weather is more or less the same as it was a few months ago, but for
some reason the word "Spring" tends to send people scurrying off to the
beach, only to find that it's freezing and windy once they get there.
And yes, I'm planning a beach day next week.
Writer Jonathan Kiefer says the new John Vanderslice record, Romanian Names, contains the studio owner/songwriter's "requisite harmonic warmth, adventurous hooks, and halfway-private lyrics evincing irony and introspection."
Want a copy of either the CD or vinyl recording of Romanian Names? Be the first commenter to post a "halfway private lyric" about Vanderslice's music and the prize is yours. (JV performs on Tuesday, May 19th at Rickshaw Stop).
The young artists of the Marin Youth Center (MYC) are over the moon--almost. Having just announced the release of the MYC compilation album Many Thoughts/One MYC (available on CDBaby now ), which proves it is possible for today's youth to record curseword-free rap music, they've been selected to perform at the 40th Anniversary of the N.A.S.A. moonwalk on July 19th in Mountain View.
MYC artists have also announced a bunch of shows and appearances leading up to the historic celebration, including a May 15th slot on the Urban Network Connections TV show, a May 17th gig at Canal in San Rafael, May 20th at the KMEL/WYLD 94.9 tour in San Francisco, and the official record release party June 13th at the MYC. For more info, click here.
Though the postponement of the Hard Truth Soldiers Tour--featuring acts signed to Paris' Guerilla Funk label, along with national artists like Pete Rock, dead prez, Planet Asia, Immortal Technique and Kam--was disappointing, that hasn't deterred the indie label from releasing new music.
Yesterday, May 12, the new album from Paris/Boots Riley protégé (and KPFA radio host) T-K.A.S.H. was released. I've yet to hear the album--maybe my review copy was also postponed--but it has one of the cleverest double-entendre titles in quite a while: Brains All Over the Streets. Ostensibly a reference to the bloody splatter of gray matter resulting from inner-city violence, it actually refers to the turf-oriented intellectualism T-K.A.S.H. specializes in. Listen to a preview here.
Guerilla Funk also announced another new release, the Hard Truth Soldiers Vol. 2 compilation, which features tracks from Paris, T-K.A.S.H., Jasiri X, NyOil, Truth Universal, and the Conscious Daughters. A preview can be heard here. As for the tour, Guerilla Funk's official statement is "we're optimistic that this will be the tour to beat this summer. The revised schedule will be made public shortly." For updates, check the Guerilla Funk website or click here.
By Wade Grubbs
Better than: Any other jam band.
Last night I saw a great Allman Bros. tribute band at the Fox - they were called The Allman Brothers Band. Just kidding!
Well, sort of kidding. But the bulk of the group's two sets did consist of songs that were recorded before 1973.
To be fair, some of those tunes have been profoundly influential to many music lovers, myself included. As a Floridian learning to play guitar in the 70s, those early Allman Brothers records were an inescapable musical backdrop and source of Southern Pride.
