Monster Rally, Steezy Ray Vibes play ProFans showcase at Brick & Mortar

This Sunday, June 23, our friends at Professional Fans will bring their fifth and, in my opinion, finest showcase (so far) to Brick & Mortar Music Hall. LA-via-Columbus sample champion Monster Rally will headline the evening in what will be his San Francisco debut, which will also feature the live debut of Dan Casey’s acoustic solo project formerly known as Steezy Ray Vibes, plus sets from local acts Shortcircles and duckyousucker.

Berkeley-via-Jersey musician Dan Casey has already carved out a name for himself with his experimental electronic pop beats as Yalls, and is now taking a more acoustic approach to songwriting with his latest side project. He answered a few of my questions about the project a year ago, shortly after the birth of Steezy Ray Vibes (not to be confused with his former alter ego Daniel Sex Jr.). Although Casey plans to transition out of the “Steezy” moniker and release an album under his given name, the vibes still remain. The upcoming album was mastered by Matt Tammariello (the Oakland sound engineer behind Shortcircles).

Casey, who will be joined by two fellow musicians for his live set, says his own performance will be more “minimal and quiet” than we have come to expect from Yalls (which I suppose coincidentally falls in tune with the alleged noise complaints stemming from Brick & Mortar’s neighboring community in recent weeks). If you talk during his set, prepare to be glared at. This Steezy Ray Vibes performance is so rare that it might even be the only opportunity to ever hear his new material live:

https://twitter.com/yallsmusic/status/347027206221987840

It seems like a Dan Casey/Monster Rally bill has been a long time coming, as the two artists crossed paths at Oakland’s Gold Robot Records and remixed each other’s tracks. I caught a glimpse of Monster Rally at Gold Robot’s SXSW showcase earlier this year, and while the sunny outdoor set lacked a strong visual element, his sounds paint a picture more vivid than any flashy stage visuals could ever produce. Ted Feighan, the man behind the project, is a genuine sample wizard and audio-visual collage artist with an ear for dreamy exotica. Carving out glistening, sun-blistered beatscapes through chipping away at various loops and samples plucked from the coastal rhythms of remote tribes and ancient jungles (via vintage records) and programmed into his Roland SP-404, Monster Rally draws his listeners into a place where they wish to remain. His talents were recognized in Columbus Alive’s Bands to Watch 2012.

Oakland’s Shortcircles is building up to the release of his debut LP on July 2nd. Tammariello recently premiered his excellent new single “All I Can Be For You” on The Fader, featuring vocals from his like-minded housemate and frequent collaborator Glenn Jackson.

San Francisco-based band duckyousucker will open the show with a set of “electro-jazz-spaghetti western grooves.” RSVP to the showcase on Facebook. Advance tickets are available through WillCall and Ticketfly.