Sondre Lerche releases live album and reissues in the fall, playing the Independent 9/20/12
Sondre Lerche, Norwegian pop maestro, puts on a hell of a live show. So much so that he has long avoided putting out live recordings, fearing that any recorded capture would do "injustice to the chaotic intensity of simply being there." Kinda hard to argue with. But, Lerche has managed to look past these trepidations -- on September 4, he is releasing Bootlegs, a 10-track collection of live songs recorded at the Hulen in Bergen, Norway, and at a variety of Brooklyn clubs during his previous tours. The tracks were recorded solely using the soundboard and the venue's space, in [...]
Help put on the 4th annual Mission Creek Oakland Festival, or submit your band to play
The Mission Creek Oakland Festival, the 4-year-old extension of San Francisco's Mission Creek Festival, needs your help! They've started a Kickstarter campaign to raise some cash money for the festival's expenses, and have until July 15 to reach their $1500 goal (they're at $232, currently). Perks for donating range from a shout-out on their Facebook page and even a high five at the fest (for a $1 contribution) to lifetime festival passes, dinner with MCO founders, extra special thank you in the festival guide, on all media platforms, and at opening and closing ceremonies (for a $1000 donation). Check out [...]
Girls loses frontman Christopher Owens
San Francisco band Girls had a big hit on their hands with their album Father, Son, Holy Ghost, released this past September, following 2010's Broken Dreams EP and 2009's Album. So, it came as something as a surprise when frontman Christopher Owens announced he was leaving the band via Twitter on July 2, 2012. The three tweets read: 1) Dear all, This may come as a surprise to many and has been an issue of much thought for me. My decision was not easy to make 2) I am leaving Girls. My reasons at this time are personal. I need [...]
Thee Oh Sees – "Lupine Dominus"
Thee Oh Sees - Lupine Dominus Just two weeks ago, we announced that San Francisco psych-rock stalwarts Thee Oh Sees were coming out with a new album. Now, they've let drop the first single from the album, "Lupine Dominus." The caterwauling jam is driven by a searing rumble of a bass line, carried onwards thanks to ethereal vocals from keybordist/singer Brigid Dawson. Putrifiers II comes out September 11, and you can catch the band at the Woodsist Festival at the Henry Miller Memorial Library in Big Sur on August 5, and at Outside Lands from August 10-12.
Treasure Island Music Festival is first scheduled show for new supergroup Divine Fits
You've maybe been living under a figurative rock if you've managed to miss the interweb-splosion surrounding Divine Fits, the supergroup of sorts made up of Spoon's Britt Daniel, Dan Boekner of Handsome Furs and Wolf Parade, and Sam Brown of New Bomb Turks (or, an early aughts musical wet dream if we're being honest, here). Their inclusion on the just-announced, crazy-good Treasure Island Music Festival lineup was definitely a big up, but here's an even bigger one: Treasure Island is Divine Fits' first and (currently) only scheduled date following the release of their debut album. Fuck yeah, San Francisco for [...]
Henry Miller Memorial Library announces summer concert series (including Flaming Lips show!), holding benefit at the Warfield
Seeing a show at the Henry Miller Memorial Library in Big Sur is a special experience. Seriously. You're surrounded by towering redwoods, and the smell of pine and ocean is everywhere. Music just sounds better out there -- notes seem to vibrate a second longer in the crisp, clean air, and carry higher borne on up the grand tree trunks. The Library was founded as a nonprofit bookstore and arts center in memoriam of Henry Miller, a prolific writer and artist with major influences on the Lost and Beat Generation writers. Miller hailed from Brooklyn, spent time in Paris, and [...]
A B & The Sea's debut album 'Constant Vacation' streaming now, plus an interview with Different Fur studio owner Patrick Brown
Sunshine surf-poppers A B & The Sea recently released their debut full-length album, Constant Vacation. The 10-track collection, which includes "Bone Dry," "California Feeling," and the title track "Constant Vacation," is an ode to a retro, clap-happy California beach sound exemplified in previously released songs like "Yellow-Haired Girl." We chatted with Patrick Brown, the album engineer and owner of Different Fur Studios in the Mission (where Constant Vacation was recorded), about the labor-of-love release. TBB: How long have you worked with AB & The Sea? PB: I've worked with the band since they moved to San Francisco around 2008 to [...]
In A Cloud II – New Music from Vetiver, Ty Segall, Sonny & The Sunsets, Papercuts, and More
San Francisco-based vinyl label Secret Seven Records will be releasing a homerun of a compilation on July 17, 2012. Called In A Cloud II: New Sounds From San Francisco (a follow-up to the aptly named In A Cloud, Vol. I), the album features unreleased tracks from local superstars including Vetiver, Ty Segall, Sonny & The Sunsets, solo work from Wymond Miles and Tim Cohen of The Fresh & Onlys, Chuck Prophet, Hannah Lew of Grass Widow, Papercuts, and MORE. The album is available for pre-order here -- that gorgeous cover art is reason enough to get your hands on some [...]
Video: POP ETC – "Keep It For Your Own" (Yours Truly session); stream the band's new LP
I first fell in love with POP ETC, then known as The Morning Benders, when I saw the Yours Truly session for their single "Excuses," off their 2010 album Big Echo. In addition to being one of the more stunning live recordings I've ever seen, or heard, the combination of incredible video production with seeming musical spontaneity still makes it a pretty joyful video to watch. A lot has changed since then. The Morning Benders moved to Brooklyn and changed their name to POP ETC, inspiring a litany of reactions ranging from uninterested to disdainful, and evolved their sound away [...]
New from Ty Segall Band – "I Bought My Eyes"
Ty Segall Band - "I Bought My Eyes" Crank up yr. stereos, kids -- Ty Segall's back. Following up Hair, his collaboration with White Fence, the Ty Segall Band is getting ready to release Slaughterhouse on June 26. "I Bought My Eyes" is a fast-paced guitar riot, with blaring twin riffs and a crashing percussive backbone. Slaughterhouse will be first album Segall has recorded with his touring band -- Mikal Cronin, Charlie Moothart, and Emily Rose Epstein. The addition is a welcome one -- Segall's solo work has always been exceptional, but this group recording channels some of the raw, [...]