The Middle Class, TV Ghost, and Dead Meat at Bottom of the Hill! 10/14/11

The Middle Class played San Francisco for the first time in decades Friday night. I was lucky enough to DJ the gig, so I snapped some photos. Check 'em out.
Dead Meat






TV Ghost








The Middle Class

A Quick Aside: Victim's Family/Street Eaters at Cafe Du Nord 9/30/11

Victim's Family, Bay Area weirdo punk institution, is back and playing shows these days. Kelly Kaos, friend of the blog, decided to head over to Cafe Du Nord on Friday to check them out with Street Eaters. Here's what she saw...

As I walked up to Cafe du Nord on Friday night, I heard what sounded like a girl band already blasting out of the doors from downstairs. It was rather early and I hadn't expected the show to start right at the stroke of nine. I sauntered down into the club and discovered that Street Eaters had already taken the stage. What I thought had been a girl band turned out to be the falsetto of John Geek and his life partner, Megan, who was pounding the drums as if she a guy three times her size. For a two piece, they made a lot of noise. Attendance was sparse (it was still early after all) but the few audience members there to enjoy it were appreciative all the same.

Next up was a band called Two Headed Spy. They were more of a straight up rock group, who seemed fairly competent. I could see why they were booked with Victim's Family. They had a similar sorts of guitar licks between lyrics, kind of a swooping, if you will. I can't say I minded them all that much, but they weren't my cup of tea. I went outside to smoke.

At one point I thought that I saw my friend Janna, so I went up behind her to give her a hug and it turned out to be a woman I don't think I ever met, but she and I went with the pretense of it and we spoke to each other like we had met at Thee Parkside in the bathroom line or something. Now I have a new best friend called Belinda, who followed me around. Always make sure you know who you're about to hug.

Victim's Family, the band I came to see, lived up to the expectation. The crowd was pretty excited too. Many of their most rabid fans were there to pay respects to one of the most long-lived old school punk bands in the Bay Area. The combination of punk/jazz and funk via Larry's git-down guitar slappin' style and Ralph's frenetic intellectual lyrics was intoxicating to both the crowd and the band themselves. You could tell they were having a really good time. Ralph was sweating profusely and drummer Tim was banging it out while Larry preformed a never ending dance with his bass. It was sublime for a Victim's Family fan. Even Jello Biafra was there, not surprising because Ralph is also presently playing with Jello Biafra and the Guantamano School of Medicine. It seemed that the sound was better way in the back of the club, even though you wanted to be up front where the pit was going on. You could even really hear Larry slap that bass from the ladies' room.

I hung out with John Geek and Megan from Street Eaters after the show and John told me that The Fleshies (John's old band) have a show coming up at some warehouse in the Tenderloin on Dec 9th. Keep your eyes out for that. I know I'll be going.

-Kaos Kelly

OLDMAN! ONCE AGAIN!

The first family man of hip hop is back with some video reviews! Without further ado....

Gym Class Heroes w/ Adam Levine "Stereo Hearts"


I’m a grown man so no surprise that I think this song is wack. You know who doesn’t think this song is wack? My 5 year old daughter. That’s clearly who this song was made for: girls ages 5 to 13. Its all good, they need music too. Gym Class Heroes need to check their hip hop pass at the door tho. They are about as hip hop as Linkin Park. This is one of those feature songs totally void of any real soul or emotion behind it. I'm gonna go out on a limb and say I bet Adam Levine and Travie McCoy spent zero time together in the studio working on this one. Levine sang a hook, shopped it, and these dudes had the highest bid. Insert pop hook here. I actually think Levine is a pretty talented singer, however.

Gucci Mane "Round One (Salem Remix)"


Have you ever liked something that sucks? Me too! Its called "Round One" by Gucci Mane. I guess that’s the true definition of a guilty pleasure. Just to clarify, Gucci Mane sounds like he’s drunk and cant hear the beat at all, however I do like the hella 80’s synthed out beat which adds a dark cinematic feel to the song. I picture this playing during that scene in a movie when the main character is going through a hard period in his life when he’s zonked out on some illegal substance heading for rock bottom before he comes out on top at the end. It has the feel of Miami Vice on Codeine.

