World Famous In San Francisco

Tuesday, May 20, Books Inc., San Francisco

2008-05-21T00:25:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, May 20, Books Inc., San Francisco

After rehearsing for this coming Thursday’s show, I had a couple drinks at daddy’s, then the 2 for 1 at Midnight Sun, equaling five, sinking disdainfully into more self-hatred, smoldering at the hideous face of Adam Sandler illuminated on giant screens just above me. Finding my way eventually into Books Inc., whereupon I eagerly listened to author Alistair McCartney reading from his first novel. I sat in a folding chair and watched quietly as faggot after faggot not altogether quietly snickered at me for apparently stinking of vodka. “I’d like to know what the hell they were all douching with!”

http://www.myspace.com/alistairmccartney

Apparently, our young Mr. McCartney, Alistair, (not to be confused with his make believe nemesis, also Beatle, McCartney, Paul, and referred to with no small amount of enmity and spleen under the letter “M”.) was quite the young obsessive, hunkering over many a volume of The World Book Encyclopedia , a young boy in his native Perth, Western Australia, imagining far too much, stoking the fires of his own horrid pessimism and putrid sexuality
You just don’t know if he’s yankin’ ya, gankin’ ya, or just plain making shit up. He is clearly no stranger to the fine art of exaggeration or embellishment.
Alistair McCartney’s first novel, The End of The World Book, is an encyclopedic romp through the author’s faggoty and often beguiling memory, intertwining fiction, memoir and even some cultural history. For instance, and beginning alphabetically with the letter A, which stands for Adelaide, the author’s mother’s hometown, wherein occurred the murder spree of young boys whose bodies are discovered in champagne crates, or the letter “M” for Macramé, “The most significant art form of the decade known as the 1970’s, was undoubtedly macramé, that coarse lacework produced by weaving cords into a pattern.”
Layered like a prose poem, cleverly obsessive and foreboding, it’s been called an alphabetical guide to the apocalypse. From Kafka, Franz to Krueger, Freddy, McCartney meanders through history, antiquity and the very near future, stopping now and then to perversely look up the pant leg of a particularly hairy uncle or to admire the sunburn lines left by a hooligan’s wife beater.
He’s not from San Francisco, although he lives in Los Angeles with his partner artist Tim Miller, so not a lot of sense in regards as to why I’m writing about him for World Famous in San Francisco. I just wanted to give a shout out to independent bookstores in our fair city.

we're moving...

2008-05-07T23:23:00.000-07:00

stay tuned, we're packing up and moving over to http://www.worldfamousinsf.com/blog

5/8/08 edit:
This might take me a little longer than I was expecting! Why not check out the new hard place record. Hah!

Another inappropriate post about Mariah Carey

2008-05-07T21:08:00.000-07:00

Girl pictured above says: "i hate u u just ruined the song i luv this song stuupid retard!"

Mariah Carey - Bye Bye OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO

I've been causing trouble in Internet land with my "OFFICIAL VIDEO" for Mariah Carey's new single (official-offical video is not out yet). And I know Elton Tom and Jeremy Smears hate everything I love about Mariah, so what better way to come back to WFISF (cool SF music blog) after my extended absence than to post about Mariah Carey?

Timothy Cummings

2008-05-02T22:32:00.000-07:00

I first became familiar with Timothy’s work more than 15 years ago, now nearer to 20. I was living in Los Angeles when he and a friend of his had traveled in a van to L.A. from Albuquerque to show his work in a West Hollywood coffee shop. I must admit here and now that I was quite taken by Mr. Cummings, and of course his work. His earlier works included small paintings and brilliantly detailed puppets constructed of bleached and painted tree branches from his own back yard in New Mexico, dressed in a colonial-style, comedia del arte, flamenco dancers, etc. We kept in touch a little while after that, but then I moved to New York and we lost contact. Years later when I moved to San Francisco, I was talking to a very good friend of mine who mentioned the name of Timothy Cummings. “Could it possibly be the same Timothy?” I thought. Well it turned out in fact that it was. Timothy’s paintings have evolved magnificently in the years. I’ve seen him work in a 19th Century portraiture style to flat-out surreal scenes of the macabre. His darkly imagined nymphs tweak each other’s nipples, they fly in the magical realism of baby blue skies, they disappear, they reappear, their skin full of holes, their eyes full of fire and disdain. A child, masked, runs down a long empty azure hallway, recalling De Chirico and of course Dali. Since that time in L.A., Timothy’s lived in San Francisco and his work has been seen the world over. He’s become avidly collected and shows in major art institutions, here and abroad.

Dope Hoes & Scrilla

2008-05-02T11:01:00.000-07:00

I don't know anything about this other than my friend Matt is DJing:

Expect terrifying sounds and loud rock music from him! Check out his podcast if you want an idea of whats in store.

Sew High Presents: Dope, Hoes & Scrilla
@ Down At Lulu's
6603 Telegraph, Oakland
5/2 from 7 - 10 PM

Half Assed Album Review: Pizza!

2008-05-02T09:24:00.000-07:00

I was talking to Freddy of Hard Place about a show they had recently done with a band called Pizza!; I had been drawn in by the band name. On one hand it seemed like they put no effort into the name ("What do we call the band?" "I dunno, Pizza?") but on the other, who hasn't screamed like a child at the thought of ordering pizza? You're a cold hearted bitch if you don't get excited about pizza.

At any rate, Freddy said they were great and the proceeded to quote some awkward/dorky lyrics they have about there being fags of every sexual orientation. Betrayal!! This band used to be called The New Motherfuckers and that seems a lot more accurate, luring you in with promises of pizza and then delivering lyrics about social issues. Immediately I felt like I was back in the nineties -- the bad part of the nineties where I was in some basement at a house show that Sweep The Leg Johnny was permanently playing with a bunch of SXE hardcore bands whose scene was 'inclusion' (but were always made up of a bunch of white guys, funny how that worked out) and one band I wanted to see.

Betrayed or not, not only did Freddy say Pizza! was pretty good but Elton Tom said he always liked The New Motherfuckers -- he always turns me on to good stuff. Also, this album is free so I downloaded it.

So you don't get party jams, or feel good times, or anything remotely resembling pizza but you do get a good record. The band deals mostly in cold, new wave pop songs that generally stay the course but intermittently flare up, spazz, or do something you wouldn't expect. Its the aural equivalent of a facial tick. They have a strange way of arranging a song to offset their lyrics, which deal more with 'society' than 'personal issues', so that occasionally you think you might be watching a demented musical (this is especially true of the first song on the album, "Bird Dreams" and "Houses" and "Bloo Moob" towards the end).

