Respect to all the ravers, with love from Tricky FM and Cherub Dream Records
Twangy as heck indie by Credit Electric, shimmering psychedelic noise by Uriel, soul-soothing grooves by Lalin St. Juste's The Seshen, and analog synth by Franck Martin
Peace to Palestine.
No to war, always.
Let people be free.
— White Crate
WHIRLING AMBIENT TECHNO
And what about “Respect”?
Three decades after the concept of “PLUR” first weaved its way through rave culture in the US and the rest of the world, SF producer Tricky FM gives us Peace, Love, Unity, Rave, out now on Cherub Dream Records. Beginning with a short intro—static-drenched voice barely emerging through the noise—the 25-minute work stomps through industrial-tinged breaks and whirling ambient techno to tape together a pillowy pink sonic world, a reprieve from the grief of the real world. It’s personal and potent, optimistic in its yearning for a gentle, kissing love. “Overly” optimistic and idealistic, as the early rave critics may have said. But, with all due Respect, if we aren’t creating art for Peace, Love, and Unity, then why even do it?
— Ronny Kerr
TWANGY MELANCHOLY
There are some songs we wish would go on forever. For me, “ghost pine eyes” is one of those songs. Every time my ears reach the end of those three-and-a-half minutes, I feel my body wondering with hope, “Is this one of those false pauses? It must be. The song will continue again.” But no, all things end.
That’s just to speak of the third track on six, the third full-length album by Credit Electric, a tough-to-categorize group from the Bay Area led by Ryan LoPilato. Many of the songs are twangy as heck and blessed with pedal steel, so we have to call it country. But it’s also got this melancholy indie sound, like slowcore composed in solitude at the seashore. Sometimes, it’s nearly ambient. Or at least downtempo. It’s a little bit machine-like and yet completely alive. It’s the work of a single mind yet also the melding of several, including contributions by Lanéya Billingsley (Billie 0cean) and Eva Goodman (Nighttime). It’s quiet, present, reflective. Personal? Yes. Perhaps, in a world where bombs and murder still reign, that’s what makes it essential.
Why the number six? LoPilato explains:
“There are six elements of tragedy. I’m not really a theater person at all but I appreciate the original intention of tragedy: pain awakening pleasure. Other synchronicities also provoked the title. In the Quran and in the book of Genesis the heavens and earth were created in six days. There are six lines in a hexagram, found in cosmological diagrams in Hinduism and Buddhism. There are six points in the seal of Solomon and the star of David. Saxophones have six tone holes, guitars have six strings.
Most of the bass and keyboard used on the record was made by Yamaha, which has six letters. Yamaha means ‘mountain blade’ which is a reflection of a samurai’s legacy. Six is a military term for what is behind you. It takes about six months to recover from the breakup of a long term relationship. The album carries a theme of being present in reflection.”
— Ronny Kerr
BLISSFUL NOISE SYMPHONETTE
Newborn. Reset. Purified. Shimmering, noisy, psychedelic, and alive, Divinity Reset is a brief but whole new synth symphony by Uriel on Perth label Pneumatic. Having moved from Portland to SF, the artist created the album as a meditation on “redefining their personal life and musical efforts through the lens of a celestial world,” and the intention comes through. The completely instrumental pieces combine the blissful beauty of light-filled synthesis with the saw-toothed calamity of avant-garde noise, constructing and deconstructing and constructing again an elusive tapestry of sound. For a visual counterpart, also check out Uriel’s frenetic, anime-inspired music video for “Newborn.”
— Ronny Kerr
SLOW SENSUAL GROOVES
“this album came thru at the end of a lifetime, end of a world… on my many levels. and from that darkness came what we all know – light, transmutation, the surrendering to deep change. here it is, in sonic waves, a personal journey.”
Lalin St. Juste
Slow, sensual, and groovy, Nowhere is the newest album by the Lalin St. Juste-led electro pop group The Seshen. Influenced by the soul-soothing sounds of Erykah Badu, J Dilla, and Little Dragon, the six-piece Bay Area group funkifies the unconsciousness, bringing to the dance floor a dreamy gentle rocking beat, sonic healing for the body. As co-founder of label and art house 7000COILS and an artist that releases her own solo, more experimental material, Lalin St. Juste has multiple channels to pour her creative energy into, and The Seshen remains the most easily accessible, a lovely soundtrack for meditation and dancing alike.
— Ronny Kerr
QUADRAPHONIC SYNTHESIS
“I am a 50+-year-old musician who loves to experiment with sound and music. I made this album as a birthday gift to myself and to my listeners.” — Franck Martin
Simple, plodding synth lines, minimal and always evolving, make up the entirety of the new album Je me Souviens (“I remember”) by Franck Martin. Inspired since the late 1970s by the groundbreaking electronic work of Jean-Michel Jarre, Martin says this latest work is an experiment in using a quadraphonic Eurorack modular synthesizer, a “complex and unpredictable” instrument which the artist wields to the best of his ability to ruminate on his own emotions at midlife. As suggested by Martin’s own amateurish photo of Mont Saint Michel in France which serves as artwork for the piece, the album is a modest, personal work, a small monument to memory, looking back on 50 years of life experiences, friends and family loved and lost. For a special treat, the album is also available in spatial audio on Apple Music, Tidal, and Amazon Music.
— Ronny Kerr
SHOW RECS
Our top show recommendations for the coming week:
[experimental] Loscil / Lawrence English, Briana Marela — Oct 27 at the Lab
[jazz] Omara Portuondo — Oct 27 at Freight & Salvage
[rock] French Cassettes, Sour Widows, Juan Wayne — Oct 27 at Rickshaw Stop
[latin] La Misa Negra, Deuce Eclipse — Oct 27 at Moe’s Alley
[club] Eug, Roman Coppola — Oct 27 at Bar Part Time
[club] EMVU, Petrella, Pearl 411, O.K.F. — Oct 27 at Club Waziema
[rock] Analog Dog, Mild Universe, Juicebumps, Marika Christine, Cardboard People, DJ Nocean Beach — Oct 28 at Jerry Garcia Amphitheater
[fest] Bay Beats Launch Party ft. gloomy june & more — Oct 28 at Fulton Street Steps, Main Library, SF
[metal] Yseulde, Wilting, Talk Show, Whine — Oct 28 at Stay Gold Deli
[rock] Psyched! Fest 2023 ft. Chokecherry, Necking — Oct 28 at Kilowatt
[club] Josh Cheon, Mishka, Angela Ruins — Oct 28 at TBA Warehouse
[club] Four Tet — Oct 28 at Cow Palace
[club] Sunset Halloween Costume Boat Party — Oct 29 at San Francisco Belle Hornblower
[fundraiser] For Palestine ft. Sammy Shiblaq, Camellia Boutros, Mama Ganuush, AroMa, ASTU, Climaxxx, headbdead, Louie Elser — Oct 29 at the Continental Club
[hip hop] Rexx Life Raj (album release party) — Oct 29 at Victory Hall
[pop] Kim Petras — Oct 29 at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium
[rock] Drugdealer, Healing Potpourri, Alien Fiancé — Oct 30-31 at the Chapel
[indie] Danny Paul Grody, Rich Douthit, Matthew J Rolin — Nov 1 at Temescal Art Center
[latin] Sonido Gallo Negro, Mariposas del Alma, La Caja Mágica — Nov 1 at the Chapel
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