Amazing Baby

Boyz Noize

If you absolutely can’t attend, however, we’ll be streaming the show live over on Justin.tv. Stay tuned for more details on that.

Set times for all of the bands, more info and mp3s below:

- Murray the Thief: 2:00-2:30pm

- Writer [San Diego]: 2:40-3:10pm

Writer – “Try and Stop Me”

- Birds & Batteries: 3:20-4:00pm

Birds & Batteries – “Ocarina”

- D Numbers [Santa Fe]: 4:10-4:50pm

- Finn Riggins [Boise]: 5:00-5:40pm

Finn Riggins – “Hraka”

- Low Red Land: 5:50-6:30pm

Low Red Land – “Better Angels”

- Two Sheds: 6:40-7:20pm

Two Sheds – “To Be Alive”

- Birdmonster: 7:30-8:15pm

Birdmonster – “Born To Be Your Man”

Well, what about it? The Moondoggies‘ Don’t Be a Stranger is truly bluesier than a lot of what gets called garage cuts these days, and I’m burned out again on the whole what-makes-indie-or-not so let’s cut to chase then and interrupt”–great album for rock and roll,” this Don’t be a Stranger, I mean, if that’s what you’re into, rock and roll.

The Moondoggies – “Changing”

No doddering, no drolls, the sort of lyrical content that defies abstraction but which might also provide the complete syntactic rudiments for its critical review, as if written to say, “I do not fear the undertaker . . .” Hold-on sweet dears.

Do I decamp, this time around, from the usual run-up bitchery, the increasingly web-hazardous, bitchfoxly assessment of a band, leaving the usual told-on internet warehouses, the mmeyespaces, to the jackals, then, for an intimate knowledge of a band’s material. Yes, I do. But mostly only because this is their first album as the Moondoggies and a buddy turned me onto them and they’re super cool and Kevin Murphy seems chill on the just-enough cliche tip and the songs are lots AED which raed the right way are a fine sight! Plus, it’s only a single album to have to memorize to’ve memorized their gospel completely.

Abstract. Abstract not; Methinks they used to be called The Familiars. Now they are called The Moondoggies, from up in Washington, Seattle, Washington? Some say the question mark is a copped-out cop out, like out like 10 – 4. Others say “Fleet Foxes” of the Moondoggies, the old, “The Band,” other old, “The Byrds,” which is, are, cool, but perhaps I’m the first old dude to drawl a bitsy asterisk by Neil Young on this one? Who knows. Shame it should boil down this way: I didn’t need to spend that much time doing the thang of the internet sketch here; the thang, like some pizzasauces from the middle nineties, “it’s in there.”

Oh yes, preview information:

Stranger Dance Presents: The Moondoggies, Harbours, Sarah Bethe Nelson @ Rickshaw Stop, 8pm, $10

Harbours – “Situation”

Thursday: Double Dagger, Awesome Tapes From Africa (DJ), Mi Ami, Beast Of Thought, Psychic Reality @ The Knockout

Mi Ami – “New Guitar”

Friday: The Heavenly States, Boatclub, The West Of, The Dashing Suns @ The Uptown in Oakland

The Heavenly States – “The Race”

Saturday: Birdmonster, Two Sheds, Low Red Land, Finn Riggins, D Numbers, Birds & Batteries, Writer, Murray The Thief @ El Rio

Writer – “Try and Stop Me”

Sunday: Weather Pending @ Mojito’s in North Beach

Weather Pending – “Tide”

Thursday, July 2nd – The Tallest Man on Earth, Nathaniel Rateliff + The Wheel @ The Independent

The Tallest Man on Earth – “It Will Follow in the Rain”

Swedish folk-pop artist The Tallest Man on Earth completes his US tour with a show at the Independent on Thursday night, with Nathaniel Rateliff + The Wheel opening. The Tall Man received great reviews for 2008’s Shallow Grave and we’ve heard nothing but great things about his live shows. Thursday’s show is at 8pm. Tickets are $12 adv/$14 door.

We have two pairs of tickets to give away. One pair will be given to the first person on Twitter to reply @thebaybridged “I want to see the Tallest Man on Earth!”

The other pair will be given to the first person to e-mail contest@thebaybridged.com with your full name, “Tallest Man Giveaway” in the subject, and the sentence: “I want to see the Tallest Man on Earth!”

Tuesday, July 7th – Dirty Projectors, What’s Up? @ The Independent

Dirty Projectors – “Stillness Is The Move”

Do we even need to introduce Dirty Projectors to you? Their new album, Bitte Orca, is being hailed as one of the year’s best, and their show next Tuesday at the Independent is completely SOLD OUT. Not to worry, though, we’ve got a pair of tickets up for grabs! The show starts at 8pm, with What’s Up? opening.

To enter: send an E-mail contest@thebaybridged.com with your full name, “Dirty Projectors Giveaway” in the subject, and a completed version of the following sentence: “The projector became dirty when _______________.” The fourth person to send an E-mail will win the tickets.

Citay bandleader Ezra Feinberg is no stranger to the studio setting–Citay actually began as a studio project for him and producer Tim Green in 2004–but his group quickly developed into one of the Bay’s best live rock bands. A large ensemble that creates intricate, dynamic rock epics relies on great players, and Citay overflows with talented performers who understand how to excel in the quieter moments as well as the grand ones. With two great albums under their belts, including 2007’s acclaimed Little Kingdom (Dead Oceans), we were please to host the band for a session.

As per New, Improved, LIVE rules, Citay’s set below includes tracks from both of the band’s excellent albums and their first ever recorded cover: a rocking take on Sweet’s “Set Me Free”, from 1974’s Sweet Fanny Adams. As you’ll hear in the mp3s, the New, Improved Recording team managed to not only fit everyone from Citay into the same room, but to perfectly capture the band’s sweeping live performances in all their glory.

For even more, check out photos from the session and an interview with Citay’s Ezra Feinberg at our New, Improved, LIVE page! Videos from the session courtesy of Pandora will be published later this month!

New, Improved, LIVE, featuring: Citay

1. Citay – “Nice Cuffs” (originally from Citay)

Download: 160kbps mp3 / 320kbps mp3

2. Citay – “First Fantasy” (originally from Little Kingdom)

Download: 160kbps mp3 / 320kbps mp3

3. Citay – “Little Kingdom” (originally from Little Kingdom)

Download: 160kbps mp3 / 320kbps mp3

4. Citay – “Set Me Free” (cover; originally by Sweet off their 1974 album Sweet Fanny Adams )

Download: 160kbps mp3 / 320kbps mp3

We’d like to thank Ezra and Citay for the superb performance. A number of exciting artists are lined up for future New, Improved, LIVE sessions, which will be published at thebaybridged.com/new-improved-live/ on a monthly basis. Acclaimed performers and a top notch studio means great free music that redefines the studio experience: New, Improved, LIVE.

New, Improved, LIVE, featuring: Citay

1. Citay – “Nice Cuffs” (originally from Citay)

Download: 160kbps mp3 / 320kbps mp3

2. Citay – “First Fantasy” (originally from Little Kingdom)

Download: 160kbps mp3 / 320kbps mp3

3. Citay – “Little Kingdom” (originally from Little Kingdom)

Download: 160kbps mp3 / 320kbps mp3

4. Citay – “Set Me Free” (cover; originally by Sweet off their 1974 album Sweet Fanny Adams )

Download: 160kbps mp3 / 320kbps mp3

Interview with Ezra Feinberg of Citay

TBB: Thanks for playing a New, Improved, Live session. How did you pick the songs to play during the session?

