Amber Schadewald

Record Store Day spins right round this Saturday

Jesse Hawthorne Ficks
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Record Store Day spins right round this Saturday

Digital music files are the Snuggie of the music industry; so comfy, so easy, but it’s fleece is cheap and one dimensional. Vinyl is a thick quilt, a layered labor of love Grandma crafted just for you– a product that brings about a whole new quality of life when you’re wrapped beneath it. Strange analogy, but if you’re unfamiliar with the loveliness and depth of vinyl’s sound possibilities, Record Store Day– this Sat/17 at locations across the Bay– is your day to give ’em a spin.

1234 GO!

Steve Stevenson, owner of Oakland’s 1-2-3-4 Go! Records understands why people chuck and trade their physical albums for digital– to simplify their lives and clear out some clutter. He says he did the same thing two years ago when he opened the store. 

“I ended up selling almost all of my records– it’s basically how the store started. And now I don’t have many…” he says, pauses, and looks around at the loaded shelves in his shop. “Or I guess I have more than I’ve ever had.” Exactly. Stevenson didn’t cut his collection– his passion for records blew up, the physical stacks of beats and sounds have become his livelihood. 

1234 GO!

Maybe you’re not into building a gigantic vinyl collection over the weekend, but a short celebratory stack for the holiday can make for a healthy collection. And what’s great about visiting a small, boutique shop like Stevenson’s, is what it’s lacking– no over abundance of records to sift and flip for hours on end.

“My shop is small, but it’s packed with almost all exclusively good things,” he smiles. “We have good turnover on everything in here. And customers often tell me it’s nice to come in here for a half-hour and leave with something. It’s not a six-hour process of digging to get to one album you care about.”

So what are some things Stevenson is currently caring about? He would love to share. 

1234 GO!

The self-titled debut of Vermont’s grunge-pop trio Happy Birthday [Sub Pop, 2010] is by far this record shop’s pride and joy right now. Stevenson claims it’s the best collection of music he’s heard in the past two years and while he has yet to confirm totals with the label, he’s pretty he has sold more copies than any store around. 

“It’s only been out a month and I’ve sold 35 copies. I tend to push it on people. It’s just so good.”

1234 GO!

1234 GO!

He’s also pretty proud of Seattle’s Cute Lepers‘ sophomore release, Smart Accessories, [1-2-3-4 GO! Records, 2009] put out on Stevenson’s very own label. Why he gleams and grins so big when it comes to this particular record? It glows in the dark! Trippy! 

“Perfect for dark listening,” he says. 

1234 GO!

Besides music, 1-2-3-4 GO! also showcases the work of local artists each month. Currently it’s Danny Neece’s totally awesome paintings that pair oh so perfectly with the store’s colors. Get introduced to new music, new people and new art: everybody wins. 

While these goodies and other rotating gems are available every day at local music shops, the grandiose appeal of Record Store Day is the limited edition, exclusive releases both labels, artists and shops put out each year in celebration of the under-appreciated music hubs. From in-store performances to mix tapes and snacks (maybe?), put down your iPod this Saturday and let a physical person give you an earful of inspiration. 

Check out www.RecordStoreDay.com to see the major list of nationwide events. 

Or browse this list of participating stores in the Bay Area: 

San Francisco:

Amoeba Music
Aquarius Records
Creative Music Emporium
Force of Habit Records
Medium Rare Music
Streetlight Records
The Music Store

East Bay:

Amoeba Music (Berkeley)
Down Home Music Fourth Street (Berkeley)
Rasputin Music (Berkeley)
Down Home Music (El Cerrito)
Mod Lang (El Cerrito)
1-2-3-4 Go! Records (Oakland)

North Bay:

Back Door Disc (Cotati)
Watts Music (Novato)
Vinyl Planet (Petaluma)
Bedrock Music & Video (San Rafael)
Red Devil Records (San Rafael)
Last Record Store (Santa Rosa)

San Jose:

Space Cat
Streetlight Records

Major Lazer ‘waan show you’ his weapon of choice

Jesse Hawthorne Ficks
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Major Lazer ‘waan show you’ his weapon of choice

Major Lazer— playing Fri/15 at Mezzanine– is a cartoon Jamaican commando who lost an arm during the secret Zombie War of 1984 and then was ever so fortunate to have the US Military replace his flesh with a prosthetic laser gun. Diplo and Switch, a.k.a. the producers behind the music mascot, have quite the imaginations and as they put it, an extensive love for the Jamaican music our country often forgets to credit. Major Lazer is their way of exploiting the exploitation. 

His thick accent, dead-sexy arm and dirt-nasty attitude pair perfectly with the sounds Diplo and Switch attach to the name, Major Lazer. Tracks off his debut album, Guns Don’t Kill People– Lazers Do [Downtown, 2009] are filled with heavy bass rumbles that moan and plead for your thighs and loins to get low and scrub the dancehall floor. Lewd lyrics are plentiful if you can pick them out from between the sticky sheets of rapid, vibrating percussion and grinding, surf-like, space guitars. A-list Jamaican artists lend their vocals to Lazer’s songs, as well as hipster-favorites like Santigold, for a variety of sassy chorus melodies and hooks. 

So how does Mr. Lazer stay so sexy? And his beats so fresh? And what exactly does he do with that laser of his? Only the cartoon-man himself could answer such questions and let me tell you, he was very persuasive. Don’t blame me if you end up in his ‘yard’, looking at his ‘lazer.’ 

 

SFBG: What do you love most about your Jamaican roots?

ML: MAN AH JAMAICAN. BORN AN BRED. JERK CHICKEN, WESTMORELAND WEED AND USAIN BOLT. TO DI WORL! 

 

SFBG: Your shows are wild– how should fans prepare for a night with Major Lazer?

ML: DO NUFF PUSH UPS. DRINK NUFF RED BULL. GET READY FOR DI DAGGERIN!

 

SFBG: “Keep It Goin’ Louder” is stacked with major babes– how do you charm the ladies? Got a winning pick-up line?

ML: IF ME SEE A GIRL ME LIKE. ME JUS SAY “BABY. COME BACK TO MI YARD, MI WAAN SHOW YOU MI LAZER.”

 

SFBG: Are you dating anyone?

ML: ME LOVE ALL DI LADIES. IF DEM WAAN GO PON A DATE, JUST LINK ME UP! COME TO NEGRIL, WE GO FOR SOME STEW FISH.

 

SFBG: I get the impression that you’re a nasty, dirty boy. Do you have a soft side? And for what?

ME LOVE MY ORCHIDS. NUFF ORCHIDS INNA MI MOUNTAIN MANSION. 

 

SFBG: Tell me about your lazer-gun arm. Why not a hook? Have you used your gun for good or evil?

