Marke B. Archives — Page 14 of 55 — San Francisco Bay Guardian Archive 1966

Neatest ever: nine-year-old Caine’s cardboard Arcade comes to Exploratorium on Sat/21

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April 19, 2012

That pretty cool Caine’s Arcade video basically ruled the Internet last week — and can we just be happy that something not involving clumsy cats, Republican presidential candidates, or Twitter ignoramuses viralled its way into our national consciousness for once? Now you can have a chance to play the LA youngster’s cardboard paradise-outsider art masterpiece IRL and meet its maker, as part of the Exploratorium’s Open MAKE event. Full details after the jump.

From the press release:

Caine’s Arcade Featured at the Exploratorium’s Open MAKE on April 21

Nine-year-old Caine Monroy and his now-famous cardboard creation “Caine’s Arcade” will be taking part in the Exploratorium’s Open MAKE: Trash on Saturday, April 21. The arcade will be installed in the Tinkering StudioTM at the Exploratorium. Visitors may visit the arcade and purchase a ticket or “FunPass” to play the games between 10am and 4pm.

Caine also will be featured with 5 other tinkerers at the “Meet the Makers” program at 1 p.m. toanswer questions from the general audience. Filmmaker Nirvan Mullick will present his short film
about Caine at 3pm and also available to answer questions.

Caine’s Arcade is part of this month’s Open MAKE: Trash, a collaboration between the Exploratorium, MAKE Magazine, and Pixar Animation Studios. The program highlights the tools, techniques, and ingenuity of local Makers. Visitors are invited to participate in tinkering and making activities at Open MAKE, where Makers from around the Bay Area will share their work.

Dale Dougherty, founder and editor of MAKE Magazine, will interview featured makers in the McBean Theater. This month’s Open MAKE: Trash is the last one at the Palace of Fine Arts and will
re-open at the museum’s new location at Pier 15 in Spring 2013.

About Caine’s Arcade:
Caine’s Arcade is a short film about a 9-year-old boy’s cardboard arcade, located in his father’s used auto parts store, Smart Parts Automotive in Boyle Heights, CA. Directed by Nirvan Mullick and produced by Interconnected, this film went viral with more than five million views after being posted on the Internet, resulting in more than $170,000 in donations to Caine’s scholarship fund in a single week. A $250,000 matching seed grant from the Goldhirsh Foundation has given birth to the Caine’s Arcade Foundation, which will find, foster and fund creativity and entrepreneurship in more young kids like Caine.

What:
Special installation of “Caine’s Arcade” and film screening at Open MAKE: Trash

When:
Saturday April 21, 2012
Caine’s Arcade will be open from 10 am-4pm.
1pm: “Meet the Makers” interview with Caine
3pm: Screening of “Caine’s Arcade” and Q&A with Caine and film director Nirvan Mullick

Where:
The San Francisco Exploratorium
The Palace of Fine Arts
3601 Lyon Street, SF.
MORE INFO HERE

Party Radar: Donuts farewell, Neon Spring, more. Plus: Les mimes!

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April 19, 2012

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Party Radar: Donuts farewell, Neon Spring, more. Plus: Les mimes!

Two big nightlife things this week are true: one sad (but hopeful!) and one speechless. The speechless one involves mimes.

Yes, as the Chronicle keeps reporting, the Entertainment Commission is considering following in many European cities’ silent footsteps — perhaps against the wind, perhaps down invisible stairs, perhaps directly into a pernicious, intractable cube — and utilizing street mime troupes to neutralize rowdy nightlife crowds on the street. It is horrifying. These roving claques of pantomimers, or “nocturnal artistic intervention squads” are part of a program called Les Pierrots de la Nuit, which is something I used to say out loud in the shower while I was washing my hair to crack myself up. Now those words have taken quivering, over-gesticulating flesh and I am mortified.

But apparently, according to Paris, Barcelona, and other nexi of noisy nightlife, drawing a crowd’s attention (and, as the Chronicles gossip queen Leah Garchik cracks, possible malevolence?) drawing a crowd’s attention to sudden, engaging/enraging street theater can diffuse the tension clouds and dissipate any impending violence or escalating noise. (Mimes are also good with Venezuelan traffic.)

No word yet (lol) on the EC’s official decision, and I’ll stop beating up on mimes now because I actually revere Marcel Marceau and adore Mummenschantz. And oddly enough, there is actually a funny space for mimes in club history, from the Commedia dell’Arte traditions that inform burlesque, Vaudeville, masquerades, and Burning Man to a strange number of weeks in downtown Manhattan around 1989 when a group of young’uns went around dressed as mimes in a sort-of Clockwork Orange-y homage and attempted to overthrow the then-mouldering Club Kid establishment. So wave your arms, there you go.

Of course this is San Francisco, and we have slightly, er, different problems:

also

>> DONUTS

The sad but hopeful news? Tonight Thu/19 is THE FINAL DONUTS PARTY, a farewell to that wonderful, four-year-old roving nu-disco and hip house throwdown (yes, with free donuts!) as mainstay DJ Pickpocket, a.k.a. Kat Matutina moves to LA for a big job. I’m pissed that we’re not only losing another great party (like Blow Up and Kontol recently), but that we’re also losing an absolutely fabulous and gorgeous nightlife mover and shaker who did a ton to make SF the sophisticated, debaucherous nightlife center it’s become.

No fear though, because she’s going out in biggie style with performances from Ital, Mi Ami, Magic Touch, and others from the beloved dance music label of the moment, 100% Silk. Good luck, Kat — we will miss you!

Thu/19. 9pm, $5. Public Works, 161 Erie, SF. Facebook invite here.

>> NEON SPRING

“Nu-tech-disco and positivity in numbers” are the stated goals of this new “travelling seasonal party” from the the creators of uber-scrumptious Nark Magazine. Here’s the launch, lighting up your primavera, with music by Doc Sleep, Robert Jeffrey, and Nark himself, who is quite stylish and narky! This will be a good meetup for the fluorescent queer children who like to dance, like these:

Thu/19, 9pm, free. The Lookout, 3600 16th St., SF. Facebook invite here.

***Weekend party recos, besides those in my weekly Super Ego column in the paper, coming soon — right after I take a minute to get over this hangover …. ***

Items

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April 17, 2012

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marke@sfbg.com

SUPER EGO So many things I want to write about this week, if only my delicate, exquisite hands could stop doing these fluttery bird-like motions in front of my gorgeous face. Girls, I’ve got a serious case of the Vogues, which along with Perma-Nod, Fist Pump, “Woo!”-itis, Twirlfoot, Strobe-eye, and Record Bag Shoulder will soon flood hospital wards and special care facilities nationwide with my rapidly aging (mid-20s) club generation.

That’s why universal healthcare is so very important! Have we learned nothing from disco’s untreated polyester scars, the shaken sacroiliacs of funk, Rave Damage, Swing Elbow, Goth Pout, the horrible social stigma of Breakdancer’s Breath? Shit staaank. Don’t laugh, teenage Post-Millennials, it’s coming for you. One day you’ll be holding your phone up to record that underground light show, when you’ll realized with horror that no one uses phones as cameras anymore, not even you. You’ll only be holding your phone up in your mind. And then you’ll catch Skrillexatosis.

What am I even talking about? The things I most want to tell you are these. 1) Mimosas and house dancing on Sunday mornings 6am-2pm at Monroe in North Beach are rad, especially the second and third Sundays of each month, hosted by the Pressure! and Forward crews respectively. 2) The Entertainment Commission is actually considering the use of mimes to help control rowdy nighttime crowds, for realz. (Read more on SFBG.com’s Noise blog.) 3) Flaunting its global fan base, amazing weekly Honey Soundsystem is now simulcasting its Sunday night parties at www.mixlr.com /hnysndsystm — so you can kiki out while doing your dishes at home. 4) I just about died when rap prodigy Azaelia Banks broke into the Prodigy’s “Firestarter” at Coachella, did you see it? More please.

THE TUBESTEAK CONNECTION 8-YEAR ANNIVERSARY

Have you noticed we may be going through another heavy period of gentrification? DJ Bus Station John started his weekly Thursday night club in reaction to the last tech boom’s more blanding effects, drawing upon underground queer ’70s culture to keep the gay ’00s freaky, slutty, and disco-lickingly funky (also cell-phone free: don’t Tweet in this room, love, keep it between us.) “A reliable source of good music and fresh meat delivered w/love (& refreshingly w/o irony) by a 50-something bear qween,” is how BSJ himself describes it. “You won’t believe what you just 8!” is how I do.

Thu/19 and every Thursday, 10pm, $5-7. Aunt Charlie’s, 133 Turk, SF.

ROCK IT SCIENCE LABORATORIES DOUBLE ANNIVERSARY

Seven years of parties, two years as a record label, and always keepin’ it ravey-styley — local player Eric Sharp started off throwing Afterglow undergrounds at the storied Infinite Kaos venue and has become a bedrock of the Bay Area dance music (and an early handlebar mustache pioneer), now celebrating with DJ Fame, Eric Reilly, and his RISL (www.rislabs.com) family, which is us, of course. Expect craziness.

Fri/20, 10pm-late, $5 before 11pm. Public Works, 161 Erie, SF. www.publicsf.com

JEFF MILLS

As “The Wizard” on Detroit’s WJLB FM in the ’80s, the genius Mills cut ‘n scratched electro, hip-hop, house, and techno into breathtaking, highly influential conflagrations of party-starting awe. Now he not only beams genius slices of intelligent techno down from the Mothership — he basically is the Mothership, often on multiple turntables, and will deliciously demolish Public Works, along with beloved Detroit house legend Terrance Parker, LA heavy technoist Drumcell, our own Icee Hot DJs, Mossmoss, and more. Sat/21, $15–25. Public Works, 161 Erie, SF. www.publicsf.com

4 Spanish treats

Andrew Lam

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April 17, 2012

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A year ago, Hunky Beau and I were tootling wantonly around the Iberian peninsula, from San Sebastiàn and Vitoria-Gasteiz in the Basque north to Sevilla and Tarifa in the Andalucian south, leaving a trail of licked little plates in our wake. We dove into exquisitely stacked two-bite prawn pintxos in Bilbao, leafy salads piled high with tiny, transparent angulas (eels) in Barcelona, rabbit paella in Valencia …

Claro, you don’t need me waggling my delectable Spanish gustation in your face. So let me offer you instead a quartet of recos in SF. There’s been a diverse boom of Spanish spots lately, from gypsy-flavored Gitane to meaty Basque outpost Txoko — both raved about in recent Guardian reviews. Here are four perhaps lesser-known Spanish gems that have tugged at my tongue.

BOCADILLOS

Don’t let the sandwich-y name fool you, this well-appointed Financial District spot is on the classier end. Absolutely lovely tuna-ventresca salad with miso-lemon vinaigrette and grilled prawns a la plancha provide flavor thrills; the palatial Scientology HQ across the street takes care of the people-watching. Another glass of rich, plummy Arretxia Irouleguy, please. Be warned: Bubble Lounge next door sometimes uncorks a wave of the over-giggly into Bocadillo’s loud space.

710 Montgomery, SF. (415) 982-2622, www.bocasf.com

CANELA

The Castro has suffered its lion’s share of culinary misfortune of late, so how awesome is it that there’s suddenly a tasty, homestyle Spanish joint in that legendary foodie-uninspiring hood? “Bring joy” is the motto: amazing coca flatbreads with farmer’s cheese; hearty, tomato-y albondigas (meatballs) and lamb guisado (stew), and a super-friendly atmosphere make it happen. Bacalao (salt cod) salad with orange, spicy gambas (shrimp) and a tangy chilled gazpacho soup will get me through the summer, I’m guessing.

2272 Market, SF. (415) 552-3000, www.canelasf.com

LALOLA

In my opinion the most authentic bar-style Spanish tapas experience I’ve found in SF — albeit without my cherished vermouth, but with plenty of wine choices to suffice. (Full disclosure: one of the owners has become my real estate agent.) Sidle up to the no-reservation bar or grab a table in the bright, window-laden space with almost-secret flamenco performance room below, and order some perfectly familiar boquerones (anchovies in vinegar), espinacas (spinach sauteed with pine nuts and raisins, croquetas (bechamel croquettes) or that famous heavy Madrid bar-snack mainstay, patatas bravas — potatoes topped with zesty romanesco sauce.

1358 Mason, SF. (415) 981-5652, www.lalolasf.com

THIRSTY BEAR

Come for the wonderful array of local microbrews (Valencia Wheat = light bliss) — treated with wine-like reverence here in terms of kicky pairings with piquant escabeche (pickled vegetables), pollo al vino tinto (chicken in red wine) and bright octopus terrine. But do stay for the fabulous flamenco performances on Sunday evening, when a crowd of the city’s more adventurous culinary explorers watch expertly dramatic dancers kick up their heels.

661 Howard, SF. (415) 974-0905, www.thirstybear.com

7 dead musicians who should never be hologramized

Jesse Hawthorne Ficks

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April 16, 2012

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7 dead musicians who should never be hologramized

Did Tupac’s ghostly appearance during last night’s Dr. Dre stunner at Coachella pry open the hell-mouth of a future Rock and Roll Hologram of Fame? Last night “opens the gate for marketing revival concerts of deceased celebrities” exclaims one press release flooding our inbox, offering experts to comment on, “How might labels explore the potential for bringing back popular deceased artists?” (Nevermind that they’ve been doing this with Elvis for years — warning, Celine Dion duet.)

Naturally, this prospect strikes terror in our hearts when it comes to certain sleeping dogs who should probably lie. First of all: musical hologram resurrections bring us technologically one step closer to the nightmare of zombie Beethoven roaming unleashed upon this Earth. Second, greedy dying music industry executives may pounce on major back catalogue royalty opportunities (Happy 50th, Rolling Stones and Happy 50th, Ian Mackaye!) by beaming the following, completely inappropriate dead rock stars into a venue near you. Dear David Geffen, No.

Sid Vicious According to legend, when Johnny Rotten was once asked about a Sex Pistols reunion, he snarked, “Who the fuck is gonna put Sid back together?” AV Concepts, Inc. of San Diego, that’s who. But please don’t, despite the megamillion-dollar Hot Topic tie-in and Green Day collaboration opportunities. Not just because holographic technology hasn’t yet been able to replicate the stringy gobs of snot flying from Mr. Vicious at every performance (authenticity!) but because you couldn’t really replicate Sid without replicating Nancy. And the world is just not big enough for that.

