Noise

Boys’ noise, boys’ toys: getting off at On Land on a Saturday night

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By Spencer Young

Walking into the dark and somewhat dingy den that is Café Du Nord on Saturday night (9/19), I was confronted with the hysteric gritty sounds and seizure-inducing visuals of Joe Grimm (sorry Operative/Scott Goodwin, I missed your potentially amazing set). Interweaving noise with two 16mm video projectors, Grimm literally made sound visual as the former informed the latter into a cacophony of refracted oscillations that during heightened crossover created blinding ephemeral colors, patterns, and images — I swear I saw Kim Jong Il high-fiving Mickey Mouse at one point — that eerily resembled a Rorschach test.

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Photo by Spencer Young

All this frenzy and sensory overload froze anyone who dared watch, making the audience a mass of automatons blankly staring into a propaganda machine—eyes possessed, ears perked, and bodies stiff. I was tempted to fake a seizure to break the tension in the room or at least prevent anyone else from having one, but couldn’t shake the grip.

The cacophony continued as the boys of the evening fiddled with the knobs, switches, and wires of various gadgets. After Grimm, every act on the bill contained a special voyeuristic charm — on stage, each performer appeared as though he were alone in his bedroom on a Saturday night somewhere in the Midwest with nothing to keep him company save for some random mixers and pedals he found in the garage, and we the audience were seeing this unfold as though through a curtain-drawn, lava lamp illuminated window.

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Boys of (psychedelic) summer: Ducktails brings the blur. Photo by Spencer Young

In the case of Pete Swanson, teenage angst coupled with ennui was battled with and exorcised via a wall of sound that had him shaking in desperation. Ducktails donned Ray-Bans to casually careen through his set, evoking a bit of Dylan. His blurry summer psychedelic sound emanated from a mini Casio keyboard and a sampler inside an old suitcase. With its looped circus-like two-step dance trance and warbly guitar riffs that delicately bowed like patrons at a Japanese tea ceremony, “Beach Poijt Pleasant” was the best song of the night.

Snap Sounds: Barbara Lynn

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By Johnny Ray Huston

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BARBARA LYNN

Here is Barbara Lynn

(Water)

A lost gem of Atlantic, saved by the boys of Water in Oakland. The clarity and purity of Lynn’s voice are rare — and don’t let those adjectives fool you into thinking she’s a frail flower. Here, the left-handed guitarist makes wise ballads she wrote as a teen burn as strong and steady as anything by Irma Thomas. It’s all in the voice.

Barbara Lynn, “You’ll Lose a Good Thing”

Slavic Soul Party! rocks the cockatoo

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By Marke B.

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Soul with a “!”

In the hoot-and-whirl tradition of Gogol Bordello and Balkan Beat Box, massive NYC brass-and-other-things band Slavic Soul Party! brings Eastern European funk sounds to the dancing masses, on the order of our own beloved Brass Menazeri crew. New album Taketron (barbes) is a shining example of the delicious new Romany hybridity.

Don’t believe me? Download a slice of Taketron and listen for yourself here.

Then watch the feathers fly to this SSP track:

Then join the freakin’ party!

Slavic Soul Party!
Fri/25, 8:30 p.m. and 11:30 p.m.
$15 per show, $25 for both
Elbo Room
647 Valencia, SF
www.elbo.com

Wa! Amazing Baby speaks of aural love, locked-out boyfriends, perfect pitch

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By Kimberly Chun

An amazing amount of hype and chatter accompanied Brooklyn band (and Wesleyan Mafia contingent) Amazing Baby’s first MySpace musical postings. Time to judge for yourself. I traded e-mails with Will Roan before the group’s Bottom of the Hill show on Sept. 19.

SFBG: How did your new album, Rewild [(Shangrila)], come to pass?

Amazing Baby: I think that we approached the recording with equal parts professional and amateur goals. We are always learning more about ourselves, and to be honest, it’s hard to really know what our intentions were at the time. I think we wanted to express aural love, beauty, heartbreak, and humor. There are people that we love, there are people that have died, and all of the emotions that fall in between. I think next time we may focus more on rhythms and melody. But for Rewild, it was mostly emotive.

SFBG: There’s a very glammy/glitter rock feel to the record? Is David Bowie an influence?

AB: Well, I’ve always been very drawn to Bowie and his effortless power over a song. However, I also feel that his other styles, more than glam, have probably had a larger effect on our songwriting and recording. You can’t deny your first loves. And I think, as a music fan, I continuously find myself going back to his music. It’s really strong stuff, isn’t it?