Pusha T/Tyler, The Creator "Trouble On My Mind"


Pusha knows new hip hop math. Odd Future = YouTube views. This song is nothing special and has three million views. In my humble opinion, they deserve the attention. These dudes are one of the more interesting things happening right now in hip hop. I know the comparisons to Wu-Tang are well documented, but Tyler has to share some genetic connection with ODB. Seeing him hitting two wheels on a handicap cart while wearing a cast and making out with an old lady harkens back to some of the crazy shit Dirty did in his day (ie picking up a welfare check in a limo). Pusha is a member of one of the most slept on groups of the past decade and he is an afterthought in his own song due to the presence of Tyler. Also kind of weird to see the more veteran rapper try to be like the new dude on the block. Big brothers aren’t supposed to wanna be like their little brother. Come on Pusha, at least wear different socks.

Frank Ocean "Novacane"


We really are living in a drug culture when even R&B songs are about drugs. I doubt Smokey Robinson sang about poppin' Quaaludes. He is a member of OF so I guess its not too surprising. It is kinda sad though that dudes so young (some under 18 I think) are into such hard drugs. Aren’t you supposed to be smokin' weed in your parents garage at that age? The song is ok; has an "In the Air Tonight" by Phil Collins vibe. The video is crazy. Its a really good low budget video. I've never tripped but it appears to be a very genuine representation of what it must be like, as opposed to the spinning spirals and color changes usually used on TV. Now I know why they call it getting melted.

I realize that I write about what I don’t like quite a bit in the reviews so let me share a "try this instead" suggestion.

Aceyalone "Book of Human Language"


As crazy as it is to pick one song as a favorite, this might be mine. The perfect storm of music/beat, flow, and writing. Acey's ability to describe basic things in the most poetically creative ways is rare if not unparalleled. Most MC's are either very literal or try too hard to be abstract and end up being totally unintelligible (see Aesop Rock). I think real genius is easily understood. "Even though I trail with bread crumbs, I'll take it the Max Headroom" for example as a way to describe his trait of being both cautious and aggressive is real lyricism in my mind. Or describing fear as "your spacesuit's got a tear." Not the most common metaphor for fear but I can’t think of anything that would make me piss my pants more. The lyrics are delivered with genuine passion that only true MCs have when they write something they know is next level. Enough gushing over another dude, check it out for yourself.

EP Reviews! Broadway Calls! Pepper! Wavves!

Sometimes full lengths are a drag. Not to mention, how many bands have put a song on a full length only to never play it beyond recording it? That shit is a waste. Here are some new EPs worth checking out.

Broadway Calls Toxic Kids



I interviewed Broadway Calls for SFist last year and in that interview, singer/guitarist Ty Vaughan mentioned that he had been listening to "lots of Green Day" as he was prepping songs for an upcoming release which at that time, appeared to be a full length. Apparently Broadway Calls didn't feel like waiting to put out a full length and decided to hit us with six of those "heavy on the Green Day" tracks via an ep entitled Toxic Kids. Vaughan wasn't lying when he alluded to Green Day being an influence on these newer songs, but what stands out the most about this EP is the raw, grimey production which is a far cry from the band's last full-length, Good Views, Bad News. Toxic Kids, with its gritty production, falls much more in line with the bands live sound and aesthetic than the super-slick Good Views, Bad News (but that's not saying we aren't fans of that record or anything). Stand out tracks include the opener, "I'm So Ready To Be Done With My Twenties" (a sentiment I found myself thinking when I left that decade of my life behind) as well as the peppy, upbeat title track, "Toxic Kids". The band just left on a month long tour which will take them out to The Fest in Florida, so check their website (broadwaycalls.tumblr.com) for tour dates and go get your pogo on.