ML: COME BACK TO ME YARD. LET’S TALK ABOUT MI LAZER. 

 

SFBG: I hear you’re getting your own show on Adult Swim? What’s gonna happen? Major drama?

ML: NUFF DRAMA. NUFF ZOMBIES GONNA LOSE DEM HEAD. TUNE EEN!

 

Pon De Floor featuring Afro Jack & VYBZ Cartel from Mad Decent on Vimeo.

 

Major Lazer

Fri/15, 9pm, $30

Mezzanine

444 Jessie St, SF

www.Mezzanine.com

 

Beach House holds the keys to comfort

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Beach House holds the keys to comfort

Children often favor a stuffed animal or blankie as a source of comfort, but as an adult, security is found in much less predictable places. Maybe it’s your favorite cup of tea, your lover’s dirty t-shirt, a night-time drive or an album that never fails to help you regain balance. For me, it’s Beach House — playing tonight at Bimbo’s 365 — and for the band’s members, their comfort comes by a collection of keys. 

Not the kind that open doors or link to a chain, Beach House’s keys are the kind you press and pound, caress and strike; the kind you learn to love with an unwavering appreciation for the sound they produce. The Baltimore duo, comprised of Victoria Legrand and Alex Scally, own over a dozen different dusty keyboards and organs, each with a unique, grandiose quality that moans and speaks with a slow, Southern drawl.  

“They’re not very expensive, vintage organs,” Legrand says from her sunny Baltimore home. “They’re ones we’ve inherited or found in junk shops.” Some are broken, while others ring pure; all random, unplanned finds, thanks to a keen eye and a bit of good luck. “You can’t really expect to find them– they kind of find you. Like this keyboard I found in Brighton that I really didn’t expect. I guess it’s a kind of luck. Like finding someone to hook up with that ends of being really good.”

Legrand and Scally have always had an affliction for the rows of black and white and both took piano lessons when they were kids. “I’ve been playing since I was seven. Keyboard is definitely my instrument– something I was always drawn to and that’s something Alex and I share.”

Beach House was born in 2004, their brand of delicately woven dream-pop/indie rock soothing and cooing fans with their self-titled debut [Carpark, 2006], followed byDevotion [Carpark, 2008] and their latest, Teen Dream [Sup Pop, 2010]. New songs like, “Norway” and “Zebra” are fantastically whimsical. Legrand’s deep vocals consoling as they are creepy, soaring over her band mate’s naked guitar strums; the light, hissing percussion gently pushing and pulling the album’s tide.

The organs and synth sounds give way to a more balanced, full sound on Teen Dream, but their importance is never denied. 

“Monetarily, our keyboard collection may have not be of much value, but each set may have just one or two sounds that are so inspiring for us, so we’ll buy it or hold onto it,” she says. “We don’t just write esthetically- it’s not just about the sound. It’s about song crafting. A very, from-the-inside-out process. Not just pieces that are cut and pasted together. It’s something more real than that.”

Big, bulky, electronic and strange, their collection of music making machines take up a lot of space and time, meaning not everyone gets to travel along during the tour. This time around, Beach House has packed up four organs, and while they may not have pet names, Legrand says they have their quirks. 

“They each have their little problems, just like humans do. Some are extra finicky, some you have to bang on. Some won’t turn off.”

And she definitely has her favorites. 

“My primary keyboard- the white Yamaha,” she recalls with a soft voice. “I can’t believe I still use it– not in a bad way. It’s just that I bought it for $50 seven years ago. It’s really been so loyal. Its value to me is in millions. It’s crazy how much an object means so much in your life and how much of Beach House is tied into that keyboard.”

While tonight’s show is sold out, it’s quite possible to get a dreamy Beach House experience right in your own room. Just close your eyes, press play on Teen Dreamand let your fingers do the dancing on an imaginary white Yamaha of your own. 

 

Beach House

Wed/14, 7pm, $18

Bimbo’s 365 Club

1025 Columbus, SF

www.Bimbos365club.com

 

Up and at ’em! Guys, here’s an egg of your own

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Up and at ’em! Guys, here’s an egg of your own

My penis envy hit hard when I saw these delicious little eggs on the sex store shelf this week. Delicately soft with squishy insides and intriguing texture choices, I couldn’t imagine how much fun it would be to stick it into Tenga’s Egg Masturbation sleeves. Whether or not you like to blow in the direction of a uterus or not, guys everywhere can fertilize a cute egg of their own without the threat of baby-daddy duties.

Tenga’s egg-shaped friends come in a six-pack carton for under $10 bucks and are great for a pleasurable self-rub in the morning or a late night cock ‘n’ egg breakfast. Peel off the outer shell like you would a hard-boiled egg and crack ‘er open to reveal the “ona-cup.” The Japanese-made sleeve comes in a variety of fun textures, offering all kinds of satisfying options: web patterns, vertical grooves notched out semi-cirlces and protruding spheres. As Good Vibrations advertises, “Different strokes from different yolks!” 

The eggs are made as a kind of one-night-stand: cheap, easy, quick, and disposable. They’re intended as a single-session product, but to those who scramble lightly, you may get a couple of dates before their delicate shape distorts. 

tenga egg

 

Stimulate your head or stretch the translucent bob down your shaft. The egg’s got a nice hole and even comes with a dab of lube for smooth fun. Reviews of the product are pretty positive, with notes that the first glimpse of your penis wearing an egg-hat are slightly humorous and also kinda hot. I’d give it a shot, but I don’t think I’d quite get the same effect via dildo. 

Check them out for yourself at www.goodvibes.com

Avoiding sharks and difficult questions with Toro y Moi

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Avoiding sharks and difficult questions with Toro y Moi

When you come out of the womb and your mama names you Chaz, life is going to be pretty cool. Mr. Chazwick Bundick is a child of the south, who from the sound of his uber laid-back synth melodies, must have grown up poolside, full pitcher of sweet tea attached at the hip.  The electro-musician goes by the moniker Toro y Moi— playing Mon/12 at Bottom of the Hill– and fully embodies the chillwave scene at its core, with layer upon layer of ambient wonder. And of course, Chaz is way chill.

Growing up in Columbia, South Carolina, Bundick layed low and created music in his bedroom as a young guy, taking inspiration from his parent’s luscious vinyl collection. Electronic and experimental elements of late ’70s new wave combined with his favorite artists, Animal Collective, Sonic Youth, J Dilla, Flying Lotus, and Daft Punk, for an antiqued space sound.He likes to think of himself as a composer, as opposed to a songwriter, producing complex layers of buried bass, fairytale melodies, surf guitars, and bewitching vocals.

