World Famous In San Francisco

I think maybe this should be filed under World Famous in LA given that Anavan is a totally LA affair. If you're not familliar, imagine you started an ESG inspired dance band but you were weened on nineties post punk/post hardcore weirdness (well, Anavan were on GSL). Also you're really taken with that whole nu rave scene going on (or do I mean ravesploitation). Throw in some football helmets fitted with mics for a good electro aesthetic and you've got Anavan. I swear!

Anyway, last month they visited TransAm -- speaking of, its that time again. TransAm is this saturday with Ex-Boyfriends -- and pretty much brought the house down. Maybe those helmets were more literal than I thought, it was like they were running plays out of their retard football playbook: running around, rolling on the floor, and feeling up the boys in the audience. Oh, and playing their hearts out.

I had a great time at the show, but I'm getting less mileage out of the tour EP. It has more to do with being over the ESG sound after the great post punk boom of the early 2000's than anything to do with the EP proper. I'm not overly familiar with Anavan's past albums, but this EP does feel like the band is sniffing around for a new trail to follow. I like the new wave explorations of 'Not Sure' the best, but I'm going to put up a song called 'Traumatology' as I think it sounds the most representative. Look and listen!

Anavan - Traumatology

Me thinks, as usual, the corpses are stinkin’ to high heaven! Alas, let’s begin with a force-feeding of that ridiculous mess of a front man who was, quite fucking literally, stomping on my very last t-cell! That crap you’re failing to deliver as freeze dried death has taken a shit on the stage for the last time. Put away your horns, which must certainly shirk, at the site of your rancid and putrid lips being placed on their undeserving blowholes. I found myself wanting magically, sadistically, for that grand piano you were diddling like a pederasts’ pre-pubescent prize, to swallow you up and spit you out, all clotted mascara and swill, a big fat dump into The China Basin. The “burner” on tub-bass and “drums” should just as well have stayed home and masturbated into a dirty tube sock. And ahhhh yes! The girl. Her electro noise riffs were adequate at best when sparse, but mostly out of place and wayyyyy overly indulgent. And might I suggest, my love, duct tape? Girly girl…you cannot fucking sing! So just…just…god damnit… just STOP!

M. Lamar was a completely different story. I’ve followed his career for some time now, and I truly must say, he has become quite the performer and damned good. He’s taken his Avant-Diamanda references far beyond even Ms. Galas. He is a singer, who always leaves me wondering inexplicably, “Did he mean to be that flat?” and/or, “are my ears bleeding?” Surely, if not for the obvious and sheer sincerity and heart-felt delivery, it cannot all be a certain lack of intonation, Lamar holds and trills his guttural utterances with the marvelous fortitude and surety of a Nina Simone or a Patty Waters. Wearing his blackademia on his form-fitted leather sleeves with equally tight-ass jeans, Lamar places the listener into often uncomfortable situations. I thought at times, bloody black fetuses might climb out of the piano’s guts, slither downstage, sit and stare accusingly at me. Like Kara Walker, or David Hammons, Lamar confronts with history, shuns with narrative, pricks our noses with shameless recall, all the while smiling, his eyes turned to the floor, waiting.

Look, we've posted a lot about BRIDEZ: about their videos, reviewing their shows, and bringing you live footage. We even put them on our muxtape. Obviously, we dig 'em. So we're pretty excited because now BRIDEZ are releasing an album on Gifted Children Records (under construction, should be up monday!!!!)). Pretty cool, here's the cover and an mp3:



BRIDEZ - Live Forever


Anyway you know what we have to say about it, here's the official word:

BRIDEZ: Consisting of Will Ivy, Liza Thorn and Abe Pedroza, BRIDEZ hail from San Francisco and cite seagulls, the beach, poppies, drugs, teen angst and expensive everything as influences. Hobbies include: recording, writing songs, doing acid and shooting music videos. “Ideally we’ll shoot a music video for every song because they’re all hits,” says Thorn. (Take her word for it). With their trash brat lo-fi brew of fuzzed out noise pop, this duo will have you humming their melodies while rinsing off the grime in the shower.

Preorders available at http://www.myspace.com/giftedchildrenrecords
$10 CD and giftedchildrenrecords.com

Hey!

