Papercuts – “Future Primative”
Whew, a great line up of music is waiting to be had this Wednesday at The Great American Music Hall featuring two local acts co-headlining – Girls and Papercuts – along with Cass McCombs closing out the bill. All three bands have spectacular releases out this year that will vie for many a ‘best of’ list. This is one show you don’t want to be late for.
Tuesday night, San Francisco’s Rickshaw Stop played host to quite a line up of music, featuring our very own Girls and Brooklyn’s The Pains of Being Pure at Heart. I was there primarily for Girls and was pleased to see them pack the house. I’ve been smitten with this band for a while, (especially their drummer – he rocks!) so it’s nice to see them get their due recognition.
But I must admit I was pleasantly surprised with the Brooklyn hipster quintet with the annoying name, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart. I hate even typing it and I could never quite make it through the entire album. Listening to it always felt like a game of name that 80s band. While I still stand by my opinion that their sound is a bit redundant, they definitely played a powerful and most enjoyable set.
San Francisco’s Girls are paired up this week with New York’s Pains of Being Pure at Heart tonight for a great night of music at The Rickshaw Stop. Bonus prize, Girls are offering up their 10″ for free download. Get ’em.
“Solitude”
Band of Skulls, “Death by Diamonds and Pearls”
Then this Sunday, July 26 features a repeat performance of one of my favorite bands this year, Band of Skulls. The hot UK trio will be rockin’ it at Cafe du Nord. Be there.
I just couldn’t resist heading over to The Stud last night – one of San Francisco’s oldest and most legendary queer establishments – to see our hometown heros Girls play. It was a rare opportunity for me to a) have an excuse to patronage the joint and b) see one of my favorite bands play a most unconventional venue and c) enjoy a little tranny action between sets. Only in San Francisco! With the added bonus of 2 for 1 drinks at the bar, we all wondered why we weren’t frequenting the place more often.
The band’s full length debut album, entitled Album, will be released on Matador Records September 22. Album’s seven-minute opus, “Hellhole Ratrace,” rated by Pitchfork as “one of the 100 best songs of the year,” will be available prior to the album’s release date on a limited-edition 10″ vinyl single.
San Francisco, if you didn’t catch them at The Stud, they will be playing July 21 at The Rickshaw Stop with Pains of Being Pure At Heart. In the meantime, enjoy their latest video for “Hellhole Ratrace”.
Every year I host a music swap with my music geek friends where we share our top albums of the year. This year we spiced it up a bit by adding a new component – a mix of your favorite songs of 2008 by artists not represented in our Best Albums of 2008 list. (Ryan’s rules, not mine.) So here it is, my mix of some of my favorite indie rock tunes for 2008. I was struck by a lot of San Francisco local music this year and have noted those artists with an asterisk (**). I enjoyed the emergence of such good music from my hometown and hope you will too. Enjoy!
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San Francisco-based Geographer have that lush baroque pop sound that draws lots of comparisons to Andrew Bird and Arcade Fire. Their new album Innocent Ghosts released this summer and is getting good attention. Listen to Can’t You Wait:
This is my favorite San Francisco indie rock band at the moment. Their debut album, Lust for Life, is one of the contenders for the 2008 SF Weekly Music Awards. We’ll find out later this week if they take the prize. I’m so intrigued by lead singer, Christopher Owens, in both his personal style and vocals. He’s got all the qualities of an eccentric rock star and sounds like Elvis Costello to boot. Featured is the track Hellhole Ratrace.
Oakland-based The Heavenly States is also a contender in the 2008 SF Weekly Music Awards in the Indie Rock category. Their vibe is wholly different with a pure, straight up rock sound reminiscent to The Hold Steady. Take a listen to ‘Lost in the Light‘ from their self-produced album Delayer.
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It’s the last day of July and half the year has gone and passed. To celebrate, I’ve compiled a mixtape of my favorite songs (not albums) of the year…so far. You can listen here, but if you want the file, you’ll have to subscribe to the OCMD Mixtape. Enjoy!
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Here are two tiny bands I’m hot on at the moment – which also makes for a clever post. Both have albums releasing this week, have nary a female band member to speak of, but do have lots of them gracing the covers of their albums.
Girls hail from San Francisco and just released their debut album, Lust for Life. Each track has a distinctly different sound, which makes it difficult for me to put a label on this band; but it does give some clarity to their self-described music category – Tropical/Gothic/Thrash. On several tracks, however, the lead singer’s voice does remind me of Elvis Costello. Featured is the track Hellhole Ratrace. Be sure to download the free track ‘Lust for Life‘ on RCRD LBL.
Women are a Canadian group (two of them brothers, actually) with their self-titled debut released July 8 on Flemish Eye Records. I was very pleased to learn that Chad VanGaalen produced this album, of whom I’m a big fan. He recorded the album in his basement on old tape machines and ghettoblasters. To say their sound is lo-fi is an understatement. Featured is the track Black Rice.
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the OCMD 