World Famous In San Francisco

I've seen a lot of people bemoaning the state of SXSW. Its not as fun as it used to be. Its too crowded. The corporate sponsorships are too intrusive. And, worst of all, the music isn't that great. Well, ok. Its true. SXSW is way too big for its britches. I mean, this really isn't surprising. The festival is now old enough to drink, and twenty one year olds are troublesome when they decide to party.

Having never been before, I was overwhelmed by many of the festival's growing pains. From the desperate search for a hotel room, to the lines for shows, to the lines for after parties, to the bouncers who guarded the brightly colored wristbands that you needed to get into VIP shows (which, once you got into you couldn't figure out what the fuss was about). Its a bit much to go through just to see a few bands. Except that bands are so promotion crazed they're after as many shows as possible in four days. I heard some bands had show counts in the double digits. Its like sport fucking for bands! I noticed a lot of shows seemed to be under-attended, so in the end I'm not sure this strategy is really paying off.

Also, there's the joy of being in Texas. I know, I know, Austin is different but maybe the rest of Texas floods in for the festival to throw beer bottles at you for wearing white pants, or to hang out of their pickup trucks to scream at you that they (correctly) think that you're a faggot, or cosy up to you on the dance floor to try and chew (literally!) their way into your heart. But the real nail in the coffin for the festival was when the interactive section was added. The geeks are making their desperate grab for cool, and thats usually when you know its time to move on.

All of that aside, we still managed to have a blast. The trick is to go to the 'unoffical' events and bypass all the above silliness. These were much more laid back, friendly, and sonically interesting. I wrote a ton about The Smell/Deathbomb Arc showcase already but another fun showcase we hit up was the Social Registry/Cake Shop showcase which is pretty cool if you like some scuzzy modern psych (which I do). Speaking of, I was totally enjoyed Knyfe Hyts, one of the scuzziest, ugliest sounding bands. And they've got a look to match. Check out "Smoke The Milk" on their myspace page, it was seriously hypnotic live. Pictures!

You can read a little bit more about the video (and buy the album of course) over at our label website.

I dunno if you caught that in the last post, but World Famous in SF is now not only a trail blazing blog but (probably) your new favorite label. Actually, I think we've slyly referenced it a few times in the past. Those of you that have caught on already know that we have an awesome logo which was designed by Hazel Hill:



But we also have:

• An awesome website (http://www.worldfamousisnf.com)


• A spiffy new myspace page (http://www.myspace.com/worldfamousinsanfrancisco)
Sorry, yes we have to become friends all over again for a second time. Its going to be so fun rediscovering each other though!

• An awesome first release, Get Your Hopes Up by Hard Place which is out now and on sale over at the website
  


• More releases on the way from Mon Cousin Belge and The Passionistas

Ok, last post about this show, for real. Seriously though, it was super fun and its too bad we couldn't have all been there together. The Hard Place set was maybe up in the air as they didn't have, you know, like amps and stuff. But Devon Williams was a total super hero and lent the band, like, everything. Their live show is totally evolving -- moving from the territory of birthday party glitter and fake blood theatrics into a full on adult super show. At one point I found Actually Huizenga humping my leg! Being Hard Place's label I might be biased, but I thought they were super great. If that doesn't sound objective, just look at the photos!





Magic Johnson taught me something. They taught me that you can be avant punk rock and do an a cappella version of a dolly parton (ironic) classic. When in more punk rock mode, this guy would sing into his guitar pickups, which I found endearing. Sadly, no photos of that but here's one in more standard mode:



The last band I caught was KIT (sadly, I had to take off before Anavan). This band is a little on the aggro, screamo, nineties post hard core side of things which I'm not as into these days. But these guys were really great. I like bands that mingle with the audience while they're playing. I was particularly impressed by the guitar which was way catchier and more immediate than I remember it being on record. I wrote to a friend "You know what, I was wrong. They aren't too nineties sxe underground post hard core."

