Mixtape: Twenty Bands at Noise Pop 20 (Podcast #271)
February 8, 2012
Mixtape: Twenty Bands at Noise Pop 20 (Podcast #271)
Noise Pop 20 is just weeks away. From February 21st through the 26th, over one hundred bands will take over SF’s venues for six days celebrating independent music. True to form, this year’s Noise Pop Festival includes an eclectic mix of veterans and emerging artists, and you’d be wise to buy your tickets soon, because many shows are starting to sell out.
To get familiar with many of the bands performing at Noise Pop this year, here’s the first of two mixtapes showcasing music from performing artists. To find out when all of these acts are performing, check out the complete schedule of Noise Pop events.
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Tracklisting:
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January’s Best: Our favorite Bay Area songs from the blog last month
February 6, 2012
Here’s our latest month-in-review mix collecting some our favorite new (or new to us) songs recently posted on the website. Gathered in the mix are over a dozen new tracks that were posted on TheBayBridged.com in January, with links below to download each of them individually.
Mixtape: Best of the Blog January 2012
Tracklisting:
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Young the Giant’s Jacob Tilley discusses the band’s breakout 2011 and plans for new album
February 2, 2012
Three minutes on stage may have made the difference between emerging success and national attention, or a career as another relatively unknown alt-rock band for the members of Irvine’s Young the Giant.
Or, as guitarist Jacob Tilley recalls, it could have meant the end of the band itself, had Young the Giant not wowed national television viewers at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards with an electric performance of “My Body.”
“We were kind of getting to the point where we were trying to figure out if … we were going to do a second record or if it would be back to school for us,” said Tilley in a recent phone chat. “We got such a large fan base from three minutes on TV. It really changed the ball game for us.”
Propelled by that success, Young the Giant continue their tour in support of their eponymous debut album at two sold-out shows at The Fillmore Wednesday and Thursday. The quintet is now also working on a follow-up, which Tilley said should be finished next winter.
Tilley met vocalist Sameer Gadhia when his family moved to the States from England when he was 12. “He invited me to a soccer practice; I found out he played the guitar,” said Tilley, who went on to study at UC Santa Cruz. “Sameer was already friends with (bassist) Payam (Doostzadeh), and Payam played in a band when they were younger.”
Gadhia and Tilley started the earliest incarnation of the band, The Jakes, in 2004, along with a couple of other friends. Doostzadeh, guitarist Eric Cannata and drummer François Comtois joined within the next couple of years. The band members, now in their early 20s, were high school seniors at the time. Young the Giant might be a Southern California band, but only Doostzadeh is a native of the Golden State. Gadhia was born in Michigan, Cannata in New Jersey, and Comtois in Quebec, Canada.
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The Bay Bridged Presents: A Noise Pop Happy Hour with Jel, James & Evander and Raleigh Moncrief!
February 2, 2012
Artwork by Luke Judd
In addition to a full slate of concerts around the City, Noise Pop 20 also features the return of the nightly series of free Happy Hour concerts at Bender’s, one of the Mission’s finest establishments. We’re excited to present the Happy Hour show on Friday, February 24th, featuring a slate of talented local electronic pop performers. It’ll be the perfect way to kick off your Friday night!
The Bay Bridged Presents: A Noise Pop Happy Hour
Jel
James & Evander
Raleigh Moncrief
Friday, February 24th, 2012
Bender’s
5pm, FREE, 21+
About the bands:
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Live This Month: February 2012 — an audio guide through SF concerts this month (Podcast #270)
February 1, 2012
Live This Month: February 2012 (Podcast #270)
In Live This Month, we sample some of the great local and out-of-town bands performing in the coming month in the San Francisco Bay Area. The twentieth installment of the Noise Pop Music Festival takes over a wide variety of local venues later this month — and we’ll be covering many of those shows — but there are also plenty of pre-NP events worth checking out. Locally, two bands are seeing the release of records for which it feels like we’ve been waiting forever: the debut LP from ultra-catchy punks Terry Malts, and the latest Rick Rubin-produced effort from Howlin Rain.
Speaking of new albums, Laura Gibson’s bringing her newest folk-rock set to SF for a February show. Meanwhile, Montreal’s Grimes has already sold out her Noise Pop date at the Rickshaw Stop, which will come just one day after the release of her new album, Visions. Enjoy this mix of tunes and then go see some shows!
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About the bands:
New York seven-piece band Ava Luna (“Wrenning Day”) is currently touring with Twin Sister. On February 4th, they’ll both be performing at the Great American Music Hall.
