Grand Lake goes on the Stork Tour + gives away a live single
August 17, 2009
San Francisco’s Grand Lake finally makes the trek up and down the coast this week with a great variety of lineups, including the semi-local Buildings Breeding (Sacramento) and several dates with Guidance Counselor (Portland).
01-Concrete-Blonde-On-Blonde.mp3
Grand Lake – “Concrete Blonde On Blonde”
The “Stork Tour” is named after their new two-track single, “Louise” and “My Father As A Forest Full Of Trees,” free for download upon submitting an email address. More updates on Grand Lake include a line-up downsize to a three-piece, reflected on these live songs recorded at the Stork Club in Oakland. Tour dates announced after the jump.
Related Posts:
Sade Sundays: The Fiery Furnaces, The Dodos, Jóhann Jóhannsson
August 16, 2009
Mike always insists I meet him in the east bay. When I ask why he says, “because I’m here†in a way that is devoid of shame. He picks me up from BART in his grandfather’s silver Subaru and then we’re at his house eating tamales and popping Brother Thelonious Beer. “Marlene’s at Muir Woods, we can put our feet up”. But when I realized the socks I was wearing had holes in them, I kept mine planted on the ground. Warming up with talk about choices and bearclaws, I began to wonder about his deliciously-round, butterball cat – and whether or not it has problems making it up the stairs. But then I realized it’s an indoor cat who probably doesn’t have to face such harsh realities. Not like us, not with records like these.
SPLASH ONE: The Fiery Furnaces, I’m Going Away. Mike calls it “Doing a Don Quixoteâ€; chasing the windmill. He suggests that siblings Eleanor and Matthew Friedberger place themselves within an economic grid where their next album would provide them an opportunity to tie up any loose artistic ends in lieu of creating their inevitable masterpiece. On the contrary, I felt I’m Going Away finds the band at their most interestingly accessible, crafting a pop gem that would be at home on any dusky jukebox. Gone are the schizophrenic arrangements, and in their place, a return to form: drums, bass, guitar and piano with the slightest squiggle of synthesizer or hand-built effect pedal.
The Fiery Furnaces - The End Is Near
The Fiery Furnaces – “The End Is Near”
At the core, Eleanor provides pointed wit and vocals we can believe in, with lyrics that are filled with a reckoning that presupposes abstract heartache. My perspective finds these Fiery Furnaces embracing a streamlined direction, recalling a forgotten pop ideology that may have become buried in the avant garde impulses of their more recent works. Mike isn’t sure how they will formulate an escape from the clutches of windmills as imagined giants, but he claims he’ll know it when he hears it.
SPLASH TWO: The Dodos, Time to Die. With a sound that fits well with many current BFD bands (Grizzly Bear, Bon Iver), the Dodos have four fingers on the pulse of überculture; they’re on the cusp of contemporary greatness. However, to try and guess what will next tickle the fashionable fickle is to play a wayward game. Mike appreciated the clean, standard sound of their new producer, Phil Ek; I felt it forced them to abandon the booming bastion that helped keep their instruments personal on their previous record, Visiter. As Mike jawed on about the promotion of a meaningless collective of collaboration, referring to the reoccurring use of the pronoun “we†in the lyrics, I had trouble coming to terms with the slickness of the songs.
The Dodos - Fables
The Dodos – “Fables”
Related Posts:
Burn My Eyes IV this Saturday
August 14, 2009
Readers who are into poster art and anything free: make no Saturday afternoon plans. A collection of local poster artists will be showing their work at Bottom of the Hill. Â For free.
Many of the designs lean toward the macabre. Among the work presented will be David D’Andrea‘s finely detailed and animal-centric posters for groups like Queens of the Stone Age and Chrome, and John Howard, whose work for the Fillmore, Great American Music Hall, Sleepy Sun and Kelley Stoltz brings complementary color schemes to the indie crowd in a very surreal way. Also showing wares: Paul Imagine, Alan Hynes, Alan Forbes, Lil Tuffy, Steve Walters, Marq Spusta and more.
The show starts at 2pm and ends at 6 and is presented by Secret Serpents.
