promise to make the evening wet and wild– but only if that’s your drug of choice.Tonight’s PopScene event features three bands with stellar mentalities; uber chill, you can dance if you wanna and spun out bliss is key. Sometimes the grooves make my toes tap or inspire a head nod and sometimes I wanna sway and shake all over the place. Mostly I just feel a sense of amazingness in my veins whenever I hear one of the evening’s bands. Even without actually taking drugs, the music is sure to put your bones at ease and produce a similarly awesome sensation for your senses.

Lemonade

From SF to Brooklyn, the guys of Lemonade have an aggressive coast to coast approach to dance music, connecting polar opposite sounds with beautifully organic bridges. The electronics flirt and grind with bubbling sensations, plenty of chimes, cranks, whistles and drips for a dreamy yacht party on the ocean.

Active Child

The layers of L.A.-based songwriter Pat Grossi’s keyboards diffuse any sense of body and allow your little head to float far, far away from cluttered, hoarded emotions. It’s a bit creepy and haunting, but oh so necessary, and a few tracks later you find yourself in an echoing cave, critters and characters cooing you with hums and moans.

Solid Gold

Minneapolis gods with an impeccable way at making the most depressing lyrics danceable and downright sexy. Video installations back in MPLS always included visions of pouring pills, a rainstorm of delusion and confusion. The laid-back, summer cool melodies make for good accompaniment to any high.

 

Lemonade, Active Child and Solid Gold

Fri/20, 9pm, $12

The Rickshaw Stop

155 Fell, SF

www.RickshawStop.com

Brass, Bows & Beats sweeps over Yoshi’s

Jesse Hawthorne Ficks
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Brass, Bows & Beats sweeps over Yoshi’s

By Lilan Kane

Brass, Bows & Beats, a local 45-piece orchestra that bridges genres and generations, is back. After a sold out performance last year at the Palace of Fine Arts, composer and band leader Adam Theis (of Jazz Mafia) is ready to take this show on the road (coming to Yoshi’s SF on Sun/25). 

Brass Bows & Beats is a 45 piece orchestra that bridges genres and generations. With an innovative mélange of jazz, soul, hip hop, funk, and electronica, BBB creates its own musical niche that has caught the attention of locals and even Jazz heads like Bill Cosby. The group will play two shows this Sunday at Yoshi’s to support their tour this summer.

Other members of the ensemble include rising stars Karyn Paige, Joe Bagale, and emcees Dublin and Lyrics Born.  VIP tickets include passes to the exclusive afterparty.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyyVofis3Ak

BRASS BOWS & BEATS

Sun/25, 3pm, $10 (kids), $35 (adults) and 7pm, $25/$75 VIP

Yoshi’s SF

1330 Fillmore Street, SF

(415) 655-5600

www.yoshis.com

Avi Buffalo: Young enough to sound old

Jesse Hawthorne Ficks
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Avi Buffalo: Young enough to sound old

Only one member of Avi Buffalo— playing Fri/23 at the Independent and Wed/28 at Amoeba– has reached drinking age, but the SoCal band’s sound is drenched in aged whisky and cheap beer. A shot of their genuinely ’70s rock burns in your chest but tastes smooth on your tongue, making it hard to believe such a vintage sound can come from a group with fresh ink on their high school diplomas.

Avigdor Zahner-Isenberg, who goes by Avi, grew up skateboarding around his hometown, but never seemed to calm his shaky knees. Looking for a hobby that didn’t threaten cuts and bruises, Avi picked up the guitar and started taking lessons from the local blues guy in town. That bluesy attitude stuck to his strings and is still rooted beneath the band’s psychedelic guitar groves today, along with the sounds of his fellow schoolmates, now bandmates, on drums, keys and bass.

The self-titled debut release [SubPop, 2010] came out earlier this month; a clover-sweet collection of ten tracks that sound like somewhere between a chill version of MGMT’s first record and a more intimate version of Band of Horses. I’m in love with “What’s in It For?”, a mellow, mock-epic number that’s simple lyrics contain just enough self-absorbed wisdom to make me tick. I’m completely in love with the simple innocence of this band. “What’s in in for someone with nothing to do? What’s in it for me?” Avi sneers on the track with his scratchy young voice, frustrated over a worthless love. But my ultimate favorite line: “Your lips are tiny and look like little pieces of bacon.”

