Penny Arcade Live Music Showcase celebrates five years on 6/23/10
June 18, 2010
The past five years have included, among many things, a rather large roster of bands playing for the Penny Arcade Semi Acoustic Music Showcase series. This event series has always taken place at the Make-Out Room, and has always taken pride in showcasing the best local music. Previous Penny Arcade shows have included acts such as the Dodos, Papercuts, Mariee Sioux, Alela Diane, Jeffrey Luck Lucas, Bart Davenport, and many many more.
Still Flyin’ – “Runaway Train II”
To celebrate five years of great work, this month’s rendition of the Penny Arcade showcase will take place on Wednesday, June 23rd (8:00 pm, $8) at the Make-Out Room, featuring Still Flyin’, Pancho San, and Will Sprott of the Mumlers. The show will be hosted by Raul Sanchez (as always), and rumor has it that some special guests will be there as well. Don’t miss it!
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Video: Bare Wires – “I Love You Tonite”
June 18, 2010
This ridiculously catchy garage rock nugget comes from Bare Wires‘ upcoming sophomore album Seeking Love, out soon on John Dwyer’s Castle Face Records. The Oakland band’s record release show is Saturday, July 17th at the Hemlock Tavern (9:30pm, $7), with Moccretro, Heavy Hills and Family Matters.
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Sonny and the Sunsets sign to Fat Possum
June 18, 2010
After participating in Noise Pop, the Bay Area Takeover, the In a Cloud compilation, and spearheading the 100 Records Project, Sonny and the Sunsets (feature podcast) can add another notch of success to 2010. Sonny and crew have officially signed to Fat Possum, and are set to release Tomorrow is Alright on August 31st.
Sonny & the Sunsets – “Too Young to Burn”
Help Sonny and the Sunsets toast their accomplishments on June 27th at Bottom of the Hill, where the band will be playing a fantastic bill with the Baths, Grass Widow, and Ty Segall (8:00 pm, $8/advance, $10/door, all ages).
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Recap & Photos: Woodsist Fest in Big Sur showcases label’s Bay Area roster
June 17, 2010
Just after I spent the weekend in Big Sur soaking up California’s spectacular natural landscape to the tunes of Woodsist’s roster at the Henry Miller Library, this spacey remix track by coolallover conveniently entered our inbox.
Download the unofficial Woodsist Remixed track here.
Spliced and beat-infused artists within the track include Moon Duo, The Fresh & Onlys, and The Art Museums — all of which played Saturday’s FolkYeah Presents Woodsist Fest show as some of the label’s West Coast representatives. Among the visiting performers were Kurt Vile (Philadelphia) and label founders Woods (both of which have new records on Matador and Woodsist respectively), Eat Skull (Portland) and headliners Real Estate (NJ). The all-day, ten-band bill was welcomed by warm weather and a celebrity turn-out: Rilo Kiley’s Jenny Lewis, drummer Jason Boesel and his lady friend Kirsten Dunst saw the show!
More importantly, the music was worth the 150-mile venture. Openers The Art Museums maintained a jovial composure which was hardly indicative that this was only their second or third live show, building up the anticipation to see more from this freshly Brit pop-inspired band in the near future. Their drumpad operator Virginia Weatherby also joined the next set with her primary act The Mantles. As seen in this series of photos, the bands provided both themselves and festivalgoers with plenty of entertainment on Saturday.
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Sea of Bees’ haunting pop, to be celebrated 6/19/10 with John Vanderslice
June 17, 2010
The name certainly evokes the sound: Sea of Bees‘ contorted, folksy indie pop will wash over you with every fuzzed-out hook. Julie Baenziger, the voice behind the Sea of Bees moniker, spins willful layers in her serene yet complex songs.
Baenziger has The Bee Eee Pee already under her belt, and is ready to celebrate the release of Songs for the Ravens, which is out now via Crossbill Records. This extra-special crowning moment will take place in Sacramento this Saturday, June 19th at the Townhouse Lounge (8:30 pm, $7) with a full band, along with John Vanderslice and Doombird. Tickets can be obtained via Brown Paper Tickets.
In the meantime, check out Sea of Bees’ session on Luxury Wafers (video embedded below), listen to more songs on MySpace, and pick up her EP and full-length on iTunes and Crossbill Records, respectively.
Sea of Bees – Willis – Luxury Wafers Sessions from Luxury Wafers on Vimeo.
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A sampling of videos from Clean White Lines: Spencey Dude and the Doodles, Sean Hayes, The Stone Foxes, Dreamdate
June 17, 2010
Clean White Lines is a Bay Area production company that has been shooting some really top notch music videos and performance clips. Check out some recent highlights below:
Spencey Dude and the Doodles 5.30.10 from cleanwhitelines on Vimeo.
Sean Hayes – When We Fall In from cleanwhitelines on Vimeo.
Stomp – The Stone Foxes from cleanwhitelines on Vimeo.
DreamDate – Melody Walks (live) from cleanwhitelines on Vimeo.
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The Aimless Never Miss create ‘The High Dive to Lo-Fi, Volume 1′
June 17, 2010
The Aimless Never Miss – “SOB”
Releasing what they’ve named a “trans-genre” album, The Aimless Never Miss introduce their first self-released full length, The High Dive to Lo-Fi, Volume 1. The album’s witty name and its audible diversity work hand-in-hand as quite the entertaining contradiction. About the The High Dive, which is for sale on the band’s website:
It’s taken over 2 years to produce, and is by far our most ‘experimental’ album to date. The 13 tracks range from rock to folk, Americana, punk, gypsy-jazz, and into the indescribable…If you like music that can’t easily be defined, and are bored with albums where every song sounds like the last…
Some new members will be playing live with TANM on Saturday at Fort Gallery in Oakland (683 26th Street at Martin Luther King), where the band will be joined by Judgement Day and The Burning of Rome.
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Magic Bullets (Podcast #218)
June 16, 2010
This week’s podcast showcases San Francisco’s Magic Bullets, whose second full length album, Magic Bullets, came out yesterday on Mon Amie Records. The band’s first record, a CHILD but in life yet a DOCTOR in love, came out in 2007, and introduced a refreshingly catchy jangle pop sound calling to mind bands like The Smiths, The Feelies, Talking Heads, and Orange Juice. Over the next several years, the Bullets focused on writing and recording, gaining an EP, but losing two band members to Girls. That setback aside, the Bullets are now back and, yes, they sound better than ever. Guitarist Corey Cunningham has crafted a batch of dynamic songs that showcase both a minimalist restraint and a broader array of tempos, feels, and sounds. Singer Phil Benson remains a magnetic vocal presence, delivering heartfelt thoughts on love and romance. Fans of indie pop, do check this album out.
We sat down with the members of Magic Bullets recently to discuss their new album. We’ve also included four songs from their self-titled album in the episode.
Upcoming Shows:
Magic Bullets has a bunch of California shows over the next month. Full dates on their MySpace page.
Thursday, June 17th
Trigger
with Sister Crayon (Benefit for Harvey Milk Civil Rights Academy)
7pm, $10
Friday, July 9th
The Knockout
with Dreamdate and Wax Idols (Magic Bullets album release show)
9pm, $7
Links:
- Visit Magic Bullets on Facebook and MySpace, as well as at the band’s blog and on Twitter.
- Magic Bullets is available from Mon Amie Records and on iTunes.
- You can currently stream Magic Bullets on Spinner.
