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Flair for the music in your head

07.26.10 - 9:57 am | Caitlin Donohue |
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It's happy hunting, this urban jungle. But leave the sounds of the flora and fauna to chance and you may be caught in the screeches and tweets of a tacky bird of paradise: who hasn't had their morning quarry foiled by an ill-timed burst from a passing safari-mobile bumping last year's Usher or – egads! – a morning DJ's rehash of the latest hijinx on The Hills? Best to keep that trek through the underbrush sleek and soundtracked with some of the fierce headphones on offer at local J-pop mecca New People. After all, it don't get much more wild than Tokyo fashion. Read more »

Live Shots: Keane, Fox Theater, 7/20/2010

07.23.10 - 1:23 pm | Ariel Soto |
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Imagine you were on a long summer road trip and hours have passed.

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Work and play with the Shout Out Louds

07.21.10 - 5:02 pm |
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By John Lambert Pearson

Does life on the road effect the music of the constantly-touring Shout Out Louds? "I guess it does," says singer Adam Olenius. "You know, I think you're sorta living a different life on the road and you think about home and being away and returning and of course that effects you. You meet a lot of people. People that you meet and things that happen while you're traveling and things we do as a band become [what] I sing about. I'm not sure it's being at a certain place, it's just...being away, and trying to figure out your life." Read more »

Live Shots: Die Antwoord, Rickshaw Stop, 07/16/2010

07.18.10 - 1:10 pm | Ben Hopfer |
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Zef!? I may not understand it, but I got a crash course after sweating, watching, and surviving a Die Antwoord show. If a hot and packed house crammed with drunks is zef, the Rickshaw Stop was so fokken zef. The duo of Ninja and Yo-Landi (DJ Hi-Tek was absent?) plowed through their debut album $o$ with fury and madness. Luckily I got one of the few vantage points to take these shots surviving most of it. After the jump, a video sent to us by Big Up Magazine

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Live Shots: Michael Franti and Spearhead, Greek Theater, 7/16/2010

07.17.10 - 4:41 pm | Ariel Soto |
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Michael Franti's  music has the incredible ability to create instantaneous community and love wherever he's performing.

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Shayna Steele embraces her soul passion

07.15.10 - 6:18 pm | sfbg |
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By Lilan Kane

Jazzy, sultry, soulful, and smooth, Shayna Steele -- performing at Coda on Sat/17 -- has a voice and style that is causing quite the buzz. With a background in Broadway (she starred in Rent and Hairspray) and influence from the jazz greats, she had a major break with her vocal feature on Moby's number one dance hit "Disco Lies." On her latest record I'll Be Anything (Highyella Lowbrown), she truly shows that she can sing anything.

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Up Mission Creek with Mark Matos and Os Beaches

07.13.10 - 5:20 pm | Nicole Gluckstern |
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 I had a “hold me closer, Tony Danza,” moment when I first heard the hyper-localized anthem “High Priest of the Mission,” on Mark Matos and Os Beaches’ 2009 Porto Franco release Words of the Knife. I thought Matos sang “the high priest of omission,” then I suspected that maybe he was singing “the high priest of submission,” which gave the song an entirely different slant. Read more »

Snap Sounds: Björk and Dirty Projectors

07.09.10 - 9:52 am | Ryan Lattanzio |
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BJÖRK AND DIRTY PROJECTORS
Mount Wittenberg Orca

Mount Wittenberg Orca is neither the first nor last time Björk sings about oceans, mothers, and plant life (re: “Oceania”). But now, she has the genius of the Dirty Projectors ­– in particular, producer and Dirty frontman David Longstreth – looking at Mother Nature, too. Read more »

Caution! Don't miss Very Be Careful's next SF gig

07.08.10 - 1:35 pm | Caitlin Donohue |
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Who do you drink to? I guess it really depends on what you're drinking. Moonshine: The Devil Makes Three. Thug Passion: Tupac. Shot of a Patron, beer back: Very Be Careful. And hell no I'm not getting mom on you -- that's the vallenato five-piece from Los Angeles that's ready to party with you next week at The Rickshaw Stop (Thurs/15). VBC, formed by brothers Ricardo (accordian) and Arturo (bass) Guzman, sticks pretty close to the sounds that originated in their hard-partying parents' homeland in the sun-soaked Colombian Caribbean coast. Read more »

Snap Sounds: Wavves

07.08.10 - 1:29 pm | Ryan Lattanzio |
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WAVVES
King of the Beach
(Fat Possum)

With King of the Beach, Nathan Williams, Billy Hayes, and Stephen Pope have finally stopped adding “v”s to their name. After Wavves (2008) and Wavvves (2009) of unpolished lo-fi, these San Diego-based upstarts have elevated to a dreamier, more whimsical sound (re: “When Will You Come”). Yet Wavves also hearkens back to Blink-182, Sum 41, and the bygone days of summer in the '90s. The new album's delightful pastiche is thanks, in part, to Dennis Herring, who's produced the likes of Counting Crows, Elvis Costello, Modest Mouse, and the Hives. Goodbye dissonant noise; hello pop punk! Read more »