Check this uber intimate version of the song– I smile every time his little voice squeaks on the high notes and even more so when he giggles awkwardly at the end.

 

Avi Buffalo w/The Japandroids

Fri/23, 9pm, $15

The Independent

628 Divisadero, SF

www.TheIndependentSF.com


or check out their in-store performance:

Wed/28, 6pm, Free

Amoeba Records

1855 Haight, SF

www.amoeba.com


Reggie Watts is awesome, and I totally don’t get him

Andrew Lam
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I’ve been a Reggie Watts aficionado for some time now — maybe since January. His video for “Fuck Shit Stack” was the most hilarious send up of hip hop culture I’ve seen in awhile, and one of the more visually creative videos. And I heard he was Seattle based, which got me very excited to see Pacific Northwest steez represented at his upcoming appearance at Conan O’Brien’s “The Legally Prohibited from Being on Television” tour stop, Thur/22 at the Nob Hill Masonic Center.

So I was stoked to get the chance to talk to the singer/beat boxer/comedian. Especially on 4/20. Interview dates don’t get much cooler. We’d straight kick it on the phone, giggle, talk about life, man. He says he’s in Seattle as we speak. What’s good in Northwest hip hop, Reggie?

“I haven’t lived in Seattle for over six years, and I’m not really a big hip hop guy,” says Watts. There is a medium sized pause as I mentally recalibrate, and feel out my new role as “reporter who doesn‘t get it.” Damn.

You’ll excuse me for being confused. Watts considers himself more of a comedic performer, but the majority of his work available online revolves around his prodigious musical talents that can be most readily understood in the language of hip hop. He’s been using a Line 6 DL4 delay box since the late nineties to concoct audio lasagnas of sound. And though the beats and bleats that come out of these largely improvised, layer cakes can borrow from retro commercial jingles and R&B hooks, the overwhelming impression they lay down is that of a super dope, low tech hip hop production.

I really like it. But, clearly, I don’t understand. So. Crap. But these things happen. What else can we talk about. Williamsburg? Blue Bottle coffee?

San Francisco Bay Guardian: How’s Brooklyn, Reggie?
Reggie Watts: Brooklyn’s cool. Really cool parties, great comedy scene. I live in Williamsburg, and there’s lots of photographers, visual artists, everything’s there.

SFBG: And really, you’re not into hip hop?
RW: I like the beats, but I don’t really follow it. It’s kind of like sports. Well no, because I don’t really like sports at all. I have friends that will play me stuff, but I don’t know a lot about it.

SFBG: (grasping, trying to salvage predetermined flow of interview) But… “Fuck Shit Stack”! Such incisive social commentary — you have such smart things to say about hip hop culture!
RW: I like real hip hop, that song to me is about that kind of stuff. There’s plenty of hip hop that’s more in the tradition of bohemian hip hop, poetic spoken style. I have a problem with the too cool, money money lifestyle. It’s been around for a long time.

SFBG: Can’t you say the same thing about all forms of music?
RW: I think more so now than any other time period. Communication and product placement, trying to sell things. The concept of money being given to people to perpetuate certain kinds of lifestyles. We see the direct effect in our hearts. When Nas came out with “Made you Look,” I was like oh shit, something’s going to happen, but it was kind of a one hit thing. I don’t mind materialism, as long as you use it creatively.

SFBG: Allright. So what will you listen to, left to your own devices?
RW: Techno, glitch, dub step. But I’m also really into… I don’t know, I enjoy the Carpenters, Seegar, Marvin Gaye — I pretty much really like everything. StereoLab I could listen to 24/7, Phoenix, I really like electronic music, ambient music.

SFBG: What are we going to see onstage at the show this week?
RW: 95% of what I do on stage is improvise, it’s up to the night and what’s going on. It’s usually me doing some really stupid shit for awhile, then I’ll do a song with the looping machine using really stupid lyrics. I’ll do a keyboard song, some more stupid bullshit.

SFBG: Are you excited to come to SF?
RW: Oh yeah, always a good time, I’ve got a lot of friends. And I’m excited for Blue Bottle coffee. We just got one in Brooklyn, I’m excited to see what it’s like out in SF.

SFBG: Oh yeah, we’ve got that Blue Bottle. It’s everywhere.
RW: It’ll fuck you up, in a good way.

