Today Johnny talks to economist Johnny Venom about the situation in North Africa and explains how there’s a surplus of oil right now in the United States, how the real price hike is going to be cotton — and how the revolutionary fervor is going to play out over the next few weeks. Listen after the jump.
Radio
SFBG Radio: Talking with Jim Goad
Today’s special treat: Johnny talks to Jim Goad, publisher of the short-lived ANSWER Me magazine, the subject of an obscenity trial in Washington in the 1990s, and the author of The Redneck Manifesto. Listen after the jump.
sfbgradio2242011 by endorsements2010Rediscovery: The hypnotic appeal of Jeff Phelps’ Magnetic Eyes
“That album is something I’ve known about for a long time,” Dâm Funk says of Magnetic Eyes, which was written, recorded and produced by Jeff Phelps in 1985. Thanks to the German label Tomlab, more people are finding out about Magnetic Eyes today. Along with the Tony Cook compilation produced by Dâm’s cohort Peanut Butter Wolf and released on Stones Throw, Magnetic Eyes is a rediscovered jewel of ’80s funk. But whereas the Cook album has roots in classic soul, Phelps’ album is a cool, synth-powered collection that brings techno figurehead the Electrifying Mojo to mind. It’s also blessed with peerless cover art and — as you’ll find out after the jump — it inspired a fantastic music video.
If the Pointer Sisters danced with neutrons, then Phelps — to paraphrase Magnetic Eyes’ “K-Shell” — danced with electrons, making bedroom recordings with a Tascam Portastudio 244. Sleek and minimalist, his compositions are on point. Electronic elements mingle with delicate jazz touches. The most powerful and pop example is “Hear My Heart,” where a Yusef Lateef-like woodwind briefly duets with a beguiling, raw (no studio enhancement trickery whatsoever) vocal by teenager Antoinette Marie Pugh. Beginning with a basketball game and moving on to closeups of red fingernails and tearful eyes (not to mention scenes of champagne fireside romance), the video for “Hear My Heart” is, like the best Jan Terri videos, a no-budget delight. The song itself is lovely and hit-worthy.
Jeff Phelps, “Hear My Heart,” from Magnetic Eyes:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUppqNiR_NM
While Phelps lived in Houston, TX at the time, the sound he crafts on Magnetic Eyes’ title instrumental track is a precursor to Detroit techno (the plaintively moving “Don’t Fall Apart On Me” could be an Inner City demo), not to mention the retro-informed future funk that Dâm Funk creates today; Dâm’s collaborator Ramona Gonzalez of Nite Jewel is also a fan of the album. Knowing this, I had to ask Dâm about the Electrifying Mojo, whose late-night radio sets — bringing together Kraftwerk and Parliament — helped forge the Detroit techno sound.
A sample of the Electrifying Mojo on late-night radio:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXu3Alw0-Hw
“I have some old tapes of his,” Dâm said, “His concepts were great, and he played great music. It’s all about the delivery and the passion. That’s what I try to do with my selector sets [as a DJ]. I want them to be special, more to the left angle and the dark side.”
The dark angle and the left side are both abundantly present in the cover art of Magnetic Eyes, which was created by an artist named Garry Hollie that Phelps knew at the time. While introverted instrumentals frame the album, it has a round-the-way creative and collaborative essence, with one lyric (“On the Corner”) penned by Phelps’ wife, and another (“Wrong Place, Wrong Time”) by one of his co-workers. Phelps still makes music today, and in a recent interview, he says he listens to a lot of Steely Dan (a likely influence on Magnetic Eyes), as well as Gil Scott-Heron, Tupac, and…Nite Jewel.
Snap Sounds: Forest Swords — and the spirit of Aaliyah
FOREST SWORDS
Dagger Paths E.P.
(No Pain in Pop/Olde English Spelling Bee)
High on the “Ideas I Wish I Had” list is Forest Swords‘ cover of Aaliyah’s “If Your Girl Only Knew,” a different (if equally idiosyncratic) take on R&B than that of fellow Olde English Spelling Bee act Autre Ne Veut. The group’s M. Barnes taps into the recessive, almost ghostly shade-throwing of the original — one reason why Aaliyah was a unique pop phenomenon — and slows it down to near-Gothic stasis, while adding another twist to the lyric’s romantic intrigue by flipping the gender of the vocalist. The spirit of Aaliyah haunted dubstep and its mutant kin in 2010, thanks to Forest Swords’ “If Your Girl,” and also James Blake’s “CMYK,” which sends the vocals of her best-known hit, “Are You That Somebody?,” through a series of flying-floating transformations. Check out the originals and covers/updates, as well as some more ruminations about this phenom, after the jump.
Of course, Aaliyah’s influence has been seeping into non-pop or R&B places for some time, from the Gossip’s live interpretation of “Are You That Somebody?” (which followed in the footsteps of Northwest no-bass counterparts the Spinanes cover of the same song) to Gang Gang Dance’s professions of love for her around the time of Saint Dymphna. The vinyl version of The xx’s debut album includes the group’s cover of “Hot Like Fire,” which, like “If Your Girl Only Knew,” comes from Aaliyah’s 1996 album One in a Million, where her lithe mystique found a perfect home within Timbaland’s shadowy and spacious yet rhythmic production.
It’s tempting to view Aaliyah’s eternal return as an outgrowth of the fact that some if not many of these artists (and others) were probably kids swept up in radio love back when she was a major phantom of the airwaves. But as time passes, the summer and fall of 1998 — when “Are You That Somebody?” was topping the charts, Missy Elliott’s songwriting was in full effect, Brandy and Monica were fighting over a boy, and R. Kelly was beginning to explore musical narratives with Sparkle and Kelly Price — is starting to seem like a halcyon era of R&B pop. While I like some of the tributes to Babygirl I’ve just outlined, I can confidently say her originals stand supreme.
Forest Swords, “If Your Girl,” from Dagger Paths EP:
Aaliyah, “If Your Girl Only Knew,” from One in a Million:
James Blake, “CMYK,” from CMYK EP:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6nd8kr3Chk
Aaliyah, “Are You That Somebody”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-EymH-COrGk
Our Weekly Picks: February 23-March 1
THURSDAY 24
MUSIC
Floating Goat
If you’re a slave to the riffs and are told a particular guitarist has better chops than other well-renowned fret board slayers, it’s not an assertion to be ignored. So when I heard this about Floating Goat, my ears perked up, and now they won’t stop ringing. The local hesh trio has been playing together for a decade, and their longevity shows — they’re a solid, balanced metal machine, with that sweet-spot ability to seamlessly transition from psychedelically heavy, Sabbath-worship rock into solos reminiscent of 1980s thrash titans. Be gotten, throw some hornss. Whatever floats your goat. (Kat Renz)
With Begotten and Hornss
9 p.m., $6
Hemlock Tavern
1131 Polk, SF
(415) 923-0923
PERFORMANCE
“Way Behind the Music: From Miley Cyrus to Mötley Crüe”
February already brought us the Grammys and Justin Bieber: Never Say Never, and this week Litquake and Noise Pop join forces to spotlight the actual published literary efforts of Mr. Bieber, along with Jewel, Gene Simmons, George Jones, Marilyn Manson, Tori Amos, Vince Neil, Denise McLean (mother of Backstreet Boy A.J. McLean), and others. During this evening of hilariously odd music memoirs brought to life onstage, musicians and writers (including Mark Eitzel, Thao Nguyen, Beth Lisick, Linda Robertson, Michelle Tea, Bucky Sinister, Jesse Michaels, Paul Myers, and Tom Heyman) read excerpts from a selection of music autobiographies. (Julie Potter)
7:30 p.m., $15
Make-Out Room
3225 22nd St., SF
(415) 647-2888
FRIDAY 25
EVENT
“A Night Featuring Chocolate and Other Culinary Gems of the Americas”
Mole, cacao, marimbas, and collage! It’s Friday night at the de Young Museum and the chocolate-y themed evening includes live painting of Mesoamerica’s cacao-related art, demonstrations transforming cacao beans to drinking chocolate, and a discussion of “cacao glyphs,” a Mayan tradition. Learn easy-to-follow dance forms like the bolero, waltz, cumbia, and the traditional “Guatemalan son” to marimba music featuring Ana Nitmar and Mi Bella Guatemala. From the café to the artist studio, there will be beats, sweets, and fun. The museum is open late for perusing the galleries, so bring the family and get your art on. (Potter)
6 p.m., free ($7–$11 for gallery admission)
de Young Museum
50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Dr., SF
(415) 750-3600
deyoung.famsf.org
MUSIC
Aesop Rock and Kimya Dawson
There’s a theory that the political spectrum is circular; follow it far enough and the extremes meet up. The musical spectrum must work the same way, causing fringe artists to connect in unpredictable ways. At least that’s the only sense I can make out of the emerging collaboration between abstract hip-hop MC Aesop Rock and anti-folk singer Kimya Dawson, two inventive wordsmiths with no shortage of winding lyrics. Aesop Rock is contributing to Dawson’s upcoming Thunder Thighs and the two are reportedly at work on a combined album, making this gig a preview of things to come. (Ryan Prendiville)
With Rob Sonic, DJ Big Wiz, and DJ Clydeoscope
8 p.m., $20
Great American Music Hall
859 O’Farrell, SF
(415) 885-0750
SATURDAY 26
DANCE
Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company
In the early days, Israeli folk dancing was a rich tool for nation-building. But internationally-flavored dance theater — think the Inbal Pinto and Bathsheba Dance Companies — has become one of the country’s important cultural exports. The latest to make its local debut is the Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company, which was founded in (and is still is at home in) a kibbutz in Galilee, where it also runs an international dance program for children. Its work is reputed to be fast-paced and highly theatrical as well as very physical. The 15 dancers are bringing the 2009 Ekodoom — It’s not Time, It’s Us which takes on environmental issues and the catastrophe to come if we don’t get our act together. Choreographer and artistic director, Rami Be’er is also a respected musician and painter. (Rita Felciano)
8 p.m., $20–$32
Kanbar Hall
Jewish Community Center of San Francisco
3200 California, SF
(415) 292-1233
EVENT
“Monster Jam 2011”
A stampede of horsepower comes thundering into town today with the Monster Jam series of monster truck races and events, featuring ground-shaking custom creations such as “Time Flys,” “Iron Man,” and the long-running fan favorite “Grave Digger.” Spectators will be treated to races and freestyle events, where the 10,000 pound muscle machines can fly through the air at distances up to 130 feet and reach heights of 35 feet in the air — not to mention crushing cars aplenty. And don’t miss “Megasaurus,” the giant auto-eating, fire-breathing monster that’s sure to scare up a ton of entertainment for this SATURDAY SATURDAY SATURDAY night event! (Sean McCourt)
3 p.m. pit party; 7 p.m. main event, $7.50–$30
Oakland Coliseum
7000 Coliseum Way, Oakl.
1-800-745-3000
DANCE
Ellis Wood
From Amy “Tiger Mother” Chua’s rules to Ayelet “Bad Mother” Waldman’s guilt, the stories about motherhood are not only filling bookshelves and mommy blogs, they’re being danced on stage. For one night only, Ellis Wood, choreographer and mother of three, performs the world premiere of Mom, a 50-minute solo, sharing a layered, thought-provoking and not always pretty look at motherhood. Wood maintains strong ties to the Bay Area, having visited to teach and perform in the region every year for the past decade. Her parents, both Graham dancers, started the dance program at UC Berkeley. Now, in a return to solo work, Wood refocuses herself back to the way she started choreographing 15 years ago. (Potter)
8 p.m., $20
Southside Theater
Fort Mason Center
Marina at Laguna, SF
(415) 345-7575
THEATER
Orphée
In 1954, at the tender age of 17, Philip Glass showed up in Paris and fell in love with French counterculture — and the tripped-out films it produced. The young composer became a Jean Cocteau groupie, later saying, “the bohemian life you see in his Orphée … was the life I was attracted to. Those were the people I wanted to hang out with.” Fast-forward half a century: Glass pays tribute to Cocteau with his own operatic take on the myth of Orpheus. Immersed in the decadent lifestyle of a Parisian artist but ultimately unsatisfied and obsessed with his waning inspiration (sound like anyone you know?), Glass’s poet Orphée embarks on an epic journey to unravel the existential mysteries of life. See his far-out flight presented by the award-winning cast from Ensemble Paralléle. (Emily Appelbaum)
Sat/26, 8 p.m.; Sun/27, 3 p.m., $25–$85
Herbst Theatre
401 Van Ness, SF
(415) 392-4400
SUNDAY 27
EVENT
“Sh*t My Dad Says with Justin Halpern”
“I just don’t want to celebrate a bullshit holiday. I’m plenty romantic. I own a home and I have never shit my pants. Two things you can’t say.” (Feb. 14, 10:09 a.m.) After being dumped by his long-term girlfriend, the now-29-year-old, then-unemployed Justin Halpern moved back in with 74-year-old father and began to document on Twitter some of the outrageously funny things his dad says. Halpren’s hilarious tweets (@shitmydadsays) have accumulated more than 2 million followers and became the basis for a best-selling book and a CBS sitcom of the same name starting William Shatner as the potty-mouthed paterfamilas. Halpern chats about his homegrown road to comedy gold at tonight’s event. (Jen Verzosa)
7 p.m., $10–$25
Jewish Community Center of San Francisco
Koret Center
3200 California, SF
MUSIC
Growlers
With its jangly, surf-tinged grooves run through a filter of well-worn psychedelia, the Growlers are torch carriers of no-frills, modern rock ‘n’ roll. Based in Costa Mesa, the Southern California group’s songs creep along with a dark, subdued underbelly that contrasts perfectly with a knack for hazy, sun-kissed hooks and melodies. Lead singer Brooks Nielson holds the whole thing together with a tattered rasp of a voice that sounds right at home atop the reverb-laden garage and loose Western swing of his bandmates. (Landon Moblad)
With Fresh and Onlys, Pleasure Kills, and Wrong Words
1 p.m., $12
Bottom of the Hill
1233 17th St., SF
(415) 621-4455
MONDAY 28
MUSIC
“Under Raps”
At “Under Raps,” an open mic at the Showdown (formerly known as the Arrow Bar), there won’t be an emo kid whining about holding hands for the first time or a punk rocker screaming about teenage angst. Instead, drink a $5 pint of gin and juice and expect to throw your hands in the air and wave them like you just don’t care to the sounds of fresh freestyles. Every last Monday of the month, the Showdown features a local producer and emcee showcasing your favorite local hip-hop artists doing what they do best — spitting some rhymes. (Verzosa)
9 p.m., $3
Showdown
10 Sixth St., SF
(415) 503-0684
EVENTS
“Wishes, Dreams and Insults: The World of Yiddish Speakers”
If self-deprecating humor, free-floating anxiety, and the greatest assortment of onomatopoetic words ever amassed sounds like your kind of thing, se brent nit (don’t get all excited). But do consider heading to the Public Radio International-sponsored collection of Yiddish short stories, “Wishes, Dreams and Insults.” These tales of triumph, trial, and tribulation — probably not so much triumph, actually, considering the source — promise plenty of chutzpah and humor. Hosted by Isaiah Sheffer of PRI’s Selected Shorts, the event also features Tony Award-winner Denis O’Hare and Drama Critics Circle Award winner Kristen Vangsness. (Appelbaum)
7 p.m., $10–$35
Jewish Community Center of San Francisco
3200 California, SF
(415) 292-1200
TUESDAY 1
MUSIC
Swans
“This is not a reunion. It’s not some dumb-ass nostalgia act,” writes Michael Gira re: bringing back noise-rock pioneers Swans for the first time since 1997. (Swans Are Dead? Now ironic.) The revival of the oppressive, ominous band comes after spending time running Young God Records, home of Akron/Family and Devendra Banhart, and making music as Angels of Light. “I needed a way to move forward, in a new direction,” Gira says. For the band with a reputation for being a devastatingly intense listen, this direction includes having Gira’s three-and-a-half-year-old daughter duet with Banhart. The result is an unexpected harmony and strange beauty on the other side of Swan’s bottomless doom. With a title like “You Fucking People Make Me Sick,” some things never change. (Prendiville)
With Wooden Wand
8 p.m., $34
Regency Ballroom
1300 Van Ness, SF
1-800-745-3000
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Music Listings
WEDNESDAY 23
ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP
Admiral Radley, Typhoon, Social Studies, Fake Your Own Death Bottom of the Hill. 8pm, $14. Part of Noise Pop.