At times I think they sound like an American version of The Passage, who I'll let Trouser Press describe:

Keyboardist/vocalist/composer/producer Dick Witts was the Passage, regardless of lineup shifts (at first a quartet, later a trio). A former percussionist with a noted classical orchestra, Witts and his fellow Mancunians made records that defy pigeonholing, evoking comparisons to Keith Emerson and Weather Report on one hand and Wire, Gang of Four and Joy Division on the other. The reviewer who sat them smack between early Soft Machine and the Fall may have come the closest of all.

Maybe its just me though, I've been listening to The Passage a bunch lately. But the synths and the lyrics... listen for yourself:

Pizza! - Griffith Park Fire

The Passage - The Half of It: Sissies

Ironically, it turns out that the song Freddy quoted from is my favorite. "Repress Yourself" is herky jerky new wave synth work out that switches gears into nineties guitar spazz and I'm sure you can figure out what its about. The lyrics are hilarious: "You say that god made you free/But you're retarded!"

Pizza! - Repress Yourself

Definitely check this out! You can download it here.

photos: anavan @ transam

2008-04-30T08:30:00.000-07:00

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

M. Lamar and Floating Corpses, Community Music Center April 25, San Francisco

2008-04-27T14:32:00.001-07:00

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.

BRIDEZ album 'Fake Blood Jacket' out soon!

2008-04-27T07:45:00.000-07:00

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

World Famous 1 Year Anniversary Party Wed. 4/30

2008-04-26T10:11:00.000-07:00

Hey!

We're having a 1 year anniversary party to celebrate 1 year of World Famous In San Francisco. There will be drinks, prizes and a private screening of Stephen Kijak's documentary Scott Walker: 30 Century 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 Vortex Room (South of Market)
When: 8 pm (film at 9)
How: Please RSVP, limited seating

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

hope to see you!

Tom & Jeremy

myspace of the week: nothing people

2008-04-24T13:24:00.000-07:00

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)

oh, actually you can hear mayyors here

2008-04-23T09:15:00.000-07:00

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.

show review: Mayyors @ The Eagle (4/18)

2008-04-23T09:00:00.000-07:00

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.

shows tuesday 4/22

2008-04-21T22:00:00.000-07:00

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

Show Review: Tarantism & Snacks @ ATA (4/17)

2008-04-21T20:25:00.000-07:00

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.

BRIDEZ videos

2008-04-21T08:46:00.000-07:00

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

Reminder: Bridez/Easy Street/Hard Place tonight (Friday) @ Smile. EPIC WIN!

2008-04-18T12:05:00.000-07:00

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

myspace of the week: EZ JEWCE

2008-04-17T17:24:00.000-07:00

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

shows this week

2008-04-16T00:14:00.000-07:00

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!

Eagle Tonight: 4/10/08

2008-04-10T17:48:00.001-07:00

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

myspace of the week: nero's day at disneyland

2008-04-09T12:34:00.000-07:00

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

Great moments in SF Gay History (not!) PART 2.

2008-04-06T12:02:00.001-07:00

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.

I Love San Francisco!

2008-04-06T11:06:00.000-07:00

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.

saturday night: options

2008-04-05T09:56:00.000-07:00

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

a muxtape for you

2008-04-02T21:00:00.000-07:00

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?

worldfamousinsf.muxtape.com

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

MCMF - Its Alive!

2008-04-01T09:12:00.000-07:00

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

Actually, I think this sounds cool. The most fun MCMF shows I've been to were the ones that focused on what was going on locally. It wasn't just friend rock, tons of people came to the shows and it was a big party. Cool.

SXSW: after thoughts

2008-03-27T23:05:00.000-07:00

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!

New Hard Place Video: Tuff It Out

2008-03-27T12:53:00.000-07:00

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

OH WE ARE A RECORD LABEL NOW TOO, WE FORGOT TO MENTION THAT SORRY!

2008-03-26T02:40:00.000-07:00

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)

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

We're totally excited, we hope you are too. A brief poll of our closest friends says you should be. Come <check us out!

SXSW: Deathbomb Arc/The Smell showcase (pt. 3)

2008-03-26T01:58:00.001-07:00

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."

What's In and Out?

2008-03-23T14:05:00.000-07:00

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

Don't take a shit at Kimo's

2008-03-23T13:39:00.000-07:00

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

SXSW: Deathbomb Arc/The Smell showcase (pt. 2)

2008-03-20T00:15:00.000-07:00

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.

So Kimo's is the cool place for shows again... really?

2008-03-19T23:57:00.000-07:00

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.

Two friends

2008-03-19T09:55:00.000-07:00

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

Show faces

2008-03-18T11:32:00.000-07:00

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.

show review: lumerians, citadelle, the interchangeable hearts

2008-03-17T18:12:00.000-07:00

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!

SXSW: Deathbomb Arc/The Smell showcase (pt. 1)

2008-03-17T02:26:00.000-07:00

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

Lost Puce Moment footage discovered at SXSW

2008-03-16T21:11:00.000-07:00

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

More footage here.

Hard Place at SXSW Friday 3/14 FREE!

2008-03-10T13:31:00.001-07:00

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

Video proves why WFISF is the best blog ever

2008-03-08T02:12:00.000-08:00

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.

Mushrooms International: The Passionistas, Holy Shit, Girls

2008-03-08T01:19:00.001-08:00

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:

More Mushrooms: Ariel Pink at the Lipo Loung March 7, 2008

2008-03-07T12:27:00.000-08:00

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:

cutter photozine benefit @ club feral

2008-03-06T09:49:00.001-08:00

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!

Preview: Mushrooms International's Friday night @ Lipo Lounge:

2008-03-05T12:04:00.000-08:00

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!

Relax

2008-03-04T22:48:00.000-08:00

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.

Making The Rounds...The Walmart Cake!

2008-03-04T16:03:00.000-08:00

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.

photos: racoons

2008-03-04T11:43:00.000-08:00

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

gary fembot

2008-03-04T01:42:00.000-08:00

Mushroom's first attempt looks clear as crystal!

2008-03-03T22:36:00.000-08:00

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

tonight!