His latest LP, Causers of This [Carpark, 2010] was released in February and is a total treasure box; a more electronic take on the usual beach soundtrack. Toro y Moi’s whimsical songs sound like they’re floating 10,000 leagues under the sea; cool, calm, and unaffected by gravity. Funny, because I soon find out that the guy doesn’t like water. 

Talking to Bundick over the phone was interesting– his mellow, musical stylings are a definite reflection of the 23-year-old’s unhurried, aloof temperament. Setting up the stage for a Philadelphia performance that evening, Bundick causally answered a few questions about life as a Southern Chaz and avoiding the sharks that loom.

SFBG: I read in a previous interview that if you could be any animal, it would be a dog or a shark. So, what kind of canine? 

Bundick: I like French Bulldogs, black Pugs, mutts, Jack Russell Terriers and wieners. 

SFBG: And what about sharks– I hear they freak you out.

Bundick: Well, I’m not a fan of jumping in the ocean. The water has to be clear, with light sand. I grew up going to a beach that had unclear water and I didn’t like going in– I like to see what’s in the water. I’m also afraid of sting rays. My friend stepped on one. And jellyfish. 

SFBG: Funny, because your sound is so easily compared to ocean-characteristcs. Yet you’re not an ocean fan.

Bundick: If I had to choose between living in the mountains or the beach, I’d definitely choose the mountains. 

SFBG: So what’s your music-writing process like? Do you dream of wooded slopes, crystal-clear streams and mountain lions?

Bundick: When I write songs I literally lock myself in my room. I won’t go out or talk to anyone. I go into songwriting mode. 

SFBG: For how long? Like a day? A week?

Bundick: Weeks or months. I think the longest was two months of not talking to anyone– OK, well, not in a crazy person way. That would make for a cool story, but basically, people ask me to hang out and I say, no sorry. I mean, I see my parents and stuff.

SFBG: So what have you been listening to while on tour?

Bundick: Let me grab my iPod and see…lots of soul and funk. Some weird house music. Riz Ortolani, an Italian composer from the ’70s who wrote the music to the movie Cannibal Holocaust. They show animals being killed– it’s bad. It was banned in a lot of places. Oh, and no, I didn’t watch it. My friend did. He told me. I wouldn’t watch it. 

SFBG: What have you been doing in between shows?

Bundick: Working on interviews. Drawing in my sketchbook.

SFBG: What do you like to draw?

Bundick: Numbers. 

SFBG: Uh, what? That sounds boring. Explain. 

Bundick: I like to draw numbers. Particularly the number two and the number five. Sometimes the number three. I’m not obsessed…I went to school for design, so I like the work with the shape and counter space, their arms and feet and different fonts.

SFBG: Wow, that actually makes sense. So what now? 

Bundick: I feel kinda weird. I feel like I might be kinda sick. And so I drank a bunch of orange juice and now I’ve got that gross, too much orange juice feeling.

 

I didn’t have any orange juice today, but I think I understand the feeling. Maybe he should’ve added a little vodka?

 

Toro y Moi w/The Ruby Suns and dreamdate

Mon/12, 8:30pm, $10

Bottom of the Hill

1233 17th Street, SF

www.bottomofthehill.com

 

Dolores Park Movie Night starts a fresh season of flicks

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Dolores Park Movie Night starts a fresh season of flicks

Blanket. Booze in a paper sack. Treats. Those are probably the ingredients to any adventure at Dolores Park, but wouldn’t it be better if Michael J Fox was there, too? Maybe not the real guy, but the cute ’80s version in Back to the Future [Universal Pictures, 1985] could be cool, or at least it will be when Dolores Park Movie Night starts up this Thursday. 

Come spring, some nice guys who live near Dolores Park put on a free movie the second Thursday each week, with a promise of zero affiliations, no causes, no politics and minimal organization. Just a community movie in the great outdoors. They pay their permits and costs with the help of donations and popcorn sales– eat up, hipsters!

The event is meant to be local, meaning the crew in charge urges you to bring your family and friends, neighbors, behaved children and happy dogs. I think East Bay inhabitants are still OK, but I wouldn’t invite that blondie and her pack visiting from the Midwest. And for this specific showing, people from the future are OK, too. 

 

Back to the Future 

Thurs/8, 7:30pm, Free

Dolores Park

Dolores & Church and 18th & 21st, SF

www.doloresparkmovie.org


 

Snap Sounds: New Young Pony Club

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Snap Sounds: New Young Pony Club

NEW YOUNG PONY CLUB

The Optimist

(The Numbers)

New Young Pony Club really got me revved when they released their debut album Fantastic Playroom [Modular, 2007] and packed it with a whole ranch full of songs for hot gallops and rapid romping. Now that it’s been a good chunk of years, the London five-piece claims they’ve grown up and grown out of their label contracts– they’ve become totally self-produced, self-funded and their new album The Optimist (fresh on the shelves this week) is self-released. Is it self-improved? Neigh (as in a horse noise and symbolizing my uncertainty).

The Optimist is electronically endowed as expected and it’s creative synth melodies have definitely got the juice to make you whinny. Unfortunately a percentage of the new album seems a bit predictable and similar to NYPC songs of the past. Thankfully there are still a handful of Ladytron-esque tracks to chomp on, including hot dance numbers: “We Want To,” “Stone,” “Chaos,” and “Lost a Girl.” I always dig vocalist Tahita Bulmer’s stone-cold fox approach to singing sexy; she borders mono-tone during some songs and other times orgasms into some higher, less inhibited ranges. Not to mention, her horse-mane is totally hot: half buzzed, half long and blonde with ratty crimps.

 

Duncan Sheik to sing with the San Francisco Symphony

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Duncan Sheik to sing with the San Francisco Symphony

Duncan Sheik’s “Barely Breathing” was ranked #88 on VH1’s 100 Greatest Songs of the 90s, but in the past decade, the singer and composer has been winning even fancier gold awards for his musical theater scores. This week Sheik’s singing with the San Francisco Symphony— Wed/7- Sat/10 at Davies Symphony Hall– and performing the world premiere of the orchestral arrangement of songs from The Whisper House.


The Whisper House is the story of a small boy, Christopher, who looses his father during World War II and must move into a lighthouse with his aunt in New England. The creepy coastal home is haunted and Christopher begins to build a rapport with the spirits. The ghosts sing all the songs during the show, exposing the subconscious secrets of the boy’s frightened mind.