Keith Moon In I’m With the Band Pamela Des Barres writes of Keith’s legendary love for the absurd – and for saucy costumed roleplay – and of course, he was just erroneously asked to play the London Olympics this summer (oops!), but the Who drummer was already larger-than-life in his 1970s heyday. No need to plunk him down behind a drum set on a 2012 stage for all those that recognized his ferocious talents later in life.

Notorious B.I.G. The B.I.G. question everyone on Twitter seemed to be Tweeting when Tupac arrived was, “Where was Biggie?” Examples: “Technology is crazy..they need to do a tupac hologram with biggie that’d be real” and “they should have a hologram concert with Tupac, Biggie & Aaliyah.” As if they all forgot about a little time known as the mid-’90s when hip-hop wasn’t nearly so friendly and those two really didn’t quite like each other. Looping him in on the hologram frenzy would be just as disrespectful as the constant comparisons in media. Let their legends live separate lives. Perhaps there is Life After Death, but don’t just assume Biggie will be hologrammed because his arch nemesis was. (We will, however, gladly accept some form of Biggie-branded Slanket.)

Louis Armstrong Undoubtedly, someone in out there in the jazz world is aching to include a zombie Satchmo trumpet solo or gravel-throated vocal riff alongside the almost-real vision of Armstrong holding up his favorite brassy instrument, eyes bulging. But seeing Pops pop up from the ground in eerie hologram form amid a modern day big band might cause actual heart attacks from his worldwide fan club.

Billie Holiday Equally legendary, and as big an influence on the world of jazz, seeing Lady Day rise up with a beaming white gardenia affixed to her head might be too much for this modern world to handle. Not to mention that aching desperation in her voice, that might just sound terrifying coming from a future-ghost. It seems downright cruel to resurrect those who suffered so much the first time around.

Kurt Cobain Blah blah Courtney-Grohl-Frances Bean Twitter paramour war.

Elton John Wait, she’s not dead yet?

Party Radar: Bye-bye Blow Up (?), Green Velvet, Kenny Larkin, Hookahdome, DJ Kaos, Monty Luke

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April 13, 2012

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Party Radar: Bye-bye Blow Up (?), Green Velvet, Kenny Larkin, Hookahdome, DJ Kaos, Monty Luke

Is it weird that last night I found myself dancing around in my Underoos to Mother Nature’s wowser light show and bass mechanix? Outside the disco, thunder and lightning are rare commodities ’round these parts (they happened, like, maybe three times in the ’90s?), so please forgive me for flashdancing on my fire escape rather than hitting the dance floor. Sometimes you just gotta be a semi-private dancer in the elements, love.

Speaking of spring storms: Sad — but ultimately hopeful — word has came down the wire that two of SF’s best parties, Blow Up and Kontrol are calling it quits, at least in regards to their regular installments. Greg Bird of monthly techno blast Kontrol at the EndUp put out an eloquent statement about how each of the crew’s side projects had taken on lives of their own, and that June 3’s party would be the last, except for special events. Who could blame Kontrol, after seven years of outstanding live techno fun? In any case, we’ve still two months to bid adieu, so keep it together.

But fantastic electro-glamour gig Blow Up’s last weekly party is tonight Fri/13, and you know it’s going out with a bang.

No tears! Ultimate breathtaking hostess Ava Berlin assures me that seven-year-old Blow Up will be back and better than ever — she and ace DJ Jeffrey Paradise are taking off to the desert for a couple months to plan a relaunch and prepare for the continued success of Paradise’s sunny tech-pop outfit Poolside. Blow Up parties will return, no fear. And how perfectly SF is taking off for the desert to regroup for a few. Loving.

Tonight’s farewell Blow Up at DNA Lounge features damn fine remix crew RAC, which has the power to make everything it touches insanely catchy in an old-school electro-pop way, and DJ Miles, indie-hero resident of the lovely Popscene weekly party. Throw on something risque-bananas and toast the bon voyage of this essential piece of SF nightlife gorgeousness.

Fri/13, 10pm-2am, $10-20,18+. DNA Lounge, 375 11th St., SF. Facebook invite

Besides those listed in this week’s Super Ego clubs column, here are some more party picks for the wet and wild weekend:

>> GREEN VELVET

Ah, you dance music genius Curtis Jones — first you ruled the Chicago house scene in the early ’90s as Cajmere. Then you got REALLY freaky — anticipating both the fried and funkdafied antics of Moodymann and the acid-brained electroclash antics of Felix da Housecat. (And for good or ill we are about to experience an electroclash revival, heralded by Felix’s takeover of the Blow Up party last month.) He’ll be headlining the always bonkers Lights Down Low party, as part of host DJ Sleazemore’s birthday celebration.

From 1995:

From 2005:

Fri/13, 9:30pm-3am, $15-$20. SOM, 2925 16th St., SF. More info and advance tix here

>> HOOKAHDOME AT NON STOP BHANGRA

Ever since the amazing Non Stop Bhangra parties moved to Public Works, the audience for this incredible party has exploded — so much so that the party will now take over both of the expansive club’s levels. To launch the upstairs dance room, Jimmy Love and the dholrhythms crew are enlisting the aid of serious Arabic-vibing bass crew Hookahdome: Jef Stott featuring MC Rai, Kush Arora, Drumspyder, bellydancing, and more. It will be a sunburst of global insanity.

Sat/14, 10pm-4am, $10-15. Public Works, 161 Erie, SF Facebook invite here

>> KENNY LARKIN

Essential second-generation Detroit techno innovator Kenny now lives in LA, but he’s as full of ideas and energy as ever (and he’s a pretty great guy to boot). While he hasn’t received as much attention as I think he should for his many contributions, that’s all starting to be rectified with renewed interest in some of Detroit’s less-lauded players. It helps that he’s been getting around a lot more, remixing recent tracks excellently, and playing splendidly! He’ll be joined by another Detroiter, Monty Luke, for a night of solid banging.

Here’s one of my favorite tracks of all time, from 1994:

And here’s a mighty swell remix he did last year:

Sat/14, 9pm, $10-$15. Monarch, 101 6th St., SF. www.monarchsf.com. More info and advance tickets here

>> DJ KAOS

Twisted Berlin star DJ Kaos does have a bit of a reputation for being, well, chaotic in a party way — what do you expect from such a force of nature behind the decks? Still, his “disco-dusted” tunes, perfect gateways to sexy debauchery, are also glimmering slices of urbane perfection. High mixed with low, at the groovy No Way Back party with beloved local DJs Conor and Solar, returning to the awesomely reurbished 222 Hyde. Go get down.

Sat/14, 10pm, $10 with RSVP to Facebook invite. 222 Hyde, SF.

>> MONTY LUKE

Fresh from his night with Kenny Larkin, Monty Luke — a Detroiter with deep SF roots — will be turning the children of the routinely packed and queer-fab Honey Soundsystem Sunday party out. Monty’s been known for a heady blend of bass funk with acid highlights and deep grooves. Lately he seems to be delving into the more cosmic reaches of the classic techno sound, which I will never argue with. This will be a perfect way to round off your weekend in style.

From 2007:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyr0LSTuFRk

From 2011:

Sun/15, 9pm, $5. Holy Cow, 1535 Folsom, SF. Honey Facebook group

Whose house?

Andrew Lam

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April 10, 2012

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marke@sfbg.com

SUPER EGO “The Oakland house scene? Yeah, it’s *^&^*&#! great!” exclaims DJ Dedan, who along with DJ Eman puts on fantastic long-running soulful house party Brothers and Sisters, which moves to Fridays every week starting Fri/13 (10pm, free. Paradiso Lounge, 2272 Telegraph, Oakl. Facebook invite). “We are now home to some great DJs like Cali, Cecil, Rahiem, Deep Cee, Rob Rhythm, Wazir, Eric Groove, Kincaid…,” he continues to me over email. “And we’ve got some great parties like The People and Deeper Side of Soul. So we seem to be putting Oakland on the house map!”

A video from the former location of Brothers and Sisters:

I would add Blessed, Evolve, Taboo, and Elixir to that solid Oakland topography of deep, uplifting, family-style parties. Indeed, other than the monthly Harlum Muziq label showcase at EndUp, celebrating one year on Sun/15 (second Sundays, 8pm-4am, $15, free before midnight with RSVP to m.deep.music@gmail.com before Sunday noon. EndUp, 401 Sixth St., SF. www.facebook.com/harlum.muziq), and Mighty’s Deep and Mighty Real parties (last Saturdays 9pm-4pm, $20-$25. Mighty, 119 Utah, SF. www.mighty119.com), reliable old school house vibes have slipped almost wholly across the Bay.

I’m absolutely loving the abundant cultivation of Oakland’s house soul (www.thismustbetheplace.net is a good guide) which is bringing dancers from all walks of life together on the floor. But is the growing hole in SF’s own a kind of coal mine from which the kooky canary of demographic change peeps? One thing that also seems to be draining from SF parties is crowd diversity. Sometimes I look around and notice that the only people of color at many otherwise quality gigs are the security. It is creepy!

I’m not saying that it’s necessary to draw on communities of color to somehow “authenticate” certain cultural experiences, even if those cultural experiences are mostly derived from those communities. The music will always lift us right out of our skins. I’m just saying that some thriving Oakland parties still look, sound, and feel like the ones I grew up on in San Francisco — often more than the current ones in San Francisco themselves. That might be something to think about, as long as we’re all still dancing.

BROWNOUT

Austin Latin rock band Grupo Fantasma puts on one heck of a cerebellum-searing show — but wait ’til you peep its funky party alter ego Brownout, in which the Grupo members indulge in filthy-sexy covers of the favorite songs of their youth. DJ Senor Oz from Afrolicious and local tropical art-pop fantasy act Chucha Santamaria open up.

Fri/13, 10pm, $10 advance, $12 door. Elbo Room, 647 Valencia, SF. www.elbo.com

2562

Last month, the dominating As You Like It techno crew performed the neat trick of throwing a party on the roof of the W Hotel while still retaining an underground vibe — it wasn’t LA douchy at all! Now it’s time for AYLI’s more earthbound monthly blast at Beatbox (with obligatory debaucherous attendant after party beginning at 6am at 222 Hyde). Deliciously dubby Dutch techno number 2562, a.k.a. A Made Up Sound, and dreamy-groovy German John Osborn headline.

10pm-late, $10 before 11pm, $20 after. Beatbox, 314 11th St., SF. www.ayli-sf.com

TWILIGHT CIRCUS DUB SOUND SYSTEM

Netherlands-based radical dub ideologue Ryan Moore, a.k.a. Twilight Circus (www.twilightcircus.com) describes the atmospheres he creates as “cadaverous” — bass lines heavy enough to leave bodies on the floor, presumably, but with enough kaleidoscopic-melodic technique to tease out your soul as well. He’ll bring 25 years of galactic dub experience to the always boomtastic Dub Mission weekly party.

Sun/15, 9pm, $6 advance, $8 door. Elbo Room, 647 Valencia, SF. www.elbo.com

Today in musical club kids: AB Soto’s ‘Honey Boo Boo’

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April 4, 2012

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Forgive the blowed-out sound quality (much better here) but you know there was going to be some interference in the airwaves once LA butch queen AB Soto teamed up with fierce SF club celebuterrors Manicure Versace and Terry T for a boom-boom tribute to everyone’s favorite Toddlers and Tiaras tragedy/metaphor of American exceptionalism, Alana. Go-go juice and gone!

TEASERS!

Party Radar: Double Duchess will release you

Jesse Hawthorne Ficks

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March 29, 2012

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Dazzling local Hi-NRG electro-hop sissy bounce-y duo Double Duchess graced our Club Action cover in February and has been slaying parties for the past year. Now we finally get an official EP release, Extravaganza, and of course what promises to be a totally insane event at Rickshaw Stop on Sat/31.

This one will bring together most of the city’s most colorful nightlife characters — its presented by the infamous Peaches Christ, and includes music by Hard French and Stay Gold DJs (also Bunnystyle and davO) and appearances by Some Thing queens VivvyAnne ForeverMore and Glamamore. Double Duchess nuts!

Nite Trax: Sisterz of the Underground re-fresh the Bay

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March 28, 2012

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Nite Trax: Sisterz of the Underground re-fresh the Bay

Sometimes being a nightlife writer feels like getting stranded on Techno Dude Island. Not always cuuute. So when I got wind that the classic Sisterz of the Underground hip-hop party crew was hitting the Bay for a huge 10-year anniversary celebration Sat/31 including a party at Public Works and a day of tech workshops and empowerment talks at CellSpace, I jumped on the chance for a breath of fresh female air and an indepth talk with folks who inspired me back in the day to try a few dance floor moves I probably shouldn’t have.

SOTU founder Sarah “Smalls” McCann, creative director Traci P, and organizer Crykit moved away from the Bay a little while ago (and the groundbreaking in-school hip-hop education program they started, Def Ed, is currently in hibernation mode), but the international Sisterz of the Underground network they helped establish is still thriving and inspiring women to discover and transmit the roots of hip-hop dance, art, music, creativity, and culture. The 10th anniversary party reflects that all-encompassing approach with live music from Kid Sister, DJ Shortee, Green B, Jeanine da Feen, and tons more, plus a 1-on-1 dance battle, art and vendor fair, live painting, nail booth… It’ll be a much-needed femme attack in this age of War on Women, hip-hop style acrimony, and the mainstreaming of street spirit.

I communicated with the trio over email in anticipation of their return, and got not only the trademark Sisterz blend of energy, outspokenness, and positivity, but some juicy tidbits about Bay hip-hop history, the current state of rap and dance, and the ladies’ current doings as well. Check it.

SISTERZ OF THE UNDERGROUND 10-YEAR ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION

Sat/31 at Public Works and CellSpace

Details and tickets: sisterzunderground.eventbrite.com

Facebook Invite is here.

SFBG It’s been a minute since you’ve been on my radar. Can you introduce yourself and tell us what’s going on with y’all now?

