Holiday Hooplah at Blake’s on Sunday
December 17, 2009
The holiday countdown continues this Sunday evening at Blake’s with a pop-punk and indie rock showcase: Picture Atlantic, PK (San Luis Obispo), Fever Charm (Oakland; debut show) and Please Do Not Fight (6:30, $8-10). The hosts (PDNF) promise a decorative venue, giveaways and more holiday festivity throughout the evening.
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Please Do Not Fight – “Up Up Up”
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Weekend Picks: 12/17-21
December 17, 2009
Thursday: Arrington de Dionyso, Death Sentence: Panda!, San Francisco Water Cooler, ButterClaw, William Winant Percussion Group @ Amnesia (9pm, $7)
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Death Sentence: Panda! – “New China Blazers”
Friday: Ellie Fortune, Appetite, Joe Finkel, Mason Lindahl @ Adobe Books (7pm)
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Apetite – “Crack For Hippies”
Saturday: The Mother Hips; Or, The Whale; Dave Gleason & the Golden Cadillacs @ Great American Music Hall (7:30pm, $20)
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Or, the Whale – “Rope Don’t Break”
Sunday: Garrett Pierce, Kacey Johansing, Ramon & Jessica, Jeremy Dalmas @ The Makeout Room (7:30pm, $8)
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Garrett Pierce – “Running From the Face”
Monday: Bart Davenport, Persephone’s Bees, The Aerosols, The Love Dimension, Antoinette Goroch @ The Knockout (9pm, $7)
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Bart Davenport – “Jon Jon”
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Thirty-Two Great San Francisco Bay Area Albums from 2009 (Part 1)
December 16, 2009
The Bay Area may not have a single unified scene, but its diverse musical communities produced a ton of acclaimed records in 2009. The following list collects thirty-two of the highlights that made this another banner year for Bay Area indie music. It’s a collection that showcases the depth of Bay Area indie in 2009, and one suspects that few other regions have offered this volume of quality releases this year.
A couple of qualifiers: This isn’t a comprehensive list of excellent local records from 2009 or intended as any sort of official Bay Bridged “Best of” set. Plenty of quality releases were left off for the sake of keeping this somewhat manageable. For the same reason, it only includes full lengths, so plenty of terrific EPs and singles are also omitted. With those hedges out of the way, here’s a pretty good sampling of SF victories in ’09.
Read Part 2 of this collection here.
Download all 32 songs featured in these two articles here (Part 1) and here (Part 2).
The Dodos – Time to DieThe-Dodos-Fables.mp3
The Dodos – “Fables”
Wallpaper. – Doodoo Face
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Wallpaper. – “I Got Soul, I’m So Wasted”
Leopold and His Fiction – Ain’t No Surprise
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Leopold and his Fiction – “Come Back (Now That I’m Here)”
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Thirty-Two Great San Francisco Bay Area Albums from 2009 (Part 2)
December 16, 2009
Here’s the second part of our retrospective on great Bay Area albums from 2009. Read Part 1 of this collection here.
Download all 32 songs featured in these two articles here (Part 1) and here (Part 2).
Sonny and the Sunsets – Tomorrow is Alright
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Sonny and the Sunsets – “Too Young To Burn”
Grand Lake – Nevermint
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Grand Lake – “She’s a Hater”
Vetiver – Tight Knit
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Vetiver – “Everyday”
Cryptacize – Mythomania
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Cryptacize – “Tail & Mane”
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Ten from 2009 (Podcast #194)
December 16, 2009
Stream the episode:
In preparing some end-of-the-year features that will run over the next week, we were once again struck by how many Bay Area bands made a significant impact on indie music this year. We were pleased to sit down with some of the Bay Area’s best this year for interviews on our podcast, and have collected music from 10 of our favorite interviewed bands for this recap episode. If you like what you hear, check out our podcast episodes spotlighting each of these bands.
This will be our last podcast of the year, but we’ll be continuing regular blogging right into 2010.
Are you subscribed to the The Bay Bridged weekly podcast? Click here to get each new episode downloaded free to your iTunes the moment it is published!
