Noise Archives — Page 61 of 108 — San Francisco Bay Guardian Archive 1966

Not lost: More from Jason Lytle, uncovered in Montana

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June 6, 2009

By Kimberly Chun

Modesto, your Jason Lytle is truly a pleasure to chat with. Here’s more of an interview with the disarmingly honest, down-to-earth ex-Grandaddy songwriter, now touring with his first solo album, Yours Truly, the Commuter (for the rest of the talk, see this week’s Sonic Reducer). Lytle headlines at Café du Nord June 8 and opens for Neko Case at the Warfield June 9.

SFBG: So right now you’re multitasking, printing out flight info for your tour. Is flying an issue for you? I’m just looking at the crashed plane in the artwork for Yours Truly, the Commuter.

Jason Lytle: Ummm, I’m actually OK with flying – I’m a lot better with flying than a lot of people I know. I guess if you’re looking at the artwork – I do have a problem with airplanes landing in my front yard.

Underground fire shuts down Bowie Ball at Great American Music Hall

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June 5, 2009

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By Kimberly Chun

This in from the folks at Great American Music Hall – so put those “Jean Genie” moves in the hopper till August. (And boy, I’m curious about how often these underground electrical vault fires happen! The answer: The last one was in 2005, according to the local CBS affiliate.)

“Unfortunately, tonight’s BOWIE BALL at GAMH has been CANCELLED due to an underground electrical vault fire on Polk & O’Farrell St. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience – bummer!!!

“HOWEVER, we are glad to report that the date is rescheduled for Friday, August 14 – original tickets will be honored (or refunds are available at place of purchase until 2pm on Aug. 14).

“This event will be super fun, so please come down on Aug. 14 and show your support! This is our chance to celebrate EVERYTHING Bowie. All in one night. (Tix at www.gamhtickets.com or in person at Slim’s or GAMH M-F 10:30-6.)”

Super Ego: Love for the sake of love

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June 5, 2009

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By Marke B.

Love for the Sake of Love party promo

SF club scene mover and shaker — and stunning video artiste — Christopher McVick has launched an effort to help Galveston, TX, celebrate Juneteenth — the wonderful holiday that celebrates the abolition of slavery. Galveston was where the original celebration took place, but the annual tradition has been threatened by last year’s heinous Hurrican Ike. So several beloved SF nightlife personalities and bands are coming together this Sunday at SubMission (the old Balazo space) and raising money to help this awesome tradition continue. Full lineup — including DJ Omar, House of Salad, fAction, and We are of Atlantis — after the jump.

Love for the Sake of Love
Sun/7, 8pm-midnight, all ages
$10-$20 donation for 21+
$15-$20 donation for 18-20
No one will be turned away for lack of funds!
Sub/Mission
2183 Mission, SF
www.sfheartsgalveston.com

Pure fucking armageddon?

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June 4, 2009

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Man, Norwegian black metal bands sure do grow up fast. Has it really been 25 years since Mayhem first unleashed their sinister rumblings upon unsuspecting eardrums, via the ominously-titled demo Pure Fucking Armageddon?

Spoiler: Mayhem don’t look like this anymore.

Yep, indeed it has been — and for Mayhem, who are probably the most famous and certainly the most notorious band to emerge from Scandinavia’s black metal scene, there’s no time like 25 years later to hit San Francisco’s DNA Lounge. Seems like the DNA has been hosting more metal than usual lately, after the recent PaganFest (featuring tunic-wearing Finnish folk metallers Korpiklaani, a band with a frontman so energetic he nearly cancelled out possibly the most bored-looking heavy metal violin player ever to roam the earth), and with the Pentagram show (yes!) coming up July 2. For Mayhem, supported by Cephalic Carnage, Cattle Decapitation, and Withered, but not the previously-announced Swedes Marduk, who cancelled due to visa problems), the joint was fairly packed but not sold out. It was a Wednesday night, but the show started early (7pm), a bonus for working stiffs who love to throw the goat but turn into zombies around midnight. Perhaps because it was midweek, the crowd seemed less fashion-y than the types who’d turned up for PaganFest. Or maybe I was too busy ogling the (faux) severed-head set decorations to notice any overt clubwear in our midst.