Chuckle Berries, Shrouds, Hondettes, Elvis Christ Knockout. 9pm, $6.
Coronas, Jamestown Revival Slim’s. 8pm, $13.
Dan Deacon, Ed Schrader’s Music Beat, Sister Crayon, Lily Taylor Rickshaw Stop. 8pm, $15. Part of Noise Pop.
Geographer, Butterfly Bones, K. Flay, Funeral Party Independent. 8pm, $15. Part of Noise Pop.
New Monsoon Yoshi’s San Francisco. 7pm, $16.
No Babies, Havarti Party, Arms N’ Legs Hemlock Tavern. 9pm, $5.
+One Trio, Danny Heines, Los Angeles Television Milk Bar. 9pm, $5.
Pendulum, Innerpartysystem Fillmore. 8pm, $25.
Skinwalkers, Necronauts, Electric Shepherd El Rio. 8pm, $5.
Sweet Chariot, Travor Childs and the Beholders, Love Dimension Hotel Utah. 9pm, $6.
Trampled Under Foot Biscuits and Blues. 8 and 10pm, $20.
Versus, Telekinesis, Love Language, Burnt Ones Café Du Nord. 8pm, $16. Part of Noise Pop.
JAZZ/NEW MUSIC
Cat’s Corner with Christine and Nathan Savanna Jazz. 9pm, $10.
Dink Dink Dink, Gaucho, Michael Abraham Amnesia. 7pm, free.
Ben Marcato and the Mondo Combo Top of the Mark. 7:30pm, $10.
Paula West and George Mesterhazy Quartet Rrazz Room. 8pm, $35.
DANCE CLUBS
Club Shutter Elbo Room. 10pm, $5. Goth with DJs Nako, Omar, and Justin.
Booty Call Q-Bar, 456 Castro, SF; www.bootycallwednesdays.com. 9pm. Juanita Moore hosts this dance party, featuring DJ Robot Hustle.
Cannonball Beauty Bar. 10pm, free. Rock, indie, and nu-disco with DJ White Mike.
Hands Down! Bar on Church. 9pm, free. With DJs Claksaarb, Mykill, and guests spinning indie, electro, house, and bangers.
Jam Fresh Wednesdays Vessel, 85 Campton, SF; (415) 433-8585. 9:30pm, free. With DJs Slick D, Chris Clouse, Rich Era, Don Lynch, and more spinning top40, mashups, hip hop, and remixes.
Mary-Go-Round Lookout, 3600 16th St, SF; (415) 431-0306. 10pm, $5. A weekly drag show with hosts Cookie Dough, Pollo Del Mar, and Suppositori Spelling.
No Room For Squares Som., 2925 16th St, SF; (415) 558-8521. 6-10pm, free. DJ Afrodite Shake spins jazz for happy hour.
Respect Wednesdays End Up. 10pm, $5. Rotating DJs Daddy Rolo, Young Fyah, Irie Dole, I-Vier, Sake One, Serg, and more spinning reggae, dancehall, roots, lovers rock, and mash ups.
Synchronize Il Pirata, 2007 16th St, SF; (415) 626-2626. 10pm, free. Psychedelic dance music with DJs Helios, Gatto Matto, Psy Lotus, Intergalactoid, and guests.
THURSDAY 24
ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP
*”Eighth Annual Johnny Cash Birthday Tribute” Knockout. 8pm, $10. With Royal Deuces, B Stars, Misisipi Mike’s Midnight Gamblers, Gold Diggers, Los High Tops, and Careless Hearts.
Everest, Red Cortez, All Smiles Hotel Utah. 9pm, $8.
Film School, Apex Manor, Gregory and the Hawk, Melted Toys Café Du Nord. 8pm, $14. Part of Noise Pop.
*Floating Goat, Begotten, Hornss Hemlock Tavern. 9pm, $6.
Guitarmageddon Blues Ball Slim’s. 9pm, $13.
Hood Internet, Database Rickshaw Stop. 9pm, $21. Part of Noise Pop.
Led Zepagain Yoshi’s San Francisco. 8pm, $16.
Leftover Crack, Rockfight, DHC Thee Parkside. 9pm, $12.
Ted Leo, AB and the Sea, Kevin Seconds, Angel Island Bottom of the Hill. 8pm, $12. Part of Noise Pop.
Pixel Memory, Kodacrome, Sex Admirals El Rio. 8pm, $5.
Johnny Rawls Biscuits and Blues. 8 and 10pm, $20.
Stone Foxes, Voxhaul Broadcast, Ferocious Few, Soft White Sixties Independent. 8pm, $12. Part of Noise Pop.
JAZZ/NEW MUSIC
Shelani Alix Café Royale, 800 Post, SF; (415) 641-6033. 8pm, free.
Derek Smith Latin Jazz Band and Dee Spencer SFSU Student Bands Savanna Jazz. 7:30pm, $5.
Organism featuring Jim Gunderson and “Tender” Tim Shea Bollyhood Café. 6:30-9pm, free.
Stompy Jones Top of the Mark. 7:30pm, $10.
Paula West and George Mesterhazy Quartet Rrazz Room. 8pm, $40.
FOLK/WORLD/COUNTRY
Bhi Bhiman and Justin Farrin Revolution Café, 3248 22nd St, SF; (415) 642-0474. 8:30pm, free.
Bluegrass and old-time jam Atlas Café. 8-10pm, free.
DANCE CLUBS
Afrolicious Elbo Room. 9:30pm, $5. DJs Pleasuremaker and Señor Oz plus guest Ohmega Watts spin Afrobeat, tropicália, electro, samba, and funk.
Caribbean Connection Little Baobab, 3388 19th St, SF; (415) 643-3558. 10pm, $3. DJ Stevie B and guests spin reggae, soca, zouk, reggaetón, and more.
Drop the Pressure Underground SF. 6-10pm, free. Electro, house, and datafunk highlight this weekly happy hour.
Guilty Pleasures Gestalt, 3159 16th St, SF; (415) 560-0137. 9:30pm, free. DJ TophZilla, Rob Metal, DJ Stef, and Disco-D spin punk, metal, electro-funk, and 80s.
Funktastique Tunnel Top, 601 Bush, SF; (415) 986-8900. 10pm, free. Rare grooves, funk, and electro-swing with Dr. Musco.
Jivin’ Dirty Disco Butter, 354 11th St., SF; (415) 863-5964. 8pm, free. With DJs spinning disco, funk, and classics.
Mestiza Bollywood Café, 3376 19th St, SF; (415) 970-0362. 10pm, free. Showcasing progressive Latin and global beats with DJ Juan Data.
1984 Mighty. 9pm, $2. The long-running New Wave and 80s party has a new venue, featuring video DJs Mark Andrus, Don Lynch, and celebrity guests.
Peaches Skylark, 10pm, free. With an all female DJ line up featuring Deeandroid, Lady Fingaz, That Girl, and Umami spinning hip hop.
Red Bull Thre3style DNA Lounge. 8pm, $10-15. DJ contest with a closing set by DJ Jazzy Jeff.
Thursday Special Tralala Revolution Café, 3248 22nd St, SF; (415) 642-0474. 5pm, free. Downtempo, hip-hop, and freestyle beats by Dr. Musco and Unbroken Circle MCs.
FRIDAY 25
ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP
Aesop Rock, Kimya Dawson Great American Music Hall. 8pm, $20. Part of Noise Pop.
Apache, Vanishing Breed, Fangs Hemlock Tavern. 9:30pm, $6.
Battlehooch, Nobunny, Exray’s, Downer Party Bottom of the Hill. 9pm, $12. Part of Noise Pop.
*Black Cobra, Futur Skullz, Hazzard’s Cure El Rio. 10pm, $8.
Blisses B, Fierce Bad Rabbit, Hurricane Roses, Jonathan Meek and the Mutes Kimo’s. 9pm, $5-7.
Concretes, Birds and Batteries, Magic Bullets, Psychic Friend Rickshaw Stop. 8pm, $15. Part of Noise Pop.
Death, Zolar X Slim’s. 9pm, $16.
Leftover Crack, Vacuum, Sharp Objects Thee Parkside. 9pm, $12.
Lisa Loeb Yoshi’s San Francisco. 8pm, $30.
Janiva Magness Biscuits and Blues. 8 and 10pm, $22.
Josh Ritter, Scott Hutchinson Fillmore. 9pm, $25.
Tamaryn, Black Ryder, Soft Moon, Wax Idols Café Du Nord. 8pm, $13. Part of Noise Pop.
Young Prisms Independent. 8pm, $13. Part of Noise Pop.
JAZZ/NEW MUSIC
Black Market Jazz Orchestra Top of the Mark. 9pm, $10.
Sameer Gupta’s Namaskar Red Poppy Art House. 8pm, $15.
Suzanna Smith and group Savanna Jazz. 7:30pm, $8.
Paula West and George Mesterhazy Quartet Rrazz Room. 8pm, $45.
FOLK/WORLD/COUNTRY
Albino!, Russ Liquid Elbo Room. 10pm, $10.
“Americana Jukebox” Plough and Stars. 9:30pm, $6-10. With Magnolia Row, Snap Jackson, and Knock On Wood Players.
Baxtalo Drom Amnesia. 9pm, $7-10.
Makru Revolution Café, 3248 22nd St, SF; (415) 642-0474. 9pm, free.
DANCE CLUBS
Afro Bao Little Baobab, 3388 19th St, SF; (415) 643-3558. 10pm, $5. Afro and world music with rotating DJs including Stepwise, Steve, Claude, Santero, and Elembe.
CNY With Monsters of Bass Tour 103 Harriet, 103 Harriet, SF; www.1015.com. 9pm, $15. With MartyParty, FreQNasty, and Opiuo.
DJ Dtek Medjool, 2522 Mission, SF; www.medjoolsf.com. 10:30pm, $10.
Duniya Dancehall Blue Macaw, 2565 Mission, SF; (415) 920-0577. 10pm, $10. With live performances by Duniya Drum and Dance Co. and DJs dub Snakr and Juan Data spinning bhangra, bollywood, dancehall, African, and more.
Exhale, Fridays Project One Gallery, 251 Rhode Island, SF; (415) 465-2129. 5pm, $5. Happy hour with art, fine food, and music with Vin Sol, King Most, DJ Centipede, and Shane King.
Fubar Fridays Butter, 354 11th St., SF; (415) 863-5964. 6pm, $5. With DJs spinning retro mashup remixes.
Good Life Fridays Apartment 24, 440 Broadway, SF; (415) 989-3434. 10pm, $10. With DJ Brian spinning hip hop, mashups, and top 40.
Hot Chocolate Milk. 9pm, $5. With DJs Big Fat Frog, Chardmo, DuseRock, and more spinning old and new school funk.
Hubba Hubba Revue: Around the World in 25 Girls DNA Lounge. 9pm, $10-15. Burlesque performances.
Psychedelic Radio Club Six. 9pm, $7. With DJs Kial, Tom No Thing, Megalodon, and Zapruderpedro spinning dubstep, reggae, and electro.
Rockabilly Fridays Jay N Bee Club, 2736 20th St, SF; (415) 824-4190. 9pm, free. With DJs Rockin’ Raul, Oakie Oran, Sergio Iglesias, and Tanoa “Samoa Boy” spinning 50s and 60s Doo Wop, Rockabilly, Bop, Jive, and more.
Some Thing Stud. 10pm, $7. VivvyAnne Forevermore, Glamamore, and DJ Down-E give you fierce drag shows and afterhours dancing.