Aaron from Music stands for Comfort gives us us two cents on what IN and what's OUT at World Famous In San Francisco.

Holy Shit My Darkest Light Will Shine (Felt cover) live in San Francisco's Kimo's 3/8/08 for Mushroom International's Mini Pops festival with Girls, The Passionistas and art by Jason Yates (Fast Friends Inc.)


More Holy Shit footage here

Next was Nero's Day At Disneyland. Its kind of completely backwards that the first time I finally catch this is in Texas because this guy is from Oakland. Anyway, I was kind of reeling from being on my knees between the two drum kits to get photos of Foot Village so the sheer cartoon virtuosity of this music didn't hit me right away. But once it did I was blown away. This guy plays crazy piano with the flare of a totally insane inbred Germanic prince or something and he embellishes it with some screwed up electronics a la Venetian Snares. Completely hyper,insane and overly indulgent, true to his namesake. I was so into it. Don't be dumb like me. Nero's Day at Disneyland is out of Oakland so there is no need to travel hundreds or thousands of miles to catch this, which you should definitely do.





Sadly, I didn't get any photos of Kevin Shields and her sewing machine of doom. But, it was a pretty neat performance and I kind of loved watching the crowd head banging to her harsh noise thrash in rhythm with her hand motions on that machine. Maybe you had to be there though.

And then, for something completely different, Devon Williams played some seriously gorgeous pop music. Ok, actually first they played a few covers including a messy but totally spot on cover of Alex Chilton. Then they played some seriously gorgeous pop. What I like about the live set up of this band is its so rock 'n roll. The recorded stuff is pretty and orchestrated and sweet and earnest (in a good way) and melodic and people make comparisons to Nilsson, but live the band is really dynamic, the guitar is assertive, and the songs are bursting with energy. I get excited watching it.

John Maus - Maniac


I've listened to John Maus' album Songs more times then I'm willing to admit. I listen and wonder how long it took Maus to program all the stupid Baroque moments that manically pop in and out of the album. I really do love those moments, even if they are a bit showoffy and ironic. I dunno, classical music isn't funny yet, and I really doubt Maus is passionate about the Baroque period - he's probably just into the naive 60s Baroque that everybody loves - he could probably give a shit less about the furniture.

The above video for Maniac was only recently put back up on YouTube. Let's give him a break: from my experience, It's hard to keep videos on YouTube because in moments of paranoia, you somehow visualize people laughing at you huddling around a laptop. In this video Maus looks like he hasn't slept for days and yet he's very confident (I'm not saying he's high) about his cool. It's the kind of video your parents would hate. The inde girl in the video puts it all in perspective. She's hypnotized by his multitrack. She obviously hasn't dated a musician before and she thinks he and his friends are all really cool. If I were in the video I'd tell that bitch to RUN. I love the Maniac video.

John Maus plays this Saturday, March 22nd at Kimo's with Bridez.

Geneva Jacuzzi - Sand Trap live in SF 3/7/08


I have two friends, friend A loves Geneva Jacuzzi and friend B totally hates her. Friend A made it to the show above and friend B didn't. I think friend B's hate is fueled by jealousy. Friend B loves girl rock stars in this weird way where friend B wants to both be them AND sleep with them. I think if friend B saw the Geneva Jacuzzi act in person, and met with her face-to-face, the appropriate rejection would take place and friend B would then love Geneva Jacuzzi. Friend A is more open to new music and has a less predictable opinion.

More Geneva Jacuzzi from Mushrooms International festival footage here

Nate Boyce - live @ Lipo Lounge 3/7/08


I like beatless electronic music only because nobody knows what to make of it. I focused mostly on audience faces in the above video. You can gather your own opinion on how Nate Boyce's music was received at the Lipo Lounge for the Mushrooms International festival.