Nite Trax: The Field

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June 2, 2009

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By Johnny Ray Huston

Axel Willner of the Field borrows with the insightful and transformative intent of a master curator. On the title track finale of the Field’s almost unanimously acclaimed From Here We Go Sublime (Kompakt, 2007), that means tapping into the Flamingos’ 1959 "I Only Have Eyes for You." Kenneth Anger exploited that recording’s deeply unsettling quality in the 1972 version of his Rabbit’s Moon, paving the way for a dozen or more David Lynch imitations of such a tactic. Willner’s trick was to distill the spectral eeriness of the recording into pure essence.

The Field, “Everybody’s Gotta Learn Sometime”

On the new Yesterday and Today (ANTI-/Kompakt), Willner’s something-borrowed gambit is a cover of the Korgis’ glacial 1980 ballad "Everybody’s Gotta Learn Sometime." On the surface level of trend, this is almost a stale move: Justice recently incorporated the Korgis’ original into a mix, and Beck also has recorded a version. But Willner’s interpretation is far superior. It is both minimalist and majestic. Here the sublime resides in what Willner leaves out: the chorus. In place of words, he piles layer upon layer of his trademark ghostly hums and drones so that a sonic cave becomes a cathedral. It’s gorgeous.

Marke B chimes in: And check out this abso-brill recent collab between my favorite band of 2008, Foals, and Mr. Field-good. Rumor is more to come with the release of Foals’ second album this year …

The Field, “Foals Xiii (Foals Remix)”

The Field
opening for The Juan Maclean
Sat/6, 9 p.m., $20
Mezzanine
444 Jessie, SF
(415) 625-8880
www.mezzaninesf.com

Mayhem: The most fucked-up band on the planet?

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June 2, 2009

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By Tony Papanikolas

Since 1984, Oslo’s favorite sons Mayhem have had a reasonable claim to the title of most fucked-up band on the planet, the eagerly repeated stories of the lurid spectacle that is their live show representing only some of the milder aspects of their mythos. Colorful history aside, the men of Mayhem have established themselves as architects of the modern black metal sound, taking the nasty musicianship and overt occultism of Venom and early Bathory and using them as the foundation for a terrifying new kind of metal that mixes breakneck drums, guttural riffs, and croaking vocals with eerie, understated melody. Often imitated, the 25-year veterans’ unique style is seldom matched in terms of sheer, unhinged intensity.

Co-headliners Marduk, one of countless bands to follow in Mayhem’s footsteps, spent the better part of its career becoming even more gruesome and unpalatable to mainstream audiences with each successive album, until it was not inconceivable to mention the satanic Swedes in the same breath as their more established tour mates. By the late 1990s, Marduk began branching out instrumentally, refining its musicianship while remaining true to the genre it helped pioneer.

The two black metal greats are supported by a diverse collection of bands taken from all corners of the extreme metal scene. Progressive, black metal-inspired Withered makes a logical opener, and the presence of dizzying grindcore virtuosos Cephalic Carnage is strange but welcome. Rounding out the bill is the brutal Cattle Decapitation, a consistent favorite among fans of uncompromising, technical death metal. Fans of life-affirming music would do well to avoid this show.

MAYHEM Wed/3, 6 p.m., $25–$30, all ages. DNA Lounge 375 11th St., SF. (415) 626-1409. www.dnalounge.com

Sonic Reducer Overage: BFD, Wale, Handsome Furs, Holy Fuck, and more

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June 2, 2009

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The grey can stay – it is, after all, summer in fog city – but you know you gotta get out. Leave home and get an earful of inspiration at, hey, maybe these worthwhile shows.

Parson Red Heads
The cute-as-a-button LA combo polishes up Cali folk rock for every parson, be it the preacher or Gram. With Cotton Jones. Tues/2, 8 p.m., $10. Cafe Du Nord, 2170 Market, SF. (415) 861-5016.

Rosewood Thieves
Going their way? The New York indie rockers are California dreaming and in love with the sun. With Mississippi Man and Lemon Sun. Wed/3, 9 p.m., $7. Hemlock Tavern, 1131 Polk, SF. (415) 923-0923.

Buy your Slayer tickets tomorrow, dude!

