Just added to Outside Lands lineup, Boy Scouts drops sunset-tinged indie rocker "Wayfinder"
Just added to Outside Lands lineup, Boy Scouts drops sunset-tinged indie rocker "Wayfinder"
Oakland country singer Miko Marks releases "Race Records"; Latin-influenced techno from Madre Guía; plus Primus gets a little pork-inspired in San Rafael
Two exciting developments in the world of White Crate:
First, to coincide with the autumn equinox last week, we hosted a party in SF fittingly titled “Where the San Francisco Summer Ends”—and in the process raised $1,000 for Mission Meals. While the rest of the Bay sulked under overcast skies, friends and lovers convened in the sunniest block of the Mission for a dance party that only grew in passion as the evening went on. Much love to Conifold, Patrick James, DJ Cira, and Moto Tembo for providing the jams. (Look for recordings of their sets shortly!) And while we’ve been hosting these parties for nearly a decade, this was the first where we accepted donations to benefit a local community organization. In the end, we successfully raised and donated $1,000 to Mission Meals, a mutual aide group of organizers, small businesses, and community groups that deliver hundreds of groceries and meals every month to food-insecure individuals and families.
Second, White Crate now has a radio show. Soon after moving to Oakland last year, I started DJing on Lower Grand Radio. And while the “record party” was all about playing anything and everything from my vinyl collection, the show will transform (starting October 7) into a program dedicated to all the best in Bay Area music—cumbia, folk, hip hop, house, metal, and beyond. Tune in this Thursday at 8 PM!
Peace,
ronny
THAT NEW NEW
Today is Bandcamp Friday, meaning the site is waiving its revenue share to help support artists. Here are a few Bay Area musicians and labels to support!
Keeping with tradition, Outside Lands added a couple more local artists to the lineup. And they both have new music out. Salami Rose Joe Louis appears on LIGHT BEINGS #3, a mixtape released last Friday by SMARTBOMB and Lower Grand Radio. And today Boy Scouts (aka Oakland’s Taylor Vick) released Wayfinder, an indie rock album tagged “golden retriever” and “sunset” on Bandcamp, which might help you understand the vibe they’re going for.
“A ghastly forty-minute hellscape of lightless crush-depth deep inside the darkest abysses of the apocalypse.” Oakland black metal group Abstracter released their fourth full-length album Abominion on local label Sentient Ruin Laboratories.
A.M.K. (aka SF rapper Alien Mac Kitty), released uplifting and poppy hip hop track “ISH YOUS.”
Following a great recent performance on Vallejo’s Good Compenny, Big Klef released “Go Down” featuring Nef the Pharaoh.
“An album for daydreaming in the peaceful comfort of a bedroom, filing away the memories of a summer just-past, still visible in the rear view mirror.” 1:2 by SF four-piece Cindy was Bandcamp’s album of the day on Monday. It was also featured on Bandcamp’s Best Albums of Summer 2021, alongside works by two Oakland artists: Celestial Blues by King Woman and The Turning Wheel by SPELLLING.
“Brain Fog”, the new single from Charleston alternative hip hop duo Little Stranger, features Oakland’s Del the Funky Homosapien.
A month after releasing full-length album Corner Store Poetry, SF rapper Dregs One joins Berner and Vital on “Cold Outside.”
Originally from SF, ex-Bachelor artist and model Grant Kemp released “Ain’t Tried This” featuring West Oakland rapper Guapdad 4000.
Hitta Slim, a Richmond rapper signed to E-40’s Sick Wid It Records, released new mixtape L3, featuring B-Legit, Lil B, Mistah F.A.B., and more.
“I made it a point to reflect what was going on right now, in our current times, the things that I see in my community, the things that I see in our streets, the uprisings, the voices of the people standing up, how it's really affecting us and how we're responding to it.” Oakland pianist, composer, MC, producer, educator, and activist Kev Choice is backed by the San Francisco Symphony on socially-conscious classical hip hop track “Movements.”
English guitarist Snowy White—who played with Pink Floyd as a touring guitarist in 1977 and during The Wall tour and as a permanent member of Thin Lizzy in the early 80s—appears on “Hazel”, the latest entry in Funkwrench Blues’ “Need to Know Badass Blues Instrumentals Series.”
SF artists Grand-O and Baghead team up on new upbeat hip hop single “Tie Dye.”
East St. Louis-born, Bay Area-raised artist Jada Imani released headbopping R&B single “Retail Therapy” b/w “Clearance” (plus an interlude) in honor of her grandma who recently passed.
There’s a new remix for T-Pain’s sexy “I Like Dat”, featuring Kehlani and BIA.