Sonic Reducer Overage: David Cross, Little Boots, Titus Andronicus, and more

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By Kimberly Chun

Oh, yes, SF — you like it hot. And you got the sounds to send off the Indian Summer in a proper freaky styley. Here are the worthies that didn’t fit in print.

Alan Braxe
The French dance pop maestro, a.k.a., Stardust, gets out from behind the remix. With One Man Party and Bad Neighbors. Sat/17, 9 p.m. doors, $12-$15. Mezzanine, 444 Jessie, SF. (415) 820-9669.

Chairlift
Electropop loveliness from Brooklyn, exploding exponentially since its last liftoff in SF, thanks to an iPod commercial. With Magic Bullets and El Ten Eleven. Thurs/17, 9 p.m., $15. Bottom of the Hill, 1233 17th St., SF. (415) 621-4455.

Snap Sounds: Emitt Rhodes

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By Johnny Ray Huston

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EMITT RHODES
The Emmit Rhodes Recordings (1969-1973)
(Hip-O-Select)

Oh, Emitt. At your peak you were picture-perfect: thick brown hair parted down the middle, angelic face with a doll’s complexion. The music business’ merry-go-round has been cruel to you, but what glorious pop songs you’ve given us: “Live Till You Die” has been holding me together the last week or two, and it’s just one of many beauties from your self-titled 1970 LP.

Emitt Rhodes, Four Songs from Emitt Rhodes

Tubular: Passing Stones’ “**** Me Up”

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Hey wazzup! My fave StSanders vid is probably “**** Me Up” by Passing Stones. His attacks on Def Leppard and Judas Priest have their minimalist power, but this one’s got a rhythm section — and Mick Jagger prancing, flouncing, and doing aerobics in heinous pajama gymwear. And it’s got subtitles. All the better for enjoying lyrics such as:

— “I dress casually..”
— “Where’s Kojak?”
— “Frustration/B.O./Void”
— “May I ask you a whiskey sip?”
…and…
— “I will stop the office trotter”

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If you haven’t seen it, you should, and if you have seen it, you can never see it enough, so here it is, for your listening and viewing pleasure.

Two-day On Land Festival takes root

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By Michael Harkin

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Christina Carter. Photo by Rosa Guerrero

Root Strata, the San Francisco-based avant/out music label co-owned by Jefre Cantu and Maxwell Croy, has released over 50 records since its inception. Its foundations and mission are humble, but after nearly five years of work, the label has seen fit to celebrate in a quietly extravagant way with the On Land Festival, a two-night event in the city where it initially, um, took root. "This is the first time we’ve collectively tried to do something on this scale," Cantu, Root Strata’s founder and a member of Tarentel (who perform the first night of the festival) explains over the phone. Sure, On Land is relatively small compared to SF’s other fall festivals, but it’s a damned feast for the right audience. Ducktails and Keith Fullerton Whitman at Café Du Nord on the same night? Killer!

Ducktails, “Parasailing”

Although On Land is not a label showcase per se, nearly every artist on the 21-act weekend bill at Du Nord and the Swedish American Hall has put out at least one record with Root Strata, or will be doing so soon. The label began in late 2004 as a way for Cantu to release a solo CD-R prior to a Japanese tour with Tarentel, but it quickly snowballed into a wide-ranging outlet for artists local and distant, whether they be noisy, pretty, glitched-out, or all or none of the above. For instance, Root Strata recently released Common Eider, King Eider’s Figs, Wasps, and Monotremes, in which core member Rob Fisk’s viola, guitar, and piano meanderings coalesce into a frail, haunting song cycle.

The headliner of Sunday’s bill at the Swedish American is Portland, Ore.-based Bay Area expat Grouper, a.k.a. Liz Harris, whose harmonic haze will dovetail beautifully alongside the sounds of the venerable Christina Carter, the Austin, Texas cofounder of drone-folk outfit Charalambides and superb visual and musical artist. Although a straight-up music festival in most senses, On Land also possesses some cool nonauditory aspects: Paul Clipson will be showing films to accompany several of the performances, and, according to Cantu, Joe Grimm has been generating music by placing contact mics on two 16mm projectors. A handful of other labels will vend their wares as well, including Eclipse Records and Last Visible Dog. Bring a few bucks and an open mind — this is an ideal, totally stacked entrance to San Francisco’s rich underground.