About the bands:
- Thao with The Get Down Stay Down: “Cool Yourself” [from Know Better Learn Faster]. Profiled on Episode 190 of our podcast.
What we said:
[T]he new album seizes upon the trio’s live energy as they explore a number of musical styles. Like before, Nguyen’s vocal and lyrical charisma are a dominant force throughout, as Thao explores the end of a relationship with wit and thoughtfulness.
- Leopold and his Fiction: “Ain’t No Surprise” [from Ain't No Surprise]. Profiled on Episode 150 of our podcast.
What we said:
It’s no easy feat that the group has accomplished, turning its melting pot of influences into songs that, for all the talk of “vintage”, feel both innovative and exciting.
- Thee Oh Sees: “Meat Step Lightly” [from Help]. Profiled on Episode 172 of our podcast.
What we said:
[S]eriously, do we need to introduce this band to you? Through a relentless performance schedule and some excellent recordings, it’s tough not to consider Thee Oh Sees one of the top rock bands in the Bay Area.
- Sleepy Sun: “Lord” [from Embrace]. Profiled on Episode 193 of our podcast.
What we said:
Embrace has both an immediate and a lasting appeal. Whether you’re drawn first to the charismatic vocal hooks or potent electric guitars, the album strikes, to our ears, a great balance between melodic rock and psych experimentation.
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Ticket Giveaway: Scrabbel, Seventeen Evergreen, Amores Vigilantes (CD Release) – Thursday
December 15, 2009
Amores-Vigilantes-I-Love-You-More-Than-You-Love-Me.mp3
Amores Vigilantes – I Love You More Than You Love Me
San Francisco duo Amores Vigilantes release their debut CD West Coast Kingdom this Thursday the 17th at Cafe Du Nord (9pm, $10, 21+), where they’ll be joined by Scrabbel, Seventeen Evergreen, and DJ Neil Martinson (SMiLE!).
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Amores Vigilantes – “Millions of Brazilians”
From Three Ring Records:
Parts of the Amores Vigilantes album…was secretly recorded in the basement of the San Francisco Chronicle, where former reporter Delfin Vigil used to smuggle instruments and musicians past security guards.
“We really wanted this album to feel like a melodic San Francisco post card,” says Delfin who spent more than ten years at the paper reporting on film, music, as well as tragic shootings and stabbings around the city. He wrote and recorded several parts of the songs in an abandoned room in the Chronicle’s basement, near where old printing presses still stand. “I loved the idea that we recorded in a kind of clandestine atmosphere, yet still right smack in the middle of downtown San Francisco – and literally underground.”
We have a pair of tickets to giveaway to this show! To enter send an email to contest@thebaybridged.com with your full name and the phrase “I want to see Scrabbel!” in the subject line. The THIRD person to enter will win.
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The Morning Benders: Big Echo out March 9th
December 15, 2009
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The Morning Benders – “Your Dark Side” (from the Grain of Salt EP)
Congrats to The Morning Benders, who just announced a few key details regarding their upcoming album Big Echo. The record will drop on March 9th on Rough Trade Records, and the band will be supporting it with a big cross-country tour, including a stop at The Independent on March 30th. Before they leave on tour, they’ll be at Bottom of the Hill on New Year’s Eve.
Big Echo artwork and tour dates below:
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The Northern Key debut at Eclectic Live
December 15, 2009
The latest installment of “Eclectic Live” takes place Wednesday night at Harlot (9pm, $5, 21+), featuring Tricycle Records bands Geographer and The Northern Key, and DJs Elise (SomaFM) and Jacob Fury.
The Northern Key will be making their debut live performance in advance of the release of their self-titled first record in February 2010. The band’s led by singer-songwriter Andrew Galluccio (The Red Verse), and the album was recorded and produced by The Morning Benders‘ Chris Chu at Different Fur Studios.
Take a listen to “Proof” from The Northern Key below:
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The Northern Key – “Proof” (via TheNorthernKey.com)
