Mark Your Calendar: Sights of Sounds at Park Life

Opening at San Francisco's Park Life this Wednesday, February 25, as part of the citywide Noise Pop Festival: The third annual Sights of Sounds, a group show featuring original work from musicians who also make art.

The double-threats exhibiting their fine art at the store/gallery include Bomb Squad and Public Enemy's Hank Shocklee, as well as:

The Mission's own low-fi icon John Vanderslice

Devo's Mark Mothersbaugh

Operation Ivy's Jesse Michaels

Alissa Anderson

Joseph Arthur

CocoRosie's Bianca Casady

Les Savy Fav's Harrison Haynes

Murder City Devils' Nate Manny

The New Trust's Sara Sanger

Paul Miller (aka DJ Spooky)

The opening reception for Sights of Sounds runs from 7 to 10 p.m. on Wednesday, and the show will be up through March 9. Park Life is located at 220 Clement St. at Third. Click here for more info.

That's Random: What Are You Listening To?

I've been on a music jag lately, dusting off old favorites and giving a few new things a spin. Back in our record store days, Nick and I probably brought home ten new discs a week, listening to them rather obsessively and debating the merits of one album or act over another for hours with our equally music-obsessed friends.

But then, well, life sort of intervened -- as it has a way of doing -- and our voracious appetite for new music trailed off a bit. It didn't die, not by a long shot. It was just side-channeled into things like raising kids, renovating houses, and earning livings.

But I'm feeling the love again, and am hungry for some fresh new music and to soak in. So I wanted to ask: What are you listening to these days? What's been your favorite disc this past year? What band or songwriter is rocking your world right now? Above is what's on constant rotation at our house at the moment, just to give you all a sense of our taste. What else should we check out?

Please let me know about your current faves, or share your own playlist in the comments. Thanks!

That's Random: Just Because I Like It



Nick and I saw Ben Kweller at San Francisco's Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival a couple of weeks ago and were instantly smitten. His music is so completely up our alley -- heart-on-their-sleeve indie boy songwriters with jangly guitars and slight Southern inflections -- that I can't believe we hadn't heard him before.

Then a friend (thanks, Heidi!) gave us his eponymous CD, and that was it: We were officially Huge Fans.

Anyway, just a little music for your Wednesday afternoon. Hope you enjoy it!

That's Random: God, I Love This Movie

Give it up for Quang Yi, ladies and gentlemen.

OK -- totally random, I know. But have you seen this movie? I think it's pretty much my favorite film of the last ten years. (And yes, I fully admit to crushing on the beauteous, then-20-year-old Michael Pitt like the pervy, thirtysomething, married-mother-of-two that I am. I mean, hello! Don't worry, though -- I'm over him now.)

Anyway, you should rent it sometime. (But only, you know, if you like kind of weird but totally great, hilarious and yet heartbreaking indie musicals about "internationally ignored" East German transsexual song stylists and the hot young ex-lovers who wronged them, and that came out like seven years ago.) Amazing soundtrack, too.

That's Random: I Want to Be Neko Case in My Next Life

Just because I freakin' love her ... If you don't already own this album, you must remedy that immediately.

Happy Tuesday!

That's Random: More Music

Because I'm desperately trying to avoid finishing up my travel article on Portland's Hollywood District that's due tomorrow ...

Someone just asked me how the Swell Season show that Nick and I went to on Saturday night was. It was great -- despite the pampered yuppies I overheard complaining about having to come all the way over to deepest, darkest Oakland for the concert.

Here's the Paramount Theatre, the broken-down dive that these folks had to take their very lives into their hands to venture to. (Photo by halberst.)

Seriously, I weep for them. (Photo by lisa-k.)

Anyway, rather than trying to describe how wonderful those cute Once kids were live, I sent her a link to the video above, in which they cover Michelle Shocked's Fogtown. The way their voices mingle on the harmonies just kills me. (Sadly, I haven't been able to turn up a clip from the Paramount show itself, so this was taped elsewhere several months ago.) Then I figured I'd just go ahead and post it here -- in case any of you, too, have work you're trying to avoid.