We'​re havin​g a 1 year anniv​ersar​y party​ to celeb​rate 1 year of World​ Famou​s In San Franc​isco.​ There​ will be drink​s,​ prize​s and a private scree​ning of Steph​en Kijak​'​s docum​entar​y Scott​ Walke​r:​ 30 Centu​ry Man. This film does not have US distribution. The director, a close friend provided a DVD for personal use. This is a private event. E-mail for details.


Where​:​ The Vorte​x Room (​South​ of Marke​t)​
When:​ 8 pm (​film at 9)
How: Pleas​e RSVP,​ limit​ed seati​ng

If you RSVP we'​ll send you the addre​ss.​ RSVP to our e-mail or myspace.

hope to see you!

Tom & Jerem​y

This week the Nothing People are our myspace page of the week. I picked up their first seven inch, Problems, at a show sometime last year and then promptly forgot about it. I found it a few months ago and it rules. I've seen some of that stuff compared to Chrome which I kinda hear, but it sounds more like Chrome if covered by Sonic Youth (which isn't a bad thing, I think SYs cover of Crime's Hotwire My Heart is fantastic). The other seven inches aren't as claustrophobic or alien and have more of a seventies avant rock feel to them (there's a Roxy Music cover on one of them).



Check their song "Army of Ideal" right here: http://www.myspace.com/nothingpeople

You can see them this Friday:

4/25 @ The Hemlock

Nothing People
Mayyors
Sic Alps
Crash Normal (all the way from France garage/psych/fall-esqe/weirdness)

I forgot about this because this player wasn't working on my linux box, but it works on my Mac. Yeah, I think my description is accurate. Video is by some dude named J. Howell. Snagged this from here.

I got to the Eagle just as Traditional Fools started. I'm kind of glad I was wound up about getting to this show because I enjoyed this. They were fun, a party band. I mean, ok, it was just more garage stomp but they were cute, young, sloppy, enthusiastic, catchy and the songs are all super short.

So, Mayyors. This band has no website, is on a label with no website, and their debut seven inch is already "sold out". I think sold out is an exaggeration, I know it was for sale at the show as I saw that all black sleeve floating around in people's hands. But still, people were definitely buzzing. The eagle was packed. After the show, within ten minutes of posting the photos I had a spike in traffic. Whatever it is these guys are doing to get their name out there is working.

So what did I think of the show? I liked it. I enjoyed it quite a bit. "I liked this" is actually all I have to say. There are reference points, but my mind is content not to make the connections. Its like I'm stuffed after a big meal, but that doesn't really help you. I'll try.

This shit is rock (no roll). You know the sound; hard guitar, screamo vocals, tweaked screachy solos. The band is pretty severe on stage -- loud and kind of threatening. John Pritchard (who was in Sexy Prison which is one of my favorite band names) fronts this band, and his antics made me think of the singer from Hank IV. The bassist is aggressive with his bass. The guitarist, Chris Woodhouse, liked to come to the edge of the stage, eyes glazed over, zombie stance, and flatten you with guitar. When he wasn't doing that he was assuming some other insane position. At one point I saw him in the most severe Ramones stance (it was almost a split). I looked away for a second and when I looked back he was still in that stance, but the guitar was on his shoulders and behind his neck and he was still playing like he was Jimmi Hendrix or something! So, yeah. I liked this. You should totally check them out this Friday when they play the Hemlock.

If my tonsils weren't swollen and pussy (if you ask nicely I'll show you) I'd be at all three of these shows tomorrow.


Floating Corpses -- The Freak Mafia indeed.
Old Haunts -- On K records, but it sounds good.
The Divine Feud -- And I quote "the 90's... in a really good way".
4/22/08 @ The Hemlock


Triangle -- You know how sometimes a band will choose three genres on myspace and its ironic or silly or something? This is not the case with Triangle, 'Psychedelic/IDM/Soul' is accurate.
Robin Williams on Fire -- They sound like their name.
The Mae Shi -- Always on tour.
Pre -- Still high from their 4/20 show.
4/22 @ 21 Grand


wealthy whore entertainment - Dirty Hookers!
The Guitar Zeros - A Guitar Hero Band. SRSLY.
The Meat Sluts -- four tunnels of fun from San Francisco
4/22 @ The Knockout