Pepper Stitches



One of my best friends turned me onto Pepper about seven years ago. He and I are both Sublime fans (make all the fun you want, we give no fucks) and I want to say some girl he was hanging out floated him their first full length, which we found appealing as Sublime fans. Pepper were a solid reggae/ska band, nothing more, nothing less. I ended up getting wasted with the band in Atlanta when their tour played the downstairs room of the Masquerade (I was upstairs drum teching for Unearth). Their latest release, Stitches, is five songs of catchy ska/reggae that will be huge with college kids nationwide. The highlight of the ep would definitely be "Drunk Girl", which is an homage to that all too common party occurrence known as inebriated women. "Wake Up" lends itself well to some epic pogo-ing and sees vocalist Kaleo Wassmen doing his best Brad Nowell (and doing him justice, might I add). Stitches sort of trails off as it ends (the slowish "Lonely" and acoustic version of "Mirror" don't hold up as well against the ep's earlier tracks), but overall, fans of fun, reggae, summertime, partying, and bonfires are going to be REALLY into this ep.

Wavves Life Sux



At first, I wasn't really a fan of Wavves. That first lp was brutal on my ears and I was somewhat jealous that their singer/guitarist Nathan Williams was dating Bethanny from Best Coast. I saw Wavves open for Best Coast and even that particular live show left a little to be desired. On a whim, I decided to check out the King Of The Beach record and was totally blown away. I don't know what I hadn't been hearing before, but Wavves were fucking awesome. Life Sux dropped last month and has picked up where King Of The Beach left off and then some. Wavves mastermind Nathan Williams has perfected blending beachy surf rock with noisy pop punk so much that MTV can't stop using his songs in the background of Jersey shore almost weekly. "I Wanna Be Dave Grohl", the ep's first single, is one of those anthemic songs that lends itself well to epic car singalongs and serious public transportation air drumming. Life Sux features collaborations with Best Coast and Fucked Up, the former being laden with cute, female background vocals and the latter sounding basically like a Wavves song sans collaborators, but we all know Fucked Up blows so no one should be surprised. Life Sux will be all over several "best of 2011" lists, so cop this shit now because its that good.

Getting Smooth With Bryan Xibalba

Frankly, I can't get enough of this song/video. Our friend Bryan is holding it down on bass, gravity bong, and Night Train in this.

Like most of you, I waste a good amount of my time awake fucking around on Twitter. One of the people I follow is Bryan Valdivia, bassist of up and coming metal/hc band Xibalba (who you should follow at @shadowboxinn). I noticed over the tenure of following him that this dude LOVED r+b and hip hop. Not just like, flavor of the week/shit hipsters think is cool/ironic hip hop and r+b, like shit that was huge when I was in middle school style stuff. Bryan's love for these jams is deep and legit as much his love for brutal shit is (this obvious due to his involvement in the almighty Xibalba). I'm not saying you can't love hard stuff and r+b, but Bryan is obviously on some next level shit as far as his feelings on hip hop and r+b go. So we decided to give him a space to drop knowledge on the world of hip hop and r+b. Without further ado, Bryan Valdivia...

