I have loved the Roots since I was a wee lad in high school. They always have a great live show with more than competent musicianship and delivery. If you have never seen them live then you need to correct that situation. The Roots have a show at the Regency Ballroom on Monday, May 28th. Tickets range from $63-91 including service charges. Grab them here
June
Have you guys heard of Mayer Hawthorne? Mayer has a headlining show at the Fillmore on, Saturday, June 16th. Tickets will be $35 after service charges and will be available to purchase right here. (That show is now sold out) He will also have a show with Foster The People as the headliners on Friday, June 29th at the Greek Theater in Berkeley. Tickets for that will be $37.50 and they are available here.
Action Bronson, who is all over my hip hop mixes and sounds like a long lost member of Wu-Tang is coming to the Bay for a show at the Independent on Wednesday, June 13th. Tickets are at college level prices, clocking in at $15. It should be a good show...too bad it's on a Wednesday, and I am old. Seriously worth checking out though if you aren't lame. Get tickets here.
Lyrics Born and the whole Quannum crew got a lot of playing time in our college rotation. Though I think he could use some major label influence to rein in his weirdness I am not mad at him for doing his thing. One time I went to a Lyrics Born concert by myself when I was in Tahoe with my family and randomly saw his name on the marquee. I was also there at one of his first solo concerts where he was out of breath, kept stalling and after the encore said, "That's it" and quickly left the stage. So we have history and I will always root for him to succeed. It's nice to see a local, still on his grind and doing what he loves to do. The show is at the Independent on Saturday, June 16th and you can get tickets for $25 here.
July
Blind Pilot is back if you missed them the last time they were in town...like me. I totally didn't go to that last show...I even had tickets that I didn't end up using because it was raining, the show was in the city and there was a UFC fight available with the click of a button in the comfort of my living room. The show is on Friday, July 6th. So, maybe I'll make it to this one, no promises though. Tickets are $32.50 including service charges and you can get them here.
Al Green will be performing at the Nob Hill Masonic Auditorium in San Francisco on Saturday, July 14th. Tickets range from $58-$117, that's including the service charges though. I feel like if you haven't seen Al you should probably get on that. Admittedly the last time I saw him, it was not good. The crowd got a bit rowdy, yelling at him, some people even walked out. It was his last tour stop though so he could have been just coasting through his final show after a long stretch of time on the road. He barely sang, allowing his back up singers and the crowd to do the heavy lifting, eliciting comments from peeved audience members like, "We paid to hear you sing!!!" Despite all this...it's Al Green!!! He is so smiley and his stage banter is terrific. Go see him, he is old, don't live with the regret of not seeing him. I am still mad I didn't make the drive to Reno to see James Brown in person. Grab tickets here.
The day after Al Green's show, that would be Sunday July 15th, Aesop Rock will be playing at the Fillmore. Tickets are $32.50 including service charges. Aesop is weird. I have no idea what he raps about, he is the prototypical backpack rapper. Lofty lyrics that could be genius or complete bullshit. His studio production lacks structure, try and head nod and your neck will stutter and you may pull a muscle. With that being said, he puts on a nice live show, the beats are sped up, the rhythm comes through and surprisingly you don't just stand there leafing through your thesaurus trying to figure out what the fuck he is saying. Support the real!! Brap Brap!! Get tickets here.
Waters is the former front man of Oakland band, Port O'brien. I love me some Port O'brien, I was sad to hear that they had broken up, but they gave us at least two solid albums that I still listen to today. Now Waters is on his own and will be playing the Brick and Mortar in San Francisco. The show is on Wednesday, July 18th and the tickets range from $10-12. I haven't heard a ton from this new project but I am a staunch supporter of his previous endeavors. Also with tickets priced like that it is probably worth checking out. Grab tickets here.
Although I love funk/soul music, I rarely put together a mix as DJ Greybush and Jeffro Tull handle it so well that I usually just listen to their stuff. However, I finally pulled together some songs that have not appeared on their mixes (except 2 tracks, actually -- it's impossible to avoid!). I started off with a kernel of newer stuff from Daptone Records (Sharon Jones, Charles Bradley) and elsewhere (Michael Kiwanuka [love him!], Alabama Shakes), then built up the rest of the mix with 60s and 70s soul (Curtis Mayfield, Buddy Miles, Sly & the Family Stone, etc.). Then I threw in D'Angelo. Yup. (Actually, I think his album "Voodoo" was the greatest soul album of the 90's).
Nice tribute to MCA. "Sabotage" re-enacted by little kids.
Asians in a laundry room huh? *Mumbles, something, something, stereotypes, ABERCROMBIE Shirt!!!.* Cue the techno and start spritzing the body spray. Seriously guys? Couldn't we have done this in the living room, or at the very least the opium den? I keed, I am racist for thinking Asians can't be in a laundry room. In fact, the real problem isn't the laundry room but that poppy asian youtube singers are a stereotype in and of themselves.
Throwback video. Afrika Bambaataa & Soul Sonic Force, "Planet Rock." Whenever this comes on I get the false belief in myself that I can b-boy. I am still paying off my Mom for the chandelier I broke in middle school. Well maybe if you didn't put it above the dining room table this wouldn't have been an issue MOTHER!!!