Sheik, along with Kyle Jarrow, wrote the songs for the stage production of The Whisper House and the show premiered at The Old Globe in San Diego in January 2010. The SF Symphony commissioned new orchestration of the Whisper House songs, excited by Sheiks wild success with his score for the Broadway hit Spring Awakening, which won him two Tony Awards in 2007 and a Grammy in 2008.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqRu6TvosPY

Songs like “It’s Better To Be Dead” and “We’re Here To Tell You” are great examples of this new collection’s gentle nature; organic, slightly chilling and yet comforting. The songs are indeed perfect for The Whisper House’s stage setting, the soft guitar strums, purring clarinet, and padded drums inspire contrasting thoughts of cozy down blankets and cold, salty winds. The song lyrics inform young Christopher that there are in fact things in the lighthouse, and in the world, that are scary, contrary to what his aunt tells him. Fluid and serene, it’s easy to picture a bunch of ghosts whispering Sheik’s words high above the angry ocean waves, stirring around the lighthouse and taunting the child.

Sheik will be singing along with the Symphony during his string of performances in San Francisco, and although the story will not be told visually, the stage full of instruments will guide your mind in the right direction. Along with Sheik, the evening will also feature other music intended for the stage, including Poulenc’s Suite from Les Biches and Claude Vivier’s Zipangu.

 

Duncan Sheik w/ the San Francisco Symphony

Wed/7, 8pm

Thur/8, 8pm

Fri/9, 6:30pm

Sat/10, 8pm

$15 to $130

Davies Symphony Hall

201 Van Ness, SF

www.sfsymphony.org

 

RJD2’s music is a trip– even for him

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RJD2’s music is a trip– even for him

Skip the Blockbuster run of predictable action flicks and let an RJD2 album call the shots. The record may spin, but your mind will cartwheel with scenes of drama, horror and thrill of your choosing. Allow the blaring horns to signal a wild chase, the sampled soul to spur images of a powerful protagonist and the hip-hop bass to conjure up a dreary, urban setting: the music of RJD2 –playing Wed/7 at The Independent–  is a mind-driven movie reel.

Ramble John “RJ” Krohn has been making music as RJD2 since 1993, switching up his perfectionist tainted DJ process by not only sampling everything from ’70s disco and movie themes, but by also using his own vocals and live instrumentation. Last year RJ took on the boss role and started his own label, RJ’s Electrical Connections, putting out his fourth and latest record The Colossus in January. 

Colossus begins with “Let There Be Horns“, its hot Latin drum beat, humming strings, tiptoeing chimes and heavy synths immediately filling my mind’s projector with images from an underground business deal. I imagined film flickering with shots of Miami mobsters, blaring brass begetting cash exchanges and the electric guitar solo warming of police presence. I heard the medley of Russian-style strings as an audible indication of a fight between the pastel suited-men and the story’s dirty antagonists. The synth seemed to indicate when life was good in palm-laden city and the sampled clapping at the song’s end wrapped up my vision with high hopes. 

Each song on Colossus has a similar, industrial, urban story for me; I see factory workers, trains, smog filled cities and lover’s quarrels each time RJD2’s beats play. Is this weird? Maybe my over-active imagination should get back in the closet? I was hoping that RJ himself would understand.

Talking over the phone from his Ohio home, RJ was enjoying a small window of free time by repairing a broken synth, which he admitted was “pretty nerdy.” Not as nerdy as my “visions”, I thought. I asked him questions about owning the label and other slightly boring items, flirting around what I really wanted to ask. I felt like a kindergarten student with my hand-up, squirming with a question. And then, I just blurted it out. 

SFBG: So…do you ever think of your music as a story? I tend to think of the sounds, instruments and samples as characters– interacting, meeting, fighting, making love? Antagonists and Protagonists in a movie scene. Do you think of it like that? 

RJ: (Giggle). I think of things in a similar manner, yes. 

SFBG: (Sigh of relief).

RJ: The fun of instrumental music for me is the intention of release. The arrangement of the song is the most important thing– how it progresses. The tension and the release. Building drama. The medium I work in is drama. Two things might be working with each other, or against each other, and thinking of them as characters or playing roles makes sense to me. There’s a relationship between the two parts: between the drums and the groove, the intro and the base of the song. The bridge, the breakdowns, each section– where they fall next to each other and the transitions between them. 

SFBG: So if not in story-writting mode, where does your head go when you put together your songs?

RJ: I like to let things unfold on its own accord. I don’t like to force it. I find it fun and interesting and rewarding to let it take me along for the ride. I’m not the kind of guy who starts with a blueprint, or gets lyrics, chords and melodies in their sleep– I’m in total awe of that. Almost all of the time I’m recording, it’s an exploratory project– I don’t know what I’m looking for, shooting for as I go. I like to get the sensation that the experience is like going along for a ride in someone else’s movie, trip or story. 

No need for a pill, puff or embarrassment– looks like everybody gets a free trip from RJD2’s music.

 

RJD2

Wed/7, 8pm, $20

The Independent

628 Divisadero, SF

www.the independentsf.com

 

No Bra makes topless creepy

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No Bra makes topless creepy

Exposed breasts usually make my heart beat a little faster in a good, sexy sort of way. But when Susanne Oberbeck, front-woman of post- No Wave- techno band, No Bra, takes off her top, letting her frizzy red hair dangle past her puss and slightly cover her chest, my heart beats faster in a nervous sort of way.

It’s not that the lady is bad looking, it’s the music that inspires and therefore accompanies her shirt removal– industrial, tortured, plunky notes that sulk behind a low, groaning voice. No Bra’s music takes you straight out of your warm desk chair and places you in a dark alley… at 3 a.m…in East Oakland.

No Bra started up in 2003, after Oberbeck moved from her hometown in Germany, to London and then to New York. Her vocals come delivered in a deadpan spoken-word style over cracked-out, murky percussion, electric guitar strums and other combinations of mildew-covered sounds. The old-style German folk slowly churns below Oberbeck, playing the soundtrack to what could be a really rad horror movie from the ’30s. The lyrics about syphilis and anal-sex come off like secrets whispered by elderly, possibly senile men. Oberbeck has called her tracks “romantic.” 

Oberbeck’s intentions for singing minus brasserie seem aimed at disbanding gender norms and besides taking things off, she also puts on a fake mustache every once and awhile. (I’m guessing all of this reflects on her childhood in Germany, where Oberbeck has said she was mistaken for a boy until she was into her late teens). 

Even though No Bra totally creeps me out, I do think there’s something really wonderful and provoking about the music– Oberbeck’s physical nakedness pairs well with the exposed and disturbing musical content. I find its aloofness oddly compelling. 

The latest No Bra single, “Minger/New Hero“, came out in February, with remixes by TV Baby and These New Puritans. Unfortunately, her and her eerie tit show are not touring to San Francisco any time soon…


Learning to talk dirty from Mickey Avalon

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Learning to talk dirty from Mickey Avalon

Dirty rappin’ about splooge, needles, dead friends and having sex with big-breasted inbred women– wow Mickey Avalon is a charmer. The Hollywood glam-rapper– playing Sat/3 at Roe Nightclub– is far from classy, in fact he’s the epitome of trashy and tragic, and yet kind of hot? Wait, wait, wait– hot? Well, kinda. Ew. I know. So if this is sexy, ladies and gentleman, maybe we should take a few notes.

