Upcoming Shows

Here is a small sampling of upcoming shows in the Bay Area.  Pretty light schedule so far, but some must see action coming through.  We'll try and fill this out as more shows pop onto our radar, but for now have a look at what's coming up.


February

The Budos Band and DJ Afrolicious will be at the Independent on Thursday, February 23rd.  Tickets are $20 plus service charges and the show starts at 8:00. We are all huge fans of the Dunham/Daptone label so if any of their stacked roster is on tour we highly recommend checking them out. Seriously some of the best live music you can hear.  The opener Afrolicious was previously written up on the blog in this post.  Buy tickets for the show here.

Well I have some good news and some bad news.  The good news is that, Thao and the Get Down Stay Down will be co-headlining with John Vanderslice at The Bottom of the Hill in San Francisco.  The bad news is that it's the same night as the Budos band show, Feb. 23rd.  First world problems, which awesome musical act do I go see?  Tickets are $18 and you can grab them here.



March

Sharon Van Etten and The War On Drugs are coming to the Independent on Wednesday, March 21st. Tickets are $20 plus service charges and doors open at 7:30. Sharon was previously on Yes Homo Pop Princess Mix 6, and possibly some of the Indie mixes. Grab tickets for the show here.






April

This one is a biggie for me.  This is a dude that I check tour schedules for and plot his movements on my wall map with pins and string.  Well guess what?  That string is headed straight for the Fox in Oakland.  My days spent praying have paid off.  Andrew Bird will be coming to town Friday April 13th.  Tickets are on the pricier side at $37.50 before service charges, but it's Andrew fucking Bird!!!  *Tries to whistle and just spits on himself*  He has been on at least two mixes from the blog that I can think of.  You may remember his appearance on Indie Mix 10...or maybe not.  Either way grab tickets for what is sure to be an amazing show here.

Childish Gambino will also be at the Fox in April.  He stops into town on Thursday, April 19th.  Tickets are $25 before the service charges.  He loves Asian girls and Asian girls love him...just ask SK or DANakaDAN. He sings a bit too much for me, but I have really particular taste when it comes to hip hop, actually I am not even sure if this is completely hip hop. The straight hip hop joints he has done I have enjoyed though. His comedy comes through in a lot of his raps and I appreciate a witty emcee. He also gets really personal and I give props to a rapper that is unafraid to show that part of himself on stage.  One of his songs was on Hip Hop Mix 10. Grab tickets for the show here.

Eye Candy

This has been all over the blogs. I don't know about you, but I love, "Calvin and Hobbes." Bill Watterson did really amazing, touching, heartfelt work with rich characters that actually made you laugh. It's what all comic strips should do, but seriously how many times do you actually laugh while reading, "Beetle Bailey?" It was such a well balanced creation and he did it for years. He did take breaks, but who could blame him, and who could be upset with a man that gave us such stellar work and refused to sellout his baby to licensing. This video brings back the nostalgia with some awesome re-creations of Calvin's demented snowmen. (via)

Speaking of great comic strips. This could be the greatest gif ever.



I saw this on Nahright. There are two interesting things about this video. First is the confluence of 90's that it exhibits. The Whooliganz toured with Cypress Hill, were members of the Soul Assassins collective, and this song was produced by DJ Lethal. The second and funniest part is who the members of the group are. Mudfoot is Alchemist of Dilated Peoples, Mobb Deep fame and Mad Skillz (not that Mad Skillz) is Scott Caan. Yeah Scott Caaan, son of James, gallery showing photographer, and star of, "Hawaii 5-0," what a Renascence man.


Statik is so solid with his production. Now that's my kind of hip hop. Another one below.

I Have Seen That Guy Before

I am sure you have seen these on tv. They are super catchy. They are actually pretty well crafted pop jingles. They aren't quite as memorable as Paul from the Diamond center, but that's just because it doesn't have a group of women straining under the weight of their totalitarian boss while, "I'm A Credit Man" plays.

The reason I bring up the Diamond center commercials is because I got sidetracked and those were the most memorably horrible commercials from my youth. The reason I bring up the free credit report commercials is because I recognized the singer. If you have downloaded any of our indie mixes you might just have him on your ipod as well. When I first saw the commercial I thought hey that looks like...nah...that would be super random. Wasn't I just talking to that guy at a merch table? It must just be someone who looks like him.

