It was a quiet weekend for yours truly last weekend (the boyfriend was off at event that, as of last year, I can never attend again, so I indulged in having the flat to myself), but there's lots of fun stuff coming up for this weekend. Unfortunately, I have to catch a flight to the East Coast on Sunday, so my hi-jinx will be somewhat curtailed, but there's no reason why you all have to be in bed early, is there?
Friday, January 30
Pulse at Paradise Lounge
The debut of a new techno night in a swell space, and all proceeds are donated to charity. Downstairs with: Christian Martin, Alland Byallo, Galen, Solar, Kirill. Upstairs with: Aaron Jae, Bam, Tamo, j9.
$10 before 11 PM
9PM - 3AM
Saturday, January 31
Suppervision at Supper Club
iii presents another night of performances, music, and revelry at Supperclub. Lord Kook will spinning from 9-11 in the side room, while Honey Sound System will play the main floor apres performances. Partial proceeds to benefit Comfort and Joy.
$12 in PJs, costume, or instant make-over, $20 in street clothes
9PM - 3AM
Lindstrom at Paradise Lounge
The master of space disco live, that's all that needs to be said. With Beat Broker, Conor, and TK Disco.
$15
10PM - 4AM
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Upcoming Event: Moldover and Komega Present LoveTech, Saturday January 24
My friend Mitch (of TV-B-Gone and BrainMachine fame) recently introduced the boyfriend and I to Moldover, a controllerist who makes really cool music, and really cool electronics for making music (he's also very cute in that geeky alternaboy, brainy musician sort of way that makes me positively weak). Moldover has recently located to the Bay area, and this saturday will be putting on his first event, which includes a workshop in the early evening, live electronic dance music fun for the rest of the night, AND the premiere of Moldover's album, which has been three years in the making. Deets and his own description are below, but I can't think of anything else for this weekend that promises to be as much of an "event" as this.
Komega & Moldover present
LoveTech
Live : AssShakin : Electronic : PartyRockin' : Music : Community
PRESHISH MOMENTS
COLFAX
KOMEGA
MOLDOVER
Saturday, January 24th
9pm-2am
The Ranch
$7
All Ages, BYOB
Early evening workshop with TIMO
Roominant Installation by KOMEGA
TIme Machine by Rich DDT
SF and NYC are coming together to create a Community for Music and Technology, that Transcends the Technical Hurdles of Pure Geekery to Achieve a Higher State of Musical Understanding. Bringing together the elements of Science and Booty Shakin', Komega and Moldover endeavor to conjure an event of unrivaled innovation. We LOVE Technology: as a people, as a culture, and as individuals. We LOVE Music: especially music that blows our minds. We all see the fusion, now we want to show you the people who make it happen WHILE YOU WATCH.
Komega & Moldover present
LoveTech
Live : AssShakin : Electronic : PartyRockin' : Music : Community
PRESHISH MOMENTS
COLFAX
KOMEGA
MOLDOVER
Saturday, January 24th
9pm-2am
The Ranch
$7
All Ages, BYOB
Early evening workshop with TIMO
Roominant Installation by KOMEGA
TIme Machine by Rich DDT
SF and NYC are coming together to create a Community for Music and Technology, that Transcends the Technical Hurdles of Pure Geekery to Achieve a Higher State of Musical Understanding. Bringing together the elements of Science and Booty Shakin', Komega and Moldover endeavor to conjure an event of unrivaled innovation. We LOVE Technology: as a people, as a culture, and as individuals. We LOVE Music: especially music that blows our minds. We all see the fusion, now we want to show you the people who make it happen WHILE YOU WATCH.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Event Review: Space Cowboys at The EndUp
Saturday night the boyfriend and I assembled a small crew to check out The Space Cowboys putting on this month’s The Show at The Endup. We were fairly excited at the prospect of a night with a Burner vibe and some kick-ass breaks, but by the time the breaks actually got going, we’d had enough of the electrohouse mush that proceeded it, along with a vibe that was more like a frat party (albeit a very cool one), that we decided to cut out before we spent any more money on The Endup’s now astronomically expensive drinks.
In my experience, there are two sides to the Space Cowboys. On the one side you’ve got, next to Evil Breaks, one of the very best crews for putting out, and popularizing, kick-ass breaks to the general party populace. And then, on the other side, there’s this tendency to take it all down to the lowest common denominator of all-out booty. In this case, booty definitely won out. At first it was nice to arrive and hear some pretty easy-going dance music that was a bit out of the normal vibe of ubiquitous EndUp house, but after going back and forth from Latin club to a Daft Punk remix to something that made me think I was back at a mid-90s acid house party, it was becoming more and more difficult to find any consistent vibe to hang onto. There were plenty of folks shaking it on the dancefloor, and I’m sure many of the girls who showed up in their playawear got freaky with it later, but I’d come wanting to hear breaks, not the kitchen sink of electronic dance music. This was what put me in mind of a frat party; lots of people out to get fucked up and freaky, with the DJ going for the easiest party pleasers in his bag.
