Glorious disco house, Nob Hill jazz, music for aliens, and so much more "In the Crate"
See our weekly show recommendations + new reviews of the latest disco house EP from C3DO Recordings and bass clarinet bebop from SLUGish Ensemble
Happy solsticetime y’all :) Here’s the latest edition of “In the Crate,” our monthly playlist of Bay Area music:
Every month, our “In the Crate” playlist features songs culled from recent reviews, exciting single releases, and our own musical discovery from past to present.
It’s your soundtrack to the Bay.
Check it out on Buy Music Club and Spotify.
— White Crate
DISCO HOUSE GLORY
I write these words with humble audacity: If these tracks had been cut in the 90s, you probably would have found them slotted into underground DJ mixes by Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter. They’re Not Gonna Know is the debut collaborative EP by 3kelves & Dylan C. Greene of C3DO Recordings, and it’s another polished entry in the duo’s club discography.
House music lovers—especially those who exalt in the lineage of Daft Punk and their Teachers—will find much to revere here, particularly on the hard-stepping orchestral disco glory of “ISSINME” (130 BPM). And if that’s not fast enough, you can sweat, revel, and blind yourself in a billion dazzling lights of the near-140 BPM filtered funk of “SLIDE.” This is also the first C3DO release available on vinyl, so get it while you can.
— Ronny Kerr
NOB HILL JAZZ
“San Francisco gets such a bad rap. Maybe what I’m trying to describe is a more macro view of the city, zooming out, looking out at the buildings, how they lay on top of the hills.”
— Steven Lugerner
Two years after the pandemic-inspired jams on In Solitude, SLUGish Ensemble captures a more energetic downtown-influenced jazz exposition on their new album, Urban Crawl. Though at first reminiscent of a traditional, enchanting bebop album with its drums, bass, and guitar, the tasteful additions of solos and soundscapes played on Wurlitzer (Colin Hogan) and synthesizer (Ian McArdle) lend the album a fluid, modern touch.
Led by Steven Lugerner on bass clarinet, the sextet tours through six mostly slow-paced compositions named after intersections largely around Lugerner's home in Nob Hill, though they speed up the pace when they venture west on the energetic "California & Fillmore." Further afield, on album closer "Stow Lake Drive," the musicians cycle through a charming, lightly held dance, mirroring the short circular road that surrounds the namesake lake in Golden Gate Park (though it's since been renamed Blue Heron Lake).
— Ronny Kerr
SHOW RECS
Our top show recommendations for the coming week:
[classical] Mahsa Vahdat & Marjan Vahdat — June 26 at Yerba Buena Gardens
[funk] Tower of Power — June 26 at Alameda County Fair
[disco] PLANET SYNTH 3-YEAR ANNIVERSARY ft. Jason Peters, Amatric, Evbot, Lord of the Rats, Danny Delorean, discoesq, Jaage, Sher1e — June 26 at Monarch
[metal] ELI’S MILE HIGH BENEFIT SHOW ft. Necrot, Funeral Chant, Ancient Rage — June 27 at Eli’s Mile High Club
[house] Infinite Jess, Chungtech, The Grouch DJ, Sangsih, Space Ghost, DJ Patrick — June 27 at DM organizers sold out
[rock] Ryli (album release), Bart & the Bedazzled, Mister Baby, DJ Frankie — June 28 at the 4 Star Theater
[rock] The Green Door (album release), The Love Dimension (album release), Hangtown — June 28 at Thee Parkside
[experimental] Planning for Burial, Mamaleek, Kathryn Mohr — June 28 at Eli’s Mile High Club
[rock] Emily Afton, Cardboard People, Pillowprince, Medscool, DJ N0Be — June 28 at the Independent
[house] Steve Fabus, Josh Cheon — June 28 at Bar Part Time
[club] NO BIAS ft. 3:33, Sofía PC, Honey B, Tomu DJ, East Bay Mean Girls, Queermom, Lonald J. Bandz, Lädy, Sunday Mass, Tastemaker, RITCHRD, Taraneh — June 28 at F8
[punk] Sleater-Kinney, Destroy Boys, DJ Evie Stokes — June 29 at Stern Grove
[electronic] Valgur, Tricky FM, 55 Castles, Skoto — June 29 at Thee Stork Club
[hip hop] Cymandre 3000 (album release), King Most — June 29 at Legacy Bar
JOIN US AT BAY BEATS
We’re partnering up again with Bay Beats and the San Francisco Public Library to present a live local music showcase at the New Farm! Join us 11 AM - 4 PM on Saturday, July 5 to see performances by world fusion group Makrú, vintage Americana outfit Back pOrchEstra, and punk rockers Neutrals.
SUPPORT BAY AREA MUSIC!
Get access to our full Bay Area concert calendar, featuring specially curated recommendations for upcoming shows in SF and Oakland.