EF: Well we did a similar session for the Seattle station KEXP back in January so we wanted to do different songs. And we were all stoked to play the Sweet song “Set Me Free.” It’s our first recorded cover.

TBB: Citay’s lineup has changed some since the last album. Could you talk a little bit about the band’s newer members? How are they impacting the band’s sound?

EF: The latest members are Josh Pollock and Sean Smith on guitar and Meryl Press on vocals. Josh and Sean have changed things because they’ve brought their own very unique style to the band. Josh has a space station’s worth of sound effects and he uses everything all the time. He often makes the guitar sound like something else, and he does things I could never do. I think he makes us hit higher peaks, and his solos push us as a band.

Sean’s playing is anchored and more traditional. He comes up with really tasteful lines. He lays down rhythm guitar grooves like a bass player and I love that. Plus he breaks out now and then with a few killer leads which is always exciting. Meryl has added another soaring female voice to the lineup. She can hang with Tahlia vocally which is important.

TBB: Is it tough to be a great live band with so many members? To what do you attribute the band’s strong live chemistry?

EF: It can be logistically challenging but we’re all friends so that helps. I think the band’s chemistry comes from our friendships too. Awwwwww… Really though – that’s important. Plus we’ve all played in other bands together so there is a constant musical dialogue happening between us in and out of Citay.

TBB: Could you talk a little about the cover you performed? Why did you pick this song to play at New, Improved, Live?

EF: “Set Me Free” by Sweet is the closest we’ll ever come to playing an Iron Maiden cover. Seriously. It’s a great song and it has been a challenge for us. I envisioned it a long time ago – probably two years ago now. That song has an energy that feels like where I want Citay to go from here.

TBB: Have you been working on material for a new album? Where do you see your newer songs heading compared to Little Kingdom?

EF: Yes we are in the middle of recording a new album. It’ll be done in the late summer and out in early 2010 on Dead Oceans. It’s a similar vibe, sort of. Definitely more upbeat, bigger, louder, but still the same themes – soaring guitars and vocals, groovy parts, long-form songs (for the most part) and a generally epic experience. Also the new album will include a different cover – the Citay version of the Galaxie 500 song “Tugboat.”

TBB: Do you have a favorite song or two for the band to play live? Why is it your favorite?

EF: I’ve always enjoyed playing “Nice Cuffs” from the first Citay album. It’s got a heavy groove and I like the double time rave up at the end. Always gets me goin’. But to be honest I like them all so it’s hard to say. I don’t want to betray any of them. Cuz then whatever songs I don’t mention might get mad at me and then we’ll end up playing those songs badly at the next show. And no one wants that. I try to keep all my songs feeling happy and special.

Studio Session Photos with Citay

 

Credits
Audio: Eli Crews, John Finkbeiner, Jay Pellicci
Photos: Nicole Browner

Photos by: Charlie Homo

It was a weird night over at the Independent on Thursday. The specter of Michael Jackson’s death hung over the night like bubble wrap on your grandma’s antique china. It felt slightly awkward to be seeing what was sure to be a solid night of live music knowing what went down earlier that day was, in fact, a reality.

Time marches on, as I’m sure someone great once said, and I suppose we were to be the first cavalry. Three amazing bands were scheduled to take the stage in what felt like a strangely paced night, but was ultimately a great show anyway.

Still Flyin – “Good Thing It’s a Ghost Town Around Here”

Still Flyin’ took the floor first, and while the Independent’s wide stage allowed this 15+ member band to stretch out and move around a little bit, something they are very good at, the crowd was sparse…It was pretty much to be expected that early in the night, but a drag nonetheless as these guys are in their element when playing to a full room. Regardless, they played a solid set full of great tunes that can’t help but infect your jaded sensibilities with a need to get down. Even thought the crowd was small, in the end, the band got the people moving Also, their re-interpretation of Soul Asylum’s “Runaway Train” was a real treat.

Next up was the formidable Port O’Brien, who I have to admit, I’d never seen live before. (I know, Shame on me.) After this set, though, I’ll be making catching the band a regular thing. First off, guitar/keyboardist/whatever else, Gram Lebron (Rogue Wave) took the stage and sang a few little ditties all by his lonesome. Then Port O’Brien proper joined him on stage with Tyson Vogel (Two Gallants) on drum duty and the show really started.

Port O’Brien – “Fisherman’s Son”

Port O’Brien are gearing up to release a new album in the fall that headliner Papercuts’ Jason Quever produced, so there was most definitely a family vibe to this set. They played a mix of new and old songs and lead singer Van Pierszalowski really gave the crowd a show as he threw himself about on stage without missing a beat. In fact there were several times I thought he might fall over, but to no avail, he kept on going. Cambria Goodwin was beautiful as always and had a much more subdued temperament about her. She switched between banjo and guitar from song to song but mostly just kept her seat and sang softly when the time came for it. It made for an interesting dichotomy, on one side Van, swaggering on stage like a drunken sailor, howling into the mic. Then Cambria, sitting politely on stage playing her banjo and singing sweetly. Of course all this went directly out the window for the bands final song “I Woke Up Today”, as they invited all the members of Still Flyin’ on stage and passed out pots and pans to the audience to play along. Lets just say the place got noisy, in the best way possible.

Papercuts‘ Jason Quever took the stage with fellow musicians in tow and immediately launched into a dreamy, relaxed set comprised mainly of tracks off his newest album You Can Have What You Want with some from prior albums added for good measure. Jason’s voice is almost like aural Valium; while it doesn’t jump out and grab you right away, it does find a way to penetrate whatever state you’re in and transport you to a more relaxed place. The organ played second fiddle to Jason, adding flourish and structure to some of the choruses and giving him a nice foil for his particular style of singing.

Papercuts – “You Can Have What You Want”

Papercuts aren’t concerned with stage acrobatics either, instead focusing on providing the listener with textures that bring the audience along with them. Not one for banter, Quever thanked the audience for their adoration while moving from one pop gem to another. Polite and innocent, his boyish charm was evident and he seemed to be genuinely appreciative of all the love he was getting that night.  Highlights of the set were the head-bob-inducing “Future Primitive” and the deceptive change-up “John Brown”. When the audience demanded an encore, the performers almost seemed a bit unprepared for it, coming out and explaining that as a band, they hadn’t rehearsed the final song too much. But it went off without a hitch and they gracefully left the stage, ending the night’s festivities.

I guess looking back on it the show was paced nicely. Starting with a party, moving on into some solid rocking, and ending with a blissful kiss off. Not your usual lineup, however, and I was a little worried: Port O’Brien put on such a good show that I wondered how Papercuts were going to follow up on it. The headliners did their job admirably and I made my way home happy that I was able to be there and see three amazing examples of SF bands that are on their ways up, while feeling sad that a legend was no longer with us.

Our latest Monthly Mix episode of the weekly podcast includes music from nine great Bay Area bands — some submissions we’ve received at TBB headquarters, some stuff we’ve posted on the web site recently, all really good stuff.

Subscribe to the The Bay Bridged weekly podcast to get each new episode downloaded free to your iTunes the moment it’s published!

About all of the bands:

Oakland songwriter Brian Glaze (”Leader of the Band”) returns with his third LP Green Living, out July 13th on World Famous In San Francisco. He’ll be at McLaren Park on July 18th as part of the Mission Creek Music Festival.

We recently witnessed The Blacks‘ (”Sunday Boys”) stunning and bittersweet final performance, but the band’s legacy lives on with their new album Tiger Songs, out July 21st on Tricycle Records. Check out a great collection of photos from their final show on Flickr.

