Candy Whips delivers catchy synth pop silliness & sincerity on "Artificial Melodies"
"Echoes on the Shore" by Skyminds is a living breathing ambient work, the last released work by Michael Henning (aka DJ Megasoup), a KALX DJ since 2003
What’s your favorite Bay Area release of 2024? Feel free to share your thoughts by replying to this email or leaving a comment! You know we’re putting together our final year-end list of favorites, but we’re always hungry for more input.
Stay dry, warm, and full of love, friends.
— White Crate
SYNTH PUNK SINCERITY
“I’d been reading about the history of electronic music. In the early days, there was backlash against using synthesizers to create music. A lot of the establishment didn’t think of the synthesizer as a ‘real’ instrument. The album name is a play on that idea.” — Wendy Stonehenge in East Bay Express
Fans of retro 70s-80s synth pop sounds by the likes of Devo, The Human League, and Gary Numan are going to love this. Wendy Stonehenge—better known as lead singer and songwriter for SF band Glitter Wizard—has returned with Artificial Melodies, the second full-length from his band Candy Whips. Punchy and catchy as hell from opening track “The Usher,” the album traverses skittering synth punk (“I’m a Lizard”, “Strange Taste”), moody midtempo jams (“A Drop Will Do”, “Same Old Story”), and finely tuned robot rock (“TV Set”), every song led along by a strangely balanced medley of goofiness and sincerity. It’s not just great songwriting: Stonehenge promises a fun live show, and with all the kitsch and color here, we believe it.
Out now on LA label Kitten Robot Records.
— Ronny Kerr
TAPESTRY OF PRESENCE
“He strove to make KALX more inclusive. He strove to give us a more global sound, and he wrote the most amazing reviews on those records.” — Heidi De Vries, fellow KALXer and longtime friend of Michael Henning via The Daily Californian
Echoes on the Shore is the fourth and final album by Skyminds, a duo made up of Michael Henning (aka DJ Megasoup, a KALX DJ since 2003) and Sean Conrad (aka Channelers, founder of Seattle label Inner Islands). It’s a solemn end to a project that lasted a decade, as Henning died at the age of 49 this past October.
On this, their final full-length work together, the duo continues working in the spirit of improvisation, blending a mesh of strings, synths, and other supple soundmakers into a glowing tapestry of presence. Threading the conversation between Eno’s definition of ambient music—”as ignorable as it is interesting”—and the Tibetan Buddhist concept of our true mind’s sky-like nature, Conrad and Henning weave a living breathing peace. “Springtime,” notably, is the duo’s first release of an un-edited improvisation, the recording captured at the Vintage Synthesizer Museum before its relocation to LA.
— Ronny Kerr
SHOW RECS
Our top show recommendations for the coming week:
[alternative] Seablite, Lavender Blush, Rachel Travers, Tyla Wave & Melissa Funk — Nov 21 at Makeout Room
[alternative] April Magazine, Worthitpurchase, Mary Claire — Nov 21 at Kilowatt
[club] Obstacks, Oddity, DJ Juanny — Nov 21 at Thee Stork Club
[hip hop] Macarthur Maze, Dominé Brishawn — Nov 21 at Ivy Room
[punk] Fake Fruit (album release), abracadabra, Dolly Creamer — Nov 22 at the Chapel
[experimental] Inner Ear Brigade (album release), Pateka, Mommy Mommy — Nov 22 at Eli’s Mile High Club
[rock] Duster, Dirty Art Club — Nov 22 at the Warfield
[club] TEXTURE SUMMIT x SUNSET SOUND SYSTEM ft. PARAMIDA, Galen, Louiv, Infinite Jess, Philco — Nov 22 at TBA SF location
[jazz] Sun Ra Arkestra — Nov 22-24 at Great American Music Hall
[rock] HAZE FEST ft. Wander, Donzii, SWISS, The Wax, Star Decay, Maria BC, Jeff Schroeder, Adam Miller, BEACH HEX — Nov 23-24 at Kilowatt
[techno] UMAMI ft. DJ Nobu, Kangding Ray, Fait Accompli, monosym — Nov 23 at TBA SF location
[hip hop] ASTIG 6-YEAR ANNIVERSARY ft. Mike Boo, Celskiii, ET IV, Joog, Thow Wow, Hella L, Guerilla Pump, Deep Thots — Nov 23 at Brix 581
[alternative] Ryan Wong & the Hogs, RYLI, Silverware — Nov 24 at the 4 Star Theater
[indie] CUT THE BREAKERS ft. Joel Robinow, Hectorine, Margot James, Ryan Christopher Parks — Nov 26 at the Golden Bull
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