Videos: of Montreal at The Fillmore, 5/13/11
May 17, 2011
Thanks to Josiah Skallerup, who recently dropped us a note about some videos he shot from of Montreal‘s performance at The Fillmore on Friday night. Above, the band launches into a visual-stimulation-overload version of “Heimdalsgate Like A Promethean Curse,” with equally vibrant takes of “Oslo In The Summertime” and “Sex Karma” posted below.
As always, feel free to drop us any tips, photos, or videos to thebaybridged[at]gmail.com.
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Interview: NODZZZ’s Anthony Atlas on ‘Innings,’ Olympia, touring Europe and more
May 17, 2011
NODZZZ – “Time (What’s It Going to Do?)”
Innings is the excellent new album from SF trio NODZZZ, out today on Woodsist. The record’s nervy, poppy jangle feels timeless in the best possible way. If you’d discovered Innings as a cassette 20 years ago, it would’ve sounded great, and I think someone discovering it 20 years from now will feel that same immediacy.
Via e-mail, NODZZZ’s Anthony Atlas shared some insights about approaching the new record, the band’s Olympia origins, the value of brevity, and much more. NODZZZ performs at the Hemlock Tavern on May 26th (9pm, $7) with Milk Music and Doors US.
For people who know NODZZZ’s previous work, how would you describe Innings? Where does the new album find the band?
With this set of songs, I tried to push myself musically by trying chords and arrangements which were new to me. Our first record was comprised of many songs which were actually the first ones I’d ever written with a guitar (before that I only played bass,) so with this record I hear more of the dual-guitar thing that me and Sean have been evolving in NODZZZ. Sean plays the leads, I play the simpler single-note bits, and so on Innings, hopefully you hear more color, or as I’ve been saying lately about busier music, more “data.”
It feels like a number of songs on the album touch on ideas about family and a sense of personal history. What music did you grow up listening to? Do you think any of it still has any influence on you?
I grew up listening to obvious 90′s undergound and overground music. Bought Nirvana & Green Day bootleg CD’s with my allowance. Then in middle-school and high school got WAY into hardcore and punk. I had a hardcore band with Pete (original Nodzzz drummer) which put out a bunch of records and toured the US. We broke up before our senior year. I think the ideas about family and personal history have more to do with growing up in my strange, bizarrely affluent New Jersey hometown, which is what “Ye Olde Indian Towne” is about, and its nod to Bruce Springsteen who was a resident there. Now I think less about hardcore & punk, and more about Bruce. His lyrics have so much data.
The band’s roots are in Olympia. What kind of impact did the Olympia scene have on your musical interests?
Olympia is the primary reason why NODZZZ exist. First, that’s where me and Sean first met and played music together. Second, when I moved to California my other band called Study Buddies broke up and morphed into Gun Outfit in my absence. I had other close Olympia friends which were doing music when I left too (Sisters, Sex Vid, White Boss), and I wanted to be a part of that scene while I was down here, at CCA. So I spent all my free time, (I had tons), writing Study Buddies-styled songs and learning how to play guitar. I just felt left out! But when Sean moved to SF, the songs came together right away. So the Olympia thing is more about a small community of bands at that time and less about the Beat Happening legacy or anything like that. I love all that stuff though. Eli from LAKE is an active musician in the Olympia scene, and he recorded our LP, actually. For free!
Nodzzz – “Heyday Past Heyday Due”
Themes about getting older and slowing down a bit also seem to come up several times. Is that a correct read? What is your outlook on the process of getting older?
It’s a correct-ish read I think. I think some of the songs could also be about lamenting the passing good times too. Pretty common theme, but seems San Francisco is always grieving about some past heyday or another, and if you think about it, this city is literally burdened with preserving its past. Just yesterday, I was walking to Office Max and I saw all the commemorative graffiti on the outside wall of the Eagle. It makes you sad. Near “Veni Vidi Vici,” someone wrote, “The best is yet to come.” That’s the same simple idea behind “Heyday Past Heyday Due.”
Where and with whom did you record Innings? How did the recording process compare to your past efforts?
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Backseat Beat Episode 11: The SHE’S, part 1
May 17, 2011
Backseat Beat is a video series highlighting indie musicians and the city by the Bay. Armed with Flip cameras, we interview bands in the back seat of our ‘83 Volvo as we spirit them away to unexpected, forgotten corners of San Francisco, where they plug in outdoors to play a few tunes. Each band’s performance transforms these urban spots from their anonymous day to day existence into surreal, magical backdrops.
Now, we don’t know about you, but back in high school we didn’t have a lot of experience with filled-out rich bitch popularity queens, jocks in corvettes, or vaguely racist portrayals of exchange students. When we were 16, our main priorities in life were pretending we already knew how to smoke cigarettes and trying to seduce our junior year crush with some strategically requested Color Me Badd at our birthday party. We just kind of figured everyone’s high school experience was like that, until we heard that not only have The SHE’S already played the same shitty dive bars we’ve played, and not only have they already played venues we could only dream about playing, like the Fillmore, but that they’re also only 16, for chrissakes.