It’s been four years since Avalon’s self-titled debut [MySpace Records, 2006] and to be honest, I kind of forgot that he existed. But he’s back, ready to penetrate crowds of dirty-minded dancers and apparently he’s got a new CD coming out this year, Electric Gigolo [MySpace Records]. As the Guardian has said before, Avalon manages to be simultaneously delightful and disgusting. I thought it was time to reminisce and look through his gritty, pornographic lyrics for a few Avalon gems. Here are five real winners. Mmm…talk dirty to me. 

1. “I sodomized your father in a federal penitentiary. And on the day I got out I went to your mother’s house and slept on the couch.” 

2. “I’ll bust through the shudders, masked in a rubber. Duct tape your mother and butt-rape your brother.” 

3. “Four seconds Avalon will give you what you need. Raw-doggin’ till we bleed. Force feed horse meat to your sweet buttercup.”

4. “I got a monkey on my back with his dick in my ass. Been tryin’ to fuck this monkey since algebra class.” 

5. “I’ll sperm on your perm, leave cigarette burns on your tits.” 

 

OK. Barf. Too dirty….

 

Mickey Avalon

Sat/3, 9pm, $20

Roe Nightclub

651 Howard, SF

www.roe-sf.com

Wear your heart on your boob

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Wear your heart on your boob

Do your tassels swing low? Do they shimmy to and fro? Spring is here and as anyone taking a casual stroll in the Castro knows, clothing is optional. The guys have been walking around without shirts since forever, so why not put out and paste up, ladies– your rack was born to shine with red sparkles and dangling ribbons.

Walking in the Haight yesterday, a glimmering set of blue hearts poked me in the face and lured me straight into an adorable lingerie shop for closer inspection. Dollhouse Bettie sports a few different pairs from the Oregon designer, Gothfox Designs, but these bridal satin, royal beauties are classically stunning. These pasties even come with a fancy name, “J’amie l’ocean”, alluding to their oceanic inspiration.

Gothfox Designs

Skip the swimsuit and sport a nifty set of pasties for zero tan lines– the matching trim and tassels are guaranteed to pull in a wave of looks and approvals. 

With tit stickers on the brain, I checked into the featured set at Madame S and was more than pleased with these “Heartbreaker Pasties.” This San Francisco store makes these flattering hearts in their very own latex production lab, located just behind the storefront in the SOMA neighborhood. The tight, naughty black latex will hug your nipples and the blood red trim definitely has the power to make hearts (and organs) pound with desire.

Heartbreaker Pasties

The cup-less bra is a perfect accessory for any pair of pasties– keeps things perky. 

Scared to sport ’em under a blazer like Rihanna? Wear them at home for your lover, test ’em out while vacuuming or put on a one-woman show in the mirror while you practice twirling. And if you really want to throw timid over the bridge, take the breast art for a test cruise during the SF World Naked Bike Ride. I bet you’ll have a hard time taking them off…and not because of the glue. 

Zion I is home and grown

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Zion I is home and grown

Marriage, jobs, cars— ten years can be a stretch for a lot of things in our world, but the hip-hop created by Zion I is still fresh after a decade, the signs of wear and tear only showing on the albums themselves. Producer AmpLive and emcee Zumbi make up the Bay Area duo—playing Thurs/1 at the Rickshaw Stop and Fri/2 at the Independent— who have just returned from a 35-city tour around the country. Zumbi says they’re officially “ready to vibe with the hometown crowd.”

“The tour was great, but I need to get my life and routine back together,” Zumbi said over the phone while prepping for his regular show on Oakland’s Youth Radio. Sharing the bill with Cali-raggae stars Rebelution and Soja, the laid-back hippy crowd proved to be quite different than the fans Zion I usually sees when they share the stage with other hip-hop artists. 

 

“A lot less ego and a lot more energy,” he said, noting that the tour consistently had an average of one to three thousand people in the audience. “Usually on a tour, it fluctuates. Some nights are big and others just have 50 people. The consistency brought out a lot of energy. Every night was so exciting— never a drag.”

 

His favorite stop on the tour was definitely New Orleans. The massive amounts of reconstruction throughout the city reminded him a lot of where he calls home— West Oakland. 

 

“The old Victorian houses, next to the new condos and all the construction. New Orleans was like my neighborhood three times over. It was nuts.”

 

Zion I

 

Back on his home turf, Zion I is the same cat you met back in the late ‘90s: prominently loaded with thick, luscious beats from AmpLive’s unpredictable bag of tricks and smooth, conscious lyrics from the mouth of Zumbi. Funk, soul, D&B, and space vibes remain as they have throughout Zion I’s career, but their sixth and most recent release, The Takeover (Gold Dust Media, 2009), really hits home by honing in on these qualities. Sharp hooks, anchored melodies and beats that bump make this album congruent with Kanye-style hits. 

 

“We switched up our process and did lots of revisions on this album. We’d change up one song like two, three or four times. I’d write three or four raps for each beat,” he said, which is quite a contrast to the previously process: Amp would make the beat, Zumbi would write the rhyme and they’d record. 

 

Such a drastic change in work ethic doesn’t just come out of nowhere. 

 

“Well, we’ve been in this for ten years…” he starts out. “And Amp just got married and had baby. And we both just bought houses.” The truth comes out: they’ve grown up. And so has their music. “We’re ready to take on more responsibilities. This is where we are. We are grown men with something to say.”

 

Zumbi considers each song like a journal entry, a story in each song that reflects where these two men have been, what they’ve seen and the thoughts the journey has inspired. 

 

And he wraps it up in one perfect statement: “One of the most beautiful things in life is to watch an artist evolve.”

 

 

Zion I


Thurs/April 1

Rickshaw Stop 

155 Fell St, SF

9pm, $18/20

www.rickshawstop.com

 

Fri/April 2

Independent

628 Divisadero Street, SF

9pm, $18/20

www.theindependentsf.com


Hump Day headliner: The White Mice

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Hump Day headliner: The White Mice

The screaming, banging, clanging, and screeching I can handle for a couple minutes, but the big, bloody, rodent costumes? No way. Pretty sure I’m a masklophobe, meaning I’m already totally creeped out by people dressed up in oversized, animal and mascot costumes, even if they’re smiling and semi-cute. The grindcore metal-heads, The White Mice—playing Wed/31 at 21 Grand— take it to an all-new low with their chosen stage attire, beyond the crypt and into a the most terrifying science lab possible. 