It's finally happened. I have my own blog where I can post whatever I feel about music from back in the day and today. I remember one of my friends told me, "You should write your own blog where you post music videos and write about them." What he meant by that was, I always post videos on my Facebook and usually write a little story to go with it. It's usually always old R&B and Hip Hop tracks that I have story's about.
I play bass in Xibalba and at first listen you would think, "these guys only listen to slow and heavy shit". However, the reality is that we listen to the total opposite. Everyone in Xibalba listens to everything and I truly mean EVERYTHING. Our friend was complaining on tour how we are such a "hord"(that's how my foos say it) band and if people found out what we listen to they would think we're some pussies. On our first U.S. tour we were bumpin' Dr. Dre - Chronic 2001 (which I think is BETTER than the original Chronic), Sade (one of my favorite musical artists. Don't believe me? If you ever see me in person I'll show you my Sade tattoo), The Cranberries (Brian Ortiz, the guitarist in Xibalba has Dolores O'Riordan tattooed on his arm), The Fuguees, The Cure, Sublime, The Notorious B.I.G, Wu-Tang, Throwdown (Beyond Repair of course), Depeche Mode, The Stone Roses, Mariah Carey, The Smiths, Eminem (The Slim Shady L.P. is amazing)m, as well as the great Creedence Clearwater Revival.
Everyone in the band will agree that good music is good music, doesn't matter what kind it is. I was lucky to grow up in the early 90s but also very fortune to have an older brother and sister that were deep into R&B and Hip Hop in the 80s and early 90s (before this band from Aberdeen, Washington changed my life....NEVERMIND I'm getting sidetracked). R&B and Hip Hop have been the soundtrack of my life for as long as I can remember and it still is (my parents would bump: Vicente Fernandez, Juan Gabriel, & Ana Gabriel but that's for another blog). I tell everyone the first songs I can remember hearing when I was young was: Geto Boyz - My Mind Is Playin' Tricks On Me, MC Breed - No Future In Yo' Frontin', and Shai - If I Ever Fall In Love. R&B and Hip Hop was instilled in me at a young age because of my brother and sister and still to this day I thank them. I don't know if anyone is going to read this but if one person does and they enjoy it than I did my job.

SWV - Weak


I have such a weak (no pun intended) spot for girl groups from the 90s, and SWV is a classic girl group from the 90s. What's even funnier is that I was singing this song about a week ago and it's been stuck in my head since, so I guess it's perfect this is the first song I review. SWV had other hits but this is for sure the hit that people will probably remember from them but I also suggest you check out "Right Here/Human Nature" & "I'm So Into You". I haven't seen this video in a while but damn these girls are fine. The main singer, Coko, is mad fine. The singing on this track is on point. I love the part when they sing "cause my heart starts beatings triple time, with thoughts of loving you on my mind". That chorus is amazing. You can't help but groove to it and when it ends with "can't explain why your loving makes me weak", it gets me every time. I'm laughing as I'm watching this video because its typical 90s R&B girl group to dress up thug but be singing the soft songs, but I'm not complaining and they can for sure pull it off. They look like members of the Wu-Tang Clan. I'm a big hopeless romantic softy so I feel this song and it makes me smile because it reminds me of hearing this full blast in my sisters room when I was young. Man remember when girls used to be sucking lollipops? They need to bring that back. I don't see that anymore. I think that's sexy. When the third verse hits you can feel she is really feeling whoever she wrote this song about. Lucky man, in my book. I love how it ends because they go all out. "Something 'bout the way you do, the things you do ooh ooh, it..." LOVE that part and than it comes back to level. Its like she got excited just thinking about him and than realized she needs to calm it down a little bit. Such an amazing track. I suggest giving it a listen.

Helmet/House Of Pain "Just Another Victim


Damn, I remember this. My brother had this CD because I remember the cover. My brother has every Hip Hop cd known to man. I swear he has everything. Now I'm a fan of Helmet, but I'm not a fan of House of Pain at all. I mean "Jump Around" was coo when I was 5 but other than that they never really did it for me and probably never will. I will say this track is heavy and has such a catchy riff and even though I don't like House of Pain. Everlast comes hard on this track. "I built the House, I felt the Pain. You're victimized but got no one to blame." Now at the end of this song I found myself playing it again. Bands always do mash-ups and they usually are shitty but this one, I give it a thumbs up. I fucks with it.

Tower Of Power "So Very Hard To Go"


Ahh, a classic R&B group from the great city of Oakland. How can you not love this track? Just listen to those horns and sax. I hear horns and sax in music these days, but it doesn't feel right. This feels right. I love listening to soul oldies like this. There was a point where this is what I would listen to all the time because this music makes you feel something. It feels like music was so pure back then, and you can feel it just listening to it. Just listening to this puts a smile on my face even though if you pay attention to the lyrics, its not that happy of a song. I love when the back up singers come in with "so very hard to go.." Damn, that horn section is no joke. Such a great track.