ON LAND FESTIVAL Sat/19–Sun/20, various times. Café Du Nord and the Swedish American Music Hall, 2170 Market, SF. (415) 861-5016. www.onlandfestival.com

Latin psych-funk explosion with Brownout

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By Marke B.

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Smoke out with Brownout. Photo by Sandy Carson

This week in the paper, I write about eight-piece Latin psychedelic funk outfit from Texas, Brownout. I’m really digging, in a mellow way, their new album Aguilas and Cobras on Six Degrees Records. You should throw on a rad patterned suit jacket and some slick shoes, light up something nice, and check them out at Elbo Room this Friday.

Want a taste? Check out this primo Brownout mix from Austin’s DJ Chicken George and download their Olvidalo track.

Oh, and here’s their new video for “Slinky”

BROWNOUT
Fri/18, 10 p.m., $8–$10
Elbo Room
647 Valencia, SF
(415) 552-7788
www.elbo.com

Snap Sounds: Mos Def

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By D. Scot Miller

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MOS DEF

The Ecstatic

(Downtown)

After 2006’s somewhat tepid though promising True Magic (Geffen), Mos drops the best hip-hop album of 2009 thus far. Named after Victor Lavalle’s novel, with cover art from Charles Burnett’s Killer Of Sheep, this is a gem that I just can’t stop playing — especially "Priority" and "No Hay Nada Mas"

Mos Def, “Quiet Dog” Live

Jim Carroll’s Go-Go’s Nico coke joke

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By Marke B.

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Poet and punk hero Jim Carroll, (August 1, 1950 – September 11, 2009)

From Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain’s Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk (Penguin, 1996):

Jim Carroll: I was at the Mabuhay Gardens, which was like the CBGB’s of San Francisco, and I was trying to hit on one of the Go-Go’s. I had this really good coke, so I’m doling out some lines in the manager’s office, and we’re doing some and then all of a sudden Nico comes in.

She sees the coke and says, “Is that cocaine?” Then she says, “Oh, you are Szhim Carroll. I read about you. You are so skinny, I am so fat.”

She was really large and she looked pretty bad. I said, “You sounded great. Here, have some coke.”

She was really thankful. She said, “Oh, this is very good coke.”

I said, “Thanks. Coming from you that’s a real compliment.” Hahaha.

Live Shots: Power to the Peaceful 9/12/09

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Text and photos by Ariel Soto

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The air was thick with friendship and love as about 70,000 people went into tree pose to say a united prayer for peace in Speedway Meadows this Saturday for the 11th annual Power to the Peaceful concert. The day long concert has been the pride and joy of Michael Franti for the past decade, whose own music strives to motivate and cultivate love and peace between all us human beings.

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This year the special guests included Alanis Morissette, Cherine Anderson, and Sly and Robbie along with inspirational speakers such as former Green Party candidate Cynthia McKinney and Tibetan monk Namkha Rinpoche who hinted at the possibility of the Dalai Lama coming to next year’s Power to the Peaceful.

Sonic Reducer Overage: Edward Sharpe, Vieux Farka Toure, Chris Garneau, and more

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Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros – “40 Day Dream”

By Kimberly Chun

Strap yourself in for more musical thunder as San Fran girds itself for fall – here’s more of what floats the city’s boat.

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Glitter Wizard
Wah-wah wow. Hard rock meets glamazon psych in the paws of the SF-Oakland combo. Sat/12, 9:30 p.m., $6. Hemlock Tavern, 1131 Polk, SF. (415) 923-0923.

The Honey Brothers
Adrian Grenier of Entourage yucks it up from behind the kit. With Soko and His Orchestra. Sat/12, 9 p.m., $15. Independent, 628 Divisadero, SF. (415) 771-1422.

It’s time for a Bad Brains reignition

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By Tony Papanikolas

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Most Bad Brains fans can remember where they were the first time they heard the DC hardcore legends’ self-titled debut (ROIR, 1982.) For me, it was during an extended drive through Utah with my parents, a trip made memorable by a fortuitous stop at a strip mall with a Sam Goody. (My Damaged story is a lot cooler, I swear.) The album did nothing to improve my PMA during the car ride, but I vividly remember finding Bad Brains’ sheer unhinged speediness awe-inspiring, and not a little disorienting. Though somewhat of a cliché at this point, it bears repeating that Bad Brains — all 34 breakneck minutes of it — started an arms race of speed and aggression that would germinate into the hardcore movement. The other side to the record, however, was the handful of incongruous reggae/dub tracks, measured interruptions to the album’s typical rock ‘n’ roll onslaught. By their third album, I Against I (SST, 1986), Bad Brains had begun mixing the two genres more fluidly, resulting in what would become the band’s trademark style.