Oakland’s Sir Lord Von Raven (”Take It or Leave It”) includes members of The Time Flys and The Gris Gris, and their debut LP Please Throw Me Back In The Ocean is out now on HappyParts Recordings. The band has upcoming shows on July 3rd at the Ghost Town Gallery, and July 9th at The Stork Club.

Von Iva (”Guise”) recently released their latest EP Girls on Film, featuring a bunch of new songs alongside tracks from their previous album. The trio has a number of August dates on the East Coast that you can see on their MySpace page.

Bay Area indie pop stalwarts The Invisible Cities (”Marine Parade Road (Soupy)”) released their latest album Houses Shine Like Teeth a few months ago. You can download the new album for free for a limited time. More details about that can be found here.

Lesser Lights (”The Harvest Halt”) is the musical alter ego of Bay Bridged contributor Nate Baker. The singer-songwriter’s upcoming EP, One Day In May, was recorded with Aaron Prellwitz at SF’s Tiny Telephone and you can check out more of his music at his web site.

Conspiracy of Venus (”I’m Your Man”) is a female acapella choir with an affinity for the works of Leonard Cohen and Tom Waits and a reputation as a great live band. You can find out more about the band in our recent profile here and can catch their season opener show on September 3rd at the Rickshaw Stop.

Family Room (”Earthworm”) recently released their album Blood Orange, a stripped down folk-rock collection from Evan Jewett and an assortment of contributors . Check out a video of a live performance of this song at Vimeo.

James and Evander (”Bells”) is a new electronic project from the good people at 500 Records. In addition to making their debut The Awkward Turtle EP, the Oakland duo also has produced recordings for Grand Lake, The Aimless Never Miss, Form & Fate and others.

You can view more of her work at her website; check out her brand new blog; and, if you’re in the mood to purchase something, you can head here.

White Cloud, Atole and Starfucker deserved a better slot than a Tuesday evening, and dished out a unique blend of feedback-heavy electro pop that felt better suited for a Friday.  Local group White Cloud opened the night with a mellow – at least in comparison to Starfucker – set featuring rhythmic change-ups and occasional dissonance, while Atole delivered lots of dance-worthy synth rock punctuated with abstract vocals.

Live touches like beat-boxing, scratching and ubiquitous Alan Watts samples did good things for Starfucker’s performance, which also saw the the Portland quartet branching out into more intentional feedback than before.  While their show was made up exclusively of released material, some creative guitar timing and a mischievous look lent the performance an enjoyable touch of suspense.

Check out more photos from this show below:

Starfucker

Atole

White Cloud

Facebook screamed with puns immediately following the news of Michael Jackson’s death — “His heart just couldn’t ‘Beat It,’” “‘Do You Remember the Time,’ when he was alive” — but people on the streets and in the bars Thursday night had many things to say about life and career of the King of Pop. It was a night to recollect our first memories of MJ and marvel at the creative peaks and absurd images that characterized his long career, with everything from the immortal Thriller video (and Bollywood and Phillipines’ prison variations) to the disastrous Pepsi commercial coming up in conversation.

Here’s a wide-ranging collection of thoughts from San Francisco bargoers on the night of Michael Jackson’s passing:

“It was 1982. I was in 2nd grade and Thriller was the record that I was listening to. I remember looking at him with his baby tiger and seeing his ligament in his arm and just thinking ‘wow, he’s skinny!’ But I still loved him. I danced to his album nonstop over and over again.” – Beth Schuenemann

“The first time MJ came into my life. I was seven years old. My older brother was ten. This was 89′. One day I was going through the couch cushions and found his Jackson 5 cassette and I stole it. For two weeks I listened to it nonstop. My brother cried everyday because he couldn’t find it. I think it broke a few weeks later.”  – Marisa Lehnert

“My theory is that everyone from 18 to 40 has an MJ story. Mine goes back to when I was five years old. I wanted to be like the guys in his “Bad,” video, the one where they’re doing backflips at the end of the song, so I started trying the backflips. That was the first time I knocked the wind out of myself. I bawled my eyes out.” – DJ D.A.V.O aka David Richardson

“I remember my little sister listening to it, but I was totally into different shit. I was ten years old listening to Pink Floyd. But all my friends were obsessed with the jackets and shit.” Jerome Broussard – Age 30, Doorman, Lipo in Chinatown

“If I lost Prince today, I would take tomorrow off. Not MJ, though. It’s Prince’s raunchiness that does it for me.” – Simone Grudzen

“I didn’t know him, but I bet he would like us dancing in his honor.” – Kim at Lipo’s in Chinatown

“My brother worked for MJ. He did productions for Jackass, too. He said ‘he was a nice guy, well mannered, very skinny’.” – Man at Buddha on Grant Street

“The way that he danced. The way he sang. The moonwalk was cool. He was only fifty. ‘He he he, Ow!!!’ ” – Mark, Bartender at Buddha on Grant Street

“There isn’t a person in this bar who hasn’t danced to the Thriller record. He’s part of our DNA. There was a time in this country when everyone felt good.” – Anonymous @ Buddha

“I took badminton in high school and our coach made us listen to an MJ medley every practice. It was kind of traumatizing.”  – Ashley Pheil – Age 23

“I was obsessed with him last summer. It was all about the gravity lean. I think they put holes on the stage and used pegs on their shoes to do it.” – Peter @ Jack’s on 24th Street

“I was involuntarily committed to a psyche ward because I thought MJ was a modern messiah. Live and die in the public eye. It’s all a metaphor.” – Lindsey @ Jack’s on 24th

“RIP Mike. He gave you the ‘durty soul.’ He’s the greatest. All the way from Jackson 5.” – Man @ Jack’s on 24th

“Black Michael, I’m not so sad about. He died a long, long time ago.” – Girl @ Jack’s

“I just think the whole thing is totally lame.” – Dude at Jack’s on 24th

“My roommate is obsessed. Thriller jacket, all the videos, Billie Jean jacket. He broke every dish today. His hands are fucked up.” – Roger at Jack’s on 24th

“First thing I remember I was in my basement. It was ‘Heal the World.’ I felt like I was in a stadium.” – Mike Graef

Congrats to SF’s Girls, whose debut full length album, er, Album, will be released September 22nd on True Panther Sounds in conjunction with the venerable Matador Records. The band’s debut 7″ was terrific, and their live shows equally compelling, and Matador is whetting my appetite with the description below:

Built on the powerful songwriting of Christopher Owens and the ethereal production of Chet “JR” White, Girls recorded Album in a variety of bedrooms and rehearsal studios in their adopted hometown, San Francisco. The resulting 12 tracks are the perfect San Francisco summer record, evoking a narcotic, sunny afternoon in Dolores Park, yet promising the eventual hangover of summer’s departure. Album is a redemptive song-cycle about the various characters and desires that color Christopher Owens’s life. Described by the band as “honest, loose, ethereal, obnoxious and perfect,” it is a sincere tribute to the majesty of great pop music and the healing power of rock and roll.

Catch Girls this Wednesday at Club Club You’re Dead at The Stud, or at the Rickshaw Stop on July 21st. All of the band’s upcoming US tour dates are over at their MySpace page.

Cousin Chris (paired w/ white beans with chard)

San Francisco’s Cousin Chris’ stunning debut album, Moon Paper, is simultaneously evocative of Elliott Smith and early Modest Mouse records (or at least a stripped down version of MM’s This Is a Long Drive), both of whom are cited as notable influences for Cousin Chris in addition to bands like Do Make Say Think, Leonard Cohen, and the Black Keys. Similar to the way Elliott Smith recorded many of his albums, Moon Paper is the product of the sole efforts of Chris Schreiber, who sings and plays all instruments on the album.  We originally paired Moon Paper with Farina in the Mission.  However, I think this rustic white beans and chard recipe would be an equally appropriate pairing as both the album and the recipe are rustic, warm and earthy.  And Kasey notes that this recipe “is composed of few ingredients–but the right ingredients” and the same could be easily said of Cousin Chris’ Moon Paper.