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June 2, 2009

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I got word of Live Nation‘s “No Service Fee Wednesdays” promotion before last weekend’s stabfest at the Shoreline Amphitheater, but what are the changes of two stabfests in one season, really? You know there’s at least one big, dumb concert you’re planning on driving to Mountain View to see anyway, so why not pick up your tickets tomorrow (Wed, June 3, starting at 12:01am) and save $10 per ticket in service fees? Note: this deal applies only to lawn tickets, so if you had your heart set on being front-row center for Nickleback, you’re SOL. Which is probably the least of your problems anyway, come to think of it. Note #2: what do those “service fees” pay for, anyway? Isn’t $31 for a concert ticket (on a semi-grassy lawn amid thousands of your rowdiest, most unwashed non-friends) enough to begin with?

Anyway, I digress. Straight from Live Nation’s press release, here are the concerts participating in tomorrow’s no-fees-for-lawn-tickets at the Shoreline “sale.” See you July 11!

Shoreline Amphitheatre / Mountain View, CA

6/6 Live 105’s BFD featuring 311, The Offspring, Yeah Yeah Yeahs & More
6/13 Great American Food & Music Festival featuring Bobby Flay
6/26 Wild 94.9 Bomb Concert featuring Sean Paul, Ice Cube, Soulja Boy & more
7/4 4th of July Fireworks Spectacular w/ The San Francisco Symphony
7/11 Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival featuring Marilyn Manson & Slayer
7/13 Coldplay
7/24 Blazed & Confused Tour featuring Slightly Stoopid & Snoop Dogg
7/25 No Doubt with Paramore
7/30 Crue Fest 2 featuring Motley Crue & Godsmack
8/1 The Fray w/ Jack’s Mannequin
8/12 Depeche Mode
8/16 Toby Keith with Trace Adkins
8/20 Vans Warped Tour
9/1 Nickelback with Hinder, Papa Roach and more
9/2 Def Leppard with Poison and Cheap Trick
9/12 The Killers

Sleep Train Pavilion / Concord, CA

7/9 New Kids On The Block with Jesse McCartney and Jabbawockeez

7/11 Love Train – The Sounds of Philadelphia featuring The O’Jays

7/21 No Doubt with Paramore

7/31 Judas Priest with Whitesnake

8/19 Bone Bash X starring Aerosmith and ZZ Top

Sleep Train Amphitheatre / Wheatland, CA

7/10 Depeche Mode at Shoreline Amphitheatre

7/14 Coldplay

7/24 No Doubt with Paramore

8/1 98 Rock Presents ROCKALOTTAPUS feat. Judas Priest, Whitesnake, Tesla and more

8/21 Vans Warped Tour

8/31 Nickelback with Hinder, Papa Roach and more

9/3 Def Leppard w/ Poison and Cheap Trick

Pop-pop-Poppins with Fagottron

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June 1, 2009

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By Marke B.

Writing about electronic music in this Age Of Everything Always Available seems to be more and more an exercise in nostalgia. Artists are caught up mousing over the pull-down menu of the past, widgeting it into today’s latest technology — especially in the case of video mashups. (A similar-type thing happened with the debut of the CD, when the past was rummaged through for reissue-mania, and, as the Guardian‘s Johnny Ray Huston has pointed out, reissues still hold dollar-sway and carry much label cred in the record industry). Earlier this year, I attempted to fathom how Israeli YouTube mashup genius Kutiman was working the nostalgia tip — not in the literally referential, crate-digging manner of DJ Shadow, but in a melancholic, sampladelic way all his own.

Now — joy of joys, for real — we have the latest video mashup by one of Kutiman’s indisputable forebears, Fagottron. This, you cannot deny the literal nostalgia of. Not just because he’s tapping directly into the mid-90s heyday of electronica — but because he’s freaking sampling the Disney movies of yesteryear. “The track is composed of a sine wave bass, custom drum sequences, and sounds recorded from the Disney film Mary Poppins,” the YouTube more info box relays, deliciously. Funny, that was going to be my epitaph.

Fagottron, “Expialidocious”

And Fagy’s not just unleashing his dizzying Avid skills on the super-famous flicks (although I’d love to see his version of Ariel) — here’s a couple he did two years ago that took me back to those misty “movie afternoons” in the grade-school gymansia of my youthfulness, albeit in slightly freakier form:

Fagottron, “White Magic”

Snap Sounds: Connie Converse

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May 28, 2009

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By Johnny Ray Huston

CONNIE CONVERSE

How Sad, How Lovely

(Lau derette)

Irwin Swirnoff sang the praises of How Sad, How Lovely in the Guardiana few weeks back, but I’ve got to harmonize with him like an echo in a lonely canyon. This is the rare kind of "lost" music that truly deserves to be found, voiced by a bookish valedictorian and lover of poetry (one fave: Jacques Prévert) who knows how spin a tale and make it sing. Elizabeth "Connie" Converse vanished from society around the time of the Nixon resignation, but her spirit lives on in these recordings. Simply put, they’re a treasure.

