Louda y los Bad Hombres to the capitalists: Enough is enough. Time to pay us in freedom.
Louda y los Bad Hombres to the capitalists: Enough is enough. Time to pay us in freedom.
New interview with SF ambient artist Joel St. Julien ahead of FALL MASS; Kehlani's debut "Cloud 19" comes to streaming services; Ravi Shankar treats the hippies
Less than a month to go…
Taking place in a small, shaded backyard in West Oakland, FALL MASS will be our first live ambient music showcase, featuring three incredible local artists: Joel St. Julien (a Haitian-American composer, sound artist, and musician based in SF), Leila Abdul-Rauf, and Shipwreck Detective.
Ahead of the event—and following the release of his new album EMPATHY—Joel St. Julien spoke with us about his musical practice, life and inspiration in the Bay Area, and some of the artists and releases he's been listening to and loving, including “unhealthy amounts of Radiohead.” Read the interview here.
Peace,
ronny
THAT NEW NEW
“Enough is enough.” SF cumbia six-piece Louda y los Bad Hombres released the anti-capitalist track “Dejanos en paz, capitalistas” (“Leave us alone, capitalists”)—their fourth single of the year. Catch the group playing live in the Mission tomorrow alongside Y La Bamba, Con Brio, L.A. WITCH, French Cassettes, Same Girls, King Isis, and Strange Cities at Noise Pop’s free 20th Street Block Party.
Jamaican-American artist A-Plus—one of the founding members of seminal underground Oakland groups Souls of Mischief and the Hieroglyphics—released Cigano Road Instrumentals, a collection of eight hip hop beats on Audio Vandals.
Because SF producer Brycon stays busy, you now get to listen to There's No More Room in Hell 7, a Halloween-themed beat tape featuring G-PEK, Yelir, B.I. Lectric, Argonaut, Chaz Emphatic, Otayo Dubb, Maitre D, Philo Reitzel, and more.
“We’re born with heavenly powers that allows us to create blessings and miracles.” So says SF legend Carlos Santana explaining the title of his latest album, Blessings and Miracles. As with many of the artist’s previous works, the new album features an all-star cast, including Metallica’s Kirk Hammett, Chris Stapleton, Rick Rubin, Rob Thomas, East Bay rapper G-Eazy, Diane Warren, and Steve Winwood. (h/t Datebook)
“Me gusta cosas hyphy.” Bernal Heights’ rising cumbia star La Doña released “Mi Nuevo Amor”, a reggaeton-meets-yay area hip hop jam. You can catch her performing live at Amoeba San Francisco to celebrate a vinyl release on November 12.
East Oakland rapper Rayven Justice joins Drenesse on a bop: “From This Point On.”
Gary “Moses Mo” Moore of Atlanta funk rock group Mother’s Finest appears on “It Is What It Is...'Til It Ain't” as the latest collaborator in Funkwrench Blues’ “Need to Know Badass Blues Instrumentals Series.”
Bay Area beatmaker heru teamed up with m1tch on MIRU, a wavy 18-minute mixtape named after the Polynesian goddess “guarding the Gates of Death.”
“The next name to know in Bay Area hip-hop,” according to this week’s Datebook. Oakland rapper Offset Jim just released Rich Off the Pack, a 22-min album of laidback hip hop featuring Kenny Beats, Babyface Ray, ALLBLACK, EST Gee, and Aitch.
“The embodiment of effortless cool.” The same Datebook section included bouncy pop album Juno, the debut from Palo Alto High School grad and former American Idol contestant Remi Wolf.
No chill: Oakland rap duo Su’Lan brings the fire on new single “Blue Cheese.”
Richmond rapper White Dave returns with a 15-min headbopping EP, Cash Rules.
“Written through the perspective of someone comforting a grieving soul who has experienced a devastating loss and letting them know that they're supported.” SF shoegaze darlings Young Prisms have signed with Brooklyn’s Fire Talk Records and announced their return with “Yourside”, their first new music in nearly a decade.
Bay Area rapper Zaydo released Wolves Outside, a nearly hourlong full-length album featuring J.Lately, D Sloan, King Reegz, Ant Mays, Alessandro Rose, and Versoul.
Alamada’s Bad Time Records announced Having a Bad Time... Wish You Were Here, a compilation of the label’s previously released tracks by artists scheduled to play FEST 19 in Gainesville, including Kill Lincoln, We Are the Union, and Joystick.
Mill Valley label Bright Antenna Records released the self-titled debut album by Tulsa alt-folk band Wilderado. (h/t Datebook)
San Ramon’s Ripple Music released Secrets of the Black Moon, the debut album by Austin stoner rock band High Desert Queen.
Oakland’s Slang Church announced Structural Mercy by Pensacola alternative rock trio Surrounder with the release of two singles: “Capitalism” and “Service.”
MAYBE MISSED
It’s possible I’m the only one that missed this when it came out seven years ago.
Cloud 19 is the debut mixtape from one of Oakland’s biggest contemporary stars, period: Kehlani. While it’s likely that neo-soul and R&B never went away, one couldn’t help but notice the style’s resurgence in the mid to late 2010s, perhaps best exemplified by the absolute masterpiece A Seat at the Table by Solange. But Cloud 19 came out two years earlier, and a retrospective listen makes it apparent why it launched Kehlani’s career. It foreshadowed the swift rise in popularity and quality of R&B—led by women of color—and it’s done with style and grace. Happily, Kehlani’s label Atlantic Records acquired the masters and released the music on streaming services for the first time this past August.
Now they’re gracing the cover of Rolling Stone with Alicia Keys.
CLASSICS
I couldn’t help but pick up this live album while record shopping recently. Recorded in 1967, In San Francisco captures world-renowned Hindustani classical musician Ravi Shankar performing alongside Indian tabla player Alla Rakha at the San Francisco Civic Auditorium (now Bill Graham Civic Auditorium).
While vinyl is a particularly ill-suited format for delivering ragas—an improvisational style which traditionally lends itself to hours-long performances—this record does its best by limiting itself to three extended pieces: a 17-minute raga, an 8-minute tabla solo, and a 25-min dhun (played in a raga style).
Arriving as it did in the 1960s when consciousness in Indian music was growing at an incredible rate, the performance was received extremely well. Not a big surprise, considering the hippie movement’s nexus in SF. Over half a century later—a tiny notch in the history of Indian classical music—the music stands as a testament to the virtuosity of Ravi Shankar.
SHUFFLE ON
Listen to the Lower Grand Radio mix - Recorded Oct 7.