Local musician Jhameel, one of the Guardian’s On the Rise stars, often observes new batches of social networking fans with idiosyncratic videos. Here he’s celebrating reaching 5,000 Facebook fans with a drunken cover of “We Are Young” by Fun. Enjoy.
On the Rise 2012
Tycho
It felt like we were all on the verge at Tycho’s (www.tychomusic.com) December show at the Independent, the breaking point of something momentous, a perfect merging of visuals and sounds. In an effortlessly cool — though I’m sure highly engineered — production, Tycho, a.k.a graphic designer Scott Hansen, played synthesizers with live guitars and drums out front of a screen splashed with fuzzy orange surf images, rolling waves and crashing water.
It was the backdrop to the expressive and expansive Dive (Ghostly International), the first official release in years from the Sacramento native-longtime San Franciscan. And it was the ultimate sensory experience. Now on tour on the East Coast and in Europe, Tycho recently blogged, “I spent the last year locked in my basement working on the album so it’s been really refreshing to be out here performing it for people.”
Description of sound: Ambient / Psychedelic / Electronic.
Like most about the Bay Area music scene: Any show at the Independent.
What piece of music means the most to you and why: I couldn’t really pick one instrument in particular. I see the studio and all of the equipment in it as a single instrument, so I suppose that means the most.
Favorite local eatery and dish: Thai Time — Red Chicken Curry (or anything else there).
Who would you most like tour with: Midlake.
Le Vice
Drop that plate of Black Eyed Peas and mush your M.I.A. to the side. OK, nothing quite that dramatic. But if you’re looking for brightly polished hybrid pop that sounds like the bigtime but still tugs at indie sensibilities and non-ironic heartstrings, Le Vice (www.facebook.com/officiallevice) has you, from its Rick James basslines to its swaggering rhymes. The electrifying live foursome — singer Alex Lee, drummer Darrin Thomas, bassist Sean Stillinger, guitarist Renzo Staiano — arrived glowing and breathless for their photoshoot. They’d just crossed the hill from their Studio SQ HQ, where they were putting the finishing touches on an album slated to be released in April. (A self-titled debut came out in 2010; a collab with Oakland rapper and community booster Mistah F.A.B. Called “City Streets” dropped last month.) Billboard’s Hot 100 awaits.
Description of sound: We’re an indie band very diverse influences; everything from hip-hop to indie pop to electro to chillwave to 80’s synth pop/new wave to R&B to classical. It’s all in there. We also play everything live on stage, we don’t ever play to tracks like a lot of bands do these days.
What do you like most about the Bay Area music scene? We’ve met a lot of people in the scene who have helped us out because they really believe in our sound, like the guys over at Studio SQ, or at Earshot Entertainment. Also, the Bay has some great venues like the Independent, Mezzanine and the Rickshaw Stop who host huge acts but are also willing to take a chance on newer local bands like ourselves.
What piece of music means the most to you Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings, cuz it’s perdy.
Favorite local eatery Broken Record — fresh organic soul food in a grimy-ass dive bar. Tasty as fuck. Hipster bling.
Who would you most like tour to with? N.E.R.D., Weezy, Santigold, or Janelle Monae.
Silver Swans
When is the cover better than the original? When the original is by newbie/vitriolic web backlash victim Lana Del Rey, and the cover is a sensual send-up by seasoned San Francisco duo Silver Swans (silverswans.bandcamp.com). The local act split open the pop song — “Video Games” — slowed it down, and filled it with chilly synth floating below breathy vocals.
But we’re not here to debate Del Rey’s musical ability; we’re here to keep a glossy superhero eye on Silver Swans. Formed by Las Vegas-born vocalist Ann Yu and Jamaica-bred effects wizard-DJ Jon Waters in 2007, the band has delivered a lovely catalogue — most recently 2010’s Secrets EP and the upcoming LP Forever (Feb.7) — of heart-wrenching synth pop and shoulder-dancing, Manchester-evoking icy club rock. It’s high time they get their international due.
Description of sound: Someone else said it best: “tropical synths and stuttering 808s” wrapped in ambivalent romance and bittersweet longing.
Like most about the Bay Area music scene: The Bay Area music scene is both sophisticated yet charming. So many amazing bands come out of SF, yet you can still create your own place here and find people who appreciate what you do. In that sense, it’s still fresh here. The scene isn’t jaded and over-saturated, there’s charm and new inspiration everywhere.
