Family Matinee at Bottom of the Hill w/No Age and White Circle Crime Club
March 6, 2009
Words by: Jake Butler
Photos by: Nicole L. Browner
My first show in San Francisco was an all ages show at Bottom of the Hill. Coming back for this afternoon show to close out my own personal Noise Pop experience brought things full circle in a sense. Making the trek from the East Bay was a bit daunting at first, as even with all my magical powers, I couldn’t keep God’s tears at bay (translation: it was dumping rain).
My hesitation almost ruined the day for me, as I barely made it as the last badgeholder to be let in. Whew! The house was packed with everybody having to turn sideways to try and navigate through the crowd.
This was definitely a family affair, with 6 and 7-year-olds sitting atop the edge of the bar. It’s always awesome to see a young kid bobbing their head up and down, rocking out to some good music. There is still hope for future generations. [More...]
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Single Syllable First Names – Bob and Mark at the Swedish, Keep it Classy Folks
March 6, 2009
Words by Jake Butler
I had been to Cafe Du Nord numerous times, and had always heard rumor of this mysterious “Swedish American Hall” that lie above us in the strange world above street level just past the Church St. MUNI stop.
I walk into a sea of seated concertgoers who would likely give up their first born before their seat. There’s probably 70 chairs or so in the center, with limited seating along the borders of both the base level and the balcony at the Swedish American Music Hall. I instantly notice that there is an abundance of blazers, makeup, dresses, and straight up classy folks. This was balanced out by the sleeve-tatted, leather jacket, new school fans of good music. You had a spread of folks spanning from the young, Husker Du-story-driven attendees to the Sugar-fan, solo-Bob Mould fan base. It was quite a collection and I believe everyone got their fill.
Mark Eitzel kicked off the evening for me. My sister f-in’ loves lounge music so as soon as Eitzel hit those pipes, I texted her about some stuff she had to check out. [More...]
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I Need That Record!: My final movie at Noise Pop Film Fest 2009
March 6, 2009
Words by: Ben Richardson
The uncertainty and unease that surrounds today’s music business is hardly news. Decades of mismanagement and greed have exposed rotten timbers, deep down near the keel of an industry that seems to be mired in the doldrums. The number of major labels has shrunk, as they continue to foist cookie-cutter artists with high promotion budgets and low standards on the beleaguered public, while blaming illegal downloading for their declining sales. After spending years trying sell music like toaster ovens or Big Mouth Billy Basses, it seems like something’s gotta give.
The first victims of this trend are America’s independent record store owners, who are closing up shop in record numbers. Squeezed by file-sharing, undercut by Best Buy’s slashed prices, and subject to hostile landlords and evaporating customer base, the nation’s Quixotic champions of community and rarity are experiencing a period of unprecedented ruin.
Enter Brendan Toller, and his invigorating documentary I Need That Record!: The Death (or possible survival) of the Independent Record Store. Begun as his student film at Hampshire college, Toller’s film is a tour-de-force, instructing without being didactic, plucking the heart strings without being maudlin, and presenting the burgeoning crisis in music retail as a palatable, human story. [More...]
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Quality uncompromised: Sholi at BotH
March 5, 2009
Words by: Nicole L. Browner
Photos by: Adrian Bischoff
Whereas many of the Noise Pop shows offered headlining spots to the big out-of-town bands, this Bottom of the Hill show allowed San Francisco to boast its local talent on the rise: Sholi’s Noise Pop performance doubled as their at-home record release party for the album they’ve released on Quarterstick last month.
Opening for the night was their longtime associate, Jake Mann (Crossbill Records) and friends. Jake bashfully draws upon classic sounds from the decade before: the eager tempo of Pavement, Jeff Tweedy’s rural charm and even a little Neutral Milk Hotel with the newly added trumpet. Keeping things simple was the crux of the Mann band’s routine – singing and playing bass, Jake added that he hopes to be noted as the first capoed bass player – and was clearly having fun onstage. [More...]
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Soldiers Under Command: Stryper at ATA
March 5, 2009
Christian glam metal. These days, it seems almost impossible, but for much of the 80s, it was big business. California band Stryper were one of the first “contemporary Christian” bands to achieve crossover appeal, shifting millions of copies of their hit albums Soldiers Under Command (Enigma, 1985) and To Hell With The Devil (Enigma, 1986). They had the teased hair, twin guitar solos, and piercing vocals of their more sinful contemporaries, along with black and yellow striped stage outfits that signified Christ’s suffering under the lash. Bibles were tossed into the audience at their shows, as the band attempted to convert the fallen with the help of history’s sleaziest music genre. [More...]
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Ra Ra Rawkin’ Good Time at the Indie, and a Pretty Sweet Happy Hour
March 4, 2009
Words by: Jake Butler
Photos by: Reid Williams
So whoever read from us at the Bay Bridged that you should go to Happy Hour – I simultaneously love you and forsake you. Come Friday, I swung by to catch Tempo No Tempo, along with cohorts Maus Haus and Sugar and Gold. I was at Bender’s on Tuesday and don’t get me wrong, there was a solid size crowd, but on Friday it was wall-to-wall. When some friends came to meet me they were stuck in a one-out-one-in line. I felt bad for them because they were missing the alterna-indie-electro-R&B-soul-dance-rockin’ show once they crossed the threshold. I squeezed my way on up to say “what’s up” to Christian and Ben and give them a high five for the good turn out.
I ended up doing one of those dance walks where you move three steps, stop, dance for a minute, rinse and repeat. Sugar and Gold had silk lined, gold trimmed, sequins laden sound to them. If that doesn’t get you up and on the dance floor I’m not sure what will. Their bass player was laying down some great funk lines and the beats were phenomenal. [More...]
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Noise Pop 17 Concludes in Collective Dementia
March 3, 2009
Words by: Joseph Hayes
Photos by: Reid Williams
March 1, Sunday night, 10:15 p.m. in San Francisco, sheets of rain, the city’s inhabitants mope around between laundromats and cafes, peaking out from a video storefront awning, eating a soggy vegetarian burrito, contemplating sleep or catching up on episodes of Mad Men or the Wire in the hopes of having something to offer at the water cooler tomorrow, and…simultaneously…
Like a jet ski in a kiddie pool, Les Savy Fav’s Tim Harrington (aka the Homer Simpson of Indie rock) is parting through the sardine can crowd of sticky hipsters at Mezzanine, riding an ottoman down the balcony stairs, as 924 Gilman post-grad skater boys and girls alternately crowd surf and stage dive, yearning for beer, sweat or banana chunks to be splattered upon them, and giggly girls try to decide whether the barrel belly maniac is Tasmanianally sexy or kinda icky. As the urban legend goes, like all those homeless people, did someone bus this atypical SF crowd into town to the club tonight? Temporary dementia and cabin fever have commenced. [More...]
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Photos: Ra Ra Riot, Cut Off Your Hands, Telekinesis, The Hooks @ The Independent
March 3, 2009
Photos by: Reid Williams
Ra Ra Riot