Raquel Welch doing the Space-girl dance. No idea what this is from or why it exists. Sorry, not really up on my Raquel Welch movies. Enjoyable throwback video though. *Kanye shrug*
Duck, third from the left with Booker T. and the MG's.
Too many R.I.P. posts going on around here. I couldn't let this one go unmentioned even though it s a couple of days late. Donald "Duck" Dunn passed away on Sunday in Tokyo, he was 70 years old.
Duck is on so many of my favorite songs. As the bassist for the legendary Stax band he providing the backing rhythm on, "Try A Little Tenderness," "Green Onions," "Hold On I'm Coming," and countless other classics. As part of the backing band that formed the foundation of Stax he was basically on all of the hits that came out of the Memphis label in their heyday.
The song, "last Night" was his first hit. The song was recorded by his band the Mar-Keys when they were still in high school.
Here he is with Booker T. and the MG's performing, "Green Onions." This was one of the first instrumental tracks that I really liked. You don't need words when you have a groove like this.
Here he is backing Otis Redding on the Stax/Volt European tour in 1967.
Below he performs, "Hang em High" in 1991 at the Standard in New York.
Yeah, I know I'm a day late, but here it is anyway. This is a mix of 60's rock and soul from around the time my mother was graduating from high school. She was what I would call a "semi-hippie" -- went to Woodstock, got married in a park with no shoes on, but never really got into the drugs or the more radical politics of the era. This mix represents what I see as some of the best stuff from that period, not necessarily my mom's favorites (the only record she ever played was Joni Mitchell's Blue, which is from '71, so I left it off this). I put it together one night while hanging out (and getting drunk ;) with my mother-in-law, a self-proclaimed former "Flower Child", so she also had a lot of influence over the song choice (e.g. I never would have thought to add The Righteous Brothers - thanks Marguerite!). These are the really obvious best-of-the-60's tracks -- nothing obscure or challenging, just great.
R.I.P. to Maurice Sendak author of, "Where the Wild Things Are." For such a short book it had a pretty amazing way of worming its way into everyone's childhood nostalgia caves. Seriously I can close my eyes and see the drawings right now. Below is a video from Karen O. and the Kids that was on the Soundtrack of the Spike Jonze directed movie version of, "Where the Wild Things Are."
So John Travolta was in, "Saturday Night Fever." A movie, that had one of the greatest disco soundtracks of all time...if you are into disco soundtracks. "Last Days of Disco's" soundtrack may actually be superior but that's beside the point. I was trying to come up with a reason to post this insane video about his recent sexual assault litigation.
The shit these Taiwanese animators come up with. I swear I would be so up to date on recent news if they covered every story this way. I think I would have this channel on in my house 24/7. It's sooo good. You can not tell me that you did not enjoy this video. The bleach in the eyes, the noticeable retching, Jules cooking burgers, the Rabbis with the pink dildos, I mean come on!! It has everything you could ask for and more.
New Beach House track called, "Lazuli." Sounds like it will be a good one. Looking forward to the album.
Kid Koala performing, "Basin Street Blues." Stole this from Boing Boing.
Does anyone remember watching this as a kid? Oh man I used to love this cartoon and the dance. Nice little throwback to wash the Travolta out of your eyes. Put it in the bag bump bump.
This mix will transport you back in time, all the way to the year 2003! This is actually a mix I made for my now-wife back during our first year of dating. It was recently unearthed in the one of the big ole zip-up CD binders that slide around her trunk. Although the disc was heavily scratched, my computer recognized all the files, so I made her a new version and figured I'd pass it along to the blogosphere as well.
And don't worry, it's not a super mushy, all ballads mix -- it's got quite a bit of range in terms of genre and content (though, admittedly I did dip into The Magnetic Fields' 69 Love Songs a bit too much). I was particularly stoked to hear the Stereolab songs -- such a great band, and I hadn't listened to their stuff in years. There may be a Stereolab retrospective coming soon...
Below is a video compilation of Good Dancers vs. Bad Dancers. A team of psychologists ran a study where they transferred a subject's dance routine onto an avatar which was then judged by a panel of 37 straight women.
"Men who were judged to be good dancers had a varied repertoire and more moves that involved tilting and twisting the torso and neck." You can read the whole article here.
I think that the, "Good Dancer" still looks awkward, although the video below that with, "Good Dancer" dancing to Lady Gaga makes it a bit better. Do I detect the sprinkler as part of the, "Good Dancer" routine? I think we should all learn the entire routine and perform it at our local discotheque. Who's coming with me??
Good dancer vs. Bad Dancer
Good dancer set to Lady GaGa
There is good dancing, bad dancing....and then Butter dancing. I have done absolutely no research into why this video exists. It seems like a serious visual arts performance. If it has something to do with societies downward descent into obesity or lack of nutrition for third world refugees it will take away my selfish desire to continually fall out of my chair laughing at it. In this case ignorance is bliss. I am seriously amazed no one in the room is laughing because this is a straight up laugh riot to me. Don't make me feel bad by telling me what this is really about and why everyone is so serious. My favorite part is when she thinks she has regained her balance and then loses control again. It's the manic look, the focused eyes and the eventual fall that get me every time. This happens about 100 times so basically my favorite part is this whole video.