Aside from establishing themselves as genre pioneers too singular for flat-out imitation, Bad Brains have also gained the reputation of being some of rock’s most volatile live performers, with all the pros and cons that title carries. Stories of vocalist (or "throat," as he’s memorably identified as in the liner notes) H.R.’s epileptic stage presence are the stuff of punk rock folklore, making concerts unpredictable affairs to be sure. Lucky for us, he’ll be anchored by the original lineup: Darryl Jennifer on bass, Earl Hudson on drums, Dr. Know on guitar, natch. Our Summer rager-mode has deactivated; it’s time for reignition.

BAD BRAINS With P.O.S., Trouble Andrew. Tues/15–Wed/16, 8 p.m. (doors 7 p.m.), $26, all ages. Slim’s, 333 11th St. (415) 255-0333. www.slims-sf.com

Outside Lands: another take — Pearl Jam, Tom Jones, Lucinda Williams, and more

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Sean McCourt reflects on Outside Lands. For Kimberly Chun’s takes, click here and here. You can find pics of the festival here and here.

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Oustide Lands windmills

Midway through Pearl Jam’s headlining set on the opening night of Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival, Eddie Vedder apologized for his voice not being in tip top shape, due to the strain of his band being on the road for several months. He invited the audience to help him out on several tunes, which they enthusiastically did, but that feeling of not quite firing on all cylinders set the tone for much of the rest of the festival; though many of bands on this year’s lineup were quite good, only a few really gave the impression of belonging on the large stages they were given. The crowds didn’t act like they minded all that much, however, seeming to be fine with wandering the wide expanse of the park and festival grounds, checking out various acts and sampling the wide variety of food and drink that organizers provided for this year’s outing.

Autolux kicked off the festivities on Friday, and though they were good, they didn’t seem to possess either the stage presence or the discography to perform on the main “Lands End” stage. There were probably a few thousand people there to watch the set, but on the immense landscape of the Polo Fields, it appeared to be a sparse gathering at best. Built To Spill and Silversun Pickups garnered larger audiences, generating the first tinges of genuine electricity that a festival of this stature should produce.

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Gooferman

In between several of the larger acts’ sets, a small outdoor stage and a tent structure near the back end of the Polo Fields nicknamed “The Barbary” featured a variety of entertainment such as self-proclaimed “micro circus and band” Gooferman, whose bizarre clown and kabuki influenced make up and outfits perfectly matched their unique sound, a cross of rock, funk, electronic, and a host of other influences. Several women members of the troupe danced around the band on stage, and even climbed above them on the curved metal scaffolding crisscrossing overhead.

Snap Sounds: DatA

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By Daniel N. Alvarez

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DATA

"Skywriter"

(Ekleroshock/Naive)

While much has been made of the Sebastien Grainger-sung, electro-disco tracks "One In A Million" and "Rapture," “Skywriter” is full of that classic, synth-slathered French house sound that so many fell in love with when they first heard Daft Punk. Some hooks here will stay lodged in your head for weeks.

DatA, “Skywriter”

Party-pinchers PANTyRAID deliver ‘The Sauce’

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By Michael Krimper

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You don’t get quite what you expect from the aptly titled electronic duo, PANTyRAiD. A side project of forward thinking producers Martin Folb (Marty Party — he’ll be performing this Fri/11 at 103 Harriet) and Josh Mayer (Ooah of the Glitch Mob), PANTyRAiD delves into the rich cross-sections of hip-hop, dubstep, and ambient. Although the duo was previously best known for heavy hitting remixes like “Do You” and powerhouse party mixes — e.g. for XLR8R and Mary Anne Hobbs — of synth knocking beats flipped over modulated crunk lyricism, their latest effort The Sauce (Marine, Ingrooves) salvages their place as solid beat conductors on the quest.

PANTyRAID, “Get the Money”

PANTyRAiD most impressively experiment with multi-tiered arrangements, changing tempo and bass tonality by way of a jazz inspired fluidity. In “Worship The Sun”, dissonant synth vamps grace chilling tribal drums and chants, building into a wobbling bass riding “hot sex on a platter” bars from Silk E. Fyne’s one hit wonder, and reemerging once more with a graceful intensity.

