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Josh Ritter, Laura Gibson, Dave Smallen and Tiny Television at GAMH

February 27, 2009 by Emily Logan · 3 Comments »
Filed Under Day 3, News, Noise Pop 2009


Words by: Emily Logan
Photos by: Adrian Bischoff

I’ve yet to see a bad show at the Great American Music Hall. And last night was no exception. The show that sold out so early in the game was well worth any extra effort to push your way into the crowd or burrow for a ticket on Craigslist. The audience was a bit different than some other Noise Pop events – perhaps slightly older, with more glasses of white wine floating around than plastic cups of beer.

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From Monument to Masses at Bottom of the Hill

February 27, 2009 by Nicole L. Browner · 1 Comment »
Filed Under Day 3, News, Noise Pop 2009


Words and Photos by: Nicole L. Browner

From Monument to Masses means so much to a lot of people, and this is something easy to forget when a band goes on a prolonged hiatus. I still listen to The Impossible Leap once or twice a week, dwelling in the memories of their shows, which always left me feeling reborn.

Last night Bottom of the Hill sold out by the time doors opened, and frequent audience shouts for the headliners during first two bands made it clear that excitement was in the air. [More...]

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The Bay Bridged Presents: A Noise Pop Happy Hour

February 27, 2009 by The Bay Bridged · Leave a Comment »
Filed Under Mp3, News, Noise Pop 2009, Presents!

Maus Haus

One of our favorite parts of Noise Pop are the free happy hour shows that serve as the optimal post-workday/pre-show way to get a few drinks and catch some great San Francisco Bay Area bands. We’re pleased to be hosting the happy hour on Friday, February 27th at the new Happy Hour location, Bender’s Bar (806 South Van Ness at 19th Street). We’ve got three great bands at the show, so we hope to see you there!

The Bay Bridged Presents
A Noise Pop Happy Hour with:

maus haus
Sugar and Gold
Tempo No Tempo

Friday, February 27th, 2009
Bender’s
5pm-8pm, FREE, 21+

01-rigid-breakfast.mp3
maus haus – “Rigid Breakfast”

04-slice-me-nice-1.mp3
Sugar and Gold – Slice Me Nice

medicines.mp3
Tempo No Tempo – “Medicines”

About the bands: [More...]

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Noise Pop Film Festival 2009 — Romeo Oscar Charlie Kilo: Ashes of American Flags at the Roxie

February 27, 2009 by Ben Richardson · 4 Comments »
Filed Under Day 2, News, Noise Pop 2009

Ashes of American Flags
Words by: Ben Richardson

Double-feature action was a no-go at the Roxie, and by the time people filed back into the theater, it was difficult to glean who had stuck around for both films. Unscientifically, the crowd for Ashes of American Flags–a Wilco concert film by Fugazi drummer Brendan Canty–contained 20% more fleece, and perhaps 10% more North Face, than the crowd that had preceded it.

Another concert clip began the proceedings, this time highlighting better-known folk-rock rabble-rousers The Mountain Goats, and John Darnielle’s impassioned frontmanship set the tone for the enthusiastic performing that was to follow. Though in large part a concert film, Ashes of American Flags is constructed around a kind of “death of the American dream” thesis, as the title might suggest. Canty and his collaborators in Wilco are leery of what they perceive as the Wal-Martization of the country–specifically the way that eroding small-town cultural centers are losing storied, historical concert venues.

To this end, the film is organized around five Wilco performances, each taking place at a venue that exemplifies the country’s endangered history. Cain’s Ballroom in Tulsa, Tipitina’s in New Orleans, the Mobile, Alabama Civic Center, the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville and the 9:30 Club in Washington D.C. are all captured in loving HD, and the folksy, rootsy but also modern music of Wilco serves as a perfect metaphor for the way these venues can be celebrated and preserved, but also reinvigorated.

Fans of Wilco would have been unsurprised by the energetic and engrossing performances captured by Canty, but for the relatively uninitiated like me, the film an was eye-opening introduction to a live band at the pinnacle of its manifold abilities. Canty’s background as a musician no doubt helped him choose what to portray and when, and the shots selected do a masterful job conveying the band’s densely layered and emotive sound. Concert film tropes like the bass-drum-beater-eye-view and the guitar-shred close-up were deployed but reinvented, and the shots of guitarist Nels Cline’s frentic fretboard expeditions captured both the technique on display and the giddy, kinetic quality of his playing. [More...]

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Happy Hour @ Bender’s and Stephen Malkmus at Great American Music Hall

February 27, 2009 by Jake Butler · 1 Comment »
Filed Under Day 2, News, Noise Pop 2009

Kelley Stoltz

If you’re smart, you’ll find yourself down at Bender’s for the Noise Pop Happy Hours.  With $3 West Coast IPAs and specials on Fernet, this is the place to loosen up before the evening’s shows.

Bender’s got a bit of a facelift for the festival thanks to the guys at Knight Visions Production and Design who are providing stage lighting for all the festival happy hours.   They also added some nice ambient lighting to the origami cranes hanging from the ceiling.

On Day 2 of the festival I caught the Aimless Never Miss.  Frontman Jonny Latimer apparently was suffering from a bit of a sore throat, but you’d never have guessed the way they were rocking.   This was a full on rock show.  Amps roaring, cymbals crashing…the whole nine yards. [More...]

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Photos: Sleepy Sun, Lumerians, True Widow, Kings & Queens @ BotH

February 27, 2009 by Agata Kamler · Leave a Comment »
Filed Under Day 2, News, Noise Pop 2009

Photos by: Agata Kamler

Sleepy Sun

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Noise Pop: Friday Night Preview!

February 26, 2009 by Nicole L. Browner · Leave a Comment »
Filed Under Day 4, News, Noise Pop 2009

ra ra riot

There’s no excuse to stay in this weekend, not even the weather – Noise Pop’s weekend forecast is more great music, rain or shine.

On Friday the exceptional pop arrangements of St. Vincent can be heard at the Great American. “Now now,” before she charms your socks off will be That Ghost (Santa Rosa), the quirky sound scientist Rafter (San Diego), and Cryptacize (out of the East Bay – think Camera Obscura with a splash of Deerhoof). Here’s a preview of what’s to be of their sophomore Asthmatic Kitty release, Mythomania:

cryptacize_-_mini-mythomania_-_remix_by_c_spencer_yeh.mp3
Cryptacize – “Mini-Mythomania”

Carrying on with the cuteness is Berkeley and Oakland’s The Morning Benders, who have been on the rise since last year with a set at Treasure Island Music Festival, national tour opportunities and a new record. They’re headlining at Slim’s tomorrow with The Submarines (LA), Rademacher (Fresno) and The Mumlers (San Jose) – chipper fellows, very musically inclined and very well staged.

grainofsalt.mp3
Morning Benders – “Grain of Salt”

It goes without saying that the Ra Ra Riot show will be, well, a riot. Especially as it’s sold out, so a select audience can enjoy sets from Cut Off Your Hands (New Zealand), Telekinesis (Seattle) and city dwellers The Hooks.

For locals, it takes little convincing to head out to Café du Nord for an evening of neighborhood performers: Port O’Brien, Odawas (Berkeley’s Jagjaguwar representation), Afternoons (from LA, claim to fame is a Lincoln car commercial) and our own Dame Satan. This bill ranges from dark, dreamy folk to throat-severing screams and crowd participation (the latter predicted of Port O’Brien; serious audience members should bring their own means of percussion).

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