Noise Pop (A Taste Of S.F. Indie Rock)

For the last 14 years, the Noise Pop Music Festival has brought San Francisco club audiences a celebration of all things indie rock. Starting in 1993 as a showcase for local acts, organizers began with a mere 3 bands on a single night to gradually mushroom into a week long event across multiple stages packed with films, lectures, seminars and 100+ music acts, both local and national. Noise Pop was originally intended to extol "upbeat, melody driven rock that never met a distortion pedal it didn't like." However, it has since embraced a broader, more encompassing agenda, although 'upbeat' and 'melody driven' rock are still at it's heart and soul.

The Bay Area has always nurtured a strong, vibrant independent music scene with many deserving artists toiling nightly in the small venues that give them an opportunity to woodshed their material and build a following. Although I certainly don't get out to the clubs as often as I once had, I have on those less frequent occasions heard ample talent and impressive sounds from today's new crop of music makers. Despite the 2008 festival being months away, this week's post brings you a handful of the Bay Area bands and solo acts whose music falls under the Noise Pop umbrella and who have caught the attention of my ears over the last year, thus making this my personal Noise Pop festival. Not intended to be a representation of all that the Bay Area music scene has to offer, nor for that matter a cross-section of those considered to be the créme de la créme, this week's mix merely showcases those talents whose music has brought me pleasure and hopefully will bring the same to you.

It's got to be difficult in today's world for a young musician to create a new and truly unique sound, for what hybrid hasn't already been attempted? What conflux of influences hasn't been tapped, consciously or otherwise? The advent of digital technology too, has brought with it a peculiar obstacle. When stuck for an idea, the challenge to create something wholly original becomes that much more arduous when one can simply call up a vintage sound with the touch of a button or click of a mouse. It's a pitfall that many fall into and can easily become a crutch. Therefore, serious musicians must be thoroughly dedicated in their pursuits in order to avoid the tired clichés that run through so much of what passes for contemporary music. But perhaps it is the music industry itself that is the biggest hurdle facing musicians today; an industry that actually encourages mediocrity over brilliance, rewarding those who model themselves after proven cash cows rather than those attempt to undertake an original voice.

Although fine song craftsmen all, the makings of greatness may or may not be present in the songs of those who I've selected for my Noise Pop mix (although I do have expectations for Etienne de Rocher). Their influences are often conspicuous, but at the same time, oddly charming. Those of us who are older, or those of us with the biggest ears will surely hear traces of stars like Syd Barrett, Ray Davies, Robert Smith, even the (domestically) obscure Love Affair (as well as others) running throughout the songs below. Only time and hard work will determine whether these young artists will grow and mature to become capable of true musical transcendence (provided that's what they're even striving to achieve, though I believe they clearly are). For me, the real excitement of the 10 acts included here, lay in their indisputable potential for distinction and the joy of witnessing their progress as they move forward on that uphill path to transcendence.

1.) Kelley Stoltz/Memory Collector
2.) The Music Lovers/Saturday
3.) Murder Of Lilies/Elector
4.) Ray's Vast Basement/How Through Sacrifice, Danny's Friends Gave A Party
5.) Sean Hayes/Elizabeth Sways
6.) Gris Gris/Year Zero
7.) Gris Gris/Bakery
8.) The Dilettantes/Subterranean Bazaar
9.) Vetiver/Been So Long
10.) Scissors For Lefty/Nickles And Dimes
11.) Etienne de Rocher/Moonshine
12.) Murder Of Lilies/Down The Hollow
13.) Kelley Stoltz/Underwater's Where The Action Is
14.) Vetiver/Maureen
15.) The Dilettantes/Don't You Ever Fall
16.) Scissors For Lefty/Next To Argyle
17.) Rays' Vast Basement/California's Gone
18.) Sean Hayes/Baby I Do
19.) The Music Lovers/You Have The City
20.) Etienne de Rocher/Goodnight

To download click here, unzip, then check your local club listings for the names above to see if any may soon be coming to your town.