Three guys in three red-stained lab coats, the Rhode Island Mice hide their faces behind papier-mâché mouse masks on stage, experimenting with their abrasive, totally rude, nasty metal sounds. 

Categorize them as you will, their brand of metal is industrial and distorted, a batch of chemically treated sounds concocted by the hand of a mad scientist. The guitars rip and rage with machismo. The vocals growl. The pounding bass and steadfast drums claw your organs from the inside out— sound appealing?

 

whtmice0310

 

 

The strangest part about The Mice is their “cheesy” sense of humor. Their song titles are often mice-related, like “Gouda and Evil” and “Cheesus Saves.” Funny and scary— these guys would be hot on the dating market. 

 

The show is being put on by Club Sandwich, an East Bay collective who organizes events for local, and touring, under-the-radar musicians. The show is all-ages, meaning you could tote along your whiney little brother and really scare the shit out of him, Donnie Darko style. 

 


The White Mice w/Lesbian and Nuclear Death Wish

Wed/31, 8pm, $6

21 Grand 

416 25th St., Oakland

www.21grand.org


Oh my gay!

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Oh my gay!

CLUB/MUSIC Gay wads. Sissies. Fatties. Fags. Butches. Twinks. Offended? Don’t be — that’s the guest list for Stay Gold, the sickest queer dance party in the Mission. This month the party celebrates its four-year anniversary, inviting you to self-declare along with the rest of the high femmes, boys, bois, nerd alerts, nellies, and an entire pack of sexy dance-dance revolutionaries.

The all-inclusive party throws down its jams the last Wednesday of each month at the Make-Out Room and has grown from a dedicated crowd of 50 at its start to a full-on 450-person freak-fest in 2010. Stay Gold’s founders/promoters/resident DJs Leah Perloff (DJ Rapid Fire) and Danielle Jackson (DJ Pink Lightning) blame the party’s popularity on its welcoming attitude.

“Stay Gold is a queer party, not a lesbian party,” says Perloff over coffee and banana bread. “We’ve never put imagery on flyers because we didn’t want to rule anyone out.”

“It started out as mainly women, but it’s turned into everybody, which is a hard thing to do — get all queers at one event,” Jackson says.

All queer and all hot, Stay Gold draws in a ridiculously cool crowd. Super rad vintage threads bump and grind with killer style choices of all breeds. The haircuts, the personalities, the dance moves— this crowd is bangin’. “Ya. It’s a super hot queer mix,” Jackson agrees with a smirk, noting the event’s tagline: “White hot cruising and solid gold dancing.”

Stay Gold started as a tribute to a friend of Jackson and Perloff, Sarah Tucker, who was killed on her bicycle by a hit-and-run in 2006. Jackson and “Tucker,” as they called her, had put together PYT, a gay dance party named after a certain Michael Jackson song. After Tucker passed away, Jackson and Perloff decided to keep the party going in her honor, switching the name to reflect their lost friend’s recent golden birthday. “Tucker would totally approve of Stay Gold — minus the fact that we play a little hip-hop. That was always her rule: no hip-hop at PYT,” Jackson says.

To balance it out, Tucker’s favorite song, “Last Night a DJ Saved My Life” by Indeep is the party’s anthem. Other Stay Gold staples include “Finally” by CeCe Peniston, “Walking on Broken Glass” by Annie Lennox, and “Pussy (Real Good)” by Jacki-O. “People want to hear the jams,” Perloff says with a very serious face.

Along with the usual DJ mix, the anniversary party includes a special live set from Double Dutchess, who Perloff describes as an “epic booty bass, babelicious, dance jam duo.” Already packed tit-to-tit during its regular event, this one’s gonna be bananas.

Whether it’s suggestion or a rule, take it from Perloff: “No parking on the dance floor.” 

STAYGOLD FOUR-YEAR ANNIVERSARY

Wed/31, 10:30pm, $3

Make-Out Room

3225 22nd St., SF

www.makeoutroom.com

Snap Sounds: Dum Dum Girls

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Snap Sounds: Dum Dum Girls

DUM DUM GIRLS

I Will Be

(Sup Pop)

Dee Dee. Jules. Bambi. Frankie Rose. Their names would be perfect for the pole and dollar-bill dances, but the only stage these four L.A. ladies take on is one with a mic. Together they are The Dum Dum Girls and today these bad-ass babes put out their first full-length record, I Will Be. Primarily dirty garage-pop with a shot of girl-group charm, the Dum Dum’s combination of sweet and ratty comes off with a second-wave feminist punch. Hot harmonies, lo-fi fuzz, sexy black outfits, and sassy melodies that stick like bubblegum. 

I Will Be recieved a little love and audible inspiration from industry vet Richard Gottehrer, who co-wrote “My Boyfriend’s Back” and produced albums by lovely legends Blondie and the Go-Go’s back in the day. Dee Dee (a.k.a. Kristin Gundred) runs the girl gang of musicians and says she grew up listening to sick chart toppers like Mariah Carey until her pops introduced her to the good stuff, like Jefferson Airplane and Grace Slick– thanks Dad! And props to her mom, whose baby face adorns the cover of the new album. 

Taking hints from the grand ol’ ’60s, while spicing things up with some grungy shoe-gazing guitar, The Dum Dum Girls are a sexier version of The Vivian Girls and a perfect upper to any downer. 

Dum Dum Girls – Jail La La from Sub Pop Records on Vimeo.

Think About Life and dance real hard

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Think About Life and dance real hard

A quality, happy-wild dance band like Think About Life—playing Fri/26 at Bottom of the Hill— is a gem to be treasured, or as the band themselves might say, “a pearl in my heart” or “the golden seashell in my dreams.” No matter how you quantify your sacred jewels, you had better put them deep in your fifth-pocket or that shit’s gonna fly out when the beat starts– arms and legs automatically doing half-cartwheels on the dance floor. 

Hailing from Montreal, Think About Life is a four-some of adorable nerds who don’t just come out of their shells onstage, they bust out, sending bits of energy and bedazzled hearts into the crowd for a set that will melt any and all dance-related inhibitions. Their latest album, Family [Alien8 Records, 2009] is jammed with front-man Martin Cesar’s bright vocals, hard bass beats and catchy melodies that race, skip rope, and double-dutch. 

 

I particularly enjoy the track “Sweet Sixteen” and its super geeky video. Pay close attention to bassist/vocalist Caila Thompson-Hannant’s sexy dance moves— looks quite similar to the show my aunt recently put on at a family wedding. Hotttie! 