Teenage Dance Craze: The Number One Twisting Party in the Universe Knockout. 10pm, $4. With DJs Russell Quan, dX the Funky Gran Paw, and guest Mr. Okie Oran.
Vintage Orson, 508 Fourth St, SF; (415) 777-1508. 5:30-11pm, free. DJ TophOne and guest spin jazzy beats for cocktalians.
SATURDAY 26
ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP
Max Bemis, Trophy Fire, Westwood and Willow, Dave Smallen Bottom of the Hill. 8pm, $15. Part of Noise Pop.
Best Coast, Wavves, Hunx and His Punx, Royal Baths Regency Ballroom. 8pm, $22. Part of Noise Pop.
Cody Chesnutt Yoshi’s San Francisco. 8 and 10pm, $25.
Dan Band, Diamond Dave Independent. 9pm, $25.
*Death Angel, Lazarus A.D., Bonded By Blood Slim’s. 8pm, $23.
East Bay Grease, Black, Touch-Me-Nots Hemlock Tavern. 9:30pm, $7.
Haberdasher, Love Dimension, Chelsea TK El Rio. 6pm, free.
Headslide Thee Parkside. 3pm, free.
JGB with Melvin Seals Great American Music Hall. 9pm, $25.
Joe Buck Yourself, Hooten Hallers Thee Parkside. 9pm, $8.
Kicker, Meat Sluts Bender’s, 800 S. Van Ness, SF; www.bendersbar.com. 10pm, $5.
Linda Kost Savanna Jazz. 7:30pm, $8.
No Age, Grass Widow, Rank/Xerox, Crazy Band Rickshaw Stop. 8pm, $15. Part of Noise Pop.
Santos! Knockout. 10pm, $10. With DJs Daniel and dX the Funky Gran Paw.
Earl Thomas Biscuits and Blues. 8 and 10pm, $22.
JAZZ/NEW MUSIC
Paula West and George Mesterhazy Quartet Rrazz Room. 8pm, $45.
FOLK/WORLD/COUNTRY
Eliyahu and the Qadim Ensemble Red Poppy Art House. 8pm, $15-20.
Go Van Gogh Revolution Café, 3248 22nd St, SF; (415) 642-0474. 9pm, free.
“Rogues of the Barbary Coast” Hotel Utah. 9pm, $8. With Mad Maggies, Shark Alley Hobos, and Brian Belknap.
“Songbird Festival and Con Brio Present: Music to Freak To” Amnesia. 9pm. With Kelly McFarling, Con Brio, and Ben Flax.
Craig Ventresco and Meredith Axelrod Atlas Café. 4pm, free.
DANCE CLUBS
Afro Bao Little Baobab, 3388 19th St, SF; (415) 643-3558. 10pm, $5. Afro and world music with rotating DJs including Stepwise, Steve, Claude, Santero, and Elembe.
Bar on Church 9pm. Rotating DJs Foxxee, Joseph Lee, Zhaldee, Mark Andrus, and Nuxx.
Bootie SF: Request Night DNA Lounge. 9pm, $6-12. Mash-ups with Adrian and Mysterious D.
Breath Control, DJ Pickpocket, Dominique Leone, Ben Bracken, Damon Palermo Lab, 2948 16th St, SF; (415) 864-8855. 8pm, $7-12.
DJ Nik Medjool, 2522 Mission, SF; www.medjoolsf.com. 10:30pm, $10.
4OneFunktion Elbo Room. 10pm, $5-10. Hip-hop with guest Jeremy Sole and residents B. Cause, Mista B, A-Ron, and a performance by F.A.M.E.
Frankie Knuckles, David Harness Mighty, 119 Utah, SF; www.mighty119.com. 10pm.
Go Bang! Deco Lounge, 510 Larkin, SF; (415) 346 – 2025. 9pm, $5. Recreating the diversity and freedom of the 70’s/ 80’s disco nightlife with DJs Steve Fabus, Tres Lingerie, Sergio, and more.
HYP Club Eight, 1151 Folsom, SF; www.eightsf.com. 10pm, free. Gay and lesbian hip-hop party, featuring DJs spinning the newest in the top 40s hip hop and hyphy.
Reggae Gold Club Six. 9pm, $15. With DJs Daddy Rolo, Polo Mo’qz, Tesfa, Serg, and Fuze spinning dancehall and reggae.
Rock City Butter, 354 11th St., SF; (415) 863-5964. 6pm, $5 after 10pm. With DJs spinning party rock.
Martin Solveig Ruby Skye, 420 Mason, SF; www.rubyskye.com. 9pm, $15.
Spirit Fingers Sessions 330 Ritch. 9pm, free. With DJ Morse Code and live guest performances.
SUNDAY 27
ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP
“Battle of the Bands” DNA Lounge. 5:30pm, $12. With Younger Dryas, Death of a Legend, Heap of Stone, and more.
Biffy Clyro, Moving Mountains, Bird By Bird Rickshaw Stop. 8pm, $12.
Fresh and Onlys, Growlers, Pleasure Kills, Wrong Words Bottom of the Hill. 1pm, $12. Part of Noise Pop.
Ben Gibbard, Zach Rogue Great American Music Hall. 8pm, $25. Part of Noise Pop.
Glassjaw, These People, Tidal Arms Regency Ballroom. 8pm, $25.
JAZZ/NEW MUSIC
Ernie Small Memorial Big Band Savanna Jazz. 7:30pm, $5.
Elaine Lucas Bliss Bar, 4026 24th St., SF; www.blissbarsf.com. 4:30pm, $10.
Shana Morrison Rrazz Room. 7pm, $25.
Aaron Priskorn Revolution Café, 3248 22nd St, SF; (415) 642-0474. 8pm, free.
“Women in Jazz” Yoshi’s San Francisco. 7pm, $20. With Ruth Davies, Roberta Donnay, Brenda Wong Aoki, and Destiny Muhammad; benefit for the Jazz Heritage Center.
FOLK/WORLD/COUNTRY
Country Casanovas Thee Parkside. 2pm, free.
David Friedman Unity San Francisco, 222 Bush, SF; www.unitysf.com. 2pm, $27. Benefit for UnitySF.
DANCE CLUBS
Dub Mission Elbo Room. 9pm, $6. Dub, roots, and classic dancehall with DJ Sep, Ludachris, and guest DJ Crazy Baldhead.
45Club: 100 Yards of Funky Soul Records Knockout. 10pm, free. With Dirty Dishes, English Steve, and dX the Funky Gran Paw.
Gloss Sundays Trigger, 2344 Market, SF; (415) 551-CLUB. 7pm. With DJ Hawthorne spinning house, funk, soul, retro, and disco.
Honey Soundsystem Paradise Lounge. 8pm-2am. “Dance floor for dancers – sound system for lovers.” Got that?
Kick It Bar on Church. 9pm. Hip-hop with DJ Zax.
La Pachanga Blue Macaw, 2565 Mission, SF; www.thebluemacawsf.com. 6pm, $10. Salsa dance party with live Afro-Cuban salsa bands.
Religion Bar on Church. 3pm. With DJ Nikita.
Swing Out Sundays Rock-It Room. 7pm, free (dance lessons $15). DJ BeBop Burnie spins 20s through 50s swing, jive, and more.
MONDAY 28
ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP
Brilliant Colors, Hot New Mexicans, Homeowners El Rio. 7pm, $6.
Hellogoodbye, Jukebox the Ghost, Gold Motel, Now Now Every Children Slim’s. 7:30pm, $16.
John Popper and the Duskray Troubadours, Lisa Bouchelle Independent. 8pm, $20.
Stone Fox, Bangs Make-Out Room. 8pm, $5-10.
Steve Smith and Vital Information Yoshi’s San Francisco. 8pm, $20.
Trifles, Twinks, Danger Babes Knockout. 9pm, $10-20. Benefit for KUSF.
DANCE CLUBS
Death Guild DNA Lounge. 9:30pm, $3-5. Gothic, industrial, and synthpop with Joe Radio, Decay, and Melting Girl.
Krazy Mondays Beauty Bar. 10pm, free. With DJs Ant-1, $ir-Tipp, Ruby Red I, Lo, and Gelo spinning hip hop.
M.O.M. Madrone Art Bar. 6pm, free. With DJ Gordo Cabeza and guests playing all Motown every Monday.
Manic Mondays Bar on Church. 9pm. Drink 80-cent cosmos with Djs Mark Andrus and Dangerous Dan.
Network Mondays Azul Lounge, One Tillman Pl, SF; www.inhousetalent.com. 9pm, $5. Hip-hop, R&B, and spoken word open mic, plus featured performers.
Sausage Party Rosamunde Sausage Grill, 2832 Mission, SF; (415) 970-9015. 6:30-9:30pm, free. DJ Dandy Dixon spins vintage rock, R&B, global beats, funk, and disco at this happy hour sausage-shack gig.
Skylarking Skylark. 10pm, free. With resident DJs I & I Vibration, Beatnok, and Mr. Lucky and weekly guest DJs.
Under Raps Showdown, 10 Sixth St, SF; www.showdownsf.com. 9pm, $3. Hip-hop open mic with hosts BPos and live beats by Optik.
Valencia: 1995 Elbo Room. 9pm, $5. Michelle Tea hosts this 90s party to benefit Valencia: The Movie(s), with DJs Pink Lightning and Junkyard, films by Justin Kelly, and more.
TUESDAY 1
ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP
Emilie Autumn Bottom of the Hill. 9:30pm, $13.
Fat Tuesday Band Biscuits and Blues. 8 and 10pm, $15.
Odd Owl, Laura Meyer El Rio. 7pm, free.
Shannon and the Clams, Guantanamo Baywatch, Uzi Rash, Boom Hemlock Tavern. 9pm, $7. Swans, Wooden Wand Regency Ballroom. 8pm, $34. JAZZ/NEW MUSIC Aaron Goldberg Trio, Hip-Bones Yoshi’s San Francisco. 8pm, $16. Conscious Contact Revolution Café, 3248 22nd St, SF; (415) 642-0474. 8:30pm, free. Ricardo Scales Top of the Mark. 6:30pm, $5. DANCE CLUBS Bombshell Betty and Her Burlesqueteers Elbo Room. 9pm, $10. Burlesque performers with live music by Fromagique. Eclectic Company Skylark, 9pm, free. DJs Tones and Jaybee spin old school hip hop, bass, dub, glitch, and electro. Extra Classic DJ Night Little Baobab, 3388 19th St, SF; www.bissapbaobab.com. 10pm. Dub, roots, rockers, and reggae from the 60s, 70s, and 80s. Share the Love Trigger, 2344 Market, SF; (415) 551-CLUB. 5pm, free. With DJ Pam Hubbuck spinning house.
SFBG Radio: People power, from Libya to Wisconsin
In today’s episode, we talk about that remarkable moment when people realize that they aren’t alone — and that tends of thousands or maybe millions of their neighbors are willing to go out in the streets and do something about it. Listen after the jump.
SFBG Radio: The message of Wisconsin
Today Johnny talks to Johnny Venom from Chicago about the story behind what’s happening in Wisconsin. Listen after the jump.
Owning it: Kyle Abraham in fast and slow motion
Dance artist and choreographer Kyle Abraham isn’t going on vacation anytime soon and he admits his next day off will be in August. “I try to work really really hard, I never take days off, which I need, but I’d rather get work done,” says Abraham. His work is paying off. Originally from Pittsburgh, PA, and now based in New York City, Abraham visits San Francisco this weekend to perform two solos in the Black Choreographers Festival at the ODC Theater.
“The first one is part of a new group work that I premiere in December 2011 at The Kitchen in New York, and I recently performed it in a program called American Realness in January. The second work is composed of excerpts from solos that I performed in the “Heartbreaks and Homies” show at Joe’s Pub last weekend in New York.” says Abraham. “The first is from a new work called Live!:The Realest MC. It’s in some ways a play on Pinocchio, but instead of a quest to be a real boy, it is a quest for realness in terms of using a gay vernacular and looking at hip-hop culture as a pinnacle of masculinity, and at the adoration of hip-hop personalities. So this character wants to own that in some way. The other solo is just love songs.”
For the recent performance at the intimate Joe’s Pub, Abraham enlisted choreographers Faye Driscoll and David Dorfman (with whom he has performed for the last five years) to share the evening. “I have my idols for sure,” says Abraham. “Kevin Wynn has been a huge idol for me, and Ralph Lemon, so I’m always intrigued and inspired by the work that they do. I still am trying to get a grasp on all that kind of stuff. I also talk to Reggie Wilson a lot.”
Abraham danced with Bill T. Jones immediately after completing undergrad at SUNY Purchase College in 2000. In the years since, he’s earned his MFA from New York University and has built a company, Abraham in Motion. Gaining momentum, he recently receiving a “Bessie” award (New York Dance and Performance Award) for his work The Radio Show, and this summer, he takes part in Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival for the fourth year in a row, to perform a joint evening with Camille A. Brown.
“What I like to do,” Abraham says, “is present the work in Pittsburgh before it goes anywhere else. I feel like it’s something about being from there. All of the work is always inspired in some way from my life experience, so for me it’s great to have it first be shown there before it goes out somewhere else.” A residency at the Kelly Strayhorn Theater in Pittsburgh helped Abraham develop the first sketches of The Radio Show, which will tour the country next year. He looks forward to returning to his hometown this May for a performance at the August Wilson Center.
Hip-hop enlivens Abraham’s life experience and his work. “I was born in ‘77, and hip-hop was in that pocket, so it has always been ingrained in me. My first concert was Slick Rick,” he says. “It’s always been organic for me, and then over the years, studying various dance forms, all of those things later influence the movement. If I’m making phrase work, there’s always going to be some kind of hip-hop or urban aesthetic that’s going to come out naturally.” It certainly comes out in the solos at the Black Choreographers Festival, along with stunning explosions of limbs and quick switches back to calm and control.
Part of Abraham’s creative practice is to see a lot of work and be inspired by who and what surrounds him, including this trip to San Francisco. “I first came to San Francisco to find a nice transition between not dancing and coming back into dance and trying to figure out what I wanted to do next,” he says. “So coming here [again], even though I’m performing, still has a lot of vacation energy in a way, because I can clear my mind a lot and think about what I’m going to do next.”