The Weeknd - "Loft Music"


Now a lot of my foos have been listening to The Weeknd. They'd post videos and I didn't pay attention 'til all of those foos were posting videos on them, so I had to check it out. I forgot what song it was, but it was coo. This is second time I've heard of The Weeknd and I'll tell you this: I like it. I LOVE catchy shit and this is catchy as hell. Damn, the more I'm listening to this I actually really like it. Straight baby making music, but from what I can make out from this song this foo seems pissed. He also said "fuck faces", which right away reminds me of one of my favorite artists, Devin The Dude. The beat hits (I wonder who produced this track). The track lost me at the end when it seemed like he was just whining. I loved hearing the beat ride out, but I can't stand listening to the auto-tune bullshit.

Pete Rock and CL Smooth - "They Reminisce Over You"


Now this is my jam! The Soul Brother Pete Rock and CL Smooth in the classic "T.R.O.Y. - They Reminisce Over You." I miss the days of the duo of a dope producer and emcee like EPMD, GangStarr (R.I.P. Guru), Boogie Down Productions (R.I.P. Scott LaRock), and the legendary Eric B. & Rakim. I mean we got some really talented groups these days like Blu & Exile (if you haven't heard "Below The Havens," do yourself a favor and drop everything you're doing after you're done reading this and download that album. You can't get it on cd anymore cause its out of print. Lucky for me, I got a copy but download it and you'll thank me later). I love how the video starts showing old pictures of family members and straight to CL Smooth at the table with his moms and family. Damn, those drums and guitar at the start then the amazing sax comes in. I love it. If you're a hip hop fan, and you hear that sax part, right away you have to think of T.R.O.Y. The video sets the tone for the song. This song is for their homie Troy Dixon, who died around the time this record came out. Pete Rock gives him a shout out at the end of the song (Trouble T Roy). He was a dancer with Heavy D and the Boyz. There's some knowledge for ya. Damn, I love this track. I for sure remember my brother bumpin' this when it came out. Mecca and the Soul Brother is a classic hip hop album. I recommend that everyone cops it, it's a must have. When they put some of the shots in black and white it adds to the verse that CL is spittin'. You can feel what he is sayin'. CL puts a lot of himself in this song and I love when artist do that. What I love about hip hop is you can relate to it a lot. Most people think you can't, but they're listening to the wrong stuff. I love how CL delivers, "Listen, positive over negative for the women and master, Mother Queen's rising a chapter, Deja vu, tell you what I'm gonna do, When they reminisce over you, my God". You know what I else love about 90s hip hop? They had mad style. One of my favorite parts is in the second verse and how he says "My old man standing yelling 'Good God Almighty!" Love that part. Pete Rock laid down such a great beat and CL rides it perfect. These two had amazing chemistry and I'm glad they are working together again. They went years without talking to each other because they had differences when it came to music, but after Guru's death, they decided to get back together. I guess they didn't want what happened to Gangstarr to happen to them. That makes me happy. I mean listen to this CLASSIC track. It would be a great loss if they never made music together again. If you have never heard this song, I don't know what to tell you. You're truly missing out on one of the greatest hip hop songs of all time. Plain and simple. One of my favorite modern day Hip Hop groups that break- awhile ago, Little Brother, sampled this track on the last song off their record The Listening titled, "The Listening". There's another recommendation from me. That track alone speaks a lot about the bullshit in the Hip Hop game when it comes to groups, record labels, & even fans. Check that song out but after you peep this CLASSIC track.

Xibalba recently put out a full length called "Madre Mia Gracias Por Los Dias", which is available anywhere, and fucking kills. They are currently writing a follow up, but will probably be out on tour again real soon, fucking up this entire country. Support these dudes, and get ready for Bryan's next offering, because this dude LOVES music, and so do we.

EXHUMED/THEORIES/TRANSIENT/THE SWIZARD SLAY A METAL MATINEE AT THE UPTOWN!

