San Francisco Music Blog

Riffraffselbow

The cheesiest lit event all month

​This is perfect grilled-cheese weather, and local writer celeb Dave Eggers is serving up a whole batch of 'em to serve up for free to the public next week. It's part of a pair of pretty cool sounding McSweeney's events for Austin author Bill Cotter, whose book, Fever Chart, was released by Eggers' publishing house. The novel focuses on a post-institutionalized Jerome Coe, who grabs a ride to New Orleans around Mardi Gras and ends up with "a bandaged hand, world-champion grilled cheese sandwiches, and only the occasional psychotic break."

To hear more about this book, and to nosh on Cotter and Eggers' handiwork, go to City Lights on Wednesday, Feb. 17, at 7 p.m. Cotter will be there with his wife, poet Annie La Ganga. Two nights later, on the 19th, Cotter moves over to Amnesia, where his celebrity literary sandwich servers include Starlee Kine, a great This American Life contributor. That night will also showcase music by accordionist Rob Reich, who'll offer a fitting soundtrack to the New Orleans theme (and who just happened to be the guest DJ on KUSF early this morning).  Both readings/eatings are free, but definitely arrive early if you go.

 

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What started as a solo bedroom project, with singer Elizabeth Harper writing synth-heavy pop songs à la early Madonna, has blossomed into a full-fledged act with the addition of producer Mark Richardson and his wide array of vintage synthesizers. Now, the outfit known as Class Actress, based in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, has been ushered into the vibrant N.Y. disco-pop scene alongside the likes of The Golden Filter, Holy Ghost!, and Hercules & Love Affair with today's release of its debut EP, Journal of Ardency.

Released on Terrible Records , a small indie run in part by Chris Taylor of Grizzly Bear, Journal of Ardency comprises five songs of cool analog synth melodies, buoyant basslines, and thick washes of atmosphere, all weighted down by old-school drum machine beats and driven by Harper's inviting voice.

Class Actress is set to take its upbeat live performance on the road with English electro-popstress Little Boots, hitting the Fillmore here March 9. For a preview of what that show, and the new EP, have in store, you can download the opening track from Journal of Ardency  here.

David Bornfriend www.davidbornfriend.com

​"Openers" researches the best opening bands in San Francisco each week and tells you why it's worth showing up early to catch them. Our latest pick: Magic Bullets.

In a non-musical context, "Magic Bullet(s)" can refer to, among other things, a blender-like device whose absurdly enthusiastic info-mertials made for a viral culture footnote, or a trashy guide to seducing women. We're not sure whether any of these lowbrow dregs inspired the name of the new wave-y San Francisco band opening for Wild Beasts at the Independent Thursday night, but we think their familiar '80s shimmer should kick things off right.

Magic Bullets' vocal melodies swell and linger athletically over lean, sparkling guitar lines, with reflective lyrics that sound like they could have been written by Morrissey after an extended West Coast holiday. But as much as the band recalls the Smiths, branding it a simple knockoff would sell the music short. The song "Heatstroke," for example, moves the group's moody Manchester sound toward Nor-Cal dream-pop territory, with aching lyrics that tackle ills more public than the private pains over which Morrissey loved to obsess. With elegant sounds and sophistication to spare, this band may instill that tired "Magic Bullet" idea with yet another pop culture meaning.

Magic Bullets
Thursday, Feb. 11 at the Independent with Wild Beasts

DJ Real

​The Monthly Rumpus w/ Daniel Handler, Tony DuShane, Robin Ekiss, Ethan Watters, Kevin Sampsell, DJ Real, the Yellow Dress, & Richard Porter on hula hoop
Monday, Feb. 8, 2009
Make-Out Room

Better than: Talking about the Super Bowl

Where in San Francisco can you get a night of author readings about a pubic hair leading a teenager astray, "homogenizing the way the world goes mad," and screwing a prostitute named Gretta; watch a "hoopdance" by an architect with a penchant for hip-hop and glowing hula hoops; listen as a musician-performance artist re-enacts a phone conversation from 7th grade; and enter a raffle where the prizes include free porn or free Ritual coffee? Ok, so yeah, it all sounds pretty San Francisco. And the organizers behind last night's Monthly Rumpus gathering at the Make-Out Room were well aware of that fact. As he pulled raffle tickets during an intermission, host/author/Rumpus.net editor Stephen Elliott joked that if you won, and you chose the Ritual gift certificate (at a Rumpus party at the Make-Out Room in the Mission, no less) well, you would be "the biggest hipster of the month."

Kidding aside, though, what made last night's variety show work was the complete lack of attitude, hipster or otherwise. Instead we were offered insight into a rich writing scene, the uncomfortable sexual adolescence of many male writers involved with the Rumpus, and the sort of alcoholic beverage you shouldn't drink before going on The Daily Show.

While it was definitely sweet, Google's Super Bowl "Parisian love" ad was a pointed reminder that search has not seen any major transformations over the last decade. For as long as we've searched on the web, we've pretty much had the same experience: plug in some words, get a list to parse, rinse, repeat. Search has been mostly about perusal, with the onus put on the searcher to do the transactional work that follows, if necessary. But how about closing that loop? Enter Siri, an unassuming voice-recognition-based "personal assistant" app that hints at a different search experience focused on transactions.