My curiosity got the better of me after repeated viewings and a simple google search revealed that he was in fact who I thought he was. The singer in those commercials is Daniel Zott...one half of Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. In the commercials it is his band called the Victorious Secrets. Apparently there was a contest to find a new band for the commercials and they won. Other blogs have commented on how funny it is that Dale's album is called, "It's A Corporate World." That blog doesn't fault him though, you can't really. They do say that their publicist denied that it was him, which was funny. I don't think anyone is mad, because I doubt Dale's sales are filling up his bank account and with the residuals from these commercials that will probably be less of a concern. Now he can focus on his own projects and hopefully be financially stable. I am past the stage of being angry at people selling out, because like David Cross discussed here, you can't buy a house on hipster credibility.

Eye Candy

Bronson-Purpose from French Camp Records on Vimeo.

Great track from Bronson. His debut album came out November 29th, you can grab it here. Expect this on the next indie mix.

Alexander - Truth from Alexander on Vimeo.

Alexander Ebert is the front man for Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros. He is stepping out into the solo spotlight for his current project, aptly titled...Alexander. Love the groove on this song, the cadence and flow of his delivery, it's so rhythmic. Look for a couple of his solo songs to be on the upcoming Indie mixes.


Throwback video of the day. Rock that turtle neck and scotch guard looking jacket Al!! Dude is flawless though.


A$ap Rocky- Purple Swag.


A Christmas song from phantoms of a childhood long vanished. Mutant turtles who dwell in the sewer serenading you with a yule time lullaby. Ohhh 90's you were kind of horrible, but I loved you so.


From BoingBoing, this is Nina Simone's cover of, "Ooh Child." Originally off of her 1971 LP "Here Comes the Sun." The album also has covers of Bob Dylan, Paul Anka, and one of my favorite Beatles songs and the title of the cover album, "Here Comes The Sun." The album was just reissued on 180 gram vinyl by 4 Men With Beards who do great work re-issuing awesome albums. I have one of their Otis re-issues and it's one of my favorites. Grab "Here Comes The Sun" here.

Greybush Gift Guide

I warned you this was coming. Because some of you, I won't name names *cough-Moira*, make terrible choices when it comes to gift giving, (no one wants your homemade paper towel roll sculptures) this year I came up with a list of places to find some cool things. Personally, I won't be buying anything for anyone this year, because I already gave myself the greatest Christmas gift of all...debt. So, please don't get me anything off of this list, instead use it to spread cheer amongst yourselves.

Are any of you big fans of The Swell Season?  I wouldn't say I am a big fan, but I do like this poster.  I was just thinking if you happened to be a big Swell Season fan then this would be awesome for you.  How about Ray Lamontagne?  For me not so much, at least not enough to own the gig poster.  I think it's extremley well done though.

Andrew Bird?  I love me some Andrew Bird.

Anyway, these are all just examples from a site that we have discussed before, Poster Cabaret.  They have art prints, gig posters, tons of stuff.  The range of bands is extensive, the styles of art are eclectic.  It could be your one stop shop for the music/art lover in your life.  Hit the jump for more art sites and gift ideas.

Guest Mix: Psych Oh!

Check out this solid mix of psychedelic rock from guest DJ Guruvondooom:

I'm decidedly against wrestling with the existential dilemmas of what constitutes psych in all it's various manifestations publicly so let's call this a collage in fuzz and reverb arranged in two parts; sex and drugs. I focused on the years 1965-1968 with a few exceptions. The La De Das track was recorded in '66 as part of a concept album based on Oscar Wilde's The Happy Prince ... they couldn't get anyone to put it out until '69. It's presented without the intended narration for your listening pleasure. Also from '69 there's a track from Skip Spence's essential Oar for the psych folk enthusiast, a track from Pisces' great Numero Group re-issue and the bruising grinder Meshkalina from Peru. The drugs section of the mix climaxes and closes around the theme of psych casualties; Malcolm Mooney, Brian Wilson, Syd Barrett and I'll include Robert Wyatt's legs. I won't count "Spider" Sabich in this group but the fact that Claudine Longet shot and killed a man did make her an appropriate palate cleanser besides Jealous Guy being one of the great Lennon tunes. There's a good back story (and catalog) to the majority of the acts included that with a little searching will reward the curious listener.

Enjoy!
Psych Oh! Mix.


P.S. I realized there's nothing here from 1967. Maybe '67 deserves a mix of it's own but it wasn't a conscious decision.

P.P.S Yes, Kanye sampled that track.

P.P.P.S. It's no coincidence that the Beach Boys Smile Sessions and both of The Olivia Tremor Control's albums were re-issued this year.

Eye Candy

tribute to drive from tom haugomat & bruno mangyoku on Vimeo.

This is all kinds of awesome. It's a super sweet animated tribute to the movie, "Drive." Beautiful animation.

Rats live on no evil star - Tree in the Green from lallali on Vimeo.

Really like the imagery on this video...I am a comic nerd after all. Not feeling the song as much though.


