GREATEST PIPES OF ALL?

REST IN PEACE RONNIE JAMES DIO. His was the last death I was expecting to hear about after getting off work yesterday. 67? Really? STOMACH CANCER? How dare you! It's all so unfair. Everyone always hated on Dio but I stuck up for him through it all. He just has one of the greatest set of rock pipes ever. They made metal sound exactly as epic as it should have---and what a performer!! I saw him two years ago on the Metal Masters Tour with Priest, Motorhead and Testament as part of Heaven and Hell. That little man had thousands of metalheads at their knees, an ocean of devil's horns rising in the night. Not only that, but he seemed like a humble, realistic guy, and smart as whip at that. I mean truly, from the bottom of my heart, R.I.P., Dio. You will be missed.

Shamelessly Yours

I interviewed the aloof and alluring Ernest Greene, the man behind Washed Out (a musical entity that needs no introduction) for the SF Chronicle. It turned out pretty good.

Dance Parties On the Major Down-Low

Today I was randomly perusing music websites while at my internship, as is my job, and I came upon (a little late, as what seems to be the usual case with bands I end up being really obsessed with) a Brooklyn duo called Tanlines, who are signed to True Panther Sounds, the savvy purveyors of other bands like Girls, Lemonade and the Morning Benders.

They're a pair of production geeks who have fronted other bands like Professor Murder and Don Caballero, but I don't really care about those at the moment. What grabbed me was their tune "Real Life", off their upcoming Settings EP--it's a full on afro dance jam cloaked in hazy, tropical glittering licks of sound. It was hard to listen to trapped in an office chair because it's not made to sit still to. It was like I was having a legs-only dance party under my desk. What's more, is that it's as beautiful as it is fun. The rest of their tracks cultivate the same sunny euphoria, but this is the one that's caught my ears, because it seems to have a touch of bittersweet underneath the layers of funky beats. The lyrics lament the feeling of being of momentarily lost--something I can definitely relate to at this moment. I only wish Tanlines was hitting up a San Francisco venue in the near future.


Tanlines Myspace.
Tanlines Q&A.
"Real Life" mp3.

Best Coast Blows Up

2010 is the year for West Coast darlings Best Coast. Bethany Cosentino and her BFF Bobb Bruno tirelessly churned out single after single, 7-inch after 7-inch for most of 2009 (the band was started in April!) to capture their mutual obsession with both the LA sunshine and the glittering pop of the 1960s. Their first proper album will drop either this summer or this fall, depending on how fast she finds a good label (which will probaby happen as soon as she bats her eyelashes at them). For a hefty scoop on this rapidly rising band, peep this piece that came out in the SF Bay Guardian today. And for some laughs and insight into the quirked-out mind of Bethany, visit her blog.

When I'm With You
Sun Was High (So Was I)

Schnoise Bop

So, the Noise Pop 2010 lineup looks pretty great: Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band with Deerhoof (brilliant booking coup and pairing), harlem with cool SF band Young Prisms, interesting new project by Sean Lennon called Ghost of a Sabertooth Tiger, the Fresh & Onlys, Nurses, Atlas Sound(!!), the resurgence of Four Tet, and Memory Tapes, which has only played a handful of times in its lifespan.

I bought tickets to Memory Tapes on a whim but I really wish I could go to all of the shows on the above list. I would kill to see Atlas Sound; Brendan Cox's voice mesmerizes me (how does something sexy come out of that shriveled body?) and his brooding, experimental pop sound holds tons of intrigue. And I would probably give a toe or finger to see Nurses and harlem. There was a time when I was way, way into Four Tet and even though I think I've mostly moved on, I could totally jam to that band live. It'd be cool to say I went, at least. And Yoko Ono--what a legend! Because her son Sean will be performing the same festival (mom, dad, why didn't we all become musicians like they did?), you know they will ultimately join each other on stage. Too much to handle? Maybe.

Top Most-Wanted Vinyls Right Now:

Cold Cave's Love Comes Close (Heartworm)

I was really, really late getting on the Cold Cave bandwagon. I was sent the album in an email from a PR company months ago but ignored it for the most part. That's how stupid I am, and believe me, admitting that sort of makes my stomach hurt. Funny though, I kept it around because I had heard a couple of my friends mention it in passing--and I'm ultra glad I did. Finally about a month ago I added the album to my iTunes and have been almost obsessively listening to it since. Its dark-wave pop has kept me from going under during all these Bay Area storms we've been pummeled with lately. It's like if Joy Division had never died but had instead gone on and done an industrial-influenced collabo with New Order a little later in their careers. My favorite song is "Heaven Was Full"--it makes me feel evil and I only wish I could sing as low as Wesley Eisold can. And it's not toooo coldly synthed out; it's got just enough warmth and sun-breaking-through-the-clouds sentiment to be absolutely perfect for my turntables. And I will probably insist we listen to the entire album front to back at our upcoming housewarming party.




