marke@sfbg.com
SUPER EGO My unholy trinity of nightlife bibles: Deck Hebdige’s essential Subculture: The Meaning of Style, Zeshu Takamura’s gorgeously illustrated Roots of Street Style, and — along with anything by Brit crit Simon Reynolds — the surprisingly poetic history of disc jockeying, Last Night a DJ Saved My Life by Bill Brewster and Frank Broughton.
2007’s Last Night just got a nice paperback reissue (revised and updated to fit our re-edit times) from Grove Press, the discovery of which occasioned a skip through some other recent, great-looking books on music and nightlife. For vinyl-lovers, scrumptious coffee table tome Dust & Grooves: Adventures in Record Collecting by Elion Paz offers portraits of flat plastic obsessives, while Do Not Sell At Any Price: The Wild, Obsessive Hunt for the World’s Rarest 78rpm Records by Amanda Petrusich gets really deep (as in, she goes scuba-diving looking for 78s) about antiquated slabs.
For those on the button-pushing side, Playing with Something That Runs: Technology, Improvisation, and Composition in DJ and Laptop Performance by Mark J. Butler goes full bore into analyzing what really goes on up there behind the glowing apple. Another nightlife bible, 1994’s Street Style — anthropologist-photographer Ted Polhemus’s survey of 40 years of subcultural expression — recently got a nice reissue. And, timely with all the Bay Area peeps still heading there, editor Geoff Stahl’s Poor But Sexy: Reflections on Berlin Scenes looks at everything from that burg’s burgeoning Turkish gay underground to its kooky, folky Russendisko movement. The more you know!
BENEFIT FOR IAVA
Celebrated local dirtybirdie basshead Justin Martin headlines, Thievery Corporation’s Rob Garza joins in (with Shiny Objects and Disco Knights) for this benefit for the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America advocacy group. Healing through music, friends.
Thu/7, 9pm-3am, $15. Monarch, 101 Sixth St, SF. www.monarchsf.com
BEATS. BALLS. BOYS.
Gay-friendly rugby champions SF Fog are raising funds to go to the big Bingham Cup in Australia. How? Sexily, of course! With DJs Jason Kendig and Robert Jeffrey, photos by Shot in the City, and a bunch of hulking, sweaty mens.
Fri/8, 10pm, $10-$15. Beatbox, 314 11th St, SF. Facebook invite
BEATS FOR PEACE
This benefit, drawing together a huge number of young Bay rave players, is raising money to help out techno DJ Trevor Mills, who suffered a spinal stroke in May — and it’s dedicated to the memory of bass DJ Foobz, who passed away in his sleep last month.
Fri/8, 9pm-4am, $15–$20. F8, 1192 Folsom, SF. www.feightsf.com
BREACH
Far-too-catchy single “Jack” propelled this producer onto the British charts: He’ll be propelling Mezzanine into a frenzy — with Irish techno ace Shit Robot — at the Lights Down Low crew’s Outside Lands afterparty.
Fri/8, 9pm-3am, $10–$15. Mezzanine, 444 Jessie, SF. www.mezzaninesf.com
FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS
The cute gay techno label finally steps out, with a sparkly showcase sure to draw not just the homo fellas but the curious as well. DJs Jeno of Wicked, wonderfully obsessive record collector Carlos Souffront, and disco–edit darling Gay Marvine (newly relocated from Detroit) provide the payoff.
Sat/9, 10pm-4am, $10–$12. F8, 1192 Folsom, SF. www.feightsf.com
GREEN VELVET
The lineup for this one is whackadoodle: longtime rave-fave Scumfrog, breakbeat hero DJ Icey, hipster duo Gorgon City — all leading up to Chicago’s biggest techno freak, Green Velvet. (Certainly a harbinger of Burning Man’s return.) Cameras ready, prepare to flash.
Sat/9, 10pm-4am, $20–$25. Public Works, 161 Erie, SF. www.publicsf.com
RED HOT RHYTHM REVUE
Swing, swing, swing! An energetic night of old-timey dancing, with music from the Hot Baked Goods (har), dancing girls from the Sweet Sixteen, swing lessons, cabaret performances, more.
Sat/9,7:30pm-1:30am, $10–$15. Balancoire, 2565 Mission, SF. www.redhotrhythmrevue.com
CAJMERE
A double-dose of Green Velvet, as his actually legendary house alter-ego Cajmere takes to the decks. Still freaky, still deaky, but now with “Brighter Days.”
Sun/10, 9:30pm, $20–$25. Audio, 316 11th St, SF. www.audiosf.com
MOM ON MARS
A weekly sunny Sunday patio bunch with full bar, food from Soul Groove, and tunes from the incredible Motown on Mondays crew at Mars Bar. What more do you need?
Sundays, 11:30am-3:30pm. Mars Bar, 798 Brannan, SF. www.facebook.com/marsbarsf