Since the DJ who took over at 1 finally started playing breaks, and the party itself had several more hours of life left in it, I might have been willing to stay a little longer, but the prospect of spending any more money on drinks was starting to make my wallet hurt. When I ordered my first vodka tonic, it came back as costing $7.50. Well or call seemed to make no difference, the bartender always charged me $7.50. Drop another dollar for tip, and figure on 4 or 5 drinks over the course of the night (not that crazy if you show up early, as we usually do, and then even switch over to water when the bar closes), and suddenly you’ve dropped a huge wad of money.
This has become something of a problem with almost every time I go to The EndUp. Everybody knows that the place really gets going after 2AM, and so the whole night becomes back-loaded. It seems like every time I go there, mostly for Kontrol, I spend the first couple hours waiting for them to get around to the music I came to hear, and wind up spending too much money on drinks, so that by the time things really get going, it’s getting to be later than I want to be out without the substantial chemical assistance that will keep my fellow clubbers going until 6AM and later. Of course you can come later, but then you get to pay $15 - $20 on top of what you’ll spend for booze. The EndUp is a classic spot, with much going for it from ambience to soundsystem, but if I’m going to go there and spend the kind of money that a night out there seems to require, then I want the first couple hours I’m there to be just as intense, and interesting, as the early morning ones.
In my experience, there are two sides to the Space Cowboys. On the one side you’ve got, next to Evil Breaks, one of the very best crews for putting out, and popularizing, kick-ass breaks to the general party populace. And then, on the other side, there’s this tendency to take it all down to the lowest common denominator of all-out booty. In this case, booty definitely won out. At first it was nice to arrive and hear some pretty easy-going dance music that was a bit out of the normal vibe of ubiquitous EndUp house, but after going back and forth from Latin club to a Daft Punk remix to something that made me think I was back at a mid-90s acid house party, it was becoming more and more difficult to find any consistent vibe to hang onto. There were plenty of folks shaking it on the dancefloor, and I’m sure many of the girls who showed up in their playawear got freaky with it later, but I’d come wanting to hear breaks, not the kitchen sink of electronic dance music. This was what put me in mind of a frat party; lots of people out to get fucked up and freaky, with the DJ going for the easiest party pleasers in his bag.
Since the DJ who took over at 1 finally started playing breaks, and the party itself had several more hours of life left in it, I might have been willing to stay a little longer, but the prospect of spending any more money on drinks was starting to make my wallet hurt. When I ordered my first vodka tonic, it came back as costing $7.50. Well or call seemed to make no difference, the bartender always charged me $7.50. Drop another dollar for tip, and figure on 4 or 5 drinks over the course of the night (not that crazy if you show up early, as we usually do, and then even switch over to water when the bar closes), and suddenly you’ve dropped a huge wad of money.
This has become something of a problem with almost every time I go to The EndUp. Everybody knows that the place really gets going after 2AM, and so the whole night becomes back-loaded. It seems like every time I go there, mostly for Kontrol, I spend the first couple hours waiting for them to get around to the music I came to hear, and wind up spending too much money on drinks, so that by the time things really get going, it’s getting to be later than I want to be out without the substantial chemical assistance that will keep my fellow clubbers going until 6AM and later. Of course you can come later, but then you get to pay $15 - $20 on top of what you’ll spend for booze. The EndUp is a classic spot, with much going for it from ambience to soundsystem, but if I’m going to go there and spend the kind of money that a night out there seems to require, then I want the first couple hours I’m there to be just as intense, and interesting, as the early morning ones.
Event Review: Aural Therapy at Paradise Lounge
Friday night the boyfriend and I took a walk down to Paradise Lounge to check out Auralism’s third-Friday party, Aural Therapy, which, for this installment, featured Berlin’s Franklin De Costa behind the decks.
This was the first time I’ve gotten to check out the entire Paradise Lounge space, and we were both impressed with the upstairs bar and second room with its near-perfect sound isolation. Right out of the gate Paradise is booking some very interesting nights, from the retro-bath house Honey Sound System Sundays to an upcoming show with Lindstrom, and at least two regular techno events, including the premiere of Pulse on January 30th. With a license to stay open until 4AM, I think Paradise is about to give Mighty a real run for their money with a better space, better sound, and much more innovative bookings.