7th ANNUAL BLACK CHOREOGRAPHERS FESTIVAL: HERE AND NOW
Sat./19, 8 p.m.; Sun./20, 7 p.m.; $10-$20
ODC Theater
351 Shotwell, SF
www.odcdance.org
Noise Pop Film Festival: the new new age?
The Family Jams, a documentary by Kevin Barker (the man behind Currituck Co. and and on-again-off-again accompanist of Vetiver), captures the careers of the genre-fucks Devandra Banhart, Joanna Newsom, and Vetiver in their infancy on a 2004 summer tour. (The doc screens Thurs/24 as part of the Noise Pop Film Festival; check out a trailer here.)
Near the film’s beginning, Barker, in a voiceover, shares a memory of seeing large flying cockroaches that lived in his grandmother’s kitchen drawers in Hawaii. In the next scene — whodathunk? — a large cockroach appears during a show in Houston, Texas when his musical family (Banhart, Newsom, and Andy Cabic of Vetiver, among others) plays together at the show’s end. Could this link ‘twixt families be made any more obvious?
The documentary also attempts to challenge the so-called limitations of the family’s categorization as folk, but fails. During a radio interview, Banhart asks Cabic, “How do you deal with being considered “folk? Do you accept the humiliation of their inaccuracy and narrow-mindedness?” And in his next breath, a (possibly intoxicated) Banhart says, “Mine is new age. You’ve got to understand, new age — it’s got a bad taste in everyone’s mouth.”
He goes on: “I’m trying to make it groovy again. I’m really trying to give it some credibility. New age — that’s appropriate because it’s a combination of different things.” So, the genre-defying Banhart gives himself a label. Huh.
While The Family Jams has its humorous moments, like when a shirtless Banhart enters a door that clearly says “Shoes and Shirt Required Beyond This Point,” the doc’s high points come courtesy of concert footage. Jammin’ is what this family does best on camera. Otherwise, Barker’s film is largely a slow-moving study of community, and little else.
The Family Jams
Q&A with director Kevin Barker and members of Vetiver after the screening
Thurs/24, 9 p.m., $10
Viz Cinema
New People
1746 Post, SF
SFBG Radio: Chris Daly on Twitter
Former Sup. Chris Daly has an opinion piece in today’s Guardian on the Twitter controversy; today, Johnny interviews him and gets more details on his argument that giving Twitter a tax break is a bad idea (among other things, he raises the question: what happens if Google buys Twitter and moves most of its operations down the Peninsula anyway?) Listen after the jump.
Noise Pop 2011 highlights
MUSIC The 2011 edition of Noise Pop finds the festival stretching the definition of noise pop ever further outward in order to swallow excellent sounds. Back in 1993, when Noise Pop originated, muted My Bloody Valentine-derivative bands with lowercase names evocative of junior-high lunch were the norm. This year, the fest taps into the recent, more sharp-edged shoegaze revival and the current California garage rock zeitgeist, while also making room for hip-hop, freak folk, and deep funk. It’s safe to say that, unlike the character assassinated in Steely Dan’s “Hey 19,” Noise Pop at 19 knows about the queen of soul. Here’s our guide to some of the event’s best lineups.
>>Read more of our Noise Pop 2011 picks here
PEANUT BUTTER WOLF AND DÂM-FUNK: THE DISCOVERERS
It’s the midnight hour on Valentine’s Day in Portugal when I reach Dâm-Funk, a.k.a. Damon Riddick, on the phone. He’s just outside of Lisbon, his surroundings are “phenomenal,” and he’s ready to wax enthusiastic about his longtime partner in funk Peanut Butter Wolf. “Me and Chris [Manak, a.k.a. Peanut Butter Wolf] connect on that sound because we remember and we revere,” he says, when I ask about their shared love of soul, hip-hop, and funk. “We knew what it was like before cable television and the Internet existed, we remember everything from those early VHS tapes to the way the sun set.”
As the sun is still rising on Valentine’s Day, in L.A., the man Dâm-Funk calls “Wolf” for short shows similar brotherly love. “When Dâm met me, we had a mutual respect,” says Manak. “He saw my record collection and vice-versa. When we discover songs, we’ll say, ‘Check this out.'” In turn, this shared enthusiasm, and the positive response to Dâm-Funk’s albums Toeachizown and Adolescent Funk — both released on Manak’s label, Stones Throw – has recharged funk sounds in Los Angeles and SF, and led to new discoveries of soulful and funky treasures from the recent past.
One such gem is Jeff Phelps’ 1985 Magnetic Eyes, a Tascam Portastudio 244 bedroom recording with sensational vocals by Antoinette Marie Pugh, who stars in a terrific no-budget video for the album’s “Hear My Heart” currently up on YouTube. “That album is something I’ve known about for a long time,” Dâm-Funk says, when I mention Magnetic Eyes and its hand-drawn yet futuristic cover art. “It’s a great project.”
Another great project is Tony Cook’s Back to Reality (Stones Throw), a collection of mid-1980s recordings by a musician who got his start as James Brown’s drummer. Taking on the role of executive producer, Manak has added some extra pop to the already formidable strut of Cook songs such as “Heartbreaker,” even drafting in Dâm-Funk to contribute new vocals to one track, “What’s On Your Mind.” “You’d think they were 24-track recordings, but he [Cook] only worked on an 8-track,” marvels Manak. “He was a good musician and producer – when you’re bouncing tracks, you have to know what you’re doing. In those days it was hard to achieve a full sound like that.”
These days, both Dâm-Funk and Peanut Butter Wolf know what they’re doing — and that’s a damn lot. Reflecting his Gemini nature, Dâm is planning to explore the dark side on an EP with that title before venturing into the light on his next LP. He’s also remixed Nite Jewel and is collaborating with her on a project, Nite Funk. He’s producing music by Steve Arrington for Stones Throw, and he wants to put out another chapter of his archival venture Adolescent Funk, with him choosing the tracks instead of Manak. As for the man Dâm calls “Wolf,” he’s got Stones Throw’s 15th anniversary on his hands, including a 7-inch box set, and a series of live-to-vinyl performances by the label’s artists in L.A. These guys are busy, but — fortunately for Noise Pop, and for SF — that doesn’t mean they don’t have time to throw a 45 party. (Johnny Ray Huston)
PEANUT BUTTER WOLF, DAM-FUNK
With Guillermo (Sweater Funk), Hakobo (Fresco)
Sat./26, 9 p.m., $15 (21+)
Public Works
161 Erie, SF
(415) 932-0955
DOMINANT LEGS: LOST IN LOVE
Whether he’s raging in the streets alongside fellow Giants maniacs or musically lost between the sheets, Dominant Legs’ Ryan Lynch sounds like he’s sweet to the core—and even more. “I didn’t have anything to do with setting the mattress on fire, but I was there,” says the SF musician of SF’s impromptu World Series throw-downs. “But I wasn’t stopping anybody from celebrating.”
Lynch also rolls with the love when it comes to music. “I don’t really listen to much music that would be characterized as aggressive,” he continues, on one of those sunny Bay afternoons that make it easy to float away on blue skies and daydreams. “I listen to pop music and, honestly, mostly KISS FM.” His favorite song on this crisp, creamy day is R. Kelly’s “Lost in Your Love.” “It’s all about him wanting to bring love songs back to the radio,'” Lynch adds. “And that’s sort of what I also aspire to—not that we get any radio play!”
But, oh, a girl — or a boy who once was a Girl (until recently, Lynch was Girls’ touring guitarist) — can dream. And dreams have been coming true for Lynch, a longtime Giants follower who recently contributed “Finally Champions” to a digital-only benefit comp of Giants tribute songs released by True Panther. Meanwhile Dominant Legs continues to pick up steam—and members.
Once the repository of Ryan’s solo singer-songwriter imaginings away from longtime band Magic Bullets, Dominant Legs found favor when the Redwood City-bred musician was laid off from his job as mail clerk-receptionist at a law firm. He didn’t sink his sparse funds into job retraining classes or the like; instead he bought a cheap Casio keyboard and drum machine. “I shouldn’t have been spending any money,” he recalls now. “But the direction of the music really took off after acquiring those pieces of musical equipment.” Friend Hannah Hunt, who had just graduated from college, offered to help out at a 2009 show at Amnesia and ended up sticking around.
“She brought a softness, and delicacy, which made the songs more delicate since her voice is so different from mine,” he observes. “I think her voice is easier on the ear than mine.” For Noise Pop, the two have acquired a few more legs to help them on their way: drummer Rene Solomon, bassist Andrew Connors, and guitarist Garrett Godard, the latter once the drummer for Girls.
They’ll be filling out the already intoxicating pop bounding off Dominant Legs’ 2010 EP, Young at Love and Life (Lefse), which has inspired music bloggers to go wild, tossing out scattershot, albeit flattering allusions to Orange Juice and Belle and Sebastian, Kelley Polar and Arthur Russell—and even Dave Matthews. Feeling lost again? Just listen to the earnestly lovelorn, gently bopping, synth-popping tunes like the title track and “Clawing Out at the Walls,” with its curious admixture of sweetness and self-doubt. Kindred spirits and modern lovers such as Jeremy Jay and Camera Obscura, also given to such exquisitely anxious reveries, would understand. “The only thing I’ve heard is that [the EP] is too heavily influenced by the ’80s,” says Lynch. “But I don’t see that as a problem.” (Kimberly Chun)
DOMINANT LEGS
With How to Dress Well, Shlohmo, Chelsea Wolfe
Sat./26, 8 p.m., $12–$14
Café Du Nord
2170 Market, SF
(415) 861-5016
ADMIRAL RADLEY: LIFE AFTER GRANDADDY
Jason Lytle has never been shy in revealing the frustrations leading up to Grandaddy’s demise. Exhaustion from middling success, a love/hate relationship with his lifelong home of Modesto, and a diminished interest in making music with others resulted in a move to Montana to focus on a solo career in 2006. Enter Admiral Radley, a collaboration with members of indie-pop group Earlimart and Grandaddy drummer Aaron Burtch that has him not only playing in a band again, but touring Japan and singing about his former home on songs such as the sarcastic “I Heart California.” Lytle took some time out from a snowy day of magazine shopping at Borders in his new hometown of Bozeman to talk about the project.
SFBG Rumors of a collaboration between you and Earlimart date back to the Grandaddy days. What led to you guys finally working together?
Jason Lytle It was really an excuse to hang out at [Aaron Espinoza’s] studio and just have people coming in and playing parts. We set aside a week as a fun little project. Maybe somebody else had other plans for it, but at the time, I was convinced it was just gonna be a cool opportunity to make a record and be done with it.
SFBG Were you guys surprised by the amount of excitement surrounding the project?
JL Yeah. Then it turned into, alright, we gotta name this record something, and give the band a name, and pretty soon it was this real entity. The Japan thing started off as a joke, and then became more of, “Let’s give this a go, and if it winds up getting us to Japan, we can call it good” — and the whole thing was worth it.
SFBG And how were the Japan shows?
JL They were really scrappy. The places were just dumps. I kept joking with Aaron, saying, “If we weren’t in Japan right now, and if these weren’t exceptional circumstances, there’s no way I’d be putting up with this.”
SFBG You’d expressed some skepticism about playing in bands again after Grandaddy split. Has this experience changed your opinion?
JL My place in Admiral Radley is totally different from what my situation was with Grandaddy. I’m getting off easy. Aaron is a great organizer and knows that a big appeal for me joining the band was not dealing with a lot of the day-to-day crap I used to deal with. I feel like I’m a piece of a puzzle with this band, which after all these years is something I’ve never really experienced. So it’s been kind of neat.
SFBG Both you and Aaron like being hands-on with production in your work. How was the collaborative process on this album?
JL That part was pretty effortless. Aaron and I share a lot of the same philosophies on production and making albums sound a certain way. I definitely sat in on some of the mixing, but there was a lot of it where I was just able to trust what he was going to do, knowing that it probably wouldn’t be too far off from what I’d do myself.
SFBG Was it strange writing lyrics about California now that you’ve been gone for almost five years?
JL I’ve definitely had a renewed perspective. Every time I visit or I’m there doing some work, I’m thrust right into the shit. Like right into L.A. or SF, rather than adjusting or letting it sink in slowly. So, usually it’s pretty jarring for me just because the pace is a lot more relaxed and different here. Having a bit of that outside perspective now allows me to look at things a bit differently. (Landon Moblad)
ADMIRAL RADLEY
With Typhoon, Social Studies, Fake Your own Death
Wed./23, 8 p.m., $12 (21+)
Bottom of the Hill
1233 17th St., SF
(415) 621-4455
GEOGRAPHER: EARTH PEOPLE
The dress code doesn’t include a finely-pressed lab coat, and the toolbox isn’t filled with fragile beakers, but a geographer is indeed a scientist, one who pours himself into the earth and bleeds across its surfaces to observe and categorize its residents. I haven’t asked the members of the San Francisco synth-pop trio Geographer if this occupation has had any inspiration on its sound, but there’s reason to believe the answer may be a humble yes.
Geographer has discovered new ground in the electronic realm. Its unique ménage a trois of music-making contraptions — drums, synth and cello — produces audible scenery that simultaneously calms and energizes the senses. Luscious forests of synth share habitats with rushing bass and guitar. The cello adds a sneaky-smooth layer that easily melts between or melds the more jagged sounds.
Behind the sweet scenery resides a less than pretty picture. Themes of loss and inevitable change creep through their sun-stained melodies, pulling at the roots of the band’s core. In 2005, Michael Deni fled his home in New Jersey, after the unexpected deaths of two family members. He landed in SF, and his instruments became a source of comfort and release while he wandered the new, unfamiliar territory. After a period of searching and surveying, Deni met and began collaborating with Nathan Blaz and Brian Ostreicher. In 2008, Geographer self-released its debut full-length, Innocent Ghosts, a far more relaxed collection that showcases Deni’s round, patient voice.
