Emily Savage

Localized Appreesh: The Jaunting Martyrs

Tony Robles
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Localized Appreesh is our weekly thank-you column to the musicians that make the Bay. Each week a band/music-maker with a show, album release, or general good news during those seven days is highlighted and spotlit. To be considered, contact emilysavage@sfbg.com.

The Jaunting Martyrs were chosen for Localized Appreesh because the seven-piece band has a great, thoroughly San Franciscan in spirit, show this week and it could use your attention: Kimo’s tonight (Tuesday) with Fierce Bad Rabbit, Wesley Woo, Halftime Heros.

Plus, have you heard its music? It’s like an Eastern European circus took a folky Appalachian holiday.  It’s both quiet, classical bedtime story and traveling, rambling, carnival party.  The song “Surfin Tzigane” off last year’s self-titled EP is probably the most telling. With initially delicate Spanish-style strumming, it leads eventually to rowdy wet reverb –  not out of place within a true-blue American surf rock Dick Dale track – and, laid over that, Bulgarian drumming and Turkish horn. It’s world traveling from the ground-pillow comfort of your own intimate local music venue.

Year and location of origin: 2008, San Francisco, Calif.
Band name origin: Originally, it began as the random name of the track of space music Justine was sending off in the mail when she met Brendan on the BART train, but has come to mean something deeper, communicated in some of the characters in our songs, such as Mickey, Lila, and Bonnie Blue. Basically, A Jaunting Martyr is one who has moved past anger and angst into acceptance of their plight, and is able to laugh and dance in the face of hopelessness.
Band motto: “Never mind the baby faces, this is a savage band.”
Description of sound in 10 words or less: A sound that tells a story, fluttering from intimate to intense.
Instrumentation: Electric guitar, bass, banjo, mandolin, trumpet, tapan (Bulgarian drum), fiddle, charango, kaval.
Most recent release: A self-titled self-released, self-mixed self-published EP.
Best part about life as a Bay Area band: This is simply the most beautiful, spiritually powerful place in the world. We are all natives here, we all consider it home. (Except for Ivan, he’s from Bulgaria, which I’m sure he digs as well).
Worst part about life as a Bay Area band: Those folks with the tightly crossed arms at shows.
First record/cassette tape/or CD ever purchased: The Mermen – A Glorious Lethal Euphoria.
Most recent record/cassette tape/CD/or Mp3 purchased/borrowed from the Web: Spirits of The Red City – Hunter Moon.
Favorite local eatery and dish: Lucca Foods on Irving and 20th.  Best deli in SF, baby. Get the Billy Filly. (You can only get it when Billy’s working).

With Fierce Bad Rabbit, Wesley Woo, Halftime Heros
Tues/13, 9 p.m., $6
Kimo’s
1351 Polk, SF
www.kimosbarsf.com

Try not to fall in love: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOC31u1GzxU&feature=related

Live Shots: Religious Girls, Part Time, and Born Gold

Tony Robles
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Last night at the Knockout, Religious Girls killed it. It was a homecoming show of sorts for the local band after its late summer tour, and the feeling was all warm and fuzzy — minus a drunken birthday boy fight in the crowd. The Knockout itself was crowded, but not that unbearable, sweat-running-down-the-walls packed it has been known to incur. The boys of Religious Girls, who we profiled earlier this week, played hard and tight; especially the drummer, who we’re giving MVP for the night.

After opening the show, Religious Girls were followed by another recent birthday boy, San Francisco’s 80s synth dreampopper Part Time, backed by a full band, then Canadian trio Born Gold (formerly Gobble Gobble).

All photos by Chris Stevens.

Keep it raw

Jesse Hawthorne Ficks
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Keep it raw

emilysavage@sfbg.com

MUSIC Does the Godfather of Punk really need an introduction? It’s Iggy Pop. He’s been doing this — this meaning spitting out underground ethos in a signature growl and writhing shirtless — for nearly 50 years. With the untimely death of original Stooge guitarist Ron Asheton, Pop regrouped and tapped Raw Power-era player James Williamson to rejoin the band a couple of years back.

I spoke to Pop in Paris over the phone — his current world tour was supposed to land in San Francisco on Sept. 12 and 13. As we were going to press, however, we were informed that the ever-wild Pop broke his foot and his appearance here will be rescheduled, with new dates TBA Dec. 4 and 6 at the Warfield. We wish him a speedy recovery!

SFBG: What songs are you playing this tour?

Iggy Pop: All of Raw Power, some of Funhouse, some songs from the eponymous debut the Stooges, and some stuff that was too hot to handle, too raw for the times — stuff that came out on bootlegs in the ’70s like “Cock in My Pocket,” “Open Up and Bleed,” “Head on the Curve.”

SFBG: And James Williamson is on guitar?

Iggy Pop: Yeah, it’s James. The three principles in the group are James, myself and [drummer] Scott Asheton, — [Scott] had a medical emergency…after our appearance at the Hellfest. He’s now home — he’s benched for the rest of the year. I expect he’ll fully recover and be back next year. His replacement on drums is somebody that grew up listening to our records — Toby Dammit. And Mike Watt is with us, and Steve Mackay. Mike’s there being Mike, you know?

SFBG: I do. At this point in your career do feel pressure to maintain this ‘Wild Child’ image?

Iggy Pop: You mean you’ve noticed my style? [Laughs]. It’s interesting. I feel a desire to — [screams] “still do that, BABY!” — at certain times when it’s going to do me good. And I can’t think of a better time than when the Stooges are cranking, and there are a bunch of people who are sick of this shit-soup that white rock has become and want to see some action. I let some of those elements live and breath, and I always feel good about it.

I don’t think there’s so much an image I have to live up to because one of the beautiful things about being me and about being the Stooges is that we never, ever received any legitimate or uncontested exposure from either the official music industry, when it existed, or the official media. We’re more popular now than we ever were. I’m 64 and I’m just starting to hit a career peak. I consciously try to introduce as many new things as I can into what I do and try to keep moderating it. My hair’s not gray, I haven’t lost interest in life.