When we first arrived the techno was a bit on the mushy side – a generally okay sound, but nothing solid enough to make us want to get on the dancefloor, so we wandered down to The Cat Club to check out a new party that PeePlay of Honey Sound System is involved with, Black Friday. We ran into DJs 6 and Donimo of Lucky Pierre and a couple other friends, and then left just after we heard the trifecta of music you never need to hear again, “YMCA” followed on by “I Will Survive” and then “The Hustle.” Much to his credit PeePlay jumped onto the decks after this, and without even letting “The Hustle” play out completely he had dropped us back into much snappier contemporary territory. I would have liked to have stayed and heard the rest of his set, but it was approaching midnight at that point and we knew Franklin De Costa would be starting soon.
We made it back to Paradise Lounge just before De Costa started playing and had a chance to scope out the crowd. Though the dancefloor was packed, it was a very cool crowd, lots of real obvious techno heads, and still plenty of room of dancing. De Costa played a very minimal, abstract set, but the energy was absolutely banging. The boyfriend and I danced for over an hour straight, something that rarely happens these days. I would describe De Costa’s style as being what I think of as “real German techno,” lots of abstract loops that, when you mix them together, have their own emergent structure and dynamic. There were times when I could recognize the structure of individual tracks, but overall the impression was of sections phasing in and out of one another, a steady drive with moments of auditory surprise that would then make your body shift in another direction. The nice bit, though, was his selection of tracks with warm, more organic, almost house sounds that made it easy to engage with the music at the same time that the rhythm drove you relentlessly forward.
This was only the third time Aural Therapy has been held at Paradise Lounge, but I’d say it was an experience that certainly bears repeating. A more intimate and varied space than The Endup, and without that club’s seeming need to cater to the more general expectations of SF clubbers (how many times will I go to Kontrol and hear generic house for the first two hours?), Paradise Lounge and Aural Therapy have the potential to become a major monthly destination for the SF techno scene.
This was the first time I’ve gotten to check out the entire Paradise Lounge space, and we were both impressed with the upstairs bar and second room with its near-perfect sound isolation. Right out of the gate Paradise is booking some very interesting nights, from the retro-bath house Honey Sound System Sundays to an upcoming show with Lindstrom, and at least two regular techno events, including the premiere of Pulse on January 30th. With a license to stay open until 4AM, I think Paradise is about to give Mighty a real run for their money with a better space, better sound, and much more innovative bookings.
When we first arrived the techno was a bit on the mushy side – a generally okay sound, but nothing solid enough to make us want to get on the dancefloor, so we wandered down to The Cat Club to check out a new party that PeePlay of Honey Sound System is involved with, Black Friday. We ran into DJs 6 and Donimo of Lucky Pierre and a couple other friends, and then left just after we heard the trifecta of music you never need to hear again, “YMCA” followed on by “I Will Survive” and then “The Hustle.” Much to his credit PeePlay jumped onto the decks after this, and without even letting “The Hustle” play out completely he had dropped us back into much snappier contemporary territory. I would have liked to have stayed and heard the rest of his set, but it was approaching midnight at that point and we knew Franklin De Costa would be starting soon.
We made it back to Paradise Lounge just before De Costa started playing and had a chance to scope out the crowd. Though the dancefloor was packed, it was a very cool crowd, lots of real obvious techno heads, and still plenty of room of dancing. De Costa played a very minimal, abstract set, but the energy was absolutely banging. The boyfriend and I danced for over an hour straight, something that rarely happens these days. I would describe De Costa’s style as being what I think of as “real German techno,” lots of abstract loops that, when you mix them together, have their own emergent structure and dynamic. There were times when I could recognize the structure of individual tracks, but overall the impression was of sections phasing in and out of one another, a steady drive with moments of auditory surprise that would then make your body shift in another direction. The nice bit, though, was his selection of tracks with warm, more organic, almost house sounds that made it easy to engage with the music at the same time that the rhythm drove you relentlessly forward.
This was only the third time Aural Therapy has been held at Paradise Lounge, but I’d say it was an experience that certainly bears repeating. A more intimate and varied space than The Endup, and without that club’s seeming need to cater to the more general expectations of SF clubbers (how many times will I go to Kontrol and hear generic house for the first two hours?), Paradise Lounge and Aural Therapy have the potential to become a major monthly destination for the SF techno scene.
Friday, January 16, 2009
Some Recommendations for Saturday, January 17 2008
Oy, I've been really bad about keeping up with ye olde Events Calendar, but really, it's getting harder and harder to find things I would list there anyway. And has anybody else noticed how flyers have now completely disappeared from The Castro, thanks to the poster nazis known as the Castro Beautification District? Glad I'm not trying to promote a club right now, as I don't know how we'd get the word out.