The landscapes on 2010’s Animal Shapes (Tricycle) are majestic, but far more celebratory. Things are tighter spun, beats kick harder and there’s a cohesive exploratory factor. Specifically fabulous: “Kites,” a track that strikes gold with a lustrous synth party. Deni’s sincere vocals float high above the mountainous bass vibrations, but mingle ever so courteously with the shrill, twinkling electronic additions. Enter the romantic cello and the song is a straight-up gem.
Now is a good time to button up your favorite white jacket and take some notes on the current environment in which you reside. Whether you’re into earth science or not, Geographer is a swell listen that goes well with salty pretzels and an adventure around your own neighborhood. Animal Shapes on repeat will keep you in step with eyes and ears open. And listen carefully: there’s good word on the street about these Geographer guys in the live form. (Amber Schadewald)
GEOGRAPHER
With Butterly Bones, K Flay, Funeral Party
Wed./23, 8 p.m., $13–$15
The Independent
628 Divisadero, SF
(415) 771-1421
PSYCHIC FRIEND: PIANO POWER
Will Schwartz and the piano go way back, to when he was nine. “I’ve been attracted to the C chord and to A minor since I was a kid,” he says from L.A., where he’s living in Los Feliz. “I learned to play piano by ear, and it was always based on [starting with] a C major and going from there.”
You could say Schwartz played his first gigs on the instrument. “We had this two-story living room in our house in New Jersey with a little balcony, and the piano was up on the balcony,” he says with a laugh. “I would imagine I was playing for people down below. I would put on shows for the living room furniture.”
In his new band Psychic Friend, Schwartz updates California chamber or piano pop for today’s era, with contributions by Hole drummer Patty Schemel and instrumentalist-producer Bo Boddie. The result is a fresh chapter in Schwartz’s musical story, one that has ranged from the guitar-rock of Imperial Teen to the D.I.Y. choreographed pop of Hey Willpower, which involved contributions from videomaker Justin Kelly, DJ Chelsea Starr, and musician Tomo Yasuda.
Crisp and clean, in a way Psychic Friend sounds like the moment Schwartz has found his voice, or unknown heights or depths of it. The pounding “Once a Servant” revives the spirit of Jobriath. “Water Sign” has a Serge Gainsbourg undercurrent. “Shouldn’t Have Tried Again”‘s rendering of the repeat failure of a relationship matches the plaintive sunshine-y yearning of Harry Nilsson’s sublime covers of Randy Newman.
You could say Psychic Friend is new Californian pop. The piano-based melodic immediacy of the group’s sound has a kinship to Carole King’s solo work, or Burt Bacharach and some of his hits for psychic and other friends, yet both the sound and the lyrical content is very contemporary, not retro. It also isn’t Rufus Wainwright showboating — tracks like “We Do Not Belong” allow Schwartz’s voice a freedom and resonance it hasn’t had before, but he doesn’t run away with himself. “The nature of playing a piano and writing melodic songs, it almost brings you back to ’70s songwriting,” Schwartz observes.
“I just found this place in my voice that feels very connected, actually, that comes from playing the piano, and it feels good,” he adds, simply.
Schemel’s powerful drumming and Boddie’s hit-making skills have a role in this shift. “It’s like an Eddie and the Cruisers feeling,” Schwartz says, “where you start to play something, and by the end it sounds like a finished song.” (Huston)
PSYCHIC FRIEND
With The Concretes, Birds and Batteries, Magic Bullets
Fri./25, 8:30 p.m., $13–$15
Rickshaw Stop
155 Fell, SF
(415) 861-2011
Gleaming the Cubist
RARE SILENT FILM In the 1920s — avant-garde heyday for so many forms of media — ascendant youth culture, “machine age” fetishism, the off-leash romping of bob-haired women, and myriad other factors induced fierce resistance to much now considered of crucial historical and artistic import.
Not to say all this contested art was necessarily good. But much was arguably hated beyond reason. A major case in point plays in Feb. 24 as part of the Pacific Film Archive’s “Cinema Across Media: The 1920s” series. Marcel L’Herbier’s 1924 L’Inhumaine, “a fairy story of modern decorative art,” is a remarkable time capsule of avant-garde trends at their temporal and geographic peak — even if Paris then wasn’t having it.
These were heady times. Privileged intellectual L’Herbier was a heady guy, missing World War I combat service because an angry lover shot off his finger. Attracted to film’s possibilities after mulling career paths from composing to diplomacy, he began directing in 1918. Some soon hailed him as France’s greatest contributor to the medium. Cinema being bandied about then as the ultimate art form combining all before it, such praise was bound to induce hubristic abandon.
L’Herbier’s taste for rarefied experimentation was shared by close friend Georgette Leblanc, an operatic soprano famed for her Carmen and for originating other musical and acting roles. She was long-term muse to Symbolist playwright Maurice Maeterlinck, the millennial stage’s leading innovator. By 1924 that relationship was over, as was her singing career. Not one to be left behind, Leblanc proposed bankrolling a film that she would star in, directed by L’Herbier.
L’Herbier was amenable. He’d started his own production company to avoid the financial problems of prior lofty projects, but only sank deeper in hock. L’Inhumaine was to be a cinematic summit of prominent avant-gardists, its cubist sets alone the work of four designers including painter Fernand Léger and architect Robert Mallet-Stevens. A key sequence at the Théatre des Champs-Elysées called on all Leblanc and L’Herbier’s fashionable connections to impersonate some 2,000 concert-goers whipped into a near riot by the heroine’s infamy and artistry.
Unfortunately, actual public response to their end-product was equally rowdy. Critics heaped scorn; box office was catastrophic; and Leblanc did not deign to grace the silver screen again. It is easy to view L’Inhumaine as her fault: a teetering monument to an Olympian ego.
She plays Claire Lescot, “famous singer, bizarre woman,” who reigns over a salon of great minds and power-mongers enslaved by the fickle attentions that have branded her “inhuman.” When a young engineer (Jaque Catelain) announces he’ll kill himself if she doesn’t give him some sugah, she harrumphs “If you destroy your life so easily, it can’t be worth much.” He promptly plunges a race car off a cliff.
Squat, heavy in war paint and emotional lifting, 50-year-old Leblanc is clearly the most fascinating woman in the world here by write-in vote of one. L’Inhumaine‘s ungainly mix of vanity showcase, modern art trappings, and sci-fi eventually sees our songbird — not silent cinema’s most vivid profession — conquer tout le monde via a radio-television transmission. Which strangely also allows her to see les misérables briefly elevated by her art around the globe. When a jealous rajah poisons her, her “modern magician” scientist lover allows conquering Death itself in a cacophony of machinery and montage.
L’Inhumaine reflects its moment as much as the next year’s Battleship Potemkin (1925). That it was received more like 1923’s Salome — the infamous Rudolf Valentino-funded Art Nouveau version of Oscar Wilde’s play, which for reasons both credible and malicious was branded a “riot” of homosexual aesthetics — laid in the extreme disconnect between cutting-edge techniques and woozily old-hat theatrical content. There’s no denying the film is whopping camp, albeit camp curated (as L’Herbier intended) to complement the hugely influential International Exhibition of Modern Industrial and Decorative Arts opening in Paris in 1925.
This failure must have been tough, but the director persevered. His 1928 Zola update L’Argent (recently revived by the San Francisco Silent Festival) integrated modernist design and conventional storytelling far more successfully. While his sound-era films were considered less innovative, he remained a significant industry force, moving into producing cultural programs for TV.
When L’Herbier died in 1979, even L’Inhumaine had been partly rehabilitated, its ultramodernism treated (as is so often the case) more kindly in retrospect. Fifty years had transformed La Lescot’s grandiosity from ridiculous affectation to charming folly.
L’INHUMAINE
Feb. 24, 7 p.m., $6.50–$9.50
Pacific Film Archive
2575 Bancroft, Berk.
(510) 642-5249
SFBG Radio: Howie Klein, part II
In today’s installment, Johnny continues his interview with Howie Klein, founder of 415 records, contemporary of Harvey milk and Bill Graham. Listen after the jump.
SFBG Radio: Talking to Howie Klein
Today we continue Johnny’s interview with local music legends — he talks to Howie Klein, the co-founder of 415 Records, about his start in the music industry, Harvey Milk, Bill Graham, and more. We’re keeping these things short, so this is part one; we’ll post part two to the interview Feb. 14. Listen after the jump.
Don’t trip
New Rkelly album out Dec 14th that I will soon be immensely non-ironically enjoying
2:48 PM Dec10th via web
sometimes listening to KMEL all day feels like an insane psychological experiment
4:15 PM Dec 9th via web
Damn…Aretha Franklin is dying? 🙁
3:02 AM Dec 9th via Echofon
nothing is worse than a one man beatbox loop station band unless he is breakdancing or juggling or doing graffiti at the same time
11:31 PM Dec 5th via web
reggie watts- the quirky comedian who incorporates beat box loop station songs into his act. I will regret that youtube search for life.
11:16 PM Dec 5th via web
Just informed someone who didn’t know that dio was dead. Heavy moment
7:36 PM Dec 3rd via Echofon
I wonder what kind of pussy the guys in Trans-siberian orchestra get?
11:10 PM Dec 1st via web
2nd bubba sparxx record is so good.
Sunday, Nov 28, 2010 10:51:05 PM via web
Your house is my nitrous den. I leave my gear there RT @ALEXISPENNEY just saw the cannister and balloons that @swiftumz left in our pantry
2:04 PM Nov 25th via Echofon
K-Ci and JoJo have a reality show!!
2:24 PM Nov 25th via web
everyones “beatles on itunes” jokes fucking suck
2:24 PM Nov 17th via web
wow…singer from blur and FLEA are working on an album of AFRICAN music with Tony Allen…THIS IS NOT A JOKE
1:01 PM Nov 17th via web
“I like any bar I can lay down in”
11:14 PM Nov 12th via Echofon
Been thinking about the west Memphis three a lot lately- about how much I don’t care.
11:12 PM Nov 12th via Echofon
trey songz “bottoms up”is like the best shit out right now.
1:32 PM Nov 12th via web
wow just saw the most racist mcrib commercial ever
5:49 PM Nov 11th via web
leaving hateful comments on local bands youtube pages
12:36 AM Nov 11th via web
I’d like a time lapse film of the healthy, fresh organic food I buy at the beginning of the week slowly wilting in my fridge.
11:55 PM Nov 10th via web
Jackée and Rodney Dangerfields duet of “Great balls of fire” is the definitive version of that song.
5:41 PM Nov 6th via Echofon
@HunxandhisPunx watching ladybugZ 🙂
4:49 PM Nov 6th via Echofon
almost every outkast song gets exponentially shittier each time you hear it.
5:14 PM Nov 15th via web
Die Antwoord is like the worst phenomenon
12:51 PM Nov 5th via web
Big Momma’s House 3 better be in 3D
5:48 PM Oct 27th via web
I hope Eddie Rabbitt wasn’t a stage name because that’s a bad one
1:51 AM Oct 24th via Echofon
I love a rainy night (RIP Eddie Rabbit)
1:50 AM Oct 24th via Echofon
just told drake to shut up and angrily turned off the radio.
1:56 PM Oct 21st via web
they need to invent more dimensions so movies can have more sequels
5:17 PM Oct 11th via web
really happy the Usher/Tre Songz tour is called the “OMG tour”. Gonna be bummed when this era is over.
12:29 PM Oct 7th via web
Always excited to meet someone with an “Anticon” hoody cuz I can tell them all about actual good music to listen to. Especially rap
9:18 PM Oct 1st via Echofon
Last night while complaining about Marley children, I was informed that marc bolans son performs t Rex covers under the name “Rolan Bolan”
3:53 PM Sept 28th via Echofon
wearing a different michael jackson shirt than yesterday.
3:15 PM Sept 15th via web
true story: when I saw pantera in high school I threw an employees hat I took from taco bell onstage and dimebag wore it for the whole show!
2:09 AM Sept 14th via web
making more hits with superproducer @mylesusa today!
6:57 PM Sept 11th via the web
I do really love how earth wind and fire never abandoned the kalimba.
5:23 AM Sept 4th via web
spent 21$ at 7-11 now playing guitar in the mirror as things are heating up
4:52 AM Sept 4th via Echofon
Congratulations to Cee Lo for writing a song worse than “crazy”, no fuck YOU cee lo.
6:51 PM Sept 3 via Echofon
the playlist entitled “me” on my itunes is morphing into a super good album
12:06 AM Sept 2 via web
BART tickets are the best DIY floss
2:35 AM August 13th via Echofon
So stoked on my team of super producers @mylesusa @commasounds @staylucid @swiftumz
10:47 PM Aug 11th via Echofon
@HarlemWhateverr put on the Go-betweens and call it a day. Duh
12:03 PM July 30th via Echofon in reply to HarlemWhateverr
The Hannah Montana movie on second viewing blurs the lines of reality way more than inception or the matrix.
2:12 AM July 19th via Echofon
She also described someone she thought was cute as “thom yorke-like”…double doozy
7:41 PM July 13th via Echofon
Not talking to this lady anymore who isn’t excited about Weird Als upcoming show at the Warfield. #dealbreaker
7:40 PM July 13 via Echofon
lyric from the new prince song: “from the heart of minnesota, here comes the purple yoda” #notjoking
10:58 AM July 12th via web
Starting mixtape at 3am…no Jim Nabors
3:09 AM July 9th via Echofon
Jim Nabors record thrown out of my 4th story window #jimnabors
3:07AM July 7th via Echofon
Listening to Jim Nabors record #timeforbed
3:06 AM July 7th via Echofon
i’m wearing swim trunks and an oversize ICP shirt right now
10:19 PM July 6th via web
“someone spilled a beer in the doritos?” actual quote
2:29 AM July 3rd via Echofon
my iPhone recognizes “chillwave” as a word
11:05 July 1 via Echofon
I wish someone would just organize a flash mob of people punching themselves in the face
11:16 PM Jun 25th via web
Hmmm I wonder how that new sushi place that just opened across the street from the JAIL is…
4:15 PM Jun 25th via Echofon
listening to GAS at work, makes my whole day like an episode of twin peaks
3:01 PM Jun 25th via web
JAH- please make it rain on everyone trying to see Pavement tonight. =D
1:16 PM Jun 25th via web
Toni tone Tony “house of music” LP hasn’t left my record player for a week. A seriously great album.
