San Francisco Music Blog

Yes, He Can: Estria

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The fascinating subcultural (and frequently subterranean) world of graffiti art surfaces this week, as the third annual Estria Invitational Battle, organized by Bay Area spraycan art legend Estria (in conjunction with Marc Bamuthi Joseph's Living Word Festival), gets underway. The festivities begin tomorrow with the Can Film Festival, a free event at the 1:AM SF Gallery featuring screenings of the films "Style Wars" and "Bomb It," and an illustrious panel including moderator Jeff Chang, Estria, Suzie Lundy and Kevin Epps. On Friday, Pecha Kucha Night at East Side Arts Alliance in Oakland presents "Don't Sweat the Technique," an exhibition/discussion featuring 10 graffiti artists showing 20 slides, promoting social change. On Saturday, Oakland's deFremery park becomes ground zero for the culminating event, the Estria Invitational Graffiti Battle, bringing together 16 of the nation's top graffiti artists, as well as workshops and a black book battle.

The King of Pop

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Now that we've had the mass media feeding frenzy, award show tributes, predictable sensationalism, and even-more-predictable controversy over the life and times of Michael Jackson, what's left to discuss? Plenty, if you're UC Berkeley's Center for Race and Gender. On October 1st, the CRG hosts "Michael Jackson: Critical Reflection on A Life & A Phenomenon," an academic discussion on the cultural relevancy and impact of the Gloved One. The symposium features two panel discussions, "Don't Stop Til You Get Enough: Artistry, Legacy, & Performance" and "Man in the Mirror: Race, Sexuality, & Representation," which will address MJ's legacy from the perspective of performance and artistry, racial and sexual politics, and cultural representations. The event also features David Blair, an urban folk/Afro-punk artist and slam poet. Watch Blair performing an a cappella rendition of "Man in the Mirror" here . For more info on the symposium, click here.

EKAphotography copyright 2009. all rights reserved

Voodoo Child? Vieux Farka Toure

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It would be somewhat of a disservice to Vieux Farka Toure to call him the Jimi Hendrix of Malian music. Though he's definitely an innovator and an amazing player--sometimes given to playing behind his back, as Hendrix did--and has updated African music much like Jimi gave the blues a psychedelic facelift, Toure belongs in his own box. The last time he played the Independent, he held the crowd in rapture for the length of his set, with entrancing electrified takes on a traditional sound which dates back for centuries, if not millennia.

You can catch Vieux twice in two days this week, first at the free Power to the Peaceful concert Saturday in Golden Gate Park (also featuring Michael Franti, Alanis Morrissette, Sly & Robbie and others), and Sunday at the Independent (again). In the meantime, check out this MP3 of Toure performing "Ai Haira" live.

Painting by Borish

​One of the coolest SF art galleries around is D-Structure. The Haight Street spot is continually presenting some really interesting exhibitions in the urban art realm, such as The Black Art Show, an exhibit opening on 9/11 presented by Trust Your Struggle. The show features "visual experimentation" with black &white pieces from Borish, Cece, Erin Yoshi, Miguel Perez Bounce, Robert tres Trijillo, Scot LaRockwell, and Shaun Burner, with music by DJs Wonway and Pele. There's also an after-party at Nickies with the Whooligan and Dion Decibels. For more info,or to RSVP, click here.

He Gets Raw: Big Daddy Kane

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A little while back, Davey-D ran an article on his website reminding readers of the lyrical magnificence of Big Daddy Kane, the Brooklyn hip-hop artist who defined the term (and repped the label) Cold Chillin'. Best known for his ferocious verbal onslaughts in tracks like "Ain't No Half Steppin" and "Raw," Kane set the bar high for Golden Age MCs - a standard which, unfortunately, has been all but lost in the 50 Cent/Soulja Boy era.

On Sunday, Lyricist Lounge co-founder, Current TV producer, onetime Earhustle promoter, and independent filmmaker Ant Marshall hosts the SF premiere of his film "BDK," a documentary of "one of hip-hop's most notable legends." The event, held at Yoshis SF location, kicks off Independent Artists Week  (IAW), which continues with music, film, and art events through September 12. Peep a trailer of "BDK" here. PS: act fast, and you might just cop free tickets to the entire week's events with an RSVP here .

DJ Apollo

​Free parties in the park are a hallowed hip-hop tradition. Anyone with a keen sense of history knows that that's how the culture began, with block parties in the South Bronx. Here in the West Coast, some of y'all might remember the legendary Informal Nation throwdowns at Raza park in the '90s.

This Sunday, celebrate Labor Day weekend with a free party in Golden Gate Park's Elk Glen Cove featuring some of SF's best DJs. Titled "Doin It In the Park," the jam offers up seven or eight hours of music from Apollo, Shortkut, Mr. E, Mind Motion, Sake One, TD Camp, Ruby Red 1, Haylow, Daddy Rolo, Proof, Shred One, Green B, and Hakobo. Plus, free BBQ, a bouncy jumper for the little ones, arcade games, and red cups. All this courtesy of Triple Threat, Mr. E, and ((Local 1200)).

