Tracking the story of Andrew Oswald and Secret Bathroom
Andrew Oswald at Santo Recording (all photos: Jon Bauer) At the moment, Andrew Oswald operates out of a cozy room at Santo Recording Studio, located in West Oakland. The graffiti-covered building is unassuming from the outside, but at the first step within, a familiar warmth emanates from the modest vintage decor. An array of older model microphones line the top of a piano and a collection of dated guitars cover the back wall of the live room. Upstairs sit Oswald's new digs, a smaller space that was being used for storage before he made it his own last year. A [...]
Check out ‘Leisure,’ the debut LP from Oakland’s Marbled Eye
Since 2016, Oakland's Marbled Eye has been crafting tightly wound post-punk over a couple of EPs, and the band just released its first full length, Leisure, on Digital Regress. The band's sound includes a relentless two-guitar attack and a driving rhythm section that add up to some remarkably strong songs. You can stream the entire LP in full below. Leisure LP by Marbled Eye Check out all of the dates on the band's upcoming Leisure Tour 2018, which is bookended by a show at the Octopus Literary Salon and a set at the Rickshaw Stop opening for Exploded View and [...]
Sheer Mag, Tenement, Marbled Eye bring a unique take on punk to the Chapel
Philadelphia’s Sheer Mag has been grinding out classic rock and punk-tinged tracks since the 2014 unleashing of their debut 7-inch. An EP a followed a year later, earning them a number of devotees, until the recent release of their full debut album, Need To Feel Your Love. For its release, Sheer Mag has held fast to an independent mindset that’s seen them shun labels as significant as Rough Trade and Merge in favor of a self-release on their own imprint, Wilsuns RC. The writing team of rhythm guitarist/lyricist Matt Palmer and lead singer Tina Halladay has proven to be a [...]
Mixtape: Fourteen San Francisco Bay Area Artists to Watch in 2017
http://media.libsyn.com/media/thebaybridged/Artists_to_Watch_2017.mp3 Download: Mixtape: Fourteen San Francisco Bay Area Artists to Watch in 2017 (Podcast #400) This episode first aired on KQED.org. Our first mixtape of 2017 is our annual survey of some of the best new and emerging San Francisco Bay Area performers to watch over the coming year. The fourteen up-and-coming local acts showcased in this mix come from a wide variety of genres, and whether it's the experimental hip hop of Siri, Marbled Eye's urgent post-punk, or the heavy psych of Feral Ohms, to highlight just a few, there's a wealth of talent on display here. As in [...]
Oakland’s Marbled Eye debut concise and effective post-punk
(EP cover. design: Michael Lucero) Marbled Eye's debut comes at a time when uninformed critics have used Silicon Valley's Bay migration and the subsequent displacement of local artists to question the state of the area's music scene. Although initially conceived by Chris Natividad and Michael Lucero, Marbled Eye's members also perform with Meat Market, Unity, Useless Eaters, Golden Drugs, and Creepers. The groups self-titled EP serves as another reminder that the Bay's scene is far from uninspired. The songs are concise, well written, and consistent. There's the immediacy of opener "Coated," the cutting, pensive leads on "Primrose," and perhaps the EP's most memorable track, closer [...]