San Francisco Music Blog

Real Estate plays the Hemlock tonight

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The holidays are gonna suck all our wallets dry in due time, but luckily the weekends still offer plenty of cheap options. This week we take the list up to 11 (picks, that is).

Art in Storefronts @ the Mission (Fri.)The San Francisco Arts Commission moves its inventive "art in storefronts" program to the Mission, where vacant shops get transformed with cool installations. (Check out the stretch of Market storefronts near the Warfield at night for a taste of how this project went down in another hood). Head down to lower 24th St. tonight, where the party starts at Triple Base gallery at 7p.m. with live jazz. (Free).

(500) Days of Summer @ Red Vic (Fri.-Sat.) Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt star in a romantic comedy that actually doesn't give you sugar poisoning. The film, which plays this weekend at the Red Vic, looks at all the fucked up things that can happen when two people crush out on one another -- it's not all sweet nothings and happy endings here. How can it all be positive when you start the movie with the couple breaking up and jump around in time from there? (500) Days of Summer's biggest selling point, however, are the moments it turns into a musical with a Hall and Oates soundtrack. Seriously, romcoms don't get better than that scene. (Times vary, $7-$9)

Barn Owl, Eternal Tapestry, Moon Duo, Real Estate @ the Hemlock (Fri.)
We're not sure if we could be any more excited about this Hemlock show. Real Estate is the latest bit of ebullient, folksy pop out on Woods' Woodsist label. The group's record is damn near perfect, sounding loose and live and full of upbeat melodies (try out this tune, "Beach Comber," for starters). Once your spirits rise, you can get higher on the droning sounds of Barn Owl and Wooden Shjips offshoot Moon Duo, both of whom could put your noggin in a heavy trance. (9:30 p.m., $8)

(Indoor) Street Party @ Baobab Village (Sat.) Bollyhood Café and Little Baobab present a night of street food, street artists, and (um, street?) music this Saturday. Their "Outside In: A Street Party" takes the idea of a street party and puts it behind weather-protective walls. Grab grub from one of a dozen street food carts (Wholesome Bakery, Magic Curry Cart, Creme Brulee Cart, Gumbo Man, Brazilian Bites, Bacon Potato Chips, Chile Lindo, Smitten Ice Cream, That Guy's Fries, Soul Cocina) and dance to DJs and bands performing Afro-Caribbean and Latin music. (7 p.m., $5)

 Ultra-Slow Dancing Competition @ Kaleidoscope (Sat.) Last weekend there were two big dance competitions. This week, we're down to one -- but it's another creative twist on the concept. The newish Kaleidoscope is sponsoring an evening of "Very slow dancing. People who dance the slowest best will be winning terrific prizes." From 9 p.m. until midnight, pretend you're a jaded indie rocker and see how little you can move -- and yet still show your enthusiasm in this battle of the art of stillness. Live music from So Awesome,  Delivery Is Possible, and Grand Lake will flood the room with downtempo electronica and other slow mood music. ($5, but if you don't have the cash they won't turn you away).

EpiscoDisco @ Grace Cathedral (Sat.) How often can you say you went to a dance party in a famous old cathedral? EpiscoDisco has to be one of those "only in S.F." parties.  Tonight it's presenting visual artist Kamau Amu Patton (to move your mind and eyeballs) and Bronze (to move your ass) at the beautiful Grace Cathedral. Sounds pretty damn amazing. (7 p.m., free)

Pumpkin Cooking Contest @ Omnivore Books (Sat.) "According to the produce wheel at Whole Foods, pumpkins are in season. Not many people know what to do with pumpkins, though. Once a year, people carve holes in them and light them on fire. Some make them into incredible, low-cost meals, snapping up the season's overstock and whipping up stuff like pumpkin polenta, pumpkin fritters, pumpkin bisque, and pumpkin cheesecake. At Omnivore Books' Pumpkin Cooking Contest, just bring your best anything made with pumpkin -- or the seeds -- then put your fate in the pumpkin eaters." -- Michael Leaverton (4 p.m., $5)

Ooh La La! @ Paradise Lounge (Sat.) Time to get the vintage outta the closet, as San Francisco's swank oldies dance party, Oh La La! hits both stories of the Paradise. Cozy up by the second floor fireplace or dance down below to '60s classics, old soul, and live garage rock from the Flakes. (10 p.m., $7)

Fanfarlo @ Amoeba (Sun.) The U.K.'s Fanfarlo is just starting to build a buzz in the States. The happy little indie-pop quartet sounds like a more conventional Beirut (with dashes of Arcade Fire and Wolf Parade), with fey, theatrical vocals and soaring horns. The band plays at Rickshaw Sunday night, but warms up with a free in-store at Amoeba at 2 p.m.

