Things That I Would Like To See Disappear Forever in 2010: Any band listing Animal Collective as an influence. Genre With The Least Staying Power: Chillwave, Glo-fi, et al. What I Have High Hopes For in 2010: 1) Bands who remember that the guitar is indeed an instrument. 2) LIARS LIARS LIARS!!!
Best Live Show: Josh Ritter’s NoisePop gig at Great American Music Hall last February just edged out J. Tillman’s surprisingly epic show at Cafe du Nord. Both shows outmatched a lot of the bigger ticket shows I caught this year.
Band/Artist I am most happy to have discovered: Patrick Watson
Band/Artist I am most happy to have discovered:Grizzly Bear (I finally get it with Veckatimest)
Band/Artist I kick myself for missing:Cass McCombs/Papercuts/Girls show at Great American Music Hall. Catacombs is an unreal album that I just started getting into a month too late.
Band/Artist everyone seems to love but I just can’t get behind: Girl Talk. He puts on an energetic live show, but I just can’t get into the albums. I appreciate the technique and skill involved, but I can’t really sit down and listen to a Girl Talk record.
Band/Artist I am most happy to have discovered: Kurt Vile
Band/Artist I kick myself for missing: I missed a Nobunny show; I missed Primavera, and as I write this, I am about to miss a special intimate gig by Beach House. But I broke my personal best for shows this year, so I can’t complain!
Band/Artist everyone seems to love but I just can’t get behind: Wilco
Pitchfork picked up on the leak of this hardcore edit of Girls “Lust for Life” video. There have been various iterations of the video floating around out there. The director, Aaron Brown, created this X-rated edit using all the body parts that didn’t make it into the official music video from the True Panther Sounds label. This cut was leaked to The Sword, a gay website. The question is, how many Xs does a penis make?
Good food, good wine, good friends, good music. Do you need anything more than that? You can get all that and then some this Thursday, October 8, at the hottest restaurant in San Francisco right now – the Mission district’s Flour + Water– where the OCMD will be curating an evening of strictly local music.
This unassuming neighborhood gem has earned the praise of The New York Times, WSJ, and our very own Michael Bauer. Even though the entire town is busting down the doors of this place, the owners remain decidedly laid-back and committed to preserving the hip, low-key neighborhood vibe. Fitting with that theme, I’m excited to share the local love by featuring some of the best up and coming bands San Francisco has to offer. To celebrate the occasion, the restaurant has set aside several coveted tables to bestow on a few lucky readers for this Thursday. First four readers to email me at theocmd@gmail.com wins!