I decided last minute to check out Tarantism & Snacks at the ATA with our East Bay correspondent Legs before heading to the Eagle for Mayyors. This was kind of a bad idea because once I got there I was super on edge about getting across town -- could you tell I can be a bit neurotic?? Anyway, I'm not completely paranoid but I think everybody involved with this show was out to get me. Like they knew I was being neurotic about getting to the Eagle. Right after we paid the door guy he told us that things were running a little behind and it wouldn't start for thirty minutes. Eventually, Tarantism showed some videos they made. First was a set of late night local tv commercial spoofs. Then an absurd surrealist thing that they made about Colonel Sanders visiting a fish tank and ending up in a meat grinder. To top it off they played an abstract laptop piece with video starring basic shapes in (mostly) primary colors. I liked the Colonel Sanders video, it had a very amateur aestehtic to it and it reminded me of ashley huizenga and hazel hill's halloween video. I also liked that the video accompanying the laptop piece ended with the message "Its Over". Its hard to tell sometimes, you know? Here's a clip from a DVD they have out, it pretty much sums up what they did at this show:



Then Snacks took a half an hour to set up a drum. I swear they did. The way the guy kept getting distracted I'm tempted to think he was really stoned, but it also lends credence to my theory that I was being tormented. But more likely he was stoned, I mean this is a band dedicated to and named after snacks. They always have a snack at their shows, something gross that you wouldn't want to eat (but people eat it). Tonight it was baguette, nutella, and capers/olives/mint. I couldn't imagine, watching them eat it made me queasy. It was so very post modern, just like their videos (which they could have started showing while they were setting up that drum but they didn't because the more I think about it the more I'm sure they were out to get me).

Actually, I thought their videos were really fun. The first one was this spliced up futuristic/primitive martial arts b movie that I'm sure is some classic I should know but with a new vocal track laid on top about an epic journey for octopus pizza. Kinda like that thing they used to do on that irritating improv show "Who's Line Is It Anyway?" or, probably more accurately, like Mystery Science Theater 3000. The second video was another spliced up superhero b movie. Instead of overdubbing it, they transformed the narrative by splicing in video of themselves on the phone speaking in tongues, laughing hysterically and seemingly arranging to have elepants attack a guy dressed up like superman. That description sounds terrible, but it was super engrossing.

Oh, wait. Both of these are actually on youtube, thank you amazing miracle internet:





When they finally got to the music I was so wound up about getting to the other show I couldn't really stay. I bailed when they switched from live electronics and drums to interpretive dance accompanied by bike horns.

Before these videos, I wasn't quite sure how to describe Bridez other than referencing Liza's old band So So Many White White Tigers. But after seeing the grainy TV screen quality of shake out my hair it clicked -- The Jesus and Mary Chain fronted by Jennifer Herrema. And not just because Liza works the same look. This is the nineties remembered by people who weren't even teenagers yet in 1990.

Till Your Dead



Shake out my Hair

PLEASE TO COEM! Hard place will have their new record (Get Your Hopes Up) for sale on CD and LP. There might be tshirts too. Everything for sale will have been pre-loved by the band in one way or another.

Bridez features Liza from So So Many White White Tigers and has a CDR out soon and people keep telling me that Easy Street can get any party started. EPIC WIN!!!



Hard Place
Easy Street
Bridez

4/18/2008
9PM
Smile @ The Knockout
3223 Mission St. (where misson and valencia meet)
$5

EZ JEWCE is our myspace of the week. My friend Julia is in this and she never lets me know when they're playing because she's afraid of ending up in our esteemed publication. I would like to see them so I am going to have to get proactive by putting them on the blog before I see them. PLS TO BE ON GUESTLIST NOW? THX.



From what I understand EZ JEWCE was started as a pretext to wear costumes, drink, and name their band EZ JEWCE. It turns out they actually really enjoy making an extreme amount of cut up noise with their turntables. Sounds kinda like Wobbly to me even though I can't find evidence to corroborate that. I like inexplicable reference points. Check the video!



http://www.myspace.com/ezjewce

There's a lot going on this week. On Wednesday Snacks and Bran(...)Posplay 21 grand. Snacks are a Baltimore duo who tape electronics to themselves and make squiggles and unholy snacks. Not electronic snacks either, food ones. Maybe its entertaining, maybe its stupid. The I'm going to find out!

