Live This Month: December 2012 — an audio guide through SF concerts this month (Podcast #294)
November 28, 2012
Live This Month: December 2012 — an audio guide through SF concerts this month (Podcast #294)
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 new albums and winter conditions mean that there’s a seasonal dip in the number of bands hitting the road and coming to town in December. A dip, however, doesn’t mean that there aren’t noteworthy highlights, including the return of former locals Moon Duo, whose latest LP, Circles, came out earlier this year. As luck would have it, Moon Duo’s Ripley Johnson is also playing SF with his other band, Wooden Shjips, this month, as part of a stacked anniversary show celebrating twenty years of Thrill Jockey Records. Speaking of anniversaries, David Bazan is revisiting Pedro the Lion’s newly-reissued 2002 album Control, performing the record in its entirety on his nationwide tour.
What’s perhaps most striking about this month, though, is how many great New Year’s Eve shows there are to consider this year, including the Nick Waterhouse, Tumbleweed Wanderers, and Howlin Rain performances highlighted below. There are plenty that aren’t represented in this mix too, like a Fresh & Onlys-topped bill at The Chapel, and a Terry Malts show at the Hemlock Tavern.
Finally, the show we’re personally most excited for this coming month is, of course, our annual rock and roll beer festival called The Bay Brewed 2012. With six great bands and 13 amazing breweries on hand, you really don’t want to miss this one.
Enjoy the mix and then go see some shows!
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About the bands:
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Bear in Heaven return to SF this Saturday to headline The Bay Brewed 2012
November 26, 2012
Bear in Heaven is headlining our rock and roll beer festival, The Bay Brewed 2012, this Saturday afternoon, and it’s somehow been the better part of a year since the Brooklyn band last played in the Bay Area. The trio’s most recent SF show was actually the week they released I Love You, It’s Cool, far too long for a group whose albums continue to reward with every subsequent listen.
That feeling of improving with age isn’t because either I Love You, It’s Cool or its predecessor, Beast Rest Forth Mouth, lack immediate pop moments, mind you: see “Sinful Nature,” “Lovesick Teenagers,” and countless other examples from the band’s catalog. But BiH has woven those pop elements into ambitious, genre-mashings songs that draw both from psychedelic rock and experimental electronica. It’s a sound that radiates freedom and possibility, which might also explain why the band continues to draw top-shelf remixers, and why the finished reworkings so frequently hit it out of the park.
With Bear in Heaven’s music, anything is possible, and the group seems intent on keeping it that way. As bandleader Jon Philpot told The Fader:
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Mixtape: The Sounds of The Bay Brewed 2012 (Podcast #292)
November 6, 2012
Mixtape: The Sounds of The Bay Brewed 2012 (Podcast #292)
On Saturday, December 1st, we’re proud to be throwing San Francisco’s only rock and roll beer festival, The Bay Brewed 2012, where we’ll be taking over Public Works for a full afternoon of tasty craft brews and great indie music. It’s a can’t-miss festival featuring music performances by Bear in Heaven, Sonny & the Sunsets, Born Gold, Blasted Canyons, James & Evander, and Trails and Ways, and unlimited beer tasting from twelve great SF Brewers Guild breweries. To get you psyched for the festival, enjoy this mixtape, which collects fourteen songs from all of our Bay Brewed performers.
Buy advance tickets to The Bay Brewed right now because you don’t want to miss this!
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Tracklisting:
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Bear in Heaven play The Independent on April 8
April 5, 2012
Now that Bear in Heaven‘s I Love You, It’s Cool is out, you can finally decide for yourself if all the hype is warranted. And you can catch watch them play a set full of songs that sound like the synthy soundtrack to the scene from an 80s movie, where the protagonist stares forlornly out of windows after losing the girl/boy, at The Independent on April 8. If you’re epileptic, prone to motion sickness, or easily frightened by hobos in sparkly suits, do not watch this video for I Love You cut “The Reflection of You.”
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Live This Month: April 2012 — an audio guide through SF concerts this month (Podcast #276)
April 4, 2012
Live This Month: April 2012 — an audio guide through SF concerts this month (Podcast #276)
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.
In curating this podcast, we got the nagging feeling that April is a little slow on the local album release front. We’re not sure why that is — Festival fatigue? Buildup for a big summer? — but it’s likely only a momentary blip. A number of exciting new Bay Area records are coming soon, and we’re especially psyched about new albums from Emily Jane White and Magic Trick.
While this month’s local highlights might seem a little leaner than usual, plenty of great out-of-town acts are picking up any perceived slack. Genre standouts abound, from the chamber folk par excellence of Bowerbirds to the superior indie pop of Spectrals and Tennis. A number of newer buzzing acts are also coming to SF for significant concerts, including Julia Holter, Pond, and Tanlines.
Enjoy the mix, then go see some shows!
Subscribe to The Bay Bridged Podcast!
About the bands:
Indie pop stars Tennis (“Origins”) just released Young & Old, an album that’s even better than their already superb first record. Tennis’ upcoming April 30 performance at The Independent is currently sold out.
I Love You, It’s Cool, the new album from electronic art-pop trio Bear in Heaven (“The Reflection of You”), came out yesterday on Dead Oceans/Hometapes. On April 8, the band’s tour with Blouse and Doldrums comes to The Independent.
Lenz (“Hourglass”) is an exciting new band led by former members of The Cuts and Impediments. On April 5 at The Knockout, Lenz performs with Permanent Collection and Tint.
Pond (“Mystery”) includes members of Tame Impala, and the Australian band excels in its own psych-influenced spin on rock and roll. They’ll be at the Rickshaw Stop on April 11, with Oberhofer and PreTeen.
Julia Holter (“In The Same Room”) is an LA musician whose new album of experimental pop songs, Ekstasis, is gaining universal acclaim. Holter’s first SF show since the new album’s release is on April 29 at the Rickshaw Stop.
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Eskmo remixes Bear In Heaven’s “You Do You”
March 29, 2011
Bear In Heaven: “You Do You” (Eskmo Remix) (2010) by Eskmo
Via Eskmo‘s web site, where you can also check out his upcoming US tour dates:
I was given the stems / parts for this track by Bear In Heaven for a remix album they released in 2010. It ended up not going out officially. So I’ve played it out a chunk of times, but realized i never gave it out. So here it is for free. Grab, enjoy and share… :)