Conan O’Brien’s “Legally Prohibited From Being Funny on Television” Tour feat. Reggie Watts

Thurs/22 8 p.m., $39.50-79.50

Nob Hill Masonic Center

1111 California, SF

(415) 776-4702

www.masonicauditorium.com

www.teamcoco.com

Live Shots: Atoms for Peace, Fox Theater, 04/14/2010

Jesse Hawthorne Ficks
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Another band of wayfarers headed for Coachella last week, Thom Yorke’s supergroup Atoms for Peace (yep, that’s Flea on bass) stopped by SF to funk up the Radiohead singer’s cerebral solo material.

Live Shots: The Dead Weather, The Fillmore, 04/15/2010

Jesse Hawthorne Ficks
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SFBG photog Charles Russo caught moddy rockers the Dead Weather at one of their two atmospherically stompy Fillmore performances on the way to Coachella.

Live Shots: Passion Pit, The Warfield, 04/15/2010

Jesse Hawthorne Ficks
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Immediately as Passion Pit took the stage, I felt like I stepped into hipster church for the masses. The synths hummed as the band members took their places, the electronic buzz replacing a pipe organ’s call before mass. The over-produced stage lighting blinded my retinas like a messiah’s second coming and shone a halo of white above front-man Michael Angelakos (even his name sounds heavenly). The kids roared with excitement, shouting hallelujahs in the form of song titles, all hands in the air, praising the dance party to rain down the beats.

The set began with “Moth’s Wings”, followed by “The Reeling” and “Little Secrets.” With unwavering energy, the all-but-happy tracks sounded incredibly similar to the band’s recorded sound and people were eating up each note with shovel-sized spoons. Angelakos got the crowd extra pumped when he announced that they were filming the evening’s performance and needed everyone to dance extra hard. The congregation answered his prayer with more cheering, a whole lot more dancing and even a bit of crowd surfing. Prior to the encore, the crowd begged for “Sleepyhead” and when the band returned for their final two, request granted! Everyone may have came in a sinner, but we all left as sweaty saints. 

Live Shots: The xx and Hot Chip, Fox Theater, 04/16/2010

Jesse Hawthorne Ficks
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Cooler than their cucumber sound, The xx took a laid-back approach to their Friday night performance, showing little, if any, enthusiasm. The British three-piece is chill, totally sexy and anything but poppy on their recorded work; no one expected a party and yet fans were left with much to desire come the end of the show.

Smoke bellowed throughout the entirety of the set, swallowing up the three musicians in mysteriously delightful clouds of purple and gray. Heads bounced to the wavering bass, hips swayed, and lips pursed as Romy Madley Croft and Oliver Sim took turns whispering vocals back and forth. I loved watching middle-man, Jamie Smith, work the electronics atop the boxes marked with large x’s. His fingers moved mad-fast, tapping out drum parts, synth melodies and setting up the band’s liquid loops. 

When they had played through their debut album, adding in a new song or two, The xx left the stage, sending the sold-out crowd into a furry of hoots and claps. An encore was surely expected, but no– we got totally stood up. After a few minutes of intense cheering, the stage crew crept out into the light with heads down and shrugged their shoulders. The crowd responded with some major boos. How rude, xx! Denied! 

Hot Chip followed with quite a contrasting sound and evoked a wild uproar of spastic dancing throughout the Fox. Dance circles popped up in every aisle and stairway, making drink and bathroom runs nearly impossible and all too personal with sardine-crammed strangers. Hot Chip’s pop fizzed and sparkled, and while I personally wasn’t feeling the transition between opener and headliner, the rest of the room was totally down. 

Record Store Day spins right round this Saturday

Jesse Hawthorne Ficks
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Record Store Day spins right round this Saturday

Digital music files are the Snuggie of the music industry; so comfy, so easy, but it’s fleece is cheap and one dimensional. Vinyl is a thick quilt, a layered labor of love Grandma crafted just for you– a product that brings about a whole new quality of life when you’re wrapped beneath it. Strange analogy, but if you’re unfamiliar with the loveliness and depth of vinyl’s sound possibilities, Record Store Day– this Sat/17 at locations across the Bay– is your day to give ’em a spin.

1234 GO!

Steve Stevenson, owner of Oakland’s 1-2-3-4 Go! Records understands why people chuck and trade their physical albums for digital– to simplify their lives and clear out some clutter. He says he did the same thing two years ago when he opened the store. 