What piece of music means the most to you and why: This is a hard one, so many songs have come into my life and forever changed me, the first mixtape I got had a song on it called “So Said Kay” by The Field Mice and I think I could have listened to that song on repeat for days reading into every lyric and just taking in the voice. It made me sad too, and just made me feel exactly what I wanted to feel at the time. It was one of the first songs to inspire me to write and also tap into that unknown territory where you don’t care about how unique or difficult a part is write, you just let yourself get carried away in the moment of the song itself and let it almost write itself.
Favorite local eatery and dish: El Metate Mexican Veggie burrito, the vegetables are roasted and always fresh. Everything there is delicious and on the cheap, right down to their alfajore cookies, I fully endorse the entire menu.
Who would you most like to tour with: Karin Dreijer Andersson — Jon and I are both admirers of everything she does. She is a true artist, and I get lost in her songs always.
Terry Malts
Terry Malts (www.facebook.com/terrymalts) had me at “Your love makes me nauseous,” a line from its upcoming release. The Guardian covered the band before, but this year something has shifted. The previously secretive act (the trio still posed for us with bags over their heads, though I can assure you, all three have faces) is stepping one pinkie toe out into the public sphere; at least, it’s finally releasing its debut LP, Killing Time, Feb. 21 on Slumberland Records. (There also will be a split seven-inch in a few months on Loglady Records with LA’s Dead Angle.)
Described perfectly to-the-bone as chainsaw pop, Killing Time is gloriously melodic slop packed with noisy punk riffs, classic SST evoking lyrics, and the all-important yet now often forgotten samples peppered throughout; there’s one from Suburbia (1984) — “don’t I even get a goodbye this time?” — and another that’s just a faded/manipulated Beach Boys strain. Fans of Crass and Flipper, Nathan Sweatt, Corey Cunningham, and Phil Benson have all spent time in other local acts. On Dec. 16, 2009, at a Slobber show at Pissed Off Pete’s, the trio came up with the name Terry Malts and thus a new project. It should be noted that Terry Malts were the only band that offered me a beer at the shoot — Budweiser, natch.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4ebVtNKriA
Description of sound: Black Tambourine Flag.
What do you like most about the Bay Area music scene: Tell you what we don’t like instead. The Bay Area music scene seems to get defined by a handful of bands that have been deemed “The Sound Of San Francisco” and it’s very limited in scope. Not everything is garage rock here.
What piece of music means the most to you and why: The Buzzcocks’ “Singles Going Steady” is a good meeting point for all three us.
Favorite local eatery and dish: The #6 at Turtle Tower, best for hangovers.
Who would you most like to tour with: A reunited Henry’s Dress (c’mon HARTMAN).
Future Twin
The two females in Future Twin (www.futuretwin.com) — Jean Yaste and Stephanie Rose — met one another in a moped gang called the Lockits, another member of the band was in a moped crew called Treats of the Loin; I’m not sure if you can concoct a greater back-story than that but I’d be hard-pressed to find one. And the San Francisco fivesome, which formed in December 2010 originally as a trio, makes the equivalent of moped rock on its debut EP cassette, Situation (which is also available for download, for those without a tape player). Released Jan. 31, Situation revs up with roaring guitar, and incorporates field recordings of gunshots and small engines such as lawnmowers and of course, mopeds, but veers from blunt roughness, instead leaning towards powerful girl group-style vocals and multi-part harmonies.
While the first release is a small one, the Mission-based band has chops, brains, and a clear bond. Though perhaps not tight enough to get all its members to a photoshoot — while the drummer Antonio “Tones” Roman-Alcala with strep throat made it, another Future Twin simply texted, “yo, just didn’t feel like going.” No matter, Future Twin celebrates the release of Situation at the Hemlock this Thu/2 (9 p.m., $6. 1131 Polk, SF. www.hemlocktavern.com).
Description of sound: Psychedelic farmageddon grandma rock.
What do you like most about the Bay Area music scene: The things we liked most was the Clarion Alley block party until the damn breeders built their precious condos next door and started their war on fun. These people need to be taken out and the “scene” will heal itself.
What piece of music means the most to you and why: Rap News Occupy 2012. Why? No reason.
Favorite local eatery and dish: Secret Spot has delicious bagels, fresh squeezed juice, and homegrown greens.
Who would you most like to tour with: Bill Murray (as a zombie) and Kool Keith (as himself).
Jhameel
Jhameel (www.jhameel.com) once said to me, “I only have one life to do this.” As cliché as it might seem, it feels like the Oakland-based classical pop virtuoso is living his dream. Near the end of last year he began releasing a new song a week on his site in a series dubbed Waves (available now on Spotify). In the next couple of months, he’ll release another wave, this time of collaborations, and there is a super-secret major release coming in the spring.