And, for those who like to groove in the P.M. hours, there's the official after-party, "Doin' It In the Dark" at 111 Minna, with Apollo, Shortkut, Sake One, Mr. E, Fran Boogie, and Norm Ferrer. No dress code, and no school/work the next day. Sounds like a sureshot.

EKAphotography

RBGz at YBG: dead prez @G4G's solar-powered concert

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Outside Lands, Shmoutside Lands. The hundreds of folks who came out to Yerba Buena Gardens to see dead prez and Mistah F.A.B. perform for free yesterday may have gotten a better deal than the tens of thousands who shelled out $90 to see M.I.A., Lucinda Williams, the Dead Weather, and Tenacious D. I'm not saying that just because - full disclosure - I worked the PR for this event, a solar-powered hip-hop concert presented by Grind for the Green. Nah, for realz, the sun even poked through just in time for DPz' "Summertime," which is more than I can say for that other event in Golden Gate Park. And while M.I.A.'s militant hit "Paper Planes" might have fired up the OL crowd for a brief instant, making them forget the plunging mercury and the absence of the Beastie Boys, if there's a better revolutionary anthem out there than DPz' show-closing classic "(It's Bigger Than) Hip-Hop," I've yet to hear it.

M-1 and stic.man will be in the Bay for a couple of days (artists: if you're tryna link up with them for verses, now's the time to holla), and tonight from 6-9pm, they appear at Oakland's Black Dot Café for a FREE lecture, discussion, and Q&A facilitated by none other than Boots Riley of the Coup (who made his festival debut at OL with Street Sweeper Social Club). It's like a "Behind the Music" episode with a red, black, and green tint: Find out more about DPz' involvement in the green hip-hop movement, their participation in Cuba's Black August celebrations, and why the revolution is bigger than hip-hop. 

Kevvy Kev (r) and friend

​KZSU DJ Kevvy Kev  is the Yoda of hip-hop - a wise Jedi of boom-bap who has been a constant force in supporting the music and the culture since anyone can remember.

On Sunday, August 30, Kevvy Kev presides over the 25th Anniversary of The Drum, which he calls "the longest-running hip-hop show in the world." This year's event, held at Golden Gate Park's Peacock Meadow from 1-5pm, features 25 DJs and 25 MCs, including Naughty By Nature, Hieroglyphics, Blackalicious, Tash of the Alkoholiks, Speech of Arrested Development, Motion Man, Q-Bert, DJ D-Sharp, Davey-D, and many, many more. If that's not enough dopeness for hip-hop junkies, the afterparty at Club Six presents the Traktor Stratch 2.0 Battle, a head-to-head turntablist competition with prizes and airtime at stake. Sounds like a big "hip-hop hooray" is in order. For more info, email Kevvy Kev here or click here .

EKAphotography

Michael Franti at 2008's PTTP

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Watch out, Outside Lands and TIMF! Power to the Peaceful--Michael Franti's annual free party in Golden Gate Park--has announced the lineup for this year's throwdown, which is expected to bring between 50 and 75 thousand people. The featured artists this year are not only one of the strongest PttP bills to date, but stack up well against the big-time acts at the other, non-free, music festivals happening later this fall in San Francisco.

In addition to headliners Franti and Spearhead, confirmed artists for the Sept. 12 event include Alanis Morissette, Sly & Robbie (!) with Cherine Anderson, and Vieux Farka Toure. The opening slot was snagged by SF conscious MC Sellassie, and in addition to the main stage, there is a morning yoga practice, "1,000 Yogis for Peace"; a keynote speech by Tibetan Buddhist Namkha Rimpoche, and a DJ tent with Miguel Migs, Ren the Vinyl Archaeologist, and others. More info is here.

Franti has also announced an after-party at the Fillmore, featuring the "Rocking Heads," an ensemble of artists performing at PttP, playing Talking Heads covers. That show, unfortunately, is not free, but sounds like it might be worth the ducats.

Beryl Fine

DJ Swayzee

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It's actually kinda cool that museums--normally a refuge for bratty kids on school trips, visiting tourists, and stodgy nerds--are making an attempt to be hip. If you haven't yet attended the Cal Academy of Science's 'Nightlife' event--in which the building "is transformed into a lively venue filled with music, provocative science, mingling, and cocktails, for visitors 21 and older"--this week (Thursday, Aug 20) might be a good bet. NoisePop curates, and they've lined up DJs Swayzee and Mr. Wrong, plus acoustic act Ryan Auffenberg. In addition, Science in Action Café will host "The Physics Circus," hosted by Zeke Kossover, which should provide an opportunity for would-be quantum mechanics to test their skills, relativistically-speaking. NoisePop is also giving away a pair of free tickets; (email here with the subject "NightLife" and your full name and phone number in the body of the email on or before 1pm on Tuesday, August 18, 2009 for your chance to win! Winners will be notified by email.)