“I ended up selling almost all of my records– it’s basically how the store started. And now I don’t have many…” he says, pauses, and looks around at the loaded shelves in his shop. “Or I guess I have more than I’ve ever had.” Exactly. Stevenson didn’t cut his collection– his passion for records blew up, the physical stacks of beats and sounds have become his livelihood. 

1234 GO!

Maybe you’re not into building a gigantic vinyl collection over the weekend, but a short celebratory stack for the holiday can make for a healthy collection. And what’s great about visiting a small, boutique shop like Stevenson’s, is what it’s lacking– no over abundance of records to sift and flip for hours on end.

“My shop is small, but it’s packed with almost all exclusively good things,” he smiles. “We have good turnover on everything in here. And customers often tell me it’s nice to come in here for a half-hour and leave with something. It’s not a six-hour process of digging to get to one album you care about.”

So what are some things Stevenson is currently caring about? He would love to share. 

1234 GO!

The self-titled debut of Vermont’s grunge-pop trio Happy Birthday [Sub Pop, 2010] is by far this record shop’s pride and joy right now. Stevenson claims it’s the best collection of music he’s heard in the past two years and while he has yet to confirm totals with the label, he’s pretty he has sold more copies than any store around. 

“It’s only been out a month and I’ve sold 35 copies. I tend to push it on people. It’s just so good.”

1234 GO!

1234 GO!

He’s also pretty proud of Seattle’s Cute Lepers‘ sophomore release, Smart Accessories, [1-2-3-4 GO! Records, 2009] put out on Stevenson’s very own label. Why he gleams and grins so big when it comes to this particular record? It glows in the dark! Trippy! 

“Perfect for dark listening,” he says. 

1234 GO!

Besides music, 1-2-3-4 GO! also showcases the work of local artists each month. Currently it’s Danny Neece’s totally awesome paintings that pair oh so perfectly with the store’s colors. Get introduced to new music, new people and new art: everybody wins. 

While these goodies and other rotating gems are available every day at local music shops, the grandiose appeal of Record Store Day is the limited edition, exclusive releases both labels, artists and shops put out each year in celebration of the under-appreciated music hubs. From in-store performances to mix tapes and snacks (maybe?), put down your iPod this Saturday and let a physical person give you an earful of inspiration. 

Check out www.RecordStoreDay.com to see the major list of nationwide events. 

Or browse this list of participating stores in the Bay Area: 

San Francisco:

Amoeba Music
Aquarius Records
Creative Music Emporium
Force of Habit Records
Medium Rare Music
Streetlight Records
The Music Store

East Bay:

Amoeba Music (Berkeley)
Down Home Music Fourth Street (Berkeley)
Rasputin Music (Berkeley)
Down Home Music (El Cerrito)
Mod Lang (El Cerrito)
1-2-3-4 Go! Records (Oakland)

North Bay:

Back Door Disc (Cotati)
Watts Music (Novato)
Vinyl Planet (Petaluma)
Bedrock Music & Video (San Rafael)
Red Devil Records (San Rafael)
Last Record Store (Santa Rosa)

San Jose:

Space Cat
Streetlight Records

Major Lazer ‘waan show you’ his weapon of choice

Jesse Hawthorne Ficks
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Major Lazer ‘waan show you’ his weapon of choice

Major Lazer— playing Fri/15 at Mezzanine– is a cartoon Jamaican commando who lost an arm during the secret Zombie War of 1984 and then was ever so fortunate to have the US Military replace his flesh with a prosthetic laser gun. Diplo and Switch, a.k.a. the producers behind the music mascot, have quite the imaginations and as they put it, an extensive love for the Jamaican music our country often forgets to credit. Major Lazer is their way of exploiting the exploitation. 

His thick accent, dead-sexy arm and dirt-nasty attitude pair perfectly with the sounds Diplo and Switch attach to the name, Major Lazer. Tracks off his debut album, Guns Don’t Kill People– Lazers Do [Downtown, 2009] are filled with heavy bass rumbles that moan and plead for your thighs and loins to get low and scrub the dancehall floor. Lewd lyrics are plentiful if you can pick them out from between the sticky sheets of rapid, vibrating percussion and grinding, surf-like, space guitars. A-list Jamaican artists lend their vocals to Lazer’s songs, as well as hipster-favorites like Santigold, for a variety of sassy chorus melodies and hooks. 