TRACI P I moved to Las Vegas a little over a year and a half ago after an almost decade stint in San Francisco throwing events and creative directing the Sisterz of the Underground. Currently I am the managing partner of RAW Entertainment (www.raw-e.com) which is both a booking agency and event production company based here in Sin City. I book for a variety of artists, like BReal of Cypress Hill, two-time DMC champ DJ SHIFTEE, and NYC club and fashion DJ Roxy Cottontail. Aside from artist bookings I continue to produce local events here in Vegas as well as a monthly in San Francisco called Femme Fatale at John Colins, every second Thursday — it features an all-female lineup and highlights music, fashion, and art. The next one is Thu., April 12, and will feature live painting, a guest performer and a dubstep DJ line-up including Lotus Drops, Sculltrain and Smashletooth. I also write music interviews for Thrasher Magazine, mostly about hip-hop and rap artists.

SARAH “SMALLS” MCCANN I’m the founder of SOTU and also a B-girl in the Extra Credit Kru. After years of being in the Bay and running SOTU and Def Ed, our hip-hop education program, I moved down to Los Angeles at the end of 2006. Since then, most of my experience has been selling events at various venues including House of Blues Hollywood and Jillian’s Universal. Currently, I’m the marketing sales manager at Pacific Park, the amusement park at the Santa Monica pier while also being a partner in Clique Events Society and a board member for the tour and travel marketing association of Southern California.

On the side of all of that, I also run an entertainment company with my husband, B-boy Machine, called Hit the Floor Productions (www.hitthefloorproductions.com), help direct our in-house dance company, West Bound, and manage Bboy Machine as an artist. When I’m not busy being the business guru that I am, I’m still just a hip-hop head and a die-hard B-girl with Extra Credit Kru! However at this present moment, I’m not breaking as i’m almost 8 months pregnant with my first child!

CRYKIT Hey hey! I’m Michelle, aka Crykit, aka Miss Crix 🙂 I grew up on a farm in Wisconsin, moved to the Bay Area in 2000, LA in 2010, and currently in Las Vegas since 2011. I started DJing, popping, and breaking in 2002. The rave scene of 98-02 is really where it all began for me. For the last eight years B-girling has been my main focus. I’ve been a member of Extra Credit Kru since day one and with this crew of amazing talented inspiring ladies we’ve taught in schools and studios, entered hundreds of battles, performed at some pretty epic events, been featured in music videos and short films, traveled nationally and internationally

When I moved to LA I manifested what originally was an idea for a hip fashion line with the perfect balance of masculine and feminine HAPPY MEDIUM, into a dancy DJ duo that encompasses everything from dance to art to fashion to music. My partner in crime is a funky stylin’ B-girl I met back in the Bay: Faye aka 13 Moons. (She is DJing the 1-on-1 female dance battle at our Public Works party.)

SFBG You must have a lot of memories of SOTU — how did it all come together and what stands out for you most from the past decade?

TRACI P Sarah’s the founder, but I can tell you a bit about how I started with the collective. I moved to San Francisco when I was 19 after leaving UC Davis. Having decided to take an alternate educational path towards my ultimate goal of working in the music industry, I decided to intern at as many record companies and entertainment-oriented entities I could. This included Bomb Hip Hop, Look Records, Live Up Records, and Quannum Records. A boyfriend of mine at the time introduced me to Sarah. I loved the idea of women in the music industry and hip-hop, and felt an overwhelming sense of welcome and support in the collective. I pushed Sarah to let me do whatever she needed and learn more about how she produced events and operated. I started coming in everyday. I had such a respect for her vision, dedication, and the energy she put into making this collective so visible and tangible for women all around the globe. From then on she became a mentor to me. Both she and the Sisterz of the Underground changed my life forever.

SMALLS Well, this is always a long answer for me, as even though I’m pregnant with my first child, I always saw SOTU as my real first child. This all started back in 2000 when I was approached by the owner of the Justice League (now the Independent) about doing a hip-hop event at the venue. I was super inspired by two females in my life at that time: Arouz, a female graff artist, and Inchant, a female MC. i thought it would be super dope to produce an all-female hip-hop event that included all elements of hip-hop (MCing, breaking, graffiti, DJing, beatboxing, etc.). I spent about a month scouting talent from all over and found B-girls from UC Berkeley, Syndel from old dominion, and many more. I asked Medusa to be the headliner and threw a show on January 18, 2001 called Sisterz of the Underground.
The show had over 600 attendees and was a huge success! After the show, everyone was asking me who is Sisterz of the Underground… Well, I was in college at the time and didn’t really have any plans for who or what was SOTU. I decided to ask the girls involved if they were interested in forming a collective where women could comfortably express themselves, come together to share, and put on shows.

After a few more successful shows in the Bay, I decided to organize a group of us to teach at a young women’s conference. At this time, we really didn’t know what we were doing, but we knew we had something to share. From that conference, we were contacted by two all girl groups to come and teach at their center. Well, the year was filled with many shows and many workshops and soon we were voted “Best Hip-Hop Monthly of the Year” in the Guardian and we created a hip-hop education program called Def Ed. Def Ed became such a success and grew into a program that was eventually serving over 3,000 youth a year and existing in 6 counties of the Bay Area.

It’s hard to pinpoint my favorite point of SOTU, but I have to say that my life wouldn’t be the same without it and i would not be the woman that I am without all of my Sisterz that I have met along the way.

CRYKIT I first found out about SOTU at an all girl weekly dance practice at Dance Mission around 2002. There I felt supported in learning all about the culture and its elements. I would sketch in a black book, create stencils, DJ parties, pop, break, freestyle in the car on battle road trips, hahaha. It just sort of became a part of me, a lifestyle. I’m so grateful to have had a collective of such eclectic, empowering, talented women to grow as an artist with, to jump in a cypher with, to create a mix tape with… And most of these women are like super hero goddesses LOL.. Nurses, firefighters, neuroscientists, designers, massage therapists, business owners… the list goes on and on.

My favorite story I guess would be connecting with and building friendships with girls from other countries like Sweden, Germany, and India through SOTU! It’s so cool the network and community has spread globally.

SFBG The lineup for this party at Public Works is absolutely insane! It really brings together some true female talent. With female MCs like Nicki, Azealia Banks, and Iggy Azalea all over, do you have any thoughts about the state of females in hip-hop right now?

TRACI P Thank you first off for the compliment, that’s endearing! As far as the state of females in hip-hop, I would like to start by saying that hip-hop in general is in a state of transition as is the music industry as a whole. As the landscape of popular music shifts more and more to being influenced by electronic music, I think that hip-hop as well is starting to play into this trend. Nicki Minaj is a great rapper but some of her songs are SO far from rap or even hip hop. “Starships,” enough said. Iggy Azalea has got a lot of style and I am interested to see where she goes but I am not so confident in her skills as a lyricist.

Then there are one hitters like Kreayshawn whose success can be attributed to the beat of ‘Gucci Gucci’ being along a electronic-dubstep style as well as her look being right for the time. There is less and less attention paid to substance and more to image and look. Half of these girls can’t even perform live and are in a sense disposable because they have no stage presence. Just a pretty face with flashly clothes and jewelry. Then you have these record labels and agencies making it worse because the industry is so in the toilet that the SECOND they smell a lick of talent, they come along, swoop them up, charge ridiculous amounts of money to promoters, the artist never fully develops before being fed to the sharks, and ultimately fails!

But then you have girls like KID SISTER and MIA who steady hold it down. They have their own style and do a good job of incorporating current trends as well as keeping true to themselves and having a voice instead of being a puppet. I’m forever a student, however, and am interested in what’s to come in the music industry.

And the female DJ should also not be forgotten. As is evident in our line-up we respect all elements of hip-hop and the DJ is no exception. I feel as though the past few years have given rise to a great window of opportunity for female DJs and we’ve seen more and more emerge and tear it up! Living in Vegas I see a lot of plastic behind the decks but there are truly real women who can throw it down and rock a party and/or battle just as good as men, La Femme Deadly Venom for one, Pam the Funkstress, Spinderella, we have our own Crykit in Vegas killing clubs with style. It makes me happy to see this.

SMALLS To be honest, I think hip-hop overall is ever changing and growing with different niches and styles that come through. As for females in hip-hop, we’ve definitely come a long way and are continuing to get out there and do our thing. If you look at the different eras of hip-hop, you’ll see how many female MCs were legends in their own right: MC Lyte, Roxanne Shante, Lil Kim, Raw Digga, Bahamadia, Nicki Minaj, the list goes on and on. I also think that female DJs have come along way and are continuing to show that they can rock just as hard or even harder than some male DJs. The thing that’s always been an issue for us women, or at least for me as a B-girl, was not wanting to be viewed as “just dope for a girl.” We want to be viewed as dope overall for our skill and not having anything to do with the fact that we may be a different sex.

CRYKIT I would like to hear better lyrical content in hip hop overall right now. I’m not really moved by too many female MCs at the moment. Wishing Missy Elliot did more, I feel like she can be true to herself but also bring it in at a commercial level. One thing I love about her is she always had real dancers in her videos.. she understands hip-hop as a whole and a community with all elements on display. I’m excited to bring Kid Sister to Public Works, I love her versatility, she sounds fresh on electro house tracks as well as hip-hop.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOgLK4t-Rts

SFBG I feel like hip-hop in general in the Bay Area, while still lively, is slipping below the radar, on the down swing of a cycle — any thoughts about that?

TRACI P Hip-hop in the Bay is most def on a decline. It was once a mecca but is no longer a hub for new and exciting artists, unfortunately. I have a lot of friends in the rap and hip-hop industry here in the Bay Area whom I would NEVER discredit or whose music I would never put down but as a whole, but I haven’t seen much that’s exceptionally great coming from this sector of California as far as hip-hop is concerned. I would say that the RAP is still there but the hip hop is falling off. I would also like to take this time to say RIP to Special One of Conscious Daughters who hip-hop lost late last year.

SMALLS Unfortunately I don’t live up there anymore, but I have heard that the hip-hop scene has sort of died. Well, i can tell you that it’s not only in the Bay… it’s the same thing in LA. I remember places like the Justice League where you knew you were always going to find a sick hip-hop show whether it was Black Star or Wu-Tang and in LA going to Project Blowed every week. Now, you’re lucky if you can find a club that doesn’t have a dress code and won’t yell at the B-boys and B-girls for starting a cypher. I think this is one of the many reasons that we’ve tried to keep SOTU alive and always try to incorporate the true meaning of hip hop behind our events!

CRYKIT I would say the hip hop dance scene is still thriving in the Bay Area! There’s a lot of talented dancers from the Bay in videos, TV, movies. And currently there’s classes offered at studios like City Dance taught by dancers who have been in the scene for a long time and have learned from the OGs and originators. There are battles almost every weekend filled with high schoolers and up… So in that arena it is still thriving and is a genuine mecca for dancers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBjcW9rnjoE

SFBG I love that you’re having workshops during the day at CellSpace that cover both female empowerment and technical skills. Can you tell me a bit about what inspired you to turn the reunion into a true community event?

TRACI P Community is very important to us and key to the idea of empowerment. Obviously the nighttime events are geared toward adults, but we recognize the importance the youth has in shaping the world as a whole — and it’s always been important for us to reach out to the youth through hip-hop. We also founded a hip-hop education program called Def Ed years back, it is unfortunately no longer active, but we taught at many sites around the Bay and still have strong access to many of the kids around the area, it’s important that we maintain that connection.

Also, there is a lot more to the culture of hip-hop than just what you see on a stage or in a music video, the aspects of art, dance, production, and fashion are equally important. At a time when everything seems so fabricated it’s essential that people be exposed to the roots of music and the culture. It is our mission to teach and empower in any way possible. By having females host these workshops, you never know who might be inspired, because it’s not every day women are so praised in such a male dominated arena such as hip hop.

SMALLS This is easy: SOTU has always been about community, education, growth, expression, and hip-hop. This event marks more than 10 years strong as a female hip-hop collective and tying in all of these aspects was truly important to us. There’s no point in just putting on an event to make money (at least for us)….we wanted to produce an event that included the youth and our amazing sisterz sharing their knowledge along with a night time event to remember. We figured having workshops, battles, showcases, vendors, art galleries and all of the various things we are including in this event would show was SOTU has always been about — true hip-hop expression in an open environment that welcomes anyone and everyone!

Crykit SOTU events have always been community-based, that’s where we all began. I love that a part of the celebration is at Cellspace because that’s where we established our breaking practice eight years ago actually, almost a decade we’ve been working with them. It’s a piece of Bay Area dance history, and our practice is the longest-running established regular practice in the city of San Francisco. It’s always important to include the youth. We love the spirit, freedom, and creativity they bring!

SFBG Can I get a current top 5 from each of you?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDo8Z-eoBiI

Traci P

MIA, “Bad Girls”

Slaughterhouse, “Hammer Dance”

Schoolboy Q, “Hands on the Wheel”

Joey Bada$$, “Survival Tactics”

J. Cole, “can’t get enough’’

Crykit

1. B.Bravo “Swing My Way” remix

2. Flying Lotus/ Thundercat “$200 TB”

3. Trina “Red Bottoms”

4. Mark Ronson “Animal” remix

5. Rye Rye & M.I.A “Sunshine”

Smalls

If I can twist this and get you my current top 5 reasons for still being a true hip hop head:
1. The feeling I get at a live show when everyone has their hands pumping in the air
2. The feeling I get jumping into a hot cypher where the DJ is killin’ it and everyone wants to get in
3. The feeling i get seeing the little girls of Extra Credit Kru enter a battle with us OGs
4. The feeling I get watching my hubby, B-boy machine, smoke someone on the dance floor
5. The feeling I get knowing that no matter how commercial hip-hop has become, that there’s still so many folks doing it right in the community

Sis hop

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March 27, 2012

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marke@sfbg.com

SUPER EGO Like many of the great, oldish-school Bay Area hip-hop party collectives, the Sisterz of the Underground core crew has skedaddled — founder Sarah Smalls to LA, creative director Traci P. and organizer Crykit to Las Vegas — following their fortunes to other, perhaps fresher climes. But just like those spectacular b-girl (and -boy) cypher dance circles that have been popping up on finer San Francisco floors of late, the Sisterz are returning, hopefully bringing more of that fly feeling back with them.

A huge Sisterz of the Underground 10th Anniversary Celebration on Sat/31 (sisterzunderground.eventbrite.com) includes not just a dazzling nighttime party at Public Works with music by Kid Sister, DJ Shortee, Butterscotch, La Femme Deadly Venoms, Jeanine Da Feen, Green B, Pony P, and more, plus a gallery show of all-female artists, nail art, vendor fair, live painting, and a one-on-one female all-styles dance battle — but also afternoon production tech and dance workshops and a panel discussion about female empowerment and multiculturalism at CellSpace. The Bay is going to get some phenomenal femme in its face, and not a moment too soon OK?

