Live This Month: May 2013 — an audio guide through SF concerts this month (Podcast #305)

May 1, 2013 by The Bay Bridged · Leave a Comment »
Filed Under Bay Area Bands, Coming to the Bay, Feature Article, KQED, Live This Month, Mp3, News, Podcast

Live This Month: May 2013 — an audio guide through SF concerts this month (Podcast #305)

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.

Few recent artists have transitioned from lo-fi to hi-fi better than Kurt Vile, whose latest album, Wakin on a Pretty Daze, is another winner from the Philly-based musician, full of long, languid songs that feel spacious but not aimless. A sense of space also guides Clinic‘s psych-pop offering Free Reign; in fact, the group just released an alternate collection, Free Reign II, with the original album’s songs reconfigured in an appropriately mind-expanding fashion by Oneohtrix Point Never’s Daniel Lopatin. More tightly constructed is Shout Out Louds‘ album Optica. The Swedish band’s new release fuses elements of disco and chamber pop into lively, addictive tunes.

Like Vile, Mikal Cronin is also making the move from low to high fidelity look easy. Cronin’s been making great music for a while now, solo and as a member of Moonhearts and Ty Segall’s band, but MCII, arriving on Merge Records, feels like the big screen debut of a real power pop talent. Meanwhile, Sacramento’s Tera Melos just released a new album of frenzied, mathy rock called X’ed Out and are embarking on a US tour to support. With new records also arriving recently from Cool Ghouls and Metal Mother, it’s certainly a busy time for Bay Area bands.

Enjoy the podcast and then go see some shows!

Subscribe to The Bay Bridged Podcast!

About the bands:

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Related Posts:

• Mikal Cronin premieres video for “Change,” adds tour dates
• Review & Photos: Allah-Las, The Blank Tapes @ The Chapel, 5/9/13
• Tonight, 5/8/13: Kurt Vile playing sold-out show at The Independent

Ticket Giveaway Wednesday: VietNam, Forrest Day, Scissors for Lefty and more

May 1, 2013 by Jody Amable · Leave a Comment »
Filed Under Bay Area Bands, Coming to the Bay, Feature Article, News, Show Preview

To enter this contest submit an email to contest[at]thebaybridged.com with your full name in the body and the concert you’re entering the contest for in the subject line. You may only submit your name once to only one contest. Winners will be chosen at random and will be awarded one pair of tickets unless otherwise noted.

Wednesday, May 1st
My Revolver, Trainwreck Riders, Vows @ Great American Music Hall
8pm, $15, all ages. Buy advance tickets here.

Friday, May 3rd
Forrest Day, LATYRX featuring Lyrics Born, Lateef the Truthspeaker and Skins & Needles, Ghost and the City @ Great American Music Hall
9pm, $26, all ages. Buy advance tickets here.

Friday, May 3rd
Dead Skeletons, Old Testament, Mark Matos & OS Beaches @ Brick and Mortar Music Hall
9pm, $20, 18+. Buy advance tickets here.

Friday, May 3rd
VietNam, Gap Dream, Wet Illustrated @ The Independent
2 pairs available. To win, be the first or second person to enter.
9pm, $15, 21+. Buy advance tickets here.

Saturday, May 4th
Scissors for Lefty, Beta State, Breakdown Valentine, Deer Park Avenue @ Slim’s
9pm, $13, all ages. Buy advance tickets here.

Wednesday, May 8th
Born Ruffians, Moon King @ Slim’s
8pm, $17, all ages. Buy advance tickets here.