On Thursday, at the The Terminal will be LA noise devastation dudes (with John Wiese) Sissy Spacek, Death Sentence: Panda! will do their tribal woodwind punk thing, Gerritt, Jason Crumer, and Chen Santa Maria (whom I always miss, but it sounds like they're still mining that post rock thing for new sounds. Be careful guys, a lot of miners are getting trapped these days!) . Also, there's the San Francisco debut of Mayyors (featuring Chris Woodhouse of FM Knives) at The Eagle, along with The Oh Sees and Master/Slave. Word on the street is that the first Mayyors seven inch is already sold out despite the fact that they don't have a website and neither does their label. Is the band that awesome or are they the kings of the 'buy now ebay later' scene (read: did they do a small run of seven inches and sell them to a large group of friends)? I guess you'll have to go and find out (I am).

Friday is a total unwieldy cluster fuck of a night. There's The Mantles and The Botticellis(record release) and The Papercuts at Cafe du Nord; Jucifer at the Uptown in Oakland; Buzzer and The Aerosols at the Hemlock; Club Sandwich at the ATA; Awesomefest featuring Girls, The Oh Sees and Port O'brien.

Its kind of overwhelming. The Mantles are solid, Buzzer features Andy from The Cuts and its fun enough, Club Sandwich has some interestingly sensual moshing that you simply have to witness, and if you read this blog at all you know how we feel about Girls. You should definitely check all of these bands out SOME OTHER TIME because Friday is the Hard Place record release party for Get Your Hopes Up



Hard Place
Easy Street
The Sarrees

4/18/2008
9PM
Smile @ The Knockout
3223 Mission St. (where misson and valencia meet)
$5

And if you just can't wait, or want to be able to sing along with every song, or you're obligated to be at one of these other shows but feel like you could be missing out on a piece of rock 'n roll history, you're in luck. The record is totally for sale on iTunes right now. Come on out on Friday and say hi!

As of the time of this post Sony's new gay label, music with a twist, had an access denied message up. I guess they're still in the closet? THATS SO GAY.

Come to the Eagle Tavern tonight for music instead. They're not in the closet and thursday nights aren't all about being gay (except for tonight. tonight its all about being gay):

Dorian Wood
Lucky Jesus
Carletta Sue Kay

I've been missing the myspace of the week feature, so I'm bringing it back. This week its Nero's Day At Disneyland. Yes, I know I already gushed about this, but I'm bummed because I can't make the International Noise Conference this Thursday at 21 Grand (!!!) where he'll be performing. Somebody go for me please, you will enjoy it!



http://www.myspace.com/nerosdayatdisneyland

The Mug Shot

If anybody deverves to be World Famous in San Francisco it's this guy. Matier and Ross, in this weekend's SF Gate, dubbed him "the fire-starting, tomato-tossing boyfriend of new San Francisco Planning Director John Rahaim"

His real name is Lance Farber, he's a chiropractor and wouldn't you know it, like me he's originally from Michigan. Those mid-westerners are such nice people. Salt of the earth and all. I have to admit, I love this guy. Who hasn't wanted to light their boyfriends bed on fire at one time or another? I have ever since I saw Farrah Fawcett in that awesome TV Movie.



I did a little internet snooping on Lance, found his New Age chiropractic website and this little graphic displayed on it made me chuckle:


It neatly sums up his alcohol-fueled lovers' spat (in court Farber pled guilty to setting a bed on fire and tossing an open can of tomatoes through the city's historic fire chief's house, staining the walls, causing close to $50,000 in damage). Think about it, the experience must have been "emotional", the damage "structural", and the effects from alcohol "biochemical"!

Friends and family insist Farber is no danger to the public and needs treatment for alcohol addiction. His pleading guilty has secured his release from jail. I think he needs to drop the "new age" spiritualism. That shit will make you crazy. I think the gay rock & roll community needs to show it's love and support for this guy. We should throw a benefit to help out with his legal troubles. San Francisco needs to show Lance Farber the love. Maybe Puce Moment, The Passionistas and Carletta Sue Kay could put on a show with proceeds going to Lance. I'm sure the 30 bucks we raised would come in real handy right about now.

Pictures from my Florida vacation.



Hi y'all. I'm back! Florida with the family was actually a heartwarming mix of mental illness, overeating, Alzheimer's, sunbathing, and alcoholism. I promised Jeremy Smears I'd post while I was on vacation basically laying around doing nothing the entire week but all of the above proved to be a tad overwhelming.