Talking with the Sisterz is a trip — see my full interview on our SFBG Noise blog — with nostalgic name-drops like storied rap and turntablism venue Justice League, the Extra Credit Kru dance battlers (still in effect), graffiti artist Arouz, emcee Inchant, and Def Ed, the incredible education and empowerment program the Sisterz started that reached schools in six counties in the Bay Area before it was disbanded a couple years ago. The general Sisterz network itself is still slamming, with chapters up and down the West Coast, as well as in New Mexico and Brazil.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOgLK4t-Rts

And the Sisterz still aren’t shy about expressing themselves. When asked about the state of hip-hop, Traci P says, perhaps with a certain super-hyped Bay Area MC in mind, “There is less and less attention paid to substance and more to image and look. Half of these girls can’t even perform live and are in a sense disposable because they have no stage presence. Just a pretty face with flashy clothes and jewelry. At a time when everything seems so fabricated, it’s essential that people be exposed to the roots of the music and the culture.” Werrrd.

SUBB-AN

I caught this UK house wunderkind last year in Berlin at the awesome Tresor club — he played a pumping, expansive set that eventually set off for deeper currents, intricate grooves ride over each other for long periods and innovative technology put into the service of the steamy atmosphere rather than just being “showy.” And he’s cute.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewt5hS3todw

Thu/29, 10pm, $10. Vessel, 85 Campton Pl., www.vesselsf.com

FORWARD 10TH ANNIVERSARY

Another 10-year banger — this one for adorably talented Adnan Sharif’s Forward tech-house collective, bringing in an absolutely bonkers lineup to move us into the next. Deep and wiggy Clockwork from Milan co-headlines with Seattle smart-techno fave Pezzner, plus Nikola Baytala, the No Way Back crew, and a Silent Disco space out side with Star Kommand and more.

Fri/30, 10pm-5am, $10-20. Mighty, 119 Utah, SF. www.forwardsf.com

LEXINGTON 15TH ANNIVERSARY

Time flies when you’re a flaming hot lesbian! Can it be 15 years already since the proudly dive-y Lex threw open its doors to the gorgeously rough-and-tumble dykes of the Mission and their humble admirers (like yours truly)? Oh hell yes. Congratulate owner Lila and crew on keeping one of the few lesbars in homocity open, with filthy music, smokin’ go-gos, kinky quinceanera shenanigans, and lipstick-obliterating drink specials.

Sat/31, 9pm, free. Lexington Club, 3464 19th St., SF. www.lexingtonclub.com

Nite Trax: The fabulous creatures of Gaultier’s opening gala

Jesse Hawthorne Ficks

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March 26, 2012

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Hyperproductive fashion designer and revered fantasy engineer Jean Paul Gaultier was in town last week for the opening of a (very cool) retrospective of his work at the de Young. His nightlife stops included the Some Thing drag show at the Stud on Friday, a cruisy interlude at the Powerhouse on Saturday — and of course a lavish opening gala celebration at the de Young itself on Friday evening.

The fantastic function included an exposed “backstage” area where models were fitted into Gaultier pret-a-porter, primped, temporary-tattooed, and hairdressed with amazing sculptural headpieces by SF’s Glama-Rama salon, before trotting out onto a makeshift runway. Attendees — not all of them our city’s social page elite, btw — wore their most unusual outfits. (There were a lot of sailor stripes, man-skirts, and Gaultier looks from the past three decades.) Even the servers were decked out in handmade kaleidoscopic Krylon smocks by graffiti gallery 1:AM. Tunes from the gorgeous, killer-bobbed DJ started out retro-cute and fun, including JPG’s own 1990 dancefloor hit, “How To Do That” before devolving into the standard party jams of today, which certainly got the singles (cougars) in the crowd “puttin’ their hands up.” It was a blast.

Soon the raucous and always riveting Extra Action Marching Band took over, the flowing cocktails kicked in, and we drifted down to the exhibit itself, which includes eerie singing mannequins with projected faces beamed in directly from Uncanny Valley. (There’s even an interactive one of Gaultier himself, which supposedly answers questions, although I think the ambient noise levelof the gala confused it.)

The amassed collection of clothing and concepts, of course, was overwhelming in its creativity and development — although I could have done with a few more iconic items from the “Chic Rabbis” 1993 collection (personal preference!) and some more recent work, and perhaps a wee bit less emphasis on the infamous Madonna-cone bra connection. But I did tear up at the site of Gaultier’s childhood teddy bear preserved in a vitrine wearing, yes, a miniature cone bra prototype.

I think the most touching thing in the show, however, was a Polaroid by Andy Warhol, taken of the young and not quite hatched Gaultier at New York’s Area club in 1986. Gaultier is caught in a stairwell, a bit Joker-like in what looks to be a purple silk suit with a gold lozenge pattern and his trademark bleached blonde hair. It’s accompanied by Warhol’s famous quote, ““I think the way people dress today is a form of artistic expression. Saint Laurent, for instance, has made great art. Art lies in the way the whole outfit is put together. Take Jean Paul Gaultier. What he does is really art.”

Where Jean Paul Gaultier should go out this week

Jesse Hawthorne Ficks

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March 21, 2012

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Where Jean Paul Gaultier should go out this week

Revered French bad-boy designer Jean Paul Gaultier is in town for the unveiling of a neat-looking “enfant terrible” retrospective of his work at the de Young. (Will there be anything in it as scandalous as the tribute to Naomi Campbell’s famous wipeout in the Vivienne Westwood show five years ago?). He also has a busy schedule: a red-carpet appearance at the new Al Pacino movie launch tonight, a private-ish A-gayish loft party on Thursday whose redeeming feature = drag goddess DJ Juanita More, and of course a lavish opening celebration at the de Young itself on Friday. ($300 per person — I’ll be blogging all the opulence and potential fashion faux paaaaaases.)

But us lowly club kids love you too, JPG.

Whether it’s for managing the Herculean task of making Madonna interesting for 10 minutes 23 years ago, costuming some of the coolest movies ever (stay tuned for a “Gaultier Fashion Film Series” just announced for April 5-6 at the Castro Theatre), foretelling the whole cross-over fashion designer movement with your dance floor classic “Aow Tou Dou Zat” (which sounds amazing right now btw), providing perversion fantasy spectacles for a pre-Internet world, or just plain making fashion crazy, gay, and fabulous — we’d like a chance to thank you by being fabulous back in your presence.

You should sneak out of the hoity-toity fooforaws and get some new, true San Francisco underworld inspiration from your spiritual children. Here’s where:

WEDNESDAY

Booty Call See Juanita More (and ever-energetic co-promoter Joshua J) in her native habitat, as she hosts this weekly queer night bursting with forward looks and youthful cuteness. The stated draw is the fun photobooth in back, tricked out by noted artists, but the free-spirited, non-pop house tunes are tasty, too. 9 p.m., $3. QBar, 456 Castro, SF. www.bootycallwednesdays.com

THURSDAY

Future Perfect Local underground pop apotheosis Alexis Blair Penney’s going away fiesta! This packed weekly party pretty much realizes its admirable aim to demolish all genre boundaries and just play “cool, contemporary music no matter what.” That makes it hard to write about, but easy to dig, especially with yummy weekly live guests that have included Light Asylum, Cold Cave, and Dubbel Dutch. 10 p.m., $10–$15. Monarch, 101 Sixth St., SF. www.monarchsf.com

Popscene All the bright young indie pop fans converge on this long-running 18+ party to peep up-and-coming international live bands often so fresh the Internet has yet to discover them — plus some touching nods to the alternative pop styles of yore. 10 p.m., $10–$15, 18+. Rickshaw Stop, 155 Fell, SF. www.popscene-sf.com

Relax Relate Release Three of the craziest (and cutest) mofo DJs on the scene, Vin Sol, Richie Panic, and 5kinAndBone5 indulge their deeper eclectic (yet still plenty bumpin’) sides, with schweet selections spanning classic disco to hyphy gems, bass oddities to vogue jams, for an adventurous crowd in a Tenderloin basement. 10 p.m., $5. 222 Hyde, SF. Facebook page.

The Tubesteak Connection After almost eight years of reviving rare 1970s and ’80s gay bathhouse disco in an atmosphere that encourages sleazy cruising (and bans all things digital), DJ Bus Station John’s club is still a sensation — DJs make the pilgrimage, often on their knees, from around the globe to catch up on the sex music of the past. 10 p.m., $5. Aunt Charlie’s Lounge, 133 Turk, SF. www.auntcharlieslounge.com

FRIDAY

Blow Up Perhaps the only place you’ll see Gaultier clothing being worn non-ironically (plus the awesome Ssion performs this week)! Fantastically glamorous and classy-yet-raging 18+ underground electro, nu-disco, and post-French Touch night, hosted by Ava Berlin and Jeffrey Paradise, now seven years old and as fashionable as ever with a slew of talented DJs, weekly guests, relatable moments, and incredible looks. 10 p.m., $10–$20, 18+. DNA Lounge, 375 11th St., SF. www.blowupsf.com

Hot Boxxx Girls Legendary gender illusionists of the Tenderloin shower you with bewitching beauty and ravishing razzle-dazzle in this must-see drag show (also on Saturday nights). Once you witness these spirited gals take on your favorite showtune, pop hit, or power ballad, you’ll never hear it the same. Bring lots of singles for tipping. 9 p.m., $5. Aunt Charlie’s Lounge, 133 Turk, SF.www.auntcharlieslounge.com

Some Thing Taking drag (and performance) into some incredible new and WTF zones — with lots of fun dancing afterward, and a fantastic craft table courtesy of Haute Gloo — the Some Thing trio of Glamamore, VivvyAnne ForeverMore, and DJ Down-E add some theatrical, dramatic, and loopy oomph to the SF weekend. 10 p.m.-afterhours, $7. The Stud, 399 9th St., SF. www.studsf.com

“Oops! Jean Paul Gaultier is so soigné!”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwR0OtBJpA0

SATURDAY

Go Bang! Tons of special guest disco-heat DJs this month from Shawn Ryan of Philadelphia to Tres Johnson of Omaha, Nebraska! DJ Steve Fabus has been spinning since the earliest days of San Fran-disco, and when teamed up with young fanatic DJ Sergio — it’s been fire. Each month brings an onslaught of disco heat, with repolished red-light classics and rare vinyl revivals stoking an eager, off-the-shoulder crowd. Fourth Saturdays, 9 p.m., $5. Deco Lounge, 510 Larkin, SF. www.gobangsf.com

Icee Hot This month with Siberian techno chanteuse Nina Kraviz, Detroit techno hero Rolando, and nu-vogue beats innovator MikeQ! The city’s best showcase for razor’s edge developments in underground bass music and the UK sounds of now — with some classic house and techno stunner guests thrown in for mega-measure. A lifeline for those tired of hearing this good stuff via Internet. Fourth Saturdays, 10 p.m.-3 a.m., SF. $5 before 10:30, $10 after. Public Works, 161 Erie, SF. www.publicsf.com

Rocket Cute scruffy dudes from kooky queer Burning Man camps dancing to cutting-edge techno, with a Space Age theme and a performance by SF’s own sissy bounce rap duo Double Dutchess? Amazing. 10 p.m., $7. Rickshaw Stop, 155 Fell, SF. Facebook page

Soiree 10 The queerati will be all exploding in a puff of glitter, feathers, and post-ironic jazz hands for the LGBT Community Center’s 10th anniversary celebration: Honey Mahogany, Anna Conda, Ambrosia Salad, Marga Gomez, Glamamore, Fauxnique, Hard French DJs, and more, plus a banquet to get excited about! Sat/24, 7-11pm, $95 (it’s charitable!). San Francisco Design Center Galleria, 101 Henry Adams, SF. www.soiree10.com

SUNDAY

Honey Soundsystem Timeless, pumping house music so well-curated, and scruffy hot queer freak dancers looking so high out of their minds on the dance floor, that I feel gross and a little violated just being there. 9 p.m., $5. Holy Cow, 1535 Folsom, SF. www.honeysoundsystem.com

MONDAY

Viennetta Discotheque What other intimate, kooky-lovely queer party would celebrate its recent anniversary with 40 McDonald’s cheeseburgers and a platter of fries for hungover voguers to “serve?” From over-the-top disco to tomorrow’s dub-techno to just WTF, DJs Stanley Frank and Robert Jeffrey whip it up. 10 p.m., free. UndergroundSF, 424 Haight, SF. 133 Turk, SF.

TUESDAY

High Fantasy Apocalyptically glamorous queer rabble-rousers Alexis Bair Penney and Myles Cooper make gutter dreams come true in the Tenderloin, with artistically challenging drag performances, international surprise guests, and polymorphous perversity on tap-tap-tap. 10 p.m., $2. Aunt Charlie’s Lounge, 133 Turk, SF.www.auntcharlieslounge.com

WHEW! We know you can doo eet, Jean Paul!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gZyEnMk68A

Oui, I cribbed most of this from our huge Nightlife 2012 guide and my weekly Super Ego clubs column. Check those out for more great, designer-worthy parties.

Up north

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March 20, 2012

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marke@sfbg.com

SUPER EGO I went drinking in North Beach and didn’t get attacked by stripper bodyguards! (Damn.) The Beach has garnered a righteous rep for hotsy cocktailology — and yes, the sazeracs at Comstock Saloon (www.comstocksaloon.com) are superb, the Old-Fashioneds at 15 Romolo (www.15romolo.com) kick ass, Vesuvio‘s (www.vesuviosf.com) Bloody Marys bleed “Yes, please!,” hello bacon-wrapped tater tots at the Boardroom (www.boardroomsf.com), and hola gin-and-real-gingers at Tope (1326 Grant) But my NB heart still skipped most for Specs’ Twelve Adler Museum (12 William Saroyan Pl.) and its ragtag cast of characters, fascinating San Francisciana, and oops-cheap whiskeys. Then I took a nap.

MIKE SIMONETTI

Italians Do It Better — so says the nu-disco and modern Italo revivalist’s label, and the man himself ain’t so bad neither. He’s pleased crowd’s thoroughly every time he’s appeared here and, paired tonight with Portland’s buzzy (and worthy) robo-steamy live electronic duo Soft Metals, should be an unstoppable stallion of delight.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKYXTK0unlE

Fri/23, 9pm, $10 with Facebook RSVP, see www.monarchsf.com for details. Monarch, 101 Sixth St., SF.