I fear sounding hyperbolic when I say how impactful the Beastie Boys were on my adolescent development, but after learning of Adam Yauch's passing today, perhaps I don't really care at the moment.
It started with Ill Communication around age 13 in the 'burbs of Ohio, the year I began seriously collecting music. Yes, there was some Alanis Morrisette and The Offspring thrown in the mix (Christ, I was a teenager...) but I was just starting to get real, visceral reactions from hearing certain artists. I still can't articulate properly what happens when I hear good music. I suppose the best analogy I can think of is DJ Greybush releasing a guttural "Uhhh" while combing through new tracks at his computer. I'm a tad more reserved in my reactions, always have been. As my teen years wore on, my tiny yet growing collection was quietly stirring me up with it's near constant rotation of the Beastie's fourth album, Radiohead's OK Computer, Bjork's Post and Homogenic albums, and the greatest hits of Otis and Aretha.
Perhaps I had purchased Ill Communication because I had been captivated by their Spike Jonze-directed music video for "Sabotage". The video, with its cheeky pastiche and nods to 70s cop films and TV, is itself something to behold. But the song -- as great as it is -- is not even the best part of the album, despite its pop cultural recognizance. "Root Down," "Sure Shot," and "Get It Together" are now classics in my opinion and the album's instrumentals show real artistry and technique. Hell, I even liked the punk tune "Heart Attack Man," though, it could have something to do with Mike D exploding into a giggle fit in the song's intro.
When you are young and different, you can appreciate those -- like the Beasties -- who are not only unafraid to be weird but are also deservedly championed for it. They also fostered the talent of other people who couldn't be easily categorized by Billboard. My first concert (tickets funded by one generous and hip older sister)? Luscious Jackson, a band just as unconventionally awesome and on the Beasties' Grand Royal label roster.
So I went back into their catalog and subsequently fell in love with Paul's Boutique, an album full of obscure samples and hooks that made it a nice companion to De La Soul's 3 Feet High and Rising. By the time Hello Nasty came out in 1997 (propelled by their kitschy video for "Intergalactic," replete with Godzilla doing the robot) I was on the more obsessive side of their fandom, perhaps accelerated further by my own hormones and fantasy that I would marry a Beastie one day. [sk as a teenager, crying into her pillow: "When will my Jewish, New York City-bred emcee with progressive political beliefs finally come??"]
MCA always had a special place in my heart. He was clearly the most skilled emcee of the bunch, his raspy verses serving as a nice counterpart to the more nasal, high-pitched delivery of AdRock and Mike D. He was low-key, yet still had a fierce sense of humor which, to me, made him the funniest one.
The group as a whole often spoke out against racism (check out Colorlines' video of Yauch speaking out against Islamophobia in 1998), homophobia, and sexism, but MCA's deep commitment to Tibetan rights was admirable, particularly looking back from the present day where Kony 2012 fever has struck and fizzled and every starlet with an IMDB page is being named an ambassador for UNICEF or the UN. Further, Yauch's directorial vision of the Beasties' music videos and their 2006 concert film (as Hornblower) showed how multitalented he really was, someone who knew how significant combining the aural with the visual was. He also directed the 2008 basketball documentary Gunnin' for that No. 1 Spot.
According to Rolling Stone, Yauch was not feeling healthy enough to attend the Beasties' recent induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but I'm glad to know that we was still with us to realize that their creativity and talent was recognized, even by the most mainstream of the mainstream. I like to think he would have shown up in a fake mustache and lederhosen had he felt up to it. Wherever he's going or heading, I'm sure he's suiting up now.
Awesome installation from Jim Houser's March show at Le Basse Projects in LA. Check out more photos from the show here.
Tres Ouais is making me feel like a slacker with the way he has been producing mixes...I see Jeffro doesn't have the same inability to cope with guilt as I do. Hey Ohhh!! Low hanging fruit, Hi-YAAH!! *makes chopping motion* I have actually had some mixes done but have been selfishly enjoying them myself. Grab the latest Indie mix below or hit the jump for the tracklist and unnecessary words about said mix.
Al Green will be performing at the Nob Hill Masonic Auditorium in San Francisco on Saturday, July 14th. Tickets range from $58-$117, that's including the service charges though. I feel like if you haven't seen Al you should probably get on that. Admittedly the last time I saw him, it was not good. The crowd got a bit rowdy, yelling at him, some people even walked out. It was his last tour stop though so he could have been just coasting through his final show after a long stretch of time on the road. He barely sang, allowing his back up singers and the crowd to do the heavy lifting, eliciting comments from peeved audience members like, "We paid to hear you sing!!!" Despite all this...it's Al Green!!! He is so smiley and his stage banter is terrific. Go see him, he is old, don't live with the regret of not seeing him. I am still mad I didn't make the drive to Reno to see James Brown in person. Grab tickets here.
