Vampire Weekend, New Album, Popscene This Week!

I just listened to the much anticipated Vampire Weekend album and I have nothing but good things to say (as always). The debut album is available on iTunes, and I'm sure they will have copies at Popscene (330 Ritch) on Thursday. Take a listen, watch the video, see the band. You'll enjoy.

Concert Schedule Heating Up

January 24th - Silian Rail - Hemlock Tavern - The instrumental duo impressed the crowd at the Thread Production showcase at Bottom of the Hill back in July. Plus the reference to one of my favorite movies gets bonus points. If you don't know it, watch the video.

January 25th - Action Design - opening for the Donna's at Aaron Axelsen's new Popscene establishment. Get there early to see them... The lead singer has a very Karen O + Pat Benetar rock'n'roll hotness to her.

January 26th - planningtorock - Mezzanine - I saw her open for Hot Chip at the Fillmore earlier this year. It was on my wishlist of artists to see in 2008. Very bizarre, Very eccentric... If that's OK with you, then you will think she is awesome. I'm not making this shit up..
"Neo-vaudevillian kaleidoscope of a record, its vigorous and defiant, littered with off kilter touches" - WIRE June 2006
"I´m getting a record that is super fucking weird but also satisfyingly mind-blowing." - VICE magazine July 2006

January 27th - Ian Fays - Hemlock Tavern:
The Ian Fays were supposed to play on my birthday at the Hemlock, but the show was cancelled. Fortunately, I gave their tunes a listen and was immediately hooked to their casio-tone indie rock.

January 31st - Vampire Weekend - Popscene - I seem to have missed a handful of their shows since I saw them open for The Shout Out Louds. The talented young band from NYC has been compared to the sounds of Paul Simon and David Byrne.

Nicole Atkins - Neptune City

Nicole Atkins made her San Francisco debut earlier this year at Popscene when she opened for the Long Blondes. For the most part, the crowd was mulling about and the buzz of conversation would've made it extremely difficult to command a stage. No one even noticed the small frame emerge onto the stage... and those that did, didn't expect that little Jersey girl was going to be able to drown out the rowdy audience.

The moment Nicole Atkins opened her mouth to sing her first note, there was a resounding thud of jaws dropping onto the floor of the 330 Ritch nightclub in San Francisco. I was frozen in place and a bomb could have gone off in the neighboring parking lot, but there was no way I was going to take my eyes off what I was witnessing. What ensued was song after song of soulful crooning that invoked an image of Sinatra's pipes with Joplin's spirit.

Yesterday, she released her first full length album called Neptune City... I rocked out to it during the 5.6 magnitude earthquake that rocked the Bay Area and then I watched her perform 'The Way It Is' on David Letterman. Anyway, the album is quickly becoming a desert island album for me so do yourself a favor and buy it. It's a keeper. And look out for her in a city near you. Also, if you see her, tell her that I want to make babies with her.

Check out another live review on Water Cooler Gossip

Check out this video: "The Way It Is"



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Etymology of Datarock

When the New York Yankees lose a game in the playoffs, it usually means the rest of my day goes quite poorly. I understand that's not something many non-sports fans can understand, but it happens. In general, I would disappear into seclusion and it is nearly impossible to get me back into a good mood. On Friday, however, I was committed to willing myself back into a good mood so I would be able to make it to a show on Friday. This was the data used into swinging me back into a good mood:

Fact: many great musical acts were in town,
Fact: it was the beginning of a long weekend,
Fact: the impending shit-show, Fleet Week, was on the horizon,
Fact: F-14s were delivering good vibes
Fact: the weather was pleasant
Fact: I had tickets to go see Datarock at the Rickshaw Stop

Conclusion: Snap out of it. It's just a game.

Datarock is a Norwegian band who describes their sound of a mixture as musical styles that they like. Simple enough. Their Wikipedia entry classifies them as Dance-punk, Electro Rock, and Post-punk revival. Clearly this is an odd combination, but it is true. It is nearly impossible to bundle their sound into one contrived definition. So, let's analyze what we know about Datarock and see if they are worthy of the name.

DATA //
da·tum [dey-tuhm, dat-uhm, dah-tuhm] noun, (singular)
da·ta [dey-tuh, dat-uh, dah-tuh] (plural)
1. a single piece of information, as a fact, statistic, or code; an item of data.

ROCK //
rock [rok]
1. to move or sway to and fro or from side to side.
2. to be moved or swayed powerfully with excitement, emotion, etc.
3. to dance to or play rock music.
4. (of popular music) to have the driving beat characteristic of rock.
5. to shake or disturb violently

They opened their set with 'New Song' and rocked it hard, loud and fast. After that, they proceeded to touch a variety of musical genres. It was like going to a concert festival where one band played every stage. And they delivered an impressive performance.

Fact: I moved and swayed to and fro or from side to side.
Fact: I was moved powerfully with excitement, emotion, etc.
Fact: I danced to rock music.
Fact: The music being played had the driving beat characteristic of rock.
Fact: It shook and disturbed me violently (when I tripped up the stairs.) Yes. up. shut up. It was a long day.

Conclusion: Datarock maintains a musical backbone as they explore the limits of their versatility and creative innovation while melding a variety of genres into an extraordinarily unique collection of songs that truly rock.

Just Announced: The Pipettes @ Bimbo's 365

San Francisco was introduced to the Pipettes earlier this year when Aaron Axelson of Live105 fame brought them to play Popscene @ the Rickshaw Stop. While I didn't see them perform their full set that evening, I did get a chance to hear them live earlier in the day at Amoeba. Axelson described the Pipettes as "Le Tigre meets the Shangri-Las". Their sound is refreshing, familiar, and inspires pure joy. When I left Amoeba that evening, I noticed that every face in the room had a glowing smile from ear to ear. The music is not complicated, but it does what it sets out to do: Entertain. Check out the video from Popscene and the embedded video below.

The Pipettes will be performing at Bimbo's on Monday October 29th. Tickets are $15 in advance / $17 at the door. Doors at 7 p.m. Show at 8 p.m. This an 18+ show.



San Francisco Live Music
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Shout Out Louds @ Popscene (Rickshaw Stop)

OK, moving on to some new music. There is so much happening tonight in live music in San Francisco as I discussed in my post from a few days ago. Oh No! Oh My! is playing at the Independent, and Mondo Generator (featuring Nick Oliveri of Queens of the Stone Age) is playing at Cafe du Nord, but the decision was made to go to Popscene to see the Shout Out Louds. While I'm most excited to hear some of their tracks off 'Howl Howl Gaff Gaff', I'm curious about their new upcoming album with the featuring the track 'Tonight I Have To Leave It' was recently released on an EP. Listen below. Stay tuned. An up and coming band from NY: Vampire Weekend will open:




Just got back from the show... Shout Out Louds were great... but Vampire Weekend took the cake. Look out for the guys in the top right (Vampire Weekend) in the very near future. Now I gotta get some rest so I can be ready for RATATAT tomorrow...

Shout Out Louds
Vampire Weekend
Popscene

Decisions, decisions...

Aside from the fact that 'Smashing Pumpkins' start their two-and-a-half week stint @ the Fillmore today, there is a gaggle of great shows to see this week. The trouble is that 3 of the bands I'm interested in seeing are all performing on the same day at different venues.

on wednesday, july 18th
Shout Out Louds play Popscene (Rickshaw Stop)
Oh No! Oh My play the Independent
Circus Diablo opens for Mondo Generator (featuring Nick Oliveri from QOTSA) at Cafe du Nord.

I'm pretty sure it's going to come down to the mood in on Wednesday. I vote Shout Out Louds.