1:11 AM Jun 24th via Echofon
Whoa macy gray is on TV…always wondered what happened to him
12:52 AM Jun 24th via Echofon
@truepanther sorry dean-nice try, but i’m already signed
3:13 AM Jun 19th via web in reply to truepanther
inhaling insane amounts of sour diesel and listening to durutti column right now #lifeisgood
2:58 AM Jun 19th via web
I should go to bed but I can’t stop listening to mercyful fate #worshipsatan
1:07 AM Jun 17th via web
ouch! curtis mayfield just made me shed a little tear right here at my desk
2:47 PM Jun 11th via web
maybe betty white could join RUNDMC as the DJ???
5:55 PM Jun 3rd via web
is anything stupider than graffiti? Maybe beatboxing?
1:04 PM May 25th via web
Every time I clean my room I find a hit of E
7:07 PM May 18th via Echofon
Listening to Alice Coltrane “universal consciousness” and I have not one shitty thing to say about it. #positivity #universalconsciousness
6:53 PM May 18th via web
this improvisation battle between brian setzer and the country bears fiddle player is intense
11:59 PM May 17th via web
i’ve already given country bears a four star rating on netflix based on the first three minutes.
11:18 PM May 17th via web
holy shit this live action country bears movie is fucking horrifying!!!
11:17 PM May 17th via web
Every time wyclef says “one time” on killing me softly a small part of me dies #shutupandlettheladysing
11:35 AM May 5 via Echofon
I reckon cypress hills bongo player is among the best i’ve ever seen #\:=D
10 PM April 20th via Echofon
These children just handed us a lit joint as big as my index finger
8:55 PM April 20th via Echofon
A new teenage fanclub album and big mommas house 3 in the same year? regained my will to live.
1:15 Pm April 20th via Echofon
I wish the voice in my head was Lee Hazelwoods or Harry Nillsons, maybe then I’d listen to my conscience.
3:41 Pm April 16th via web
Fuck you bjork, you’re the dave matthews band of weird chicks
5:50 PM Mar 31st via Echofon
Bob Marley’s kids are whiter than Michael Jackson’s kids
10:24 PM Mar 17th via Echofon
The oscars r so backwards…that lady is going to win for ‘the hurt locker’ when she should have won for ‘point break’
11:08 PM Mar 4 via Echofon
“do you like noise music?” “no I like that song on the new cat food commercial”
4:44 PM Mar 4 via Echofon
Kinda wish yoko would stop talking about peace and stuff and just brag to the crowd about how great it felt to be filthy rich
10:40 PM Feb 23rd via Echofon
I’m excited to see yoko Ono tomorrow because deerhoof is opening and I want to hate on them
6:20 PM Feb 22nd via Echofon
seriously “on the beach” is like the last thing i’d want to listen to on the beach
12:43 PM Jan 29th via web
Just got asked my favorite question when I’m carrying a guitar in public. “Do you play music?”
3:29 PM Jan 23rd via Echofon
KMEL just had a mini Aaliyah marathon. Not complaining.
4:53 PM Jan 14th via web
I’m confident that I can play guitar better than the following people – Bono, mick jagger, eddie vedder, and the guy from puddle of mudd
12:59 Am Jan 8th via web
“puddle of mudd” performing on tv. shit like this amazes me.
12:57 AM Jan 8th via web
I’m serious when I say the lady who plays the cello for the go betweens can outshred anyone
4:36 PM Jan 6th via Echofon
swiftumz’ album Don’t Trip is coming out on Holy Mountain in spring 2011
SFBG Radio: Cheetah Chrome’s new book
Today we take another break from hard-core politics while Johnny gets back into his history in hard-core punk and talks with the legendary Cheetah Chrome, who has a new book out. Listen after the jump.
CheetahChrome by endorsements2010Free at last?
arts@sfbg.com
MUSIC Deep in East Oakland, in the 80s blocks of MacArthur Boulevard, I arrive at the locked door of a hole-in-the-wall barbershop. A handwritten sign says “closed for a private appointment,” but I knock anyway and gain admittance. Inside, Mistah FAB, a.k.a. the Prince of the Bay, lounges in the chair, getting a mural of a crown and the Bay Bridge shaved onto the back of his head. It’s a very hip-hop ‘do, befitting his present mood. For the occasion of our interview, in part, is his new release, an Internet mixtape of all-original music called I Found My Backpack. As the title suggests, it’s a return to his roots, FAB’s most straight-up hip-hop project since his pre-hyphy debut, Nig-Latin (Straight Hits, 2003).
“I wanted to start off this year with that vibe,” FAB says, over the low buzz of the clippers. “I went into the music I made before I had any success, music that made me happy.”
To be sure, 2010 was a difficult year for FAB. Not only did he have his first child, a daughter, but his mother (“my best friend,” he calls her) died of cancer, leaving him with no parents just as he became one. (His father, as chronicled on his breakthrough album, Son of a Pimp [Thizz, 2005], died of AIDS when FAB was 12.) FAB’s closest cousin also passed away, while his older brother — after a lifetime in and out of institutions — was sentenced to life in prison.
“A party song — that can’t express my pain,” FAB says. “I’m not going to ignore it because when you ignore it, it only grows more. I want to allow people to see the stresses and the pain that I go through.”
For someone who emerged during the Bay’s hedonistic hyphy era, FAB has had more than his share of stress. For the past three-and-a-half years, he’s been signed to Atlantic Records, which never released his projected album, Da Yellow Bus Ryder. Meanwhile, thanks to a dispute with KMEL’s former managing director, Big Von Johnson, FAB got no local radio play from the station since 2006, even when he was on Snoop Dogg’s 2008 hit “Life of Da Party,” which reached No. 14 on Billboard’s rap charts. Finally, as its most conspicuous proponent, FAB was hit hard by the backlash against hyphy that flared up in 2007.
Any of the above qualify as a career-killer, but FAB has refused to surrender, and his persistence is paying off. He’s finally negotiated an end to his contract with Atlantic, and plans to sign with L.A. Laker Ron Artest’s Tru Warrior label to release a full-blown album, Liberty Forever, later this year. His versatility has allowed him to reinvent himself even as he defiantly claims hyphy on Backpack‘s Droop-E-produced opener, “Blame Me.”
“People treated hyphy like it was witchcraft,” FAB laughs. “Like when the townspeople came to hunt for everybody who’d been involved, and everybody was like, ‘No! I did nothing hyphy! I never wore stunna shades!’ But I’m not ashamed of anything we done then. I had to get it off my chest because I wanted people to realize how fake they were being.”
Most significantly, FAB is being broadcast again by KMEL. Backpack‘s hip-hop vibe aside, he hasn’t renounced his commercial ambitions. A new single, “She Don’t Belong to Me,” featuring Universal Records R&B crooner London, has recently begun getting spins, following a regime change at the station; program director Stacy Cunningham was fired last year, while Johnson, though still a DJ, is no longer manager, replaced by assistant program director Kenard Karter.
“If you go around the country and hear Rick Ross, T-Pain, Lupe Fiasco shout out Mistah FAB, then it’s odd that you’re not playing him on the radio station you control,” FAB points out. “But [Karter] is about change and giving artists such as myself a fair shot. He reached out to me a few weeks ago, and they’ve been playing my new record here and there, which is better than never there.”
This development potentially goes beyond FAB to the entire Bay, whose artists are seldom represented on Clear Channel-owned KMEL. But is Karter really about change? In an e-mail interview two weeks ago, he acknowledged that he hopes to increase airplay for local artists. But when asked what’s preventing it, he was inconclusive at best. “Its all about the music,” he wrote. “Quality, mass appeal music that garners passion is the standard for KMEL.”
This is the same line KMEL has pushed for years, implying that Bay Area artists are at fault for not making quality music. For a concrete example of an artist meeting his criteria, I asked about J-Stalin. Stalin has one of the most passionate followings in Oakland; I hear his music slappin’ in passing cars, on BART, even in the elevator in my apartment building. Yet KMEL put nothing in rotation from last year’s The Prenuptial Agreement (SMC, 2010), which debuted at No. 1 on Rasputin’s rap chart.
“I can’t comment,” Karter wrote, regarding Stalin. “I don’t know much about him.”
When I asked about FAB, Karter stopped replying, refusing to confirm even meeting with him. I can’t say for sure why, though I imagine his reluctance to discuss FAB stems from not wanting to acknowledge the ban in the first place.
I don’t want to criticize Karter. I’m thrilled he’s playing FAB, and he deserves some time to show and prove. But the Bay needs the radio. Radio made FAB a star back in 2005 when KMEL was banging “Super Sic Wid It,” while his later lack of airplay gave Atlantic cold feet about releasing his album. With his current single, FAB is merely testing the waters; he has an arsenal of bigger singles to release — if the radio will play them. “I have crazy records people would be amazed by,” FAB says. “Records with T-Pain, Snoop Dogg, Talib Kweli, one with Rick Ross and Jadakiss over a Justus League beat — you know, just playing the power names, like, look what I been doing over the years. So if they give this a run, they gonna love what I have in store for them.”
Music Listings
WEDNESDAY 9
ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP
*Cradle of Filth, Nachmystium, Turisas, Daniel Lioneye Regency Ballroom. 8pm, $27.
Expendables, Hold Up, B Foundation, Mordor Slim’s. 8pm, $24.
My Revolver, Rosa Grande, Days of High Adventure Elbo Room. 9pm, $6.
Oh Sees, Sic Alps Great American Music Hall. 8pm, $16. Benefit for the Coalition on Homelessness.
7 Orange ABC, Cash Pony, Maiden Lane Rickshaw Stop. 8pm, $10.
Al B. Sure! Yoshi’s San Francisco. 8pm, $26.
Times of Grace, War Of Ages, Straight Line Stitch Bottom of the Hill. 8pm, $13.
Travis Johns-Liz Meredith Holiday Heart, Head-Head Hemlock Tavern. 9pm, $6.
JAZZ/NEW MUSIC
Cat’s Corner with Christine and Nathan Savanna Jazz. 7:30pm, $5.
Dink Dink Dink, Gaucho, Michael Abraham Amnesia. 7pm, free.
Ben Marcato and the Mondo Combo Top of the Mark. 7:30pm, $10.
“Meridian Music: Composers in Performance” Meridian Gallery, 535 Powell, SF; www.meridiangallery.org. 7:30pm, $10. “Natural History” by dancer Heloise Gold and duo Gusty Winds May Exist.
Spaceheater Revolution Café, 3248 22nd St, SF; (415) 642-0474. 8:30pm, free.
Paula West and George Mesterhazy Quartet Rrazz Room. 8pm, $35.
DANCE CLUBS
Booty Call Q-Bar, 456 Castro, SF; www.bootycallwednesdays.com. 9pm. Juanita Moore hosts this dance party, featuring DJ Robot Hustle.
Cannonball Beauty Bar. 10pm, free. Rock, indie, and nu-disco with DJ White Mike.
Hands Down! Bar on Church. 9pm, free. With DJs Claksaarb, Mykill, and guests spinning indie, electro, house, and bangers.
Jam Fresh Wednesdays Vessel, 85 Campton, SF; (415) 433-8585. 9:30pm, free. With DJs Slick D, Chris Clouse, Rich Era, Don Lynch, and more spinning top 40, mashups, hip hop, and remixes.
Mary-Go-Round Lookout, 3600 16th St, SF; (415) 431-0306. 10pm, $5. A weekly drag show with hosts Cookie Dough, Pollo Del Mar, and Suppositori Spelling.
No Room For Squares Som., 2925 16th St, SF; (415) 558-8521. 6-10pm, free. DJ Afrodite Shake spins jazz for happy hour.
Respect Wednesdays End Up. 10pm, $5. Rotating DJs Daddy Rolo, Young Fyah, Irie Dole, I-Vier, Sake One, Serg, and more spinning reggae, dancehall, roots, lovers rock, and mash ups.
Synchronize Il Pirata, 2007 16th St, SF; (415) 626-2626. 10pm, free. Psychedelic dance music with DJs Helios, Gatto Matto, Psy Lotus, Intergalactoid, and guests.
THURSDAY 10
ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP
Badfish: A Tribute to Sublime, My Peoples, Impalers Independent. 8pm, $20.
Jefre Cantu-Ledesma, Higuma, Jon Porras Hemlock Tavern. 9pm, $6.
Expendables, Hold Up, B Foundation, Mordor Slim’s. 8pm, $24.
*Finntroll, Ensiferum, Rotten Sound, Barren Earth DNA Lounge. 7:30pm, $25.
Kegels, Dead Panic, Bombpops, Penny Dreadfuls Thee Parkside. 9pm, $6.
Nightwatchman, Jolie Holland, Jason Webley, Ryan Harvey and Lia Rose Bottom of the Hill. 8:30pm, $12-18. Benefit for Sarah Shourd’s work to free Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal; visit www.freethehikers.org for more info.
Unauthorized Rolling Stones Biscuits and Blues. 8 and 10pm, $15.
Vir, Manatee, Wait.Think.Fast, Dandelion War Red Devil Lounge. 8pm, $6.
JAZZ/NEW MUSIC
Sheldon Forrest Savanna Jazz. 7:30pm, $5.
“Martha Wainwright Sings Piaf” Great American Music Hall. 8pm, $25.
Pete Escovedo Latin Jazz Orchestra with Sheila E. Yoshi’s San Francisco. 8 and 10pm, $20-26.
Alex Pinto Revolution Café, 3248 22nd St, SF; (415) 642-0474. 8:30pm, free.
SF Jazz Hotplate Series Amnesia. 9pm.
Stompy Jones Top of the Mark. 7:30pm, $10.