Monday Night Smile is the best. Totally the best! I love going out on Mondays, its like Presidents Day. And this Monday was extra cool because The Interchangeable Hearts, Citadelle, and Lumerians played and The Vortex Room did the visuals. I got some neat photos this time maybe you should go look at them!

First was Interchangeable Hearts and I heard somebody bagging on the band before they started. I was totally surprised because almost everybody I've talked to recently says you shouldn't bag on local bands because they have it hard enough. Anyway, based on what I heard I thought I wouldn't like this band. And, their brand of pop (like, an indie rock Carly Simon) isn't my favorite, but I liked this girl's voice and her keyboard playing. I shall be keeping an eye out. And word on the street is they have a record release show in April at the The Hotel Utah.



Next was Citadelle. Everybody was there to see them. They were on tour, or actually it seems like they've just moved here. They are obviously plugged into some scene I don't know the first thing about as I had never heard of them. They played a sort of heavy seventies psych that was (... sigh, is still) super popular and people cared like it was 2001 and this were Comets on Fire (if it were 2001 I think I'd be saying they were better than Comets on Fire). That means I thought they were really good for what they did, I'm just not feeling the heavy seventies in my light thirties.



Last was Lumerians. I thought the performance was pretty good. They play a psych drone fuzzfest kinda thing, but with some sonic youth (or some other song based group) worship thrown in. I could have done without the hissy fit they were throwing over the persistent feedback issues they were having. Obviously that is frustrating, but did it really detract from the music they were playing? Not as much as they might have thought. Which is maybe a problem -- whats going on under all that fuzz? I'll have to check out the music on the myspace.

Based from what I saw though, I might describe them as "What if Wooden Shjips were as awesome as everybody says they are?". And thats not so bad.



way more here, super cool!

We totally had fun in Austin for SXSW! On Friday we spent most of the day at Deathbomb Arc/The Smell showcase at the The Opera House. This was a free, all ages, unofficial event a bit south of all the action and it was super fun. Bands traded off playing inside the store and out in the parking lot. It was laid back, people were having fun, and unlike official SXSW events there were no wrist bands (more on that later), and there were a ton of great bands.

We got there during the No Age set while they were proclaiming that it was just like playing the smell. By which they meant, I'm sure, they were seeing all of their friends from LA in the audience. Next was Mika Miko whom I've heard described as sounding as sounding like the raincoats, riott grrls, and erase errata I suppose there's truth to all of that but they're crappy comparisons because I wasn't going to kill myself to catch this band even though I've heard this band is super fun live. I'm glad I caught them though because not only is the band super fun live and doing their own thing with all the elements of those aforementioned bands and not just rehashing them. Because we're known for being 'critical', I will say that these ladies need to get some more dance moves. The photos I got look an awful lot like the photos over at pitchfork.





more more more photos!

Foot Village played at some point after Mika Miko and I was excited to see them because a) I liked the one guy's t-shirt, it had been bejeweled and b) they had four drum kits, two of which were set up mirror image of each other, one black and one white and c) I continually miss my opportunity to catch this insanity. And when they started it was crazy time! Insane commands were shouted at the audience via megaphone. They telepathically let each other know when to launch into those drum kits (savagely -- both in style and technique), and when to run away from the kits and into the crowd (gotta keep everyone on their toes in the foot village!). Sometimes it sounded like an argument with everybody yelling at once, and sometimes they fell into agreement and their voices were in unison. So yeah, drums + screaming, but actually with surprisingly recognizable vocal melodies and 'hooks' and an awful lot of panache. I like!





more photos here

Puce Moment - live 2/4/08 pt. 1


More footage here.

photo of Hard Place at The Smell

The Smell/olFactory Records/Deathbomb Arc present:

12:00 p.m. Douglas Ferguson
12:30 p.m. Lisa Cameron
1:00 p.m. The Mae Shi
1:30 p.m. Ima Gymnist
2:00 p.m. No Age
2:30 p.m. Mika Miko
3:00 p.m. Foot Village
3:30 p.m. Kevin Shields
4:00 p.m. Devon Williams
4:30 p.m. Hard Place
5:00 p.m. Magic Johnson
5:30 p.m. Friends Forever
6:00 p.m. KIT
6:30 p.m. Mistress
7:00 p.m. Nero's Day At Disneyland
7:30 p.m. Anavan

Friday March 14th

Noon to 8:00 p.m.