Karl Blau and LAKE @ The Hemlock (Sun.) "On his third album for K Records, quirky Pacific Northwest troubadour Karl Blau further feels out the African-inspired sounds he has flirted with in the past. Zebra is full of languid guitar sprawl, entrenched basslines, and stuttered drums, and Blau's voice manifests itself as a heavy sigh. He has also produced several K releases in the past year. Those credits include LAKE's new album, Let's Build a Roof, on which the all-caps Olympia six-piece (and sometimes more) refines the dreamy, ramshackle pop introduced on last year's Oh, the Places We'll Go. Touring together will only deepen the connection between Blau and LAKE's color-smeared palettes, which begin to swirl into one after a few listens to each." -- Doug Wallen (9 p.m., $8)

Nickodemus and the Spy from Cairo @ Elbo Room (Sun.) "DJ Sep's weekly Elbo Room reggae club night, Dub Mission, continues to rack up impressive special line-ups. On Sunday, she showcases New York producers Nick 'Nickodemus' DeSimone and Moreno Visini, aka the Spy from Cairo, who previously recorded as Zeb. DeSimone and Visini fuse dub and international sounds, heavy on the traditional Middle Eastern percussion and instruments: souk sounds meet King Tubby uptown. The two have rocked NYC's Turntables on the Hudson and Giant Step parties for years, as well as remixing and collaborating with Omar Faruk Tekbilek, Baaba Maal, and Astor Piazzolla. The night is also a double record release party for Nickodemus' Sun People Remixed and the Spy's Secretly Famous." -- Tomas Palermo (9 p.m., $8-$10)

James Franco, live and at the Castro on Sunday

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Thirteen is a very lucky number, and we've always seen Friday the 13th as the night to press that luck--rather than the night you get sliced up by a serial killer at a summer camp. Anyway, here's this week's lucky list for cheap bastards everywhere.

Big Idea Night Party @ YBCA (Fri.) Yerba Buena once again turns their art space into an arty party. Tonight's bash celebrates the "State of the Queer Nation" with hosts Sister Sara Femme and Ani Rivera and performances by Diamond Daggers, Hottub, and DJ Black. Citizen Cake and Orson provide the food. Drinks are cheap and admission is free with an RSVP.  (9 p.m.)

Drinking and Dancing Competition @ the Lab (Fri.) "Championship dancing usually takes place in a ballroom sprinkled with glitter and applause. Championship drinking usually happens at 2 a.m. in a sweaty apartment on a godforsaken couch. When you merge them, they become the Lab's Drinking and Dancing Competition, which involves two drink-in-hand events: Open Floor, in which everybody dances to the same song; and Knockdown, which pairs dancers to their own special song. Fauxnique is one of the judges, so bullshitting on either the drinking or the dancing, or any intersections thereof, will not go unnoticed." (Free, 8 p.m.) -- Michael Leaverton

Claude VonStroke @ Mezzanine (Fri.) Local DJ/label owner/producer Claude VonStroke hits the dance floor with strong beats and a sense of humor fully intact. Tonight marks the big party for his new album, Bird Brain, which writer Jonah Flicker says "takes in deep, throbbing, ominous house; Miami bass; hip-hop; and drum 'n' bass-influenced techno." The record also features Bootsy Collins on the track "The Greasy Beat," with the P-Funk legend commanding, "Booty report for duty!" If your booty can report for RSVP duty, you get to hear the jams for free if you also arrive before 11 p.m.

Soul Clap & Dance-Off @ 111 Minna (Fri.) Two dance-offs in one night! NY Night Train DJ Jonathan Toubin is back in S.F. with the second edition of his oldies 'n soul music dance competition, Soul Clap. This round, he's bringing guest DJs to help spin soul-- Ian Svenonius, Paul Paul (Saturday Night Soul Party), Primo (Oldies Night) and Jello Biafra get behind the decks. Judges Ty Segall, Fecal Face's John Trippe, and others get behind the critiquing table. And you get on the dance floor, shaking it for that $100 that's gonna pad the wallet of tonight's winner. ($5, 9 p.m.)