SFBG: So what are you looking forward to in the future? The future being later tonight, and six months down the line?

Iggy Pop: [Laughs] well, later tonight, my wife’s with me, and I’m going to open half a bottle of Bordeaux, watch the French news, and practice my French. I’ve made a small album of my own [Existence] that’s along the lines of [2009’s] Préliminaires so I’m working on seeing if I can bamboozle some record company into putting that out. But I’m also working on [Stooges] stuff with James. He’s a real prolific talent, and wasn’t playing music for something like 37 years — he’s got a lot of pent-up energy. It’s funny because he’s an eminently sane, responsible family man who has become a very successful tech executive in San Jose. But he has still reserved his unreasoning, adolescent, spiteful side for our group — so out it comes!

SFBG: How did you end up on American Idol?

Iggy Pop: Well, my agent was begging and threatening — and I’m the sort of person that likes to take a dare. I don’t know how many times I’ve slunk past the television set when that thing was on fuming, “this stinks, what a bunch of shit this is, look at these people — they might as well be parrots!” Yet, behind all that you’re always thinking, “I can do better than that.” I thought of all 102 reasons why I shouldn’t do it, but you’re being offered a chance to do one of your own songs…on the same stage, with the chance to do it your way. I did it for that. To give four minutes of my life and put that on the record in America.

SFBG: On that same note, what was the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame experience like for you, finally getting inducted in 2010?

Iggy Pop: It always reminds me of that movie Carrie. She didn’t start out wanting to be homecoming queen, did she? They keep nominating you, and I didn’t ask, nobody asked me if I wanted to be nominated. So then with every nomination comes the rejection, so you start feeling all like, “fuck!” Then you start looking around and think, “well there’s a silly-ass prick and he’s in the Hall of Fame” and “there’s a no-talent weasel and he’s in the Hall of Fame” — why the hell can’t I be in the Hall of Fame?

Shortly after Ron and Scott and I started working together again I said, “are there any specific things you want to accomplish?” And both said, “well, I want to be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. That would be the big thing.” So at that point I started doing things that would tend to let that happen. I did a couple of Grammy-related events. And then we did Madonna’s [induction]. I figured if the voters for this thing didn’t know who we were before, they’d know now. It’s a shame, Ron was really pissed when they didn’t induct us the next year — he hated doing the Madonna song but I didn’t mind. Hell, we could do “Happy Birthday” and it would sound good, too. It would sound like us. 

Maximum Consumption: A culinary tribute to Serge Gainsbourg

Tony Robles
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0

When Noise Pop and chef Blair Warsham’s graffEats come together, you know it’s for something special. They’ve collectively hosted a handful of well-attended (read: totally sold out) “Covers” dinners over the past year, and are about to debut another: A Culinary Tribute to Serge Gainsbourg.
As in events past, this one – which takes place in a secret location Sept. 8 – quickly sold out of its 50 dining spots. And again, the organizers made the decision to add another date, the same dinner will also be served Sept. 7. The basic gist: Warsham creates a meal based on “covers” of famous dishes around the world from the global collective of celebrated chefs. Noise Pop matches interesting covers songs to each course.

The focus on the adored yet boozy troubled, larger-than-life French icon (and lover to Brigitte Bardot and Jane Birkin) came naturally. “We were discussing the idea of playing with a more focused dinner and musical theme and Serge Gainsbourg came up immediately,” says Noise Pop’s Dawson Ludwig. “He’s French, which is an obvious culinary dream, he’s sensual, he’s a revered musical figure, he’s prolific, plenty of artists have covered him. He embodies so much of that sensory indulgence that we’re going for. And we are all big fans of his.”

An example of the pairings at next week’s dinners: Cappuccino de Foie Gras et Truffes de l’Ete from José de Anacleto (L’Hotel Million Albertville, Savoie), paired with Arcade Fire’s cover of “Poupée de Cire, Poupée de Son.” Says Ludwig: “We chose this song because of how lush it sounds, this dish is very rich and decadent so we wanted to pair it with a song that has big over-the-top arrangements.”

And another: Tarte Au Citron by Gerorge Perrier of Le Bec-Fin paired with the song “Je T’aime (moi non plus),” covered by Cat Power and Karen Elson – “This dish is ridiculously sexy. ‘Nuf said.” C’st vrai.

If you miss out this time around, there are two more Covers dinners lined up this year: Oct. 6 at the Treasure Island Music Festival Pop-Up Shop in North Beach and then on a winery in St. Helena in November. “Beyond that we are tackling them one at a time,” says Ludwig. “We hope to do at least five or six a year.”

Here’s the sexy singer, doing his thing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Nr0dUcrAU0&feature=related

Reprogramming the hardware

Jesse Hawthorne Ficks
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Reprogramming the hardware

MUSIC Technology can be so existentially mystifying. One minute you’re a kid in the back seat of your parents’ car with thumbs aimed and eyes glued to the screen of your modern handheld gaming console, the next you’re on stage with blinding lights and an audience, smashing into a modified old-school Gameboy on a snare drum. One second you’re doubled over in bed with the stomach flu, the next you’re in a box on Google+, simultaneously interviewing two band members from their respective Bay Area cities.

It’s enough to melt your mind, and we haven’t even begun to discuss those Gameboy modifications. Chiptune or 8-bit music is nothing new — nerded out musicians have been tinkering with the sounds on gaming consoles since the products hit the shelves in the 1980s — but now the music has the distinction of being both technologically advanced by some standards, and vintage, given its nostalgic sound.

Plus, in these financially-strapped times, it’s an economical way of creating music. “You don’t need anything fancy to make it,” says drummer-synth programmer Matt Payne. “The equipment is dirt cheap and it’s so accessible.”

Chiptune community outreach is big for him, Payne adds from his home in Oakland, holding up a mutant Gameboy with a blinking fuzzed out screen. He and musician-@GAMER magazine associate editor Lizzie Cuevas make up Bay Area-based 8-bit band the Glowing Stars. Cuevas, joining us in the Google+ video chatroom from her office in Daly City, agrees that once people see a live chiptune band, they’re usually inspired to try out the technology themselves. “We always have people who come up at shows and ask, ‘how do you do it?'”

