In case you were wondering why San Francisco isn’t a beach town, you can add this to your list. A ruptured sewage pipe in Marin County has leaked more than 500,000 gallons of stinky, bacteria-laden raw sewage into the San Francisco Bay this week. Thanks to this brave soul, the leak has been fixed – temporarily. (Oh joy.) Apparently this isn’t the first time this has happened to Marin sewage plants either. While the news of this event is horrific and disturbing, I can’t help but muse over the fact that our Bay is being consistently contaminated with the shit of thousands of environmentally enlightened Marin County residents. Irony is not dead people.
The Black Lips have a new album, 200 Million Thousand, coming out February 24. Listen to the single, ‘Starting Over‘. The notorious, ever-touring bunch will be back in San Francisco April 30 at The Great American Music Hall. In the meantime, enjoy this new DigForFire episode.
The days of Mommy and me bath time are officially over. Our innocent games of squirt toys, pirate ships and rubber ducky have now turned wrong…really wrong. The first cause for alarm was when he tried to use my chest as a race track for his cars. In an attempt to redirect his attention, I leaned over to fish out his squirty dinosaur toys from the bottom of the tub. When I sat up he said, “Ohhh, Mommy, your boobies are all wet. Shake ’em off, Momma, shake ’em off.”
Whoa! Okay, all done. While I do feel a little violated, in a strange way I think I’ve gained more insight and perspective into the male mind. It’s all starting to make sense this nature vs. nurture thing. You really can’t help yourselves, can you? You just learn how to censor yourselves with age.
Screw the Hallmark Valentine’s Day card, let Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears debut EP, Tell ‘Em What Your Name Is, tell your woman how you feel this year. Citing James Brown and Lightnin’ Hopkins as influences, the Austin-based combo has the kind of gritty attitude and bluesy grooves that would pass muster in the toughest juke joint.
The full length album is due out March 2009. But you can start shaking your booty now with this tasty selection of tracks from their EP.
Track List: Gunpowder Bitch, I Love You Cousin Randy Master Sold My Baby
Artist: Alina Simone Album: Everyone Is Crying Out to Me, Beware File Under: Folk-Punk Recommended if You Like: Cat Power Featured Track: Half My Kingdom, Beware
Listen to ‘Half My Kingdom’:
Listen to ‘Beware’:
I had never heard of Alina Simone, or Yanka Dayagileva for that matter, until I saw this album show up on a couple Best of 2008 lists. Intrigued I loaded it up in my Rhapsody account and now I’m hooked.
Alina Simone’s, Everyone Is Crying Out to Me, Beware is a collection of cover songs paying homage to the late Yanka Dyagileva, a young Soviet poet reminiscent of Patti Smith who found cult fame only after her death in 1991. The Brooklyn-based, Ukraine-born Simone sings the songs in Russian and brings an aching passion to Dayagileva’s lo-fi folk punk material. It’s very Cat Power. Beautiful, haunting and powerful.
Do you remember this Simpson’s episode, ‘Bart’s Dog Gets an F’? The one where the family despairs because Santa’s Little Helper can’t be trained. Then you see the dog’s perspective on the situation and all he can hear is ‘Blah, blah, blah…food. Blah, blah, blah…steak.’ And so on.
That’s pretty much what life is like with a 3 year old. Both dogs and toddlers have very selective hearing and a Pavlovian response to some key words. Life is much easier for me now that I’ve realized this. Now instead of talking myself blue in the face – pleading and rationalizing with a toddler to cooperate, behave or listen – I just blurt out words like present, gummy bunnies, ice cream cone or jelly bean and he’s right at my side like an obedient little puppy; following me around until said magic word is procured. (“What did you say Mommy? Did you say jelly bean? Is that what you said?”)
It’s so much more energy efficient and pleasant for everyone. Safe too. (‘Judah, I’ll give you a jelly bean if you promise to hold my hand and not run into the street all the way to the park.’) We’re just one big happy family now. An endless display of tricks and treats. So if you see some crazy lady walking around San Francisco with a bag full of jelly beans and a 3 year old panting by her side, that’s me. Say hi!
I love AmieStreet. It’s become one of my new favorite music sites and latest obsessions. They have great music and a very cool, community-driven concept that makes it really cheap to get music. But you have to be on top of your music game. It works like this:
All songs on Amie Street are priced from free to 98 cents. Instead of the arbitrary $0.99 per song, on Amie Street the community determines the price of music. Every song starts free, or very cheap, and increases in price, up to 98 cents, as more and more people purchase it.
This variable pricing system ensures that you get music at a fair, community-driven price point, and makes it easy for you to find the type of music you want. Then you’re encouraged to talk about the music you like by putting money in your account for more downloads when you recommend songs that continue to rise in price. All the music is DRM-free! Go get an account if you don’t have one already.
And make sure you take advantage of these great album deals…
Taking their name from a minor Shakespearean tragedy, this New Jersey punk rock band is making waves and getting compared to the likes of The Kinks, The Pogues, Bruce Springsteen, and even Arcade Fire. They’ve built a reputation for their rowdy live performances. If you’re in San Francisco, you can see them tonight at The Rickshaw Stop opening for No Age.
This San Francisco-based trio has already built a following around town with their energetic live performances of avant-electronic music that fuses psych heavy synths and spacey delays. They’ve toured and opened for the likes of Black Moth Super Rainbow, Modeselektor and Crystal Castles. Their self-titled debut is out now and you can get it at Amie Street right now for $1.32. Drink it up!
Artist: Deerhunter Album: Weird Era Cont File Under: Ambient Indie Rock Recommended if You Like: Sigur Ros, Radiohead, Grizzly Bear, Atlas Sound Featured Track: ‘Operation‘
Oh happy day! Weird Era Cont., the second disc from Deerhunter’s October release, Microcastle, is out now. I’ve been listening to it non-stop since yesterday and it more than holds its own as an album, unlike many bonus discs. Both albums are on heavy rotation. I couldn’t be more excited about the music Deerhunter is putting out right now. And you should be too. As fellow blogger, This Recording, put it:
‘Bradford Cox is the indie rock Jesus, ready to die for our musical sins. This guy is gay, possibly a virgin, and frighteningly skinny due to Marfan Syndrome which will likely lead to a premature death. Is there anyone you could root for more? On top of that he put out what is arguably the best album of the year, and he helped reinvigorate a genre that was drifting into irrelevance – indie rock.’
the OCMD 