What’s Happening This Week? A Guide To Shows Around The Bay, April 3 – 6
Chairlift play their final San Francisco show this week. Monday, April 3 Wire @ Slim's The legendary on-again, off-again punks stop by Slim's. Madeline Kenney @ The Octopus Literary Salon One of our favorite songwriters in recent memory — and new label owner — will appear in Oakland. Tuesday, April 4 Courtney Marie Andrews, M. Lockwood Porter, Field Medic @ Rickshaw Stop Folksy, introspective, witty songs by single singer-songwriters will make for an unusually intimate evening. Jackie Gage, Lilan Kane @ Yoshi's San Jose native Gage makes smooth, sultry jazz with a modern twist. If vocals are your thing, you'll [...]
Phono del Sol headliners Chairlift will definitely make you move
Chairlift (photo: Tim Barber) All the people who describe the music of Chairlift as operatic — which is not a bad descriptor for the two-piece Brooklyn synth-pop group — probably didn’t realize just how close they were to hitting the truth. That’s because Caroline Polachek, whose elastic vocal range gives the band a unique emotional bandwidth, prepped for Chairlift’s latest tour by undergoing an unusual training regimen: She took opera lessons. “I realized I was at risk of permanently damaging my vocals by singing these songs every night,” said Polachek, who makes up Chairlift alongside fellow multi-instrumentalist Patrick Wimberly. “I [...]
Chairlift sit down for Pitchfork’s ‘Over/Under’
Believe it or not, we do listen to non-local artists from time to time. Chairlift is one of our "other" faves — so much so that they're headlining Phono del Sol this year. Yesterday, Pitchfork debuted a new installment of their "Over/Under" series, where musicians and entertainers rapid-fire answer whether a given item deserves more or less respect than it already has. Chairlift's entry, covering The Little Mermaid, James Taylor, and, uh, screaming, is hilarious and charming. I'm kind of surprised they had so much trouble remembering the name of "Part of Your World," but maybe most kids didn't spend [...]
Chairlift approach the fire with ‘Moth’
Brooklyn synthpop-cum-R&B duo Chairlift are barreling full steam ahead, firing on all cylinders. In the last three years, Caroline Polachek (vocals, synths, drum machines, arrangements) and Patrick Wimberly (drums, bass, keyboard, guitar, backing vocals) have simultaneously collaborated with several other musicians — most notably Beyoncé — worked on a solo record and written and recorded their third album, Moth, released in January. Perhaps it’s no surprise Moth features a Greek-mythology-inspired running song. This week, Chairlift played three shows in three days at Austin’s South by Southwest music festival. Today is their travel and rest day, followed by three more shows [...]