The Dirt On The Ground (Dave Alexander)

My first encounter with Dave Alexander came when he acted as house pianist for the 1970 Ann Arbor Jazz and Blues Festival, providing rhythmic and melodic support for a variety of artists on the festival's main stage. Impressed by his ability to seamlessly shift styles with each new musician that employed his talents, I made a half-assed attempt to make note of his name, hoping to one day hear him workout with his own band and material. That opportunity came a few years later in San Francisco where my second encounter with Dave occurred at a local dance hall concert. To my surprise, he and his band were the opening act for Van Morrison in what became a extraordinary night of soulful music. Again, I was impressed by his command of the keyboard although this time out, I heard his original material and was electrified! Regretting that I had forgotten to investigate his recorded works as I had promised myself, I later rooted through the KRE record library to find his two Arhoolie Record releases and immediately made them a regular part of my on-air programming.

Dave came to the Bay Area by way of Texas in 1957, settling in Oakland to play the low rent bars of the thriving East Bay blues scene. There he backed everyone from Big Mama Thornton and Jimmy McCracklin to Lowell Fulson and Jimmy Witherspoon while working on his own material. Later in 1968, he cut his first sides for the World Pacific label called 'Oakland Blues,' a compilation of artists from that notable blues city. As the rock revolution began transforming the club scene, Alexander began appearing as a semi-regular, opening for rock acts at the now well-known ballrooms and dance halls of the period. It's at this point where I entered to find myself rummaging through the station library looking for Dave's music; a boogie blues style that is steeped in tradition yet highly modern, rife with Horace Silver-isms and two fisted barrelhouse.

Sadly, as the music scene continued to morph, Alexander's name slowly slipped from the club listings to eventually disappear altogether. Had he retired? Relocated? Worst yet, passed away? I really didn't know, but the memory of his powerful playing remained with me and his two LP's, 'The Rattler' and 'The Dirt On The Ground' gained permanent homes in my own personal record collection, one of which I share with you in this post. The story does not end here however and picks up many years later.

In the late 1980's or early 90's, I had my third and last startling encounter with Alexander and as with the previous times, it happened quite by chance. After having become disenchanted with commercial radio, I turned to performance, forming my own jazz/blues quartet to mildly successful acclaim. While laboring on the cutting edge of obscurity, I found myself in 'Old Town' Sacramento where I noticed a larger crowd convening across the street at the door to another club. Curiosity (and ego) won me over and during a break, I moseyed over to see just what I was missing. Descending the staircase of the rathskeller saloon, I heard a familiar piano sound and who was sitting at the keyboard? None other than the incredible Dave Alexander (now calling himself Omar Sharriff), quite alive and definitely swinging! When asked for the answer to his mysterious disappearance, he laid it out to me something like this: it seems that he too had become disillusioned. Dropping out of the music scene, he changed his name, moved North, laid low, and was now actively performing again in the Sierra music community and much happier for the effort. And with that, the story comes full circle.

As a postscript, I soon anticipate another chance to see and hear Omar, as he is scheduled to appear in this year's San Francisco Blues Festival which is scheduled for the upcoming weekend of September 28-30, 2007.

The featured download this week is 'The Dirt On The Ground,' Dave Alexander's 2nd Arhoolie LP (sadly out of print) whose tracks are listed below. Dave is accompanied by bassist Larry Murdo and drummer Mickey Durio who both display a deep simpatico for his songs. The material reflects Alexander's broad ranging repertoire and his uncanny ability to fuse many diverse elements into one extremely personal voice.

1. The Hoodoo Man (The Voodoo Woman & The Witch Doctor)
2. St. James Infirmary
3. Blue Tumbleweed
4. Sundown
5. Sufferin' With The Lowdown Blues
6. Strange Woman
7. Cold Feelin'
8. Jimmy, Is That You?
9. So You Wanna Be A Man
10. The Dirt On The Ground

To download, click here and boogie!

Basin Street, New Orleans

On the subject of shameful behavior, I am reminded that at this time 2 years ago, major portions of New Orleans were still under water due to the appalling and unforgivably slow response of our government agencies to the devastating effects of breaks in the city's levee system, neglected for years and weakened by the wrath of Hurricane Katrina; the very agencies designed to assist and alleviate the suffering and hardship of those affected by disasters such as that experienced by residents of the Crescent City. And one must remember that not only New Orleans, but many other locales along the Gulf Coast were destroyed as well. The unspeakable loss of life, property and livelihoods should be an inexcusable embarrassment to the Bush administration, as well as to the state branch of the government who stood by idly as the flood waters rose to unprecedented levels, leaving New Orleans to marinate amidst the filth and muck. The horrifying images of those left to defend for themselves in the aftermath of the catastrophe, provided a potent symbol of the racial and social injustice still prevalent in America; a sobering scar to the psyche of a nation already reeling from the blunders of our leaders insistence on the necessity of war and occupation in Iraq.