2008-03-01T11:23:00.000-08:00

Melting Faces

2008-02-29T11:29:00.000-08:00

Faces of Meth

My favorite Rufus Wainwright video is the fan video, Faces of Meth. Sometimes it makes me cry but most of the time I just laugh super hard. What other video/music thing can do that?

I'm so confused about what to think of Wainwright. When it comes to gay men, every single one seems to have a different opinion on the swollen cheeked Gap ad crooner.

I've heard that while at Badlands in the Castro, Wainwright once got so upset that he reminded all the bartenders that he was Rufus Wainwright by shouting out his own name. I've also heard that he used to hang out in the Mission before his career took off... whatever that means. I guess both of those things are cool. So whatever his behavior, he seems to be the kind of musician that is liked by gays who don't really listen to music. I'm irritated by his overexposure, but I have to admit, I like some of his stuff. So, what do you think of him?

The Original Wife killing Peterson

2008-02-28T12:03:00.000-08:00

So I've been sick lately, half consicous on the couch watching Nancy Grace. Bitch is crazy, going on and on about Drew Peterson.

In my delirium I thought she was talking about Scott Peterson.

The Bay Bridged - SXSW The Bay Area Leftovers

2008-02-28T10:08:00.000-08:00

Whilst perusing other music blogs dedicated to the bay area scene I happened to notice that the Bay Bridged is sponsoring a day party at SXSW. They are calling it the Bay Area Takeover. I'm calling it the Bay Area Leftovers.

The only dim rays of light in an otherwise boring ass line-up are the aptly titled 60 Watt Kid and the Blacks. I went through and listened to the streams posted. Apart from the two bands I just mentioned, I thought I had found some long lost OC Soundtrack. Everything was so safe.

I know people love Two Gallants but I personally can't get past the drum sound. It is like someone wanking on a kit in Guitar Center. Let's hope the Texas Police toss 'em in the clink for more than just a few days this time around.

To me, the majority of these bands fall into the "but they're really nice" catagory.

Ahem...... Film School, Von Iva, Loquat. Yeah, their music is boring and I personally would not go see any of them or buy they're records but.....

they're really nice people! OK call me an asshole but a really good friend has enough substance to tell you when they do not like your band. Besides, it is just my opinion and I could completely wrong. Some of these people might not be so nice!

If these bands are going to take over anything, it's the cut out bin at your local record store.

I've been to these Bay Area showcases at SXSW before, they're attended by everyone from the bay area who happens to be in Austin. You might as well be at the Uptown in Oakland. Point me to the Neiman Marcus Last Call outlet and the Rainbow Cattle Company for ladies night.

Anyway, since a lot of people do like these bands, here's the poop:

(I do give props to the Bay Bridged for doing such a nice job with the web site, posting streams (for me not to like) and doing a really excellent job of promoting these groups. Too bad their taste is not more in line with my own.)

The Bay Area Takeover
Thursday, March 13th
Beauty Bar
Austin
noon-6
www.thebayareatakeover.com

yes please? no thanks!

2008-02-22T10:55:00.000-08:00

So the girls show was so good, and there's photos and good times write ups coming, but... I'm just going to get this over with.

The best thing I can say about Yes Please is I really hated it. Sadly, though, it was a reaction to the performance and less to the music, which I heard best described as sounding 'like the Juno soundtrack'. Who likes this stuff? And Feist! Cat Power has a lot to answer for.

Speaking of Cat Power, the performance. This was like some art piece based on Chan Marshal's disastrous and irritating performances. The show starts and when I walk up to the stage I see four precious indie girls sitting at the edges of the stage. Posed on stage actually. If these girls weren't posed, then good for Yes Please for having a set of Stepford Urban Knitters at her disposal, but my guess is they were posed. Anyway, they are rapt by what is center stage. Rapt!

Center stage is what I assume to be Yes Please -- crouched under a blanket, rocking back and forth, and warbling over the Juno soundtrack which is magically coming out of the PA even though there isn't an instrument in sight. Eventually this girl makes her way out from under the blanket, she's so vulnerable! Meanwhile, a new set of kids take the blanket she's crawled out from underneath, spread it out picnic style, and sit down on it and watch -- no adore -- adore her.

What the fuck alternate reality is this? Eventually she sits down Indian style and plucks out a few notes from a guitar she's had hidden away. When I turned to walk out I noticed I was the only person not on stage or on a blanket.

On the plus side, her set was short!

Berkeley, Why So Retarded

2008-02-20T15:30:00.000-08:00

This is like the easiest potshot ever, but over here in Berkeley apparently they're celebrating the 50th anniversary of the peace symbol. Hey give the peace symbol a chance, Berkeley's been doing it for 50 years. Come for the symbol, stay for the folksingers.

http://www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/2008-02-19/article/29275

Somebody stop this guy

2008-02-20T00:23:00.000-08:00

He is mean, drunk and completely predictable. It doesn't matter how nice, genuine and willing-to-forgive you are - he'll unleash his pain, frustration and confusion on you in any social situation (outside of the Marc by Marc Jacobs store) by attempting to humiliate you. His play-dough filled brain will keep interest in this activity for countless years, just like my late senile grandfather's daily interest in Flintstones reruns. I'd call him a bitter queen but I don't wanna disrespect any bitter queens who read this blog. I'd feel bad about this passive-aggressive post if I hadn't given him plenty of hugs and chances to redeem himself. He's a walking (probably biking) total-bummer and not in an ironic 90s kind of way, in a real-life-2008-wake-up-it's-your-cell-phone-alarm-clock kind of way.

FIX THAT MESS

2008-02-18T15:40:00.000-08:00

Hey Fierce Perm, I know you're on hiatus or whatever but the internet is not. It is totally time to log into your myspace account and change the password, I am seriously sick of the dating spam.

Also, even though you're on hiatus, don't you have an album coming out on Mandagger?? You should really be logging into that and taking care of your business anyway. Fans hate annoying bulletins.

