“What the city needs is for people to stop consuming and start participating.” Interview with Kush Arora aka Only Now
New music: Pop punk from DOKI DOKI on Asian Man Records, hip hop record of the week from Michael Sneed, jazzy trip hop from the Jazzual Suspects on Om Records
Alongside Public Works and KALW, White Crate is proud to be bringing to San Francisco one of the wildest Congolese bands out there: KOKOKO! They’re not based in the Bay but both supporting acts are, and they’re both badasses.
Kush Arora, who will be performing under his more experimental moniker Only Now, brings an unremitting emission of razor cut rhythms, primitive channelings, and ritualistic electronics to his music and performances. Ahead of next week’s show, we spoke with Kush about his musical beginnings, his philosophical approach to music, perspectives on the Bay scene, and more.
Read the interview with Kush Arora.
See Kush’s favorite cuts from the club world, cult metal and punk scenes, and esoteric lords of ambience and noise on Buy Music Club. Some local favorites, collaborators, and more metal/punk/noise obsessions.
Listen to the Spotify playlist.
— White Crate
A CRAZY GOOD TIME
When was the last time you heard “The Funky Drummer” sampled on a punk rock album inspired by Lookout Records? Now’s your chance. A newer quartet based out of the East Bay, DOKI DOKI just released their debut self-titled album on Asian Man Records, and it’s a crazy good time. There’s sweet and melodic pop punk (“I Can’t Fight This Crazy Anymore”, “Love Is In Your Heart Indeed”), rollicking nursery rhymes (“Liar Liar”), and more raucous moments for the head bangers (“Starvation in the First World”, “White Wolf”). If you don’t mind a little trip to the desert, you can see DOKI DOKI play next month alongside Rancid, Bad Religion, Dropkick Murphys, and many more bands at the 23rd Annual Punk Rock Bowling & Music Festival in Las Vegas.
— Ronny Kerr
BREEZY BUOYANT SOULFUL
If you’ve seen or heard Michael Sneed, you know his music comes with a kind of breezy buoyancy, like you could just stroll off the sidewalk into the sky without a second thought. That same feeling permeates his new album Junior Varsity Blues, which features contributions from GAWD, King Oliver Trumpet, demahijae, Lil Bean, and SundaY. Built around the concept of trying out for the team, it’s a classic take on going up against a world that doesn’t believe in you. Soulful and smooth throughout, even when the drum and bass breaks through at the end of “City.”
— Ronny Kerr
SEDUCTIVE LOLLING TIGER
Mosey up to the lounge, order a cocktail, and join us by the pool, will ya? Under the moniker The Jazzual Suspects, Oakland producer Charlie Tate has returned with his fifth full-length album inspired by Mark Farina’s Mushroom Jazz Series. Smooth, sultry, and seductive as a lolling tiger, Curvlinear applies live instrumentation and jazz-praising samples to concoct an orchestral paradise. Sweeping strings, oceanside guitar, bossa nova breaks, golden age hip hop beats, and everything else you could ever want out of a trip hop album. Out now on SF label Om Records.
— Ronny Kerr
SHOW RECS
Our top show recommendations for the coming week:
[exhibit] Wild Life Archive presents: Altered States — April 28 at Problem Library
[club] Fault Radio ft. Space Ghost, Nina Sol, DJ Patrick, Ryan Oh — April 28 at the Great Northern
[rock] Juicebumps, Pure Hex, Hit Me, Harold! — April 28 at Bottom of the Hill
[club] DJ Seinfeld, Aida, Natural Selection DJs, Clearcast — April 28 at Secret Location
[hip hop] KQED Fest ft. Lyrics Born, Tia Nomore, La Doña — April 29 at KQED
[punk] Public Interest, Nothing Natural, DJ Corey — April 29 at Thee Stork Club
[rock] Kids on a Crime Spree, Chaos Fiction, Magic Carpet — April 29 at Ivy Room
[punk] Cheree, Cel Genesis, Talk Show, Jock — April 29 at First Church of the Buzzard
[indie] Avey Tare (of Animal Collective) — April 29 at Hopmonk Tavern Novato
[rock] Wander, Infinity Shred, Emotegi — April 29 at Bottom of the Hill
[club] Boiler Room x Fake and Gay — April 29 at the Midway
[rock] Harvey Sutherland, Mild Universe — April 30 at Rickshaw Stop
[indie] Silverware, Maria Dehart, Marika Christine — May 1 at Rite Spot Cafe
[metal] Wolves in the Throne Room, Hulder — May 3 at the Chapel
[experimental] KOKOKO!, Only Now, DJ Sep — May 4 at Public Works