Today, the city of New Orleans is on the rebound, slowly rising from the slime and sludge that buried it under the surge of Lake Pontchartrain in 2005. In typical Nawlin' fashion, the Big Easy pulled off successful Mardi Gras and Jazz Heritage Festival celebrations with sassy finesse, but those events were merely the city putting on a brave face for the world while it struggles to rebuild a severely fractured infrastructure. Recent reports indicate that the city is in the grips of a 'mental health crisis,' as clinics and hospitals were destroyed, health care professionals relocated and basic services have yet to be restored, leaving thousands to wrestle with a downward slide into clinical depression with no resources to treat their psychiatric needs. The reconstruction of New Orleans is inevitable, although thus far the majority of aid has come not from government funding, but rather volunteers and humanitarian organizations.

One element however that can't easily be reconstituted is the musical community that exemplifies New Orleans, not only as the birthplace of jazz, but as an American city rich in tradition and soulful music from Jelly Roll, Satchmo, Sidney Bechet and Professor Longhair to Dave Bartholomew, Irma Thomas, Allen Toussaint, the funky Meters plus many, many more. As with the city's poor, the present-day working musicians of the Crescent City have been forced to move elsewhere to make their livelihood; many having lost their jobs, homes, even their cherished instruments to the muddy abyss.

'Basin Street, New Orleans' is a collection of artists who call the city their home and are affiliated with Basin Street Records, a small but admirable label who strive to keep the legacy of New Orleans alive with an accurate representation of the city's music scene in the 21st century. The artists and songs included in this mix include:

1. The Headhunters/Slick It
2. Jon Cleary & The Absolute Monster Gentlemen/When You Get Back
3. Los Hombres Calientes/Creole Groove
4. Kermit Ruffins/When I Die
5. The Headhunters/Loft Funk
6. The Headhunters/Take No Prizzonerz
7. Jason Marsalis/Seven : Ay Pocky Way
8. Jon Cleary & The Absolute Monster Gentlemen/Oh, No No No
9. The Headhunters/Nutcracker
10. Irvin Mayfield/Jazz Poetry, No.1
11.The Headhunters /Woody Shaw
12. Kermit Ruffins/Drop Me Off In New Orleans
13. Los Hombres Calientes/Foforo Fo Firi

To download, click here and second line into town!

For more on the artists and label, check out the Basin Street Records web site.
For information on how to help in the reconstruction of New Orleans, please visit the Common Ground Collective.

To help the musicians of New Orleans , please visit the New Orleans Musicians Hurricane Relief Fund for more information.

The Summer Of Self-Love? (Granny Takes A Trip)

I've debated for several weeks over whether to comment on the brouhaha surrounding this year's 40th Anniversary of the Summer of Love. My understanding is that celebrations have been planned globally throughout the year to commemorate the infamous summer of 1967; the year that many feel the world broke wide open with endless promise for young people everywhere. There is truth in that perception; 1967 was an exciting time to be young and alive! For the 1st time in over a century, the youth comprised the population's majority, a renaissance in art and music was in full bloom, and despite the escalation of the Vietnam war, the future seemed limitless for those under the age of 30.

From my vantage however, the realities of the Summer of Love are not necessarily something to be celebrated. The myths that have come to symbolize that period are merely selective memory. The media and surprisingly, many of those who actually lived and participated in the fabled Summer, have simply chosen to look back on that time through rose-colored lens by celebrating it's 40th anniversary. It's a strange joke of time and circumstance how we as humans beings tend to whitewash our past, glorifying the good and forgetting the bad, but the 'love generation' has spent so many years patting themselves on the back for 'changing the world,' they fail to notice that the world today is not really that much better off for their effort.