News Flash: Burning Man ruins Oakland House Party

2008-02-16T15:02:00.000-08:00

Not too long ago I attended a pretty rad Oakland houseparty. I thought I was having a good time when all of a sudden a bunch of my friends left, and I noticed that the party was inundated with Burning Man ravers, most of whom seem to have stayed sartorially stuck in 1997. Predictably, I became annoyed. Hey burners, do you really have to wear your furry pants to a punk rock house party?
The "burners" self segregated themselves in the kitchen, totally missing out on the band action in the living room, which included San Francisco's most charming punk rock combo as well as their glamorous LA counterparts.That's what I love about "burners" though -- they're the most solipsistic group of individuals. They try and re-create BM wherever they go, and for all their professed open-mindedness, God forbid they should step outside of their cozy fake fur cocoon, drop the ketamine bumps and the spandex body suits, and actually expose themselves to something a little bit different.
On another note, I heard that a super-underground rock band called the Foo Fighters played a show down the road at the Oakland Coliseum that same night, and word on the street is that their drummer is pretty awesome.

Big Weekend #3: girls girls girls

2008-02-15T18:52:00.000-08:00

First Person Magazine has finally gone and done what I've been asking for. Girls, the new and uncommonly great San Francisco band, are finally playing a show! They're for real, its not a hoax, and word on the street is the band sounds awesome. I don't know who these FP Magazine people are but somebody should thank them!

Also playing are Yes Please, Raccoons, and Soft Hug. I checked the word on the street and nobody knows who these bands are but Yes Please are on at 9 PM sharp, so get there on time if you're curious. We're curious! Actually, we probably need to run an errand over at Chrome so maybe we won't see Yes Please. But we're firm believers in doing everything so we're going to try!

This is going to be super fun. You really should come.
Saturday Feb 16th
Cafe du Nord
2174 Market St
9 PM 10$

Big Weekend #2: Vis á Vis

2008-02-15T08:43:00.000-08:00

Tonight, The Clap is reborn as Vis á Vis at the Vortex Room. They may have said goodbye to Tuesdays and Aunt Charlies, but they haven't said goodbye to good times, awesome music, and amazing performances.

This party is totally underground, so if you don't know where the vortex room is you can: make friends with Vis á Vis on myspace, email them at v i s a v i s _ s f a t y a h o o d o t c o m or email us at w o r l d f a m o u s i n s f a t g m a i l d o t c o m.

Details:

The party starts at ten, and we send you on your way at 3am.

Guest DJ Tom Marzella (He of magnificent bands such as Hard Place, Puce Moment, Master Moth, Mon Cousin Belge)
plus DJ's Der Blaue and Gary Fembot spinning 60's, Garage, 70's, rare soul and disco, Voguing classix, herky jerky new wave and more.

Performance at 1am by -PRINCESS KENNEDY- with Johnny Cocksville.

2 enormous walls filled with Der Blaue Reiter's classiest/trashiest visuals-you will definitely be tuning in and turning on...

This event is also an after party for the Friday Night at the De Young Series, which you should all go to (it's free, and from 5-8:45) featuring Fauxnique, Penelope Houston of the Avengers, and Jello Biafra (Dead Kennedys)

In addition to performers and attendees from the De Young stopping by, we're hoping that some of the Weimar NY people will pop in, making for a transatlantic artiste explosion....

Please add vis a vis as a friend if you haven't already-myspace.com/viscodisco

myspace of the week

2008-02-15T00:17:00.000-08:00

Our myspace of the week is Danyol, artist and member of carletta sue kay and woman of color, because this pretty much sums up my thoughts on IBR. And for finally giving Kenny Rogers the lesbian makeover he desperately needed.

Big Weekend #1

2008-02-14T08:52:00.000-08:00

Its already been a big week, what with all these crazy drag queens in town and tonight -- well, alright, its more drag queens. Oh, and Valentines day. But what could represent romance more than scorned men in dresses?

Don't call it drag queen Carletta Sue Kay and electro sexy vocals Von Iva perform tonight at the Hemlock. Why is there only one kind of strong sexy woman vocal in these parts? You know what I'm saying? Its ok though, this show will be super fun because both of these bands put on a show!

Also tonight, gays, lot of bands, one drag queen, many many hours. Queer punk club All Men Are Evil Except My Girlfriend is throwing its first annual valentines day homo massacre at the stud!

New Mariah single leaked!

2008-02-13T13:06:00.000-08:00

MARIAH CAREY- TOUCH MY BODY

Mariah Carey wrote a new song for me! It's called Touch My Body and it's about teddy bears, YouTube, favorite jeans, tropical breezes and getting touched! How am I supposed to not think this is the greatest song of all time? You all know that I'm so rock and roll, but when I listen to Mariah I turn into a 14 year old mall girl all over again.

New Kelley Stoltz video!

2008-02-12T12:37:00.001-08:00

So my band dad, Kelley Stoltz, has been pretty absent due to his successful career. He was on the home page of MySpace for, like, three days. That's crazy! He got like a billion plays obviously. If you watch TV you've probably heard his jam Birdies Singing on some commercial - I can't really remember what the ad was about even though I've seen it, like, five times. He's touring the world with his new record, CIRCULAR SOUNDS, that's out on Sub Pop Records. It's really good, DUH, so go buy it. Here is the video for his first single:

Kelley Stoltz - Your Reverie

Add to My Profile | More Videos
Directed by M. Moorton

photos: puce moment

2008-02-10T20:04:00.001-08:00

Elton Tom was all "don't post these, we only ever post about stuff Myles and I are in". At first I was going to go along with that because, well, its true. And, the photos are maybe a bit more Lucifer Rising than Puce Moment. But, I'm going to post them anyway because I don't really have anything else to talk about and there's three other people in the band and he's not actually in the photos because a) Drummers are hard to photograph, b) drummers are always in the back and c) the show was at the knockout and the light is terrible there. So whatever. The band was pretty good -- guitar and keyboard songs that maybe sound like they're from New Zealand. But maybe they don't -- in addition to bad lighting the sound at the knockout isn't the greatest (but we love the knockout anyway). It was a good first impression.

Also, this band fpodbpod played and they were pretty good despite their name and the fact they're into being the deli's band of the month. I just listened to their myspace and its weird, they were so much more electric live. I think maybe they're better live. Go see them and don't click on that link. Greg Ashley also played but he should stick to the full band thing because his cute, pudgy little face can only take that acoustic guitar so far. Seriously.

It's my birthday!

2008-02-07T14:25:00.001-08:00

And you'll pretend to enjoy it.

Arthur Mag, Annoying

2008-02-05T12:31:00.000-08:00

Hey it's the week for new contributors. I will be bringing my own particular brand of the hate, but sometimes the love.

Lately, Arthur Magazine has really been annoying. I mean they've always run small annoyances like that column for the practice of magic, or as they like to say "magick". I don't know, affected early-modern English nonstandard spellings really annoyye me.