He’s creating his own innovative world of modern, synthy R&B pop, often with the assist of the Web. The multi-instrumentalist routinely turns to his Twitter and Facebook fans to crowdsource ideas (like his Halloween costume last year — they suggested “Rufio” from Hook) and gives back to all those who “like” as well. Whenever he reaches a new high goal of followers, he records a drunken video for fans — taking shots on camera then attempting to play. It’s frankly adorable and just another way to connect. Another reason 2012 is the year for Jhameel? His Waves song “Collision” was just featured in a Droid Razr commercial. His next local show is Feb. 20 at Bottom of the Hill (9 p.m., $10. 1233 17th St., SF. www.bottomofthehill.com).
Description of sound: A minimalist combination of Prince, Michael Jackson, and whatever I feel on that day.
What do you like most about the Bay Area music scene: Bottom of the Hill.
What piece of music means the most to you and why: The piece of music that means the most to me changes almost on a daily basis, it depends on what is meaningful to me at that point in time. “Over My Dead Body” by Drake emanates an emotion that’s really hitting home for me right now.
Favorite local eatery and dish: Cheeseboard Pizza in Berkeley. Perfect vegetarian pizzas.
Who would you most like tour with: Janelle Monae. I have a crush on her.
Seventeen Evergreen
Seventeen Evergreen (www.seventeenevergreen.com) occasionally sounds like evil video game music to me. The San Francisco band consists of Caleb Pate and Nephi Evans, both writers-producers who sing and play drums, synths, and Asiatic stringed instruments among other contraptions. Though it has roots in garage, the duo mostly sticks to experimental psych-pop, and sometimes incorporates aggressive dance beats that lend to gaming — you can almost picture shattered gold rings falling through the sky in a winning ding-ding-ding during moments in the forthcoming Steady On, Scientist! LP (March 27, Lucky Number). The next show is Feb. 25 with Atlas Sound at Bimbo’s as part of Noise Pop (8 p.m., $20. 1025 Columbus, SF. www.bimbos365club.com).
The album standout is “Polarity Song,” with its catchy, repetitive hook and provocative lyrics. The song also was featured on the Psyentist EP, released last December and subsequently, there was a music video. While the EP and video by Terri Timely, which played up a rainbow of yarn spun thrift store monsters, were released last year to local acclaim, the full-length will be out in 2012, making it the perfect year for the band to reach its deserved position beside fellow danceable indie giants. After watching Seventeen Evergreen live last year, the phrase “embrace the polarity of life” was bumping about my brain for weeks. Undoubtedly, this will happen to you too.
Description of sound: Somewhere between zenith snowflake pop and psychedelic cave techno.
What do you like most about the Bay Area music scene: The Asian influence on the avant garde, the room for innovation, and the many different scenes which may or may not always celebrate the out-and-out sonic weirdness that this city has produced over the years.
What piece of music means the most to you and why: No one piece could ever answer this one so far, but last year Cass McCombs’ “County Line” was a favorite. “Golden Lady” by Stevie Wonder and nearly anything by Moondog come to mind as perennials.
Favorite local eatery and dish: So many options here but let’s nominate the Chilaquiles at the farmer’s market in the Ferry Building or a number of places in the Mission for the same.
Who would you most like to tour with: ELO.
Metal Mother
Like some sort of neon, acid-drenched wood nymph, Metal Mother’s (metalmother.bandcamp.com) Tara Tati wanders through the leafy, NSFW video for the haunting art-pop “Shake” off last year’s Bonfire Diaries and into the mind’s eye. In 2012, there will be a first trip to SXSW, more videos (yay!), a few remixes, and, fingers crossed, another full length out toward the end of this year. And as the shimmering Tati says, she’ll “Continue dismantling the mundane and mediocre thought systems that are ruling the planet.”
Tati and her band, which came together shortly after the release of Bonfire proved most theatrical of the Guardian photoshoot, with glittering headpieces and flexible posing. In setting up the right headspace for a photo Tati at one point explained, “I imagine we’re on a wind-torn beach in Scotland.” Appropriate given the band’s atmospheric sound. Before embarking on tour, Metal Mother will play Disco Volante on March 3 (347 14 St., Oakl. www.discovolanteoakland.com)
Description of sound: Post-apocalyptic-art-wave.