The duo has demonstrated just how they do that at the Maker Faire and Pulse Wave SF — a friendly monthly gathering for chiptune bands. Up next, they play the free CONVERGENCE International Alternative Music and Arts Festival at the Japantown Peace Plaza.

Cuevas and Payne met in 2005, each playing in different punk bands. Payne joined Cuevas’ band (Sputterdoll), which broke up a few years ago. “We knew we wanted to do something video game related, we just didn’t know exactly what,” says Cuevas.

Payne had futzed with a program called LSDJ (LittleSound DJ) when it first came out, but hadn’t been serious about it initially, he says. “There’s a learning curve, it’s one of those easy to learn, difficult to master things.” With the new band starting up in 2010, he began gathering Gameboys and filling them with his own sounds. Given Cuevas’ affinity for early Weezer, the music they make is poppy, but it also has that nostalgic synthesized MIDI sound.

“There’s a misconception about it, that we’re using samples from video game somehow or that we’re doing something using actual songs from video games,” says Payne. “But what we’re actually doing is basically stripping down the console to a little sound making computer and getting it to play back our music.”

The process works like this: Cuevas writes the first skeleton of a song on guitar then sends it to Payne. He then programs it using LSDJ and loads it onto the Gameboy for that 8-bit transformation. They ping it back and forth, adding layers to the song. Payne also just started making music with a Sega Genesis — you can make chiptune on any console — so that might come into play soon.

Live, Cuevas sings and play distorted guitar, and sometimes taps a fresh Gameboy, like in the song “Bounce Bounce” where she solos over the final instrumental part. Payne plays drums and, occasionally, picks up the keytar. He also keeps his modded Gameboy on his snare, which has only once caused significant damage.

“I hit it with the drum stick — it made a loud, awful noise,” he says.

Cuevas smiles and replies, “I think you lost a chunk of your Gameboy.”

 

CONVERGENCE FESTIVAL

The Glowing Stars

With the Bran Flakes, Planet Booty, Teenage Sweater

Sun/4, 12-5 p.m., free

Japantown Peace Plaza Post Street Between Webster and Laguna, SF www.convergencefest.com

Butthole Surfers, 400 Blows keep it weird/bloody at Regency Ballroom

Tony Robles
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1

I had some pretty significant nightmares last night thanks to Butthole Surfers. Don’t get me wrong, the legendary avant-garde punk band, born in San Antonio, Tex. in 1981, was aces during its show at Regency Ballroom – just as weird and earsplitting as it ever was. The three enormous screens behind shaggy-haired lead vocalist-saxophonist-noise box manipulator Gibby Haynes and the rest of the band projected the images that stalked my dreams.

Slowed-down, reversed, and replayed horror flick scenes of gruesome bloody deaths, chopped up bodies, and viscous blood trickling down porcelain skin. But what else would one expect from hardcore’s longest-running freaks. Speaking of freaks, there’s a scene in the Flaming Lips documentary Fearless Freaks in which a chip-toothed Haynes claims Wayne Coyne stole his act. After seeing both live, and knowing their origins, I’m siding with Haynes. While there are obviously similiar elements (megaphones, blood, vintage footage, burning drums) The Flaming Lips’ stage show is like the top layer of Earth, all growing and green with frolicking animals and balloons filled with glitter. Butthole Surfers, however, occupy the dark and wormy space below the crust, with blood-soaked demons, creepy smiling dolls and eerie ’70s cheerleaders, pulsating shots of psychedelic color, and suped-up, high-speed vocal effects. It makes for a great live show.

But before Haynes and Co. set up shop, a far smaller crowd was gathered for openers 400 Blows, a longtime GSL act that mixes metal drop d guitar riffs with punk drum beats and hardcore talk-singing vocals. The L.A. band, currently on tour with the Butthole Surfers, has been around for more than a decade, and it shows. They seemed comfortable on stage, and with each other, despite the noticeably diminutive audience – it was only 8 p.m. Singer Skot Alexander kept trying, in vain, to incite the crowd, leaping on speakers and throwing a fist like Danzig, but for the most part the audience just stood there polite, yet cheerful – at one point someone thoughtfully offered Alexander a stack of napkins to wipe his brow. He likely could have cooled off if he had removed his signature black leather gloves, but that seemed unlikely.

There was a significant break between the bands, conceivably to wait for the space to fill up, which it eventually did. Then the projected footage began pumping, and the crowd of mostly 30-something men in black t-shirts and jeans began moshing. And yes, for those only aware of the band via its strangely radio-friendly 1996 hit, Butthole Surfers did play “Pepper” – though a noisier, quick and dirty version of it.

Thee Oh Sees will release another LP; San Francisco rejoices

Tony Robles
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Thee Oh Sees will release another LP; San Francisco rejoices

Yep, it’s true – another Thee Oh Sees record is on the way — not that we are complaining. Just six months after releasing their last LP (Castlemania), it was announced this week that John Dwyer and crew will release another dirty punk/psych garage record (Carrion Crawler/The Dream) this Nov.15 on In the Red Records. He just keeps churning them out. If you can remember that far back, the band released three albums in 2009. See below for the track listing and some fun videos.

Carrion Crawler/The Dream:
01 Carrion Crawler
02 Contraption/Soul Desert
03 Robber Barons
04 Chem-Farmer
05 Opposition
06 The Dream
07 Wrong Idea
08 Crushed Grasss
09 Crack in Your Eye
10 Heavy Doctor

Dwyer is a San Francisco staple at this point, like weed or broken down buses — as much as he’d probably hate to hear that. Depending on when you arrived in this city (oh, you were born here? Well, this sentence isn’t for you), you likely discovered his high-held, frenetic guitar attacks during one of three eras: Pink and Brown (1997), Coachwhips (2001) or the fully-evolved Thee Oh Sees (it originally began as his solo side-project). Of course, there were bands in between, but those mentioned were the era-defining acts.