In the December 2007 issue, Douglas Rushkoff, regular contributor, wrote the tedious "Raising Baby Einstein" to make a point about how raising a baby has become so commercialized and professionalized. And I usually really like what he writes, you know tearing down the whole edifice of 9/11 conspiracy thinking as a waste of valuable time was right on! But Rushkoff made the regrettable error that afflicts most parents, the belief that what they're undergoing is so special and magical that they must then inflict the magic of parenthood on the rest of us. I tried to read the whole thing but had to quit when I reached the paragraph on, "the lost art of breast-feeding". Writers, please do not use the word "latch, nipple, draw, and infant's lips" in a column published by a putative music mag. Gross. Seriously.

A year ago Becky Stark of Lavender Diamond annoyed me when she renounced her class hate in favor of a particularly icky brand of Topanga Canyon free-love. But I would expect that from someone named Lavender Diamond. Rushkoff, you're losing your edge to the babies.

hit it mary: puce moment debut at smile

2008-02-03T19:44:00.001-08:00

Guess. What. Elton Tom's new band, Puce Moment, is finally going to debut after, like, five years holed up in some basement practicing. Well, maybe not five, but it sure seems like it sometimes. I was beginning to think they were really just catching every performance at Theater Rhinoceros or something.

Anyway, the band also features Gary Fembot (of Vis-á-Vis, feelings on a grid, and sta prest) and an ex member of The Aislers Set but I don't hold that against him.

Oh, and if you're wondering what a puce moment is, its a Kenneth Anger film about , literally, a puce moment. Seriously. But if you're on the leading edge of cool then you know its all about its impossible (and uncredited) soundtrack. You can check this post over at WFMU for more info if you've got a day job and can't be on the leading edge of cool.

Oh yeah, greg ashley is playing too.

Monday, Feb 4
Smile @ The Knockout
10 PM, $5
greg ashley
puce moment

Such a fanboy

2008-02-02T13:55:00.001-08:00

If you were in the Castro last week it was very obvious that somebody was filming a movie. If you asked around, people seemed a little confused and slightly annoyed that there weren't any parking spots. Instead there were old timey cars, 70s-looking shop signs and awesome community bulletin boards. That's right. The Castro looked way cooler.

And when I saw Gus Van Sant in real life, he didn't look as hot as I was hoping he'd look. He was wearing really practical boots, ugly black jeans and some kind of L.L. Bean parka. So yeah - nothing was going to go down even though he was looking at me. I don't care if I love his movies, I don't want to make love to him.

You can still find lots of bulletins if you go down there. I ripped a bunch off the first night they were put up. In other news, Christopher Owens from Girls got a call back to be in a bar scene with Sean Penn. Very cool. I can't wait to see Milk.

MY FIRST BLOG: Franco Explosionz

2008-02-01T01:46:00.000-08:00

Hello this is Ashley.
This is my first blog and I am very frightened. I read the posts of elton tom and shamus and I am ashamed for I am listed as a blogger but have yet to have blogged anything.
So I suppose I should now tell you some stories from my current life and times.
I think I will tell you about a lovely Russian-prussian-Italian 66 year old something or other that comes into my place of work to molest the mannequins and man handle the lady workers. He calls himself Franco and he has invited me to sail with him and eat lobster and clam on the beach with him. He also says he is an artist. Once he said he was on his way to teach a twelve year old boy..I have seen the work that he carries around in his gym bag too...not too shabby... thin water color/crayon on cardboard of sailboats and pen and barely erased pencil handwritten poems about love and the many girls he meets [molests in places they cannot escape from too quickly, like work or the gym or a bus] More details about those later. As for our encounters with Franco in the store, I'll keep it short, because it is late and I have never written a blog about anything before. Apparantly any girl that says "yes" in any way to him is in love with him. So girls, pretty boys, whatever you are, keep that in mind, if you say 'yes' to anyone anywhere, be prepared for that someone to get the wrong impression. Anyhow, he comes in to buy some skinny jeans and he admires my breast immediately and lets me and all my coworkers know about it. then he comes out with his pants unzipped proclaiming, "hey! They makes these too tight! Who of zyou zyoung ladyz iz going zo zzip me up?!" No girl of course. so one of the guys does and immediately he gets a boner through the slim slacks. And, surprisingly enough, I have never seen a 60 + penoid get so hard under such tight denim under such bright lights so fast in my life, so I couldnt help but laugh with a shameful glee. He says "oop! look what you make-a me do!" So we give him a 50 percent discount every time he comes in now. He came in today though again to fondle us again and he had a couple good stories I would like to share for a moment (after he took my hand to "kiss" but then started licking and giggled " I show you now what I do with woman's clitoris!" Why do women love me so much?! They are always bending over for me..in the gym...in the street..everywhere!" Of course! I love that ferocious optimisim/
Anyhow, some Franco stories:
"So, I see this girl on ze dock before I am 'bout to go sailing..she is very beautiful...I not saying more than you , no, but in a different way...with honey blonde hair to here [he motions to his sun bleached, grey half shaved neck] and very big breasts! Even bigger than yours! ]. And so I ask her if they are real and she say 'yeah' not yes! but 'yeah' and then I know that she feels something for me ]...and then I ask her if I can hug her and she says "yah" and then we hug and our legs melt like butter and I know we are like Pow! And im like' tunnel explosion'! you know !But then her boyfriend comes, and I didnt know she had a boyfriend ..so I's go to the living room ]..and I am so excited by her that I masturbate into a cup and I leave it by the sofa. Later, I come back to get the cup, but it is gone! But then I see my lovely girl again, and she has a wet spot over her breast and I know! I know she drank that entire big cup of-a my sperm! And you know I fill an entire plastic cup because I was exploding!"
And then, ten seconds later, making my work-day go by thankfully, much faster he adds " I really don't know why, but weemen, zey just love my cum!" i say," wow, your realllly lucky" He says, "Yes, and once I was at my doctor's office waiting room next to sexy black girl. And she touch my leg i think and so my penis, it gets so big...two inches thick [he shows me with his fingers how thick] and I am just about to explode, so I ask the nurse for a bathroom key and I masturbate into a cup. And then I bring it to the seat and I show the girl that I taste it. And so she puts her finger in to taste it too and she says it tastes great too! So what-a more can I say!"
I say....awesome... as awesome as a pizza burrito! ten lbs of cheese in yo face! You go get it Franco! You can cum in the store anytime!

