New Music, Emerging from your Local Scene
Depressed? Deerhoof is back with a free web album to cheer you up.
99% Upset Feeling is the result of the band’s tireless Deerhoof Vs. Evil tour. Stream and download the experimental, live sounds that have dominated the SF scene since the mid-90s.
To truly know Deerhoof is to see them live, so don’t miss the SFMOMA Atrium show on Sept. 15 with Adam Pendleton.
–Whitney Phaneuf
With one part Ross Peacock (formerly of Oakland scene-stars Clipd Beaks) and two parts Nathan and Cyrus Tilton (formerly of bay area band Ned, also with Peacock), plus guest vocals by current Oaktown sensation Merrill Garbus of Tune-Yards, Mwahaha is bursting with people who call the sunny side of the bay home.
Check out their psychedelic infused rock with this free download of “Rainbow Diamond” and be on the lookout for the whole album dropping December 6th on their own Mwahaha Music or watch this recent performance from The Uptown.
–Justine Fields
Wrapping up touring for its latest EP June, SF’s Cannons and Clouds should deliver a great set to the Rickshaw Stop on Wednesday, August 31. The six-piece crafts a definitive example of compatible collaboration – a result just as delicate as it is formidable. Classical piano and harp intertwine with sonorous vocal harmonies, warm guitar licks, and a potent rhythm section to compile beautiful, direct emotion. “River Parade," in particular, resonates. The Rickshaw show will also feature The Family Crest, Garage Voice, and Downhill From Here in support.
–Julianne Wagner
Ty Segall, San Francisco’s modern day Kurt Cobain (primarily in a his signature flannel fashion sense), is getting around town. If you missed his garage rock set at Outside Lands and you can’t bare to wait ‘til his gig on Aug. 27 at Hemlock Tavern or you’re busy during his Sept. 12 show at The New Parish, then fear not because you can certainly get your fix at his just announced show tomorrow, Aug. 26, at The Knockout with the always-amazing Shannon and the Clams. –Justine Fields
Afrolicious is a party and a person. Joe "Pleasuremaker" McGuire’s foray into African music and an extension of his weekly party at the Elbo Room, Afrolicious released its first EP Dub for Mali, available for download here.
Produced by Rob Garza of Thievery Corporation, the tracks were recorded in an improvisational atmosphere to better capture the energy of the Afrolicious party. Practice your best dance moves to this pastiche of afro-beat, disco, dub, reggae, down-tempo, funk, blues and beats.
–Whitney Phaneuf
Weekend is back after a year of touring for last year’s breakthrough album Sports.
The result of three weeks in the studio with producer Monte Vallier, Weekend will release its new EP Red on Sept. 20. Slumberland Records promises another long-player from Weekend in 2012.
If "Hazel" is any indication of Red’s sound, this EP will measure up to the clattering, shoegaze-pop treasured in Sports.
Be sure to catch Weekend on tour throughout September with Talk Normal.
–Whitney Phaneuf
Dominant Legs‘ latest video for "Hoop of Love" features the two band members happily leaving a city that looks to be San Francisco in exchange for a jaunt to the woods. Once there, they act appropriately for the summer, doing backflips (on land and water), eating fresh fruit, smiling a lot and prancing about like an Urban Outfitters ad. "Hoop of Love" froths in Technicolor synth and charming electric guitar shimmies. Ryan Lynch’s falsetto vocals dream of junior high crush awash in pastel flowers and glitter stickers, aching to "keep his mind shut…to not want to know the joke." Dominant Legs’ easy pop is a mechanism to stretch out the blissful days and transform them into an everyday false reality.
–Julianne Wagner
Dominant Legs – "Hoop Of Love" from stereogum on Vimeo.
Ease into the weekend with Ill Mondo‘s mixtape Gentlemen Prefer Blunts Pt. 2, available for free download here.
Gentlemen Prefer Blunts is an homage to the "chopped and screwed" sound of the legendary DJ Screw. The mixtape features funky classics such as Dennis Coffey’s “Scorpio,” but also modern psychedelic rock from the likes of Tame Impala.
Check out the accompanying video from Ill Mondo’s first 2-part mixtape Be Bad (Pt 1), a 12-minute exploration of funk, hip-hop and soul. Download the EP here.
The Oakland-based production duo will release new album De Novo on August 30, which promises an eclectic combination of influences including old soul and motown records, Radiohead, Michael Jackson and James Brown.
–Whitney Phaneuf
“Behold a Raccoon in the Darkness” is the fourth installment of SF darlings Deerhoof’s collaborative 7” series where guest vocalists contribute to an instrumental track from the band’s latest full-length, Deerhoof vs. Evil.
In “Behold,” Wilco‘s Jeff Tweedy harmonizes with his son Spencer while Side B features "Own It," an original song by The Raccoonists, a band comprised of Tweedy and both sons Spencer and Sam. Expect more tracks from The Raccoonists later this year.
Listen to the 7” here and watch the video for “Own It” below.
A limited release of 2000, "Behold a Raccoon in the Darkness" comes out October 11 on clear pink vinyl and is available for pre-order now. Don’t miss Deerhoof on tour including an SFMOMA show on Sept. 15.
–Whitney Phaneuf
The Bay’s favorite girl group Hunx and His Punx just released the video for "Lovers Lane," the single from their new album Too Young To Be In Love. Led by Seth “Hunx” Bogart (imagine a gay Phil Spector who sings along with The Ronettes), witness the spectacle first-hand during the band’s September tour, which includes dates with K-Holes, the Coathangers and Natural Child. For now, check out the video directed by Hannah Lew of Grass Widow and watch as Hunx is taken in by doppelgangers, sent to the open road, to prom and, finally, Lovers Lane.
–Whitney Phaneuf
SF’s resident rock star Matt Nathanson has released his ninth studio album, Modern Love, a solid follow up to the critically-acclaimed Some Mad Hope.
The title track is among the stand outs: his lyrics, voice and music ache with a longing for authenticity in the romantic connections we have today. He sings of a girl hardened by heartbreak: "I carried hope and heavy day dreams…this modern love is not enough. She said watch your back, I’m nobody’s girlfriend." The entire album is a deep contemplation on attraction, sustaining connections and, naturally, losing connections. Thankfully, Nathanson keeps it fun with bouncy pop songs about falling in love such as "Faster" and motivational anthems such as "Mercy (Less Drowning, More Land)."
Nathanson embodies what listeners want in an alternative rock artist: his songs reflect what you’ve been repeating over and over in your head, and remind you that another person knows exactly how you feel.
–Shauna Keddy
Grungy basslines build in the latest single from rollicking East Bay duo Street Eaters. “Ashby and Shattuck” (a nice nod to Berkeley) is an energized and spirited summer tune from Street Eaters’ latest album Rusty Eyes and Hydrocarbons. Undeniably catchy hooks and rolling drum counterpoints are greeted by sinister and large sound structures. Comprised of a boy and a girl, the powerful call and response vocals could be from Sleater-Kinney or a burning Huggy Bear encased in a busted punk pattern.
–Julianne Wagner