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Think About Life

w/The Heavenly States and Kill Moi

Fri/26, 8:30pm, $10

Bottom of the Hill

1233 17th Street, SF

www.bottomofthehill.com


Hungry hippos get their munch on with new delivery service

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Hungry hippos get their munch on with new delivery service

It’s 3 a.m. and you’ve been up all night at the best sleepover imaginable— but unfortunately you’re not seven and your mom didn’t stock the fridge with juice packs and frozen treats in case you got hungry…or stoned. Capri Sun, curly fries and wings; the folks at Munchy Munchy Hippos have your back and your kid-inspired snack pack all set for late night emergencies. 

The best part about the menu? Its three categories: I’m Hungry, I’m Thirsty and I’m Broke. For the parched, Hippo’s got a sweet line-up of fructose-happy drinks that used to consistently show up in my middle school lunch box, like strawberry-kiwi Capri Sun and grape Kool-Aid pouches. Don’t you just love jammin’ those little straws in the bag of faux-fruit juice? 

 

grlchese0310

Rumbling tums will appreciate the list of fatty-delish foods, including, but not limited to burgers, baby back ribs, popcorn chicken, “We Sell Seashells” cheese-stuffed pasta, and the “Ghetto Dog”, a bacon-wrapped fat-ass wiener. 

 

And for those with only a few jingling coins to spare, the “I’m Broke” menu keeps costs to a max of two bones! Talk about a new contender for Joe’s “Two-Buck-Chuck.” Hashbrown? One dollar. Grilled cheese and ham? Two. Juices galore? Only seventy-five cents.

 

The delivery region is stuck in the North Bay and currently confined to Berkeley, Emeryville and Albany, with delivery charges (a.k.a. gas money) from $1.50-$3.00, depending on location. 

 

Not only is Hippo recession friendly, but this late-night delivery offers some fun flash-backs to your childhood eating habits, maybe ones that shouldn’t become adult habits, and still, an occasional solution for sobering up mid-morning. So cash in your marbles, kids and the first one to gobble up the most jalapeno poppers wins! Or maybe that’s just the game I’d have to play…

 

Check the complete Munchy Munchy Hippos menu at http://www.munchymunchyhippos.com/


Oh Baby, Neon Indian was made in the ’80s

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Oh Baby, Neon Indian was made in the ’80s

Miniature scrunchies, neon-colored jumpers and babysitters who insisted the tube stay tuned to MTV— awwwww, weren’t ‘80s babies the coolest? I may be partial, due to the fact that I was born in said decade, but so was Alan Palomo, a.k.a. the synth-wizard behind Neon Indian— playing Fri/26 at Mezzanine— and he’s an ’88 boy whose cheeks and beats I always wanna squeeze. 

Fuzzy, freaky and so videogame-esque, Neon Indian is Palomo’s solo project, following the rapid success of his other electro gig, VEGA. The debut album, Psychic Chasms [Lefse 2009], is a charming mix of steady beats with whirling lasers and wired hiccups. “Should Have Taken Acid With You” is genius— Palomo’s baby-smooth vocals romping around the electronic rattles and laser toys. 

 

I called up Palomo on a Sunday afternoon while he was in Austin, laying low before the SXSW storm that would take over the following day. Even through his use of big, fancy words, I thoroughly enjoyed being distracted with the thought of his full head of baby curls blowing in the Texas breeze (slightly creepy, yes).

 

 

SFBG- How would you describe Neon Indian’s sound using verbs?

Palomo– Reactive. Warped. Like solving a sudoku. And this is going to sound like a L’Oreal commercial, but translucent and shimmering. Klodisesphocick?

 

SFBG- Ok, now you’re just making up cool words…

Palomo–  How about pastel-nauseating?

 

SFBG- Tell me about another art form that has influenced your music?

Palomo– I’ve been renting a lot of movies and they seem to be following a pattern: meandering characters, though well intentioned. Like Vagabond (1985)– a French film about a female hobo traveling through various towns.  

 

(Palomo stops to admire an old couple cruising around him on a tandem bike).

 

SFBG- Sometimes your lyrics seem pretty obscure, or maybe I just get distracted by the lasers— what do you like to write songs about?

Palomo– Nothing makes for better art than relationships. Yikes. They’re fascinating. My music comes off as effervescent, people describe it as happy, but I have to have a little ambivalence in there, too. 

 

SFBG- So when you make music, it’s in your bedroom and it’s just you. How does this transfer to a live show?

Palomo- We’ve done a lot of recontextualizing. I’ve had to sacrifice a little bit here and there so people have something to look at. It’s alienating if not— go to a live show, get a drink and look at your watch. So we’ve really worked on making it palpable. 

 

(The tandem goes by again—followed by an obnoxiously loud motorcycle). 

 

Palomo- Wow that guy’s motorcycle is ridiculous. Really? Those machines don’t bring pleasure to anyone but yourself, sir. 

 

SFBG- Have people been dancing at your shows?

Palomo– At first they have quixotic looks on their faces, but then three or four songs in they realize this requires some physical movement, like ok, I’m not on the couch, wearing headphones and my Snuggie. And then yes. They dance— in a Peyote-dazed way.

 

SFBG- So ‘80s baby, what are some ‘80s elements have weaseled their way into your music? Favorite culture-tid bits from that era?

Palomo- Definitely Sega Genesis, Sonic (The Hedgehog) 3. All that rushing music in the underwater level. Brings about such a primitive mechanism in my brain. I really liked the Sega soundcard. It’s like a crappy sampler, condensed, crunchy, weird— a great, low quality sampler. 

 

SFBG- What are you going to do the rest of afternoon?

Palomo– Some some weed and watch Kids in the Hall. 

 

SFBG- Ah, I hate that show. 

Palomo– What? (He says with complete shock). I used to take sick days in middle school so I could stay home and watch it. 

 

 

Neon Indian

Fri/26, 9pm, $15

444 Jessie, SF

www.mezzaninesf.com

 

Snap Sounds: YACHT

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Snap Sounds: YACHT

YACHT

The Afterlife

(DFA)

YACHT is to the river as an Oreo cookie is to a tall glass of milk– fully dunked and soggy. The newly released video for “The Afterlife” is alllll about the Portland electro-pop duo gettin’ baptized and cleansed. River baptisms, bathtub renditions, slow-mo and even reverse baptisms. Were they naughty?

I always thought this religious endeavor was all about regaining purity, but they look so innocent in their draping white robes, complete with fancy gold accents, water dripping down their thin noses. According to my trusty ol’ friend, Wikipedia, “Lutherans confess that baptism “works forgiveness of sins, delivers from death and the devil, and gives eternal salvation.” Regardless of what you think remains to be discovered in the afterlife, know that these two are soaked in preparation. 