The Situation EP is the first release from local band Future Twin (“Yuka”). The group’s EP release show is an exciting one that also features Twin Steps, Exray’s and Death Cheetah all at the Hemlock Tavern on February 2nd.
Eleanor Friedberger (“My Mistakes”) is one-half of The Fiery Furnaces, but her solo record, Last Summer, is probably her best work yet. Friedberger and band come to The Independent on February 4th. Dominant Legs supports.
Sea Lions (“Grown Up”), from Oxnard, released the delightful jangle-pop collection Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Sea Lions But Were Afraid To Ask last year. The quintet performs at Cafe Du Nord on February 3rd with Jeremy Jay and Tremor Low.
Laura Gibson‘s (“La Grande”) new album, La Grande, was inspired by the Oregon town that shares the record’s name. The folk performer and Breathe Owl Breathe will appear at Bottom of the Hill on February 6th.
Visions is the buzzed-about new album from Montreal’s Claire Boucher, also known as Grimes (“Genesis”). She’s co-headlining a sold-out Noise Pop show at the Rickshaw Stop on February 22nd.
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Our New Banner Artist: Peter Max Lawrence
February 1, 2012
We are pleased to showcase the work of Peter Max Lawrence as the new banner artist for our site. This is the first time we’ve had sketch art as a banner and frankly, we think it’s pretty good. Peter lives and works in San Francisco and is preparing for a major collaborative exhibition “AT WAR” with Troung Tran at SOMArts February 3rd, 6pm – 9pm.
Peter Max Lawrence is a maker of things. Born in Topeka; adopted soon there after and raised in Kansas City, Kansas. Over the course of his life, he has created a large and diverse body of work, exploring a wide variety of approaches, media and themes. Lawrence’s visual art, performances and videos have been presented internationally in venues ranging from basement bathrooms to major museums. Among his recent works of note are QUEER in KANSAS, Warholics and the experimental short de Young which was created while working as an artist-in-residence at the museum and later was featured on KQED’s Truly California. He has also directed music videos for Carletta Sue Kay, Krystle Warren and troops. Currently he is the curator for The One and Art Thieves as well as developing various collaborations with other musicians, artists and writers.
You can find more information about Peter and see his work at PeterMaxLawrence.com.
If you would like to become the next Bay Bridged banner artist and are from the Bay Area send us a link to your work and a short description about yourself.
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Video premiere: Future Twin – “Summer Song”; album release party Thursday 2/2/12 at Hemlock
January 31, 2012
Behold, the latest video from Future Twin for “Summer Song.” The video is one continuous shot of Jean Yaste, Future Twin’s singer/guitarist/bandleader, playing an acoustic version of a song called “Summer Song” in a very San Francisco-lookin’ backyard. The video was shot out in the wild by Adam Shaening-Pokrasso of 12 Frames Per Second and Heidy Petty of Yours Truly.
If you enjoy the video, make sure to catch them live for their EP release party at the Hemlock this Thursday with Exray’s and Death Cheetah (9pm, $6). The Situation EP is Future Twin’s first studio album, and was produced by Jon Bernson of Exray’s. There’s a show flyer that is nearly as gorgeous as the video above after the jump, as well as a video about the inspiration behind “Summer Song”.
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Song Premiere: Birdmonster – “Living” (plus ticket giveaway!)
January 27, 2012
Birdmonster said it best in a recent email explaining their whereabouts: “My, my. It’s been a while, hasn’t it? We’re sorry. We missed you too. We were just waiting for that special time between the Harold Camping-sponsored apocalypse and the Mayan-flavored cataclysm and that time is now.”
It’s true that Birdmonster activity has slowed a bit since 2006′s No Midnight, 2008′s From the Mountain to the Sea, and 2009′s Blood Memory (especially given the recent solo adventures of Sonny Pete). However, a new single from Birdmonster, “Living”, is available now: upbeat, rhythmic indie rock, with an underlying pulse of folk that brings us back to the heart of the band.
Birdmonster are scheduled to celebrate the release of “Living” by playing Bottom of the Hill tomorrow night (Saturday, 1/28/12, 10:00pm, $12, 21+), with Sorryeverafter and IFFG. Those who attend the show will receive a code to download “Living” for free (or, those interested can download the track from the above link).
We have a pair of tickets to give away to tomorrow’s Birdmonster show! To enter, send an email to contest@thebaybridged.com – the THIRD person to enter will win!