FREE (donations accepted)

The Opera House
2209 South 1st Street
Austin, TX 78704

Reading SF music blogs is so fatiguing, don't you think? Say if your entire Internet routine was a prime-time PBS show, the SF music blog portion would be that fifteen minutes of super positive fundraiser babel. It's always boring and desperate... and they're always asking for you to care.

Luckily WFISF is different. We don't ask to be loved - we're lovable. We are advancing and developing new technologies so you, the blog reader, won't have to read anything !

Bridez - live @ Cobain In a Coma's "Spaced." 1/24/08


Watch more videos here.

So, I never did get around to writing about the girls show a few weeks back. It was the feel good show of the winter. So many young kids (ok, girls) who knew the songs on the myspace by heart. They could barely contain their excitement that these songs were going to be performed live, close enough to touch, which is so much closer than the internet can get you. I normally hate it when people sing along at shows but this was endearing. Really. And the band was so excited to play. Summertime fuzzy pop magic.







see the rest here

If you missed it, don't worry! They're playing again at the third night of Mushrooms International:

8PM Sat, March 8, 2008
Kimo's Bar
1351 Polk St

Holy Shit (LA, featuring Ariel Pink and Matt Fishbeck)
Girls (SF)
The Passionistas

Also, here's some video Myles took of Holy Shit when they were in town to send dead eye off on his toothless new life in appalachia. This is a spaced out bongo jam with bad drugs written all over it -- just dead eye's style.



And a passionistas video for good measure:

Tonight! More Mushrooms!

8PM Fri, March 7, 2008
Lipo Lounge
912 Grant Ave @ Washington

Ariel Pink (LA)
Nate Boyce (SF)
Geneva Jacuzzi (LA)

Art Happening by:
Leslie Kuleah, Jason Yates, Ringo, Chris Lux, Matt Fishbeck, Erick Seidenglanz,
Julia Holter

No video or photos of any of the acts for tonight, but here's a sample of some of the art by the awesome Chris Lux:

This was my first time at Club Feral. I don't really know what I was expecting, but it wasn't the mix of 50's man lesbians, PNW indie grandma clothes (and underwear!!) and clippered head punk scene that was going on. It was cool though, those kids are all really nice and I had fun even if I don't quite get the fashion sense.

It was kind of a weird evening. The Passionistas felt somewhat out of place on the line up with Didimao and Connie Fucking Francis. Actually, I like lineups that don't sit quite right. But also Aaron, one of their principal song writers and guitarists, was home sick sick sick and they were playing with Elton Tom on drums because Tina was out of town. They're such troopers.

Because this was a benefit for cutter photozine, there were celebrities in the audience. Its really too bad Aaron was sick, because most notably Gwen Stefani showed up. She said she came because she loves their album, specifically Aaron's songs and voice, and she wanted to ask him to be on a single she was recording that night. She was totally bummed he couldn't be there and said it was too bad it didn't work out. She couldn't stay long but we did get some photos with her:







Look at her, she's amazing! Its like a spotlight follows her everywhere she goes. She's almost larger than life! And she had three costume changes with her. This lady is totally prepared and put together.

Admittedly we were in a daze for the rest of the show, so I'm going to rely on Gwen's reactions. Didimao reminded her (and me) of being in college, specifically the student union at some punk show. It was totally that nineties unwound kind of sound.



Gwen thought The Passionistas played a lovably disastrous set. They included some of Aaron's songs, just for Gwen. She thought they did a great job, especially since half of the band couldn't be there!