In celebration of this always-welcome announcement, let’s look back at Dwyer’s career in video form:

Pink and Brown:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aqwzweFqjc

Coachwhips:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwK8sDJOJuA

Thee Oh Sees:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1bHddYhtDw

For those itching to see the band live again, its next local show is the Treasure Island Festival on Oct. 16.

J-Pop Summit 2011: Baby, the Stars Shine Bright and Danceroid

Tony Robles
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Turn one direction and witness a costumed young woman performing a choreographed dance to popular Japanese vocaloid songs. Spin another and see a crowd of stack-heeled revelers, mimicking her dance moves while wearing poofy black tutus, striped tights,spidery false eyelashes dipped in inky color and glitter, and sporting tiny top hats above teased blue cotton candy wigs.

The performers and audience at this weekend’s J-Pop Summit Festival 2011 in Japantown were a sight to behold. The lines between singer, dancer,and costumed attendee were blurred; this could be due in part to the layered slab concrete stage below the Peace Pagoda that seems to flow directly into the wind-swept crowd. It was here, on these steps, below the looming structure, where Elegant Gothic Lolita-devotees competed in a Baby, the Stars Shine Bright circus-themed costume contest, where Ikura and Kozue of pop sensation Danceroid showcased the latest moves out of Japan, and where scores of Bay Area and Japan-based musicians took the stage.

All photos by Chris Stevens.

Maximum Consumption: John Vanderslice’s tea time

Tony Robles
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Maximum Consumption: John Vanderslice’s tea time

Making a record takes a lot out of person. It’s actually grueling work; it requires obsessive attention to detail and long, ungodly hours. No one knows this more than revered local rocker-storyteller-recording studio owner John Vanderslice. He the creator of his own music (MK Ultra, a vast solo career) and the recorder of a great many others (Deerhoof, Death Cab for Cutie, Thao) at his Mission-based studio, Tiny Telephone. Perhaps this understanding of the stresses is why Vanderslice is quick to offer incoming bands a warm cup of calm.

Turns out, Vanderslice developed a taste for fragrant loose-leaf teas a while back, and has seen to it that his studio offerings come stocked with said caffeinated beverage. Naturally, I went to the source to discuss this obsession for Maximum Consumption. Enjoy the resulting interview with two lumps of sugar (or however you take it):

San Francisco Bay Guardian: When did you develop an interest in tea?
John Vanderslice: I lived in London for a year, that changed it for me. Bad coffee [plus] good tea [ equals] tea drinker.

SFBG: Where do you purchase your loose leaf teas?
JV: Rainbow Grocery, Five Mountains, and Red Blossom.

SFBG: What are the 11 loose leaf teas offered at Tiny Telephone?
JV: Right now there’s 12! They are: Gunpowder, Genmaicha, Keemun, China Black, Green Jasmine, Throat Coat (the real, strong organic blend from Rainbow), Chamomile, Assam Black, English Breakfast, Camellia Blossoms, Emperor Pu-erh, and JV’s Herbal Organic.

SFBG: When did you come up your own personal JV’s herbal organic tea blend?
JV: I initially wrote it on a piece of masking tape affixed to a mason jar with my mix. I thought it would be kind of funny, but people just asked me what the ingredients were. Then I started to take it seriously, tweaking and improving it. It has Rainbow’s Love Tea blend (which is really good), dandelion, peppermint, blackberry bush, red clover blossoms, rose hips, and sage. Some things are there for taste, and others for medicinal reasons.

SFBG: Do you see any connection between the ways you approach creating music/writing songs/recording bands and mixing teas?
JV: I’m a tweaker through and through, I imagine I could have worked on cars or hydroelectric dams. I love the intersection of the technical and the creative.

SFBG:Would you ever be interesting in putting out your own brand?
JV: I can barely function as it is, I think adding more pursuit/business and I might crack. I love giving it away for free.

SFBG: Do you also drink coffee?
JV:I love coffee but I find myself drinking a lot more tea. Usually very strong black in the morning and green in the afternoon.

 

A video of our interviewee for your viewing pleasure: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VKpMDxhGQY

Kreayshawn gets some lady love at Slim’s

Tony Robles
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5
Kreayshawn gets some lady love at Slim’s

It was just fine, really. Oakland-bred rapper Kreayshawn’s big, sold-out show at Slim’s last night was amusing, mildly enjoyable, and packed with good people watching. Rapping over prerecorded beats, elfin Kreayshawn and her Chipmunks White Girl Mob (V-Nasty and Lil Debbie) ran through what I suspect is the gamut of their songs in a brief, hyper set.

This likely ages me, but if I’m being honest, I don’t totally get the appeal after seeing it live. Sure, “Gucci Gucci” and “Rich Whores” are fun romps through anti-consumerist hipsterdom, and, perhaps conversely, the rapper clearly has a unique aesthetic, but other than that, it felt almost false, even silly — and unsustainable.

For the first few tracks last night, Kreayshawn and Lil Debbie monster-walked back and forth across the stage in non-choreographed unison, casually shouting duel lyrics and yet somehow still revving up the crowd of mostly young women. This is another aspect about Kreayshawn that’s at least interesting – her followers. They dress like her in a pop culture mishmash of ’80s ripped punk, horn-rimmed glasses, and door-knocker earrings. Maybe I’m just seeing the ripped up shirts/shorts as reverential to punk because Kreayshawn’s mom was there last night – the very awesome Elka Zolot of the Trashwomen.

After a prerecorded “V-Nasty!” screamed through the speakers,  Kreayshawn was all, “what’s that? A special guest?” and V-Nasty, who has been at the center of her own controversies, bounded out and rapped with the others. And then there were three; similarly paced, mousy high-pitched voices stalking across stage. It must have been an intense night, she earlier tweeted “Doing home shows are hella stressful.”

However I might feel about the quality of music, as mentioned above, it is pretty cool to see teen girls and 20-somethings adopting this attitude of “fuck you” and aping Kreayshawn’s style of dress. They clearly adore her and were screaming along with every song. One climbed up on someone’s shoulders and whipped her shirt over her head. At least they’re not being submissive; I was jostled hard by a number of excited young people in light-up glasses throughout the night.

