Best of 2008: Maus Haus on Andy Tisdall’s Cotton Cannibals
December 24, 2008
Andy Tisdall is a member of Little Teeth, a band that put out a great year-end list record with Child-Bearing Man. But Andy’s solo album, Cotton Cannibals, quietly self-released and under most radars, also blew us away.
This is an album of ghosts, literal and metaphorical. Dusty and creaky pianos, banjos, and cellos congregate around simple folky vocal melodies that twist themselves into howling exorcisms. “Oh my ghost / it will howl / it will scream / when it leaves what I thought was a dream”, Andy intones on “War”, and it may as well be the album’s mantra. Cannibals sounds like Phil Elvrum and Tom Waits presiding over a 19th century Pentecostal seance in the Ozarks.
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Best of 2008: Ben Thorne of Low Red Land on Dame Satan’s Beaches and Bridges
December 23, 2008
2008 found a number of fantastic local albums seeing release (and one, Tartufi’s Nests of Wave and Wire, seeing a delay that only means it will be my favorite album of 2009), and the best, by far, is Dame Satan’s Beaches and Bridges. It’s a stunning, expansive album that swells and breathes, building on impressive vocal interplay and tasteful musicianship.
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Dame Satan – “The Struggle”
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Best of 2008: Pete Gidlund of Winter’s Fall on Birds & Batteries’ I’ll Never Sleep Again
December 23, 2008
I love a record that’s a tough one to crack. And speaking of eggs, you gotta have some huevos to lead your album off with a Neil Young cover (not to mention pull it off). And anyone would admit it’s quite a dichotomy: to compare Birds and Batteries’ sunny backstage candor and slick onstage performances with the angular, sometimes counter-intuitive (read: smart, brave) songwriting and production choices heard here, which is why, for me, I’ll Never Sleep Again is the best Bay Area record of 08.
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Birds & Batteries – “I’ll Never Sleep Again”
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Best of 2008: Adrian Bischoff of ipickmynose on Two Sheds’ Self-Titled EP
December 22, 2008
When this year started I had no knowledge of Two Sheds. After I heard “It’s Hard” and then the rest of their album, Strange Ammunition, I was hooked. They do bluesy, folky rock music with some of appreciation of the slowness and spareness (and the tension created by those things) of slowcore, all while being drenched in the deceptively simple melodies and the gorgeous, breathy female vocals of Caitlin Gutenberger.
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Two Sheds – “You”
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Best of 2008: Eric Ruud of Sholi on Why?’s Alopecia
December 22, 2008
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“alone…. something something…” (repeat indefinitely)
It’s 2pm on Good Friday and I’m in Oakland, walking home from the BART train to my apartment at 29th and Fairmount, trying to place the melody and words. What is this song that is stuck in my head? After a few seconds of scanning my memory, I’m fairly certain it’s the new Why? record, Alopecia, and I make a mental note to listen to it when I get home.
There is a punch line coming.
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Why? – “The Hollows”
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Announcing: Guest Bloggers Tell Us the Best of 2008!
December 19, 2008
We’re going to be taking a break from regular news blogging over the next two weeks, but we’ve asked some of our friends in the San Francisco Bay Area music scene to take over TheBayBridged.com until the new year. They’ll all be answering the question that tends to be on a music fan’s mind as the year draws to a close: What was the best music of 2008?
2008 was without a doubt a terrific year for Bay Area music, and we’ve received a ton of great perspectives from some of our favorite local musicians, journalists and music industry insiders. Our first two essays will be up on Monday! Happy holidays!
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Wallpaper. Remixes, Gets Remixed
December 19, 2008
2008 SF Weekly Award winner Wallpaper. caps off a big year with T REX RMXd, a new collection of remixes of songs from Ricky Reed’s terrific T Rex EP. Out Tuesday on iTunes, the new EP features reworkings from Andrew Maury (The Remix Company), Bomarr (Restiform Bodies), and Gavin Castleton (Five One, Inc.). Remixes can be a spotty affair, but the below track nicely preserves the hooks of “Everytime We Do It” with a sharper rock edge.
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Wallpaper. – “Evrytm We Do It (RAC Maury Remix)”
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Magic Me Release EP2
December 18, 2008
Featuring members of The Jim Yoshii Pile-Up, Oakland’s Magic Me recently released their second EP, just a few months after their debut. Out now on the Sneakmove label, EP1 and EP2 may lack creative naming, but the band compensates with some compelling, dynamic indie rock. Take a listen to a couple tracks below:
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Magic Me – “Soft Cases” (from EP1)
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Magic Me – “Pink Howitzer Blues” (from EP2)