For art geeks who also fall into the music nerd category, why not make a day of it? Â The Dont’s, Birds & Batteries and The Octopus Project will be at Bottom of the Hill later on that evening. $12, 21+, show at 10.
Related Posts:
Photos: Casiokids, The Wave Pictures, The Slow Club @ Bottom of the Hill
August 14, 2009
Photos by: Rachel Keenan
Casiokids
Related Posts:
Benefit for SF All Ages Venues Tonight!
August 14, 2009
The Hundred Days – “Out of Nowhere” (Live on Live 105)
As we’ve documented before, many of San Francisco’s venerable all ages venues–including Bottom of the Hill, Cafe Du Nord, the Great American Music Hall, Slim’s and the DNA Lounge–are in the middle of a “War on Fun,” as the state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control continues to pursue arbitrary and irrational enforcement actions that could result in the loss of their liquor licenses and, ultimately, the clubs closing their doors forever. All ages shows are already in too-short supply in the City and the last thing this community needs is for these clubs to be shuttered without good reason.
7×7 – “SF All-Ages Venues in Trouble”
Kudos then to the Stop the War on Fun (Facebook group) team for organizing the first in what is promised to be a series of benefits to help San Francisco’s all ages venues fight the ABC. The benefit takes place tonight at The Uptown in Oakland and features some great local bands: The Hundred Days, The Hot Toddies, Oona, Vitamin Party and Mister Loveless.
02-Good-Story.mp3
Mister Loveless – “Good Story”
9pm, $8, 21+.
Related Posts:
Weekend Mix: 8/13-17
August 13, 2009
Thursday: Raised by Robots, M. Bison, Buttercream Gang @ The Hemlock (9pm, $6)
Raised By Robots – “Sycophant”
Friday: Windsurf, Tussle, Jonas Reinhardt + DJs @ Amnesia (9pm)
Saturday: Belly of the Whale, Little Bridges, Champions of Melancholy @ House of Shields (9pm, $5)
Sunday: Love is Chemicals, Aim Low Kid, Solar Powered People @ Bottom of the Hill (8pm, $8)
Love is Chemicals - Our Darkest Days and Nights
Love is Chemicals – “Our Darkest Days and Nights”
Monday: Ben Richard, Colour, Weather Pending @ Cafe du Nord (8pm, $10)
Related Posts:
Music for Animals – “Nervous in New York (Wallpaper. Remix)”
August 13, 2009
mfa_wp_remix.mp3
Music for Animals – “Nervous in New York (Wallpaper. Remix)”
Is it too late to submit a new entry for Jam of the Summer? Ever since we interviewed Wallpaper. a little while back (podcast episode forthcoming), and Eric hipped us to this remix, it’s been one of our favorite songs around the studio. The great thing about Wallpaper. remixes is the way they draw out the best qualities of the original song and the artist, so here you have a catchy anthemic Music for Animals track turned into something even more addictive and insistent.
Music for Animals – “Nervous in New York (Wallpaper. Remix)”
MFA are sure to kill it at our Rock Make Street Festival on Sunday, August 23rd and Wallpaper. have a new single out in anticipation of the September 8th release of their new album, Doodoo Face.
Related Posts:
Port O’Brien – threadbare
August 13, 2009
02_My_Will_Is_Good.mp3
Port O’Brien – “My Will Is Good” (from threadbare)
Port O’Brien recently announced the deal regarding their upcoming third album, threadbare, out October 6th on TBD Records. The group began working on the follow-up to last year’s excellent All We Could Do Was Sing earlier this year, and recorded it in sessions with Jason Quever of Papercuts in SF and Aaron Espinoza of Earlimart in LA.
06-Sour-Milk-_-Salt-Water.mp3
Port O’Brien – “Sour Milk/Salt Water” (from threadbare) (via Stereogum)
There’s a real sense that Port O’Brien is evolving and growing in these songs–in sound and songwriting–and that’s a quite exciting development. The band recently announced a fall tour with Sea Wolf, but there’s no local date as of yet. Announced dates below.