Who knows if Kreayshawn will stand the test of time. A nominee for “best new artist,” it was announced yesterday that she’ll be hosting the 2011 VMA Red Carpet Report for MTV.com, so that’s something. In some ways, I can see the early Madonna factor – sidenote: both have now rocked fishnets half-shirts –  if only based on the fans’ obvious obsession with this peculiar new pop culture figure. She could also go the way of so much niche hip-hop before her and disappear after the Next Big Thing. No more swag.

She’s definitely inspired an onslaught of parody videos, including these food-themed takes on “Gucci Gucci”:

Pizza Pizza:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yi9Gfy52J7s

Fishy Fishy:


 

 

 

Treasure Island Festival announces night shows

Tony Robles
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Treasure Island Festival announces night shows

Festival fatigue got you down? But wait, Treasure Island Festival is still coming up! Don’t worry, you have a brief break before it’s time to again drag out your fringe-y daytime festival frocks and headbands with feathers and animal hats and booty shorts with chunky boots (please, please don’t wear those things).

While the festival doesn’t go down until Oct. 15 and 16, the organizers did drop some juicy information today: the night show lineups – on sale this Friday, Aug. 26 at noon.
Here they are, in all their nighttime glory:

Jens Lekman
Sept. 29, 6 p.m., $12
California Academy of Science, SF

The Drums
Oct. 14, 9 p.m., $15
The Independent
628 Divisadero, SF

JFK of MSTRKRFT
Oct. 15, 10 p.m., $20
Mezzanine
444 Jesse, SF

The Head and the Heart
Oct. 15, 10 p.m. $15
The Independent
628 Divisadero, SF

Thao with the Get Down Stay Down
Oct. 16, 9 p.m., $16
The Independent
628 Divisadero, SF

Personally, I’m looking forward to the Thao with the Get Down Stay Down show. And to washing up nice during this break before again braving the elements.

Total Trash Fest is going out with a bang

Tony Robles
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0

Wipe away a single tear, Total Trash Fest is yet again coming to an end.* But between 9 p.m. Thursday (tonight) and 2 a.m Monday morning, there are seven more shows. That’s right, seven. And of those, there are newly added Total Trash supergroup concerts including Ty Segall and Friends – which friends? I’m schvitzing with anticipation  –  with Shannon and the Clams tonight at the Knockout. DJ Lee Noise of Burger Records will also be on hand to spin something dirty.

Check out our past coverage of this year’s Total Trash Fest: King Lollipop print feature and Moonhearts/Mikal Cronin Noise blog profile. For the rest of this weekend’s shows in a handy organized list (offered up by the organizer) see below:

Total Trash Fest Week 3

WHITE MYSTERY
With BURNT ONES, THE DIMPLES
Aug. 25, 9 p.m., $7
Hemlock Tavern
1131 Polk, SF

TY SEGALL AND FRIENDS
With SHANNON AND THE CLAMS
Aug. 25, 9 p.m. $5
The Knockout
3223 Mission, SF

TRADITIONAL FOOLS
With OUTDOORSMEN, UZI RASH, SHROUDS
Aug.  26, 9 p.m., $10
Thee Parkside
1600 17th St.SF

DUKES OF HAMBURG
With LEGENDARY STARDUST COWBOY, ROCK N ROLL ADVENTURE KIDS, DADDY LONG LEGS, THE SHANKERS
Aug. 27, 9 p.m., $10
Thee Parkside
1600 17th St.SF

TY SEGALL AND FRIENDS
With THE COSMONAUTS
Aug. 27 9 p.m., $5
Hemlock Tavern
1131 Polk, SF

MOONHEARTS
With PANGEA, KING LOLLIPOP, SI SI SI
Aug. 28, 2 p.m., $7
Hemlock Tavern
1131 Polk, SF

MIKAL CRONIN
With MOUTHBREATHERS, COSMONAUTS
Aug. 28, 9 p.m., $7
Hemlock Tavern
1131 Polk, SF

*Here’s to next year!

Maximum Consumption: il gato eats SF

Tony Robles
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Maximum Consumption: il gato eats SF

When I sat down with il gato for this week’s cover story, I also grilled the band about their favorite local eateries. And they had some pretty serious opinions on the matter. Below is a transcript of our food-loving conversation:

San Francisco Bay Guardian: So where do you like to eat in San Francisco?

Johnny Major: Little Chihuahua, have you ever been there? I’m an absolute addict. It’s the perfect food. Garlic shrimp burritos! And they have amazing carnitas burritos. I go there all the time. And Lower Haight has got some great spots like Memphis Minnies. It’s great Southern barbecue. Where do you go and get some real Southern barbecue here? Those are my two favorite restaurants.
Daimian Holiday Scott: I was raised vegetarian so initially coming out here and, which I’m still super into, I’ve never had the experience of eating lots of different types of meat, so getting like, veggie chili cheese fries or there’s [Golden Era] that has fake fried chicken sticks that have a bamboo dowel.

SFBG: Are you still vegetarian?
DHS: Still vegetarian. Yeah.
JM: From birth! Never had a piece of meat.
DHS: [Laughs] That’s John’s favorite line! It’s not true.
JM: I mean a real piece of meat. You ever had a steak?
DHS: No, I don’t know if I have really.
JM: There you go.

DHS: I lived in Berkeley a couple of years, and Berkeley is still one of the top food spots. And I love Little Star and that rosemary cornmeal crust. I [also] like pickled things so I pickle a lot – cured olives and sauerkraut.

Andrew Thomas: I grew up in Texas, so I’ve had plenty of steak [laughs]. I’ve dabbled in all types. I’ve been a pescetarian, I’ve been a vegan, I’ve tried it all and I’m pretty much back to eating meat. I live in Oakland so I’ve got lots of favorites in Oakland. But I lived in San Francisco for a year and one of my favorites is House on Nanking in Chinatown. And in general, moving up here –  and my girlfriend is part of it too, she’s a big cook and into farmers’ markets – I’ve learned infinitely more about cooking and vegetables in general. And I have to say, my token place was Kennedy’s [Irish Pub and Curry House]. It’s pretty much an Irish bar meets and Indian place.