SSION

Avant-pop doesn’t get more avanter than NYC’s Ssion, who heads a shadowy network of degraded interplanetary glamform beings just within reach among us.

Fri/23, 9pm, 18+, $15–$20. DNA Lounge, 375 11th St., SF. www.blowupsf.com

NINA KRAVIZ

Brainy, unpredictable, sensual, wild: the arresting Muscovite comes with a lot of DJ-of-the-moment expectations — and baggage. Her new album caused an Internet shitstorm when it turned out she’d jumped on the current, out-of-hand “singing DJ” bandwagon that also just claimed Norwegian cosmic disco god Lindstrom (I’m on the “meh” side of the whole thing. The pop-techno crossover trend hasn’t excited me too much so far.) And yet her beats and selection are usually pretty wowza; it’ll be a treat to see what she brings out at the Lights Down Low monthly, alongside essential Detroit techno hero Rolando and vogue beats innovator MikeQ.

Sat/24, 9:30pm-4am, $15. Public Works, 161 Erie, SF. www.publicsf.com

DAN GHENACIA

Dan is one of those supercool French deep-tech house dudes who I can’t imagine laying down a trademark impeccably sexy set without a cigarette dangling from his smoocher. The true drama of this night might just lie in that. You, however, will probably get laid.

Sat/24, 9pm, $10-15. Monarch, 101 Sixth St., SF. www.monarchsf.com

QUANTIC

Here’s a bit of sunshine: renowned UK jazz-hop and tropical beatsmeister Quantic has mined his new home in Colombia for inspiration to release a really beautiful roots funk album, Look Around the Corner, with vocalist Alice Russell. Should be a live smash.

Sat/24, show at 9pm, $15-20. Mezzanine, 444 Jessie, SF. www.mezzaninesf.com

SOIREE 10

The queerati will be all exploding in a puff of glitter, feathers, and post-ironic jazz hands for the LGBT Community Center’s 10th anniversary celebration: Honey Mahogany, Anna Conda, Ambrosia Salad, Marga Gomez, Glamamore, Fauxnique, Hard French DJs, and more, plus a banquet to get excited about!

Sat/24, 7-11pm, $95 (it’s charitable!). San Francisco Design Center Galleria, 101 Henry Adams, SF. www.soiree10.com

Nite Trax: American Mavericks fest brings big organ, Bach phantasm, fruit smoothie

Jesse Hawthorne Ficks

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March 17, 2012

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Nite Trax: American Mavericks fest brings big organ, Bach phantasm, fruit smoothie

“The best form of government … is no government at all!” announced singer Meredith Monk in the second program of the SF Symphony’s rollicking American Mavericks festival at Davies Hall on Sat., March 10, her trademark braided pigtails and Shuffling Elf gait in full effect. And while I could hear the pleated pants of several libertarians around me surely being wetted (and a few liberal feathers ruffling in the back), this was no mere Ron Paul back-pat, though it was delivered with all the empty bluster we’ve come to expect from the current campaign season.

We were in the midst of an astonishing presentation of John Cage’s epic, random Song Books from 1970, after all — revered experimental vocalist Joan La Barbara had delivered a beribboned gift of apples or cranberries to an arbitrary audience member, magnificent diva Jessye Norman (in a stunning Issey Miyake gown) had joined in a boisterous card game and typed a letter on a mic’d typewriter, and conductor Michael Tilson Thomas had chopped up various fruits and veggies and Cuisinarted them into an orange-y beverage for the pianist. Cage, our 20th Century channeler of chance, would never allow such an inflexible utterance to stand unchallenged.

Meredith Monk, Jessye Norman, and MTT with Symphony members performing John Cage.

Sure enough, the phrase began to dissolve in Monk’s mouth as she repeated it, leaning from the stage like a satiric demagogue: “The b-best f-f-f-form of-f-f-f g-g-g …. ,” and adding “And we shall have it, when we are ready for it!” All the while, three large black flags were being hoisted on neon polls, unfurling into the wind from three fans, ghastly pennants at a flourescent funeral. No, we were not just in the land (our land) of anti-government sloganeering, mouthed by Tea Partiers, Occupiers, and hedge fund profiteers alike. With Monk as our guide, we were slipping through the black flags of anarchy into a gaudier lawlessness, that of death. And like pure music death, of course, shall have no dominion.

Jessye Norman and MTT

We’ll probably not see such a lavish, loving tribute to Cage’s aleatory masterwork for a long time. The randomness-conjuring Song Books are governed, in a somewhat oxymoronic twist, by a large set of instructions — “Leave the stage by going up (flying) or by going down through a trap door. Return in the same way wearing an animal’s head,” for example — and forego traditional musical notation and expression for doodlings, drawings, charts, projections, lighting effects, electronic improvisation, bird calls, horn squonks, chess games, and a plethora of intersecting stage actions. (That’s not to say there weren’t gorgeous passages of melody — one especially near the end, a meandering duet with electronics in which Norman sang in a wistful voice about, I think, purple finches.)

That all this potential chaos not only didn’t come off as pretentious avant-gardism but actually formed something deeply touching, hilarious, human, and even quaint was a triumph for director Yuval Sharon and his cast and crew. Only one dude stormed out — perhaps to towel his pleats.

Joan La Barbara, Meredith Monk, Jessye Norman, and MTT

Bracingly, the American Mavericks festival — MTT’s tribute to the barbaric yawp of the American musical spirit — has retained most of the wonder, if not all of the risk, of its first installment a dozen years ago.

Things had kicked off in splendid form on Thu., March 8, with program one — I saw the repeat performance that Friday — including an exciting and lush presentation of quintessential American composer Aaron Copland’s “Orchestral Variations” from 1967, which delivered both ethereal, avant-garde jaggedness (the piece is composed of 20 variations on a four-note “cell,” in an atonal manner) and occasional glimpses of Copland’s generous, down-home spirit (this was the composer of “Appalachian Spring” and “Rodeo,” after all).

It also gave us a bit of dish.

In researching “Orchestral Variations,” I’d run into some trouble — I kept finding more evidence of Copland’s “Piano Variations” from 1930, a work deemed so stark and forbidding that no professional pianist would debut it. (So Copland, in a nifty show of self-confidence, played the premiere himself, to many critics’ disdain.) Here’s a version by pianist Marc-Andre Hamelin:

But what of the piano work’s expansive, full-bodied and spirited transcription for orchestra? It turns out that MTT himself had, in a visit to Copland’s home decades ago, suggested the piece be transformed from a single piano piece to an orchestral work, in order to reach more people on a different scale. “He turned to me, raised an eyebrow, and said, ‘Yes, yes, that all sounds nice — but who’s going to do all that work?'” MTT told the audience during the introduction. Then the big reveal: “And I said, ‘Well, with your permission …’ So — here’s a little thing that we do.”

Insider-y! It was a rare treat of a rare performance of a rare masterwork, from one of the major players involved.

It was also the perfect lead-in to the next piece on the program, Lou Harrison’s “Concerto for Organ with Percussion Orchestra” from 1972, in an absolutely transcendent rendition from Paul Jacobs on the enormous Davies Hall organ, with an ensemble of super-agile Symphony percussionists playing everything from Chinese crash cymbals and huge muted prayer gongs to celesta, rasp, and glockenspiel.

Organist Paul Jacobs and the SF Symphony’s percussion orchestra performing Lou Harrison.

Previously I had a slight aversion to Harrison — while I appreciate him as an out-and-proud gay man in the 1960s (he has a kind of Burl Ives meets Harry Hay aura in queer iconography), I sometimes felt his musical project suffered from the same knee-jerk Orientalism that turns me off of a lot of famous Bay Area poets, mystics, artists, and composers who attempt “East meets West.” Hairy legs jutting from a silk kimono, shudder.

My prejudices were quickly dispatched when the sprightly Jacobs immediately began coaxing the most amazingly powerful sounds from the organ, using a block-muffle tool to play whole ranges of keys at once in various rapid-fire combinations and agglomerations, accompanied by the percussionists’ clanging, hypnotically abstract tattoos. Movements ranged from crepuscular tootling to sci-fi bombast as Harrison ushered us into a kind of hallucinatory meditation full of bright oranges and shooting blues, neither East nor West but a cosmic recombinant being of both. I want to rediscover this formidable magician. Here’s a taste from another recording, although I found Jacobs’ playing to be even more spirited:

Harrisons counterpart on program two was Henry Cowell, the great popularizer of tone clusters (think of playing a whole bunch of clashing yet somehow wondrous-sounding notes at once) — Cowell’s “Piano Concerto“ of 1928, performed by Jeremy Denk with the orchestra, was a sensation to almost equal the Cage before it. You would never have thought odd cacophany could achieve such nuance. It sounded like a foray into negative beauty. Denk was using his entire forearms on the piano most of the time, with the symphony meeting him at a level of intense energy and empathy, and yet there were moments of quiet, complex reflection and runs of exhilirating virtuosity that matched the height of the redwoods in Henry Cowell state park (no relation, except metaphorically). Am I gushing? I am gushing. More Cowell everywhere, please. And as for the multi-talented Denk, check out his recent, revealing, and witty essay and podcast from the New Yorker.

Jeremy Denk performing Henry Cowell.

Preceding Cowell on program two was Lukas Foss’ fantastic 1967 Phorion, given a perfectly out-there rendition by the Symphony, which feeds ragtag bits of the famed solo violin prelude to Bach’s “Partita in E” (phorion is Greek for borrow or steal) through a phtasmagorical wood-chipper of various twists and inversions that spews forth everything from droopy jazz-surrealism to hard-driving, proto-techno minimalism. It’s a monument of sampling avant la lettre, sure to prick up any iPod-shufflers ears.

There were two slight fizzles on both nights, to my ear. Program one concluded with Charles Ives’ “A Conchord Symphony“ reconfigured, perhaps more accurately “massaged,” from other Ives works, (including his brilliant “Concord Sonata,” from around 1916) by comtemporary Canadian composer Henry Brandt. The piece — craggy, magniloquent, full of profound philosophical and unfettered musical ideas — is partly meant to invoke New England and its literary heroes, and in recordings is an excellent rush of jigging melody lines and bracing moods. Goatish, devoted, unabashedly intellectual, Ives is the spiritual godfather of American musical mavericks (and Mavericks), and MTT is one of his great champions. So I expected much. Here’s the Symphony’s recorded version:

But after the first two luminous movements the orchestra sounded a bit ragged (understandable in the face of the huge Mavericks project), the work lost some shape, and we ended up getting more a series of declarative statements than a metaphysical journey through the East Coast of the mind. (The great game of “Concord” is to see how many times Ives references those famous mortal knocks that open Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, which is kinda fun.) At the end we’re supposed to be soul-hiking under the wheeling stars with Thoreau, but it felt more like soaking in a hot tub with the Sidewalk Guru from “Doonesbury” and a glass of good champagne.

Carl Ruggles’ “Sun-treader“ of 1926-31 concluded program two, and tapped into a strident strain of deliberative machismo and sci-fi nerdiness that brought to mind none other than Newt Gingrich, of all people. Cosmic bombast is the aim of this 13-minute brass-churning blast, a fanfare to Big Idea perserverance. It came off as dude music in the extreme, which may have perked up some of the unwilling husbands in the house, but after all that came before seemed a wee bit threadbare in its unrelenting bravado. Still, it cut a bold, bronze shape in the quivering air.

Wear it out

Andrew Lam

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March 14, 2012

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marke@sfbg.com

SUPER EGO “It’s the post-Apocalyptic story of a cultlike group of women who are completely crazy and believe that by sacrificing ‘Paulina’ they can bring some order to the chaos in their lives,” super-stylish designer (and renowned club sweetheart) Dexter L. Flawk tells me of his debut collection. “In reality, it’s a Pan’s Labyrinth version of my last relationship.”

With a fashion show splash, including DJs Richie Panic and Sarah Delush, visuals by naughty hyperrealist merkley???, an opening show by Irukandji, and glamour surely galore, “Death to Paulina” by Dextrose launches on Fri/16 (9 p.m., $5. Project One, 251 Rhode Island, SF. www.facebook.com/projectonesf). “Spooky couture” in sexy excess? We’re ready for it, methinks.

MINGUS DYNASTY

Fellow freaks know I’m a bass fanatic — that extends to the jazz realm and the godfather of out-there analogue double bass bliss, Charles Mingus. On the avant-garde legend’s 90th birthday, excellent seven-piece ensemble Mingus Dynasty will bring the almighty heat to life, trippy bass flights included.

Wed/14, 8pm and Thu/15, 8pm and 10pm, $20–$26. Yoshi’s SF, 1330 Fillmore, SF. www.yoshis.com

WILDKATS

Cute but skinny Scottish-US DJ trio bring warm, funky 1980s-looking house sounds (a few sharp claws and a lot of meows) to the weekly Housepitality party.

Wed/14, 9 p.m., free before 11pm with RSVP at www.housepitalitysf.com/rsvp, $10 after. Icon, 1192 Folsom, SF.

PREFUSE 73

Saw this future bass dude a couple years ago at Slim’s with a live drummer and it b-l-e-w me away. On 103 Harriet’s amps — and backed by indie rap beats dropper Blockhead and super-eclectic cutie Falty DL — he should be insane. This Re:Creation party doubles as a release for Hot N Heavy Bay Area Bass Vol. 3 , so the local wobblerati will be front and center.

Fri/16, 9pm-4am, $15 advance, $20 door. 103 Harriet, SF. www.1015.com

DJ QUESTLOVE

Love me some teddy bear Philly rap Roots-lovin’ from the ?uest man. And dying to see what cuts he brings to the Independent dance floor. If he wipes the vinyl with his afro I will faint and throw my panties, in that order.

Fri/16, 8:30pm doors, 9pm show, $30. The Independent, 628 Divisadero, SF. www.theindependentsf.com

DAN BELL

The early Canadian techno ambassador and Accelerate label owner melded true electro energy to the deep Chicago Trax Records sound — and gave it a steely Detroit edge. He’ll be turning up the electrics with some of my favorite local deep techno DJs, including Rich Korach and Bells & Whistles.

