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Some of My Best Friends Are Records
SF Weekly writers pick their favorite Bay Area records of all time
March 15, 2006
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Some "bands" are the brainchild of one person: In the studio, person plays everything; for touring, person assembles a combo. Ultimately, it's the end result that matters, and Cleveland's Cloud Nothings — the vehicle for Dylan Baldi — delivers. Cloud…
by Mark Keresman
July 2, 2014
Tags: Hear This, Show Preview, Dylan Baldi, Cloud Nothings, Cleveland, Brighton, Great American Music Hall
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Return with us now to the mid-1980s through the mid-'90s, when jangle-pop bands dotted the musical landscape: assorted combos with varying approaches but a common denominator of bright guitars and harmonious vocals. One such was Connecticut's Miracle Legion, initially dogged…
by Mark Keresman
February 26, 2014
Tags: Hear This, Show Preview, Mark Mulcahy, Elliott Smith, Jeff Buckley, Michael Stipe, Brick & Mortar Music Hall
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Some people have too much music in them for one particular avenue. One such local is alt-pop doyenne Ash Reiter: Her solo trip finds Reiter building upon the Spector/Bacharach foundation of refined, poignant pop, while Sugar Candy Mountain — co-led…
by Mark Keresman
December 25, 2013
Tags: Hear This, Show Preview, Ash Reiter, Gilberto Gil, Sergio Mendes, Syd Barrett, Amnesia
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Not everyone can get away for the Holidaze, so if you're in town for Christmas week there's an audio-buffet awaiting, served up by some primo Bay Area talent. Your beloved Amnesia hosts the lonesome, Appalachian-tinged warbling of Paula Frazer (Tarnation);…
by Mark Keresman
December 18, 2013
Tags: Hear This, Show Preview, Bart Davenport, Heidi Alexander, Matt Shapiro, Paul Costuros, Amnesia
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In 2010, after Bay Area-bred songster Vienna Teng had established herself with four albums of somber, sumptuously layered, piano-driven panoramas — think The Civil Wars and Tori Amos with overtones of Hazards-era Decemberists — she walked away for a graduate…
by Mark Keresman
November 13, 2013
Tags: Hear This, Show Preview, Vienna Teng, University of Michigan, Tori Amos, The Civil Wars
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Some "bands" are manifestations of essentially one person. In 1995 Vancouver's Dan Bejar more or less became Destroyer: singing, writing, and playing most of his own instruments. Bejar's chief inspirations seem to be maverick U.K. songsters David Bowie and Kevin…
by Mark Keresman
October 30, 2013
Tags: Hear This, Show Preview, Dan Bejar, Antonio Luque, David Bowie, Kevin Ayers, The Independent
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How does someone born in 1989 have such a grasp of 1960s baroque pop? Did they have parents or older siblings with extensive record collections? Whatever it is, Netherlands multi-instrumentalist and whiz-kid Jacco Gardner has absorbed the styles and ambiences…
by Mark Keresman
October 2, 2013
Tags: Hear This, Show Preview, Jacco Gardner, Robyn Hitchcock, Syd Barrett, The Chapel
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There are certain albums whose content and ambience can be almost too palpable. Neil Young's Tonight's the Night is one. Scout Niblett's latest It's Up to Emma is another. Like Young's, it has a flinty quality of cathartic desolation that,…
by Mark Keresman
August 28, 2013
Tags: Hear This, Show Preview, Scout Niblett, Neil Young, P.J. Harvey, Patti Smith, Cafe Du Nord
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In 1993, when life in S.F. was still cheap, Red Meat was born from the remains of local outfits the Movie Stars and Genuine Diamelles. Long before "Americana" was a useful marketing term, Red Meat played hard-edged, unadulterated honky-tonk country…
by Mark Keresman
July 24, 2013
Tags: Hear This, Show Preview, Movie Stars, Bakersfield, Buck Owens, Merle Haggard, Slim's
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There's a tradition of performers utilizing male and female voices in a distinctive manner: Johnny Cash and June Carter, Jefferson Airplane, X, and the Mamas and the Papas, among others, are remembered for their surging, arresting vocal blend. Add to…
by Mark Keresman
July 3, 2013
Tags: Hear This, Show Preview, Johnny Cash, June Carter Cash, Jefferson Airplane, The Mamas & the Papas, Rickshaw Stop
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The 1960s still continue to yield tasty fruit, and locals Rue '66 bring some fresh spoils to market. Rue '66, consisting of former members of Cat Heads, Hard Rain, It Thing, and Jammists, specialize in yé yé, a style popular…
by Mark Keresman
June 21, 2013
Tags: Hear This, Show Preview, Francoise Hardy, Serge Gainsbourg, Europe, France, Alliance Française
