Interview: Eight Belles, featuring crooning songstress Jessi Phillips
Bay Area-based Americana group Eight Belles celebrated the release of their first record, Girls Underground with a live show at the Cafe Du Nord back in June. This is the first official record for the group, brainchild of crooning songstress Jessi Phillips. Phillips was raised on a farm in Michigan, left to move to New York and landed in Oakland, and you can hear pieces of each city in her music. The record will appeal to listeners who appreciate strong vocals and gritty Americana, as well as heart wrenching lyrics coupled with catchy tunes. To sum it up - it's [...]
Shigeto & Exray's – "Yellow Light" (Remix)
San Francisco based indie electro group Exray's released a new album courtesy of Howell’s Transmitter last month and are already hitting the remix circuit. Trust a Robot is heavy in electronic pop beats that are both gritty and up-beat. Its title is an ode to its futuristic narrative, and its music tells a story like a beautiful dystopian science fiction novel. Each track offers a new experimentation or exciting foray into a defining sound or lyric. A few twists surprise the listener from time to time, but always in a welcoming and fitting way. It's an adventurous and ear-pleasing record. [...]
Phono del Sol Preview: La Sera, a different side of Vivian Girls’ Katy Goodman
Does girly rock get you going? Do your eyes light up at the sound of crooner Alexis Krauss on Sleigh Bells' "Infinity Guitars," or the smooth sadness of Bethany Cosentino on Best Coast's "Boyfriend"? Maybe you've only dabbled in the genre, and just heard that one great Vivian Girls song that all your friends listened to, or that was on that one mixtape your college roommate made you after you moved out. You're not quite sure if you're an expert on it, but you know you like it. Hard core girl jams make you happy, and you want to know [...]
Video: Tumbleweed Wanderers – "Roll with the Times"
Are you a history buff? Do you love all things San Francisco? Do you wish you were alive and or in your prime during the summer of 1969? Then it will be difficult for you not to love the music video from San Francisco indie group Tumbleweed Wanderers. A perfect match for the song's title "Roll with the Times," the video takes you through decade after decade in San Francisco as band members adapt to their changing surroundings. Roller rinks, Vietnam battalions, hippies in Golden Gate Park and gum shoes from the 1920s all play a part. The story line [...]
Raleigh Moncrief – "Beyond The Neon Lights"
Electro super producer Raleigh Moncrief is in the studio again and on the verge of releasing a new EP on Anticon Records. In the meantime, the producer, who's worked with big name Dirty Projectors, released a track featuring one of their ex members. "Beyond the Neon Lights" (see below), features singer Zac Nelson and former Dirty Projectors' contributor Angel Deradoorian. You'll find this track somewhere between chillwave and intense electronica. Soothing yet fast paced, it's hard to turn you ear away from its entrancing beats and stimulating vocals. I'm not sure if San Francisco can stake its claim on this [...]
Rin Tin Tiger Album Release: 7/26/12 at GAMH
Bay Area local favorite alternative folk group Rin Tin Tiger is back at it with a new album recorded in our fair city's own Tiny Telephone studios. We picked up an advance copy of Toxic Pocketbook courtesy of band member Sean Sullivan a few weeks ago and we gotta say, we're impressed. Sean told us via email that they used no drum or vocal editing and went completely back to basics to put the thing together, and it shows in the music. Genuine, unadulterated folk alternative. It's the kind of album you might get a craving for at the end [...]
Midi Matilda releases video for new single featuring touchscreen guitar, moving flatbed truck
When we sat down with Midi Matildaa few weeks ago to talk about their music they teased an upcoming video shoot they were headed to Vacaville to film the next day. Instrumentalist/percussionist Logan Grime boasted about an open flatbed truck they'd be playing live music on while driving in motion through the back fields of Vacaville. I remember myself saying "That can't be safe". But fearless Midi Matilda was unphased by my concern. While I'm not a proponet of any band risking their lives or safety for the sake of their music, I have to say the video did turn [...]
tUnE-yArDs bassist debuts side project, covers Janet Jackson
Breakout Bay Area natives tUnE-yArDs have seen huge successes in the last year. Playing sold out festivals and to packed audiences at the Fox, their unique sound and music certainly draws a crowd. But their bass player, Nate Brenner (who also plays in Beep! and is known for his 'genre bending' style) recently peeled off on his own to debut a wild electro solo project Naytronix. Naytronix sounds a little like tUnE-yArDs dipped in The Police, James Blake, Charles Mingus, Stomp, and some electro band from the future we haven't heard yet but we know to be provocative. Weird, creative, [...]
Worthy of a Road Trip: FYF FEST 2012
We're blessed in the San Francisco Bay Area with a relative proximity to a number of the nation's best music festivals (Coachella, Outside Lands, andTreasure Island to name a few). Now historic downtown Los Angeles's latest incarnation is making a name for itself on that list too. Last week the FYF FEST lineup was officially announced, and we here at the Bay Bridged are convinced that the festival is definitely road trip worthy. These bands are nothing short of amazing, featuring seldom seen indie acts like Tiger & Woods, Papa, and Interpol's Paul banks as well as big name headliners [...]
Interview: Beat Connection talks tour, life as a quartet and their latest EP
Much to the delight of indie electro fans everywhere, Seattle's Beat Connection is taking some time off from classes this summer to tour the country. They kicked off their nationwide dates at San Francisco's POPSCENE last Thursday. It's hard to believe that some of these guys are still in college because their sound is incredibly complex. An impressively advanced version of what we think electro/chill wave might look like when it’s all grown up. After officially adding a vocalist (Tom Eddy) and drummer (Jarred Katz) the boys of Beat Connection recently compleyed a brand new EP Palace Garden, (due out [...]