Seven Signs: Music, Myth, and The American South at ATA
March 2, 2009
An afternoon that starts with John Darnielle doing an Ace of Base cover can’t be all bad. Back at ATA for my third and final Noise Pop Film Festival double-feature, I was heartened by the quality of the now-customary Wolfgang’s Vault retrospective.
Too bad the movie that followed it was so disappointing. The directorial debut of J.D. Wilkes, frontman for Th’ Legendary Shakers, Seven Signs purported to tell us something about music, myth, and the American South, themes that are familiar but always worthy of revival. Wilkes, a Kentucky native, has a unique perspective on the region, and a fledgling but not insignificant eye for stark documentary image. Unfortunately, he has yet to learn how to make a coherent movie.
The film is comprised of a series of loosely connected vignettes, all tenuously connected to Wilkes’ attempt to portray the “real” South, which he believes has been papered over by the commercialized rapine of things like KFC, NASCAR, and The Beverly Hillbillies. The director seems to hope that if he concatenates enough examples of his movie’s three titular themes, the connection will somehow become clear. Soft-spoken men in overalls speak to an idealized, metaphysical homeland, giving way to young musicians in thrift-store cowboy shirts and oh-so-retro horn-rimmed glasses, who are quickly replaced by a lone, goateed college professor and a rogue’s gallery of Dixie oddities and eccentrics that are introduced haphazardly and without due explanation. There are strange people in the South, you say? Funny, I thought there were strange people everywhere. [More...]
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A.C. Newman shines at The Independent
March 2, 2009
Words and Photos by: Ben Van Houten
Opening with “There Are Maybe Ten Or Twelve,” the first track from his new solo album, A.C. Newman delivered an hour-plus set of stately chamber-power-pop to great applause on Saturday night at The Independent. After weeks of hand-wringing about Get Guilty–Was the production too muted? Were some of the songs too long or too slow?–it was welcome relief that the live show rendered these questions moot via an enthusiastic set from this former San Francisco resident. Yes, Newman announced, he lived for a period of time at Broderick and Eddy, noting that, memorably, “there were a lot of murders.”
Fronting a six-person band with three guitars, the New Pornographer managed to capture the beauty and elegance of the new album but with an additional “pop” that brought out the best of “Like A Hitman, Like A Dancer” and “The Palace at 4 a.m.” Newman’s several multi-instrumentalists meant that more layered songs like the waltz “Young Atlantis” retained their beauty too, and several tracks from 2004′s The Slow Wonder (including “Miracle Drug” and “On The Table”) were a welcome treat. Solo and with the NPs, Newman has stacked up a series of releases that rank him as one of the most consistent songwriters in indie pop, and if this sets the bar high for each new release, his set Saturday demonstrated an ability to reach some very rewarding high points. [More...]
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Southwest Songslingers Flourish at Bottom on Friday Night
March 1, 2009
Review and Photo by: Joseph Hayes
It’s no secret that a countrified resurgence in Indie music has been in vogue for some time now. Don a vintage western, invest in an old hollow body guitar and stock up on obscure Will Oldham records and you’re halfway there. But, only at the risk of your own talent and intentions. Thankfully, Friday’s bill at the Bottom put just enough of a distinctive spin on the twenty-first century Indie rock rodeo.
Unfortunately, I was unable to catch much of AB and the Sea, who transitionally hail from Wisconsin and San Francisco. I thought their online material showed a nice resemblance to the earlier work of Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, veering more towards the delicate indie pop side of the road, and farther from the farm hop of the proceeding bands this evening.
Friday’s second act was fresh-faced Big Light from San Francisco. As they belted out their marquee tune “Hard Knocks,” it was impossible not to admire its transparent homage to Wilco’s Being There / Summerteeth era. If yer gonna go down that road I suppose, you best do it right, and they did a pretty good job on this particular number. [More...]
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Port O’Brien versus crowd, Café du Nord
March 1, 2009
Words and Photos by: Nicole L. Browner
Who knew Café du Nord could ever get rowdy, but leave it to Port O’Brien’s hands-on approach to get the crowd intrigued. Actually, just leave it to the crowd, who didn’t hush the entire night.
