N O W – “Drone of Dume”
June 17, 2011
N O W is the new solo project from Kevin Litrow of 60 Watt Kid and Dance Disaster Movement, exploring looping, rhythmic psych-pop. After a stint in the Bay Area with 60 Watt Kid, Litrow is currently back in Los Angeles, but he’ll pay a visit to the City on Saturday, performing at The Secret Alley in the Mission, along with Blue Rabbit and Azalia Snail (9pm, RSVP). Find out more about The Secret Alley in this piece from The Bold Italic.
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Grass Widow – ‘Milo Minute’
June 17, 2011
Grass Widow‘s new 7″, Milo Minute, is out now. This EP is the first from a series of 7-inches that the band is releasing via their own new HLR label. Milo Minute includes one original song (the title track) and two covers (“Time Keeps Time” by Neo Boys and “Mannequin” by Wire). UK record store Juno Records has some snippets of the new 7″, which you can hear below.
The band’s record release show is on June 22nd at the Verdi Club (8pm, $6), with Firebrand (New Orleans) and Vegetable (Phoenix).
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From the Mailbag: Elle Niño, Sassy!!!, Microfiche
June 17, 2011
We get more submissions than we can handle here at TBB, so periodically we’ll dip into the mailbag and check out a bunch of songs we’ve recently received. As always, feel free to let us know your thoughts in the comments.
A recent reader e-mail about how great Elle Niño is reminded me that we’ve been meaning to post something from the band’s EP for a while now. The local electro-synth-pop band will be performing at the Hemlock Tavern on Sunday, June 19th (9pm, $6), with Spacehunter and Fa Fa Fa.
Diggin’ Deep is the latest album from local garage/power-pop duo Sassy!!!. The band, who recently spoke to the Weekly about “How to Be a Garage-Rock Goddess,” is giving away their latest single, “So Bad It’s Good.”
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John Vanderslice/Magik*Magik Orchestra tonight: Minna Choi discusses their collaboration on ‘White Wilderness’
June 17, 2011
John Vanderslice and The Magik*Magik Orchestra – “Sea Salt”
John Vanderslice and The Magik*Magik Orchestra – “The Piano Lesson”
Tonight, June 17th, we hope you’ll join us at Herbst Theatre (8pm, $20) for a special one-time-only performance of White Wilderness by John Vanderslice and The Magik*Magik Orchestra. The show will be preceded by a pre-performance talk between John and Minna Choi of Magik*Magik, and will be followed by a “Musical Petting Zoo,” where attendees can check out some of the orchestra’s classical instruments.
In the final piece of our ongoing conversation with Minna (previous parts here and here), she discusses working with Vanderslice on the album, and revisiting the material for tonight’s show.
The Bay Bridged: How did John Vanderslice approach you about working on White Wilderness?
Minna Choi: One of the first things I did after forming Magik was contact John about having Magik be the in-house orchestra at Tiny Telephone. That partnership eventually brought about our first joint show in 2009 at the Great American Music Hall, to celebrate Tiny’s 10th Anniversary. Soon after that show, JV approached me saying that he had so much fun with the live show that he wanted to do it again on his next record. It was a true honor to be pulled into the project and Magik and I are both really lucky to have scored such a great project for our first collaborative record.
How involved were you in the creation of the album? Did JV bring you completed songs, or did the songs change over the course of your collaboration?
JV sent me a combination of home demos of just him playing a guitar and singing, and some rehearsal recordings of him playing the songs with Jason Slota (drummer) and Max Stoffregen (piano). JV told me to take full creative control over the arrangements for the songs and write anything and everything I heard in my head that complimented his songs. Some songs were completely turned inside out and became almost unrecognizable from the original demos, but others are very recognizable and have a simple layer of strings added, or a few winds and background vocals. It all depends on [what] will sound good on a certain melody or tempo.
The album was recorded live, right? How did that affect or influence the recording process?
We recorded the whole album in two days at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley. The whole orchestra recorded at once, and we recorded to tape–which means there is no editing, and if one person messes up, everyone has to do it again until it’s right. That combined with the pressure of a two-day time frame, and the fact that is was my first record as musical director, created a pretty intense environment. Everyone was on hyper-focus, it definitely was not a relaxed environment. The amazing thing though is that most of the record sounds pretty grounded and almost lazy and slow. I think that is a testament to JV’s songs and to the professionalism of the musicians. They can pull any mood out of their pocket, in any environment.
What are your favorite songs from White Wilderness? Why?
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TV Mike and the Scarecrows prep new album and head out on summer 2011 tour
June 16, 2011
TV Mike and the Scarecrows – “Paint the Town”
(from Spittin’ in Cursive)
TV Mike and the Scarecrows, in the midst of working on an album over at New, Improved Recording, are ready to debut some new music. The band’s summer tour kicks off this Saturday, June 18th in Davis, and continues with a show at Magnolia Palace in Oakland on June 21st with the Horns of Happiness. The band will then make a trip down to Southern California, and will wrap up the tour on July 6th at the Stork Club.
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Review & Photos: Spencey Dude and the Doodles, King Tuff and Times New Viking @ Rickshaw Stop, 6/14/11
June 16, 2011
Don’t know how I missed SF’s Spencey Dude and the Doodles this long. They’ve been doing their thing since 2005 at least, and even recorded with my hero, Greg Ashley (playing Sunday at Knockout, by the way). Maybe it’s the name. They need a new name. Still it’s my own fucking fault for missing out on this shit.
Despite some problems with the mic early on, the band just plain rocked. The guitarist and drummer handled most of the vocals, but the bass player simply kicked ass. They have great song titles and if they’d just line up some more shows, I’m sure they would catch on quick around these parts.
King Tuff hails from Vermont but seems to be spending some quality time around these parts ever since he played Thee Parkside for the Burger Boogaloo back in March. Sporting a Crass t-shirt and his namesake sun medallion, he certainly looks like a rock star. He has played with J. Mascis in Witch, but has been doing his own thing for some time now with a variety of lineups.
At the Rickshaw he was joined by 2 other guitarists (yes that makes THREE guitars), bass and drums. I’m not sure 3 guitars were needed, but it sure was nice to have ‘em. It brought another layer of flavor to his tasty, gritty stew. Lots of bands are going with 2 or 3 members these days. It must be a whole lot easier, and profitable. But hey, this is rock and roll, ya can’t really do it for the money! Highlights included the instant classic “Freak When I’m Dead” and psychedelic self portrait “Sun Medallion”.
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Vetiver – ‘The Errant Charm’ out now
June 16, 2011
Vetiver‘s latest album, The Errant Charm, is out this week on Sub Pop. It’s another gorgeous album from bandleader Andy Cabic, full of the nuanced folk-rock he does so well. According to the label, the streets of San Francisco played an important role in the crafting of The Errant Charm: “As he worked on material for the new record Cabic spent hours wandering the streets around San Francisco’s Richmond District, listening to rough mixes, tinkering with lyrics and arrangements.”
Take a listen to two songs from the album above, including uptempo standout “Wonder Why,” and stream the whole thing on Spinner.
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Videos: Dominant Legs, The Mantles, more from SF Popfest 2011
June 15, 2011
DIY filmmaker/music fan Claude Cardenas, whose work aggregates under the moniker Popsongromance, did an extensive video capture of this year’s SF Popfest. Posted to the YouTube channel are songs performed during soundchecks across this year’s festival, from the low-lit stage of the Hemlock, where he managed to capture Eternal Summers and The Beets (below) as well as nights at the Rickshaw, including the Mantles’ set (above).
Hats off to Popsongromance! See his photo set on Flickr.
