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Return of the mac$

Filthy-fun rap supergroup Kalri$$ian is back -- with Star Magic, black-jawed cobras, Colt 45s, and acres of nose candy

04.23.13 - 4:46 pm | Marke B. |
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marke@sfbg.comRead more »

Precious Metal

With the release of her dark, avant-pop sophomore album, Oakland's Metal Mother is free to pursue her primal side

04.02.13 - 4:12 pm | Emily Savage |
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emilysavage@sfbg.com

MUSIC A lot of elements needed to come together to inspire Metal Mother's new record, Ionika. You can almost picture the woman behind the sobriquet, crouching in some foggy wooded wonderland, scooping up soil and critters, ancient buried treasures of forgotten societies and precious metals. Before we get into specifics, let's slip off the mask. Metal Mother is really, mostly, the glossy coating of one delicate Oakland musician: Taara Tati.Read more »

Just chill

On the cusp of headlining Noise Pop slots, Toro Y Moi releases an album equally inspired by J Dilla and his new Bay Area home

02.26.13 - 2:23 pm | George McIntire |
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arts@sfbg.com

MUSIC Four years ago, in the waning days of the aughts, the befuddling adlib term "chillwave" forged in the throes of the blogosphere, accompanied nearly every story about acts like Neon Indian, Washed Out, and Toro Y Moi. For the uninitiated, chillwave is a cheap, slap-on label used to describe grainy, dancey, lo-fi, 1980s inspired music, and most importantly is a disservice to any band associated with it. Luckily for music writers and listeners alike, this term has died a relatively swift death.Read more »

Party Radar: Red Bull Thre3style hypes up the Bay

01.23.13 - 12:58 pm | Marke B. |
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Every year, the musical magi at Red Bull scoop up a gaggle of disparately-styled local DJs and feed them into the hype machine, spitting out a DJ battle blast, surprisingly full of fun and Bay Area pride. Although compared to years past, the upcoming 2013 SF Red Bull Thre3style (Thu/24, 8pm at The Independent, $15) has been scaled back somewhat -- only five competitors this year, instead of the usual eight, and all of them are hip-hop/electro heavy dudes -- it's still gonna be a hair-raising time, and a chance to check out some talent outside your micro-niched nightlife comfort zone. 

Plus, the competition is kinda tricky!

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The Performant: Books and beats

01.17.13 - 5:23 pm | Nicole Gluckstern |
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Belly dance at Literary Clown Foolery. Photo by Nicole Gluckstern
Life coaching at Literary Clown Foolery. Photo by Nicole Gluckstern
Mustard and Carl at Literary Clown Foolery. Photo by Nicole Gluckstern
Raka Don at Los Rakas. Photo by Nicole Gluckstern
Biceps and beats at Los Rakas show. Photo by Nicole Gluckstern
Raka Rich of Los Rakas. Photo by Nicole Gluckstern

Starting the New Year off right with Clown Foolery and Los Rakas

It’s a Friday night and the Booksmith is full of clowns. Seriously, it’s like a clown convention in here. Fully half the oddience are off-duty clowns, and the rest of us just kind of look like we should be. We’ve gathered together for the monthly clown jam/variety show Literary Clown Foolery, the first of the year, appropriately themed New Year’s Resolutions.

True, the free beer and cheese puffs at the door seem to run slightly counter to the kinds of resolutions that get a lot of attention around this time of year. But they are the perfect accompaniment to loosening up any natural inhibitions one might otherwise feel when seated within spitting distance of a whole passel of unpredictable clowns, so no one’s complaining.

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Sacred space

On its 30th anniversary, SFJazz gambles on a 700-seat, $63 million concert hall and HQ. Can it re-energize a San Francisco scene?

01.15.13 - 6:22 pm | Emily Savage |
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emilysavage@sfbg.com

MUSIC There will be no bad seats at the new SFJazz Center in Hayes Valley; or at least, that's the goal.Read more »

Gentle mosh

TOFU AND WHISKEY: Vetiver and Howlin Rain team up for a troika of shows

12.28.12 - 1:39 am | Emily Savage |
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TOFU AND WHISKEY Vetiver and Howlin Rain have both been haunting around the Bay for the better part of a decade. Sonically split, playing tender Americana folk and 1970s-tinged psychedelic rock, respectively, the bands share a common thread of superior musicanship and drive — each releasing a landmark album in the past year or so (Howlin Rain's The Russian Wilds and Vetiver's The Errant Charm). The other link? Mutual admiration.Read more »

Landlocked

Stockton's Surf Club devotes tidal wave tempos, vocal harmonies to young love

05.22.12 - 5:33 pm | Ryan Prendiville |
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arts@sfbg.com

MUSIC Pavement. That's all I really associate with Stockton. Personally, I've only been there once, few weeks back on my way to Yosemite, and I just drove through — 205 to 120 — stopping once for gas. So pavement all the way. Yet, despite the lack of waves, it's home to Surf Club, a sunny four-piece that's recently released its debut EP, Young Love, on Death Party Records.Read more »

Pre-boarding call: Jorge De Hoyos’s “Departing Things”

04.13.12 - 11:43 am | Robert Avila |
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In the last few years, Los Angeles–born and San Francisco–based dancer-choreographer Jorge De Hoyos has worked with Sara Shelton Mann and Meg Stuart, traveled with Keith Hennessy’s Turbulence project, performed in Laura Arrington’s supersized SQUART marathon at Headlands Center for the Arts, and much, much more — including projects by Christine Bonansea, Sommer Ulrickson, Erika Chong Shuch Performance Project, Jesse Hewit/Strong Behavior, Pearl Marill/Pump Dance Theater, Naked Empire Bouffon Company, and Jenny McAllister. You may also have been one of the 25 or so lucky souls who traipsed after him in Golden Gate Park when he and Macklin Kowal went about in delirious Euro-drag for Bonjour le matin.

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You're gonna need to upsize that popcorn

04.11.12 - 3:45 pm | Cheryl Eddy and Guardian Staff Writers |
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Guess how many movies are opening in the Bay Area Fri/13? Sixteen. Sixteen, y'all. That might be an all-time Ultimate Grand Supreme record. So in this saturated situation, what's worth seeing, considering this is your last weekend before the San Francisco International Film Festival sets up shop and dominates all your moviegoing brain cells?

First, check out Dennis Harvey's feature-length review of Applause, imported from Denmark and featuring "a flamboyant, arresting, faultless star turn" from Paprika Steen, a megastar in her home country.

Seeking more? Here are five (out of 16, remember — true fiends can check out our complete film listings if five ain't enough) to get you through the weekend.

A buzzed-about doc on the (unfortunately) hot topic of teen bullying:

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