So how does Mr. Lazer stay so sexy? And his beats so fresh? And what exactly does he do with that laser of his? Only the cartoon-man himself could answer such questions and let me tell you, he was very persuasive. Don’t blame me if you end up in his ‘yard’, looking at his ‘lazer.’ 

 

SFBG: What do you love most about your Jamaican roots?

ML: MAN AH JAMAICAN. BORN AN BRED. JERK CHICKEN, WESTMORELAND WEED AND USAIN BOLT. TO DI WORL! 

 

SFBG: Your shows are wild– how should fans prepare for a night with Major Lazer?

ML: DO NUFF PUSH UPS. DRINK NUFF RED BULL. GET READY FOR DI DAGGERIN!

 

SFBG: “Keep It Goin’ Louder” is stacked with major babes– how do you charm the ladies? Got a winning pick-up line?

ML: IF ME SEE A GIRL ME LIKE. ME JUS SAY “BABY. COME BACK TO MI YARD, MI WAAN SHOW YOU MI LAZER.”

 

SFBG: Are you dating anyone?

ML: ME LOVE ALL DI LADIES. IF DEM WAAN GO PON A DATE, JUST LINK ME UP! COME TO NEGRIL, WE GO FOR SOME STEW FISH.

 

SFBG: I get the impression that you’re a nasty, dirty boy. Do you have a soft side? And for what?

ME LOVE MY ORCHIDS. NUFF ORCHIDS INNA MI MOUNTAIN MANSION. 

 

SFBG: Tell me about your lazer-gun arm. Why not a hook? Have you used your gun for good or evil?

ML: COME BACK TO ME YARD. LET’S TALK ABOUT MI LAZER. 

 

SFBG: I hear you’re getting your own show on Adult Swim? What’s gonna happen? Major drama?

ML: NUFF DRAMA. NUFF ZOMBIES GONNA LOSE DEM HEAD. TUNE EEN!

 

Pon De Floor featuring Afro Jack & VYBZ Cartel from Mad Decent on Vimeo.

 

Major Lazer

Fri/15, 9pm, $30

Mezzanine

444 Jessie St, SF

www.Mezzanine.com

 

SanFolk Disco’s blazing neo-folk collision

Andrew Lam
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JL Stiles would like it if we all just appreciated what we’ve got a little more. 

“If you look at the new artists that have come out of San Francisco recently, we’re got some really innovative people. But in the belly of the beast, traction is not easy to come by. The great artists, someone discovers them and cashes out on their genius, and then they’re touring all over and just come back every once in awhile,” says the mathematician/musician/creator of the new neo folk concert series San Folk Disco, which kicks off Thur/15 at Café Du Nord.

The series will showcase three Bay area artists each month, with the intent to gather together three different kinds of folk sound, what the event’s website calls “three blazing comets of musical ice and fire.”  

Stiles, himself an accomplished guitarist who attributes his musical acumen to a penchant for advanced mathematical theorems, has aspirations of becoming “a personal music scene.” Though he has taken pleasure in the aspects of SanFolk Disco he’s orchestrated, when it comes to event planning in general “I prefer that everybody else do it, and me be the source of it. I’m about what music is fundamentally; inspiration, profundity, a serious, magical thing. If it’s only about JL Stiles, it’s really small. If it’s about what music encompasses for humankind, it’s something to live your life for.”

Here’s the profundity going down at tomorrow night’s SanFolk Disco; Stiles opens (as he will each month), and from there the boundaries of folk, rock, and bluesy jam music will be explored. Sweet, jazzy Kasey Johansing’s ephemeral purrs are set to lay a nice, velvety groundwork for a more jingle-jangle, feel good sesh by Bart Davenport. “Bart’s the kind of guy that always leaves you with a smile on your face. He gets crowds dancing,” says Stiles.

Sounds like a fun night; support your local music scene while it still is local, hear a bunch of different artists’ interpretation of what folk music is today… strike a blow for personal connections in a rapidly digitizing social sphere? “It’s a civic duty to go out and take charge and participate in some way in peoples’ lives,” exhorts Stiles. “Do your civic duty, come out and party!”