Paula West and George Mesterhazy Quartet Rrazz Room. 8pm, $40.
FOLK/WORLD/COUNTRY
Peter Himmelman, Bonfires Café Du Nord. 8pm, $18.
Jeanne and Chuck Atlas Café. 8pm, free.
Kardash Red Poppy Art House. 7pm, $15.
DANCE CLUBS
Afrolicious Elbo Room. 9:30pm, $5. DJs Pleasuremaker and Señor Oz spin Afrobeat, tropicália, electro, samba, and funk.
CakeMIX SF Wish, 1539 Folsom, SF; www.wishsf.com. 10pm, free. DJ Carey Kopp spinning funk, soul, and hip hop.
Caribbean Connection Little Baobab, 3388 19th St, SF; (415) 643-3558. 10pm, $3. DJ Stevie B and guests spin reggae, soca, zouk, reggaetón, and more.
Drop the Pressure Underground SF. 6-10pm, free. Electro, house, and datafunk highlight this weekly happy hour.
Guilty Pleasures Gestalt, 3159 16th St, SF; (415) 560-0137. 9:30pm, free. DJ TophZilla, Rob Metal, DJ Stef, and Disco-D spin punk, metal, electro-funk, and 80s.
Jivin’ Dirty Disco Butter, 354 11th St., SF; (415) 863-5964. 8pm, free. With DJs spinning disco, funk, and classics.
Kissing Booth Make-Out Room. 9pm, free. DJs Jory, Commodore 69, and more spinning indie dance, disco, 80’s, and electro.
Mestiza Bollywood Café, 3376 19th St, SF; (415) 970-0362. 10pm, free. Showcasing progressive Latin and global beats with DJ Juan Data.
Motion Sickness Vertigo, 1160 Polk, SF; (415) 674-1278. 10pm, free. Genre-bending dance party with DJs Sneaky P, Public Frenemy, and D_Ro Cyclist.
Nachtmusik Presents Knockout. 9:30pm, $4. Dark, minimal electronic with DJs Omar, Josh, and Justin.
1984 Mighty. 9pm, $2. The long-running New Wave and 80s party has a new venue, featuring video DJs Mark Andrus, Don Lynch, and celebrity guests.
Peaches Skylark, 10pm, free. With an all female DJ line up featuring Deeandroid, Lady Fingaz, That Girl, and Umami spinning hip hop.
Popscene Rickshaw Stop. 9pm, $10. Emerging artist showcase with Mona, Lesands, and DJs Aaron Axelsen and Nako.
FRIDAY 11
ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP
Ryan Bingham and the Dead Horses, Silent Comedy, Liam Gerner Great American Music Hall. 9pm, $21.
“Captain Beefheart Symposium” Independent. 9pm, $20-50. Conducted by Gary Lucas.
Jarrod Gorbel, Mansions, John Thatcher Hotel Utah. 9pm, $12.
Grayceon, Worm Ouroboros, Hollow Mirrors Bottom of the Hill. 10pm, $12.
Meat Beat Manifesto, Not Breathing Red Devil Lounge. 9pm, $20.
Monophonics, Cambo and the Life, DJs Effective and Ism Rickshaw Stop. 9pm, $12.
Tainted Love, Private Idaho Bimbo’s 365 Club. 9pm, $23.
Those Unknowns, Hounds and Harlots, Sydney Ducks Hemlock Tavern. 9:30pm, $6.
Tokyo Raid, Young Rapscallions, Paranoids Kimo’s. 9pm, $8.
Trombone Shorty and Orleans Ave, Los Amigos Invisibles Fillmore. 9pm, $25.
Unauthorized Rolling Stones Biscuits and Blues. 8 and 10pm, $15.
Yoya, Greenhorse Amnesia. 8pm, $5.
JAZZ/NEW MUSIC
Black Market Jazz Orchestra Top of the Mark. 9pm, $10.
Tommy Emmanuel, Sels Cuerdas: Ezequiel and Martin Etcheverry Palace of Fine Arts, 3301 Lyon, SF; www.omniconcerts.com. 8pm, $41.
Hurd Ensemble Red Poppy Art House. 8pm, $15-20.
Pete Escovedo Latin Jazz Orchestra with Sheila E. Yoshi’s San Francisco. 8 and 10pm, $24-28.
Karen Segal Savanna Jazz. 7:30pm, $8.
Paula West and George Mesterhazy Quartet Rrazz Room. 8pm, $45.
FOLK/WORLD/COUNTRY
Wiyos, Good Luck Thrift Store Outfit, Possum and Lester Slim’s. 9pm, $15. Part of the San Francisco Bluegrass and Old Time Festival.
Zoyres Revolution Café, 3248 22nd St, SF; (415) 642-0474. 9pm, free.
DANCE CLUBS
Alcoholocaust Presents Riptide Tavern. 9pm, free. With DJ What’s His Fuck and guests Micahel Beller and Brian Richards spinning old-school punk rock and other gems.
Black Valentine’s Masquerade Mighty. 10pm. Wear your anti-Valentine’s best to this party with DJs Krafty Kuts, Ill Gates, Motion Potion, and more.
Blow Up DNA Lounge. 10pm, $20. Dance party with Jeffrey Paradise, Tenderloins, and Midnight Conspiracy.
DJ Mei Lwun Medjool, 2522 Mission, SF; (415) 550-0955. 10:30pm, $10.
Fo’ Sho! Fridays Madrone Art Bar. 10pm, $5. DJs Kung Fu Chris and Makossa spin rare grooves, soul, funk, and hip-hop classics.
Fubar Fridays Butter, 354 11th St., SF; (415) 863-5964. 6pm, $5. With DJs spinning retro mashup remixes.
Good Life Fridays Apartment 24, 440 Broadway, SF; (415) 989-3434. 10pm, $10. With DJ Brian spinning hip hop, mashups, and top 40.
Heartical Roots Bollywood Café. 9pm, $5. Recession friendly reggae.
Hot Chocolate Milk. 9pm, $5. With DJs Big Fat Frog, Chardmo, DuseRock, and more spinning old and new school funk.
Indy Slash Amnesia. 10pm. With DJ Danny Slash.
Rockabilly Fridays Jay N Bee Club, 2736 20th St, SF; (415) 824-4190. 9pm, free. With DJs Rockin’ Raul, Oakie Oran, Sergio Iglesias, and Tanoa “Samoa Boy” spinning 50s and 60s Doo Wop, Rockabilly, Bop, Jive, and more.
Smile! Knockout. 9pm, $7. Psych, soul, glam, bubblegum, and more with DJ Neil Martinson.
Some Thing Stud. 10pm, $7. VivvyAnne Forevermore, Glamamore, and DJ Down-E give you fierce drag shows and afterhours dancing.
Tim Burton Ball Café Du Nord. 8pm, $15. With Imaginary Daughter, Vernian Process, the Tiger Club, and swing lessons by Swing Goth.
Treat Em Right Elbo Room. 10pm, $5. Hip-hop, funk, and reggae with DJs Vinnie Esparza, B. Cause, and guest Roger Mas.
Vintage Orson, 508 Fourth St, SF; (415) 777-1508. 5:30-11pm, free. DJ TophOne and guest spin jazzy beats for cocktalians.
SATURDAY 12
ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP
Aquabats! Slim’s. 8pm, $20.
*Drunk Horse, Hot Lunch, Carlton Melton El Rio. 10pm, $8.
Gentry Bronson Band, Alice Rose, Return to Mono, Dirtybirdz Hotel Utah. 5pm, $10.
Derek Hughes Biscuits and Blues. 8 and 10pm, $20.
Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe, Chali 2na, House of Vibe + Lynx Fillmore. 9pm, $25.
Murder By Death, Builders and the Butchers, Damion Suomi and the Minor Prophets Bottom of the Hill. 10pm, $15.
Need, Nerv, Stand Fight Resist Thee Parkside. 3pm, free.
Night Horse, Electric Sister, Binges Hemlock Tavern. 9:30pm, $7.
Quick and Easy Boys Grant and Green. 9pm.
Tainted Love, This Charming Band Bimbo’s 365 Club. 9pm, $23.
Tumbledown, Tater Famine, Northern Son, Ari Shine Thee Parkside. 9pm, $8.
JAZZ/NEW MUSIC
Cottontails Revolution Café, 3248 22nd St, SF; (415) 642-0474. 9pm, free.
Carol Luckenbach Savanna Jazz. 7:30pm, $8.
Pete Escovedo Latin Jazz Orchestra with Sheila E. Yoshi’s San Francisco. 8 and 10pm, $28.
Paula West and George Mesterhazy Quartet Rrazz Room. 7 and 9:30pm, $45.
FOLK/WORLD/COUNTRY
Beth Longwell, Nicolas Kouzouyan El Rio. 6pm, free.
Ricardo Peixoto Trio Red Poppy Art House. 8pm, $20.
SF Balalaika Ensemble Seventh Avenue Performances, 1329 Seventh Ave, SF; www.sevenperforms.org. 7:30pm, $15-20.
Craig Ventresco and Meredith Axelrod Atlas Café. 4pm, free.
Bucky Walters, Whiskey Puppy, Erik Clampitt, Dirt Floor Band Café Du Nord. 8:30pm, $15. Part of the San Francisco Bluegrass and Old Time Festival.
DANCE CLUBS
Bootie SF: Valentine’s Party DNA Lounge. 9pm, $6-12. Mash-ups with Adrian and Mysterious D, Smash-Up Derby with guest singer Trixxie Carr, DJ Mykill, and Dada.
Club Gossip Cat Club. 9pm. Lots of Depeche Mode with Randy Maupin, Hollie Stevens, and more.
Cockblock Rickshaw Stop. 10pm, $7. Queer dance party with DJ Nuxx and guests.
DJ Duserock Medjool, 2522 Mission, SF; (415) 550-0955. 10:30pm, $10.
Frolic Stud. 9pm, $3-7. DJs Dragn’Fly, NeonBunny, and Ikkuma spin at this celebration of anthropomorphic costume and dance. Animal outfits encouraged.
HYP Club Eight, 1151 Folsom, SF; www.eightsf.com. 10pm, free. Gay and lesbian hip-hop party, featuring DJs spinning the newest in the top 40s hip hop and hyphy.
Little Heartbreaker’s Ball Li Po Lounge. 8pm, $5. Disco and house with Dr. Sleep, Lel Ephant, Sergio, and the L’Elephant Sound System.
Rock City Butter, 354 11th St., SF; (415) 863-5964. 6pm, $5 after 10pm. With DJs spinning party rock.
Same Sex Salsa and Swing Magnet, 4122 18th St, SF; (415) 305-8242. 7pm, free.
Smithsfits Friend Club Knockout. 9:30pm, $4. Smiths and Misfits with DJs Josh Yule and Jay Howell.
Spirit Fingers Sessions 330 Ritch. 9pm, free. With DJ Morse Code and live guest performances.
Spotlight Siberia, 314 11th St, SF; (415) 552-2100. 10pm. With DJs Slowpoke, Double Impact, and Moe1.
Tormentas Tropical Elbo Room. 10pm, $5-10. Electro-cumbia with Uproot Andy, Jubilee, and DJs Disco Shawn and Oro 11.
SUNDAY 13
ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP
*High on Fire Slim’s. 8pm, $18.
Ky-Mani Marley, DJ Funklor Independent. 9pm, $22.
Parkway Drive, Set Your Goals, Ghost Inside, Warriors, Grave Maker DNA Lounge. 7:30pm, $18.
Ash Reiter, Cowboy and Indian Hemlock Tavern. 9pm, $6.
Smith Westerns, Yuck, Grand Lake Bottom of the Hill. 9pm, $12.
“Voice of the Wetlands All-Stars” Great American Music Hall. 8pm, $27. With Tab Benoit, Anders Osborne, Cyril Neville, Big Chief Monk Boudreaux, and more.
JAZZ/NEW MUSIC
Bijou Martuni’s, Four Valencia, SF; (415) 241-0205. 7pm, $5. Loungey love songs.
Manny Moka Biscuits and Blues. 8 and 10pm, $20.
Pete Escovedo Latin Jazz Orchestra with Sheila E. Yoshi’s San Francisco. 5 and 7pm, $5-28.
Savanna Jazz Trio and jam session Savanna Jazz. 7:30pm, $5.
Paula West and George Mesterhazy Quartet Rrazz Room. 5pm, $40.
Faith Winthrop Bliss Bar, 4026 24th St, SF; www.blissbarsf.com. 4:30pm, $10.
FOLK/WORLD/COUNTRY
Gen-11, Revtones Thee Parkside. 2pm, free.
DANCE CLUBS
Dub Mission Elbo Room. 9pm, $6. Dub, roots, and classic dancehall with DJs Sep, Maneesh the Twister, and guest Jah Yzer.
DiscoFunk Mashups Cat Club. 10pm, free. House and 70’s music.
Gloss Sundays Trigger, 2344 Market, SF; (415) 551-CLUB. 7pm. With DJ Hawthorne spinning house, funk, soul, retro, and disco.
Honey Soundsystem Paradise Lounge. 8pm-2am. “Dance floor for dancers – sound system for lovers.” Got that?
Kick It Bar on Church. 9pm. Hip-hop with DJ Zax.
La Pachanga Blue Macaw, 2565 Mission, SF; www.thebluemacawsf.com. 6pm, $10. Salsa dance party with live Afro-Cuban salsa bands.
Religion Bar on Church. 3pm. With DJ Nikita.
Swing Out Sundays Rock-It Room. 7pm, free (dance lessons $15). DJ BeBop Burnie spins 20s through 50s swing, jive, and more.
MONDAY 14
ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP
Cake Fillmore. 8pm, $36.50.
Honeycomb, Chloe Makes Music, Magic Leaves Café Du Nord. 8pm, $10.
Radio Dept., Young Prisms, DJ Aaron Axelson Independent. 8pm, $15.
Smith Westerns Amoeba, 1855 Haight, SF; www.amoeba.com. 6pm, free.