Cousin Chris – The River

On one of Moon Paper’s standout tracks, “The River,” Schreiber’s cold, acoustic strumming is met head on by a slow, sliding honky-tonk guitar riff and sparse, well-placed drumming.  Addressing the alienation resulting from the modern dependency on technology, “Eternal Mind” taps and rolls as Schreiber again makes excellent use of the slide guitar and sparse drum work, this time humming an accent as he laments that the “computer screen has become my own messianic being.”  Since releasing Moon Paper Cousin Chris has evolved, and now incorporates a full band: bassist Josh Izenberg and drummer Calvin Kan.  They are currently in the studio working on tracks for their next release.  They’ve been kind enough to share an exclusive first listen of the track “Mind Is Poor” from their recording sessions in addition to “The River” which appears on Moon River.  You can buy Moon River directly from the band on Cousin Chris’ website.  If you are interested in reading the full recipe for the delicious white beans and chard recipe, head over to eating/SF.

Cousin Chris – Mind Is Poor

Birds & Batteries – I’ll Never Sleep Again (paired w/ rosemary baked eggs)

Birds & Batteries are considered by many people to be one of the most promising new local acts in San Francisco. Their latest album, I’ll Never Sleep Again, opens with their reworking of Neil Young’s classic cut, “Heart of Gold,” which has received attention by a few, notable (non-Bay Area) music magazines including Rolling Stone.  Their version begins with enigmatic, slow, stuttering chimes, which abruptly give way to lead singer Michael Sempert’s twangy vocals and waves of pedal steel guitar. Less than a minute later, cold synths are followed by trembling, sonically-rich percussion.  Despite the synths, I’d still describe the over-all sound as rustic and warm, and therefore I’ll Never Sleep Again would be well paired with this flavorful, farm-in-the-country style baked rosemary eggs recipe.

The song “I’ll Never Sleep Again,” also employs slow, shining sequences and synths that bleat atop listless pedal steel as Sempert sings: “I’m alive / and I’m wondering / how to stay that way / cause I was young once / I could be young again.” Sweeping arrangements and an upbeat melody highlight standout track “Ocarina.” Other excellent tracks include the sonic explosion, “Star Clusters,” the menacing “After a Flood,” and the contemplative “Soft Surveillance.”  Birds & Batteries are currently working on their third album, which is scheduled for a release sometime in the near future (Spring 2009). You can pick up I’ll Never Sleep Again directly from the band or from iTunes.

Birds & Batteries – Ocarina

About Musical Pairings: Musical Pairings began as a way to combine Matthew’s love of music with his fiance Kasey’s love for cooking and dining out.  Kasey regularly posts about our cooking and dining out adventures at http://www.eating-sf.com and Matthew pairs Kasey’s recipes and reviews with his favorite albums at: http://musicalpairings.blogspot.com. Contact us at Musical.Pairings@thebaybridged.com

The tunes are an affecting mix of power and subtly, counterposing guitarist Antonio Aguilar’s skittering licks and declamatory vocals against the thrumming bass and booming drums of Meg Castellanos and Chris Fuggit. Employing both crackling fuzz and enveloping warmth, the band is equally adept at stomping riffs and sly interludes, always delivering an entertaining show, particularly during Aguilar’s energetic solos. Annie’s small confines will provide an intimate look at a promising band (with only one show scheduled this summer), so sidle up to the rock while you still can.

Totimoshi – Sound the Horn

w/ Dusted Angel, Black Skies (NC), Hashishians
9pm, $8
Annie’s Social Club

For their homecoming show, HDC featured the backbone of the group, Grant Chambers (aka Resurrector), working the console onstage, Totter Todd on a midi guitar, sax, in addition to tossing in a healthy dose of effects, Stero-Lion holding down the toasting and adding verses to a few tracks, and finally Jillian Ann not only providing beautiful vocals but the good looks as well.

Despite being a hometown affair, it took a couple songs for the crowd to warm up to Heavyweight’s warped, bent, filtered, and flipped-on-it’s-head flavor of dubstep/dub hop.  The positive grooving of the crowd spread like the smoke from the numerous joints and/or blunts that lit up throughout the crowd.  During the first song there were 15-20 people really getting down, but by the third song of their set they had damn near the whole building swaying and bobbing.  In an awesomely awkward moment I noticed a 50+ year old couple who looked like they made the trip from Russian Hill grinding…yes grinding…and making out on the dancefloor.  Most definitely awkward, but awesome seeing the music transcend ages both older and younger.

The excitement was not restricted to the crowd either.  Totter Todd let loose some of his signature spastic bouncing and at one point pulled a move like the girl from the Exorcist violently shaking his head back and forth while seeming screaming at the heavens.  Resurrector was primarily occupied with the business at hand – making the music – but would punctuate the performance by whipping his thigh length dreadlocks out of his face.  Stero added a great interactive touch by performing several songs from the set in the middle of the crowd.  Big ups on that.  As previously mentioned, Jillian brought the looks for the crew and exuded a sensuality that smoothed over the aggressive edge of the music.

To be perfectly honest, much of the evening was a blur.  HDC’s set was over almost as soon as it began, despite its 1hr+ run time.  I’ve previously described their music as trance inducing and this evening was no exception.  One of the many shining moments was when Return of the Champion blasted out of the speakers, the bass acting as a pacemaker and keeping my heart beating with its thunderous thump, and hearing people all around me join in on the hook.

I got the chance to hang out with the guys (and gal) from HDC backstage after their set (more on that in an upcoming post), so I missed most of Sly & Robbie’s set.  I made it a point to ask the concertgoers how they did, and as expected, they absolutely killed it, and from the descriptions from most everybody, Sly & Robbie made it look effortless.

If you’re doing any of the festival circuit summer, be sure and keep an eye out for Heavyweight Dub Champion as they will be playing several of them.  Rise up with the champion nation and check them out.

OK, I hear you. You’re asking, “Who is Paul Williams?” and “Why would I go to a benefit show?”

Paul was the founder of Crawdaddy Magazine, and has likely seen more amazing shows, met more interesting people, and written 20 more books that any of us ever will.

So again, you ask, “Why would I want to benefit a guy who seems to have picked the world of its tastiest fruit?”

Well, Paul was in a terrible bike accident in 1995 that left him with serious brain injury and resulting dementia. He’s thankfully still alive, but the cost of care is sky high.

Sunday’s benefit show will donate 100% of the proceeds to his family, and features performances by Mark Eitzel, former Dead Kennedys front man Jello Biafra, and Mojo Nixon. The show will be hosted by rock journalist Ben Fong-Torres.

Sunday June 28th, $20. Doors @ 8pm. More info at RedDevilLounge.com.

Cursive – “Mama, I’m Swollen”

The boys of Cursive have made a comfortable name for themselves as a sophisticated and intelligent group of musicians and lyricists, a reputation that reaches its pinnacle on the group’s newest album, Mama, I’m Swollen, released in March by Saddle Creek. The band will be playing at the Great American Music Hall on Saturday the 27th.

Tim Kasher possesses a talent for storytelling, through which he offers an intimate attempt to make sense of life’s bigger picture. The search for life’s meaning undoubtedly influences all music and art, but Cursive seems to offer an even closer look at life’s emotional subtleties. In other words, the new album is thought-provoking, forcing the listener to not only listen to the album over and over, but to take a second look at him or herself as well.

