| #544 |
|
2001 |
This one's coming at ya from San Francisco. At first glance it would seem that there is about the same amount of interesting stuff going on in San Francisco as there is in Sydney. The liquor laws prevent clubs, bars and venues from selling alcohol after 2am and the drinking age is 21 too so everything is severely limited especially since the dotcom boom has pushed rents skyhigh and also meant that the availability for all-nighters in warehouses has become serious limited. Nevertheless what is going on is great. I touched down on Sunday after Reprazent and Scanner had just been through town. Catching a bit of sleep before heading out, the weather was (and remains) pretty avergae - cold and wet. I headed for a little electronic night in a club called the Beauty Bar in the Latino district, Mission. There there was some live electronic acts in a venue and soundsystem very much like the old Clan Analogue nights at the Bentley Bar five or so years ago in Sydney. I caught a crazy girl called Viki from Detroit drop a half hour set of old analogue sounds made with toys that had been rewired. She sounded a bit like Add N To X with a sardonic rap over the top and she used everything from a toy chainsaw (yes, only in America) to a 80s toy sampler which recorded and played back from cardboard with a magnetic strip on it. Next was an electro trio, Concepts who work seperately with a whole range of other musicians including the Anticon collective. Their sound was hard edged electro which slowly transformed into some very nice melodic downtempo stuff with 3/4 breakbeats. Just a block away was Dubmission, a long running weekly digidub night in a pretty dingy pub. There they were having a roots night that sounded very much like Sydney's own Firehouse nights. They were launching a new compilation from local label Positive Sound Massive called Riddim Please. By the time I got there it was pretty late (1am) but the place was still pretty full. Monday was warmer and I ventured off to Haight Ashbury. There there is this enormous record shop called Amoeba which is an offshoot of one that has been running for 20 years in Berkeley. Amoeba is in an old bowling alley and I've never seen a bigger store. Every imaginable sound is there and even the 2nd hand records are catalogued in the racks by artist. It is quite amazing but pricewise everything costs about the same as in Australia. I even noticed Adelaide boy Thug had his CD in the racks there. Of course, the range is great . . . . Later in the afternoon there was word of Anticon doing a lowkey experimental gig at a benefit for a local metalhead who had been in some accident and didn't have health insurance (yep, things are pretty ruthless in the States). Heading down to this Scottish 'theme pub' I had to endure about three hours of mid-80s sounding anarchopunk and death metal. The wait was worth it. Dose One and Sole stepped up with a drumemr from one of the metal bands, two other Anticon affilaites on a Casiotone keyboard and an electric cello, and one of the guys from Concepts, the electro group I saw the previous night. For such a small crowd it was quite stunning. Crazy lyrical improvisation, weird 'un-nip hop' backing, Dose One and Sole definitely are people pushing hip hop well beyond the cliches and limitations of 'keep-it-real-isms'. Anyway that's about it for this week. In another day's time there is a Tigerbeat label event at a small club in Chinatown with the whole laptop massive - Kid606, Lesser and Blectum From Blechdom. All ultra cheap. But don't worry, Sydney doesn't miss all the good stuff. in fact we have stacks of good stuff going on right under our noses. The further you go the more you realise this. And this coming weekend I fly back to town, land, get a few hours sleep then its time for The Big Chill at the Metro on the Saturday with all manner of exciting downtempo characters. Frigid on the Sunday hosts a special event The Smaller Chill with Wagon Christ aka Luke Vibert, Tim Love Lee, Pete Lawrence, and locals Sub Bass Snarl, Sir Robbo, The Telemetry Orchestra, Quark Kent and Little Nobody from Melbourne. Its $15 at the Hopetoun from an earlier 2pm (there's a lot to fit in there) so come early. Don't miss it. Luke's sorted a bigger PA and there will be other crazy stuff going on too. Then the following week its Freaky Loops. Go get your tickets now - it will be massive. Yellow Peril / Sub Bass Snarl (in San Francisco)  Goto
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