Sitting back and watching The SHE’S tear it up for us—cool, talented, nailing their performance like a bunch of old pros—it was impossible to think that these girls are actually in high school the same way that we were once in high school. They had to be like those larger-than-life teens in every John Hughes movie (never mind that the Brat Pack were all actually in their 20s, were all headed for NA, and had divorced their parents). When you interview Watts, you don’t expect her to say she’s kind of shy in school and that she digs watching Star Trek with her mom after doing her math homework.
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New project from Zach Rogue of Rogue Wave – Release the Sunbird
May 16, 2011
Zach Rogue — frontman for Rogue Wave and occasional solo performer — has launched Release the Sunbird, his official new project. Release the Sunbird came about when Rogue was in Bloomington, Indiana in the summer of 2010, where he randomly booked some time in a local recording studio and started laying down some new tunes.
“Always Like The Son” (a lovely, sunny, and delicate song) is available for streaming now, and those interested can download the song for free (in exchange for an email address). “Always Like The Son” is from Release the Sunbird’s debut album, Come Back to Us, which comes out on July 26th via Brushfire Records.
Release the Sunbird will be touring this summer, so keep an eye out for those dates when they emerge.
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Xray Eyeballs pays a visit, shows tonight in Oakland and Wednesday at the Hemlock
May 16, 2011
O.J. San Felipe of Brooklyn’s Golden Triangle, also a former Bay Area guy, is touring for the release of his newest LP with his latest ensemble Xray Eyeballs. Not Nothing is out now on Kanine, and the first single “Egyptian Magician” was premiered by MOKB. It’s a much dreamier, New Wave-type sound than the harder garage pop San Felipe does with Golden Triangle.
Xray Eyeballs: “Crystal” – Prefix Premiere by prefixmag
You’ll have two chances to catch San Felipe and Xray Eyeballs in the Bay Area this time around — either tonight at Eli’s Mile High Club in Oakland with Shannon and the Clams and Uzi Rash, or Wednesday at the Hemlock with King Lollipop and Burnt Ones (9pm, $7). Both great shows with loving hometown support.
Check the band’s blog for up-to-the-minute media, disposable photos of Bay Area friends and Vivian Girls, and whatever.
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Remaining tourdates:
05/16/2011 – Eli’s Mile High Club – Oakland, CA w/ Shannon and the Clams
05/18/2011 – Hemlock Tavern – San Francisco, CA % w/ Burnt Ones
05/19/2011 – Carbone’s – Monterey, CA
05/20/2011 – Blue Star – Los Angeles, CA
05/21/2011 – Burger Records – Fullerton, CA
05/22/2011 – Bar Pink – San Diego, CA
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Recommended, 5/16-22: City Center, Weekend, SS10, King Lollipop
May 16, 2011
Every Monday, we’ll be offering you early picks for some of the week’s best concerts. Do you think we omitted something worthwhile? Let us know in the comments! Be sure to visit our Local Concert Calendar for an expanded set of daily listings.
Fred Thomas’ City Center/Swimsuit tour arrives at Milk
I’m a big Fred Thomas (Saturday Looks Good to Me, Mighty Clouds) enthusiast, and Thomas’ latest project, City Center, continues his long-term winning streak, with an expansive experimental indie rock that’s both jammy and full of hooks. City Center is touring with Thomas’ lo-fi pop band, Swimsuit. The bands play at Milk, with Secret Twins and Alright, on May 19th (9pm, $5).
City Center – “Modern Loveâ€
SS10: A Frames, Hank IV, The Mantles, and many more
Sacramento label S.S. Records has been releasing records for ten years from folks like A Frames, The Intelligence, Cheveu, and Dan Melchior, as well as a number of Sacramento bands. The label is celebrating the anniversary with SS10, taking place May 20-22 at Bottom of the Hill and the Hemlock Tavern. The weekend features the last show ever by Seattle’s A Frames, in addition to The Mantles, Hank IV, and many more.
Hank IV – “Feeding Me Backâ€
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Bay to Breakers After-Party: Wallpaper, Hottub, Music for Animals and more
May 13, 2011
Whether you do Bay to Breakers or not (and it’s none of my business — you do what you want to do with your life!), there’s a sweet after-party taking over Public Works on Sunday (3pm-12am, $5/8). Wallpaper. headlines this collection of electronic pop acts, dance rockers and DJs.
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13 & God – “Its Own Sun (Antonionian Version)”
May 13, 2011
13 & God – “Its Own Sun (Antonionian Version)”
Antonionian‘s remix of “Its Own Sun,” by Anticon labelmates 13 & God, wouldn’t sound out of place as a 13 & God song itself. When you hear the original, though, which somebody helpfully uploaded to YouTube, you really see how drastically it was reworked. Simultaneously heavier and more skittering, it’s a mesmerizing track which, like the best remixes, makes one as interested in the reworker as in the source material. 13 & God’s new album, Own Your Ghost, is out 5/17 on Anticon.