Anyway, a couple things coming up this Saturday you might wanna check out:
Chrome with Husband
Chrome is the ongoing queer rock social at the Gangway, where you can go and hear your favorite rock/metal/indie etc. tunes and hang out with the TL hipster boys. This installment's DJ is Husband, aka Marc Kate of local techno outfit Silencefiction, who promises a night of goth/metal/punk tunes.
The Show with The Space Cowboys at The Endup
Now this sounds like fun, and I'm sure the place will be packed. My likely destination for the night. Be sure to use the link to get on the $10 guest list.
Eggs at Paradise Lounge
Safety Scissors brings back Eggs, a showcase of quirky, fun, and danceable techno. With locals Eats Tapes, Safety Scissors, Alland Byallo, and Frivolous from Berlin.
Superego at DNA Lounge
Oh, and good thing I have people to remind me of these things. For your "culture blender" choice this evening, how about SuperEgo: Music/Dance/Glam with electro, techno, indie remixes, crunk, disco, and glam. Featuring The Tenderloins, Shaun Slaughter, Sarah Delush, and DJs Kid Hack and Mario Muse.
Anyway, a couple things coming up this Saturday you might wanna check out:
Chrome with Husband
Chrome is the ongoing queer rock social at the Gangway, where you can go and hear your favorite rock/metal/indie etc. tunes and hang out with the TL hipster boys. This installment's DJ is Husband, aka Marc Kate of local techno outfit Silencefiction, who promises a night of goth/metal/punk tunes.
The Show with The Space Cowboys at The Endup
Now this sounds like fun, and I'm sure the place will be packed. My likely destination for the night. Be sure to use the link to get on the $10 guest list.
Eggs at Paradise Lounge
Safety Scissors brings back Eggs, a showcase of quirky, fun, and danceable techno. With locals Eats Tapes, Safety Scissors, Alland Byallo, and Frivolous from Berlin.
Superego at DNA Lounge
Oh, and good thing I have people to remind me of these things. For your "culture blender" choice this evening, how about SuperEgo: Music/Dance/Glam with electro, techno, indie remixes, crunk, disco, and glam. Featuring The Tenderloins, Shaun Slaughter, Sarah Delush, and DJs Kid Hack and Mario Muse.
And the Bar on Castro Will Now be Known As . . .
Qbar. Yes, Qbar. That's what it says on the sign for application of change of ownership.
Qbar. I keep trying to figure out the conversation that must have taken place between the new owners as they were coming up with that.
"What are we gonna call it?"
"I dunno, The Bar always sounded really good."
"Yeah, but we can't call it that. We need something new, something different, you know?"
"Something that says 'this is it, this is THE gay bar on Castro'".
"Hey, I know," one of them says, his eyes lighting up. "Let's call it QBar - you know, like Queer Bar!"
"Yeah, I like that, you know, it's still got the Bar part in it, and it says just what kind of bar it is!"
"Yeah, it's like The Bar, but more! QBar!"
"That's it baby, file the papers!"
Qbar. I keep trying to figure out the conversation that must have taken place between the new owners as they were coming up with that.
"What are we gonna call it?"
"I dunno, The Bar always sounded really good."
"Yeah, but we can't call it that. We need something new, something different, you know?"
"Something that says 'this is it, this is THE gay bar on Castro'".
"Hey, I know," one of them says, his eyes lighting up. "Let's call it QBar - you know, like Queer Bar!"
"Yeah, I like that, you know, it's still got the Bar part in it, and it says just what kind of bar it is!"
"Yeah, it's like The Bar, but more! QBar!"
"That's it baby, file the papers!"
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Adbusters Busts Up the Hipster
Maybe the best thing I've read about "hipsterdom" ever; it very nicely sums up the feelings I had while watching a hipster fashion show at The Knockout recently. When all you do is live for the cameras, be prepared to become as flat as the image you desire to be.
Hipster: The Dead End of Western Civilization
oh, and a great companion piece from Time Out New York:
Why the Hipster Must Die
My favorite quote:
Hipster: The Dead End of Western Civilization
oh, and a great companion piece from Time Out New York:
Why the Hipster Must Die
My favorite quote:
If they can vanquish the Sweet, the path for the Vicious is less obvious. A good first step might entail purging the lawyers and bankers lurking in their company. But on the other hand, those guys are good at footing the bill. Another tactic would require the conversion of snark to self-criticism, and that would necessarily involve ignoring no-talent celebrities, and mean an end to playing it safe. The safest game in town—in fashion and music especially—is retro, and if there is no Ezra Pound in corduroys out there to say, “Make it new,” let me be the one to say, “Stop making it old.”Can we get a little dose of that self-criticism around here, you think?
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
The BAR Gives the Scoop on the Bars
A great article by Matthew S. Bajko in the online version of the Bay Area Reporter sums up all the changes going on in the Castro bar scene. Just keep in mind that you read most of it here first.
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