Oakland country singer Miko Marks and the Resurrectors released Race Records. The title “aims to highlight the inherent racism in the roots of the American music industry. All of the songs on this EP were originally recorded by white artists and were released as ‘country’ or ‘rock n roll,’ but if Miko had recorded them in the early days, they would have all been marketed as ‘race records.’” The album includes previously released singles “Long Journey Home” (Traditional), “Whiskey River” (the Willie Nelson hit), and “Long as I Can See the Light” (Creedence Clearwater Revival).
Oakland junglist M27 released “MoodSlime” b/w “Warning Label,” the second single on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles-inspired sub-label OOZE.
“The thread that holds it all together is vocalist Cheri Musrasrik, whose tortured grunts, howls, and growls impart intense pain and desperation despite sounding like they were recorded in a faraway concrete tomb.” XXI, the new album from SF grind/metal band Succumb, was Bandcamp’s album of the day on Tuesday.
Going for a “dark DIY synth pop grunge” sound, new SF artist Violet Felz released “Taken” and “No Good.”
If you haven’t already, you should subscribe to the newsletter by Oakland art and music space Cone Shape Top. It’s full of fascinating discoveries. For a recent example, check out Glowing Dagger, a Bay Area label “showcasing synth-driven electronica, pop, post-punk, cold wave, techno, ambient and experimental.”
Lena Platonos, a leading Athens-based electronic music composer since the 1980s, is returning to Dark Entries Records with Balancers, featuring previously unreleased material recorded between 1982-1985. Out October 21. Also from Dark Entries: Be sure to check out Back Up: Mexican Tecno Pop 1980-1989, a new compilation just featured on Bandcamp as today’s album of the day. (For those keeping count, that makes three Bay Area-ish albums to receive that honor in the past week.)
“The moody, hypnotic sounds on the latest from Stefan Beck—swaying cello, prickly guitars—are meant to convey a sense of unease.” Released on Oakland label Inner Islands, Gems and Minerals by Colorado instrumental acoustic artist Golden Brown was featured on Bandcamp’s New & Notable.
Here’s some new representation for White Crate: San Ramon! Calling itself “home to some of the world's best heavy psych, stoner, doom and heavy metal,” San Ramon label Ripple Music just released Morieris by North Carolina duo Crystal Spiders. Also check out Dreamers and the Dead by Ohio band Doctor Smoke, which was featured on The Best Metal on Bandcamp: September 2021.
“Introspective Dreamscapes and Dystopic Beats.” Thanks to a tip from Experimental Housewife (whose music you should also buy on Bandcamp today), I just learned about Silva Electronics. On October 19, the SF label is releasing The Damage Has Been Done, a thick and noisy house and techno album by Wisconsin artist Golden Donna.
MAYBE MISSED
This project began at the site of my body's deepest desire to fully embody and liberate rage. It continued to evolve at my ancestral altar as I learned to decode messages of past and present. This EP is a translation of body prayer to song; a tool used to give breath to calls hidden and laid dormant in the narrative of my ancestral past. Each track acts as a candle lit to honor different visions descended from dream, prayer, and movement-induced catharsis. It is an offering to my people and to them I am forever grateful.
Outside of this personal, insightful message, I don’t much about this artist. Last month I was lucky enough to join friends for a night of deep techno dancing at F8 led by Abayomi. Soon after, I followed them on social media, where they shared this three-track EP—Ancestral Frequencies, the first release by Oakland producer Madre Guía.
This is techno—hard, driving techno. But it is also soulful, decorated with the colorful fruit that sprout from Latin roots. Expressive shouts and diverse percussive sounds lend a living element to the persistent drum patterns, and it all drives one to dance. Physically or spiritually, to dance.
CLASSICS
Grab yourself a can of pork soda
You'll be feeling just fine
Ain't nothin' quite like sittin' 'round the house
Swillin' down them cans of swine
Well, here’s a weird one.
In spite of having grown up in the Bay Area, in spite of being a bassist myself, and—most of all—in spite of having a Les Claypool-worshipping hippie as a longtime friend and one-time roommate, I never got into Primus. Until a couple weeks ago.
I can’t say what changed, but I was sitting on the couch, playing a puzzle game, and blasting Pork Soda on my headphones. And it floored me. Sure, it’s “funk metal” like Red Hot Chili Peppers and Rage Against the Machine, but it’s just so exceptionally bizzare that it necessarily stretches far past that simple descriptor. Take the title track: That’s an experimental sound warp, not a bassline. Those aren’t sung verses, just some insane spoken word poetry. And yet, the chorus is catchy? Possibly one of the most incredibly twisted and fascinating things ever recorded in San Rafael.
My friend (aforementioned Primus devotee) told me she once heard tell of a recording studio in the East Bay that had a soda machine with one of the buttons changed to proffer “pork soda”—and that’s where the song and album title came from. Perhaps even more odd: Several sodamakers now actually do make bacon-flavored drinks. Yum?
SHUFFLE ON
If you ever want to press play on the growing list of artists covered on White Crate, follow this Spotify playlist. Shuffle and crossfade recommended!