I Couldn’t Love You from Cursive on Vimeo.

Instrumentally, the album starts off with the up-tempo and straight-to-the-point track “In the Now,” but after that, the band proceeds to explore and experiment with different tempos and rhythms, creating an organized landslide of emotion for the listener. Quite different from the record’s beginning, ‘What Have I Done?’ ends the album on a somber note, implying exactly what the title says. All around, the album is a fantastic piece of work, exhibiting the band’s evolution within their signature musical style.

Supporting Cursive on Saturday will be Seattle’s Mt. Saint Helens Vietnam Band and Nebraska’s Box Edlers, who are both joining the headliner for a majority of the tour. Click here to buy tickets to Saturday’s show. They will touring for nearly the next two months, so check out the rest of their tour dates here.

XBXRX – “See Skies”

Un Usper is the fifth record from Oakland’s collective unit, who wrote, produced then released the record themselves earlier this month. Not far from the seed Lightning Bolt planted, Un Usper unveils itself as 12 songs and 23 minutes of freeform cyber punk with exuberant rhyme. And, does the ambiguously aquatic cover design not call to mind the fine literature of Eric Carle?

Themselves – “Take to the King”

Following a six year recording hiatus, Doseone and Jel of hip-hop duo Themselves have released theFREEhoudini.  The 39-minute single track mixtape features guest performances from Themselves’ label mates Aesop Rock, Buck 65 and cLOUDDEAD just to name a few.  TheFREEhoudini is available for free download for a limited time.  You can also pre-order the limited edition CD version – which features fifteen minutes of bonus audio – on Anticons website.

Papercuts – “You Can Have What You Want”

Friday: Sugar & Gold, Music for Animals, Castledoor @ Rickshaw Stop

Sugar & Gold – “Slice Me Nice”

Friday: Magic Bullets, Shannon and the Clams, Bridez @ Bottom of the Hill

Magic Bullets – “The Book is Closed”

Saturday: Citay, Tune-Yards, The Dry Spells, Dame Satan @ Tempest

The Dry Spells – “Lost Daughter”

Sunday: Telekinesis, The Mumlers, Mist and Mast @ Bottom of the Hill

The Mumlers – “Red River Hustle”

“Voltaic” is a compilation of sorts from her latest Volta — the box set includes a CD, vinyl LP, and DVD which more or less chronicle the past two years she has spent supporting the album. It’s being released in the states on June 30th (nonesuch). To commemorate the occasion The Roxie theater is hosting two nights (June 26-27) of free viewing of the live in Paris concert DVD that is included in the package. Both are midnight showings; click here for more information.

Thursday, June 25th – Papercuts, Port O’Brien, Still Flyin’ @ The Independent

Papercuts will be headlining an incredible all local evening over at The Independent on Thursday supporting their newest album, You Can Have What You Want. Joining them are west coast tourmates, Port O’Brien, who are getting ready to release a new album thisfall which was produced by Papercuts own Jason Quever. Still Flyin’ will be opening the show which will be their second to last before they head out to Europe for a full tour in July.

Papercuts – You Can Have What You Want

To enter: send an E-mail contest@thebaybridged.com with your full name, “Papercuts Giveaway” in the subject, and answer the question “If you could have anything, what would it be?”. The third person to send an E-mail will win the tickets.

Sunday, June 28th – Telekinesis, The Mumlers, Mist and Mast @ Bottom of the Hill

Seattle’s Telekinesis will be stopping by Bottom of the Hill on Sunday ending their nationwide tour in support of their highly acclaimed self-titled album released on Merge earlier this year. San Jose’s The Mumlers (who have been a favorite among the staff here) will be joining Telekinesis with Mist and Mast.

Telekinesis – “I Saw Lightning”

To enter: Be the first person to reply to @thebaybridged on Twitter with the phrase “I want to see Telekinesis!”

June 30th – Goh Nakamura, Jane Lui @ Cafe du Nord

Nothing needs to be written for this show – it can be completely summed up with this video:

To enter: Send an E-mail to contest@thebaybridged.com with your full name, “Goh Nakamura Giveaway” in the subject, and your favorite Goh Nakamura song in the body. The fifth person to send us an E-mail will win the tickets.

Papercuts @ The Independent is $13, starts at 8pm and is 21+
Telekinesis @ Bottom of the Hill is $8, starts at 9pm and is 21+
Goh Nakamura @ Cafe du Nord is $10, starts at 8pm and is 21+

After a long span away due to a world tour and supporting Queens of the Stone Age, this will be their first Bay Area show in nearly 11 months.  They have a few more dates around the area after their Uptown show before going on tour with Akron Family in August. Their newest album Magnificent Fiend was co-released by Birdman records (SF) and Rick Rubin’s American Recordings (L.A).

Earlier this year, I attended one of those Brightblack Morning Light showcases at Cafe Du Nord. It was so resolutely weird (both good and bad weird), that in hindsight, it has proven to be a personal turning point for my overall consideration of the Bay Area’s so-called “freak folk” or your ‘term of choice’ movement. Symbolically, at least.

Like a plume of smoke, the 10 mph soothing and repetitive soul stoned picnic that is Brightblack, wafted over a suspiciously passive audience, a great number of which funneled out the door before the set’s end. It was unfortunate, but not surprising. The energy was low, the music was slow, and it was after all, past midnight at a show in SF. That said, this was an “it” band less than year before this particular show. A band that perhaps embodied the spirit and future of evolving indie/major Matador.

I found my head rambling, in no particular order: “are these guys/gals really drifters?”, “are they blissfully unaware?”, “can urban dwellers in places like NY and SF continue to stroll with small animals wrapped around their feet, sporting quasi Native American regalia, and name-checking no name psych folk acts from their esteemed record collections while reconciling such natural environments?”, “are both Devandra Banhart and Joanna Newsom still dating Hollywood people?”, “where is, what is, or do we want a new Haight?”, and finally, “what is the new freak rock people”?, “Is it all the new lo-fi we swallow up (cuz it’s so raw man, and they’re not trying too hard), or the obsessive tinkering of any number of kid geniuses hailing from Brooklyn?”,

2009, June, enter Sleepy Sun. Hailing from Santa Cruz, where health food stores, edgy surfers, university students and bohemian street musicians and peddlers struggle to compete for real estate with the ascending techy, hybrid-driving urban sophisticates. Will the last quintessential, larger coastal beach town on the California coast preserve in the slightest? Tell me, is there still a trailer park on the UCSC campus? Does the school shrug its shoulders at a group of students who call themselves “woodsies” and live, well, in the woods? I’ll never know.

I will, though, recall seeing these kids from Santa Cruz for the first time. Not only because everyone in the Hall had a crush on them, but it was the way they wielded the double-edged sword of revivalist rock irony with genuine ethusiasm and talent. Some of their undulating tunes (like “Sleepy Son”, “Lord”) couldn’t save me from thinking of Brightblack (hence the rambling preface here), but SS would shed a layer of mellow for fuzzy rhythmic interludes, generating a lot more noise (as a Pitchfork reviewer recently noted in his positive review of Embrace).

To her credit, sometimes vocalist Rachel Williams constantly set the bar for the band’s onstage presence. That said, I think no one would have minded hearing her gorgeous pipes a bit more. Striking a quiet/loud dynamic can work well, if the crowd hangs with you in the those low motion moments, and fortunately for SS, they had the hometown crowd backing them hard. You could hear Rachel better at these times, and she and lead vocalist Bret Constantino were able to bring the band’s melodies to the forefront, distinguishing some of the “jams” from the promising songwriting.