What do you like most about the Bay Area music scene: Oakland (where I live) has the feeling of being a fairly insulated city, and I think because it feels like we’re off the mainstream radar a bit, in combination with the massive artist population, there’s more support here for being ‘experimental’ and trying new things, than there is for being traditional. There’s this intense camaraderie, like it’s all for one and one for all, yet at the same time, there’s a crazy bullshit filter that really keeps us all in our most authentically creative place.
What piece of music means the most to you and why: The piece that’s recently gotten the most consistent play on my iPod is Sufjan Stevens’ latest album, Age of Adz. I’ve realized that most music that has lasting power for me usually has some symphonic, classical element to it, and he really nailed it with this album. Its masterfully produced; the arrangements are shockingly complex yet have this unyielding elegance that still gets me all emotional. To me, it’s a perfect blend of sweetness, humility, passion, and absurdity; there’s never a dull moment!
Favorite local eatery and dish: Tacubaya in Berkeley, all the vegetarian dishes are amazing. My favorite is probably the ‘seasonal vegetable’ tamales.
Who would you most like to tour with: It’s a tie between Sufjan Stevens and Bjork.
DJ Theory
Tropical sounds are once again moving crowds. Moombahton — the curious new dance music genre that started when DJs slowed hyperactive Dutch house music down to a reggaeton-like groove — is definitely having a moment, and steel drums are skittering high atop whomp-whomp beats. DJ Theory (www.facebook.com/deejaytheory) is one of the Bay’s main proponents of this tropical bass movement, but his unflagging energy and genre versatility placed him firmly on our 2012 breakthrough list. “As a teen, I wore out the repeat button on my Discman to Pink Floyd’s ‘Comfortably Numb,'” the 26-year-old Massachusetts native told us, as he sipped from a raw coconut, no lie. “But a list of music that means the most to me would include Bob Marley, Augustus Pablo, Wu Tang, and Operation Ivy.”
Besides throwing down ubiquitously at Bay Area joints, Theory hosts a regular party called the INTL at Public Works, and is in the process of releasing a slew of remixes and tracks (www.soundcloud.com/deejaytheory), including some tasty collaborations with SF production hero J-Boogie.
Description of sound: All genres aside, I’m simply going for something that hits me in the right spot, and can hopefully turn others on too. I like to think of it as music for the body and the dancefloor. It can be very soulful, but often heavy and throbbing with bass. I love all kinds of music. With so much inspiration out there it’s hard to classify “my sound”.
What do you like most about the Bay Area music scene? There’s something there for everybody, and a deep appreciation for many different styles of music. Even in a small city like SF, there’s an overwhelming amount of music and nightlife at all times, from the underground to the high-end — and tons of options in between. There’s also a fiercely independent hustle when it comes to Bay Area artists and industry professionals, and I definitely dig that.
Favorite local dish Cubano sandwich and sangria from Parada 22 in Upper Haight.
Who would you most like to tour with? Buraka Som Sistema from Portugal. Their live show is out of this world.
Dirty Ghosts
After her other bands naturally fizzled, Allyson Baker was done. “I was burnt,” says the hard-rocking guitarist, clad in her signature black leather jacket, with a rocker’s fringe of black bangs framing her face. Luckily for us, she got the rock’n’roll bug again around 2006, and picked up the pieces for a new project — Dirty Ghosts (www.dirtyghosts.com). Since then the act has gone through a dozen formations, with even more drummers, but one thing remains consistent: Baker herself, a Joan Jett-esque force on stage and off.
Over the past few years the singer-guitarist has recorded and rerecorded a core set of 10 songs, some with the digital help of her husband rapper Aesop Rock, others with session musicians and creative pals. She’ll finally release the full length LP Metal Moon (Last Gang Records) Feb. 21. A few days later (Feb. 23) she’ll play an unofficial album release show as part of Noise Pop’s 20th anniversary (9 p.m., $10–$20. Brick and Mortar, 1710 Mission, SF. www.brickandmortarmusic.com). The year is Baker’s for the taking.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GvupEc9oB0
Description of sound: 1960s funk, ’70s rock, ’80s new wave, ’00s R&B, good times/bad times.
What do you like most about the Bay Area music scene: I think this city has a musical history that’s one of the best and most unique, so even to able to exist in the place where that happened I think is pretty special.
What piece of music means the most to you and why: New Age by Chrome. It’s so simple and it’s got all of the elements. It’s perfect.
Favorite local eatery and dish: I don’t wanna be boring and say the super burrito at Cancún which is my real answer, so the margarita pizza at Una Pizza Napoletana
Who would you most like tour with: Swiftumz.