DHS: Indian pizza is one of my favorite things about living in San Francisco. Zantes is better but there used to be Raja in Lower Haight. I actually went to a [different] place that said they had Indian pizza – [it was] a cheese slice with garlic, spinach, and then some like, jarred Indian sauce on it. I was like, “what are you doing? How dare you?!” [laughs].

I walked home last night after Johnny’s [solo] show, and I got homemade apple pie with fresh whipped cream off a vender on Valencia. That’s tied into the city being one of the top two or three food cities in the world, which is so true and we’re so spoiled.

The big ones

Jesse Hawthorne Ficks
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The big ones

SEPTEMBER

Handsome Furs Sept. 3, Slim’s

Mi Ami Sept. 3, Public Works

Mummies Sept. 6, Knockout

Givers Sept. 7, Rickshaw Stop

Kills Sept. 9, Fox Theater

Rancid Sept. 10, Warfield

Iggy Pop and the Stooges Sept. 12-13, Warfield

Kylesa Sept. 14, Great American Music Hall

Religious Girls Sept. 15, Hemlock Tavern

Album Leaf Sept. 16, New Parish

Bass Necter Sept. 17, Bill Graham Civic Auditorium

Rock Make Street Fest Sept. 17, 18th Street in the Mission

Low Sept. 19, Great American Music Hall

Bush Sept. 20, Great American Music Hall

James Blake Sept. 21, Fillmore

Two Gallants Sept. 23-24, Independent

Lee “Scratch” Perry Sept. 25, Independent

B.B. King Sept. 26, Nob Hill Mason Center

Dominant Legs Sept. 27, Cafe Du Nord

Tyler Ward Sept. 28, Slim’s

Kaiser Cheifs Sept. 29, Fillmore

Nouvelle Vague Sept. 30, Regency Ballroom

Odd Future Sept. 30, Warfield

 

OCTOBER

Amon Tobin Oct. 1 (sold out) and Oct. 2, Warfield

Dum Dum Girls Great American Music Hall, Oct. 4

Why? Great American Music Hall, Oct. 5

CSS Oct. 6, Fillmore

Peter, Bjorn and John Oct. 6, Great American Music Hall; Oct. 7, New Parish; Oct. 8. Slim’s

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart Oct. 7, Slim’s

Girls Oct. 8, Great American Music Hall

Yellowcard Oct. 9, Slim’s

Yelawolf Oct. 10, Independent

Gang Gang Dance Oct. 11, Independent

Zee Avi Oct. 13, Independent

Bryan Ferry Oct. 14, Fox Theater

Naked Aggression Oct 15, 924 Gilman

The Shirelles Oct. 18-23, Rrazz Room

Opeth Oct. 18, Warfield

Lindsey Buckingham Oct. 19, Regency Ballroom

Noothgrush Oct. 22, 924 Gilman

War on Drugs Oct 23, Independent

Yngwie Malmsteen Oct. 26, Fillmore

Anvil Oct. 27, Red Devil Lounge

Skrillex Oct. 28, Warfield

Deadmau5 Oct. 29, Bill Graham Civic Auditorium

Dwarves Oct. 30, 924 Gilman

 

NOVEMBER

Zola Jesus Nov. 1, Independent

Yael Naim Nov. 2, Bimbo’s

Shonen Knife Nov. 4, Bottom of the Hill

Mike Doughty and His Band Fantastic Nov. 5-6, Independent

Warbringer Nov. 7, Thee Parkside

Lykke Li Nov. 9, Fox Theater

M83 Nov. 10, Mezzanine

Gwar Nov. 11, Regency Ballroom

We Were Promised Jetpacks Nov. 11, Bimbo’s

Cobra Skulls Nov. 12, Thee Parkside

Feist Nov. 14, Warfield

Budos Band Nov. 19, Mezzanine

Wu Lyf Nov. 21, Independent

tUnE-YarDs Nov. 23, Regency Ballroom

The Weakerthans Nov. 30-Dec. 2, Independent

Bravo, il gato

Jesse Hawthorne Ficks
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Bravo, il gato

FALL ARTS The clouds hang over San Francisco like a brumous, early evening warning sign. It’s late summer on the back patio of popular Mission street bar El Rio. Small pockets of people huddle near outdoor heaters, and vintage pop songs come pumping through the speakers. Three men dressed neatly in sweaters and hoodies sit at a long picnic table clutching cheap beers.

This is the story of il gato, a San Francisco band that describes itself as indie-baroque-folk. Its music is baroque in the sense that it’s melancholic yet upbeat, lyric-heavy yet leans towards the classical, and highly decorated with a wide array of instrumentation. The band’s 2010 long-player, All These Slippery Things (self-released), and similarly-named followup EP All Those Slippery Things (released last month) feature banjo, mandolin, piano, a string quartet, and trumpets, along with aggressive acoustic folk guitar, looping pedal, upright and electric bass, and complex drumming.

After years of dutiful practice in tiny apartment kitchens, labored songwriting, and intimate live shows, the group finally recorded (thanks to a grant from the Bay Bridged blog) in 2009 at legendary studio Tiny Telephone, owned by revered local musician John Vanderslice. “I…remember how eclectic and fresh their instrumentation and arrangements were,” says Vanderslice. “They were a blast to have in the studio.” But this all came a decade after the first seedling of the il gato concept. Fittingly, the band’s journey — a mildly operatic one, given the twists and bumps along the way — began in Italy.

THE PROLOGUE: Daimian Holiday Scott is studying architecture abroad in Vicenza, Italy. The year is 1999; he hasn’t picked up an instrument since middle school. All of those niggling emotions involved with overseas travel had led to an outburst of emotions, which, naturally, led to buying a guitar. The initial concept was performance art: he’d speak with a fake Italian accent but sing cover songs in English. That never actually happened. “It’s the story before the story,” says il gato drummer, Johnny Major, “the prelude.”

THE FIRST ACT: fast forward five years. Scott shuts the door to the bedroom and asks his girlfriend to listen to the songs he’s been working on from a safe distance in the living room. “It took a long time for me to break free of being super shy and inhibited,” Scott says.