Sat/17, $10 with RSVP at www.sensesf.com/show, $15 without. EndUp, 401 Sixth St., SF. www.theendup.com

NOISE NIGHT

Let’s get noisy in a “contemporary classical” way. A perfectly scrappy, leftfield complement to the huge American Mavericks festival going on at the SF Symphony, this aurally intriguing-looking night has the William Winant Percussion Ensemble playing New Mexican composer James Tenney’s “Crystal Canon” and “Wake,” plus Blood Wedding, Horaflora, Ettrick, and DJ Geeta Dayal.

Tue/20, 9:30ish, $6. Amnesia, 853 Valencia, SF. www.amnesiathebar.com

For Marke B.’s weekly and monthly party picks, see www.sfbg.com/nightlife2012. “Death to Paulina” preview photo from www.jonathansaunders.com

Party Radar: Princess Pandora’s Pink Pajamas, Felix da Housecat, Ron Trent, Guy Gerber, Delhi 2 Dublin

Jesse Hawthorne Ficks

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March 7, 2012

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Party Radar: Princess Pandora’s Pink Pajamas, Felix da Housecat, Ron Trent, Guy Gerber, Delhi 2 Dublin

First, I made a wee boo-boo in this week’s Super Ego clubs column in the paper (where you’ll find a bunch more fun parties to attend). The awesomely footworky XXXY will appear at the Lights Down Low party at Monarch (not Public Works, as I erroneously previously erroneated.)

Second: so, yes, American Idolator Simon Cowell is launching a DJ competition version of the X-Factor, which promises to enrage just as much as it might engage (please let there actually be a category for how big DJs open their mouth when they stare at laptops!) And some big name DJs who actually aren’t douchbags are already having some good, hilarious fun with it, which in fact kinda makes me want to see the trainwreck/real thing:

And now, more parties.

PRINCESS PANDORA’S PINK PAJAMA PARTY

The Lusty Lady goddess aims to throw one hell of a birthday party at this week’s Bondage A Go Go party for pleasant perversions, which benefits Planned Parenthood. You know what to (hardly) wear.

Wed/7, 10pm, $10. Cat Club, 1190 Folsom, SF. Facebook invite

GUY GERBER

Hypnotic techno cutie from Tel Aviv dives into town before being swallowed by Miami’s Winter Music Conference, thumping around the weekly Base party.

Thu/8, 10pm, $10. Vessel, 85 Campton Pl., SF. www.vesselsf.com

FELIX DA HOUSECAT

The electro-clash jestersneaks into the glamorouos Blow Up party for some good ol’ grin-inducing throwdown.

Fri/9, 10pm-3am, 18.50 advance, $20 door. DNA Lounge, 375 11th St., SF. Facebook invite

RON TRENT

The Chicago house legend (who also qualifies on many counts as a second-generation Detroit techno player) comes to Oakland, with The People crew’s soulful groovers Cecil and Cali opening up.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQYDiu2RpDc

Fri/9, 10pm-3am, $10. Bench and Bar, 510 17th St., Oakl. Facebook invite

DELHI 2 DUBLIN

Kick off your St. Patrick’s Week with this eclectic group of Punjab-celtic world travellers, getting you up and pumping at this month’s installment of the wonderful Non Stop Bhangra party.

Sat/10, 9pm-3am, $10 advance, $15 door. Public Works, 161 Erie, SF. Facebook Invite

Are you on a ‘Motherf*ing Bike’?

Jesse Hawthorne Ficks

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March 7, 2012

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Very much vehement trolling has been expended on the subject of the “privileged bike mob” in San Francisco. Let this insanely catchy tune and goofy-genius vid by Sons of Science fan the fixie flames!

Against the grain

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March 6, 2012

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marke@sfbg.com

MUSIC It began as a burbling “Eeep!” It was June 7, 2000; we were in Davies Symphony Hall, in the middle of the second movement of Charles Ives’ super-intense Symphony No. 4 from 1910-1916. Yet despite the whirling maelstrom of that work — imagine three Fourth of Julys at once, in which a vast orchestra overlaps itself with marching band themes, spirituals, dance hall ditties, and children’s songs — I could still make out curious sounds coming from the audience behind me. Soon onlookers were shouting out nonsense; one down our row jumped up from his seat. For my part, I felt my shoulders twitch involuntarily, and my partner let out a loud hee-haw guffaw. The memory-triggering dissonance, expertly transmitted through conductor Michael Tilson Thomas, was having a spazzifying physical effect, making us active participants in Ives’ chaotic Main Street Parade.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYvWwI6YRsE

San Francisco has never lacked for excellent performances of works still often classified as “contemporary classical,” despite many being a century old. But the first American Mavericks festival, more than a decade ago, did much to elevate San Francisco’s status in the cultural world at large. We were at the very edge of the tech bubble, a maverick cultural achievement of its own, of course. Yet not much bold, native art had risen in response to all that “future now” attention and money. The much-hyped Mission School visual art movement was in its infancy, and concerned more with hermetic understatement than Bay reppin’ (a nice answer, in its way, to Web 1.0 bombast). Native dance music forms like turntablism and dirty breaks were being superseded by bland lounge house, hyphy was only hatching, Green Day was over, and literature hadn’t yet been Eggered and Chaboned.

The SF Symphony is justly famed for its impeccably polished sound and MTT’s cheeky programs pairing classical comfort food with spunky aperitifs. But American Mavericks was pretty damned ballsy for a major symphony — almost a month’s worth of edgy, attention-grabbing, well-funded gems from 20th century composers like Ruth Crawford Seeger, George Antheil, Meredith Monk, Duke Ellington, Steve Reich, Frank Zappa, Lukas Foss, and a dozen more. There was a plethora of symphonic reconfigurations and unique instrumentations: an extra brass section blared from the basement for the Ives symphony; audience members brought their own instruments to play along with Terry Riley’s ecstatic “In C.” At a very materialistic moment, American Mavericks illuminated the wild-eared, transcendentalist spirit of native music while showing the world that SF still had a huge, unfettered freak flag to fly.

American Mavericks is back Thu/8-Sun/18, this time spreading its wings to include Symphony stops in Chicago, Ann Arbor, and Carnegie Hall. And while some have bemoaned fewer and somewhat less ambitious performances on the whole (we’re in a recession, after all), there are plenty of pieces to jump up and shout about.

Ives returns, this time with astonishing masterpiece A Concord Symphony — I always hear crisp leaves crunch beneath my mental feet when this is played. Profoundly quirky enchantress Meredith Monk is back as well: in a coup of idiosyncrasy, she’ll be singing John Cage’s Song Books with magnificent diva Jessye Norman and experimental champion Joan La Barbara. Later, Hometown hero John Adams will premiere a new work, Absolute Jest, as will local techno-influenced composer Mason Bates, with “Mass Transmission.” There’s loads more packed into a mere 10 days, including pieces from Oakland instrument-inventor Harry Partch, San Francisco Tape Music Center founder Morton Subotnick, and Bay Area indigenous music devotee Lou Harrison.

Will it have the same cultural impact? Here we are back in an overconfident tech bubble — and once again our total cultural output seems a bit, well, blah. An irony of the social media onslaught is that all this personal expression seems to be quashing true individuality. So we’re having a materialist and conformist moment. A good dose of musical eccentricity from old school visionaries/crazies who turned their backs on the rat race might just do us a world of good. Here’s to more “Eeeps!” among the bleeps.

AMERCAN MAVERICKS FESTIVAL

Thu/8-Sun/18, various prices and times

Davies Symphony Hall

201 Van Ness, SF.

(415) 864-6000

www.americanmavericks.org

Knock three times

Jesse Hawthorne Ficks

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March 6, 2012

4

marke@sfbg.com

SUPER EGO Hey ya’ll, here are some primo parties I’m digging this week (and I just added some more great shindigs here) — remember to tap-tap-tap on the second stall door to the left and say, “Hi!” Just a wee reminder: for a lot more insanity, hit up www.sfbg.com/nightlife2012 where you’ll find a huge list of my favorite weekly and monthly parties. Hi!

AS I LIKE IT

Lovely As You Like It techno party crew founder Jeremy Bispo’s birthday means he gets his pick of talent: hard-driving Minneapolis minimal tech-soul jock DVS1, jazzy Israeli duo JuJu & Jordash, Carlos Souffront, MossMoss, Rich Korach. After party starts at 6am at 222 Hyde.

Fri/9, 10pm-5:30am, $10–$15, $5 all night for Pisces. Beatbox, 314 11th St., SF. www.ayli-sf.com

BEAUTIFUL SWIMMERS

Canny duo give disco and rare groove samples a hallucinatory ’90s feel that sometimes borders on sexily slowed-down tribal house, sometimes wormhole disco. Sapphire Slows, Magic Touch, and DJ Pickpockets round off the latest Donuts Party (yes there are donuts!) lineup.

Fri/9, 9 p.m.-3am, $10. Public Works, 161 Erie, SF. www.publicsf.com

EATS EVERYTHING

Bristol, UK’s Daniel Pearce really did eat everything with last year’s delicious and ubiquitous “Entrance Song” that welded tech-house to bass drops, with a canny Maxwell bedroom-soul sample floated atop. Unsurprisingly, SF’s likeminded dirtybird label signed him right away. here’s his local debut.

Fri/9, 10 p.m., $15–$20. Monarch, 101 Sixth St., SF. www.monarchsf.com

TASTE

Salsa dancing, food trucks, Dogpatch love? Heck yes. This new weekly at cafe Cocomo offers salsa and bachata dance lessons, food tastings, and live music — the kickoff features salsa band Avance and some fiery flamenco on the huge back patio. Very summery. This party has a lot going on, so check out the website below for more details.

Fri/9 and every Friday, 6:30 p.m., $15. Cafe Cocomo, 650 Indiana, SF. www.tastefridays.com

BRENDAN MOELLER

As noted above, 222 Hyde has reopened its doors after an extensive remodel (more about that after I black out there a couple times). New party series Realtime focuses on live electronic performances: this hot bearish dub techno South Africa-via-NYCer kicks it off.

Sat/10, 9 p.m., $10 before 11pm, $15 after. 222 Hyde, SF. Facebook invite

DJ LENGUA

Heavy contemporary cumbia vibes from the LA remixer and producer, bassed-up with dub effects and hot sonic surprises. He’s at the monthly Tormenta Tropical joint bringing some Latin heat to your cusp of spring.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzJeF7nQUWo

Sat/10, 10 p.m., $10. Elbo Room, 647 Valencia, SF. www.elbo.com

MURK

Revered ’90s house duo and record label owners (“Reach For Me,” “If You Really Want Someone”) hits the huuuge Arts & Beats party with 50+ local artists, plus DJs David Harness, Chris Lum, Adnan Sharif, and an artful ton more.

Sat/10, 3pm-3am (dancing starts at 9pm), $15. Terra Gallery, 511 Harrison, SF. www.tinyurl.com/artsandbeats

XXXY

Big up some bouncy UK bass that flirts with juke and rave from this Manchester young’un. He’ll be at the raucous Lights Down Low monthly with footwork heartthrob Kingdom and residents Richie Panic, Sleazemore, Joaquin Bartra, and more.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znq5ZJ4DrGA&feature=related

Sat/10, 9:30pm-3am, $7–$10. Monarch, 101 Sixth St., SF. www.monarchsf.com

The organ, the laptop, and ‘Digital Loom’

Jesse Hawthorne Ficks

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March 2, 2012

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The organ, the laptop, and ‘Digital Loom’

The SF Symphony’s awesome-looking American Mavericks festival — which will present a “wild side” of contemporary and modernist classical works not often heard on a Davies Hall scale (Meredith Monk! Jessye Norman singing John Cage!) — kicks off next week with a host of edgy aural goodies.

And this Sun/4, in a kind of pre-fest wallop, Quebecoise organist Isabelle Demers will take advantage of the enormous Davies pipes to play a number of neat pieces, including one by SF’s electronic-adventurous Mason Bates, entitled “Digital Loom,” (hear a sample here). “Digital Loom,” from 2009, embodies Bates’ signature fusion of techno-ambient effects, often laptop generated, with symphonic elements to create something not quite Sci-Fi, not quite rave, not quite Stravinsky at his most cosmic-colorful, but all quite cool.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bin545LXrRY

The Symphony has featured Bates before, you could spot him with his laptop in the midst of the players on one particular brain-tickling, multi-media occasion, generating drum patterns and swoops and swooshes for his major piece “The B-Sides” in 209. He also DJs around town as DJ Masonic, and hosts his occasional dancefloor-meets-classical party with young conductor Benjamin Schwarz, Mercury Soul.

It will be a total treat to hear the super-dextrous Demers take on “Digital Loom” on a Sunday afternoon (partly to see how she actually performs it), in the midst of an ambitious program that also includes Bach, Prokofiev, Henry Martin, and Rachel Laurin. Organ and electronica fanatics unite!

ORGAN RECITAL WITH ISABELLE DEMERS

Sun/4, 3 p.m., $20-$30

Davies Symphony Hall

201 Van Ness, SF

www.sfsymphony.org

Complete event details here

Nite Trax: Red Bull Music Academy schools the Bay

Jesse Hawthorne Ficks

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March 1, 2012

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We’re not usually ones for product placement, but Red Bull has been making some serious roads into quality nightlife. Tonight (Thu/1) the always impressive annual Red Bull Thre3style DJ competition comes to Ruby Skye, pitting several local DJs — and two from farther up the Coast — of various styles against each other for regional championships that could lead them to glory in Vegas later this year. (The “thre3style” refers to the requirement that DJs mix at least three different genres of music into their 15 minute sets.)

Red Bull Music Academy Radio is a go-to for dance music lovers who want to get clued in to what some of the best techno, house, hip-hop, and global bass DJs and producers are doing. And last month, the Red Bull Music Academy itself came to San Francisco to kick off the open-to-all Academy application period, participating in an excellent series of talks and performances by some music greats. What is the Red Bull Music Academy, you ask? (Don’t worry, there’s no quidditch involved.) You can actually be a part of it!

The Academy is a “world-traveling symposium” consisting of DJs, vocalists, producers, musicmakers, and super-fans who’ve been selected based on their applications to attend workshops, training sessions, and parties that are, well, rad. The Academy season culminates in a huge weeklong nightlife and music extravaganza in New York City. From what we saw, Academy members are a really diverse international crowd that benefits from all this networking and exposure (and energy drink?). In any case — apply already, applications are due April 2. Find out more details here.

Meanwhile, here are recordings of the interviews with the musicians who blitzkrieged SF for the application kick-off.