Connie Converse, “One by One”

Live Shots: Flight of the Conchords

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May 27, 2009

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Text and photos by Ariel Soto

I remember the first time I watched Flight of the Conchords on TV. I was at my friend’s house, people were drinking beer and a pet rat was running back and forth across the wood floor. The Conchords’ humor is weird, dry and their New Zealand accents just add to the hilarity. Now the band members, Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement, are beyond famous, with hordes of adoring fans, some of which were lucky enough to cram into the Berkeley Community Theater on Monday, May 25th, 2009, to see the last show of their US tour. Comedian Arj Barker started the evening off with some great laughs that covered everything from the weakness of Blue Shield’s health insurance to the exorbitant price of crossing the Golden Gate Bridge. Then, clad in ridiculous carboard and tinfoil space costumes, the Conchords started the concert with the iconic “Too Many Dicks on the Dance Floor” that had the audience in a state of hysteria. There’s something genuine about the Conchords’ lyrics like “Business Time” where they sing about getting it on once a week after sorting the recycling, to pieces that raise awareness about epileptic dogs. But then again, Bret and Jermaine are superstars now and every girl (and probably some dudes too) just couldn’t seem to take their eyes off the Conchords’ two sets of sugarlumps.

Snap Sounds: Big Business

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May 27, 2009

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By Ben Richardson

BIG BUSINESS

Mind the Drift

(Hydrahead)

Big Business: an irresistible concoction of infectious, heavy, and bizarre. Drummer Coady Willis and bassist/singer Jared Warren are joined by guitarist Toshi Kasai. The band tempers its sludgier excesses with dynamic and compositional progress, plus plenty of weirdo headbanger hooks.

Big Business
10pm, $12
Bottom of the Hill
1233 17th St., SF
www.bottomofthehill.com

Sonic Reducer Overage: St. Vincent, Thermals, Tiga, Sun Kil Moon, Jens Lekman, and more

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May 26, 2009

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The sun is out – and so are you, capering and carousing at these musical shindigs, all so worthy yet unable to make it to print.

St. Vincent
Out of work? G’wan. Annie Clark is playing with ya on her hotly anticipated, Tin Pan Alley-inspired Actor (4AD). With Pattern Is Movement. Wed/27, 8 p.m., $16. Bimbo’s 365 Club, 1025 Columbus, SF. (415) 474-0365.

Tiga
“Beep Beep Beep” – make way for Montreal’s Ciao baby, With Jaimie Fanatic and DJ Omar. Thurs/28, 9 p.m., $18. Independent, 628 Divisadero, SF. (415) 771-1422.

NIN/JA: Trent rocks, Perry (and summertime) rolls

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May 26, 2009

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By Molly Freedenberg

Trent and co. rock Shoreline with a pared-down, slightly steampunk light show.

It’s been several days since the phenomenal Nine Inch Nails/Jane’s Addiction (NINJA! How clever!) show at Shoreline, and I’ve been meditating on how to write about it. As I’ve scoured the interwebs in the days before and after the show, I’ve been struck by the conflicting reviews of this and previous shows. Well, actually, as far as I can tell, the reviews go like this: Nine Inch Nails should’ve headlined; or Jane’s Addiction should’ve headlined; orthe whole show was perfect and frikkin’ awesome. The first two come from reviewers; the last from every single one of my Facebook friends who saw the show, either in L.A. or Mountain View. As for me, I was impressed with Nine Inch Nails, but blown away by Jane’s Addiction. My roommate, on the other hand, felt the exact opposite. I began to wonder, what makes all this difference? My conclusion? Context.