Related Posts:

• Ticket Giveaway Wednesday: The Asteroids Galaxy Tour, Other Lives, Ghost and the City, Pickwick
• First Friday at The Uptown with Scissors for Lefty Tonight
• A Man, A Band, and a Van – this is the true story of Forrest Day

Premiere: Running in the Fog – “Silver” (headlining The Knockout 5/6/13)

May 1, 2013 by Tim Draut · Leave a Comment »
Filed Under Bay Area Bands, Feature Article, Mp3, New Release, News, Show Preview

The silver blanket of fog is slowly beginning to recede as summer takes ahold of the City, and Amanda Harper is shining brightly on the San Francisco scene. Her ethereal synth pop project Running in the Fog will headline the third official Professional Fans showcase at The Knockout on Monday, May 6 with support from Bay Area pop peers Parentz and Eitch, and we are delighted to premiere Harper’s new single “Silver” exclusively here on The Bay Bridged. She performed a live version of the song during the previous Professional Fans showcase at DNA Lounge, accompanied by drummer Zack Ehrlich, and says the song was inspired by one of her very best friends. Stream the lovely new single below.

Harper has been making music in San Francisco under her Running in the Fog moniker for several years now. In 2011, she contributed a sinfully clever track called “Let It In” (inspired by the Swedish vampire film Let the Right One In) to My Dearest Killer…, a Halloween mix curated by San Francisco blogger Unholy Rhythms. Her talent has since been recognized by the likes of Bad Panda Records, Goldest Egg, and of course Professional Fans.

Running in the Fog’s set will be supported by Parentz, the East Bay future-pop project of Jeremy Sullivan, and Eitch (as in “H”), an Altronipop act out of New York—with ties to the Bay Area. Eitch is the project of Hannah Smith, who is accompanied live by producer Ian Stewart and who was the winner of Björk’s worldwide lyric competition for the song “Cosmogony”. Come support your local music scene ahead of the curve this Monday at The Knockout (conveniently located within stumbling distance of Taqueria Cancun).

Running in the Fog, Parentz, Eitch
The Knockout
May 6, 2013
9:30pm, $4

Related Posts:

• Mixtape: Bay Area Artists, Remixing and Remixed (Podcast #304)
• Seatraffic & Silver Hands co-headlining Professional Fans showcase @ DNA Lounge, 4/18/13
• April’s Best: Our favorite Bay Area songs from the blog last month

Video: Date Palms – “Dusted Down”

April 30, 2013 by Nicole L. Browner · Leave a Comment »
Filed Under Bay Area Bands, New Release, News, Video

Is post-psych a thing? If not, Date Palms could definitely qualify it as a term to comprehensibly describe their interdisciplinary sound of drone, Indian classical and ambient. The band’s core is duo Greg Kowalsky, who plays keyboards and electronics, and violinist/flutist Marielle Jakobsons, but currently perform as a five-piece to return with their third LP, The Dusted Sessions, out June 11 on Thrill Jockey. The video for the album’s second-to-last track, “Dusted Down” was premiered this week on Tiny Mix Tapes.

According to the label site (which dives much deeper into this release’s strong art direction and compositional symbolism), “Dusted Down” was “inspired by the Eureka Dunes, where the Kowalsky and Jakobsons watched dust devils form and slowly traverse the sands. The counterpoint formed by violin and bass mirrors that steady, slow roll of wind across the desert.”

The LP is pressed on a limited run of 500 “dusted pink” vinyl with gatefold packaging, proudly designed in the underlying theme of the dustbowl and imagery of the American West. It was recorded by Date Palms’ label mate and local engineer Phil Manley (Life Coach) at LCR in San Francisco; adding to its deep symbolic qualities, it was partially tracked during the annular solar eclipse on May 21st, 2012.

Related Posts:

• Mixtape: San Francisco’s Newest Psychedelic Sounds (Podcast #306)
• No Voices: A Collection of Bay Area Instrumental Rock (Podcast #283)
• Videos: Barn Owl and Date Palms at the San Francisco Zen Center

Stream Mikal Cronin’s LP ‘MCII’ (release show @ Rickshaw Stop 5/25/13)

April 30, 2013 by Jason Shane · Leave a Comment »
Filed Under Bay Area Bands, Mp3, New Release, News, Show Preview

Mikal Cronin‘s sophomore LP MCII isn’t officially out until next Tuesday, May 7, but you can stream the whole record over on NPR right now. The album, which is being released via Merge Records, isn’t short on grinding garage rock guitars, but as NPR’s Stephen Thompson notes, MCII “mixes shambling rock with a perfectionist ear with quality control, as its star (who plays most of the instruments himself) applies a beachy sparkle to 37 minutes of fresh, fun rock ‘n’ roll.” Listen to album opener “Weight” below, and head over to NPR to check out the entire record. Preorder MCII on Merge’s website.

