SUPER EGO Anyone who’s gone to grab my ass and resurfaced 20 minutes later with a handful of vintage Safeway plastic bags and several torn free condom wrappers holding pre-chewed wads of Gonzo Grape Bubblicious knows I’m not really into “bling,” as the kids these days say in 1997. Who needs $525 Alejandro Ingelmo gold-trimmed “Tron” sneakers when you can just wear discarded DSW boxes! Cheap and proud lady right here.
Yet when it comes to music, I’ll skip that second vegan cheeseburger and lay my pocket money down for great sound. A few years ago, a $99 pair of Bose IE2 Audio earbuds changed my life. “Oh,” I recall exclaiming aloud. “This is that ‘bass’ that people keep talking about.” And my vinyl addiction has reached Lohan-ic heights of insanity, minus all that fake tan and meh.
Thus the jaw basically dropped when I stepped into the new Dijital Fix store in the Mission (820 Valencia, SF. www.dijitalfix.com), which specializes in terribly hip and yummy stereo equipment. Gorgeous transparent speakers by People People, retro-orange Crosley portable USB turntables, hypersleek AIAIAI Tracks headphones … big, big puddle of electronic drool.
Dijital Fix is a Brooklyn transplant, and we already have a couple of great homegrown, high-end audio product stores with Audiovision (1603 Pine, SF. www.audiovisionsf.com) and House of Music (410 Harriet, SF. www.houseofmusicsf.com). The Fix, however, may be more approachable than those excellent specialty spots, especially to the uninitiated looking for a candy-colored stereo starter kit with Space Age Bachelor Pad sex appeal. I’ll take three of everything to go.
SOUL CLAP
Ah, Burning Man — it brings all the DJs to the yard. On their way to Black Rock City: Boston’s finest, Soul Clap, and their bros in excellent recombinant ’90s tunes Wolf + Lamb (see below). Clappers Elyte and Cnyce once helped redefine the history of dance music by daring to play the rarest slow jams and New Jack Swing — “Yes We Still Play Vinyl” is the name of this appearance — perfectly contextualized into acid house and Boyz II Men grooves. They got sidetracked by trying to become pop stars themselves, but they’re still sexy and fun on the decks.
Wed/21, 9pm, $10-20. Monarch, 101 Sixth St., SF. www.monarchsf.com
120 MINUTES THREE-YEAR ANNIVERSARY
The goth-rap, crunk-funk, witch-dizzle monthly celebrates a triple, with host Marco de la Vega’s inimitable mind-altering aplomb. Local face-melting bass hero Salva headlines, while resident DJs Santa Muerte and Chauncey CC drag out everything from Wocka to Skinny Puppy. Congrats.
Fri/23, 10pm, $15. Elbo Room, 647 Valencia, SF. www.facebook.com/120minutes
STEAM
Who doesn’t want to spend Friday night surrounded by men in wet towels? Frisky promoter Walter Gomez’s packed monthly, charitable, steam-themed party with special guest DJ Rolo is the terrycloth ticket. Yes, it’s gay and half-naked, but it’s also not happening on the Internet, so it feels subversive. Plus: good dancing, and it benefits the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence
Fri/23, 10pm, $5. Powerhouse, 1347 Folsom, SF. www.tinyurl.com/steam0813
WOLF + LAMB
The high-end hotel parties and breathless press (guilty!) were always a little suspect, but the music Gadi and Zev were putting out at the end of the ’00s counterbalanced the dominant astringency of minimal techno with a juicy eroticism rooted in nostalgia. They’ve still got it. With DJ Tennis and Adnan Sharif at the awesome Forward party, returning to SF after many moons.
Fri/23, 9pm-4am, $15. Mighty, 119 Utah, SF. www.forwardsf.com
BEATBAAAHS
There’s going to be a giant gay sheep with laser eyes and a slide shooting out of its behind on the playa this year. BAAAHS (“big-ass amazingly awesome homosexual sheep”) is the first official queer Burning Man art car, with a booming system to match its woolly balls. And yes, here’s yet another BM fundraiser, this one featuring some great local and “other” queer techno talent taking over Beatbox: Stereogamous, TATU V, Doc Sleep, Jason Kendig, Mark Louque, and more, hosted by SF’s queer burneratti. Putting a queerer stamp on the rapidly gender-normalizing playa seems like a good CAAAHS.
Fri/23, 10pm-4am, $10. Beatbox, 314 11th St, SF. www.baaahs.org
“CRASH AN INDIAN WEDDING RECEPTION”
One of the glorious monthly Non Stop Bhangra party’s grand-slam theme nights: start with a bhangra flash mob in the Mission then proceed down to Public Works, where singer and dhol drum master Ustad Lal Singh Bhatti of Black Mahal whips the simulated “wedding reception” crowd into a frenzy. (Indian weddings are insane.) Dance lessons, DJs, and the Curry Up Now truck round out a unique night of cultural fun.
Sat/24, 9pm-3am, $15. Public Works, 161 Erie, SF. www.nonstopbhangra.com
MAURICE FULTON
The Baltimore-via-Sheffield production wiz has a magic touch when it comes to arty-funky disco vibes in a contemporary/wiggy context. (Or hey, sometimes he just drops brilliantly freaky slices like Mim Suleiman’s rapturous Nyuli album on us, for kicks.) At Honey Soundsystem.
Sun/25, 10pm, $10. Holy Cow, 1535 Folsom, SF. www.honeysoundsytem.com