Scott was in his native Gainsville, Fla. writing songs on acoustic guitar and harmonica, learning that to be a songwriter, one must evolve out of the bedroom. He moved to the Bay Area in 2001, first to Berkeley and later, the Mission District of San Francisco, playing as il gato with a rotating cast of talented musicians friends. Years later, when he longed for consistency, he put up an ad on Craigslist seeking musicians.

Major, a San Francisco native who had recently returned from a two-year stay in Chile, answered it. “I liked the name,” says Major, “And of course, I really liked the music. I thought he sounded like a combination of Isaac Brock from Modest Mouse and Doug Martsch from Built to Spill, two of my favorite bands.”

Major — who has played in a variety of other bands including Sang Matiz and his new solo project, Adios Amigo — listened to Scott’s first album Conversation Music, which didn’t have drums, and heard some interesting potential for percussion. During this time, in 2008, Scott, Major and multi-instrumentalist Matthew Souther (who left the band a few months ago) would play in Major’s street-level Lower Haight apartment. The band next gained bassist Andrew Thomas, a Dallas, Tex.-born musician who had recently moved to SF with his girlfriend after a stint in college and other touring bands in Los Angeles. Scott and Thomas had been introduced by their girlfriends one night at the Latin American Club. “He came over the next week to my apartment in North Beach, we just played guitar and upright bass in my kitchen,” says Thomas of Scott.

ACT TWO: the end of an era. Scott’s aria, his solo work in effect, officially comes to an end. He’s part of a band now, all equal parts. “It was no longer just my project,” he says, taking a sip of Pabst Blue Ribbon. Over the course of four short days in February of 2010, the band essentially recorded two albums (the full-length and E.P.), 17 songs in total. The guitar, bass, vocals, and drums were all recorded live at Tiny Telephone. The overdubs of horns and string sections were recorded in Thomas’ home, to save time and money. “I can’t believe it turned out as well as it did,” Major says.

And it did turn out well. The songs are striking and wholly unique. That said, there are hints at the groups’ influences like Neutral Milk Hotel, Beirut, Modest Mouse, even Violent Femmes. But there are other elements, even hip-hop tucked in some parts as Major points out, especially in the mouthful of talk-sung lyrics in brassy folk single, “On Feathers and Arrows.” Major and Scott then discuss Scott’s predilection toward reggae beats, a holdover from his childhood with hippie parents. “That’s the nature of trying to describe your music to someone, it’s always difficult,” Scott says.

He adds that he is also influenced by the non-musical: acerbic, witty writers such as Kurt Vonnegut, along with films like Paul Thomas Anderson’s Magnolia. The band was recently featured on the soundtrack for the documentary Crime After Crime, something Scott is hoping to do more in the future.

ACT THREE: that future. The band has a handful of shows lined up this fall, including Cafe du Nord this week and Andrew Bird’s “Rock for Kids” fundraiser Sept. 19 at the Make-Out Room, along with some brief tours planned. Then, in January 2012, il gato wants to go back to Tiny Telephone to record a followup. Sitting in the back patio, chatting about the projects to come, the group’s goals are clear. Right now, all three are primarily focused on the band itself. In 2009, Scott was laid off from his job as an architect and Major was laid off six months ago. “I’m hopefully looking to break in to something else,” Major says. “Ideally, I’ll have a career as a performing musician, it’s difficult but that’s the dream for all of us. That’s why we’re here right now.”

CURTAIN CALL: take a bow. Crush the cans. 

Check out il gato’s favorite local eats here. They’ve got some good ones!

IL GATO

With Sallie Ford & The Sound Outside

Thurs/25, 9 p.m., $12

Cafe du Nord

2170 Market, SF

www.cafedunord.com

Maximum Consumption: Singing and slinging with One Ring Zero

Tony Robles
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This is the first installment of our new series, Maximum Consumption, an unseasoned look at the increasingly overlapping fields of music and culinary arts. So if you’re in a band and looking to talk chop, or a chef that moonlights as an acoustic guitar-playing busker, we’d like to talk to you.

An enticing little book landed on my desk last week. It’s part cookbook, part music journalism, part rock opus, and hell, part coffee table book. The Recipe Project (subhead “A Delectable Extravaganza of Food and Music) is a concept spearheaded by New York-based gypsy-klezmer act One Ring Zero. The band’s co-founders, Michael Hearst and Joshua Camp, created songs using the recipes of well-known chefs (Mario Batali, Isa Chandra Moskowitz, Chris Cosentino) as the word-for-word lyrics. The meals themselves served as musical influence; each recipe inspired a different sound.

While the songs are not likely ones you’d listen to say, on a long lonesome drive, they do have a certain childlike glint of glee. It’s conceptual. The true genius of this project is its overall cohesiveness. It’s an all-in-one package. Follow the recipe, listen to the song, get some interesting background factoids. There’s also the starpower — and that goes for both rockers and chefs.

Celebrated vegan author Isa Chandra Moskowitz, a.k.a one-half of Post Punk Kitchen, offers her recipe for peanut butter brunettes, and to match it One Ring Zero brought in singer Tanya Donelly (of Belly, the Breeders, and Throwing Muses) to add dreamy pop vocals. Donelly also makes another appearance later in the book as the author of a recipe called the ugly muffin.

San Francisco’s Cosentino, of Incanto, includes a recipe for brains and eggs and One Ring Zero matched it with a hyper Beastie Boys-esque rap song, as Cosentino suggested. In the preface, the reader learns that Cosentino’s brains and eggs recipe was the original impetus for the project, given its lyrical instructions. I, however, am particularly fond of the song matching Mark Kurlansky’s recipe for a raw peach. With the whisk-whisk-whisk of an old record scratch kicking off the song, it naturally leads to a sweet vintage Parisian-style ditty, you might as well be wandering the Champs-Élysées munching some ripe fruit.