SanFolk Disco feat. Bart Davenport, Kacey Johansing & JL Stiles

Thur/15 8 p.m., $10-12

Café Du Nord

2170 Market, SF

www.sanfolkdisco.blogspot.com

 

Beach House holds the keys to comfort

Jesse Hawthorne Ficks
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Beach House holds the keys to comfort

Children often favor a stuffed animal or blankie as a source of comfort, but as an adult, security is found in much less predictable places. Maybe it’s your favorite cup of tea, your lover’s dirty t-shirt, a night-time drive or an album that never fails to help you regain balance. For me, it’s Beach House — playing tonight at Bimbo’s 365 — and for the band’s members, their comfort comes by a collection of keys. 

Not the kind that open doors or link to a chain, Beach House’s keys are the kind you press and pound, caress and strike; the kind you learn to love with an unwavering appreciation for the sound they produce. The Baltimore duo, comprised of Victoria Legrand and Alex Scally, own over a dozen different dusty keyboards and organs, each with a unique, grandiose quality that moans and speaks with a slow, Southern drawl.  

“They’re not very expensive, vintage organs,” Legrand says from her sunny Baltimore home. “They’re ones we’ve inherited or found in junk shops.” Some are broken, while others ring pure; all random, unplanned finds, thanks to a keen eye and a bit of good luck. “You can’t really expect to find them– they kind of find you. Like this keyboard I found in Brighton that I really didn’t expect. I guess it’s a kind of luck. Like finding someone to hook up with that ends of being really good.”

Legrand and Scally have always had an affliction for the rows of black and white and both took piano lessons when they were kids. “I’ve been playing since I was seven. Keyboard is definitely my instrument– something I was always drawn to and that’s something Alex and I share.”

Beach House was born in 2004, their brand of delicately woven dream-pop/indie rock soothing and cooing fans with their self-titled debut [Carpark, 2006], followed byDevotion [Carpark, 2008] and their latest, Teen Dream [Sup Pop, 2010]. New songs like, “Norway” and “Zebra” are fantastically whimsical. Legrand’s deep vocals consoling as they are creepy, soaring over her band mate’s naked guitar strums; the light, hissing percussion gently pushing and pulling the album’s tide.

The organs and synth sounds give way to a more balanced, full sound on Teen Dream, but their importance is never denied. 

“Monetarily, our keyboard collection may have not be of much value, but each set may have just one or two sounds that are so inspiring for us, so we’ll buy it or hold onto it,” she says. “We don’t just write esthetically- it’s not just about the sound. It’s about song crafting. A very, from-the-inside-out process. Not just pieces that are cut and pasted together. It’s something more real than that.”

Big, bulky, electronic and strange, their collection of music making machines take up a lot of space and time, meaning not everyone gets to travel along during the tour. This time around, Beach House has packed up four organs, and while they may not have pet names, Legrand says they have their quirks. 

“They each have their little problems, just like humans do. Some are extra finicky, some you have to bang on. Some won’t turn off.”

And she definitely has her favorites. 

“My primary keyboard- the white Yamaha,” she recalls with a soft voice. “I can’t believe I still use it– not in a bad way. It’s just that I bought it for $50 seven years ago. It’s really been so loyal. Its value to me is in millions. It’s crazy how much an object means so much in your life and how much of Beach House is tied into that keyboard.”

While tonight’s show is sold out, it’s quite possible to get a dreamy Beach House experience right in your own room. Just close your eyes, press play on Teen Dreamand let your fingers do the dancing on an imaginary white Yamaha of your own. 

 

Beach House

Wed/14, 7pm, $18

Bimbo’s 365 Club

1025 Columbus, SF

www.Bimbos365club.com

 

Live Shots: Spoon, Fox Theater, 04/13/2010

Jesse Hawthorne Ficks
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I’ll take one scoop of rock perfection, one scoop of edgy lyrics and a sprinkle of groovy drum beats. Oh, and I’m going to need a Spoon for that.


Spoon concerts are like entering an ice cream parlor of melodies and sampling a menagerie of musical flavors. The band performed at the Fox Theater on Tuesday evening, rocking out to an overly ecstatic, sold-out audience. They just came out with the new album Transference in January and are touring the US and the world to celebrate their new musical masterpiece. Spoon, which has been around since the early ’90s, is one of those bands whose music you hear in movies and TV shows and just always seem to be around. They create songs you want to dance to, sing along to and take with you as a soundtrack for your road trip. But Spoon will never be a vanilla band, I’d say they’re more mint chip with a swirl of caramel. Or maybe rocky road.

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

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