Enjoy!

(P.S. The Swell Season is touring the U.S. for the next couple of months, so if you have a chance, check 'em out.)

That's Random: My Favourite Dress

I'm totally dating myself here, but oh well ... This just makes me happy.

The Wedding Present: Yay!

Cool Stuff: Magno Wooden Radios

These little cuties are vying for a place in my heart, right next to the Tivoli Model One.

Designed by Singgih Kartono and made by skilled craftspeople in Indonesia, the retro-style AM/FM/shortwave radios are constructed from sustainably grown and harvested ebony and other woods and are MP3-ready. They're $200 to $300, depending on size, right here.

P.S. Drat! All three sizes are on back order at Design Public, but the medium is in stock at Areaware.

That's Random: Why I Didn't Like Juno

Nick and I finally caught Juno, and we were truly excited to see it. I have to say, though, that I really didn't like it -- in a strong, well, dislike kind of way. Afterwards, we both jumped online to re-read the reviews and try to figure out why everyone on the planet is falling all over themselves about this movie. (We're still mystified, but for what it's worth we did find one critic who perfectly summed up our conflicted feelings about the film.)

It's not that I didn't get it. I like winsomely quirky indie fare about so-geeky-they're-totally-awesome teens with winsomely quirky indie soundtracks just as much as the next aging wannabe (but-never-really-was) hipster. I mean, Napoleon Dynamite is actually one of my favorite movies ever. But Juno? Stop drinking the Kool-Aid, people.

Don't get me wrong -- I love that a movie written by an ex-stripper about a smart, dorky girl has made over 100 million bucks and has people lining up at the cineplex. I'll grant you that the performances, without fail, were lovely: Ellen Page, as the titular knocked-up 11th grader, was luminous. (She's equally impressive as a barely pubescent avenging angel in the sort of disturbing Hard Candy.) Jason Bateman was perfect as the initially super-cool, ultimately sad and creepy adoptive dad who you don't know if you want to punch or, like, make out with. Jennifer Garner? Surprisingly excellent. J.K. Simmons? Wish I had a dad like that. And I'll watch Michael Cera in anything -- even in those yellow shorts.

But from the self-consciously twee music (much of it by Kimya Dawson of the Moldy Peaches and Antsy Pants -- how's that for precious?) to the equally twee illustrated opener to the absolutely ridiculous dialogue that by all rights would get you flunked out of Screenwriting 101, Juno seriously bugged me. "This is one doodle that can't be un-did, Homeskillet" -- from the guy behind the counter at the drugstore, no less, who of course is played with a generous ladling of irony by Rainn Wilson? Pardon me while I retch -- I think I have an eye-rolling-induced migraine.

To me, Juno is like a cute, smart, funny, talented guy who just tries way too hard to be cool and clever, and winds up being really annoying as a result. (Like, I don't know ... John Mayer.) And for this, the movie gets Best Screenplay, Best Director, and Best Picture Oscar nominations? Please put down the crack pipe, Academy voters.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go watch My So-Called Life on DVD.

(Thanks to Jim DeRogatis of the Chicago Sun-Times for mentioning this post in one of his own critiques of the movie. Juno-haters of the world unite!)

P.S. Speaking of annoying viewing experiences and dumb award shows, how unbearably ass-y was the Grammys last night? Even knowing that it would, as always, be totally lame -- and recording the broadcast so we could fast-forward through the whole thing in, like, half an hour -- it was painful.

The only performances that didn't have us peeking out from behind our hands in cringing horror were Feist, who seemed to be making an effort to minimize the cheese factor by keeping it stripped down; the Foo Fighters, who are always effortlessly kickass (though I thought the John Paul Jones-conducted orchestra accompanying them was sort of pointless); and Amy Winehouse, who barely seemed to know where she was, but who was sort of glorious in her smacked-out way nonetheless. (How long do you think before she's dead, or at least completely toothless? I'm taking bets over here.)