The real (and organic) Summer of Love in San Francisco had already come and gone by the year 1967. The hordes of youth who had heard and read of the kooky happenings of their earlier counterparts began descending upon the epicenter of the city's underground community, an area now forever saddled with the name of a once benign intersection within, the 'Haight/Ashbury.' Many were earnestly searching for the "peace, love, compassion and the unity of mankind" they had come to share in, but many more were simply looking for free sex, ready dope and easy opportunities. By year's end, Haight Street was a wasteland. The neighborhood and all it came to represent lay gasping, choking on it's own vomit. In the following year, overpopulation, crime, bad drugs and worse vibes had conspired to kill the 'flower children's' Utopian vision and by 1969, the dream was over. The Summer of Love had dissolved into a summer of shame.

Perhaps shame is a harsh assessment, but I believe that most of the idealism and dreams held by the 'Woodstock nation' failed to materialize. Noble as those idea's were, most dismally missed their mark as we still live with oppression, violence, racism, materialism and misunderstanding today. Although I do admit that some positive achievements came as a result of the 'hippies' agenda (environmental measures and women's rights to name a few), I honestly believe that those social 'revolutions' were destined to have occurred. The 'love generation' merely accelerated the process by their sheer numbers rather than their collective willpower. Now failure can be understood, but what makes their failings so shameful in my eyes, is that today some 40 years later, the aging generation comprise many of the doctors, lawyers, politicians and 'power brokers' who actually can make a change in our society (if not the world) and they continue fall short; too distracted by their own self-interests*. Equally shameless are select members of the original 'tribe' of kooks who have made a life-long career out of congratulating themselves for their roles as 'architects of the revolution' with endless "I was there and lived to tell the tale" recollections.

To truly commemorate the Summer of Love involves acknowledging of the entire legacy of the 'love generation;' the good with the bad, the victories and the missteps that where both borne from that fabled summer. Without that reality check, this year's commemorative events should otherwise be referred to as the 40th Anniversary of the Summer of Self-Love.

Of course, one of the biggest and most enduring cultural contributions from the Summer of Love was the music. The explosion of the arts in the late-60's created a timeless body of work that continues to resonate for young and old alike. Despite it's origins, the following music mix called 'Granny Takes A Trip' is intended neither to celebrate, nor commemorate the Summer of Love in San Francisco, but rather to showcase the enormity and diversity of the overall sounds of the era. Hoping to avoid the obvious and expected names, I've compiled a mind expanding compendium of well-known to marginally and little-known purveyors of British paisley pop and American psychedelia, along with a single dose of acid rock featuring the 38 tracks listed below:

1. small face/green circles 2. buff organization/upside down world
3. firesign/interlude 4. bee gees/the earnest of being george 5. firesign/interlude
6. psychedelic hal blaine/wiggly (november) 7. demons of negativity/resurrection
8. kevin ayers/clarence in wonderland 9. projection company/kimeaa
10. smoke/my friend jack 11. red crayola/hurricane fighter plane 12. firesign/interlude
13. gates of eden/elegy 14. dantalian's chariot/madman running through the fields
15. fleur de lys/circles 16. who/disguises 17. firesign/interlude
18. rolling stones/she smiled sweetly 19. hollies/king midas in reverse
20. purple gang/granny takes a trip 21. firesign/interlude
22. bubble puppy/hot smoke and sassafras 23. firesign/interlude
24. tomorrow/my white bicycle 25. nirvana/rainbow chaser
26. interlude 27. spencer davis group/time seller
28. crazy world of arthur brown/spontaneous apple creation
29. pythons/interlude 30. status quo/ice in the sun 31. firesign/interlude
32. quicksilver messenger service/dino's song 33. tyrannosaurus rex/a day laye
34. left banke/lazy day 35. firesign/interlude 36. lemon pipers/my green tamborine
37. peter pan & the good fairies/kaleidoscope 38. ...we love you

To download, click here and trip out!

*In another example of so-called progressives determined to repackage their relics for resale is the exclusion of any younger bands in the musical line-up by organizers of the San Francisco commemorative event; bands who have been influenced by and carry the torch of their psychedelic forefathers. According to the official press release, the music stage consisted entirely musicians of the period, reunited seemingly for nostalgia's sake. The author was not in attendance however to confirm whether this may have changed by the day of the event.

