Two ensemble shows, each at roughly the same time, and within walking distance of each other. First up at 7:30 p.m. at the Outer Space, talented rock duo Silver and Nails will be joined by “adult contemporary soft metal” act Throw me the Whip, which I can only assume is a reference to the Raiders […]
Mister Moonbeam
Posted inMusic
In With the Future
Well, it’s that time of year, when I must once again appeal to the reason of my fellow Americans and suggest we not only can but must do better regarding which holiday we choose to celebrate this week. Things change and historical reassessments have produced a staggering amount of evidence that Thanksgiving is built on […]
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Music Tonight: Friday, Nov. 3
The Basement opened its doors again recently after a long layoff due to … well, the circumstances we all got keelhauled by over the last few years. I didn’t get a chance to mark the occasion at the time, so I am instead suggesting that those of you who, like myself, missed the joint should […]
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Old Songs, Young Blood
The other day I was thinking about the Pied Piper of Hamelin, that odd musical character from fairy tales who agreed to remove all the rats from a besieged village for a fee. Upon completion of his task, the village leaders decided to renege on payment, so the piper returned and merrily led their children […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Music Tonight: Friday, Sept. 29
Unless you acted far in advance and managed to snag some tickets, the sold-out Thundercat show at the Van Duzen is not in your cards tonight, friend. Don’t sweat it though, the Miniplex is putting on a banger at 9 p.m. San Francisco’s warm, electro-tinged chamber pop act Healing Potpourri is in the house, and […]
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Beautiful Music in a Cruel World
Last week was marked by two high-profile deaths. The tragic suicide of troubled songwriter, poet and Silver Jews frontman David Berman, and the there’s-no-fucking-way-that-I-will-ever-believe-that-was-a-suicide demise of professional scumbag and alleged child pimp Jeffrey Epstein. And though both of these events happened in New York City, they are worlds apart: The latter has me watching with […]
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Oysters and Outlaws
It’s too damn hot by half and I have stubbornly avoided the river this week, instead choosing to sweat it out at home. The reason has mostly to do with a leaky brake line on my old truck, which I hope to have fixed with a friend by press time, because I don’t know how […]
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Don’t Let it Burn
I planned on writing something about the environment in this intro to fit the theme of this week’s issue but, like many of you, I spent Monday watching the immolation of Notre Dame Cathedral. So I am listening to a recording of madrigals by the 16th century Italian composer Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina and thinking […]
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Anniversaries, Dreams and Hauntings
I am not a nostalgic fella and I tend to have a private needle that clicks between “ignorant indifference” and “seething distrust” when it comes to all of the hallmarks and anniversaries that we are collectively reminded to celebrate. However, in deference to my readers, of whom I am genuinely fond, and for the sake […]
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Music Tonight: Wednesday, August 22
San Francisco folkster Jenny Gillespie Mason teamed up some time ago with Rob Shelton, a longtime engineer at John Vanderslice’s magical Tiny Telephone studio to create the experimental pop phenom Sis, appearing tonight at the Outer Space for a steal of a show at 7 p.m. A mere $6 will get you through the door […]
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Music Tonight: Wednesday, May 30
There are a couple of fun ones tonight at 7 p.m. to appeal to a wide spectrum of tastes with distortion-driven sweetmeats, low-end chunks and sweet, old twang. Local metalhead Sam Bryson celebrates his birthday at The Siren’s Song as his band Dullahan gets in on the fun with Oakland metal legends Necrot. Burning Hash […]
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Art, Motion and Sound
It’s Memorial Day weekend and the sweet days of Kinetic Madness await all you lucky kiddies by the bay. I’ll be in another bay area missing the sculptured fun but making up for it by celebrating the 97th birthday of a very special lady. So I wish you all a spectacular time behind the magical […]