The Phenomenal Handclap Band – “Testimony”
Whoo hoo! One of my favorite live acts from SXSW, The Phenomenal Handclap Band, has finally made their way to San Francisco and will be playing this Wednesday at The Knockout with the Bay Area’s very own Bart Davenport. Get your dancing shoes on. Be there or be square!
Live footage from the Frequency Festival in Europe of Radiohead performing “These Are My Twisted Words” live for the first time.
Meet what very well might be the first race horse in history named after a Twitter handle, Indy Rocker Girl. Those are my nieces and nephew checking out the foal their Grandpa named in my honor (endearingly botched in only the way my Dad could manage.) I got this photo in my inbox just before heading out to see J. Tillman last night at Cafe du Nord and the combination of the two elements really made me homesick.
I think it was the pedal guitar that got me. It does every time. Listening to the talented Mr. Tillman’s beautifully plucked guitar and weeping sounds of the pedal steel guitar, it finally hit me why I’m such a sucker for it. It’s home. As much as I grew up on the alternative sounds of WOXY, so I did country and bluegrass music in my Dad’s pick up truck. Regular pilgrimages across the border to the Kentucky Bluegrass Festival made me a lifelong fan of the banjo, pedal guitar and heartfelt lyrics.
J. Tillman and his band are just that – and more. Their music is honest and real. In a time when so much indie music seems contrived and trite, it’s a refreshing respite. I had such a feeling of contentment after that show. My chicken soup for the soul, I guess. If only I could have had a patch of real bluegrass to sink my bare feet into….
The folks over at The Bay Bridged are hosting the second annual Rock Make Music and Art Festival. tomorrow on Treat Avenue between 17th Street and 18th Street in the Mission District. Locals, be sure and stop by for a great afternoon of local art and music. And don’t miss smokin’ hot local band, The Ferocious Few – the minutemen of San Francisco’s lo-fi garage rock scene.
11:00am – The Psychotherapists
11:20 – Secret Cat
11:40 – The She’s
12:00pm – Photons
12:30 – Boneless Children Foundation
1:00 – The Ferocious Few
1:30 – The Dont’s
2:00 – Two Sheds
2:30 – Silian Rail
3:00 – Odawas
3:30 – Magic Bullets
4:00 – Geographer
4:30 – Low Red Land
5:00 – Music For Animals
5:30 – Tartufi
The new Alberta Cross video for the track “ATX” off their forthcoming album “The Broken Side of Time” due out September 22. One of my favorite albums this year. This band rocks and the video gives you a good taste of it.
@epicureanzealot sent me the link to this post on Cracked.com and, well, I cracked up. In addition to this hilarious decision flow chart for whether or not a band is worthy of indie fan-dom, they summed up the indie music scene and it’s followers like this:
She Keeps Bees, “My Last Nerve”
“…I’m your punisher/ I’ve got nerve. I’ve got some nerve, don’t I? “
I’m still obsessing over this album and particularly this song. I just love how the imagery of this portrait by Richard Avedon, called The Beekeeper (one of my favorites in the Avedon exhibit happening currently at SF MOMA – a must see!), fits so well with with everything about this post. I’m feeling very satisfied and complete right now. Get the album “Nests” by She Keeps Bees and you might too.
Vodpod videos no longer available.
One of my favorite new bands this year, Band of Skulls, performing an acoustic version of “Fires”. Thanks Dodge!
“Al, Al, Al, went to Tokyo.” Okay, a play on lyrics but Al did go to Tokyo. Welcome back!
Ohhh, here’s a new iPhone app that made me very happy. Meet Local Concert from iLike which allows you to keep tabs on your local music scene and when your favorite artists are coming to town. The application tracks all of your favorite artists (culled from your iPhone or iTouch library), alerts you when they’re coming to town, enables you to buy tickets, listen to their music and share concert alert news with friends – all from your iPhone.
The other cool feature is that it allows you to track the concert calendars of your favorite local venues. This is particularly great for me because sometimes my music library doesn’t always reflect all the artists I might want to see. I can envision the local venues tab of the app becoming a critical tool for my SXSW planning too.
Grab the free app here.
the OCMD 