And wait -- the White Stripes win two awards, and they don't even show them? Just one minute of endearing Jack-and-Meg awkwardness would have gone a long way toward making the rest of that sad snoozefest worth watching, IMHO.

Agree? Disagree? Discuss.

That's Random: Fun With Widgets

I've been enjoying the music over on BeachBungalow8 (henceforth known as BeachBunghole8 ... sorry, Megan!), so I just added a playlist of my own here.

The Project Playlist widget is at the bottom of this page if you want to skip tracks, adjust the volume, or just turn it off. And if it really bugs you, please let me know. It's fun to play around with different tools and widgets that let me share more of the stuff I'm digging, but I certainly don't want to annoy you guys.

Update: OK, you've spoken and been heard: I've turned off autostart on the playlist. So if you want to listen while you surf, you'll need to scroll down and hit "play."

(Oh, and if you're interested, you can create your own free playlist here.)

That's Random: I Heart Mary Margaret

So Nick finally rigged up a contraption that lets us wirelessly stream all of the music on our computer through high-quality speakers in the living room, and he's been busy uploading hundreds and hundreds of our sadly neglected CDs. (Plus a bunch of new ones -- if you don't have it already, you must run out immediately and purchase Raising Sand, the hauntingly gorgeous collaboration between Robert Plant and Alison Krauss. I know the pairing sounds weird, but it totally works.)

Anyway, we've been happily rediscovering our CD collection and reigniting some of the passion for music that drew us together in the first place (we did meet in a record store, after all).

One of my favorite rediscoveries has been Mary Margaret O'Hara's sublime Miss America. I haven't heard it for ten years or more, but I can still sing right along, its every note and lyric indelibly burned onto my brain from thousands of listenings during my impressionable youth.

You've probably never heard of her -- and for this, I forgive you. Though she was sort of a cult icon in her native Canada and in the U.K., where I was living when the album came out, she never really gained any recognition in the States. So here's a brief dossier:

She's the sister of actress Catherine O'Hara (of Home Alone fame and pretty much every movie that Christopher Guest has ever made). She released just one full-length album, more years ago than I care to recall. She's revered by musicians such as Radiohead, R.E.M., Morrissey, and Throwing Muses' Kristin Hersh. (I wouldn't be surprised if fellow Canadian chanteuse Feist was weaned on her, too.) She's undeniably a total wackjob -- producer Andy Partridge of XTC reportedly quit the album after just one day because he couldn't deal with her eccentricities. Her, umm, "dancing" is disturbing at best.

But here's the most important thing to know about O'Hara: She has the voice of an angel (and, occasionally, a demon), and she made an album that is as exquisite and timeless today as the day it was released. It's still available -- and it needs to be in your music library. (One reviewer's take: "My initial reaction was, 'What is this woman on?' It takes a few listens to get used to O'Hara's idiosyncratic style, but it gradually works its magic.")

Did I do a decent job of piquing your curiosity? If so, here's a little sampling of the Mary Margaret experience -- but remember, I warned you about the dancing:


P.S. If you live in the Toronto area, Miss O'Hara is apparently still kicking around in the clubs there.

That's Random: Rent This Movie

The film itself -- about an Irish busker (played by the Frames' frontman Glen Hansard) and a young Czech immigrant (pianist Marketa Irglova) whose love story is told through the music they create together -- is charming. But the achingly beautiful songs by the stars (and real-life lovers) elevates Once to a must-see.

In fact, after seeing the movie I couldn't even wait to hit one of our local music stores. I just downloaded the entire, heartbreaking soundtrack on iTunes and have had it on replay ever since.

Seriously -- put Once in your Netflix queue, and check out some of the music from the movie right here:



P.S. I promise that I'm not on the payroll at Fox Searchlight, Columbia Records, iTunes, or Netflix.