Dame Satan inaugurated the evening by wrapping the room in silken gypsy callings and southern references. The air became a combination of appropriate use of wah on lead guitar, congregations around the drum set and deep, dreamy harmonies from Andrew Simmons and bassist Mike Chopko you wouldn’t believe. [More...]
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Tales of Rock and Roll: Thee Oh Sees, Tyvjk, The Fresh and Onlys at Cafe Du Nord
March 1, 2009
Words and Photo by: Ben Van Houten
Thursday’s show at Cafe Du Nord was a diverse and highly entertaining mix of psych rock, punk, and lo-fi bands appropriately capped by another winning set from the always excellent Thee Oh Sees. The SF band was clearly the primary draw for the sold-out crowd, as the first several audience rows bopped up and down to songs from the band’s ever-expanding catalog, including some new ones from Help, forthcoming on In the Red. Having seen this band several times now, I still remain unable to describe their sound with satisfactory precision, as John Dwyer and crew have managed to filter early stripped down rock-and-roll through a endearingly skewed set of psychy and noisy effects to create something that’s equally confrontational and engaging. Dwyer and Brigid Dawson are compelling dual vocalists and the crowd ate up everything the band ably dished out. [More...]
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Gogol Bordello Non-Stop at ATA
March 1, 2009
Words by Ben Richardson
Some years back, the major megaplex chains got their grubby hands on liquor licenses, annexing off 21+ sections of their movie theaters and installing bars. Sitting in Artists’ Television Access on a Friday night, it was hard to tell why this idea wasn’t more successful. The charmingly DIY Valencia Street space had every seat filled, and between the brown-baggers and the people ferrying Red Stripes back and forth from ATA’s own bar, a convivial, buzzed excitement soon developed. The atmosphere recalled one of those magical spring afternoons, when even your high school Biology teacher got lazy, wheeled in the A/V set, and took the hour off. People kibbitzed quietly as the lights dimmed, cracking jokes, shfiting restlessly in their seats, and savoring the weekend that had only just begun.
The film on the docket was Margarita Jimeno’s Gogol Bordello Non-Stop: A Gypsy Punk Documentary, and the slightly inebriated vibe fit the bill perfectly. Gogol Bordello are a familiar name in music circles these days–I remember reading an article in Rolling Stone or Spin coaching me on how to get the Gogol Bordello “look”–but when Jimeno started filming seven years ago, they were a struggling New York band with a bizarre sound and an even more bizarre stage show. [More...]
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Noise Pop: Sunday Preview!
February 28, 2009
It will be sad to see Noise Pop end, but they will indeed go out with a bang.
Two shows punctuate Sunday’s Noise Pop festival. At 1pm, No Age (LA) will headline a show at Bottom of the Hill with White Circle Crime Club (Belgium), Infinite Body (LA) and Veil Veil Vanish. No Age plays a raucous and infecting type of power-punk that’s quite naturally produced in LA. If you want education about the more esoteric aspects of punk, check out this show, as they may soon be the master’s. $12.
noage_teencreeps.mp3
No Age – “Teen Creeps”
The last hurrah will take place at the Mezzanine with New York’s Les Savy Fav, The Mae Shi (LA) and The Drums. Since 1995, Les Savy Fav have charmed audiences with their post rock tunes and on-stage shenanigans. They make out-there rock songs that are somehow totally listenable and danceable. Don’t miss this unique performance. 8pm. $20.
lessavyfav_whatwouldwolvesdo.mp3
Les Savy Fav = “What Would Wolves Do?”
Artist’s Television Access will also host two more films at 2pm and 4:15pm, for $9 each. “Loki” is a biography of Brazil’s Arnaldo Baptista, lead singer of Os Mutantes. And “Nightflight: Born Again” is a 90-minute mix of rock concert footage and art film of 80s counter-culture. Read more details at Noise Pop’s film page.
Until next year.
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Kool Keith, Mike Relm, Crown City Rockers at the Mezzanine
February 28, 2009
Noise Pop has a focus on the indie rock slant of things, but if whoever was smart enough to book Mike Relm and Kool Keith as co-headliners for Thursday night was a genius.
Its important to make the distinction between DJing and turntablism. Both are art forms in their own right, but actually quite different. Turntablism in its simplest form is scratching while DJing is more about song selection (think of turntablism as a component of DJing). This night featured master’s of both, and live music to boot. [More...]
