Craig Wedren is the former front man of the band Shudder to Think and he's rolling through San Francisco on March 7th for the opening night of My '90s. The event is part photo exhibit, part book release and part performance, all taking place at The Loin at 914 Larkin St. It should be an interesting even considering he's been all over the place touring with bands like Fugazi, Smashing Pumpkins, Pearl Jam and has scored movies like the cult classic Wet Hot American Summer and Laurel Canyon. Check it out! We'll be doing a review piece too.
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Anderson .Paak has his hands in all sorts of pockets in the music industry. I recently found out he is half of the group NxWorries! I wasn't even aware it was a duo with Knxledge considering I know him as a separate artist. Paak has a unique voice to me. It's hard to describe to be honest. There are a couple comparisons I could make, but they just wouldn't do it justice. Everyone really has a different sound unless they're auto-tuned - which Paak definitely is not. Just another thing to appreciate. He's from California and he will be coming to his home state to perform in San Francisco at The Masonic on February 11th! It's a few days before Valentines, but I'm sure you could use tickets to that show as a gift for your S.O.!
Since 2015 Gang of Youths has released two albums and an EP. The second album won several awards at the ARIAs and this Australian band started touring in honor of that album - Go Farther in Lightness. The indie/alt rock band is made up of five members with David Le'Aupepe being the lead singer and song writer. Their musical sound is generally pretty up beat, but the lyrics Le'Aupepe often writes are his own experiences and they're not all easy to smile about. However, this latest album they're touring for is much more positive than their debut so I'm excited to see them perform in San Francisco at Bottom of the Hill on May 22nd. There's bound to be a lot more movement rather than steady swaying to the slow sounds of their first album. Check out Gang of Youths' award winning album Go Farther in Lightness and come out for a great time to see them perform!
I wasn't sure what to expect when I first searched for Japanese Breakfast, but I was pretty quick to find Michelle Zauner's solo project rather than a picture of what I later found to be Miso soup, white rice and Natto as an actual Japanese breakfast meal. Although there's nothing about breakfast in Zauner's lyrics her songs are still appetizing. They range from everything about family ties to mourning death to overcoming relationship troubles. The thing about her music is that she provides a very full sound from her voice and it pulls you to stay and listen to what she's singing about. I never want to skip tracks of hers because I'm always curious to hear what she says next because her lyrics are quite relatable too. I've also been quite curious to know if her vocals are as beautifully produced live as they are in the studio. Luckily for everyone Japanese Breakfast will be having a show at The Fox Theater in Oakland on June 25th. If you haven't already heard her most recent album Soft Sounds From Another Planet then take a listen before the show, it won't take long and it'll certainly be worth the time!
There's too much to say about Johnny Marr. So much that he has a 268 page autobiography, even more so considering he's regarded a "Godlike Genius" by renowned magazine NME. He's been making music since the age of sixteen and was the founder of the irreplaceable band The Smiths. He has been part of many musical acts since then including Modest Mouse and The Pretenders as well as working with Paul McCartney of the Beatles. In 2013 he released the solo album The Messenger and followed that a year later with Playland. Both received good reviews and although it's been a while he's come back to grace us with another album and a tour to go with it. Call the Comet will be released on June 15th, 2018 and Marr will be touring throughout Europe and the United States. The bay area is lucky to have him visit since San Francisco is one of only three locations in the U.S. he has decided to perform, the other two being New York and Los Angeles. He'll be at August Hall on June 2nd in San Francisco.
"On the stage my little dark age," are the words of Andrew VanWyngarden on the new MGMT album single "Little Dark Age" which also happens to be the title of the album itself, and on the stage is where they'll be performing it on May 15th at Warfield Theatre. For those who haven't heard the February release, but love to revisit their classics like "Electric Feel" and "Kids" you'll be pleased to hear it since the band really returns to their synth pop groove unlike their previous two albums. My favorite track has to be "Me and Michael" for its smooth spacey and ambient keys while the song talks about the relationship between two solid friends. I can't help but think about one of my closest friends who happens to be named Michael - although it's a common name so I suppose as far as choices in proper nouns go, it's not such a coincidence that I have a good friend by that name. Regardless of all the Michaels I do and do not know, I'm excited to see MGMT perform these tracks at the Warfield!
When I have deep thoughts going through my head it can be hard to decide what I feel like listening to while processing them. Sometimes you have to dig deep to find what musically speaks to you most. I've been listening to RF Shannon's new album Trickster Blues, and I know that the next time I have something weighing me down I'll have something to turn on. The title of the album is very appropriate...when you finish the album and consider its title you really feel like it's fitting. It's only something that you could experience, so me explaining it would be pointless. The most I can say is to listen for yourselves and describe it. I hear it very personally and feel that everyone will vastly interpret it differently. RF Shannon will be playing at Amnesia in San Francisco on May 25th, so when you've heard the sounds of what can be anything from a bad-ass cowboy western soundtrack to a slow burning candle ready to die as soon as the last note to "Silver Woman" fades away.
You might know Sofi Tukker's track "Best Friend" from an Iphone commercial, or more recently their song "Batshit" through a Samsung commercial. I wouldn't be surprised because they only just released their full length album Treehouse ten days ago on April 13th. Both of the aforementioned songs are great. Definitely something to play when you want to turn the volume up, and when you need a song to get you psyched for the evening then you can groove to their stand alone single "Drinkee". When you realize just how easy it is to move along with their sound, don't deprive yourself from their live performance at The Fox Theater in Oakland on May 18th 2018!
My first ever encounter with the band Hot Chip was the music video for their single "I Feel Better". Definitely the most bizarre thing I had seen at the time. I couldn't begin to contemplate the music itself because I was just overloaded by the video. I bring this up because when I listened to Alexis Taylor's A Beautiful Thing I had no idea that he was the lead vocalist in Hot Chip! Which was good because then I didn't have any bias toward the music. There was definitely something eerily familiar about his voice as I listened to his solo record. Regardless of my overcoming that "traumatic" experience, the album is wonderful. It's more live instrumentation rather than electronic like Hot Chip is. As I've said before bands that perform with actual instruments rather than just sing along to a back track are always more entertaining live. So I'm definitely looking forward to reviewing his show on June 9th 2018 at The Great American Music Hall in San Francisco. For some reason I also hope he plays the Hot Chip song that blew my mind so long ago.
When I think of Courtney Barnett I think of the song "Avant Gardener". That song just gives me this, "Well that escalated quickly," feeling when she goes from doing gardening to anaphylactic shock in a single verse. She has such a talent for allusions and references to the world around her within her music. Although that song is from an EP, it was a stepping stone to her widely acknowledged and praised album Sometimes I Sit and Think, Sometimes I Just Sit. "Dead Fox" and "Depreston" are a couple of my favorite tracks from that album, but since we're about to get her new solo album Tell Me How You Really Feel she has released "Nameless, Faceless" and "Need a Little Time". It releases May 18th so keep an eye out for that. However, there's more news for concert goers because Courtney Barnett will be performing at August Hall in San Francisco on May 6th. There aren't many pre-album release shows taking place so the Bay Area is lucky to get one. Make sure you check out the show and be ready for the album too!
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