The crowd warmed slowly but steadily to second support, Spindrift, who presented a Doors-laden pastiche of Western soundtrack flavored dirges, leaving the way for moody vocals to croon above the room’s mix. The band features a few veterans from an earlier era of revivalist rock in the indie scene (Brian Jonestown Massacre, The Warlocks), and as much as their experience benefits their well-groomed retro attack, they had their work cut out in trying to muster the attention of a younger crowd anticipating Sleepy Sun, who were not nearly appreciative enough of the band’s authentic renderings.

Opener, SF’s own Assemble Head in Sunburst Sound, showed no identity crisis whatsoever, putting forth a consistently solid offering of guitar and keyboard-driven psych rock, with reverberated vocals tucked nicely underneath. Their heavier side sounded like a cross of vintage Dinosaur Jr. and Boston’s underground psych hereoes, Major Stars. It’s refreshing to see a band play the material it obviously loves, and excecute on all levels.

This week, we’re excited to feature Battlehooch, a band whose sound and antics border on the indescribable, combining elements of art rock, prog, and pop to create funky, winning songs. After building a strong reputation as an energetic live band, who often performed on City streets with a homemade generator, the group released their debut EP, 2008’s Oof Owf. This week, the band returns with their first full length album, Piecechow, which maintains their trademark kitchen sink approach, with a variety of horns, synths and drum machines, while staying catchier than a lot of proggy music. That’s no small feat, especially considering that the band challenges itself to avoid ever doing the same thing twice.

If you haven’t experienced Battlehooch before, our interview will make clear that the band is comprised of some eclectic characters (which may be something of an understatement). The guys met in Santa Cruz, where they were music students at UCSC, and emerged as Battlehooch upon moving to San Francisco in 2006. Most of them now live and record together in a house in the Sunset District, and the close quarters have no doubt contributed to the guys’ development of a shared vocabulary of Battlevans (their tour van), Battlepads (their home), and Battlerags (the distinctive headbands group members wear). But behind their eccentricity, there’s a wealth of musical talent and inventive compositional ideas, fused into a unified aesthetic of do-anything musical freedom now captured on Piecechow.

We sat down with the band at The Bay Bridged Studio recently to discuss their origins, the meaning of “piecechow” and more. We’ve also included four songs from Piecechow in the episode.

Subscribe to the The Bay Bridged weekly podcast to get each new episode downloaded free to your iTunes the moment it’s published!

Upcoming Shows:

After tomorrow night’s CD release show, Battlehooch head out on a West Coast tour. You can get all of those tour dates at their MySpace page.

Wednesday, June 24th
Bottom of the Hill
with Deastro and Tempo No Tempo (Piecechow CD Release Party!)
9pm, $8/$10, 18+

Links:

- Visit Battlehooch on MySpace

- Head to the band’s web site, where you can purchase their albums

- Check out a video for “The Special Place” and other Battlehooch videos on Vimeo

A cut off of Starfucker’s new record, “Medicine”, was recently placed on Spin Magazine’s list of “songs you must hear now.” Jupiter can be purchased either through Badman or on iTunes.

The show is 21+, and for more info click this way.

Last week, The Dodos announced details surrounding their upcoming third album, including its ominous title, Time To Die. Word is that the band’s picking up where they left off with the stripped-down frenzy of last year’s Visiter, although there are some new faces in the mix, including awesome producer Phil Ek (Built to Spill, Fleet Foxes, The Shins) and new bandmate Keaton Snyder, described as “a 21-year-old music school dropout who plays a mean vibraphone.”

The Time to Die tracklisting is as follows, and includes “Fables”, which the band performed recently for Pitchfork.tv (seen above).

Time To Die:

1. Small Deaths
2. Longform
3. Fables
4. The Strums
5. This Is A Business
6. Two Medicines
7. Troll Nacht
8. Acorn Factory
9. Time To Die

Lesser Lights – “The Harvest Halt”

Thursday’s pairing at Du Nord of New York’s A.A. Bondy and San Francisco’s low profile Lesser Lights (Nathan Baker) promises to be a truer calling to the form — sparseness in composition, and lyrically, historical and societal introspection trumping heartbreak and self-importance. Bondy, originally hails from Alabama, while LL’s Baker once called Indiana home.

A.A. Bondy’s sophomore album, When The Devil’s Loose, will be released September 1, 2009 on Fat Possum. Some advance copies of Lesser Lights’ new EP, One Day In May, recorded with Aaron Prellwitz (Sun Kil Moon) at SF’s Tiny Telephone will be available too.

We are giving away a pair of tickets to this show! All you have to do is E-mail contest@thebaybridged.com with your name, address, and the phrase “I want to go to Cafe du Nord on Thursday!” by Wednesday at noon. The winner will be chosen randomly and notified via E-mail.

Show is at 9pm, $12, 21+

Yes indie’d a sincere, sweaty performance out of your SF-based The Blacks. Also a CD release but yes, idie’d again (and proud of ourselves and clever as a left-handed skyhook from Pixar, that is, [look Up] a metanym for “snipehunt”?) our The Blacks, America’s The Blacks and their buttons made of irony say with no emoticons “We [heart] The Blacks”:

Perhaps a discussion lay in the cards about such an eponymous flirtation with, or stab at, art–art as cultural effrontery–but keep in mind this here review comes from a guy who knows not whether any of the band The Blacks’s members really has Black in his name or if that matters at all, and who speaks in awful ragged pidgins so to try and impress French folks trying to seem coincidental . . ; what it’s supposed to call up and mean and everything for people in sitting bookstores on rugs, I mean from a cultural, say Post-Radicalistical perspective but let’s hope we can table that for now and resume later on the same rugged internets or over a joe. No wonder The Blacks are “takers” [see Instinct] in New York City and SF. They are tambourine tossers. Duck! The set was real, real good, the only way the name gets carried off unless of course there’s black in all their names but from the looks of it, well, who knows these days, yeah?

It makes me think of a “Got Milk?” t-shirt saying only redundantly, “Got Got?” in milkfont.

Show was tight.

Isis – “20 Minutes/40 Years”

It’s hard to blame the innovators for all this aping, and Isis still stands above the fray on the strength of distinctive, warm guitar tones and a keen ear for melody. New album Wavering Radiant is another strong example of inventive, atmospheric songwriting, matching the band’s crushing riffs with a limber musicianship that abets the complicated arrangements. As the band continues to develop, eerie interludes have come into their own alongside their traditional riff-earthquakes.

Founding guitarist Aaron Turner is also the progenitor of Hydra Head Records, which has established itself as a premier label for all that is heavy, but also quirky. Featuring many artists Isis-like and not, Turner’s dual responsibility keeps the band at the center of a scene, independent of their musical inspiration.

The show at the Great American on Tuesday will feature labelmates Helms Alee and Mammifer (another Turner project), providing a three-Hydra-headed dose of captivating, mostly instrumental metal. Expect stately progressions and epic shifts, with the occasional moment that sounds like planets exploding in slow motion.

The show is $16, starts at 9pm and is 6+

There was a tangible volatility in the room: I was floating stagnant in love’s doldrums and Mike was a little gassy. It was compounded by the fact that we were drinking Sammy Smiths. With every sip I grew increasingly remiss, meanwhile Mike kept lifting his butt off the chair to fart. But it was just us two so no one else was offended. Until now. We can’t be sure if any of these mitigating circumstances affected the following discussion, but as Mike is wont to say, we may not be what you want, but we’re what you need.

