Even people can be prompts: Hear singer-songwriter B. Hamilton's acoustic set on Lower Grand Radio
A new Mills College-recorded experimental album by Michelle Moeller plus a soulful folk suite by Oakland singer-songwriter Eli Utne
“Write the great Musk album of our time.”
“Ok.”
Anything can be a prompt, and Ryan Christopher Parks proves it. From Elon Musk to John Wayne, the bandleader for B. Hamilton can take inspiration from anyone and anywhere—and does—to write and record some of the best rock and roll beating out of the Bay.
B. Hamilton has received a bunch of well-deserved recognition for their creative driving classic rock sound backed by lyrics that can go from whimsical to hilarious to introspective in three lines or less. Of the many releases the band offered last year, one of them—Other Lives of Magic and Wonder and Whatever—was recognized in KQED’s Best Bay Area Music of 2023.
The band’s most recent release (the one inspired by Musk)—The Freest Speech Ever Attempted Without Disintegrating—explores loneliness, connection, capitalism, and freedom of speech. In other words, the poetry flows off the page.
— White Crate
AVANT-GARDE STUDIES
“The album is titled as an affectionate homage to slow movers and late bloomers, those who feel perpetually ‘behind.’ Life has a stubborn way of unfolding at its own pace, so let’s go easy on ourselves. There’s much to savor in the process.” — Michelle Moeller
Mills lives on. Recorded between 2021 and 2023 at home and Mills College and released by AKP Recordings in Los Angeles, Late Morning is the debut full-length by Oakland composer and performer Michelle Moeller, showcasing an ear for the unknown and an attraction to the avant-garde. Torquing together prepared piano and electronics (with support from Briana Marela, Wesley Powell, and other collaborators), the album straddles neoclassical studies and experimental ambient soundscapes, simultaneously balancing composition with improvisation. In other words, it's a bit like life: There's a plan, one may believe, but often the plan is just an idea that leads to new paths and possibilities. Highly recommended for lovers of solo piano, if you don't mind the edges giving way.
— Ronny Kerr
SOULFUL FOLK SUITE
“At the heart of this project is the belief that we are each other’s buoyancy. […] May these sounds & words help you float calmly through uncertain seas & serve as a vessel for reflection.” — Eli Utne
A soulful folk suite that approaches and recedes like a lifetime of emotional turmoil and inner peace, Uncertain Seas is the second full-length by Oakland singer-songwriter Eli Utne. Beginning with a speech made by his maternal great-grandfather over the radio in 1950, the album is interspersed throughout with voice recordings, furthering the concept that no matter how bad things get, “we’re in the same boat.” Reminiscent of Sea Change-era Beck, the predominantly Americana-style folk songs mostly move as slowly as ambient music, altered here and there (noticeably or not) by studio tinkering. “Balance” stands apart, slipping into a feel-good psychedelic groove to remind us that even in uncertain seas there can be moments when everything is alright.
— Ronny Kerr
SHOW RECS
Our top show recommendations for the coming week:
[punk] Marbled Eye (record release), Cube, Conspire, Galore — Apr 12 at Eli’s Mile High Club
[club] AMOR DIGITAL & NO BIAS ft. 1OO1O, JEWELSSEA, Yuca Frita, DJ JUANNY, RITCHRD — Apr 12 at Underground SF
[club] FLUX ÆTERNA ft. Mothbot, DJ Saratonin, Lil Bebe Cyborg, Moonpie b2b 40split — Apr 12 at Club Waziema
[folk] Maddie Carpenter, Michael White & Friends — Apr 13 at Mill Valley Downtown Plaza
[experimental] Moira Scar, Cel Genesis, X-Tra, Gallery, Fundemento, DJ Hazmat, DJ Rat Rabies — Apr 13 at Stay Gold Deli
[hip hop] QAMP (album release) ft. Casey Cope, Marquito, Qing Qi, Marika Sage, Rittybo — Apr 13 at Cornerstone Berkeley
[electronic] Oneohtrix Point Never, Arushi Jain — Apr 15 at Regency Ballroom
[rock] Al Harper, How???, Oceanography — Apr 17 at Thee Stork Club
[country] Country Risqué, Indianna Hale, Kevin Carducci & the KC Stars — Apr 18 at Ivy Room
[hip hop] Kamaiyah — Apr 18 at Great American Music Hall