Snap Sounds: MF Doom and Empress Stahhr

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By D. Scott Miller

MF DOOM FEATURING EMPRESS STAHHR

"Still Dope" (from MF Doom’s Born Like This)

(Lex)

Sista spits some of the tightest shit over jagged hard beats with clarity, wit and grace for two minutes and forty seconds with no punches — or punches pulled. I wake up in the morning sometimes with her voice in my head and it feels good! Still dope? Yeah.

Maxim — not the magazine

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By Johnny Ray Huston

Once upon a time in Detroit, I worked at a record store. Kelley Stoltz sometimes shopped there. He liked Echo and the Bunnyman even back then. And Brendan Benson worked at a different, maybe cooler record store. I had no idea that he and Kelley would end up writing so many good and great songs.

Benson’s tour for his new album My Old, Familiar Friend hits Great American Music Hall tomorrow night, and one of the opening acts, Maxim Ludwig and the Santa Fe Seven, is also worth a look-see and true listen. Ludwig lists the Band as one of his musical favorites, and “To Be with Sweet Marie” genuinely calls the Band to mind — not trifling, since most people know the sound of the Band is hard to even contrive. Ludwig’s father has an interest in the Brothers Grimm, and you get the feeling that interest informs his son’s music, the same way that the images on great album covers might fuel his imagination.


Maxim Ludwig & the Santa Fe Seven, “Big Black Train”

BRENDAN BENSON
with Maxim Ludwig and the Santa Fe Seven
Thu/10, 8 p.m. (doors 7:30 p.m.), $18
Great American Music Hall
859 O’Farrell, SF
(415) 885-0750
www.gamh.com

Snap Sounds: Dam Funk

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By Michael Krimper

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DAM FUNK

Toeachizown

(Stones Throw)

Los Angeles ambassador of boogie grooves Dam Funk taps into the warmth of the sun with this five-volume effort.

Dam Funk, “Toeachizown” promo

Dam Funk performs this Friday with the Donuts crew. Marke B. says:

“Laidback techno-boogie and electro-funk from the shades-bedecked master of jambox rock. West Coaster Dam of L.A.’s luscious Funkmosphere parties will be showing off rare vinyl cuts from his personal collection as well as some of his own, much lauded tracks.”

Fri/11, $10. Poleng Lounge, 1751 Fulton, SF. www.polenglounge.com

Live Shots: Jonesin’ and the Sandwitches at Hemlock Tavern, 9/3/09

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Text and photos by Ariel Soto

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Donning matching black and white outfits, the Jonesin‘ duo bounced around the stage, singing old Dolly Parton covers and also their own lyrics, that sometimes focus on aliens, their amour, roller skates, and the foggy city we all call home. Their music is totally bubbly and funky with just a hint of country and irony. With only their mikes and a boom box for back-up , these two belted it out at Hemlock Tavern for their official Hi, We’re Jonesin’ (Telemarketer’s Worst Nightmare) record release party and as a send-off for their around the country tour, which includes stops in Kansas, Mississippi and Texas, too.

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Snap Sounds: Bibio

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By Mosi Reeves

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BIBIO

Ambivalence Avenue

(Warp)

Some albums escape criticism…they just sound good. And as much as I try to pick apart Bibio’s surprising breakthrough — from its heavy allegiance to Boards of Canada, J Dilla and other beat icons to its catalog of hip indie styles — I can’t stop listening to it. I’ve played it on long drives to L.A., and I’ve fast-forwarded through it on quick trips to the supermarket. Perhaps what moves me about it is its humanness. When he begins to croon as "Lovers’ Carvings" builds into a bright, sprightly square dance, it usually leaves a smile on my face. I’m a sucker for melody.

Bibio, “Jealous of Roses”

Bibio, “Lovers’ Carvings”

Snap Sounds: 24-Carat Black

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By Johnny Ray Huston

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24-CARAT BLACK

Gone: The Promises of Yesterday

(Numero Group)

The title here rings all too true: 24-Carat Black is a memento of all that soul music could have been, had economic woes not killed its most ambitious tendrils. This dozen-plus ensemble’s unfinished sequel to 1975’s oft-sampled Ghetto: Misfortune’s Wealth (Stax) is just as conceptual, but more downtempo. "The Best of Good Love Gone" is Dusty in the ghetto instead of a satin Memphis boudoir. "I Want to Make Up" does a slow burn then floats off in the nighttime breeze.

24-Carat Black, “The Best of Good Love Gone”

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