Wooden Shjips – “Motorbike”

We started with Wooden Shjips‘ Dos (Holy Mountain; 2009). I found the hits (Tracks 1 & 2 “Motorbike” and “For So Long”) made up for the occasional misses in a true return to kraut/psych fuzz rock fun. Mike disagreed. He felt it was time in his life to stop pretending that he enjoys “this rock and roll thing”, and doesn’t know if that makes him less of a man. The jury is still out, but we decided that if this is what you want, a hypnotic lustbaby of rusty garage rock, SF’s Wooden Shjips is your meal ticket. But Mike had the last words. “To me, it didn’t sound good when I was drinking a Brandy Alexander and playing computer golf”. I had previously thought everything sounded good when you’re drinking a Brandy Alexander and playing computer golf.

Black Moth Super Rainbow – “Iron Lemonade”

Next up: Black Moth Super Rainbow’s latest offering, Eating Us (Graveface; 2009). Synthesizer meltdowns, vocoded vocals, and idiosyncratic consonance continue to fuel this band’s surreal spaceship. Mike said it was great cocktail music. Put it on at a party and bask in the elegance. I agreed to the extent that I felt it was better suited in the background. Shedding their lo-fi and instinctual history in favor of a hot-shot producer (Dave Fridmann of Flaming Lips fame), I felt they lost a certain something along the way. I settled on the conclusion that they’re not exploiting their dexterity as much as I believe them capable of. Mike: “Wow”. That said, standout track “Iron Lemonade” will take you to the moon.

Darwinsbitch – “Iron Lake”

Lastly, we discussed Ore (Digitalis; 2009) by Darwinsbitch. Marielle v Jakobsons of Oakland uses this moniker to create a soft and beautiful nightmare in which violins pick the pockets of unsuspecting oscillators and subversive melodies slowly give way to new hiding places. In the past, drone had failed to captivate me in the enduring ways I had heard others describe. But Mike had faith, and I was completely taken. Rich in murky dissonance running along rivers of noise that could serve as the soundtrack for Brian Bolland’s version of Batman, the sonic landscape blurs dark space from which this red album stems. This music sneaks to a place where nothing is safe or certain, a cold drizzle continues, and there is little hope the shadows aren’t capable of eating you.

We decided these were satisfying records in their own right. However, at a time when it was needed most, with the notable exception of Ore, they lacked a consistent inspiration necessary to perpetuate a comfortable sensibility we could enjoy and hold onto. Together, these three varied albums share one important trait: they could all be considered ambient, atmospheric music. None of these shout LOOK AT ME! LOOK AT ME! while walking with their pants down through the airport and are more aligned in the recesses of real time. Maybe it had something to do with the place and space in which we listened, but we are hungry for more. These are records to enjoy when you’re thinking about not thinking, allowing them to take you behind the scenes, removed from the molecular tour.

On the way out, Mike threw me a bag of macadamia nuts and told me to treat myself right.

About Sade Sundays: A profundity has never slipped past the lips of a man who lives a life of quiet desperation. He has time for no such subtleties. So basically, Joshua and Michael have time on their hands. They spend it together one Sunday a month, dispensing boozy wisdom and violent, undefended revelries. You may listen, but you may also render their words as a call of the wild, a spear from St. George into the side of the dragon beast, or a meaningless squabble. Contact us: Sade.Sundays@thebaybridged.com

American Artifact world premieres tonight with two showings at the Red Vic Theatre on Haight Street, 5pm and 7pm.

If only everything about this movie were as cool as that Cheetah wearing sunglasses. Director Merle Becker’s debut documentary has its heart in the right place, and the filmmaker’s passion for posters bleeds from every frame, but American Artifact fails at the crucial task of transmitting this enthusiasm to its audience. Becker thinks we might be made interested in rock posters, and, indeed, we might, but her answer to the question “why should I be interested in rock posters?” seems mostly to consist of “hey, check out this really cool rock poster!” Shirking the documentarian’s role as journalist and cultural historian, the director instead concatenated something closer to a fan film, pitching softball questions to artists she transparently reveres.

In the early going, the film is not helped by one of the lamest set-ups in documentary history. Paraphrased, it goes something like this: “I bought a book about rock posters, and I liked it.” Drawn into the flourishing underground culture of rock poster memorabilia, Becker spent several years traveling the country and interviewing her ink-spattered idols, who expound gamely but tepidly about getting to do what they love, making art on behalf of their favorite bands, with unfettered creative license and a small but steady income.

Much is made of the vast impact that the posters had in their heyday, when Bill Graham was organizing grand, mythical shows at the Fillmore, or when xeroxed Dead Kennedys flyers were coalescing into pulpy mush around the nation’s many telephone poles. This rosy-eyed retrospective even spawns 2009’s worst simile, in which these crude, photocopied punk flyers are described as “like MySpace for the 80’s.”

Poster art’s modern incarnation, as presented by Becker, seems more like eBay for the 60’s, in which zany, spontaneous rabble-rousers are set up as larger-than-life indie celebrities and then swapped on the internet, preferably at gigposters.com, which merits several mentions. It appears as an insular world, an enthusiast’s world. Aging poster artists are shot at behind small tables at Poster Cons, peddling their greatest print runs. You almost expect a guy in a Klingon costume to wander into the frame. It’s a far cry from the “current rock poster art movement” described in the film’s press release.

Becker has a frustrating tendency to gloss over topics she is unable or unwilling to treat with, and the film is plagued by wonky chronology and number of startling omissions. If you lived in a small cave on a mountainside and knew nothing of mass media save what you saw in American Artifact, you might literally think that no one created rock posters in the 70’s, at all. Becker also cherrypicks her genres. Most people think that Ratt is a terrible band (not me), but is it really prudent to suggest that no one ever created a poster to advertise their oh-so-hairy presence?

According to Becker’s film, rock posters worth mentioning were created during four semi-discrete time periods: The late sixties, when pyschedelia was at its peak. The mid-eighties, when punk was in full swing (this segment features several mentions of Phish, no joke). The early nineties, during the salad days of grunge. And finally, the swinging aughts, at least, whenever they involve an artist that the filmmaker particularly enjoys. Viewers expecting a comprehensive or at least comprehensible account of “the rise of American rock poster art” might leave disappointed. Perhaps most notably, the film makes no mention of Raymond Pettibon, arguably the most important rock poster artist of the last three decades. Posters, moreover, are the only topic at hand. If any of these artists ever did an album cover or a t-shirt, we’ll have to find out for ourselves.

Local viewers will get a kick out of the many San Francisco ties, most related to the Fillmore Auditorium and Wolfgang’s Vault, which preserves a vast collection of vintage Fillmore posters. Many SF-based artists are also interviewed, including Victor Moscoso, whose description of how he deliberately violated the traditional precepts of poster-making (be legibile, don’t use loud, clashing colors, etc.) is one of the most intriguing bits of interview.

Sequences that focus on the mechanics of poster-making, whether by block- or screen-printing, give valuable insight into the processes involved in creating the art. Short, throwaway segments with obsessive collectors, who think nothing of dropping $800 on posters in a single day, give hints of what the movie might have been: a more objective look at an obsessive but noble subculture, along the lines of 2006’s sly hit Wordplay. Instead, speaking in cloying first-person in a series of increasingly noxious voiceovers, Becker proves herself incapable of stepping the necessary distance outside the poster culture that she loves–she is a serviceable pulpit-pounder, but a terrible missionary. As a presentation of a lot of really kick-ass poster art, American Artifact is a smashing success. As a documentary, it’s not much of anything.