JAZZ/NEW MUSIC
Lavay Smith and Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers Biscuits and Blues. 8 and 10pm, $20.
Paula West and George Mesterhazy Quartet Rrazz Room. 7pm, $65.
DANCE CLUBS
Club Neon Knockout. 9pm, $5. Seventh annual Valentine’s Day Underwear Party with DJs Jamie Jams, Aidan, and more.
Death Guild DNA Lounge. 9:30pm, $3-5. Gothic, industrial, and synthpop with Joe Radio, Decay, and Melting Girl.
Krazy Mondays Beauty Bar. 10pm, free. With DJs Ant-1, $ir-Tipp, Ruby Red I, Lo, and Gelo spinning hip hop.
The Look of Love Elbo Room. 10pm, $5-8. Soul, latin, hip-hop, and dancehall with Hot Pocket, 40 Love, and DJ Whooligan.
M.O.M. Madrone Art Bar. 6pm, free. With DJ Gordo Cabeza and guests playing all Motown every Monday.
Manic Mondays Bar on Church. 9pm. Drink 80-cent cosmos with Djs Mark Andrus and Dangerous Dan.
Network Mondays Azul Lounge, One Tillman Pl, SF; www.inhousetalent.com. 9pm, $5. Hip-hop, R&B, and spoken word open mic, plus featured performers.
Sausage Party Rosamunde Sausage Grill, 2832 Mission, SF; (415) 970-9015. 6:30-9:30pm, free. DJ Dandy Dixon spins vintage rock, R&B, global beats, funk, and disco at this happy hour sausage-shack gig.
Skylarking Skylark. 10pm, free. With resident DJs I & I Vibration, Beatnok, and Mr. Lucky and weekly guest DJs.
TUESDAY 15
ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP
Alcoholocaust Presents Argus Lounge. 9pm, free. With DJ Crystal Meth and DJ What’s His Fuck.
Nicole Atkins and the Black Sea, Cotton Jones, That Ghost Café Du Nord. 9pm, $15.
Boyce Avenue, Megan and Liz, Tiffany Alvord Great American Music Hall. 8pm, $18.
Cake Fillmore. 8pm, $36.50.
Gashcat Café Royale, 800 Post, SF; (415) 641-6033. 8pm, free.
Gerritt, Forked, Cribdeath Hemlock Tavern. 9pm, $5.
Glitter Wizard, Seventeen Evergreen, Naked Lights, Group Rhoda Slim’s. 8pm, $5.
Hello Monster, Resurrection Men, Pony Pony Pony! Bottom of the Hill. 9pm, $8. Chuck Johnson, Jameson Swanagon Amnesia. 9pm, $5. Symbol Six, Corruptors, Soul Trash, Off By An Inch Thee Parkside. 8pm, $6. JAZZ/NEW MUSIC Ricardo Scales Top of the Mark. 6:30pm, $5. DANCE CLUBS Brazilian Wax Elbo Room. 9pm, $7. Samba with Brazil Vox plus DJs Carioca and P-Shot. Eclectic Company Skylark, 9pm, free. DJs Tones and Jaybee spin old school hip hop, bass, dub, glitch, and electro. Extra Classic DJ Night Little Baobab, 3388 19th St, SF; www.bissapbaobab.com. 10pm. Dub, roots, rockers, and reggae from the 60s, 70s, and 80s. Share the Love Trigger, 2344 Market, SF; (415) 551-CLUB. 5pm, free. With DJ Pam Hubbuck spinning house. Womanizer Bar on Church. 9pm. With DJ Nuxx.
SFBG Radio: Why the HuffPo deal sucks
Arianna Huffington just sold the Huffington Post to AOL for $352 million. Johnny and Tim talk about why it’s a bad deal for everyone except Arianna and her investors. Check it out after the jump.
sfbgradio272011 by endorsements2010SFBG Radio: Is the recession over?
Is the recession really ending? The government says so — but what do small businesses need to make that prediction real? Johnny and Tim discuss after the jump.
Landmark to loudness
MUSIC Happy Sanchez’s office is above the cafe, by the entrance. There are only a couple of windows. One opens onto the parking lot, where a car alarm blares during our interview. The other is dark; below it are the building’s two hourly rehearsal rooms. Aside from the vibration of a double bass revving, we’re cut off from the activity going on at Secret Studios. As the owner, Happy makes up for this isolation with a wall of closed-circuit TVs showing the hallways and common areas tying the Studio’s 130 monthly rehearsal spaces together.
“Mostly it’s just about dealing with the headaches of running a business,” Sanchez says. The headaches, when your clients are all musicians, can be numerous. Bands arrive at 2 a.m., fresh from a gig, and decide to toss utility carts down the stairs. People try to smoke inside, piss in the parking lot, live in their units. Watch out for speed freaks. Make sure women aren’t being harassed. “Sometimes I feel like I’m the principal of the school,” Sanchez says.
Sometimes it’s just plain traumatic. “The one thing that upset me the most, this fucking guy was pissed at his girlfriend, took her cat, put it in the [rehearsal] room, and left it for weeks. Fucking poor cat was skin and bones by the time the girlfriend came and asked me to look for it. Most I’ve ever been upset at anyone. He was banned.”
“But most of the time people are pretty cool,” Sanchez is quick to add. “The people who are on the lease are level-headed. It’s always the friend or the guy that’s just hanging out that makes problems.” There is reason for me to doubt this statement, having just heard Sanchez tell another story about being held up at gunpoint by a rapper who wants his demo tape. But I’m still inclined to believe him, given the sheer number of clients he’s come in contact with in the 25 years since he took a job as a studio manager at Secret Studios, back when it was a small two-room operation.
At the time, Secret, like most of the studios in town, was about hourly rehearsal and recording space. The two units of Secret Studios were originally at Third St., before a mid-1980s move to 215 Napoleon St. in a building with lots of neighbors. “Mostly we did a lot of punk rock recordings, back in ’87,” Sanchez remembers. “This guy David [Pollack], who I later bought the studio from, at the time I was just working for him and he set me up with all these gigs.” They’d rent the place out for parties, for extra money. “Metallica rented it, back in the days when I guess they were big in Europe but they weren’t really that big, yet. Before the Black Album [1991’s Metallica] came out, when they blew up.”
Those involved in Secret during the Napoleon Street era attempted to confine major sessions to nighttime, but it eventually became clear — as the neighbors bitched — that a different location was needed. After the owner sold the business to Sanchez (“Basically, he gave it to me at minimal cost”), he was able to expand and then move into 50 units at the current location on 2200 Cesar Chavez St. The large warehouse with a single floor of small rooms was previously the sound stage for the talk radio TV drama Midnight Caller.
Sanchez credits some of his success to timing. “I got in at the right time. It’s just more expensive to build nowadays. People have tried to build big studios like this and it’s just not affordable anymore. They see it as easy money, but it’s not easy to pull off.”
One person who tried — and succeeded — was Greg Koch, who developed the nearly 180-unit Downtown Rehearsal in 1992. Earlier, Sanchez had passed on its Third Street location. “It was shady at night when most of my clients would be around,” he says. “That building was cheap, though. They couldn’t give it away.”
Downtown was a major competitor until the summer of 2000, when Koch attempted to evict all of his tenants without notice in an attempt to flip the property for a huge profit. In the process, he instigated a musical community revolt, resulting in a large cash settlement and the formation of a then-hopeful, now apparently stagnant nonprofit, SoundSafe. At the time of the turmoil, Secret Studios was still expanding to its current size of 130 units. “I basically opened my units and saw a huge influx of bands,” Sanchez says.
Sanchez has had many models for what Secret Studios should — and shouldn’t — be. He recalls that Francisco Studios, a Turk Street basement space, had a bathroom out of Trainspotting. He’s quick to admit that since he’s taken over the business, there have been mistakes and failures. A plan to start the International DJ Academy in the front offices of the building, with a partner who managed Invisibl Skratch Piklz, fizzled. “They never could quite get it off the ground,” he says. “It was a good concept, but I think they needed someone to run it as a business.” Along with a rap studio that was going at the time, the academy devolved into something that included a barber shop and a night club before Sanchez had to shut it down.
Which, technically, makes two rap studios Sanchez had to end. Back in the late 1980s, at Secret’s old location, there was a lot of money to be made from hip-hop. “These rappers were coming in and you could pretty much just charge them anything,” Sanchez says. “I think there was always the drug dealer in the background financing it. I swear, we had like three clients over time that got murdered. The first time it was kind of a shock. They found the guy in a trunk in Oakland. The second guy got murdered on the night of the earthquake in 1989. The scene just got too crazy. Gangster rap came out, and the whole vibe changed. It got really hardcore.” After a hold-up occurred at the studio and an expensive keyboard was stolen, Sanchez stepped away from the rap game in 1991.
Many artists have come through Secret Studios, but it’s not something Sanchez brags about. In part this stems from his respect for overall security, a high priority when theft is a concern. But it also has to do with his respect for confidentiality. The music business exposed him to a lot of drugs in the ’80s, and he himself struggled with addiction. From 1989 until 1992, he hosted a Narcotics Anonymous gathering — the Straight Edge Rockers meeting — in the studio on Sunday nights. “There were a couple people there that you would definitely know their names,” he says. “I’m actually thinking about getting it going again. It’s not as easy to pull off, but I always thought that meeting was so cool. There are a lot of people in the music industry that need that.”
Sanchez is desensitized to stardom. He’ll say that no one really big has ever been at Secret Studios, then rattle off a long list of names: the Dead Kennedys, Michael Franti, the Go-Gos, EPMD, Romeo Void, Chris Isaak, Mike Pistel, Toots Hibbert. Some of these connections are long relationships, some are incidental. MC Hammer rehearsed at Secret before he was big (but had the parachute pants). Gene Simmons came down in a limo.
Sanchez is happy with his success so far and grateful for the freedom to be a musician with a stable business. With another 10 years on the lease (which he hopes to extend to when his two-and-a-half-year-old son reaches adulthood), he’s satisfied with assuming a more administrative role at Secret. He does the books, handles the day-to-day issues, and makes his own music, composing for movies and television as the Latin Soul Syndicate.
For a lot less drama, Sanchez is a little less in the know about his clients and their role in the scene of the moment. A while ago, for example, he needed to contact a band about a bill. But the band was on tour, and he was referred to its business manager. He went online to look it up. He had no idea who the band was until he Googled “The Dodos” and a video popped up showing the band playing on The Late Show with David Letterman.
arts@sfbg.com
The road, Thorrior
arts@sfbg.com
MUSIC There’s no easy way to describe Valient Thorr. Hailing from Chapel Hill, N.C., the quintet has labored throughout its career under the strain of countless casual characterizations, each less accurate than the one before it. Reached by phone in Raleigh, N.C., as he prepared for the band’s impending tour with Motorhead, singer Valient Himself gives the wry rundown.
“Forever, in The Onion, it said ‘Kiss-like band, biker band’ or some shit. None of us ride motorcycles!” he scoffs. Nor, for that matter, does the band wear elaborate makeup or sell branded coffins. The mistakes, however, continued. “People would say something like ‘Lynyrd Skynyrd-esque’ or some shit like that,” complains Valient. “We don’t play Southern rock. We have accents from the South because those are the colloquialisms that we have been accustomed to since we crash-landed here. Or they look at ‘Thorr’ and they say, ‘Oh, they’re Vikings.’ If you could pick three adjectives that we get called the most that are totally wrong, they’d be Southern, Viking, biker metal.”
Now, if you’ve been paying attention so far, you’ll have noticed that the singer goes by an outlandish pseudonym and makes offhand references to things like “crash landing.” By “here,” in the previous paragraph, he means “planet Earth.” This is because the band Valient Thorr claims, with a straight face, to be from the inside of the planet Venus. Valient Himself, a former sixth-grade teacher, sticks to his story throughout the interview, even when gently prodded to discourse on non-Venusian topics.
The band’s beginnings can be traced to East Carolina University, where the five Thorrs (Valient Himself, Eidan, Lucian, Sadat, and Dr. Professor Nitewolf Strangees Thorr) were masquerading as undergraduates. Nurtured by the college radio culture that defined their adopted home state for much of the 1990s, the band soon discovered the geographic advantages of hailing from the Tar Heel State, which features nine midsized cities along the axis of Highway 40, which neatly bisects it into northern and southern halves.
Before long, Valient Thorr was traveling nationwide, hitting 47 cities in 52 days on its first trip out. This relentless dedication to touring would come to define the band, which has effectively been on tour since Valient’s career in the classroom ended in 2005. That event also marked the last time he cut his beard, a fiery red thatch that has since attained truly epic proportions.
Though Valient Thorr’s music — a combination of the rabid, breakneck pace of punk rock and the precision guitar work of classic Thin Lizzy — produces some infectious, exultant tunes, the onstage charisma of the band in general and the singer in particular forms the most important part of its appeal. Clad in impossibly tight pants, cherry-red wrestling shoes, and little else, Valient prowls the stage soaked in sweat, striking mock-muscleman poses and exhorting the audience with the inexhaustible, manic energy of a true rock ‘n’ roll evangelist.
The power of Valient Thorr’s proselytizing can be seen at any show. A growing legion of die-hard fans, called Thorriors, pledge allegiance to the band above all others, often sporting customized jean jackets as emblems of their dedication. In that sense, at least, the band is like Kiss. One Thorrior, a Kansas City native, has even been granted an honorary Venusian surname; “Tim Thorr,” as he is known, “has more Thorrior tattoos than anyone else” explains Valient. “We call him the True Believer.”
Touring with a band as well-known as Motorhead, Valient Thorr is sure to win more converts to its cause. But whether people like it or not, or whether they believe it or not, the Thorrs will be out there. “I think performing is in your blood,” Valient says. “I think everyone was born to do something. We didn’t go to school to be rock ‘n’ rollers — it’s just something that came out of us. It’s an idea that started and it just had to happen.” *
VALIENT THORR with Motorhead, Clutch
Wed/2, 8 p.m.; $35
The Warfield
982 Market, SF
(415) 345-0900