Created as part of an artificial intelligence project called CALO (Cognitive Agent that Learns and Organizes), Siri lets you make verbal requests to your iPhone -- like booking a restaurant reservation, movie tickets or a taxi ride - an then interprets your question and sources answers via third-party services like Open Table, StubHub, Taxi Magic and Yelp. So it not only understands language, it also has the ability to delegate tasks and learn as you use it -- so that it's better and quicker at interpreting your requests over time. But you really have to see it in action; watch the video below. The app is free (it currently makes money via small fees from transactions like movie-ticket purchases), so you should play with it yourself.

 

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Sometimes it feels like "post-punk" has become a dirty descriptor. More often than not, if a band cites its influences as pre-Joy Division Warsaw or the Fall, expect to see some bad haircuts and hear a clichéd hodgepodge of post-punk darkwave and cheesy modern dance music that lacks heart, originality, or any resemblance to punk music. But Rank/Xerox has managed to conjure up an organic sound that draws from such dark predecessors as Sad Lovers & Giants and aggressive, speedy punk in the vain of the Middle Class, while adding something new and scintillating to the equation.

The backbone of the band is drummer Jon Shade. Oddly enough, Shade only learned the drums less than a year ago when Rank/Xerox first formed. "I listened to a lot of Liliput, Hans-A-Plast, and Grass Widow when I was first learning drums. Diane from Brilliant Colors and myself learned beats from Bossa Nova videos on YouTube," says Shade, whose tight, brisk style gives momentum and a sense of urgency to the Rank/Xerox sound. Shade and Aussie expat David West drive the band through its sonic foray, while singer Kevin McCarthy spouts sometimes cruel, always caustic musings in a cool tone. The second song on the group's Wizard Mountain split tape with Grass Widow, "Stairs," begins harshly with McCarthy stating, "Every day I use you...for my own ends." It's as though he has surrendered to the toxic parasitism of human relationships, relating this simply and matter of factly to his audience.

After a tour of Eastern Europe last fall with Bay Area comrades Nodzzz and a brief tour with Grass Widow, Rank/Xerox is back in the Bay Area with a handful of upcoming local shows and a new 7" on Shade's label Mongo Bongo Top Ten Hits. The band will also be recording an LP in March, and will be featured on the upcoming Maximum Rock N Roll Bay Area compilation titled Noise Ordinance.

Rank/Xerox plays tonight with Airfix Kits and La Corde at the Knockout (9:30 p.m., free)

Olly Hearsey

Vivian Girls

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Can't three women just rock out, please? That might be what Vivian Girls Cassie, Katy, and Ali are thinking after three years of music press scrutiny debating their sound and band lineage. They're typically compared to British twee pop groups Shop Assistants and Talulah Gosh, or American girl groups like the Ronettes or Shangri-Las. But raw power mixed with fun and romance is their essence, and their fuzzy, two-minute ditties are a middle finger to commercial radio's slick pop. Their new single, "My Love Will Follow Me," drops this month on Wild World, and they will definitely crank up the volume when they join kindred West Coast soul Best Coast (Bethany Cosentino) and the Bananas tonight at Bottom of the Hill. (9 p.m., $10)

More calendar suggestions here.

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Dear Jamie,

I love my boss; he's great. And he's even a nice guy. The kind of boss you can be Facebook friends with, y'know? But. The other day, he added me as a friend on Foursquare. I don't know how I feel about that. I think that's kind of weird, don't you? I mean, it's one thing for my boss to see my status messages and occasional photos, but for him to know where I am at all times? That feels a bit big brother to me. Should I accept his Foursquare invite?

Signed,

From an Unknown Location
 

Nearly every show at White Walls transforms the environment of the gallery--and its Larkin St. surroundings. On Saturday night, crazy-eyed men stumbled in from the alley to eyeball art installations and the brown-bagged booze held by the skate/art crowds mingling inside. The opening for White Walls' newest show, "Never a Dull Moment," was most successful in transforming the space itself, though, into really cool mini-enclaves for over two-dozen different artists, none of whom had a, well, dull take on the idea behind the show.

Walking in, the space and bright swaths of color turned those white walls neon.

White Walls

IO (Intelligent Opportunities)

​Thanks to a collaboration organized by iO--who curated the show--wood panels, spray paint, and large canvases boggled the eye with bright colors.

White Walls

Ray Potes

​Further down, the Potes Brothers, Ray and Dave, showed a fun collection of black and white photos, some of which might look familiar to followers of their Hamburger Eyes photozine.

And across the way, another photographer, respected New Yorker Cheryl Dunn,  hung a close-up image of people screwing next to images both still and on the video screen. In the back of the gallery, Angela Boatright had one of my favorite photo/video themes of the evening.

White Walls

Angela Boatwright

​Her series on Gomer documented a truly unique musician/stoner dude.

Upstairs, the remnants from a previous White Walls show fit in with the current theme. A Portland art collective had created a miniaturized version of their workspace, compete with lots of owl knick-knacks.

Overall, Never a Dull Moment lives up to the name. If you have a chance to wander into White Walls before the show closes February 27, you'll find plenty of eye candy to brighten up dull February skies.

We really hope it doesn't rain on Thao with the Get Down Stay Down this weekend

​If you couldn't get into last weekend's Thao/Thermals show, or, if you did go and just couldn't get enough of these bands, they play together again this Friday at UC Berkeley's Sproul Plaza, thanks to KALX. This little indie pop valentine mixes the Thermal's spasic-estatic rock with Thao's talent of turning a mess of a breakup into a remarkably upbeat album. The college station hosts the two bands starting at 5 p.m., and the gig is, of course, free.