Paul Simon's Graceland (Warner Bros.)

What with all the hype and adoration laid upon Vampire Weekend, or "Vampy Weekend" as they're called on Hipster Runoff, and the band's new album Contra (it made it to number 1 on the charts!!), it's hard for the mind to not immediately default to Paul Simon's legendary Graceland album. They sound exactly alike and it's kind of unnerving. Everybody's saying how groundbreaking V. Weekend is, but Paul Simon got there first, man. Plus, my parents listened to this album for much of my childhood, as it was released the same year I was born, 1986. I have many a memory of sitting in my living room as a wee child with this album blasting in the kitchen. All its funny African hoots and hollers and drum rhythms can certainly get stuck in the head, and I really want to revisit that. I'll close my bedroom door and blast the thing so my roommates don't think I've gone all adult-contempo-casual on them.



Girls' "Morning Light" 7-inch (Matador)

This is possibly my favorite song on Girls' debut, which dropped in September 2009, besides "Hellhole Ratrace", and I have given up the ghost about getting that one (it was actually released as a limited 10-inch) because it's going for like $50 or more on eBay. "Morning Light" is a total shoegaze assault about young love even I wish I had. I don't know what the B-side will be, but it doesn't matter (correction, it will be a cover of Skeeter Davis's country-pop thing "The End of the World"). Girls can do no wrong. This 7-inch drops in the UK on February 22, 2010, but I bet Amoeba Music will have it to satiate Girls' rabid legion of San Francisco fans.



Beach House's Teen Dream (Sub Pop)

I've never been in the Beach House fan base. Ever since their 2006 debut, I've for some reason been repulsed by every description I ever heard of their music, which usually included "dreamy", "slow", "glacial", or "love ballads". I always thought "BORING" because I was in some hardened punk or metal phase at the time. But I've matured since then, and happened upon a link streaming their newest album which dropped today in fact, via NPR.org. As soon as it started, my eyes glazed over and I fell into a trance. It's beautiful, song after song, it just doesn't stop. The calliope organ, cheap drum machine beats and Victoria Legrand's deep, sultry voice stole my heart away. It's all so Fleetwood Mac-in-a-cold-forest-wrapped-in-a-warm-blanket. The words of the songs all sound so lovely, but when you really listen, it's actually very lonely. "Walk in the Park" sounds like a lovers' day out, but it's really about walking alone to get the memories of an ex-significant other out of your mind. It's really too gorgeous an album to describe here, so get your hands on a copy. I'm going to when the band plays at San Francisco's Bimbo's 365 on April 14. Count me as a bonafide fan, officially.




Kevin Ayers/John Cale/Brian Eno/Nico's June 1, 1974 (Island Records)

Better known as the "ACNE" album, this is a live LP recorded by four legends at the Rainbow Theatre in London on the titular date. I don't know a lot about it besides the track listing (which includes renditions of "Blue Suede Shoes", "Baby's On Fire", "Heartbreak Hotel" and "The End"), but it seems freaking out of this world. First of all, I can't believe the four of them even got together in the same room, let alone open their mouths in unison. Volcanoes all around the world must have erupted when it went down. Check out the intense eye contact between Kevin Ayers and John Cale: it is said that they are sharing this moment because Cale had caught Ayers sleeping with his wife the night before the show. OMG! Anyway, at one time, this album was in abundance on eBay but now every copy is $20 or higher. Depressing. Good thing Xmas came around and Santa gave me eBay gift cards.




Surfer Blood's Astro Coast (Kanine)

This LP just dropped but there are no copies on eBay right now, and I hate myself for missing their show at Rickshaw Stop a few months ago. I was just feeling lazy that night and not really thinking straight, obviously. From what I've heard from this band, their hooks are HUGE, thanks to group vocals and songs laden with glorious power chords. Who doesn't love a good power chord? Who doesn't love a good dose of frantic fist-pumping? Their earnesty is enough to keep me going this winter, when there are definitely weeks I don't think I'll make it to the end of. And their melodies, besides the obvious winner "Swim" keep the entire album going strong. I've convinced myself they're never coming back to play in SF, so I'll just have to console myself with an overpriced copy of their vinyl. Or maybe I'll lose all sense of pride and plunk down some cash for the CD version. . . .