Half-Assed Album Reviews!

2008-01-29T17:56:00.000-08:00

Hard Place - Get Your Hopes Up (World Famous In San Francisco)
This album is awesome. And I don't say that just because Elton Tom and Jeremy Smears are the ones releasing it on their label named after this blog. This is really strange, crunchy, bad-80s nostalgia music that you can't get anywhere else. It's very colorful and unique for something so ironic. All the songs are good - they actually seem to be about something - and they all sound like singles. My favorite song at the moment is Last Goodbye. I highly recommend buying the physical copy of this record.

Hey Willpower - P.D.A. (Tomlab)
This is a really cohesive collection of mid-tempo modern sounding r&b-dance songs. I think it's a really pretty record. I like it.

Woman of Color - Are You a Woman of Color? (Man Dagger)
After listening to this album I realized I am not a woman of color. This album lives up to its name in a way: it doesn't sound at all black, but it does sound dark. It has this Native American sounding pow-wow rock song at the end I like.

Fierce Perm - Fierce Perm (Man Dagger)
Cesar from Man Dagger gave me this CD a couple weeks ago at one of my shows in LA. I first played it in my middle aged Cuban ex-boyfriend's Lincoln Aviator. He and his SUV totally hated it. If it doesn't sound like Celia Cruz, a Broadway musical or a CD you can buy at Restoration Hardware or Crate and Barrel, he and his SUV totally hate it. So I guess that's a good thing right? This band has plenty of great optimistic guitar riffs. But it is very easy to pinpoint who Nadia, their singer, is influenced by. I will keep my faith in this band as long as the next album sounds different and they do a reinvention tour.

Gossip

2008-01-29T07:39:00.000-08:00

Which bassist for a hot young band is rumored to have the largest penis in San Francisco? We had to hear about it in LA so it must be huge. Here's a clue, he fronts a cover band side project. Rumor has it that he's quite proud and has been known to whip it out at parties. Hmm, we haven't had a party in awhile....(just kidding, we're interested in his music more than his package.)

Which notoriously heterosexual half of a darling SF pop duo expressed his interest in same sex hanky panky during a cocaine fueled rampage? Well, it might have been just a harmless same sex crush but we have to marvel at the mind altering effects of the booger suger.

Which LA blogger blabbed about all of the above (and more!) while simultaneously telling us not to tell specific people things because they were known to have a big mouth! (This is why we love this person.)

get on the bus

2008-01-25T19:48:00.000-08:00

Its so easy to forget that 'punk rock' and 'hippie' are pretty much the same thing, but then John Benson rolls into town with the bus and its all clear again. For those of you not hip to the scene, the bus is pretty much a giant traveling stage, powered by biodiesel, and can turn any old corner into the most awesome show you didn't mean to go to. This clip below is from the the too cool to be true circle show:

Pretty neat. Except, apparently, some people don't think so; it was recently vandalized:

As many of you know the amazing traveling stage bio-diesel bus was vandalized...some
jerks broke the windows... big expensive windows. We are having a benefit to replace
them.

Monday Jan 28
El Rio
$5 at the door gets you the sweet noise psychedelic sounds of

Tank Attack
Kreamy 'Lectric Santa
Wiggwaum

plus cheap drinks...$1 PBR and $2 Wells...

Bands start at 9 sharp and end at midnight. Drinking fun and dj Jenny Hoyston start
earlier. aww yeah

I kinda think the benefit for the bus should be on the bus, but maybe its hard to drive something like that with the wind in your hair. Anyway, come check out the crazy sounds and get the bus back on the road.

http://www.myspace.com/tankattack
http://www.myspace.com/wiggwaum
http://www.myspace.com/kreamylectricsanta

Passionistas sell out again

2008-01-25T12:13:00.000-08:00

Did you see my article in this week's San Francisco Bay Guardian? Didjah didjah? In it I talk about my YouTube videos, Chris Crocker, my mother, Chucky, Alien and a bunch of other cool stuff. Pick up a copy, or you can read the article online.

It's cool to be stoned okay we get it

2008-01-23T11:53:00.000-08:00

Patrik from Cobain In a Coma decides to throw a 'monthly' every eight months or so. From what I can remember, there was first 4EVER, and then Stoned Age . This one, Spaced, seems to be the same deal as the others. The bands are his friends and if you go you'll probably not feel invited even though it's in a public place. I'm gonna go. I'm kind of masochistic if you haven't already noticed. Jealousy and Bridez are playing. There will be a custom photobooth by Daniel Minnick.

Oakland is a Ghost Town pt. II

2008-01-23T11:46:00.000-08:00

Photo: Carletta Sue Kay spotted at the Hard Place show....Photo by Jeremy Smears

The Clarences, The Passionistas, Carletta Sue Kay, Gran Via.

January, 25 2008 at Ghost Town Gallery
2519 San Pablo Avenue, Oakland,
Cost : 5 bucks

18+ Do Not Leave Valuables in Your Car!

Nate Dogg paralyzed

2008-01-21T10:19:00.000-08:00

One side of Nate Dogg's body is now paralyzed. I really hope he doesn't stop making music. I love hearing Nate Dogg on a chorus. He has an incredibly strong sense of melody that is so unique and identifiable. I can't imagine him singing any other song then his own.

213 - I'm Fly (live)

Bass player gets burned

2008-01-21T09:52:00.000-08:00

The Passionistas give Shayde a Germs burn

Shayde plays bass for Giant Skyflower Band, Kelley Stoltz, Flying Canyon, The Skygreen Leopards and probably a lot of other bands too. I don't know what else to say about this video.

photos: all the young children on crack & tea elles

2008-01-19T10:35:00.000-08:00

Some older photos. All The Young Children On Crack are a Television Personalities cover band featuring current and ex members of the Passionistas and they were super fun. Fake accents and all:

Tea Elles were next and they took a million years to set up. Its two guitars and drums, which I think were shared with the other bands, come on! Put the drink down, tell your friend you'll talk to them after the show. If you think they won't be there after, well...

Nah. Actually, I was sick and cranky so every little thing was annoying me. The band was ok -- definitely better than their myspace. I had the tonsillitis though, so after a few songs I just couldn't keep up with all the acrobatic guitar and had to go home and stare at my disfigured tonsils in the mirror.