My parents 60Th anniversary was the reason for the celebration/get together. My sisters and brothers flew in from all over the country. (7 of us all together) My brother bought decorations and his little kids were so excited to put them up,


but they never went up. My mom declared that we all "shit on her" and refused to hang out with us. This meant my dad had to stay home and keep an eye on her. Some things never turn out the way you think they will! It was sad, no matter how much you prepare for it, your parents getting old is just not something you can prepare for. The following day Mom didn't remember telling us how disappointed she is in all of us and that we could all jump in a lake, she was happy to see me when I hung out with her on my last day there, she took me to the Goodwill so I could look for records while she scoured the knickknacks. After she bought a porcelain gravy boat with gold trim she asked me to hold it for her and a few seconds later questioned what was in the bag? "Did you buy something?" She had no recollection of picking it out and purchasing it only minutes earlier. Part of me identified, I find records I bought at home and have no memory of it, sometimes even buying the same record more than once, and it was weird, part of her is so lucid. My mom knew I lost a friend recently and she was so concerned for my friend Mike's family and made sure to tell me she was thinking of everyone and very sad at such a loss. Leaving for the airport, it was hard for me to say goodbye to everyone, tears unexpectedly welled up, but I am so happy to be home.

You know, originally I was just going to post about a few options available tonight but now that I have these three fliers in one place I wonder if I should do an expose on flyer design. Ok, specifically flyer design for the gay stuff. Everybody: there are options other than porn. Even if its extreme and amateur and funny porn.



Anyway, Anavan plays tonight at monthly beard party Trans Am. One of the dudes in Anavan runs eggcityradio and I appreciate all of the downloaded goodness I get from that site. Hard Place assure us the band is great live and I've been wanting to check them out since we had to leave before their set in Austin. Kdaija (who has no internet presence in 2008) and Ambrosia Salad will emote in wigs. DJ Dirty Knees keeps this party going every month. For completenesses sake I should mention Dee Jay Pee Play of Honey Sound System is playing too.


Club Feral is also tonight for those of you who are more gutter punk goth freak than beard fag. I like this club because they have a bake sale and I'm usually hungry. Death Of A Party, sexual terrorists Wealthy Whore Entertainment, the totally deranged Stalker Holler, and Goo perform. Plus, our buddy Gary Fembot from The Clap and Violent Vickywill be spinning records. Keep your eye on gary though, he's totally going to flyer you for his band's show coming up this Friday.



Doesn't Randy look great in that photo?? Carletta Sue Kay play tonight and they summed this show up better than I could:

lee is going to freakin' kill me. he just came home blasted. i made him something to eat. he told me to f@#k off then passed the F(%k out on our bed. i went to see if he was okay and he had sour cream ALL OVER HIS FACE. wanted to take a picture but in the end decided to be nice. instead ive opted to drink all if not most of his ardbeg. he's gonna KILL ME!!!! oh! right! we are playing tonight, saturday, at 285 9th street at the Nine Gallery. the sound is actually going to be really nice so COME ON OUT YALL!!!! it is absolutely, 100 per cent FREEEEEE, and...now im speaking to all my friend's livers....AN OPEN BAR!!!!!! AND, there is going to be some really lovely art and probably a few people who you quite likely would not introduce to your family. always fun. so come on out and hear our sad sappy songs. we love you....FOREVER...EVER....EVER...EVER....randy

Today we are (kinda) hip to the internet trends. A muxtape for you with some bands we've talked about over the past year. Except for the Hard Place and Mon Cousin Belge songs, both of which come from albums out on our label World Famous in San Francisco, these songs were all totally available for free on the WWW so don't get mad at me for stealing, ok?

1. Girls - Lust For Life
   
2. The Passionistas - Don't Hit Snooze (Live)
   
3. Hard Place - Mondays Are For Working
   
4. Mon Cousin Belge - Tweaker Bitch
   
5. Factrix - Splice Of Life
   
6. Bridez - Steal Drums
   
7. Sic Alps - Semi Streets
   
8. Fuckwolf - Mardi Gras
   
9. Jealousy - I Would Do That For Him
   
10. The Passionistas - Little Dark Room (Live)
    
11. Nothing People - Falling
    
12. Connie Fucking Francis - Where The Boys Are (Live)
    

What does everybody do when they gain some amount of success? Go back to their roots of course:

is happening July 17th - 20th. Allot smaller festival this year mostly focusing on local
musicians and artists.
Please apply online if interested in playing. www.mcmf.org
Accepting films and music.
Accepting ideas if you want to curate a night.
Please volunteer we do need help.

Thanks,
Jeff Ray