I first started listening to Nine Inch Nails and Jane’s Addiction during the delicate period between junior high and high school. I was in transition from A-student/perfectionist/goodie-two-shoes to angsty, cigarette-smoking school skipper, and still several years away from a (very helpful) prescription for anti-depressants. The bands appealed to me in different ways: Nine Inch Nails for its dark power, driving, almost danceable beats, and obvious pain; Jane’s Addiction for its alternating melodic melancholy and ethereal whimsy. But both became musical totems of that time in my life – and both followed me through first love and heartbreak, first sex and first orgasm (which, of course, happened separately), losing my dad, leaving for college, more love, more heartbreak. When I entered an eating disorder hospital at age 22 (okay, so the anti-depressants didn’t work that well), I sometimes sang lyrics from Nine Inch Nails’ The Fragile in the shower. As I grew and changed, so did my relationship with NIN and JA, but both remained powerfully important parts of my personal soundtrack. Through the years, I’ve seen Nine Inch Nails perform several times: with my friend Kris during the Downward Spiral tour, when NIN opened for David Bowie; with a friend in Portland and then, the next night, with a recently ex-ed boyfriend, on The Fragile tour; with a soon-to-be ex at Coachella. As for Jane’s Addiction, the closest I’d gotten to seeing them (having missed their Lollapalooza tour with Nine Inch Nails by about a year) was a short Porno for Pyros set at a radio station-sponsored multi-concert and a brief experience watching Perry Farrell as a DJ.

Night moves: Banging ‘Glorious Gongs’

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May 23, 2009

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HARAPPIAN NIGHT RECORDINGS
The Glorious Gongs of Hainuwele
(Bo Weavil)

By Kimberly Chun

Who is this mysterion going by the name of Dr. Syed Kamran Ali and generating generous swathes of sample-dappled, diseased-transmission psychedelia behind the shadowy guise of Harappian Night Recordings? A mild-mannered, 20-something Chicago software engineer? A UK folk-art chop-shop collagist with a gentle hand and restless mind, digitally futzing with field recordings culled at mythic South Asian rice paddies and fictitious North African marketplaces?

Though it sounds like an inspired, ragtag mélange of random aural documents, The Glorious Gongs of Hainuwele was instead fashioned by this single night-shrouded figure in northern England, supposedly linked to experimentalists Hunter Gracchus of Sheffield, England, and Part Wild Horses Mane on Both Sides in Lyon, France. “Recorded in the center of the Kadamba Forest, green and red, with a crescent moon as a diadem,” as the liner notes go, Glorious Gongs weaves Mbira pluck with bamboo percussion rattle, collides teams of ouds with whining ehru. The global instrumental crash-ups and roughed-out shit-fi aesthetic almost evoke raucous sonic junk collectors like Captain Beefheart and Tom Waits – without the residual pop hooks – when the faraway, broken-down gamelan bellies up to the sudden foghorn bleat and hissing blues on “Bully Kutta” and “The Ire of Konda Mangali.” I can’t make out the allusions to William Morris’ fantasy writing, but it’s comforting to imagine that they might be there, along with prickly, flowered tributes to lady pirates, Sublime Frequencies, and surrealistic mules. Haunted? Like a house.

B.B. King charms the Fillmore

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May 22, 2009

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By Ariel Soto

When someone is a master of their art, it means they can make the simplest things genius. Think of Alice Waters: she’s one of the most famous chefs in the world and her dishes are based on totally minimal ingredients. B.B. King (http://www.bbking.com/) is the master of blues guitar. On May 21, King played to an ecstatic audience at the Fillmore Theater. King plays like no other musician I’ve ever seen, lingering on the silences, or playing only one exquisite note that lasts for over a minute and sounds like an orchestra of complexity. King is also an incredible storyteller, relating tales about his life as an 83 year old guitarist traveling the world to play music and even about discovering Viagra, with constant accompaniment from his band to gives his stories even more umph. He also has quite an appreciation for all the ladies and had everyone sing “You are my sunshine” followed by a required kiss between any lovers in the audience. The artist made sure the house lights were raised … he just loved watching the ladies get smooched! King is beyond comfortable and charismatic on stage, and with over 15,000 concerts under his belt, I’m sure this master has quite a few more tunes to share with many more audiences around the world.

Sonic Reducer Overage: TV on the Radio, Bun B, Fischerspooner, Webbie, Floating Goat, Passion Pit, and more

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May 22, 2009

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Memorial Day weekend – the wind is down, and the moment has come to break out the hibachi, dust off those sassy hot pants, and kick back for at least a day or three. And of course, there’s more worthy music to fit in there, in between the sunbathing, cookie-baking, and electroclashing.