I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack

2008-01-19T00:47:00.000-08:00

The Passionistas - Fucking Cold

Thanks Jeremy Smears and Elton Tom for running the blog while I was away. I was in a creative coma for a couple weeks. Expect fun new stuff. I can't tell you all the exciting news just yet - for now here is a new video I directed for my band, The Passionistas, starring Christopher Owens from Girls.

its your last chance to catch the clap

2008-01-15T08:55:00.000-08:00

Aunt Charlie is finally dragging her sorry ass a few blocks down to the city clinic, so tonight may be your last night to catch The Clap! In addition to the nicest door guy in town, your favorite djs Gary Fembot and Der Blaue Reiter, and cheap cheap strong strong drinks, there might be a special DJ set by one of your favorite world famous authors. I said favorite, so obviously its not me!

But, you know, word on the street is that Aunt Charlie is a bit slutty, so don't be surprised if the clap pops up somewhere else...

Great Moments in SF Gay History (Not!) pt.1

2008-01-13T18:05:00.000-08:00

This is one of my favorite articles by Dennis Conklin from the Bay Area Reporter, I don't know what I like best about it. This actually happened in December of 1995. I thought I should just scan in the article because if I just retyped it nobody would have believed it was true. In all seriousness I'm sure for the victims this was horrifying, but the details in the article; from the can of Coke to the rather detailed description of the assailant, are hilarious. Enjoy!

whats this, then?

2008-01-11T11:33:00.000-08:00

http://www.worldfamousinsf.com

stay tuned...

Passionistas in LA this weekend, fools

2008-01-10T13:35:00.000-08:00

Ok, this is turning into some kind of Passionistas PR blog... I've gotta find some new stuff to post about. Like, maybe, make up some new years resolutions, do a way belated best of list, figure out a new myspace of the week, work on the World Famous Super Club I keep talking about, make those "To Catch a Predator" outtake videos we've been talking about, or maybe even get the Mexican Party Bus back on the road and go to the next Gravy Train show -- they seem to be ever popular but I just don't get their ironic gay party underwear rap jams.

Anyway, I do love the The Passionistas. So, even though I'm, like, ninety percent sure all of our LA readers know this already because they're friends with Myles, lets talk about their LA mini tour this weekend. Just in case! From New And Used Records:

Hey Passionistas fans, your favorite quartet will be in the region of Southern California this weekend for four shows that promise to be varying levels of amazing. They are as follows.

Friday, January 11
In-Store @ Buffalo Records / 6PM / Free
105 S. Oak Street., Ventura, California 93001
(Highly recommend attending this one if you can. You can see them live, shop for records, and even get an autographed copy of God's Boat).

Friday, January 11
Club Good Hurt / 8PM / $5 / 21+
12249 Venice Blvd, West Los Angeles, California 90066
(The Passionistas will be opening for Sweetness and Lonely Mattress Salesman, so get there early. You can also stick around after for DJ Brazilian Booty Butt Jamz).

Saturday, January 12
Pool Party in Venice Beach / 2PM
(If you were invited to this one, then you know where to go)

Saturday, January 12
Mr. T's Bowl / 9PM / $10 / 21+
5621 1/2 Figueroa St. @ Ave. 57 in Highland Park
Los Angeles, California 90042
(The Passionistas headline, along with The Boars, The Guilty Hearts, The Jinxes, The Thingz. It looks totally punk rock and should be awesome).

Mr T's Bowl is fun! Pool parties are fun and sexy. Ventura... yeah, ok. At least, that show isn't in a bar and different scenery is really fun.

trans am roundup

2008-01-09T14:18:00.001-08:00

TransAM was super fun! Lots of people came out in the crappy weather, the beard party was in full swing, and there were even some cute guys. The downstairs DJ, DJ Jef Leopard, played some seriously choice records -- that is, if you like that British DIY kind of thing, trashy seventies rock, tropicalia, and 'good' punk like the Dead Boys, and Iggy.

If you couldn't make it, here's a bunch of videos Myles took (continuing his reign of awesomeness with that camera):

Miss Nix:

Hard Place:

Rentecca:

As usual, I took too many photos:

see the rest here

passionistas sell out

2008-01-09T08:24:00.001-08:00

Using the power of their sexuality, the passionistas have made a commercial for Sonic Living (a bay area based upcoming.org kinda deal, except dedicated to music and with artist profiles and links to iTunes so that you can buy from apple instead of the artist.). Really, its not surprising. It's been their goal since before the dawn of time. And now that Myles has a video camera total pop success can't be that far off for them.

who wore it better?

2008-01-08T10:08:00.000-08:00

In homage to one of our favorite blogs that never updates... who wore it best, and who should put it to rest?

aaron

jeremy

"Chris Crocker's Comeback"

2008-01-07T11:44:00.000-08:00

Chris Crocker's Comeback

Chris Crocker is back from his three month hiatus after the fame of "leave Britney alone" with a music video! It's shot in some sad LA studio apartment that's not even his. I can't tell if I totally hate it, or totally love it. Totally.

Hard Place at TransAm, tomorrow

2008-01-04T12:15:00.000-08:00

Did we mention this:

One of the neat things about San Francisco is we end up with club nights that try to mix and match scenes. TransAm tries to brings the gays out of their Castro shell by luring them to SOMA with drag queens, cheap drinks, and guys looking to get laid but they mix it up by having a local band headline the evening and the DJs spin the rock musics. Actually, I don't know if they're luring anybody who wouldn't already be heading to SOMA, but its a nice change of pace from the Donuts crowd. And the guys seem to like it because TransAm is usually pretty busy.

Tomorrow should be fun, Hard Place will have their trail of costumes, confetti, and whipped cream behind them and the drag queens look good too! I don't know anyhting about Miss Nix but Rentecca put on one of the filthiest performances I've seen, like, ever. I'm kind of surprised its not on youtube as it was a film piece done for Midnight Mass a few years ago. I won't go into details, but it involved an unorthodox enema and ice cream. This was followed up by a routine to "Don't it Make My Brown Eyes Blue" by Crystal Gale. This is also not on youtube, but you can watch Crystal's version here if you're like that. It seems Drag Queens didn't start putting their shit (literally) up on youtube until last year. However, I guess Rentecca did a cover of "Brown Eyed Girl" which is basically the same thing:

I liked "Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue" better, it was more restrained. But let me tell you, I've never seen people scatter like that when something was tossed into the audience. And we were in theater seating, so people were climbing over each other to get out of the way. Priceless!

