Saturday, May 2nd, grants two chances to see local hero Nobunny before he hops off to Europe. Former Okmoniks drummer, Nobunny also earned the honor to MC last year’s fabulous Budget Rock VII Fest at Oakland’s (supreme shrine to Barbie) Stork Club. Donning a rabbit mask and perhaps some briefs, Nobunny aims to please even if he bleeds a little. The band is a crack snap garage lover’s dream. Be ready to sweat. All a part of the just announced Total Trash Festival, the Bay Area’s punk rock extravaganza, you can catch him at Oakland’s newly remodeled 1-2-3-4 Go! Records store sometime between 6 and 9, and catch him again at Oakland’s The Ghost Town Gallery later that evening. Support local musicians, and do not anger the bunny!
Other bands on the Total Trash line up include Seattle’s The Spits headlining, Portland’s The Pitty Fucks, Budget Rock faves Hunx & His Punk and The Pets! Be sure to check the bands’ MySpace pages for details for both SF and Oakland performance locations. Or you can try to decipher this festival poster.
“The science is clear. Virtually all climate experts agree that we must reduce global greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent by the year 2050. If we fail, the worst consequences of climate change threaten to increase the severity of health epidemics, disrupt harvest patterns, deplete water resources, and intensify poverty rates in the poorest regions of the world.
On this Earth Day we cannot let the current global economic recession slow us in the race against climate change.” Bill Clinton on Earth Day 2009.
The new track from Black Moth Super Rainbow, “Born on a Day the Sun Didn’t Rise”, seemed apocalyptically appropriate for this post today. It’s off their forthcoming album Eating Us due May 26. They’ll be playing Bottom of the Hill in San Francisco on May 28.
One of the most insane live performances I’ve ever witnessed, King Khan and The Shrines are a sight to behold. Originally from Germany, King Khan – also known as Black Snake – is like a Hindu version of Little Richard and James Brown. His band of freaks rolls eight deep and lays down a crazy concoction of psychedelic R&B with a full horn section and Go Go Queen of the Underworld, Bamboorella.
This is the new video for “Land of the Freaks” off their latest album The Supreme Genius of King Khan and The Shrines. The band is on tour now and will hit San Francisco’s Great American Music Hall May 28. Be there! The freak show awaits.
Saturday is Record Store Day, the one day of the year that all of the independently owned record stores around the world come together with artists to celebrate music (and help keep the independent record store alive). A ‘holiday’ born in San Francisco, the first official Record Store Day was held at Rasputin Music with Metallica on April 19, 2008 and is now celebrated the third Saturday every April.
There are lots of good live music and fun events happening around the Bay in support of the cause. Be sure to check the Record Store Day website for participating locations. Amoeba in San Francisco will be featuring giveaways every hour, a contest to win a turntable package and special appearances by John Vanderslice, Loquat, Kelly Stoltz and Aesop Rock. And, get this, The Silversun Pickups are performing live at Rasputin in Berkeley at 4PM. Yowza!
Artist: Dan Auerbach Album: Keep It Hid File Under: Vintage Blues Rock Recommended if You Like: The Black Keys, Heartless Bastards, The Raconteurs Featured Tracks: “The Prowl”
If Clapton is God, then Dan Auerbach is Jesus Christ. That’s what all the comments on my YouTube video say anyway, about a posting I made of a recent live performance of him covering The Animals “Inside Looking Out”. “Dan Auerbach is the Jesus Christ of all musicians….the man is THE KING……JESUS CHRIST, WHAT A VOICE!”
And the comments just keep coming. I’ve been a longtime fan of The Black Keys so word of Dan’s new solo effort had me hot and bothered for months. But you never know how these solo gigs are going to go. I had to see it, touch it, feel it to believe it. Fortunately I had the chance to do so, right after his debut album (Keep It Hid) released, at Bimbos in San Francisco. Without a doubt it was one of the best live shows of the year. One that has fueled my first, full-fledged musical obsession for 2009. So much so that I have officially baptized myself to the Church of Dan.
Is Jesus Christ going too far? I don’t know, but it is Easter Sunday and he’s certainly a legend in the making. And quite frankly with the impressive body of work he’s generated recently, it’s hard to argue. In early 2008 he gave us the acclaimed album Attack & Release with The Black Keys, later that year they released a DVD Live at The Crystal Ballroom, then just months later his solo album Keep It Hid was unveiled – followed by an extensive tour that rolls right into another Black Keys tour. Whew! Call him whatever you want, but Dan is most definitely the man right now.