Fischerspooner
Does the GE halo give me a double chin? And does it electroclash with the rubber tubing? The jaw-dropping live act whips out a dour, synthpop Entertainment, as well as a new stage show. Fri/22, 9 p.m., $29.50. Fillmore, 1805 Geary, SF. (415) (415) 421-8497.

TV on the Radio and Dirty Projectors
The praise-rattled TVs were peppy as all get out at Treasure Island fest last year – and here they come again with the better-than-ever Dirty Projs, which blew everyone away at SXSW this spring. Fri/22, 8 p.m., $30. Fox Theatre, 1807 Telegraph, Oakl. (415) 421-8497.

Adam’s the real winner

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May 21, 2009

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By Tim Redmond

Now that everyone with any sense knows Adam Lambert was screwed and the wrong guy won American Idol, let me suggest why Kris Allen might be the real loser here and Lambert shouldn’t feel so bad.

First of all, we all know why Allen won. As Kevin Lynch writes in the Examiner:

Kris is practically a poster boy for heterosexual, white-bread Christianity, while Adam is an in-your-face Jewish gay man.

Kris is Ken-doll cute (my seven-year-old daughter adores him) and safe and a goodam youth minister or something. Truth is, he’s as boring as dozens of other musicians and has nothing special to offer.

Besides, he’s stuck for at least the next year with the American Idol franchise. He’s kind of like Miss America — he can’t do anything wild or fun or unusual (I’m sure that’s in the contract). Simon Fuller holds a tight grip on his franchise, and a fair chunk of the money that Allen makes over the next year will go back to 19 Entertainment and the Idol operation.

Lambert can do whatever the fuck he wants at this point. He’ll be making a lot more money, having a lot more fun and walking away with all the marbles. He’ll even get laid whenever he wants, without the fear of God and Simon Fuller.

Congrats, Adam — you’re the real winner here.

How now Chow Nasty? The local combo not on for Bay to Breakers

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May 16, 2009

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By Kimberly Chun

There are a few things you can count on in Ez Eff: the big tree goes up in Union Square every Xmas, summer will be freakin’ freezing west of the Park Presidio fog line, and Chow Nasty will bring the boogie to the wackies walking, running, and huffing in Bay to Breakers each year.

So what happened? First word had it the band was rocking it up as usual at the corner of Hayes and Webster on Sunday, May 17. Then today, according to the shopkeep at the corner market, the group will not be making its date out front, validating all the zany goings-on in that fine every-day-is-a-par-tay SF tradition. Explanation, guys? And band dormancy is no excuse when it comes to those lil’ reminders of only-in-the-citay goofery.

There’s a laptop in the orchestra!

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May 13, 2009

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Everybody panic. Don’t worry, electronic-symphonica mastermind Mason Bates, who I rave about in this week’s issue, isn’t gonna freak peeps out. But seriously, do not miss the premier of his orchestral suite for full orchestra and laptop, The B-Sides, which he’ll be performing for three nights with the ever-game SF Symphony, Wed/20, Fri/22, Sat/23. After Friday night’s performance (free with ticket!) you’ll get ushered into a really cool secret space by Davies Symphony Hall for an afterparty, featuring Mason’s Mercury Soul project, which kicks ambient-like trip-hop ass and will feature himself behind the decks, as well as some live, avant-garde surprises (and hottie conductor Benjamin Shwartz, *swoon*). If you haven’t been to the symphony, or if you’re in the mood for something spectacular oracular, this is the time to go.

Here’s two views of Mason, aka DJ Masonic, at Carnegie Hall with the YouTube Symphony Orchestra in April, debuting the “Wharehouse Medicine” portion of The B-Sides.

The balcony view, complete with trippy visuals:

and here’s from right down in the fray (I’m dying to know what the tiny grand piano behind his is for! Hello, Carl Stalling?) Note the dramatic use of drum pad:

I would be totally, regrettably remiss if I didn’t also pump Bates’ co-performer on the program, the heartbreakingly talented and just all around fierce Yuja Wang, who’ll be performing Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto #2, which at around the seven-minute-mark will honestly start to kill you with beauty. Girl’s got skills.

Here’s her performing at Carnegie Hall. Um, hi hotness.

Also featured: the majestically haunting, almost-4AD-foretelling Fourth Symphony by Sibelius, who’s all the rage among young turk composers these days.