The animation in this propaganda film is pretty awesome. It seems like a really strange message though. We will win the war because we have enough spaghetti to knit the earth a sweater, and our citizens are so fat their asses could black out Berlin? Who even figures out these figures? Please calculate how many bowls of oatmeal it would take to build a gigantic shoe that would stretch from here to Bermuda.



I don't really know why this exists. It doesn't sound far off from what they play on the radio though. Stanley is a big baller and auto tunes the shit out of this song.


Mac Lethal has apparently been blowing up the internet with his freestyle over the, Chris Brown song, "Look At Me Now." I first saw Mac Lethal when he was competing in Scribble Jam battles in the early 2000's. He took the title in 2002 and was signed to Rhymesayers in 2004. He has been on his grind for a long ass time so it's nice to see him getting some recognition. The last song of his making one of my mixes was his feature on the Cunninlynguists song, "Broken Van," which I'll also post below...love that sample.



Really feeling this track by Alexander Fairchild. Look for it on a Indie mix in the near future.

Hip Hop Mix 11

"Audrey, I swear every time I come over here it's all Raekwon, all day...I knew there was a reason I liked you.

Audrey and I have been testing out the new hip hop mix.  I try and tell her there is more to hip hop than just crack rap, but if they aren't talking about moving o's she just rolls her eyes and does that dismissive wanking motion.  Reaaaal classy Audrey, maybe you could do with some more culture!!!

Well despite Audrey's protestation there is a mixture of both crack rap and conscience rap on the mix.  I know some of it is too preachy and kumbaya for some people. *whispers Audrey*  But how can we appreciate the sweet without the sour?  How can we appreciate spandex without lunges.  Grab the download here or hit the jump for a preview.  Lots of videos and pictures so enter at your own risk.

Christmas Mix

I used to hate Christmas music, but the older I get, the more I like it (ergo the sappier I get, I guess). I did one last year that was all over the place in terms of style, era, etc., so this year I'm taking a more conservative approach. Although there are a few songs you probably have never heard (e.g. Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings, "Ain't No Chimneys in the Projects"), the bulk of them are either total classics (e.g. Bing Crosby's "White Christmas") or more obscure versions of traditional tunes (e.g. Mayer Hawthorne's "Christmas Time is Here").

My primary goal was to make it playable for the whole family, but not totally predictable/cheesy. The last song, "A Fairytale of New York" by The Pogues, is perhaps the only exception insofar as it's a bit R-rated (look out for the f-bomb that rhymes with 'maggot') and bleak, but it's that special brand of tragicomedy that the Irish do so well (in fact, this song is the #1 song played on the radio in Ireland at Christmas time, f-bomb included), and I find its bleak realism strangely uplifting.

Enjoy!

Christmas Mix 2011

Holiday Booty

Isn't holly poisonous?  I know it's spiky.  Figgy pudding sounds horrible

That title should up the page views huh? It's holiday time, I can tell because my co-worker is playing Christmas music non-stop, yeaahhh!!! What the fuck is figgy pudding and why would you come to my doorstep and demand some?  Just because you sing your demands doesn't make them any less demanding.  Let me try, and see if you like it.  "Now bring me your youngest daughter and a bottle of beeeer."  *Runs at the sound of sirens*  This music must stop.  I'm warning you lady subjecting me to this nonsense is like poking a bear in a cage, I am liable to...ask you to please refrain from such activity post haste. Maybe more like poking a very civilized well mannered bear in a cage, but a bear no less!! *adjusts monocle*  Either way, y'all gon make me lose my mind. How many of you muttered "up in here, up in here" to yourself? How many of you are now growling and speeding through the Arizona desert with suspended licenses?

The main reason for this post was because of the amazing online store that Boingboing featured the other day. Das Programm only features products designed by Dieter Rams, who is pretty much a god when it comes to design. His record player is my profile pic on this blog and I have pined for his stuff for years.  His work is displayed in the New York Museum of Modern Art and is also currently on exhibit at the SFMOMA.  So he is kind of a big deal.  I have no idea how these guys are able to stock an online store with his stuff, since they are literally museum pieces.  But I can tell you that I go and look at the SK5 almost every day and hope that someone else buys it so that I can stop obsessing and thinking that I may be able to obtain it.  Gaaah, can't stop drooling.

Dieter Rams, Braun SK5 (Snow White's Coffin) $1022.32

Braun RT 20 $1179.60

Braun G 11 $940.00

Braun Atelier 3 $940.00-$1570

Braun AB 22 Black and White $125

Braun ABW 30 $235-$393

Perhaps some more reasonable options for your loved ones after the jump...although if you really loved them you would get them the items above. Just saying.  *Clears space for record player*