Wholphin screening Friday at ATA

​Shake off the workday without shedding too many bills. Check out this week's picks for living cheaply without giving up your weekend dose of pop culture and pedal steel.

Street Art San Francisco: Mission Muralismo @ de Young (Fri.) The art produced on the streets (and walls) of the Mission is world-renowned. From the educational tours through the murals to the occasional stumble down an alley to check out intriguing graffiti, there's plenty of eye candy painted all over the city's most colorful 'hood. The de Young Museum is devoting a full year of its Friday night happy hours to Mission art, kicking things off tonight with a giant book release party for the giant (900-image strong) book Street Art San Francisco: Mission Muralismo. The new art tome collects together  work by TWIST, Rigo, and taqueria muralists, poems and essays, and more. Tonight the Mission Muralismo launch party includes live music by Dr. Loco's Rockin' Jalapeno Band among other entertainment. (Free, 5:30 p.m.)

Wholphin Screening @ ATA (Fri.) Check out another creative wing of the Dave Eggers publishing empire with a screening for the new edition of Wholphin, a DVD magazine of "unseen films." Highlights from issue 10 include a Spike Jonze/Catherine Keener short where they act out a childhood memory from Maurice Sendak, and a young Todd Haynes in "He Was Once." A selection of short films from people with long resumes kicks off tonight at ATA. ($6, 8 p.m.)

KUSF Rock 'n' Swap Pre-Party (Fri.) and Rock 'n' Swap For Real (Sun.) One of our favorite local community stations, 90.3 KUSF, has hit hard times. Its DJs regularly complain of broken turntables, fer chrissakes. Instead of regular pledge drives, though, KUSF hosts regular Rock 'n' Swaps, gigantic flea markets of vinyl, CDs, music DVDs, and more held on the USF campus. The next Swap is on Sunday, where $3 gets you entry between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. (hard-core music nerds pay $20 for the early-bird admission between 6 and 10 a.m.). If you want to start the KUSF donations early, hit Poleng Lounge on Friday night for FutureClassic with DJs Natural Self, J-Boogie, B-Cause, Proof, and more. ($5-$10, 10 p.m.)

André Koehne

​This weekend marks the kickoff for the fall holidays -- our favorite mad dash of too many parties and too much eating and all that dressing up and overextending ourselves. For Halloween weekend, there's no shortage of budget options to keep you busy. To wit:

Muni Diaries Live @ Make-Out Room (Fri.) The Halloween tie-in here isn't blatant, but it does exist. After the whole Bay Bridge shut-down debacle, the number of public-transit riders with horror stories to share should've shot up in numbers. Muni Diaries' spoken-word soiree, "Under the Influence," takes over happy hour at Make-Out Room tonight with lots of humorous re-enactments, tall bus tales, and "live music inspired by our transit system." (Free, 7:30-9:30 p.m.)

Future Shock @ Madrone (Fri.) Future Shock gets creative with the whole funk night concept at Madrone. The idea here was to base a club around James Brown's short-lived TV show, meaning there'll be a whole lotta soul, funk, and disco on deck. But DJs Freddy Anzures and Jason Jenkins will give these sonic styles a "futuristic, electronic" twist. It's a "Ghetto Futuristic Psychedelic Electronic Erotic Dance Party that will make you do the Hustle, the Robot, and the Percolator." Got that? ($5, 9 p.m.)

Rocky Horror Picture Show @ Clay Theatre (Fri. and Sat.) Check out this camp classic with live performances by the Bawdy Caste, a theater company dedicated solely to the Rocky Horror Picture Show. This Halloween special at the Clay includes an "audience participation kit," so you can become the active moviegoer this oldie-but-goodie demands. (11:55 p.m., $8-$9.50)

Take Back Halloween SF FlashDance @ Embarcadero Center (Sat.) As if you need to encourage a buncha flash mobbers to dress up: this round of FlashDance is all about Halloween. So costume it up, slap on a "Fix It" badge, and grab something musical (boom box, instrument, etc.). The FlashDance crew hits Embarcadero Center at 9 p.m.

Heavy Hairy Halloween @ the Attic (Sat.) Metal Up Your Attic DJs Roscoe and BC bring the devil horns to the Mission's darkest hole in the wall. Their Rocktober playlist includes "unleashing the dumbest, loudest, critics-hated-est hits to ever grace radio, TV, or junior high Walkmans." (Free, 10 p.m.)