Cronin’s over in Europe now, but he’s heading back to California at the end of May for three dates on the Left Coast, concluding with what is sure to be a heavily attended record release party at Rickshaw Stop on May 25. He then departs for 19 more gigs around North America during June before playing Chicago’s Pitchfork Festival in July. Tour details, including specifics on the Rickshaw Stop show, are below.

[More...]

Related Posts:

• Mikal Cronin premieres video for “Change,” adds tour dates
• Live This Month: May 2013 — an audio guide through SF concerts this month (Podcast #305)
• Mikal Cronin – “Shout it Out”; from new album on Merge out 5/7/13

Burger Boogaloo 2013: Redd Kross, Jonathan Richman, Oblivians coming to Oakland’s Mosswood Park!

April 30, 2013 by M B L · Leave a Comment »
Filed Under Bay Area Bands, Coming to the Bay, News

Mark them calendars! Burger Boogaloo 2013 will take place July 6-7 from noon-9pm in Oakland’s idyllic Mosswood Park. Rumors abound as to the entertainment. We got Total Trash Marcos and Amy all hyped up on crawfish and fried veggies to get the latest details…

Confirmed acts include: Redd Kross, Jonathan Richman, Ty Segall’s Traditional Fools, The Oblivians, Pangea, The Trashwomen, Guantanamo Baywatch, and more to be announced! (Editor’s note: early bird weekend passes go on sale this Friday at noon at the soon-to-launch BurgerBoogaloo.com)

Unconfirmed but quite possible: Ronnie Spector!

Burger Records of Fullerton, California is poised to conquer the universe! Their $5 cassettes were only $3.33 for Record Store Day week. I bought a mess of them. Burger is already throwing the best parties at SXSW and the Bay Area Boogaloo is bringing stiff competition to our growing festival scene.

Last year’s Boogaloo at Thee Parkside and Bottom of the Hill was a hot, sweaty and downright nasty fest o’ fun. Burger also has the best pin collection around. Buy the one that suits you and join the revolution!

Related Posts:

• Burger Boogaloo 2012 grand finale: Strange Boys, Los Vigilantes, Sir Lord Von Raven and Junk Species
• Burger Boogaloo 2012 part 3: Coathangers and Guantanamo Baywatch
• Burger Boogaloo 2012, Part 2: Kings Tuff and Lollipop, Coconut Coolouts and MOM

Enjoy this surf video, then win tickets to Sleepy Sun’s next show (5/1/13 at the Chapel)

April 30, 2013 by Ben Van Houten · Leave a Comment »
Filed Under Bay Area Bands, News, Show Preview, Video

With a new album in the works, Sleepy Sun performs this Wednesday, May 1st, at The Chapel, and we’ve got a pair of tickets to give away! Email contest[at]thebaybridged.com with the subject line “Sleepy Sun” and include your full name for a chance to win.

While you’re entering, enjoy how the band’s epic jam “White Dove” soundtracks this psychedelic surf video, in which Creed McTaggart catches waves in the Indian Ocean along the coast of western Australia.

Sleepy Sun, Feral Ohms, Meg Baird, DJ Brett Wilde
The Chapel
May 1, 2013
9:00pm, $15

Related Posts:

• Ticket Giveaway: Moon Block Party with Sleepy Sun, Glitter Wizard, JUJU, Al Lover & the Haters @ Brick + Mortar 10/13/12
• Photos: Sleepy Sun, Entrance Band, Allah-Las @ Moon Block Party in Pomona, CA 6/23/12
• Sleepy Sun to conclude North American tour with album release show Friday 5/18/12 at The Independent