Mason Bates, Yuja Wang, and the SF Symphony
Wed/20, Fri/22, Sat/23
8 p.m., $35–$130
Davies Symphony Hall
201 Van Ness
(415) 552-8000
www.sfsymphony.org

Live Shots: Yoshida Brothers strum up Yoshi’s

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May 13, 2009

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Text and photos by Ariel Soto

Walking confidently on stage and decked out in tradition Japanese garb, the Yoshida Brothers took over the stage at Yoshi’s SF in the Fillmore — they’ll be performing there until May 16th. The Yoshida brothers play the shamisen, a square shaped guitar like instrument with only three stings that twangs and resonates long after the stings have been plucked.

Shannon is worthy, plus Clams

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May 13, 2009

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By Andre Torrez

Photo by Francis Chung

Enough about Thee Oh Sees already. Let’s talk about Shannon and the Clams. John Dwyer’s new outfit is great and all, but Shannon is bodacious. She’s a peroxide-haired, punk-rock pin-up who gets real mean on her Danelectro bass.

I caught the classic beauty out and about last week with an unmasked Nobunny. They were catching a glimpse of those pretty Black Lips performing at the Great American Music Hall. A few months earlier, I saw Shannon and her Clams doin’ their thing for the hometown crowd at Oakland’s Stork Club. For sure, the highlight of the night was their rendition of Del Shannon’s "Runaway." I can’t get enough of that song. Anytime I hear it, it’s embedded in my brain for days. I enjoyed the guitarist’s mimicry of whatever high-pitched instrument is used in the bridge of the original recording. Surf rock interpretation at its finest.

Shannon and the Clams, “Blood”

Shannon’s gnarly, gruff-sounding wail conveys the angst of an exhausted teenage wreck (see "Cry Aye Aye"). She’s somewhere between a woman possessed by Little Richard and the vocal huskiness of the Gossip’s Beth Ditto. Another standout track, "Blast Me To Bermuda," is pure teen-punk energy, with a slicing riff that propels the Clams’ late-1950s, early-’60s style into a more contemporary garage rock sound.

Shannon is worthy in my book. Good ol’ rock ‘n’ roll!

SHANNON AND THE CLAMS With Thee Oh Sees, Sonny and Sunsets, and the Mystery Lights. Fri/15, 9 p.m., $8. Amnesia, 853 Valencia, SF. (415) 970-0012. www.amnesiathebar.com

Nite Trax: Jamie Jones

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May 12, 2009

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By Marke B., who thinks very highly of his ears, if not his latest dance moves. But he’ll keep trying. View the previous Nite Trax here.

There are currently three Jamie Joneses in the music world. Two of them are kind of cute — but I’d never ever listen to them again. As fate would usually have it, the REALLY cute one is the one who’s turning me out lately, and has just produced what may well be the summer 09 jam, if I was lame enough to predict such things. Ladies and gentlemen and ladies, the only Jamie Jones that counts:

But I’m really only interested in his music.

The song is “You!” — an eight-plus minute slice of loveliness, what I would perhaps call subtle tech-soul, that blends a couple grin-worthy retro effects with some serious mixing-board control (loving the dribble-dabs of tinkling percussion). Everything falls into the right place and climbs above genre-tiredness into a burnished place all its own.

Sonic Reducer Overage: Dead Meadow, Steve Earle, Fracas, Loney Dear, and more

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May 12, 2009

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By Kimberly Chun

Could it be any prettier, any more delicately dewy, any more enticing, out there in this stone-beauty by the Bay? And when the sun goes down, you must go out to play – or watch others play. More worth-while sights, sighs, and sounds for you, more than could fit in print.

Steve Earle
Far from Nashville and an outlaw and songwriter-activist born a little too late, Steve Earle is rattling the chains of his past and looking back on the music of his late brilliant and damaged mentor Townes Van Zandt with the new Townes (New West). Thurs/14, 6 p.m., free. Amoeba Music, 1855 Haight, SF. (415) 831-1200.

Loney Dear
Dudes, make up your mind – comma or no comma? Ah, hell, none of it matters when the Loneys wash those sad-and-lonelies away with their sweet indie-rock melodicism. With Headlights and Audio Out Send. Fri/15, 10 p.m., $10. Bottom of the Hill, 1233 17th St., SF. (415) 621-4455.