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

This weekend you can experience a few of the most buzzed about acts in the Bay.

Emily Jane White will play the Red Devil Lounge tonight, July 28, with David J. and the Chelsea Set. White has just released her third album Ode to Sentience in Europe, and you can download her single “The Law” in anticipation of the album’s U.S. release. She has received worldwide attention since her debut album Dark Undercoat (2007).

The Fresh and Onlys also play tonight at the Independent. Its recent release, the Secret Walls EP, took the band in a different, downbeat direction. Catch them while you can at a small venue before the big festival gigs such as Outside Lands become the norm.

Round off the weekend with the beautiful music of Lia Rose at the Cafe Du Nord on Sunday, July 31. Lia just released her debut solo album this January, which she had been working up to since her band Built for the Sea formed in 2005. Some may even know her from the band she was in before that, Minipop. The opening band, Professor Burns and the Lilac Field, is also a unique local folk rock act with some great musicians: Professor (literally) Sean Burns, Lathan Baulding, and Adam Kirk (who plays with other talented local artists like Sean Hayes).

–Shauna Keddy

Don’t miss Billy & Dolly‘s last show at Bottom of the Hill on July 28 before they hibernate to record a second album with producer Jason Quever, the frontman and mastermind of the Papercuts. The San Francisco duo will be joined by fellow locals Karina Deinke and Carleta Sue Kay.

Billy & Dolly is the musical venture of Bill Rousseau and Dahlia Gallin Ramirez. They write songs about love and loss, old friends, Gene Clark and the Garden of Eden. The two recently opened for Dr. Dog, Corrin Tucker and Apples in Stereo.

Former Rogue Wave member Steve Taylor steps to the forefront, headlining The Independent with his folk and soul revival band on Saturday, July 30th.
With a sound steeped in the sunlit tones of Laurel Canyon, the mid-60’s pop and R&B of the Brill Building, and the lo-fi synths of early prog rock, Oakland’s Steve Taylor is equal parts folk troubadour and blue-eyed soul balladeer.

A multi-instrumentalist with a surprisingly diverse background, including stints in black gospel churches, math rock duos and Oakland indie band Rogue Wave; he’s recently found himself collaborating with members of Yeasayer, Vetiver and The Shins.

In between touring, Steve is recording a follow up to his latest release, Has The Size of The Road Got The Better of You? with Aaron Prellwitz (Neil Young and Crazy Horse) and Jay Pellicci (Deerhoof) at the venerable Tiny Telephone Studio in San Francisco. Layering acoustic guitars with vintage organs, pianos, analog synthesizers, and dead drums, he’s focused on a sound thoroughly informed by 70’s AM rock. Live, the music takes on a tent revival tone with multiple voices, horns and strings, spinning tales of love, betrayal, and redemption, under the guise of a three minute pop song.

The latest single from hometown heroes Girls, entitled “Vomit,” emerges from tender territory. Opening with a series of heartbroken finger-plucked chords, Christopher Owens’ delicately croons: “Nights I spent alone / I spent them running round looking for you, baby.” These lyrics echo morosely and due to their slow repetition, pull the listener into a bleak and self-effacing landscape.

Girls’ acceptance and acknowledgment of its numerous influences blister awake and we experience tighter drumming, acidic guitar washes, gospel vocal laments and  straining organs. Just as abruptly as the instrumental onslaught occurs, it cycles back into a single acoustic strum, mutating into a multicolored repeated refrain. The aforementioned singular elements melt and Owens’ demands:  “Come into my heart, my love.” The 6-minute epic track finds its home upon conclusion and is resolute, proud of being vulnerable.

If this single is an indication of the rest of the forthcoming album, Father, Son, Holy Ghost, expect Girls’ to explore newer sonic resources and sincerity. Father, Son, Holy Ghost will be released September 13 from True Panther Sounds. Don’t miss Girls on tour this fall with its final shows on October 8 and 9 at Great American Music Hall in SF.

–Julianne Wagner

Check out the first video from The Dandelion War, a 5-piece indie/ambient ensemble from Oakland, CA.

The video for "Sui Generis," off the debut album Geometries and Orchids, explores the trials and tribulations of immigrants coming to the United States.

The name alone of the band Whirr (previously known as Whirl) evokes a swarming spin, the rush of sound passing you by. Densely awash in distortion, Whirr’s recently released EP Distressor (available on bandcamp here) reinvigorates the Bay Area shoegaze scene.

Tracks such as “Leave" kick off with an energetic riff and shimmer into a mess of noise. Dreamlike vocals rest atop the crest of a powerful and thunderous rhythm section; melodies are not buried or forgotten, but instead guide through raucous waves of feedback. Since the layers of gutsy guitars are so well executed, the listener remembers tremulous emotion and forgoes numbness. Whirr’s music certainly possesses an expansive quality, one best experienced through their live shows. Check out their upcoming dates :

• July 22 @ Slim’s with Earth and Angelo Spencer et Les Hauts Sommets
• August 3 @ Uptown Nightclub in Oakland for KALX’s Weekly Showcase with Swig, Children of Time, and Hole in the Sky

Whirr also just signed with Tee Pee Records and will begin recording their next LP soon, so keep an eye out for it!

–Julianne Wagner

Whirr – Distressor EP by TheSoundsOfSweetNothing

His first full-length release on new label Drag City, SF-based Ty Segall’s Goodbye Bread is a fantastic mix of old and new. Tracks such as "You Can Make the Sun Fry" exhibit Segall at his most carnal and emotional. This album may inspire an entire generation to quit their day-jobs, pick up an old guitar and join in the garage rock debauchery.

Segall’s musical style picks up where his primitive rock influences left off, and he set out to give Goodbye Bread an “evil, evil, space rock” sound. His dirty hooks reek of the Brooklyn indie scene and the songwriting in the vein of The Stooges and T. Rex, all with a tone that made Jason Collett’s (Broken Social Scene) Rat a Tat Tat such a solid album. There is a very natural element to Segall’s songs, like he could be jamming right in your backyard, volume blasting, letting it all out.

–Ed Guardaro

Ty Segall: "Fist Heart Mighty Dawn Dart" (T. Rex Cover) by alteredzones