So come out tomorrow night! Who knows what you'll get on you!

All The Young Children on Crack

2008-01-03T21:30:00.000-08:00

If you like The Television Personalities and the local noise weirdo scene, and you don't like the idea of going to Oakland on Friday to see Brian Glaze as you'll have to leave before he goes on anyway because you turn into a pumpkin around midnight, come check this out:

What, you can't read that flyer? Its tomorrow:
Jan 4th
Edinburgh Castle
$5

This show is kinda neat because its a little all over the map. All The Young Children On Crack is a Television Personalities cover band featuring Andrew from The Passionistas. Also playing are Forever, whose bar room rock 'n roll we've mentioned a few times, as well as High Castle, Tea Elles, and Kool Teen which I don't know much about. Actually, I'm excited about Kool Teen, I keep meaning to see them and keep missing them. Kinda like how I keep missing Brian Glaze with his new band. Oh well, yay!

girls girls girls

2008-01-03T12:10:00.000-08:00

You know, in case the myspace bulletins aren't catching your attention or you aren't one of the thousands of hits on these songs, Girls have a new song. I bring the breaking news -- or I need to find somebody new to write about. The new song is pretty good -- "God Damned" is more in line with the last three songs they put up and less to do with that little pop gem they dropped right out of the gate. Get the kids hooked on something sweet and then switch it. Actually, I didn't love the song they posted before this one, so I didn't post it here, but its grown on me so check out "Hellhole Ratrace" too. Quality!

Word on the street is these dudes might be playing a show soon, which would be cool. Hopefully it won't be some super secret apartment party!

Oakland is a Ghost Town

2008-01-02T20:35:00.001-08:00

I remember Brian Glaze being forced to stand outside of the Purple Onion because he wasn't 21 and was only allowed in to play drums for the Brian Jonestown Massacre by music empresario Tom Guido moments before the band took the stage. Now he's old and can get into any club he wants! Brian Glaze and the Nightshift headline an awesome line up in the East Bay! Don't miss the first band, a veritable Bay Area Super Group, the Trade (feat members of Sugar & Gold, Boyjazz, Cars Get Crushed), I hope they like their Trade rough!

Details:
Brian Glaze and the Nightshift (feat members of the Cuts and Gris Gris)

Bart Davenport (solo acoustic)

The Trade (feat members of Sugar & Gold, Boyjazz, and, ahem... Cars Get Crushed)

It all starts around 10.

Ghost Town Gallery: 2519 San Pablo Ave, Oakland. Leave no valuables in yr car, friends.

Hope you can make it out!

new passionistas sex tape surfaces

2008-01-02T18:39:00.000-08:00

I mean music video, but its easy to see how I could get it confused. I mean, what with all the hot tubs, steam, parents, and skin shots. These guys are totally following the Britney arc. The innocent phase is over and the slutty one has begun! Quick, somebody get them some undies before the paps catch on.

Um, yeah. Anyway, this video is choice. At first I was sad that they weren't singing over a boombox, but then I realized getting electrocuted in your parent's hot tub, while great publicity, might ruin the video. And possibly the new year too. Check:

Speed music goes slow!

2007-12-29T11:33:00.000-08:00

Holy Shit - PART TWO - live @ the Eagle, San Francisco, 12/27/07

So if you weren't at the Holy Shit show, you totally missed out. Luckily WFISF has a video camera now, so you don't have to miss out completely. So Holy Shit are a band from LA that make this really stubborn psychedelic music. They play V back to I a lot... sort of like David Bowie's Heroes or Modern English's Melt with You. That chord progression always sounds awesome. So check them out if you're not already familiar. The band features Christopher "Crissy Baby" Owens from one of our favorite bands Girls.

Holy Shit - PART ONE

Holy Shit - PART THREE

I love Santa!

2007-12-28T11:41:00.000-08:00

Woman of Color - live @ the Eagle Tavern, San Francisco, 12/27/07

Santa bought me a cheap camcorder which is, like, the best gift EVER. I got a chance to tape some of Woman of Color's set last night. I have to admit Cesar was looking kind of hot for some reason so there are lots of zoom-ins on his face. I like the zoom in feature. I want to zoom in on butts (on somebody who sort-of has a butt first) and stuff like that - but I feel like that's tacky and gross. What do you think?

SF Zoo tragedy!

2007-12-27T13:08:00.001-08:00

A new SF Christmas tradition? Going to the maul?

R.I.P. Dead Eyed Lady

2007-12-26T22:02:00.000-08:00

For reasons unknown, Mat Cote is leaving San Francisco behind for a gay death known as Kentucky (Louisville to be precise). Fun fact, did you you know one in ten is missing all of their teeth in Kentucky?

Anyway, come to the eagle Thursday night to say goodbye to Mat. He might be quiet at first (he's known for it), but once you get a few drinks in him he loosens up. I'll be there if my flight isn't delayed.

GAY R.I.P. 1979 - 2007

Road Trip: White Slave Trade/Hard Place LA!! Holiday Rave

2007-12-23T08:41:00.000-08:00

Once again I braved I-5, this time to attend the White Slave Trade Holiday Rave. Hard Place spent more time decorating COG Space then practicing but we managed to pull a set together. Doesn't it look nice?

I love parties at the White Slave Trade. I got hugs from the guys in Totally Radd. Met lots of cool people:

I'd have to say the highlight of the evening was the DJ set by Crusty Grindage (Ashley & Hazel), these girls know how to rock the house!

But Ashley, I'm concerned. You're always so beautiful and composed! When did you become the drinkenest gal I know? So with the aid of my new camera and photoshop, here's a scientific assesment of what you will look like in 10 years if the party doesn't stop!

Wow, kinda like Mrs. Garrett from Facts of Life!

SLUDGEHAMMER GIGANTIC PARTY TONIGHT

2007-12-21T15:27:00.000-08:00

So, one last hurrah before I get on a plane and ~~sit in airports for days on end becuase I refused to pay more to go to Tennessee than I would to go to Europe so my flight is insanely crappy with a million connections that I'll never make~~ visit my family for a few days, Tonight:

At first I was all, bands I don't know anything about and haven't had time to check out their myspace pages, maybe I won't go. But then I realized I'm not that old yet and also the addition of Connie Fucking Francis makes me swoon. They are a punk rock dream. You should come too!