The Black Keys perform at the new Fox Theater in Oakland, Saturday April 18.
white lies 1). n : an unimportant lie (especially one told to be tactful or polite) 2). proper noun. London-based buzz band whose early 80s inspired rock has drawn comparisons to Echo and the Bunnymen, Joy Division, Editors and Interpol
White Lies. I tell them everyday. It’s a necessity when you’re a parent. I used to feel guilty about it but then I read a book recently called “Outwitting Toddlers“ that cited ‘white lies’ as a bona fide parenting tactic and have been absolved from all feelings of guilt and remorse ever since. Case in point, my little man resisted brushing his teeth relentlessly until I told him they would turn green and fall out like a pirate if he didn’t. Now I don’t even have to remind him to brush anymore.
While I’m not sure if the name for this London-based buzz band was born out of such literal inspiration, it all seems so fittingly British and…well-mannered. All stereotypes aside, these guys are making some noise with their early 80s-inspired moody debut, To Lose My Life. They are the first British band to chart a number one album in the U.K. in 2009 and have now diligently set their sites on America. The band hit the ground running at SXSW, playing to packed crowds at every turn and delivering live performances that had tongues wagging – ‘big time’.
See for yourself what all the fuss is about April 11 at Slims in San Francisco.
Chad VanGaalen and Women (a Flemish Eye Records double bill) played last night at San Francisco’s Bottom of the Hill. It was my second time seeing Women and I really like their album but find their discordant, atonal sound gets a little lost in translation performed live. For me, at least. Their sound is definitely for the musically evolved.
Members of Women supported headliner, Chad VanGaalen and he did not disappoint. With three great albums to mine, the only complaint I have is that he didn’t play long enough. For someone who squirrels himself away in a basement for months on end writing songs about death and destruction, he was much more jovial and charismatic than I had ever anticipated. I don’t know what I expected to see, but it certainly wasn’t the comedian that he was. A pleasant surprise to say the least.
Over the weekend I caught up with Reuben of Simon Says No!, an up and coming Norwegian shoegaze group whose debut EP Ahoi de Angst has been making making waves. Pegged as a band to watch in 2009 by many, the group is in San Francisco tonight at Harlot sharing the bill with my favorite hometown band, Leopold and His Fiction. Don’t miss it! The event, sponsored by The Owl Mag,Future Sounds, Stranded in Stereo and SonicLiving, is free if you RSVP here and sure to rock your socks off!
the OCMD: I heard you’re in LA recording? Are you working on the follow up to your EP “Ahoi de Angst”? SSN!:We’re recording one song right now with producer Michael Patterson (Beck, She Wants Revenge, Ladytron) at the Glory Hole studios. We’ve been here two days and this is the last day. We’re trying out where we are going to record our next album and might use this song on the new album.
the OCMD: Is your new album slated to be released soon? SSN!:When we get home we’re planning to focus on our new songs and put together our ideas. The plan is to do some pre-production in the summer then start recording in August. That way the album should be ready for release next year.
the OCMD: Is this your first time in the US? SSN!: No, this our second time. We were here last October for CMJ.and played a couple of shows in NY.
the OCMD: Right, you got a lot of good buzz from that CMJ show. SSN: Yes, it was amazing and one of our best concerts we can think of. We got a lot of great feedback and in a way it really startled us because we had never done anything in the US before. It’s been really exciting time for us.
the OCMD: So the first time I heard your music, I couldn’t help think of Serena Maneesh – the only other Norwegian band I know. Were they an influence for you at all? SSN!:Yeah, we live in the same town (Bergen, Norway) and the entire music scene there has been a big inspiration for us.
the OCMD:What is the music scene like in Norway? I know so little about it compared to your Swedish neighbors. SSN!:In Oslo the indie rock scene is pretty huge. But in the second largest town where we live, which is Bergen, there’s a pretty big metal scene. Three of us in the band are from Bergen, so we definitely grew up and were influenced by the hardcore metal scene there. And we’ve definitely brought that kind of energy into the shoegaze sound we have.
the OCMD: I can definitely hear the metal influence in your music. It sounds good… and really loud! Should I bring my earplugs to your San Francisco show on April 1? SNN!:Yes, we like to play loud. You might want to bring your earplugs!
Rock and roll hoochie coo! Man, my musical stars were aligned last week. There’ve been so many good shows and so many more to come with SXSW merely days away, I think my head’s going to explode. Dan Auerbach‘s show at San Francisco’s Bimbos last Friday was just another display of rock-n-roll awesomeness.
Better known as half of The Black Keys, Auerbach’s solo endeavor is more of the same swampy, blues-tinged rock but, dare I say, even bigger and more dynamic. Whereas The Black Keys have that stripped down two-man band vibe, Dan has a 5 piece band supporting him (mostly comprised of musicians from the project he produced, Hacienda): two drummers, keyboardist/organist, rhythm guitar and bass player. Wow! I lost my socks somewhere at Bimbos.
If you’re going to SXSW and don’t have Dan Auerbach on your agenda, you’re a bona fide fool. Pencil it in and make sure you pick up his new album, Keep it Hid.
the OCMD 