If you haven't figured it out by now, I DJ using the name, The Swizard. I DJed a metal matinee featuring Exhumed, Theories, and Transient at The Uptown in Oakland. I snapped some ill pictures. Check em out below:

Transient













Theories





























Exhumed

Reggae Hit LA Then SF: The Aggrolites, Peelander Z, and Brothers of Brazil At Slim's on 9/15/11

When I walked into Slim's the night of September 16th, there couldn't have been more than 75 people in the club waiting for the show to start. I couldn't believe it. The Aggrolites are one of the greatest live bands currently touring, and usually tend to pack whatever venue they come through in the Bay Area. However, it was still early and I didn't completely write off the taste and nightlife preferences of San Francisco and meandered around Slim's waiting for the show to begin. I strive to keep myself from being jaded and cynical and besides, I got to see The Aggrolites that night. Why be in a bad mood over the poor taste of others?

The opening act for Thursday's show was a band called Brothers of Brazil. There really wasn't anything that could have prepared me for them...



The two man group were a combination of Bossa Nova, Billy Bragg-esque folk, the furious punk attitude of the Sex Pistols, something French that I couldn't quite put my finger on, and a healthy dose of witty, pop culture inspired humor. As they kicked off their set, drawing heavily from their PunkaNova, I wasn't quite sure what to think. I almost felt like I was staring at a strobe light, unable to really process exactly what these two crazy looking dudes were doing onstage. As the set went on, it became apparent that the Brothers of Brazil were brilliant. They managed to blend several very unique musical styles and couple that with a very natural, humorous onstage banter, making for one of the greatest half hours of live music I have seen all year. As the set went on, I learned that they are actually brothers and from Brazil, so Brothers of Brazil isn't just a clever name. These guys were hilarious, captivating, and played incredibly refreshing material. I highly recommended catching these guys as well as picking up PunkaNova.










Then Peelander Z happened...



As Slim's began to fill up with people, I should have known something was up when I saw these random punker looking guys and girl walking around in neon-colored, leopard-print clothing lurking around the merch tables. What actually went down was mind-blowing. Peelander-Z play "Japanese Action Comic Punk", which I can assure after Thursday's set is far much more than just a unique subgenre of punk rock. Musically, Peelander-Z play fast, aggressive punk that at times is reminiscent of Bad Brains, but on copious amounts of nitrous oxide. The music isn't really the star of the Peelander Z's show though. The band has one of the most hilarious inactive live shows I have ever seen. The band would introduce each song by holding up handwritten signs (as seen in the photo above", hand out drumsticks and metal dog bowls to be struck, animal costumes, a crowd-wide limbo game, and bowling the guitar player bowled with the bassist. Words don't even begin to do this justice. While Brothers of Brazil played an amazing set to a crowd who still stayed back near the bar, Peelander Z made participating in their show mandatory. Even people who weren't loving their music, Peenlander Z had everyone in the room at the very least laughing and smiling with them. I can't say for certain that the magic translates onto their recorded albums, but you absolutely have to see Peelander Z live. It was unlike anything I had ever seen. I took a lot of pictures, so bare with me.




















The Aggrolites



By the time Peelander Z had finished their set, I seriously wondered what The Aggrolites were going to do to top that set. Granted, both bands are very different at what they bring to the table live, but even with that taken into consideration, following up Peelander Z would be a daunting undertaking for any band, even another prop heavy live band, such as Gwar. Doubt never should have entered my mind. The Aggrolites not only eclipsed Peelander Z, but delivered one of the greatest live sets San Francisco has seen all year. The band blazed through an hour and a half of stop on a dime first wave ska meets rocksteady with a tinge of soul reggae, drawing from all four of their studio records. In addition to their own material, The Aggrolites brought the house down with two covers, The Temptations "Ain't To Proud To Beg" and the Beatles "Don't Let Me Down". The Aggrolites put their own spin on these classics and managed to make them their own while doing both songs justice. The band is touring in support of Unleashed Vol. I, a live album that dropped earlier this month and based on how good the live show was, this may be the first live record worth picking up in a long time. The Aggrolites are one of the greatest live bands out right now, and got an entire room of random college kids, skinheads, and punkers dancing and singing along. If you are a fan of outstanding music, The Aggrolites need to be on your list of bands to see. They're on tour through the end of October. Go out and dance.