Finally Connie Fucking Francis played. Gwen loved the idea of this -- bratty punk rock covers of Connie Francis songs. She loved the way it sounded when these kids tore it up. But, I have to admit, after having seen them a few times I love the idea more than sitting through a whole set. I think I'm alone in this sentiment because Thee Parkside was packed solid and everybody was dancing as Connie's songs were dragged kicking and screaming into the guttter.



see the rest here!

Here is a rundown:




Geneva Jacuzzi is cool and everything but I totally hate her. She's the object of Jeffery Cross' (above) affection. Jeffery is this cute working photographer who has great furniture and a mom-Mercedes.

Geneva Jacuzzi "Love Caboose" by Jason Yates




Colbent - flavor of the month october 2007


Ariel Pink is cool but I totally hate him. One of my favorite YouTube people, Colbent (above), always uses Ariel's music in his videos. I'd like Colbent to use my music in his videos. So I guess I'm jealous.

Ariel Pink "Politely Declined"


Nate Boyce is also playing music but since he doesn't seem to have a MySpace page or a website he's not really bloggable yet. There will be a happening by Play Play Play Inc, Jason Yates Fast Friends Inc, Leslie Kulesh, Sean Talley, Matt Fishbeck, Julia Holter, Ringo, Erik Seidenglanz and Chris LUX!

To those I offended in the first preview of Mushrooms International's Thursday show: I was in no way trying to define a new genre of music (if I were, I would call it something way cooler) or accuse people of doing meth. To be honest, I was doing the best I could to promote show(s) that I am also a part of (I am in The Passionistas and playing guitar with Girls Saturday night). At least nobody got mad about boners - that would make me upset. I was just trying to be funny, get over it. This is the blogosphere and I'm totally in the tube.

this is one of those e-mails going around claiming that it's sad but true...see below

Okay so this is how I imagine this conversation went:
Walmart Employee: "Hello 'dis Walmarts, how can I help you?"
Customer: "Yes, I would like to order a cake for a going away party this
week."
Walmart Employee: "Whatchu want on the cake?"
Customer: "Best Wishes Suzanne." And underneath that "We will miss you".

Sad but true. This actually happened.

Well, Raccoons seem to be all the rage. Atleast with the folks involved with Mushrooms International's upcoming festival: they're on the latest edition of cobain in a coma and Myles seems to like them. Or their boners, I can't tell. I mean, who doesn't like boners? Anyway, I'm going to stroke the raccoon boner some more, here's some photos from their show with girls:





more here

Way better than Noise Pop and let's not even mention Mission Creek's quality control (sucks ass) , Mushroom International brings the best music festival of the year... built on a meth rock! What could be more 2008? Here is a preview of Thursday, the first day, of the three day music extravaganza!


To be honest, I am not familiar with Julia Holter. I'm totally gonna go to her show though, because she looks like a pretty girl. I love pretty girls when they do things like start bands, do photoshop or music videos. You know - when they do stuff dudes do... but better. And I love that because I'd totally be a pretty girl if I wasn't some soon-to-be-45-skinny-and-AIDSy-looking male.

Raccoons are pretty cool; I have to admit. Their singer, Nick Stone, sings with a weird half-smile - the kind you only get when you have a boner. They play out of boutique amps. They remind me of the cool band Kevin Ink was in before I was born. They all have a pretty good sense of style, but none of them are gay or willing to embarrass themselves by taking off their clothes or wearing makeup. It's kind of an ideal situation. I like their guitar player "Jeremy R." the best. He is super inviting and seems like he'd be a good dad if I were fertile.

Creep Land seem to be one of the inbred bands that you can expect at one of these three day events. All the members are from other bands. Expect inde star power. Who knows what will happen?

The record label Human Ear Music is home to most of the acts. Artist Jason Yates of Fast Friends Inc. will have his art all over the place.


1st night of Mushroom International
Thursday @ Amnesia
853 Valencia Street
San Francisco