It's official -- America loves Lil Wayne. He's come a long way from being the rapper who coined the atrocious term "bling bling," to getting himself parodied on the cover of Mad Magazine and making a superfluous appearance at the Country Music Awards. If all this Weezy fuss isn't enough for you, then catch him live at Oakland's Oracle Arena on Dec. 23. Tickets go on sale Saturday, Dec. 22 at 10 a.m. --Oscar Pascual
Thirty-two years after opening shop in Noe Valley, Streetlight Records is closing its flagship store. The 24th St. music outlet is shuttering due to a combination of poor CD sales and rising rents. General manager Jeffrey Moss send out a statement today saying the remaining Streetlight stores in San Francisco (2350 Market Street ) as well as the ones in San Jose and Santa Cruz will remain open, so all isn't lost in the world of independent music retailers. It is a bummer, though, to hear about an important resource for good music -- the mom 'n' pop record store -- getting pushed aside by landlord greed and major retailers monopolizing the marketshare. Full letter about the Noe Valley store closure below. -- Jennifer Maerz
By John Geluardi
Over the weekend, I had the opportunity to see a special screening of Stephen Soderbergh’s epic movie, Che. Usually my stunted attention span makes it tough to sit through Pee Wee Herman clips on YouTube, but this film was so engaging I was riveted to the screen for the entire four hours.
The movie, which is in Spanish, is a sprawling epic that follows Argentine Marxist, Ernesto “Che” Guevara, played by Benicio del Toro, through the rugged mountains of Cuba and Bolivia during two revolutionary war campaigns.
To make a four-hour film in the era of gnat-like attention spans, Soderbergh is clearly as bold - and perhaps crazy - as Guevara and Cuban exile Fidel Castro were in 1956 when they boarded a leaky boat in Mexico with 81 men, a few weapons and an ambitious plan to overthrow the military dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista. But Soderbergh succeeded in making a film that will be fascinating for the legions of Guevara admirers, social reformers, military historians and people who like to hike - the vast majority of scenes are of guerilla fighters making their way on foot through rugged mountain terrain, lush valleys and dense cloud forests.
Che opens in theaters in January as two movies, part one: The Argentine and part two: Guerilla. Each movie will require separate admissions. The movies have been making the rounds of film festivals and del Toro has already won the actor prize at the Cannes Film Festival for his depiction of Guevara.
If you spent your childhood in the 80's like me, odds are you were raised on toy franchises like Masters of the Universe, G.I. Joe, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. If so, you'll be happy to know that SF-based artist Robert Burden is currently working on some massive paintings of your favorite action figures from back in the day. Juxtapoz brought us the attention of the video above, which details Burden's work on a ridiculously cool painting of Voltron. For more nostalgic nerd art, visit robertburden.net. --Oscar Pascual
Local heavy doom metal heroes Sleep took sludge to a whole new level in the 1990s. The San Jose act (bassist/vocalist Al Cisneros, guitarist Matt Pike, and drummer Chris Haikus) dropped some impressive sonic concrete on the eardrums of the willing, with wicked riffs that took their time expanding in your headspace. Most famously, Sleep recorded a 60-minute homage to weed, Jerusalem, which became the band's swan song after its label balked at the idea of this very uncommercial concept of an album.
Sleep's members of course found success after their split -- Pike in High on Fire, Cisneros and Haikus for a while in Om) -- but its fan base only seems to build over the years. They'll briefly take the stage as a three-piece again when Sleep reunites to perform Holy Mountain and Dopesmoker tracks at All Tomorrow's Parties May 8 festival, "The Fans Strike Back." For those wondering if this performance will lead, perhaps, to some sweet shows back home, ATP's Web site kills that buzz with the statement: "[Sleep] reform for two performances at ATP as a world exclusive that will never be repeated." Yeah, but that's what they all say, right? -- Jennifer Maerz
Whether the story of Ursula Bogner is fictional of factual, the tale of this German housewife with an eccentric electronics habit is a fascinating one. As the lore goes, Bogner spent the '60s as a pharmacist, a mother, and a curious tinkerer in the world of synthesizers. She recorded a couple reel to reel tapes of what sounds like the gurgles, giggles, and droning hums of a friendly space 'bot going about its business. This was a side project, however, and up through her death in 1994, it was seen as a hobby more than a profession.
Cue a plane trip by German Faitiche label owner/electronic musician Jan Jelinek, a seatmate who happens to be Ursula's son, and a long conversation about family, and out comes Recordings 1969-1988, a collection of minimalist, analog space pop that's a charming, alien artifact in more ways than one.
You can check out Bogner's electronic emissions at here, just scroll down for samples of songs ranging from "Pulsation" to "Expansion" and "Inversion." (Thanks to Aquarius Records -- which also has a couple streams available on its site -- for the tip). -- Jennifer Maerz
