Sometimes, “world music” takes on an entirely different meaning. This week, the bands and musicians and producers will come from all over the (European) map: there’s Grecian psych punk, UK goth pop, Irish deep house and space disco, plus one-half of the first all-female electronic DJ group of Chicago, a KUSF-in-Exile benefit, and a soul clap dance-off.
I’m exhausted just thinking about the travel time it’ll take all those acts – Acid Baby Jesus, Veronica Falls, Mano Le Tough, Jonathan Toubin, Texas is the Reason, Colette and DJ Heather, and so many more – to arrive in our foggy city by the bay.
Treat them right upon arrival, and partake in the live music madness. And don’t forget to boost up the locals like Carlton Melton and Disappearing People at that SF radio blowout benefit.
Here are your must-see Bay Area concerts this week/end:
Acid Baby Jesus
Greek garage punk? Sure, why not. Acid Baby Jesus has been described as “Athens, Greece’s answer to the Black Lips” (and yes, they’ve toured with Black Lips) and that’s enough for me. Plus, this past November, Acid Baby Jesus released an experimental split record with Hellshovel, another band on the Hemlock bill tonight. Tribal, psychedelic Voyager 8 is the joint project of both acts, with a few swirly, tripped-out songs created together, and new tracks from each band – so there’s likely to be some cool stuff on that merch table tonight.
Tue/26, 8:30pm, $8
Hemlock Tavern
1131 Polk, SF
www.hemlocktavern.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QuwLPWeIQAQ
Veronica Falls
Veronica Falls recently released Waiting for Something to Happen (Slumberland Records) — the follow up to 2011’s emotional rollercoaster self-titled debut. That first record, which opened with deliciously moody “Found Love In A Graveyard” was a melancholy goth pop masterpiece. Waiting for Something to Happen has been described as “the work of an undead ’60s girl group,” which stood out to me as the ideal combination, like if the Angels’ ’63 song “My Boyfriend’s Back” had instead been about a zombie lover in a leather jacket, revving up his motorcycle (as with the schlocky ’90s film of the same name, which I had completely forgotten about until now). Vroom.
With Brilliant Colors, Golden Grrrls
Tue/26, 8pm, $12-$14
Rickshaw Stop
155 Fell, SF
www.rickshawstop.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9le2Fq7FwI0
“KUSF-In-Exile’s Blown-Out, Blowout Benefit II”
“As the group Save KUSF transitions into San Francisco Community Radio (its nonprofit identity) the costly legal quest continues with an FCC-level appeal of 90.3 FM’s sale still waiting to be ruled on. So what’s a group of rogue DJs to do when their sojourn on the web waves appears as if it’s becoming permanent? They throw another springtime blowout of mind-melting music to raise cash for their cause. Carlton Melton delivers the psychedelic, stoner-drone, Disappearing People emerges out of Oakland with experimental punk, and from the same neck of the woods, the one and only Yogurt Brain rides in with some catchy jangle and an occasional monster riff thrown in.” — Andre Torrez
Fri/29, 8pm, $5–$10
Lab
2948 16th St., SF
www.thelab.org
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEtguJ31h3c
Texas is the Reason
“Texas is the Reason’s only full-length Do You Know Who You Are? remains a touchstone album in the post-hardcore canon and is considered to be one of the primary kick-starters of the ’90s emo movement. Just as the band was about to burst from underground notoriety to a mainstream record label, however, it collapsed due to internal tensions. After just three years of existence and one beloved album, Texas is the Reason was done. Other than a two-show reunion in 2006, this year marks the band’s first and only tour since its disintegration a decade and a half back. This spring, the band unveiled two new songs and a brief tour — its last ever.” — Haley Zaremba
With the Jealous Sound
Fri/29, 9pm, $20
Bimbo’s 365
1025 Columbus, SF
www.bimbos365club.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TIppgZBGC0
Mano Le Tough
“Having proved himself a more than capable in long form (popping up on this year’s Resident Advisor Top 100 poll and a recent Boiler Room set) and short (contributing remixes for Midnight Magic, Roisin Murphy, and Aloe Blacc) Ireland’s Mano Le Tough needed only to release a solid album to complete the producer trifecta. With Changing Days, he’s done just that, and it’s an assured, spaced out collection of deep house and future disco, organic, airy sounds alternating at times with ray-gun zaps. Throughout, Mano expands on the calmly emotive vocal style earlier heard on “In My Arms” and the glistening Stories EP.” — Ryan Prendiville
With Bells and Whistles, Joey Alaniz
Fri/29, 9pm, $8–$15
Monarch
101 Sixth St., SF
www.monarchsf.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vinxtt8AOIk
“Soul Clap and Dance-Off”
After a freak accident in late 2011 (a car plowed into his hotel room), revered New York Night Train DJ Jonathan Toubin is back with his feverish ’60s soul freak out party. The winner of the dance-off gets 100 bones, the guest selector is DJ Primo, and full disclosure, I’m one of the contest judges this time around.
Sat/30, 9pm, $8
Rickshaw Stop
155 Fell, SF
www.rickshawstop.com
Colette and DJ Heather
“Around 16 years ago, four young female DJs united to form the formidable quartet known as the SuperJane Collective. Feeding off Chicago’s potent house music scene, DJ Heather, Colette, Lady D, and Dayhota laid claim to being the first all-female electronic DJ group. The groundbreaking foursome have since separated, both musically and geographically, but they are scheduled for a Sweet Sixteen reunion in Chicago in June. In the meantime, Colette and DJ Heather are coming in hot off their appearance at Austin’s SXSW. Expect deep grooves, funkiness, and improvisational live vocals from Colette.” — Kevin Lee
With Pink Mammoth
Sat/30, 10pm, $15–$20
Mighty
119 Utah, SF
www.mighty119.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTBGiMxGyQM
Widowspeak
“Eudora Welty once said, “Every story would be another story, and unrecognizable if it took up its characters and plot and happened somewhere else.” It is no surprise then that Widowspeak recorded its second album, Almanac, in a 100-year-old barn in the Hudson River Valley. Setting creeps in, the soft singing of frontperson Molly Hamilton ringing like a ghostly whisper from a rural past, which sits in beautiful tension with the sometimes jangly rock instrumentals that seem reflective of the band’s Brooklyn base. At the Chapel show, though, it might be more apt to say that the atmospheric folk-pop of the band creates a setting of its own” — Laura Kerry
With SISU
Sun/31, 9pm, $12
Chapel
777 Valencia, SF
www.thechapelsf.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-5BBADOBAc