View more photos of the bands and partygoers in the "SXSW Village Voice Media Showdown" slideshow.
Remember the Choose Your Own Adventure series? If you do, skip to the third paragraph. If you don't, read on.
CYOA was a book series with a non-linear structure that allowed you to explore multiple possible endings via making your own decisions as per what the protagonist should do. Yes, it was awesome. No, I'm not sure why you've never heard of it. Perhaps you weren't born yet. Or perhaps you've been living under a rock. But I digress.
Jonah Peretti , of Buzzfeed and Huffington Post fame, started his own little game of Choose Your Own Adventure on Twitter. In lieu of page numbers, he uses descriptive bit.ly links you can click on to make your decisions for the protagonist (which is you, in this case).
At the start of the game, you're "assigned a dangerous mission to save the world!" The ending of your adventure depends on the series of choices you make from there ("accept mission" or "go on vacation," and so on.) We died on our first try, but then played the game again and survived. That's totally not cheating. I promise.
We hope this is a sign of more Twitter game innovation to come. Chris Sacca, Twitter investor and adventure fiend (who recently bicycled across the US), tweeted earlier, "Jonah @peretti is the most inventive Twitterer in the world". We kinda have to agree with him there. At least until the next inventive thing comes along.
Follow us on Twitter at @mbaratz and @sfweekly.
As a kid, I owned nearly all of Joan Jett's and Lita Ford's solo albums; theirs were my first cassette tape and CD respectively, so with the opening of The Runaways today, I'm getting myself amped and setting the mood with some videos of girl bands that have stolen and/or paid homage to the jailbait-rock legacy.
When The Runaways went their own ways, Joan Jett and Lita Ford split at the intersection of Punk and Hair Metal. While Jett paved the way for artists like Kathleen Hanna and L7...
We're happy that San Francisco is embracing the timeless sounds of disco more and more on a broader scale. Gone are the days of having to listen to your Donna Summer and Giorgio Moroder records at home, dancing alone while your cat watched. The late-'70s is making the rounds again in our club scene, and our nightlife escapades are sure to be thankful for it. For this Weekend Party Preview we've grabbed a handful of Friday and Saturday's disco events--some early, some late, and some a little bit mysterious. There's also a bit of live electro music thrown in the mix for those of you aching for something a bit more "current." We don't blame you, though. Disco doesn't have to be for everyone.
Friday, March 19
What: Radioactivity w/ Altair Nouveau, Tristes Tropiques, and Robots.In.Heat
Where: 222 Hyde
When: 6 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.
Why: Start your Friday night--and your whole weekend, for that matter--off with a bit of smooth happy hour disco, boogie, and space-rock at the spectacularly renovated 222 Hyde. DFA/Solardisco's--and recent Behind the Beat feature --Altair Nouveau will be heading up the deck controls along with the sci-fi stylings of Tristes Tropiques and Robots.In.Heat. If the free ticket price doesn't entice you, maybe the eight dollar pizza & beer deal will.
What: Credit to the Edit w/ Greg Wilson and Anthony Mansfield
Where: The Triple Crown
When: 10 p.m. - 2 a.m.
Why: The mainstay in the set of any DJ worth his weight in wax is a few solid edits. Whether you know exactly what an edit is or not (pretty much just rearranging whole segments of someone else's track), chances are if you've ever been to a disco dance club you've heard some by the UK's Greg Wilson. This veteran DJ and producer is cream of the crop when it comes to reworking the classics, not to mention obscure hits, into ideal dancefloor fodder. Don't miss Wilson along with SF's contemporary edit auteur Anthony Mansfield, and their DJ sets of chopped 'n' screwed disco gold.
Maybe Alex Chilton, dead at 59 of a heart attack, would recoil at the fond remembrances of him now sneezing out through the digital ether: Salutes from the floor of the House of Representatives, odes from pretty much everyone on the self-serious list of revered alternative or indie acts over the last 30 years, and what feels online like an explosion of the I-knew-him-too cult of Chilton into the we-all-believe gospel of Chilton.
Big Star at the Fillmore '07
Or maybe not. Chilton had earned misgivings about the recording industry and sometimes a disinclination to please his fans, but the power of his music is greater than even the current digital veil of sorrow would suggest. A Memphis native, Chilton broke into fame at age 16 with "The Letter," the first hit single by his band the Box Tops, a group that recorded a few more memorable singles before parting ways. But Chilton's most important contribution was made with the power-pop band Big Star, who recorded three stunning albums that were slight, edgy and infectiously melodic in ways little rock music was before and much has been since. Big Star had the chiming, buzzsaw guitars, the perfectly arching pop melodies that sharpened youthful yearning to a razor's edge, the agile rhythms and the relentless instrumental ability that fueled the energy of early punk and the attitude of '80s college rock.
Janelle Monáe plays hostess tonight at The Renaissance Stanford Court in celebration of her upcoming album The Arch Android. A genre-bending union of brass and ukulele, of wailing soul and hip-hop rhythms, The Arch Android is the sci-fi obsessed, quirky artist's full-length debut. She, and hopefully her robot alter ego, will be at the party by 7 p.m. to oil the works with a meet and greet, followed by the album listening party.
Meet and greet 7-8 p.m.
Album listening and cocktail party 8-9 p.m.
Where Renaissance Stanford Court Hotel
905 California Street
Dear Jamie,
I've been noticing that a lot of people are using this Formspring website. I've been thinking of starting one since everyone else is starting to incorporate it into their websites. What's the point of it and does it have any value at all?
Sincerely,
Questioning
Levi's took over the east side of Austin for all of SXSW, creating a semi-private world of tight pants and tall beers, a denim labyrinth where the 45-minute line to grab a wristband was made slightly more entertaining by a DJ who loved Michael Jackson. Loved him so much he told the crowd repeatedly, "I really miss MJ," throwing his hands up to the King of Pop in heaven with each announcement.
In Austin, you can research and schedule and make the right Twitter friends and you're still gonna miss something with every decision that you make. Case in point: on Thursday afternoon, realizing the last thing I put in my stomach came in a tall can, I left a random day party where GZA was performing to get something made of food to digest. In doing so, I not only missed the chance to see the rapper--who, for his official SXSW gig later that night, chose to remain in his van rather than get on stage, according to the miffed bouncer at the club--I also missed running into Bill Murray, great deadpan comedic actor of our time. Bill Murray! With GZA! WTF? I hung out with indie publicist Molly Hill later in the night, who not only saw GZA, and Bill, but she got a hug from the Scrooged star just for introducing herself. Dude.
![Thee Oh Sees, Deans of the S.F. Rock Scene, Are Going on Indefinite Hiatus [UPDATED]](https://media2.fdncms.com/sfweekly/imager/thee-oh-sees-at-the-chapel-in-october/u/square/2841490/oh_sees_chapel_1a.jpg "Thee Oh Sees, Deans of the S.F. Rock Scene, Are Going on Indefinite Hiatus [UPDATED]")