>>Saxophone deity (and Black Panthers soundtracker) Gary Bartz, who later appeared for a stylish, jazzy, super-diverse and nattily dressed evening at Yoshi’s with Bilal and Aloe Blacc as “The Gary Bartz Project featuring Bilal and Special Guest Aloe Blacc produced by Jill Newman Productions” (branding!)

>>Stretch and Bobbito, groundbreaking hip-hop hosts on Columbia University’s WKCR radio in the early ’90s — our friend texted us from their talk: “Their spilling all their secrets about cutting up vinyl and shit!” — who later rocked Mighty.

>>Absolutely spot-on house legends Masters at Work, aka Kenny Dope and Lil Louie Vega, spilled a few secrets of their own in their lively discussion, and then went on to play a bonkers-packed 1015 Folsom for an adoring crowd that stuck with them til 4 a.m., through Latin jazz, some R&B twists, and plenty of classics.

We’re excited to see what happens at the big Academy summit in NYC — sign up and tell us how it goes.

Club action!

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February 28, 2012

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marke@sfbg.com

This past year was pretty dang rad in the clubs (and here I must stop to thank my fantastic hairstylist, Paul at Zip Zap, for helping make it especially happen for me). Despite the recession — and the continued flight of us decadent types — the parties never stopped. In fact, they seem to have gotten even more varied and creative, with a sophisticated energy that’s welcoming and ecstatic, flinging their doors open wide for hot-footed like minds. I was inspired during a particularly riotous drag show featuring flaming dildos, pancake batter, and Shabba Ranks to put together this list of regular happenings I’m into, a kind of snapshot of our fine nightlife, and a guide to more good times, if you feel me.

That 62 recommendations for weekly and monthly parties sprang to mind immediately — bluegrass, rocksteady, gay goth, electro-cumbia, zouk, hypercrunk, Brit pop, etc — shows out the sheer vibrance of the local scene. The parties listed below are ones I wholeheartedly recommend: friendly, affordable, no dress codes or booth reservations, full of adventurous music and folks who aren’t afraid to move a little sideways when they dance, rather than just nod their heads or pump their fists (and who actually have fun, rather than act like they’re having fun in a video). Also: a good chance of getting laid.

There’s oodles more shindigs I itched to list — some are too new for me to get a proper handle on yet, others I’ve only popped in on, and I’m sure a few I forgot (I’m perma-stoned.). Also, I didn’t throw down in the East Bay as much as I’d have liked; send me your hot tips for next time.

So this list will grow and be updated — bookmark it for later use. And follow our music listings and my weekly Super Ego column for special nightlife events.

All events below are 21+ and end at 2 a.m. (except where noted). Enough blather, Barbra! Tonight, we dance.

MONDAYS
TUESDAYS
WEDNESDAYS
THURSDAYS
FRIDAYS
SATURDAYS
SUNDAYS
ROVING PARTIES

MONDAYS

Bluegrass Mondays Live bands, well-picked tunes, and a hootenanny crowd help get the new week twang on right — strumming legend Toshio Hirano appears monthly to show how it’s really done. 9 p.m., free. Amnesia, 853 Valencia, SF. www.amnesiathebar.com

Death Guild Our fair burg’s weekly 18+ goth classic, bursting with kohl-rimmed, cyber-punk joy, now going on 19 years of dark celebration. DJs Decay, Melting Girl, and more deliver chills from Cocteau Twins wormholes to bleeding edge nu-IDM. 9:30 p.m.-afterhours. $3 before 10 p.m., $5 after, 18+. DNA Lounge, 375 11th St., SF www.deathguild.com

Motown on Mondays The SF scene’s Monday go-to for some soulful comfort food, with a swinging crowd and some mighty fine Motown and more selections from DJ Gordo and guests. 6 p.m., free. Madrone, 500 Divisadero, SF. www.madronesf.com

Skylarking High-flying hazy fantasia of roots reggae and dub goodness from a host of local reggae royalty with a more-than-welcoming vibe. 10 p.m., free. 3089 16th St., SF. www.skylarkbar.com

Wanted A very sexy mixed party in the Castro for indie dance and electro rock-oriented folks who aren’t quite ready to end the weekend. Gives a downtown NYC vibe with SF (lack of) attitude. With DJs Key&Kite and Richie Panic. 9 p.m., free. QBar, 456 Castro, SF. www.sfwanted.com

Viennetta Discotheque What other intimate, kooky-lovely queer party would celebrate its recent anniversary with 40 McDonald’s cheeseburgers and a platter of fries for hungover voguers to “serve?” From over-the-top disco to tomorrow’s dub-techno to just WTF, DJs Stanley Frank and Robert Jeffrey whip it up. 10 p.m., free. UndergroundSF, 424 Haight, SF. 133 Turk, SF.

TUESDAYS

Bass Cellar An uncomplicated blast of dubstep (tending toward the brostep variety) with a crowd that mixes the mainstream with the more devoted, and never fails to deliver on the wob-wobs. 10 p.m., free. The Cellar, 685 Sutter, SF. www.thecellarsf.com

Bless Up Premier reggae, riddim, and dancehall crew Jah Warrior Shelter Hi Fi keep the Upper Haight rocksteady with live guests, smokin’ tunes, and a forest of cute dreds. This is the good stuff. 10 p.m., $5. 1840 Haight, SF. www.milksf.com

High Fantasy Apocalyptically glamorous queer rabble-rousers Alexis Bair Penney and Myles Cooper make gutter dreams come true in the Tenderloin, with artistically challenging drag performances, international surprise guests, and polymorphous perversity on tap-tap-tap. 10 p.m., $2. Aunt Charlie’s Lounge, 133 Turk, SF. www.auntcharlieslounge.com

WEDNESDAYS

Booty Call Ever-gorgeous queen Juanita More and ever-energetic promoter Joshua J host this weekly queer night bursting with forward looks and youthful cuteness. The stated draw is the fun photobooth in back, tricked out by noted artists, but the free-spirited, non-pop house tunes are tasty, too. 9 p.m., $3. QBar, 456 Castro, SF. www.botycallwednesdays.com

Housepitality Good ol’ back-to-basics, world class house dancing with a warm, family vibe and some refreshing sophistication without pretension — also, some mighty hot hoofers on the dancefloor and guests in the booth. Pretty much a perfect hump night out. 9 p.m., $5 before 11 p.m., $10 after. Icon, 1192Folsom, SF. www.housepitalitysf.com

Coo Yah DJs Green B and Daneekah up the steamy reggaeton and dancehall ante with some strong female power behind the decks, live Caribbean and UK guests, and a diverse crowd who know how to put one leg up with the jams. 9 p.m., free. SOM, 2925 16th St., SF. www.som-bar.com

Bondage a Go Go The teasing tension between what can legally go on at this polyamorous showcase (now approaching its 20th year) and what actually might go on is just one of the exquisite tortures/pleasures for its many fans. DJs Damon and Tomas Diablo keep the rock and retro atmosphere dark and hot. 9:30 p.m., $10. Cat Club, 1190 Folsom, SF. www.bondage-a-go-go.com

WEDNESDAY MONTHLIES

Shutter Goth glamour exquisitely laid over indie sensibilities: modern darkwave and ’80s synth strains form the backdrop for a monthly ball of debaucherous shivers and Romantic excess. Fourth Wednesdays, 10 p.m., $5. Elbo Room, 647 Valencia, SF. www.facebook.com/Shutter.SF

Stay Gold Adorably spazzy neon-sweatered, asymmetrically haircutted, often pantsless sexy young queer people unite! And get down to some pretty fierce reggaeton, hip-hop, and non-ironic pop jams from DJs Pink Lightning and Rapid Fire. Last Wednesday of the month, 10 p.m., $3 before 11 p.m., $5 after. Public Works, 161 Erie, SF. www.facebook.com/staygoldsf

Qoöl Mammoth One of our oldest funky techno crews, Qoöl, joins forces with beloved insane Burning Man camp Pink Mammoth for a monthly SF scene reunion — as a happy hour, which means we’re growing up? Oh dear. Last Wednesday of the month, 6 p.m.-11 p.m, free. The EndUp, 401 Sixth St., SF. www.qoolsf.com

THURSDAYS

Afrolicious All things awesomely funky, especially Latin and African, for a packed house, from adorable DJ brothers Pleasuremaker and Señor Oz. Live percussion and performances, international guests, and a free-spirited atmosphere keep it lively. 9:30 p.m., $5. Elbo Room, 647 Valencia, SF. www.elbo.com

Base Upscale club Vessel dips into the scrappy underground (a little) by hosting some of the most consequential names in international techno every week for an adoring, knowledgeable, dance-ready audience. 10 p.m., $10. Vessel, 85 Campton Pl., SF. www.vesselsf.com

Future Perfect This packed party pretty much realizes its admirable aim to demolish all genre boundaries and just play “cool, contemporary music no matter what.” That makes it hard to write about, but easy to dig, especially with yummy weekly live guests that have included Light Asylum, Cold Cave, and Dubbel Dutch. 10 p.m., $10–$15. Monarch, 101 Sixth St., SF. www.monarchsf.com

The Monster Show If San Francisco has a drag sweetheart, it must be the loveable Cookie Dough, who isn’t afraid to dump buckets of blood around the stage or skewer Toddlers and Tiaras or Whitney Houston for her gently twisted, often outrageous Monster Show performance night. DJ MC2 rocks the tunes. 10 p.m., $5. Midnight Sun, 4067 18th St., SF. www.cookievision.com

NightLife Hey smart peeps (and friends), the incredible Cal Academy of Sciences puts on one of the best parties in the city, with different intelligent but fun themes, exciting DJs, and informative talks each week. Yes, there are multiple bars and dancefloors. Yes, there are penguins. 6 p.m.-10 p.m., $12. California Academy of Sciences, 55 Music Concourse Dr., Golden Gate Park, SF. www.calacademy.org/nightlife

Popscene All the bright young indie pop fans converge on this long-running 18+ party to peep up-and-coming international live bands often so fresh the Internet has yet to discover them — plus some touching nods to the alternative pop styles of yore. 10 p.m., $10–$15, 18+. Rickshaw Stop, 155 Fell, SF. www.popscene-sf.com

Ritual Our best dubstep party, mixing anarchic raving with some damn smart programming and top notch selections. DJs Nebakaneza, Johnny5, and the Irie Cartel keep the sound an art form, exploring its outer, moodier reaches while still punching your solar plexus good. 10 p.m.-3 a.m., free before 10 p.m., $5 after. Temple, 540 Howard, SF. www.templesf.com

The Tubesteak Connection After almost eight years of reviving rare 1970s and ’80s gay bathhouse disco in an atmosphere that encourages sleazy cruising (and bans all things digital), DJ Bus Station John’s club is still a sensation — DJs make the pilgrimage, often on their knees, from around the globe to catch up on the sex music of the past. 10 p.m., $5. Aunt Charlie’s Lounge, 133 Turk, SF. www.auntcharlieslounge.com

THURSDAY MONTHLIES

Relax Relate Release Three of the craziest mofo DJs on the scene, Vin Sol, Richie Panic, and 5kinAndBone5 indulge their deeper eclectic (yet still plenty bumpin’) sides, with schweet selections spanning classic disco to hyphy gems, bass oddities to vogue jams. 10 p.m., $5. 222 Hyde, SF.

I Heart Cochina Tonga’s Take one plainish gay bar (LookOut), dress it up like the tackiest Mexican-wannabe cabana bar ever, add in a loco drag queen (Ambrosia Salad) and two DJs picantes (Stanley Frank and Taco Tuesday) who aren’t afraid to salsa-fy some party tunes — and shazam! A primo fiesta. Fourth Thursdays, 9 p.m., free. The LookOut, 3600 16th St., SF. www.lookoutsf.com

FRIDAYS

Blow Up Fantastically glamorous and classy-yet-raging 18+ underground electro, nu-disco, and post-French Touch night, hosted by Ava Berlin and Jeffrey Paradise, now seven years old and as fashionable as ever with a slew of talented DJs, weekly guests, relatable moments, and incredible looks. 10 p.m., $10–$20, 18+. DNA Lounge, 375 11th St., SF. www.blowupsf.com

Hot Boxxx Girls Legendary gender illusionists of the Tenderloin shower you with bewitching beauty and ravishing razzle-dazzle in this must-see drag show (also on Saturday nights). Once you witness these spirited gals take on your favorite showtune, pop hit, or power ballad, you’ll never hear it the same. Bring lots of singles for tipping. 9 p.m., $5. Aunt Charlie’s Lounge, 133 Turk, SF. www.auntcharlieslounge.com

Loose Joints Awesome rare grooves, from boogie raveups and old school hip-hop to Latin jazz and post-punk gems (plus some super-current cuts) that please vinyl mavens, sure, but also serve to keep the floor packed with hotties. DJs Tom Thump, Damon Bell, and Centipede combine their diverse crate-digging styles into a quality supersound. 10 p.m., $5. Make-Out Room, 3225 22nd St., SF. www.makeoutroom.com

Paris-Dakar Coupe Decale There’s pretty much something fab going down every night at Senegalese hotspot Little Baobab, but this party (also on Saturday) really turns the sweat on, with Central and West African rhythms — plus zouk, soca, Brazilian, reggae, and a bottom-dropping global stew of others. 10 p.m., $5. Little Baobab, 3388 19th St., SF. www.bissapbaobab.com

Some Thing Taking drag (and performance) into some incredible new and WTF zones — with lots of fun dancing afterward, and a fantastic craft table courtesy of Haute Gloo — the Some Thing trio of Glamamore, VivvyAnne ForeverMore, and DJ Down-E add some theatrical, dramatic, and loopy oomph to the SF weekend. 10 p.m.-afterhours, $7. The Stud, 399 9th St., SF. www.studsf.com

FRIDAY MONTHLIES

120 Minutes Based goth, rapegaze, hypercrunk — if you’re unfamiliar with these hysterically nihilistic, through-the-looking-glass genres, don’t worry: host Marco de la Vega and crew will slay you through it. First Fridays, 9 p.m., $10–$15. Elbo Room, 647 Valencia, SF. www.elbo.com

Braza! Seductive Brazilian-themed goodness — from live Forro bands to forward-thinking DJs from Rio — and a smokin’ crowd of regulars, full of warmth and positive energy. First Fridays, 10 p.m.-3 a.m., $10. SOM, 2925 16th St., SF. www.brazasf.com

