Goats, chickens, and free live music! See a bunch of Bay Beats artists at the New Farm
Our weekly show recs + new reviews of voice-and-ambient explorations by Mills alum Briana Marela and deep space techno by SF producers Pteron and Oso Feo
“It’s a farm. It’s a chicken grazing field. It’s an environmental education center. And it might just be the coolest new music venue in all of San Francisco.”
— SFGate on The New Farm
If there’s anything we love as much as local music, it’s free live music :) That’s why we’re super happy to be once again partnering up 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.
— White Crate
PRIMORDIAL VOICE & AMBIENT
“Thanks to my love Joel, and all my Mills friends/cohort & professors. This record was born from that time, & my life is forever changed for the better.”
Planned in 2020 but delayed by the pandemic and the death of her father, My Inner Rest is the latest offering of sonically guided introspection by Oakland experimental artist Briana Marela. Closer in time and tone to the voice-and-ambient explorations of You Are a Wave than the indie pop stylings of the artist’s last release Teardrop Star, the new album (out now on LA’s AKP Recordings) presents 12 electroacoustic pieces originally performed live by Marela at the Mills College concert hall in 2022-2023.
Despite the dressing of vocal effects backed by electronic blips, synths, and overdubs—conjured by a combination of contact mics, camera tracking, and various other live/studio tools and techniques—the heart of these recordings is Marela’s voice. It feels almost primordial, as if many of the lines (there goes a chorus, there a bridge) could have been shaped into radio-friendly pop songs, especially given the accessible themes around self-value, willpower, and other wavering human faculties.
If it’s useful to compare this work to those by Marela’s fellow Mills College alumni, it’s more like Laurie Anderson and Holly Herndon than some of the more extreme left-field composers. A “cathartic close” to a life chapter for the artist and, for the those of us still grieving the loss of that East Bay institution, a soul-stirring dose of magical realism.
If you missed Briana Marela’s album release show last weekend, check out these videos of the artist performing the songs at Mills in 2022:
— Ronny Kerr
DEEP SPACE BASS
Deep space bass straight to the face is the sound of Alpheratz, the latest release by Pteron on Seattle/NY label Ommaya Records. Featuring four originals, the EP opens with groovy drum & bass on the title track “Alpheratz,” making a tight mesh of breaks and large, lush ambient sounds. There’s a sinister mood throughout that’s more apparent on the three other originals, hurling dubstep into the emptiness of dark rave side rooms. The EP ends with a slinky funky techno remix of “Face Off” by local producer Oso Feo, gradually transforming the minimal, pulsing beats into prismatic acid.
— Ronny Kerr
SHOW RECS
Our top show recommendations for the coming week:
[funk] Sundra Manning — June 19 at Yerba Buena Gardens
[experimental] Lisa Mezzacappa 5(ish), Fred Frith — June 19 at the Lab
[d&b] SHELTER DRUM & BASS ft. Soulox, Selenium, Qualafox, Shadow Spirit, Shibumi — June 19 at Underground SF
[hip hop] Too $hort, Scarface, DJ Quik, Richie Rich, Mistah F.A.B., B-Legit — June 20 at the Fox Theater
[metal] Metallica, Limp Bizkit, Ice Nine Kills, Pantera, Suicidal Tendencies — June 20 and 22 at Levi’s Stadium
[alternative] Chime School, The Telephone Numbers, Remedy & Wren, JessB — June 20 at Bottom of the Hill
[electronic] sachi's mirror (EP release), IDHAZ with Emily Bouton, Jas Stade — June 21 at Cone Shape Top
[alternative] Slake (album release), Tricky FM, 11111angels, Agropol & Lonald J. Bandz (DJ) — June 21 at Kilowatt
[americana] Ren Geisick (album release) — June 21 at Art Boutiki Music Hall
[emo] Gloomy June (album release), Arcade 9, DJ n0be — June 21 at El Rio
[club] LOST SIGNAL ft. EL NICK DGO, Ynfynyt Scroll, Queenie, Profesito, felipe d, DJ Saratonin, Louie El Ser — June 21 at F8
[club] KEEP HUSH x VITAMIN1000 ft. Adware, BAD JUUJU, Clearcast, Curb Alert, Skiis, Vertigo — June 21 at Ninth Street Social Club
[club] STRAPT 3-YEAR ANNIVERSARY DE ALMA b2b DJ Ari B, 3kidz3 b2b QUETZAL, Yuca Frita b2b DJ CARO, FINISHHER b2b RITCHRD b2b DJ Buck, Queermom b2b 40split, Juni b2b Discnogirl — June 21 at DM organizers
[metal] Vastum, Laceration, Vile Rites, Barren Altar — June 21 at the California Theatre
[r&b] Channel Tres, ASTU, J Boogie — June 22 at Stern Grove
[reggae] Byrds of a Feather, DJ Irie Dole, DJ Sep — June 22 at Golden Gate Park Bandshell
[alternative] Gabriel Da Rosa, Marika Christine, Sweet Lew — June 24 at the Knockout
[alternative] Bashfull Bull, Apprehenchmen, Doubleplus Alright — June 24 at Thee Stork Club
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