goldies: religious girls for san francisco bay guardian

GOLDIES 2011: Religious Girls

The arty noise act's music is that of the futurist multitasker

If they suddenly became stupidly rich, the trio behind Oakland's Religious Girls would purchase a warehouse to turn into an all-ages venue/home-recording studio, with maybe some laser tag. Or they'd buy a food cart. If that isn't the epitome of the modern Bay Area band, I don't what is [...]

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Beautiful pop

The many sides of up-and-coming virtuoso Jhameel

I half-expect Jhameel to be sporting face paint whiskers swiped across his cheeks as I walk up to meet him at Cafe Strada near the UC Berkeley campus. Lyrically, he's inspired by Ben Gibbard, musically by Sufjan Stevens, but aesthetically, it's early Bowie [...]

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Mood setters

Water Borders draw out the inherit creep of vintage film

Water Borders, a gloomy beat-driven San Francisco band with a new release (Harbored Mantras) on Tri Angle Records, spent the past few weekends practicing the art of creating atmosphere for obscure vintage films [...]

live shots: hans-joachim roedelius for san francisco bay guardian

Hans-Joachim Roedelius celebrates his 77th birthday at Cafe Du Nord

“What a cerebral evening,” a show companion observed as we exited Cafe Du Nord last night, pushing the doors open to a whoosh of cool fall air. Indeed. For the man who's seen it all, first as a child actor in 1930s Germany, then as a reluctant member of the Hitler Youth, and finally a pioneer of early experimental krautrock in the 1970s and ambient jazz, Hans-Joachim Roedelius (Cluster/Harmonia) was not the confrontational artist one might expect. Tall and bald with wire-rimmed glasses, he was erudite, pleasant, subdued [...]

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Strength of song

The Creole Choir of Cuba — and other global music acts — hit SF

In Cuba, there is just one group that specializes in traditional Haitian songs — the Creole Choir of Cuba. "Some of the songs in our repertoire are those we learned from our parents or grandparents, others we learned during the many visits we have made to Haiti," says choir director Emilia Diaz Chavez, through translator Kelso Riddell.

big harp for san francisco bay guardian

Big Harp on writing lyrics, Saddle Creek, and touring with kids

I listened to Big Harp's debut album, White Hat, without any preconceived notions, and fell in drippy, folky, love. I fell into the slight country twang and gentle plucking of baritone singer-guitarist Chris Senseney, and the sweet backing vocals of bassist Stefanie Drootin-Senseney [...]

budget rock for san francisco bay guardian

The last hurrah

It's time to say goodbye to Budget Rock

On the final day of Budget Rock 10, the endmost moment of the Budget Rock showcase itself, there will be pancakes and local '80s surf-punk band the Phantom Surfers. Likely a few tear stained cheeks as well [...]

war on drugs for san francisco bay guardian

Battle hymns
The War on Drugs' Adam Granduciel keeps his finger on America's pulse

On the winding beach roads of Central California, in the cool coastal stillness of midnight, I remembered what the music hive mind spewed forth when it came to recently released record (and previous albums) from Philadelphia's the War on Drugs: road trip music [...]

treasure island festival for san francisco bay guardian

Island time

From Angolan kuduro and gauzy psychedelia to local garage punk and silent disco: It'll be a packed weekend of Treasure Island Music Festival's chords and beats

Now in its fifth year, the Treasure Island Festival maintains a mystifying balance: it's both big enough to attract larger acts (Death Cab for Cutie, Empire of the Sun), and small enough to make the event feel intimate (with eyes closed, it's you alone dancing in the Silent Disco). There are rarely timing issues, one act stops, another begins. Precision and organization enrich a festival, whodathunk [...]

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Mystic wanderings

Gardens & Villa navigates the road often traveled

Hermann Hesse's 1930 novel Narcissus and Goldmund is, more or less, the story of man who wanders Medieval Germany after leaving the monastery in search of the meaning of life. He finds organic pleasures like art and the empowering touch of beautiful women. Eventually given the choice of joining an artists guild, he bows out, instead favoring the freedom of the road less traveled [...]

live shots: css for san francisco bay guardian

Lovefoxxx makes SF love her at the Fillmore

By the end of last night at the Fillmore, CSS's dynamic lead vocalist-party rioter Lovefoxxx was stripped down to a black tank top and ripped up jean shorts over fishnets, her raccoon eye makeup smeared across her face, fluffed pink hair electrified out of its sockets [...]

men for san francisco bay guardian

Feminist dance pop: Q&A with MEN's JD Samson
Just as she did with Le Tigre, JD Samson blurs the lines between feminist theory and modern pop music with her most recent musical endeavor, MEN. The experimental art-pop band, which began in 2007, is a collective with fellow Le Tigren Johanna Fateman – among others – that's as subversive as it is danceable [...]

beirut for san francisco bay guardian

The instruments of my life: Q&A with Beirut's Zach Condon

Zach Condon, the pied piper of Beirut, is known for a great many things – his quavering voice and heart-tugging music (watch the new video for “Santa Fe” and try not to weep, I dare you), the global journeys on which he embarked to gain such a worldly sound, and, perhaps above all else, his skilled takes on an array of string and horn instruments. He employs their use to enable listeners an audio-vacation: the far corners of Eastern Europe and the Balkans, to the chateaus of French chansons, to his mariachi-filled hometown of Santa Fe, New Mexico [...]

great integration for san francisco bay guardian

Chamber hip-hop opera 'Great Integration' returns with a second act

Perhaps you've seen the billboard on your daily Bay Bridge commute: simple white background, a hand with two fingers pressed together, and in bold type, the words Great Integration: A Chamber Hip-Hop Opera [...]

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Legends of the underground

Gehenna's Mike Apocalypse doesn't care what you think

"There are people like us who decide we no longer want to deal with what is fed to us through commercial forces," says infamous hardcore singer Mike Apocalypse, "We strive to create new things — if I couldn't create new music, I would fall apart in a month's time." [...]