Local musician opens Cat Town Cafe in Oakland
Cat Town Cafe's Ann Dunn and Adam Myatt. Photo source: Inside Scoop and Facebook There are three bands that have been featured on the Bay Bridged on more than one occasion: James & Evander, Pale Blue Dot, and shortcircles. What do all three of these bands have in common? Local musician and recording engineer Adam Myatt is involved (in one way or another) with all three. And when he's not making or recording music, Myatt's other hobby is cats: He takes photos of cats (see Cat Man of West Oakland and Hoodcats), and his current project (along with fellow cat [...]
Best of 2013: Draut on the Most Overlooked Bay Area Releases
While you've undoubtedly heard (or at the very least, heard of) this year's long list of lauded LP releases from local headliners such as Deafheaven, Mikal Cronin, Thee Oh Sees, Shannon and the Clams, Ty Segall/Fuzz, and the like, there are dozens more digital, vinyl, and cassette releases that may have slipped under your radar. You probably also caught wind of our extensive local coverage of 2013 debuts and breakthroughs from acts like Dan Casey, Glenn Jackson, Wild Moth, Cool Ghouls, Antwon, and Tony Molina, but there are even more treasures to be found by digging deeper into the musical [...]
Shortcircles – "Patience" / "On My Mind"
Shortcircles - "Patience" As we'd written previously, Oakland electronic pop artist Shortcircles just released his first LP, Between Waves, on Plug Research. You can download a song from that record above. Below, check out a video for "On My Mind," where the lush, dreamy song accompanies clips of life in Oakland.
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 [...]
Shortcircles announces debut LP and releases first single
After two EPs in 2012 and plenty of blog buzz surrounding Shortcircles’ web releases, the Bay Area bummer pop artist is ready to drop his debut LP, Between Waves, on July 2nd via Plug Research. The record is a well-deserved check point for Shortcircles' name holder Matthew Tammariello. Let’s just say that dream pop is still a relatively unexplored genre, which means: A) it's not yet been totally exploited by the mainstream, and B) there are plenty of underdeveloped dream pop acts leaking through the genre floodgates. Tammariello is not one of them. He’s allowed Shortcircles to evolve to a [...]
Mixtape: Bay Area Artists, Remixing and Remixed (Podcast #304)
Mixtape: Bay Area Artists, Remixing and Remixed (Podcast #304) All too frequently, remixes are just okay, but when they are great, they're really something special. A truly great remix can shed new light on the original artist's work and stand on its own as a unique creation. That's no easy feat, either, given the tension between staying true to an original song's components and a reworker's desire to create something new and personal. These days, it feels far too easy to get remix fatigue. Reworkings seem to pop up almost immediately after original songs are released, and they can come [...]
Seatraffic & Silver Hands co-headlining Professional Fans showcase @ DNA Lounge, 4/18/13
Professional Fans, a San Francisco-based "group of music lovers eager to serve as a vessel for new and exciting music," will be presenting its second official showcase on Thursday, April 18 at DNA Lounge. The event will feature a handful of the Bay Area's most promising new synth artists, with Seatraffic and Silver Hands co-headlining the show with support from Shortcircles, Running in the Fog, and Pro Fan DJs. San Francisco drum-and-synth duo Seatraffic recently released the track "Tempo of Regret" (above), the latest in a series of new singles. As previously reported, drummer/producer Andrew Marcogliese remixed the duo's "Superficial [...]
Seatraffic gets remixed by YR SKULL, making SXSW debut
San Francisco synth-pop duo Seatraffic just released a dreamy new single called "Superficial Heart", and fellow City resident YR SKULL (aka Push The Feeling resident DJ Andrew Marcogliese) is offering up a remix of the track, which debuted on The Fader last week. Drew's remix puts a tropical spin on the track, adding snare and steel drums to the front of the mix. Both the original and remix are available below for streaming and free download via Seatraffic's Bandcamp. Superficial Heart by Seatraffic Mark Zannad (vocals/synth) and Brandon Harrison (drums/vocals) began collaborating as Seatraffic in 2010. This year, the duo [...]
March’s Best: Our favorite Bay Area songs from the blog last month
Here's our latest month-in-review mix collecting some our favorite new (or new to us) songs recently posted on the website. So much good stuff came our way in March that we've actually got a two-part mix of blog songs this time. As always, we've included links below to download each of these songs individually. Mixtape: Best of the Blog March 2012 (Part 1) Mixtape: Best of the Blog March 2012 (Part 2) Tracklisting: Mix 1 1. Grass Widow - "Goldilocks Zone" 2. Ty Segall & White Fence - "I Am Not A Game" 3. Twin Steps - "Pinkie Promise" 4. [...]
James & Evander, Shortcircles drop new collabo, Hoodcats
James & Evander have teamed up with Shortcircles to form the new group Hoodcats, and they've just dropped a new EP through Mapzzz. The EP's three songs have all of the shimmering electronics and skittering beats you've come to expect from the East Bay's future pop auteurs, plus a chopped and screwed sample of "Return Of The Mack" thrown in for good measure. Don't even act like that's not intriguing. Stream the whole thing below, or download for free from Bandcamp. Mapzzz EP17 - Hoodcats by Hoodcats