Mark Your Calendar: A Weekend of Art, Music, Home Tours, and Antiquing

This weekend (October 5-7) is going to be such a whirlwind -- and we're going to have some very tough choices to make:

* On Friday afternoon and early evening, T-Bone Burnett (performing with friends like Neko Case) and Wilco's Jeff Tweedy will kick off San Francisco's free, three-day Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in Golden Gate Park.

* Friday night, the Oakland Art Murmur holds its monthly "First Friday" art walk Uptown.

* Saturday's our big day at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass (which, as the name implies, features a lot more than just bluegrass music). We're planning to catch some of our favorite alt-country, Americana, and just-plain-talented acts like Allison Moorer, the Whoreshoes, the Knitters, Nick Lowe, the Flatlanders (with Joe Ely, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, and Butch Hancock), Gillian Welch (above, at last year's fest), Los Lobos, and Steve Earle. (Again: Golden Gate Park. Free. Incredible music. Great people. Good food. Dog-friendly. What more inducement do you need?)

* Bright and early Sunday morning is, of course, the October installment of the Alameda Point Antiques & Collectibles Faire. We'll be there if we can manage to rouse ourselves after Saturday's events.

* After the Antiques Faire, check out the Shades of Green Home Tour, which highlights eight gorgeous homes and gardens that have been meticulously preserved and gently modernized in Oakland's lovely, historic Crocker Highlands neighborhood. A Green Design Expo features eco-friendly merchants, tradespeople, and other exhibitors. The event is a fundraiser for the public Crocker Highlands Elementary School. Tickets for the tour are $40 in advance, or $45 on the day; the Green Design Expo is free.

* Also Sunday in Oakland is the Rockridge Kitchen Tour, a charity fundraiser showcasing nine fabulously remodeled kitchens along Rockridge's leafy avenues. Tickets are $30 in advance, or $40 at the door.

* The Bluegrass Festival wraps up Sunday afternoon and evening with Jim Lauderdale, the Mekons, Doc Watson, Dave Alvin, and the always-luminous Emmylou Harris.

Whew!

Objects of Lust: See-Through Speakers

Nick and I have been locked in a years-long battle over, of all things, stereo speakers.

We're both hardcore music lovers (in fact, we met at a record store). And between us, we have hundreds upon hundreds of CDs -- not to mention all the rare and collectible LPs we spent the better part of our twenties (and most of our record-store wages) amassing, plus all the music we've downloaded during the last few years.

Given that, would you believe that we don't have so much as a boom box on which to play any of it? The reason: Speakers (or, more specifically, lack thereof).

I find most of them really, really ugly -- or just too techy and guy-like to consider letting them ruin the looks of my pretty living room. I'd like to transfer our entire music library to digital, then simply get a sweet little white iHome (above) or maybe a retro-style SpeckTone MP3 player (below) for the top of our credenza and call it a day. I'd even be OK with a set of small, inconspicuous bookshelf speakers, as long as we could hide the rest of the stereo equipment behind cabinet doors.

Just as I object on aesthetic grounds to the sort of ginormous faux-woodgrain floor speakers we used to have, though, Nick objects on the grounds of sound quality to my proposed music devices. (This is a man, after all, who reads magazines like Stereophile, The Absolute Sound, and Ultra High Fidelity for fun.)

But he just sent me a link to some high-end speakers that even I might be able to love. Designed by the UK's Ferguson Hill company, these clear acrylic speakers feature all the audiophile bells and whistles that make Nick hyperventilate (don't ask me to renumerate them, since words like "Hz" and "sub-base" mean absolutely nothing to me).

Of course, they don't come cheap: Ferguson Hill's Mini Speaker System -- available Stateside at Ultimate Audio Video -- costs about a thousand bucks, a price that makes me cringe (and that makes that $85 SpeckTone look better and better).

Still, could it be worth it to maintain marital harmony and keep music a part of our daily lives?

Check out Ferguson Hill's speaker line right here.