Here, there, and everywhere: Explorations of place and home thru neo soul and country rock
Japanese-influenced neo soul by Eki’Shola, Bolinas-born country rock by Sonny & the Sunsets, a DJ Buck + Discnogirl production, more country rock from Toro y Moi, and a Tony Molina reissue
One of our favorite DJ friends we frequently see around the Bay? Lonald J. Bandz.
The eclectic tastemaker with ever shapeshifting DJ styles and sonic stylings can play house and techno at the Haight St haunt, sexy sweet romantic footwork at the East Bay underground, or just a bunch of calypso at your dub party in the park.
And they’re our next guest on Lower Grand Radio!
A word from the artist:
Hi, I’m Lonnie! I’m an audiophile and Baydestrian by way of Phoenix, Arizona. At the forefront of what I do - I’m a DJ: but I wouldn’t be as playful as I am on the decks if I wasn’t consistently learning the technical minutiae through my work event and radio production. I love that audio is a language of many dialects that are easy to translate across mediums/applications.
Read on for the best in new Bay Area music. (All reviews this week by Ronny Kerr.)
— White Crate
WILD AND FREE, YET ROOTED
What is home?
Where is home?
What or where is home when you’re born in one place but, still a child, move to another place? What or where is home when the house where you grew up burns to the ground? What or where is home when your life is world travel, constantly moving from London to Hiroshima to Lisbon to Addis Ababa to Berkeley and beyond?
Eki’Shola explores these questions—deeply personal yet universal—on her upcoming album 還 (Kaeru). A Japanese verb meaning “to return home,” the album title reflects that exploration, and it is in Japan where the artist (primarily a singer and keyboardist) has felt most connected to the idea of home. On this, her fifth full-length album, Eki’Shola collaborates with Hidenori Tsugita (drums), Tatsuya Okabayashi (morin khuur), and Uma Ebina (shamisen and shakuhachi), blending neo-soul jazz fusion jams with the sound of traditional Japanese and Mongolian instruments to meditate on these questions of place, movement, and belonging. The music is wild and free, yet, despite the contradiction, somehow stays rooted.
CATCHY COLORFUL AWARENESS
“My parents were living in Bolinos when i was born. this was the early 70’s. there was alot of weaving, ceramics, banjo playing and this kind of thing back then. My mom said the other day she had developed a course, to be taught at the Bolinos community center, ‘Self-Awareness Through Macrame’. i said ‘oh, thats interesting, do you keep in touch with any of the students?’ she said ‘no, no one signed up’. that made me laugh.” — Sonny Smith
Is that how people from Bolinas spell it? Thematically largely inspired by Sonny’s escape from the city and return to the country, Self-Awareness Through Macrame is the latest album by longtime SF band Sonny & the Sunsets on Sonny’s own label Rocks in Your Head Records. It’s pure whimsical country rock, with sweet chords and cathartic chorus on songs like “E.S.P.” sounding plucked straight from the Robbie Robertson songbook. It ain’t derivative though. It’s catchy as heck classic Sonny sung all colorful and knotted into a web of loving self-awareness.
LOVE BEHIND THE DECKS
“I wanna be down
With what you’re going through
I wanna be down
I wanna be down with you
No matter the time
Of day or night, it’s true
I wanna be down”
Is there anything sweeter than a couple lover DJs opening their EP with a jungle revision of Brandy’s 1994 debut single and major hit “I Wanna Be Down”? Co-produced by frequent nightlife party purveyors DJ Buck (Natural Selection, Strap2StrapWorldwide, plus keyboard player for Mild Universe and Marika Christine) and Discnogirl (Strap2StrapWorldwide, M333GAN, Fake and Gay), DJs Who Kiss reflects the artists’ love of a richly diverse array of musical styles, gleefully moving from breaks (“down bad junglist”) to UK garage (“unreleased ice spice edit” ft. Tom Marsi) to electro (“harry freestyles”) to deep house (“vestibule”). They even close the EP with a hilarious juke complaint about never getting the “RA pick” on Resident Advisor.
QUAINT LITTLE COUNTRY THING
“Had a revelation about where I want to be
I was drained of patience and my energy
Just to found out I played the wrong game
I was thinking about my six string”
Chaz Bear cares about place. Here’s a rundown of recent Toro y Moi projects: Outer Peace was set in the mostly inside, blue light life of the digital nomad. MAHAL celebrated life and love out and about in the Bay Area. Then came MAHAL (Live from Big Sur), a giant stone’s throw down Highway 1, imbuing the studio music with the magic of the central coast.
Now, as a pleasant wind-down summer surprise, Toro y Moi gives us Sandhills, a 14-minute ode to his hometown of Columbia, South Carolina. Citing Sufjan Stevens and Karen O as influences, Bear here trades in most of the digital tools and electronic studio tricks for simple drum kit, bass, acoustic guitar, and naked human voice. It’s a quaint little country thing from probably the Bay’s biggest indie pop star right now. Just might make you leave the city and head for the nearest river or lake.
BAROQUE PUNK CONCERTO
Even the indie rock kids deserve anniversary editions. Following the reissue of Ovens’ self-titled EP on double white vinyl, Tony Molina takes us on another nostalgic trip back to the Peninsula with the first-ever vinyl issue of his first solo album Embarrassing Times. Recorded in 2008, the 13-minute work plays like a baroque punk concerto, smoothly flowing from the opening riff (lifted from Roy Wood’s “Songs of Praise”) to original songs, additional covers (by the Dead Milkmen and Camper Van Beethoven), and even some heavy metal riff intermissions. A brief and delightful pop punk capsule capturing what it sounded like cruising thru the fog of Daly City, San Bruno, and Millbrae suburbs 15 years ago.
SHOW RECS
Our top show recommendations for the coming week:
[latin] Louda y Los Bad Hombres, Chhoti Maa, DJ Briizv, Agua Pura Mama — Sep 1 at Bandcamp Oakland
[indie] Brigid Dawson & the Mothers Network, Andrew Pitrone, Mayya, Neil Soiland, Josiah Flores & Gregorio — Sep 1 at Churchill
[indie] Abracadabra, Galore, Blue Zero, Ponytail Psychic — Sep 1 at Santo Recording
[rock] Moonalice — Sep 1 at the Chapel
[club] LCY, Toma Kami, DJ Juanny, Exteeng, Yuca Frita, Bonitababy, Nonsuit, Bad Juuju, Vertigo — Sep 1 at F8
[indie] Ruth Garbus, Disappearing Coin Band — Sep 2 at Martial Arts Oakland
[ambient] R Beny, Karamo Susso, Chuck Johnson — Sep 2 at the Crown: Royal Coffee Lab & Tasting Room
[club] Yaeji, BAMBII, nonsuit, Adam Kraft, M333GAN — Sep 3 at 1015 Folsom
[hip hop] Hiero Day ft. Common, Cellski, Kev Choice, DJ D Sharp, and more — Sep 4 at Frank H. Ogawa Plaza
[rock] Osees, DJ Kelley Stoltz — Sep 3-6 at the Chapel
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