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No Wave book helps define the anti-genre’s sound

By John Graham

Published: May 28, 2008

If you believe certain music reviewers, any young band touting dissonance and minimalist rhythms is carrying the No Wave torch into the future. But the 2006 documentary Kill Your Idols —...

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Hillstomp defines the down ‘n’ dirty gutbucket blues

By John Graham

Published: April 16, 2008

Born in the gutters of Portland, Oregon, Hillstomp defines the down 'n' dirty gutbucket blues. Guitarist Henry Christian and percussionist John Johnson stir up a racket with their curious mash...

Music

Meat Beat Manifesto: The Past and Future of Electronic Music

By John Graham

Published: April 9, 2008

Perennially digging two feet deeper than superficial trends can earn an artist legendary underground status. Unfortunately, it may also cause the world to lose musicians beneath the mantles of...

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Making Grown Indie Boys Weep: Xiu Xiu

By John Graham

Published: April 9, 2008

"Fuzz" is for Muppets — the abrasive garage-punk of Japan's King Brothers more closely resembles steel wool. While these self-proclaimed "blues aliens" occasionally use a light touch for a...

Music

Autechre Crafts, Then Shreds, IDM Clichés

By John Graham

Published: April 2, 2008

It's probably the worst acronym in music history. IDM. I ntelligent D ance M usic. The words come out in a pompous snort, sneering down at anything that deigns to be merely "dance music," the...

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From Russia with Love: Auktyon's avant-rock

By John Graham

Published: March 26, 2008

The latest wave of introspective songsters (Feist, Kate Nash, etc.) sounds so very fastidious, all glaringly shiny-pleasant with studio sheen. So it's incredibly refreshing listening to the latest...

Night&Day;

Jesus Built His Hotrod

By John Graham

Published: March 26, 2008

In the past 25 years, Al Jourgensen has been many men, including a foppish New Wave fancyboy, a twitchy fuzz-disco pioneer, a shit-kickin' cowboy punk, an industrial-metal monster, and a...

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Danish Garage Rockers Storm the Independent

By John Graham

Published: February 27, 2008

When legendary U.K. space-rockers Spacemen 3 split circa 1991, member Jason Pierce channeled its lysergic drone into the eclectic, song-oriented Spiritualized while Pete Kember, aka Sonic Boom,...

BeatBox

Caught Up in the Rapture

By John Graham

Published: February 27, 2008

New York–based Satoshi Tomiie is business partners with house music's two most famous DJs, running his label, SAW Recordings, as part of Frankie Knuckles' and David Morales' Def Mix...

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San Francisco's Impalers Pursue the Groovy Over the Gritty

By John Graham

Published: February 13, 2008

Next month's Midnight Boom is the third album from London duo the Kills , whose seedy, deconstructive blues have a sensual cool most bands can only wish for. Built around handclaps and...

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Mexican six-string superheroes Rodrigo y Gabriela

By John Graham

Published: February 6, 2008

Berkeley resident Sean Smith and the U.K.'s James Blackshaw are part of the underground acoustic guitar network, descending stylistically from American iconoclast John Fahey. Like Fahey, Smith...

Music

Goth-Punk Icon Siouxsie Sioux Maintains Her Provocative Edge

By John Graham

Published: February 6, 2008

Siouxsie Sioux has just returned from vacation — from Sri Lanka, to be exact. It's an odd place to imagine the famously pale punk poetess and avatar of all things gothic. But as she explains...

BeatBox

"Meat" Mixes Seared Flesh and an Industrialized Dancefloor

By John Graham

Published: January 30, 2008

The bane of Bay Area vegans for nearly six years, monthly electro-industrial event Meat takes its name literally, barbecuing a Viking-sized appetite's worth of free hide on the 11th St....

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The Teenagers: Scarlett Johansson songs make baby bands famous

By John Graham

Published: January 23, 2008

If your idea of bliss is two hours of vintage German prog and psych — often referred to as Krautrock — head to the Knockout this week. Local video collective Projektor will be...

Night&Day;

Cracking Some Eggheads

By John Graham

Published: January 23, 2008

Whenever the 23five Inc. music organization hosts its annual Activating the Medium festival — an ongoing series of avant-garde electronic and minimalist noise performances — you can...

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Get your gloom on with the Black Heart Procession

By John Graham

Published: January 9, 2008

Just because it's a brand-new year doesn't mean you have to suddenly act all optimistic and shit — at least not with The Black Heart Procession coming to town. These sorrow-seeped San...

Music

The new Fox Theater, the arty Red Poppy, and the hustlin' Demolition Men

The Bay is looking up in 2008

By John Graham

Published: January 2, 2008

After a month of looking backward, it's time we started moving forward. This week we offer a survey of organizations that will help inspire the local music landscape in 2008; not the bands,...

Music

Readin', Writin', Rockin'

Keep up on the local fringe with Bay Area music Web sites

By John Graham

Published: January 2, 2008

Aquarius Records www.aquariusrecords.org Genre(s): Freakish & obscure. The 411: CDs, DVDs, and books for sale, some with streaming audio clips. Kool Thing: Remarkably in-depth...

Music

Kill Clear Channel

Or, how to stream free music through the local digital pipeline

By John Graham

Published: January 2, 2008

Pirate Cat www.piratecatradio.com If you can't receive this "unlicensed, low-power community radio station" on your hi-fi, you can still access stereo streams of beyond-cool programming...

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The Melvins melt your noggin this New Year's Eve

By John Graham

Published: December 26, 2007

On first hearing Ledisi 's major-label debut, Lost and Found , you might think that the New Orleans–born, Oakland-raised jazz and R&B; singer is attempting to make more radio-friendly...