Low End Theory The seminal LA future bass and heady glitch party has done spectacularly with its monthly outpost here, bursting with eclectic live acts and well-known woofer Picassos. First Fridays, 10 p.m.-4 a.m., $15–$20. 103 Harriet, www.1015.com

Oldies Night It’s all about the doo wop, baby. Underground ’50s and ’60s rock and soul get the no-pressure crowd fired up like Tracy Turnblad on a bender. First and Third Fridays, 9:30 p.m., $3. The Knockout, 3223 Mission, SF. www.theknockoutsf.com

Taboo Truly moving soulful house sounds in Oakland from the great David Harness and friends, in a family atmosphere with old school good Bay vibes. First and Third Fridays, 9 p.m.-3 a.m., free before 10 p.m., $5 before 11 p.m., $10 after. Bench and Bar, 510 17th St., Oakl. www.bench-and-bar.com

Baxtalo Drom Brassy Balkan folk and wild Romany (gypsy) whirls were recently ubiquitous in local nightlife — this “gypsy punk cabaret” was one of the original parties and still one of the best. Fourth Fridays, 9 p.m., $7–$10. Amnesia, 853 Valencia. www.amnesiathebar.com

Teenage Dance Craze Another ’50s and ’60s rock and soul night at the Knockout (which is chockful of old-timey neat things), but with a lot more twists — of the Chubby Checker variety. The crowd is crazed for it all, indeed. Fourth Fridays, 10 p.m., $10. The Knockout, 3223 Mission, SF. www.theknockoutsf.com

SATURDAYS

Bootie The grandpappy of mashup clubs, going on eight years of bastard pop and cheeky pirate-themed fun. The crowd may have broadened, but Bootie head DJs Adrian and Mysterious D still program mindfuck drag performances and leftfield happenings to keep merry dancers (and loud singers-a-long) on their toes. They can even turn a Katy Perry-themed night into something subversive. 9 p.m.-afterhours. $10 before 10 p.m., $15 after. DNA Lounge, 375 11th St., SF. www.bootiesf.com

El SuperRitmo! Your best weekly bet for “the finest African music of Latin America,” with a whole tropical world of other styles thrown into the mix by spunky resident DJs Roger Mas and Kool Kyle. The crowd can get a wee bit dressy (so polish your patent leather Keds), but the floor never quits. 10 p.m., $5. Make-Out Room, 3225 22nd St., SF. www.makeoutroom.com.

SATURDAY MONTHLIES

Haçeteria Acid house, early industrial, classic rave, warm Italo: A heartfelt tribute to Manchester and Chicago warehouse sounds of the ’80s and early ’90s with a few nifty musical spanners thrown into the works. First Saturdays, 9 p.m.-3 a.m., free before 10:30 p.m., $3 after. Deco Lounge, 510 Larkin, SF. www.facebook.com/rancheria

Hard French Amazing queer soul party that digs up vintage 45s from the ’50s on up and spins a patio full of jiggling personalities into a smiley lather. DJs Carnita and Brown Amy crank the ol’ Victrola. First Saturdays, 2 p.m.-8 p.m., $7. El Rio, 3158 Mission, SF. www.hardfrench.com

Kontrol For six years the top-notch Kontrol crew has brought some of the finest innovators in techno to play live sets all night at the EndUp. Don’t worry, the sometimes wonky intelligence and occasional tech crowd overload never overshadow the ecstatic dancing to be had. First Saturdays, 10 p.m.-6 a.m., $20, The EndUp, 401 Sixth St., SF. www.kontrolsf.com

Leisure 1990s Britpop and trip hop, plus mod ’60s scooter gems and bubble gum pop from DJs Omar and Aron Axelson make everything laidback, baby. First Saturdays, 10 p.m.-3 a.m., $5. Cat Club, 1150 Folsom, SF. www.sfcatclub.com

Debaser After four years of excellently reviving grunge and alternative rock for flannel-shirted, babydoll-dressed 1990s fanatics, DJs Jamie Jams and Emdee are incorporating hip-hop and taking on a huge project: dedicating a night to every year of that nutso decade, starting with 1989 on March 10. Second Saturdays, 10 p.m., free with flannel before 11 p.m., otherwise $5. The Knockout, 3223 Mission, SF. www.debaser90s.com

Love Will Fix It Those questing to slake their thirst for vinyl ’70s and ’80s funk and R&B classics (a surprisingly rare flavor on the scene these days) played in a Market Street hole-in-the-wall bursting with positivity and hot-hot gays and friends need look no further than DJ Bus Station John’s latest venture. Second Saturdays, 10 p.m., $5. The Hot Spot, 1414 Market, SF.

Non Stop Bhangra Welcoming and wild, this tribute to the contemporary Punjabi (via London) dance sound mixes in plenty of tasty bass variants and one of the most diverse crowds in the Bay. DJ Jimmy Love and the dholrhythms dancers host awesome, global-eared guests. Second Saturdays, 9 p.m.-3 a.m., $10–$15. Public Works, 161 Erie, SF. www.publicsf.com

Beatpig Intensely fun and charitable gay times at the Powerhouse bar in SoMa, as DJs Juanita More and Sidekick and host W. pack the leather-lovin’ hole with nightlife personalities, pleasant dancing, and often much sex cruising. Third Saturdays, 9 p.m., $5. Powerhouse, 1347 Folsom, SF. www.beatpigsf.com

Dial Up Electronic music bears, kooky gay club kids, and serious techno lovers unite with posses of like minds and sometimes wild outfits for neat guest DJs and surprise drag performances. With DJs Doc Sleep, Dabecy, and Robert Jeffrey, hosted by lovebirds Tim and Jorge. Third Saturdays, 10 p.m., $5. 222 Hyde, SF. www.facebook.com/dialupsf

New Wave City The original ’80s retro party, going on 20 years — it was retro almost before retro began! DJs Skip, Shindog, and Low-Life pump out the angular New Wave and darker singalong jams, with all the fun theme nights you could ask for. Third Saturdays, 9 p.m.-3 a.m., $7 before 10 p.m. $12 after. Cat Club, 1190 Folsom, SF. www.newwavecity.com

Tormenta Tropical Elecro-cumbia heaven, as a hip crowd gets down to the latest dance music of the Latin American diaspora. Absolutely filthy-lovely global grooves right here, from DJs Oro11 and Shawn Reynaldo. Second Saturdays, 10 p.m., $5 before 11 p.m., $10 after. Elbo Room, 647 Valencia, SF. www.elbo.com

Booty Bassment “Squat! Squat! Gobble! Gobble! Squat-squat! Gobble-gobble!” If shouting these words in your head makes you want to slip down your hot pants and show your silky thong for $$$, this hipstery-but-fine booty music paradise has your bottom number. Third Saturdays, 10 p.m., $5. The Knockout, 3223 Mission, SF. www.facebook.com/bootybassment

OK Hole Real risk-taking live electronic, synth, and leftfield analog music performances for enthusiastic spectators, with jaggedy dance tunes from resident DJs Nay Nay, C.L.A.W.S., and (Keep It) Keith Slogan. Third Saturdays, 9 p.m., $5. Amnesia, 853 Valencia, SF. www.amnesiathebar.com.

Icee Hot The city’s best showcase for razor’s edge developments in underground bass music and the UK sounds of now — with some classic house and techno stunner guests thrown in for mega-measure. A lifeline for those tired of hearing this good stuff via Internet. Fourth Saturdays, 10 p.m.-3 a.m., SF. $5 before 10:30, $10 after. Public Works, 161 Erie, SF. www.publicsf.com

Go Bang! DJ Steve Fabus has been spinning since the earliest days of San Fran-disco, and when teamed up with young fanatic DJ Sergio — it’s been fire. Each month brings an onslaught of disco heat, with repolished red-light classics and rare vinyl revivals stoking an eager, off-the-shoulder crowd. Fourth Saturdays, 9 p.m., $5. Deco Lounge, 510 Larkin, SF. www.gobangsf.com

Reggae Gold Don’t let the classy, sparkling crowd of gorgeously toned people throw you off — there’s plenty of friendliness here for all. Top dance hall and reggae, flavored with spicy soca and and hip-hop, yes please. Fourth Saturdays, 10 p.m.-4 a.m., $5–$10. Six, 66 Sixth St., SF. www.reggaegoldsf.com (Also second Saturdays at New Parish in Oakland).

Dark Room Campy gay goth glory, replete with shivery drag performances, industrial tunes, and plenty of upside-down crucifix earrings in only one ear. Spooky and successful. Last Saturday of the month, 10 p.m., $5, The Hot Spot, 1414 Market, SF.

SUNDAYS

Dub Mission For 15 years, DJ Sep and friends have kept the Bay flame alive for deliciously heavy dub and classic rocksteady rhythms (now with a bit of dubstep). I often feel like I’m in some underground club in Jamaica or London in the early ’80s when I’m here, which is pretty much the coolest feeling there is. 9 p.m., $6. Elbo Room, 647 Valencia, SF. www.dubmissionsf.com

Forward AM Um, why the heck wouldn’t you “get up” at 6 a.m. to hit up this rise ‘n shine tech-house gem, putting North Beach back on the map for serious party fanatics. 6 a.m.-1 p.m., $10. Monroe, 473 Broadway, SF. www.forwards.com

Honey Soundsystem Timeless, pumping house music so well-curated, and scruffy hot queer freak dancers looking so high out of their minds on the dance floor, that I feel gross and a little violated just being there. 9 p.m., $5. Holy Cow, 1535 Folsom, SF. www.honeysoundsystem.com

Sunday Sessions One of the last bastions of soulful, family-style deep house music in San Francisco, especially during the monthly Harlum Muziq label showcase with David Harness and Chris Lum, every third Sunday of the month. 8 p.m., $10–$20. the EndUp, 401 Sixth St., SF. www.theendup.com

Sweater Funk Not sweat or funk — sweat and funk, in spades, as the tiny basement of Chinatown’s Li Po Lounge gets off on a huge dose of classic and contemporary boogie and soul from a crew of true connoisseurs. 9:30 p.m., free. Li Po Lounge, 916 Grant, SF. www.facebook.com/sweaterfunk

ROVING

These roving parties — ones that happen at irregular intervals or in different venues — are worth following for their quality productions, underground vibes, and hot attendees.

Alcoholocaust Heavy metal, indie rock, and punk concerts that feel like parties, Facebook page

As You Like It: Big-name techno with a intimate vibe, www.ayli-sf.com

Donuts: Yes, there are Donuts! And great live electronic acts + DJs, www.facebook.com/donutsparty

The ITL: Ass-wasting moombahton and global bass, Facebook page

Lights Down Low: Super-eclectic dance mania — you’ll probably hear the future here first, www.lightsdownlow.net

No Way Back: Classic and cutting-edge house, techno, and disco, Facebook page

Sunset: The Pacific Sound Crew (often in collaboration with Stompy) puts on fine, family vibe house and techno bashes, www.pacificsound.net

This Must be the Place: East Bay soulful house promoters who’ve got an excellent thing going almost every weekend, www.thismustbetheplace.net

Trannyshack: The one, the only classic trash drag explosion (and bus trip to Reno!), www.trannyshack.com

We All We Got Great occasional showcase of Bay rap talent, Facebook page

Krushin’ on

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February 22, 2012

0

SUPER EGO I’ve only a wee bit of space this week before I rush off back into the Mardi Gras of my mind, but I’ve got to three times diagonal-snap for local fashion designer Jeanette Au (jeanetteau.carbonmade.com) who tore it up for SF on the NY Fashion Week runways last week with her debut collection of 3-D knit fantasias. Ruling!

RED BARAAT

The Non Stop Bhangra (www.nonstopbhangra.com) monthly party’s return two weeks ago was beautiful-insane — if you missed it, or must fulfill your yearning for incredible Indian-inspired dance music sounds before the next installment, check out this live act featuring irrepressible bandleader Sunny Jain on the dhol drum, backed by a high-stepping nine-piece brass band. Bollywood meets Mardi Gras is the shorthand, but the ringing grooves transcend categorization.

Thu/23, 7:30 p.m., $12–$15, all ages. Slim’s, 333 11th St., www.slimspresents.com

ROLLER DISCO

Oh man, David Miles Jr., our patron saint of skate — “The Godfather of Skate,” actually, who founded the essential Black Rock Roller Disco and keeps peeps rollin’ from the Embarcadero to Golden Gate Park — lost everything in a tragic fire. He and his family are OK, but here’s a great event to help get them back on their (wheeled) feet. Skate rental available: Lots of good DJs.

Thu/23, 9 p.m., donations at the door. Mighty, 119 Utah, SF. www.mighty119.com

CUTE FANGS 4EVER!

It’s no secret that hyper-productive tech-breaks player and Cute Fang label owner Forest Green is one of my favorite people. It’s hard not to leave her parties with a smile plastered on your face — partly from the room-wobbling beats, partly from her pure positivity transmission. This is her two-room blowout birthday party, with a slew of bonkers local guests like DJ Denise, Dragn’fly, Raydeus, Tek 9, and Base Hed. And it will be cute!

Fri/24, 9 p.m.-4 a.m., $5 before 10 p.m., $10 after. Icon, 1192 Folsom, SF. www.forestgreen.org

SITUATION

Part of the reason door fees have risen so much in San Francisco is our insistence on relying on foreign or guest DJs to bring something interesting to the table. Flights are expensive, cover rises. Well here comes Situation, a free party deliberately designed to showcase local talent and some snappy grooves: “the new disco sound of New York, bangin’ house joints, 12-inch dance versions, and more than a few non-sequitors to keep things interesting,” quoth host DJ (along with Eug and Ash Williams) Derek Opperman, my nightlife critic counterpart at the Weekly, who’s basically an adorable human Shazam. Move out, yazoo.

Fri/24, 10 p.m., free. 222 Hyde, SF. www.222hyde.com

DJ KRUSH

Let’s just admit that future bass was the trip-hop revival, OK? And while Flying Lotus et al. took the sound to unfathomable new highs/lows (and old hands like Amon Tobin sizzled retinae with his ISAM stage-show comeback), there’s sometimes no beating the originals. After 20 years, Tokyoite chill-wizard DJ Krush can still gently ride those intelli-stoned waves into the stratosphere: a three-hour set should do you quite solid.

Sat/25, 9 p.m., $17.50 advance. Mezzanine, 444 Jessie, SF. www.blasthaus.com