 

A blind date with Mama Lion

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A blind date with Mama Lion

Mama Lion had all the characteristics my ears had been searching for: a jaw full of sharp guitars, a soft, Patti Smith-like growl, and a wardrobe of psychedelic, ‘70s melodies. It took only a second, but after our first audio introduction on the ol’ Web, I knew I needed to hear her again. Typing up an email or two, I mustered up the courage and asked Mama Lion— who’ll be performing Mon/22 at El Rio and Tues/23 at Retox Lounge— out to dinner— all three of them. 

I showed up at the restaurant, Pakwan, a Pakistani Indian joint in the Mission, promptly at six-thirty, still a little sweaty from my bike ride there. Mama Lion members, Hannah Frances Healy, Victor Mitrani and Gabe Gipe, met me by the counter a few moments later and we all ordered our chosen items for the anticipated feast. I went for the spinach and lentil combo and Mama Lion picked out an assortment of steamy mushy items that looked strange and smelled amazing. 

 

During the hour that followed, conversation flowed without effort, the nan was devoured, we laughed, I cried (only a little on the inside as I fought off the spiciness of my meal) and when the bowls were left in a stain of reds and browns, not only was my stomach satisfied, but the four of us had really managed to have a successful first date. Even without the goodbye kiss or a promise to call, Mama Lion and I covered all first date bases.

 

 

The Past

The members of Mama Lion all grew up in the same San Diego school district and Mitrani and Frances Healy started a band together in high school. The three of them went to different colleges, but when they all relocated to San Francisco, the band was born. 

 

Careers

Frances Healy (vocals, guitar) is a dog walker, or as I see it, a canine chauffer/soccer mom combo. She drives around the city, picking up dogs in a van and takes them to Golden Gate Park. Mitrani (guitar) went to school for accounting but is totally not down for a nine-to-five in the profession, so he’s been doing maintenance work. Gipe (drums) is still a student, dreaming about one day becoming a history teacher, currently feeding the bank account with PT jobs at Apple and Starbucks. 

 

Personality

Mama Lion thinks it’s pretentious to say their sound is ‘unclassifiable’, but they’re also not comfortable with pinpointing a specific genre. Somewhere under the indie-blanket, the band takes direction from their old school influences: strong guitar attitude from Sonic Youth and the Pixies and more mellow tones from Cat Stevens and Simon and Garfunkel. 

 

Childhood

When Mama Lion was young, the band took on whatever gig they could find, meaning they ended up in some odd, very quiet spaces. A performance at the former Green Earth Café turned out to be the opening act for a group of belly dancers, shocking the crowd of little old ladies drinking tea. 

 

Confessions

Mitrani is a “Riot Grrrl at heart—a riot boi?” While writing his guitar parts, Mitrani imagine he’s pissed off, hanging out in a parking lot with a bunch of feisty ladies. Frances Healy was an anthropology major and likes to analyze people and situations in her lyrics. Gipe gets angry before putting together his drum part and puts himself in the mood to hurt something, like overly picky Starbucks customers. 

 

Looking for a new musical love interest yourself? Mama Lion plays two intimate shows this week.

 

 

Mama Lion

Mon/22, 7pm, $8

El Rio
3158 Mission, SF

www.elriosf.com

 

Tues/23, 8pm

Retox Lounge

628 20th St, SF

www.retoxsf.com

 

Snap Sounds: The Consulate General

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Snap Sounds: The Consulate General

THE CONSULATE GENERAL

Person Number

(Circle Into Square)

We loved him when he was creating music under the moniker Boy In Static and I think a few tears may have been shed when Alexander Chen left the Bay and unpacked his instruments in Gothenburg, Sweden. Like anyone who has ever taken residency in that beautiful country, Chen’s creativity has flourished and his new solo project, The Consulate General, is a breath of fresh Nordic air. 

 

The debut album, Person Number, is set to release April 6, so until then, Chen is offering up track one, “What Time Is It Now,” as a beautiful teaser to what’s in store. Cheery and pleasant, this track makes me feel all nice about life, even when a hundred things around me are swirling out of place. Airy, ambient electronics mix and mingle with chimes and bells, while the harmonizing male vocals from Chen and guest vocalist Antoine Bedard (Montag) offer the perfect calm, brushing your hair and tickling your back— that or whatever else puts you at ease.

The Consulate General, “What Time Is It Now” by SFBG

Besides music, Chen has also been showing his interactive sound art in galleries around the world and to stop us from biting our lips until April, Chen has made a special musical toy for our screens. The playful piece was built using samples from the Person Number track, “On the Run” and is great for afternoons spent hiding under your desk. Just roll your mouse over the pigeons and play away at www.theconsulategeneral.com. 


Personal shopping at Collage Clothing

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The perfect wardrobe is a collection of vintage beauties and trendy new things, but shopping in this form takes devotion. Thrashing through thrift stores may not be your style and consignment shops often have a tendency to overwhelm with rack after rack of fashion-flops. Alas, Collage Clothing and its queen bee Erica Skone-Rees are making your life easier. The closet-size shop in Potrero Hill hosts an ever-changing assortment of local designers, consignment and vintage pieces, meaning you can leave the hunting and gathering to someone else. 

 

Every inch in the adorable shop is carefully attended— manager and buyer Skone-Rees is a former merchandiser with a gift for making each item in the store look irresistible. Collage Clothing opened its French doors in November as the new neighbor to its mother store, Collage Gallery, an 18-year-old, Potrero Hill staple for vintage furniture and locally made jewelry. 

 

The front-window display alone is enough to get people inside and browsing— from mannequins to antiques, Skone-Rees rearranges the display every two days, paying mind to details and setting up featured items as if they were famed works of art. 

 

“Runners will go by in the morning and send me emails once they get home, telling me ‘the window looked great today’,” she says with a proud smile. “And guys from Blooms (Bar across the street) will stand outside, smoking their cigarettes and watch me change the display. People really get a kick out of this window.”

 

The store carries items for both men and women, and if you’re clueless about what to try on or just in need of some direction, Skone-Rees is one to ask. The first time I went into the shop, I came out with a sexy blue-suede dress straight out of the 90s. Skone-Rees and I chatted while I walked around the store in my new body-glove, chatting like we were old pals. As special as it was, Skone-Rees offers this kind of big-sister service to all of her customers. 

 

“This store is like my baby— I eat, sleep and breath Collage and I love it.”

 

Each month Collage Clothing and Collage Gallery host a double-trunk show, offering customers a chance to meet and greet local designers, buy up some goods and toast with champagne. This month’s event— Thurs/18 from 6-9pm— features the FLEECE-A-NISTA collection by Jeanne Feldkamp and Topi Hat Designs. 

 

Check out the gallery for current items hot on the rack this week.


Collage Clothing

1331 18th St

(between Texas St & Missouri St) 

San Francisco, CA 94107

(415) 755-8306

www.collage-gallery.com/

 

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