City Cowboy (The Arthur Gee-Whizz Band)

I have never been a great proponent of 'country-rock.' Most of those L.A./Asylum Record/six-string gunslinger types that produced that dribble had little more on their boots than urban grime and crusty dog shit. I once reluctantly let a friend drag me to an Eagles performance that seemingly poked along for hours on end. Witnessing them play that night was almost nearly as exciting as watching paint peel, though not quite. Some, like Linda Ronstadt were good and at least extremely pleasant to look at, but those other Southern California 'desperadoes' and 'riverboat gamblers' where simply posturing, mustachioed charlatans. Not that I don't like country music, mind you. Hillbilly Jazz is primo. Country & Western? Great. Alt-Country? OK. Modern Country? Sucks. Johnny Cash? A genre in and of himself! One then might rightly wonder why I'd find a recording like Arthur Gee's 'City Cowboy' to be a worthy post, let alone within my record collection. After all, City Cowboy? What sort of oxymoron is that? And a cockamamie name like Gee-Whizz Band should have initially been cause to reflect. Yet despite these questionable attributes, I own not one, but two (yes, two!) Arthur Gee LP's; his eponymous debut and the above mentioned 'City Cowboy.' Why then the inclusion? The answer is simply that lyrics aside*, they're both intelligent and extraordinary musical exceptions to the hallmarks of garden variety 'country rock,' demonstrating that the genre could be so much more than just another Tequila sunrise at the Hotel California. Odd birds are these, as elements of folk, country, rock, bluegrass, jazz and even prog are scattered liberally across the proceedings, making them highly unusual entries in the 'country-rock' cannon.

Odder still is that Arthur Gee by all outward appearances was the archetypal hippie troubadour. Emigrating from Canada to the easy living of Denver, Colorado in the early-70's, he came to the attention of Robb Kunkel, Larry Ray and producer Bill Szymczyk who collectively founded the short-lived Tumbleweed Records; a label with "attractive sound; flawless yet organic, reflecting the overall good vibes" of the times. More an excessive horn of plenty for creating music than a record label proper, Tumbleweed released only a handful of albums in it's lifetime; Gee's being the first. Despite excessive amounts of money spent on drug consumption (at the unwitting expense of it's parent company ABC-Dunhill), Tumbleweed admittedly sank an equally appreciable amount into it's recording facilities in order to construct the highest quality in sound and production. This is one of the primary reasons I can still find 'City Cowboy' a satisfying listen today. Although produced by band member Marcus Damerst, the expertise of Szymczyk's hand (who ironically went on to work with the insufferable and previously mentioned Eagles of all people!) is evident throughout. The excellent website Acid Archives describes it this way, "upscale, intricate production typical of the label, with Arthur's atmospheric voice given an appropriate context that involves a full folk-rock setting plus bells, violin and even jew's harp. It's all quite appealing and held together by expensive and elaborate arrangements."

Another reason I've held onto my Arthur Gee records is the caliber of his band; a remarkably tight unit (under the circumstances) who pull off some intricate arrangements with great aplomb and sound like they're having fun in the process (no doubt, due to the circumstances). The Whizz Band featured Gee (guitar, harp & vocals), Marcus Damerst (guitars & vocals), Steven Van Gelder (banjo, fiddle, guitars, piano & vocals), Bill Alexander (keyboards & vocals), Richard Hathaway (bass & vocals) and Don Riggs (drums). Paul Beaver (synthesizer programming), Rex Williams and David Draper (additional vocals). The tracks are listed below and as a teaser, I've included 3 additional songs from Arthur's 1st self-titled LP.

1. City Cowboy
2. Re-Affirmation I
3. Gettin' There Rocksoft
4. Sunday Sherry
5. Rolls Royce Silver Cloud Blues
6. High House
7. To Ward-Off Ambitions
8. I Wanna Fly
9. Last Night
10. Green Countryside
11. Name Of The Game
12. City Cowboy (Reprise)
13. Thank You Very Much
(Bonus Tracks)
14. Country Fable
15. Waterweight
16. Love Song 450

To download, click here. Unzip, light one up and enjoy the ride! If it takes you somewhere pleasant, perhaps more will someday come your way.

*Admittedly, the lyrics are the only component of these records that relegate them to the 'country rock' idiom; replete with tales of "misty morns'," "down-home music" and "past forest streams, where our pony's are tied." At least Gee was honest about his fantasy; hence the title 'City Cowboy.'