American Artifact will make it’s world premiere at the Red Vic Theatre, 1727 Haight St., SF. It will play one night only, at 5pm and 7pm.

Words and Photos by: John Vanderslice (except where noted)

We’ve been on a tour for a month, it seems like a year. In a good way. Back in mid-May, we sat in the hundred+ degree heat of Merced and argued the Pat Metheny/Kenny G feud. I sided with Kenny. Seriously, what is the point in attacking Mr. Gorelick?

Photo by Elizabeth Weinberg

Touring is overwhelming and intense: the experiences are so fast and compressed you can barely take it in. In the past 24 hours we saw a Red Panda at the National Zoo, recorded a show in the NPR offices, walked the Natural History Museum, and played a ridiculously good show at the Black Cat. All that imagery scrolling by your window, the heightened personal connections you make, it can’t be fully understood until you get home. And my home life is the polar opposite of my touring life, in bed at 10pm, it’s all stillness and daylight. It’s the difference between playing your bi-amped Telecaster at the Empty Bottle and strumming a parlor guitar in a small wooden room.

Washington Marriott, an architectural marriage between classical Europe and a Scientology welcome center

I’m sitting in the lobby of the Washington Marriott Wardman Park waiting for van call. Over the past year I’ve learned how to game Priceline so we’re killing 4 star hotels this summer. Sometimes we nail a 4-star room for $35 and I feel a small wave of guilt at check-in. That guilt quickly passes. I’ve shared my methods with many bands this tour: The Tallest Man On Earth, Laura Gibson, St Vincent, Telekinesis, Musee Mecanique. If you see me out there feel free to ask me about it.

Van call with Jamie, Sylvain and my mom

I see my mom and brother tonight in Chapel Hill. Our friend Dianna will bring strawberry cupcakes, we’ll see John Darnielle, Jamie Stewart and the Bowerbirds. I’ll have grits and biscuits at my mom’s house in the morning and be on the road by 11am. Seventeen hours in Chapel Hill, overwhelming and intense.

Now in their seventh year, the Air Guitar Championships have always been well-received in the Bay Area, with local competitor Hot Lixx Hulahan (who we interviewed last year) the defending US & World Air Guitar Champ. One winner from each of next week’s two SF events will join other regional winners at the US Finals in August, where a champion will be selected to represent our nation in the World Championships in Oulu, Finland later that month. It goes without saying that there’s obviously a lot at stake for the entrants, particularly in the always-competitive SF leg of the tour.

If you’re more of an air lover than an air rocker, you may want to check out the Air Sex World Championships, currently in the middle of their first national tour. Like air guitar, air sex competition is pretty much what it sounds like: people get up on stage and pretend to have sex to a song in order to impress the crowd and judges. The competition was inspired by video of air sex performance at a small club in Japan, and after a year of events in keeping-it-weird Austin, Texas, the founders decided to take air sex on the road.

Will a Bay Area champion emerge to take the title from 2008 winner Sad Larry, who, I’ve been told, “won the judges over with a simultaneously heart-wrenching and gut-busting performance depicting a lonely man and an 8X10 glossy of his ex-girlfriend”? Time (and air humping) will tell.

We are giving away one pair of tickets to each night of the Air Guitar Championships on June 26th and 27th. To enter, send an e-mail to contest@thebaybridged.com with your name, address and include the phrase: “I want to go to the Air Guitar Championships on [Friday/Saturday]!” The winners will be chosen at random on Tuesday at noon and will be notified via e-mail.

Those who find themselves in the South Bay this Friday (8pm, $13) should make their way over to the Avalon in Santa Clara for what is sure to be quite the night of lyrical manipulation at the kickoff of the Hellava Night tour.

Esham, who’s been in the game since the late 80s, hails from Detroit. He’s remained somewhat of an underground phenomenon despite guest appearances on many many albums throughout his career. While he’s produced 13 (!) albums over the course of his career, Esham’s probably best known from his early days running the Detroit rap scene with Kid Rock and and his guest spots on various ICP albums. His music is typified by an overall bleakness, most of which sticks to the dark side of human nature.

Kung-Fu Vampire, a group who’s sound fuses goth, funk, jazz, and hip-hop, hails from San Jose and is no stranger to the Bay Area rap scene. His stage show is extremely dynamic with cello, bass, drums, guitar and keyboards all coming together to form one cohesive unit. He takes his ques from his from his Kung-Fu Vampire stage persona and I’m sure you can imagine what that entails.

Can’t Find A Villain seem to have a bit of an identity crisis. While the music is most definitely hip-hop, the band seems to come from more of a punk rock background. The music ranges from political to deeply personal and almost always centers on the discontent the band feels with the way the world is crumbling around them. Can’t Find a Villain all wear masks on stage, the reason being to keep the message from being associated with a face or a person and to keep themselves safe after the the show as they’ve been known to cause quite a ruckus with their live set.

The band’s stripped down performance of, “Shift,” a track off their first album, Horn of Plenty, is eerily beautiful, and minimalist in this arrangement, and not simply because of the tight quarters in which Moon’s DIY style required them to play.

Three years and one album later, the Fillmore finds itself host to the band’s two-day stay, both with Here We Go Magic, Sunday is sold out — in support of the group’s newly released album, Veckatimest. Recorded in a church in Brooklyn and Cape Cod, the 12-song release is the band’s best attempt at coherence in songwriting.

Grizzly Bear – “Cheerleader”

The group’s 2006 album, Yellow House is a whirl of instrumental soundscapes with vocal harmonies to boot, whereas Veckatimest shows that the group’s two main vocalists Ed Droste and vocalist/guitarist Daniel Rossen (also in Department of Eagles) have honed in on their respective strengths in singing.

Look out for these songs at the show: “Deep Blue Sea,” which was included in David Byrne’s compilation Dark Was the Night released earlier this year; “He Hit Me (It Felt Like a Kiss),” a cover of The Crystals; and, “Southern Point,” the opening track from Veckatimest.

Friday:

- Sleepy Sun, Spindrift, Assemble Head in Sunburst Sound, DJ Wet Burrito @ Great American Music Hall, 9pm, $13

Assemble Head in Sunburst Sound – “By the Rippling Green”

- Trainwreck Riders, The Botticellis, Gilded Rooks @ Bottom of the Hill, 10pm, $12

The Botticellis – “Up Against the Glass (live)”

- Nouvelle Vague @ The Regency Grand Ballroom, 8pm, $25

Nouvelle Vague – “Killing Moon (Echo and the Bunnymen cover)”

Saturday:

- My First Earthquake, Blue Rabbit, B and Not B @ Cafe du Nord, 9:30pm, $10

Blue Rabbit – “Sleep”

Sunday:

- Minmae, Love Is Chemicals, Jubala @ Bottom of the Hill, 10pm, $8

Love is Chemicals – “Over Land, Over Sea”

- “Short Sets Night” [Pillows, Suki Okane (Junior Showmanship), Sue Hutchison (Shemob), Darryl Pretto (Porch Flies), Dashing Suns, Tight Stool (Richard Marshall of Turks) and Christopher Wu (Old Fashioned Way)] @ The Hemlock, 9pm, $6

The Old-Fashioned Way – “Robot On Fire”

The Blacks – “Sunday Boys” (from Tiger Songs)

As we reported last month, San Francisco-New York trio The Blacks‘ final show is tonight at the Rickshaw Stop with The Red Verse and The Ferocious Few. The band’s second album, Tiger Songs will be available for the first time at the show and will be available on iTunes on July 14th.

Thursday 8pm, $10, Rickshaw Stop, Fell Street at Van Ness