But it’s not all just matchy-match recipes with songs, The Recipe Project also includes full recipe playlists, articles rock journalists, and some pretty interesting interviews with chefs, along with “A Wine Lover’s Guide to Mexican Music.” Those in-between articles start off with headlines such as “Raspberries, Moussaka, and Metallica” in which we learn that chef Michael Symon is “America’s MVP of pork” — and that Stevie Ray Vaughan is the musical equivalent.

It’s a cookbook that’s worth a spin. The Recipe Project is out Oct. 15, 2011 on Black Balloon Publishing.

UPDATED: Is time travel possible? A Potrero Hill sign warns of the possibility.

Tony Robles
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UPDATED: Is time travel possible? A Potrero Hill sign warns of the possibility.

Something strange popped up on an unassuming tree near the Guardian offices in Poterero Hill earlier this week. Walk up Mississippi Street, in between Mariposa and 18th Streets, and you will find a white sheet of paper taped to a trunk with neon green electrical tape. The sign warns bystanders of an attempt at time travel.

The picture is pasted here. I’ve also taken the liberty of typing it out for you.

“NOTICE

I’m currently testing my time machine and if all goes according to plan expect to materialize
here at 1:30pm on Friday the 19th of August 2011.

This is just a courtesy note to make sure you’re not standing in this spot at that time. Things might get messy if you are.

I won’t be arrive in a Delorean, or be naked or be half man and half fly. This isn’t the fucking movies.

TJFB”

So what does this all mean? Is there a nut planning to do something freaky near us? It is an actual scientific endeavor? It is a marketing ploy (I’m usually quick to assume such things)? We’ll find out at 1:30 p.m. today and update this post. A crack team of Guardian editors will be on hand to find out the truth. It’s out there.

Update 1: Something does indeed look fishy, as suspected. Check out this conversation on Reddit. However, as dedicated time travel enthusiasts, we still plan to stake it out.

Update 2: HOLY CRAP, IT WAS AMAZING! There was a huge puff of smoke, and lasers, and unicorns, and roller skates, and books containing sports scores from the year 2012 … just kidding. What do you think happened? Until the next alien landing or chupacabra sighting ’round these parts, the Guardian’s X-files division will be returning to our regularly scheduled duties.

Swear ta god, there was like 12 witnesses assembled for the event.

Update 3: See you next week! Looks like our time traveler had some family law issues to tend to. 

Drag me from hell

Jesse Hawthorne Ficks
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Drag me from hell

emilysavage@sfbg.com

MUSIC Noah “DJ Dials” Bennett Cunningham wants to galvanize your pleasure center.

“You know how you can think back to that one night? That punk show or cool house party or the first time you saw Björk, and it’s just, the night you’ll never forget? I want to do that for other people. I want to make lasting memories,” he says from his perch in Four Barrel Coffee as he grabs Rosamunde french fries from his bag.

A DJ since age 12, the 27-year-old also works as a producer and video artist. His next big gig, in collaboration with Tri Angle Records and 120 Minutes club night, is an event likely to stir brain waves: it’s a showcase of witch house — a controversial genre also known, interchangeably, as grave rave, based goth, drag, or “pop music for the unconscious,” as San Francisco producer oOoOO has been known to describe his own sound.

It’s contentious because it’s all over the map. At its most basic, a combination of hip-hop and goth cultures, many music snobs and bloggers declared it dead on arrival. Even those associated with it seem to at least avoid using the term “witch house” itself. It’s said with an apologetic shoulder shrug.

This may be due to its murky origins. Essentially, it was coined by Denver’s Travis Egedy, a.k.a Pictureplane, sometime around 2009, partially as a joke, to describe his own music. Years later, the name remains and the scene is still burgeoning. There are some skilled musicians and producers creating this sound, including a smattering of national acts, and, locally, oOoOO (pronounced “oh”).

The August 19 showcase at 103 Harriet marks the first local live show (not just DJ set) for oOoOO — newly returned from an international tour — along with Clams Casino, White Ring, Shlohmo, Babe Rainbow, Water Borders, and D33J.

For this particularly significant event, Cunningham is working behind the scenes as the producer and co-host along with Marco De La Vega, the mastermind behind year-old witch house club night 120 Minutes at Elbo Room. Both agree that the biggest misconception about this type of music is that it’s already dead.

“It’s still new, it’s what’s happening right now,” says De La Vega. “The goth scene has a tendency to focus very strongly on the past, so all this music was the first kind of stuff where I was like, ‘Wow, this is actually happening, this makes sense for now. This is contemporary.'”

This much we know: those associated with witch house often make use of darker rhythms with creepy melodies over top, chopped and screwed hip-hop or slowed-down pop music samples, along with hypnotic and dark droning synths and howling, reverberated female vocals.

And yet, many musicians identified with this mutating, nearly indefinable genre wage battle against it. They, understandably, eschew the label for fear of pigeonholing.

“The way we look at it is that there are a few bands that were doing stuff independently and have been grouped by people trying to make it in to one cohesive term,” says Bryan Kurkimilis, one half of New York’s White Ring. “It’s nice and flattering to be part of something like that, but we had no genre in our head when we started. We’re consistently trying to evolve our sound.”

The music itself, of course, varies greatly, especially in this particular showcase. While oOoOO samples sputtering pop vocals, Shlohmo is more associated with L.A’s avant-garde beat scene, and Clams Casino’s repertoire includes making beats for based god Lil B. Toronto’s Babe Rainbow creates dark chopped and screwed hip-hop; White Ring bleeds more toward 80s synth and includes the lush, eerie voice of singer Kendra Malia.

“What motivates me, is putting Shlohmo and Babe Rainbow — who aren’t really considered witch house — next to oOoOO, White Ring, and Water Borders even, to show that it doesn’t really matter what the genre is; it’s that feeling, it’s the mood. It’s the place where it comes from,” Cunningham says. *

 

TRI ANGLE RECORDS SHOWCASE: 2011 REALITY TOUR

With oOoOO, White Ring, Clams Casino, Shlohmo, Babe Rainbow , Water Borders, D33j

Fri/19, 10 p.m., $15

103 Harriet at 1015 Folsom

1015 Folsom, SF

1015.com

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