White Crate — Jan 22, 2021
Reminisce about dancing at Berkeley's Greek Theatre, revel in meditative deep house, and revisit one of the Bay's most incisive hip hop albums of the 90s.
They say workers and companies can’t leave the Bay fast enough. But who’s leaving? Probably not anyone with roots here. In reality, we already lost a lot of those people over the past two decades as tech money flooded Silicon Valley and spilled up the peninsula, jacking up the cost of everything and making it harder and harder for non-tech workers to afford living here.
So now it’s easy for tourists (all those people lured by the suddenly rich opportunities in San Francisco) to ditch the city while calling out its problems. But many of those perennial problems, like homelessness, largely point back to wealth inequality, a national issue. I’m glad at least one SF billionaire is asking the right questions:
“What did you do to try to invest in the Bay Area? Were you active civically? Did you try to use your money philanthropically to alleviate the problems? I kind of doubt it.”
Well, that’s the real problem isn’t it. You hear about antipathy from Bay Area natives toward transplants, but being a “transplant” doesn’t necessarily make you a target of antipathy. The target is people who move to a place and have no desire, motivation, or passion to first learn about the place where they moved, and then to become a part of it, nurture it, and make it better. (I suppose that’s a problem with Bay Area “natives” too: 99.9% of us aren’t actually native, so it’s on us to recognize and respect the Ohlone and other indigenous peoples who called this place home centuries before us.)
I’m no sociopolitical analyst. I’m just a music lover that grew up here. And so I bring up these issues so I can reiterate what White Crate is all about: supporting the artists who are here now—whether newly moved here or here for decades—and working to imagine and create a better world.
Peace,
ronny
THAT NEW NEW
Oakland singer-songwriter Madeleine Kenney, who has collaborated with Jenn Wasner of Wye Oak and Chaz Bear of Toro y Moi, today released the self-produced Summer Quarter, a dreamy 16-min EP accompanied by a music video shot at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley. For more great indie art rock from Kenney, definitely check out her album Sucker’s Lunch, released on Carpark Records last July. You can purchase the digital EP bundled with a limited edition "Summer Evening" riso print designed by Kenney on Bandcamp.
Robert Yang of Honey Soundsystem, who just last week released experimental industrial album Heirloom under 羅伯特, announced this week that in March he’ll be releasing a new EP entitled Continuum under his Bézier alias. Check out the track “Surfing the Wedge” on Bandcamp.
“Fog Mode,” a track released by SF rappers Dregs One and Andre Nickatina last month, just got the remix treatment with a verse by Black C of RBL Posse. True to the title and featured artists, it’s the sound of classic, head bopping Bay Area hip hop.
Last week I wrote about how I’d been loving the 2020 cumbia album Y Te Cuento by the Discos Resaca Collective & Mariposas del Alma. Well, if you’re a cumbia lover, you should absolutely listen to “La Morena Sonidera” b/w “La Oaklandesa” by the same artists. And then get excited because the collective has three upcoming 45 releases:
“Tírate La Chancla / Quiero Yo Cumbia” (RS-004), a collaboration with SF-based, Nicaraguan rapper Deuce Eclipse and Mexican cumbia artist Robin Revilla of Discos el Papi. Preview on Instagram and pre-order on Bandcamp.
“Nadie / Gusanito Rojo” (RS-005) by Salinas-based, Chicano songwriter Flaco el Jandro. Preview on Instagram and pre-order on Bandcamp.
“Something Perfect / Sin Ti (Puchungita)” (RS-006) by Mariposas del Alma feat. Brian Rivera. Originally released on Y Te Cuento but pre-orders for the vinyl single open February 14.
SF shoegaze band Sweet Trip just released a remastered version of their 2009 album You Will Never Know Why, featuring three bonus tracks. Last week they released “Walkers Beware! We Drive Into the Sun” b/w “Stab/Slow” from their upcoming album A Tiny House, In Secret Speeches, Polar Equals, set for spring release.
MAYBE MISSED
In October, Berkeley producer Halcyon released “Petal Juice” b/w “Slikslush,” a lush deep house single featuring soaring synths and samples, angelic vocals, and a minimalist piano vamp reminiscent of Steve Reich. Read more.
Robert Yang’s next release (see above) is coming out on Berlin-based miv., which Yang just launched. The label’s only other release for now is Thru-Out by SF artists Bézier and Vin Sol. Released in November, the six-track dance release benefits organizations fighting for low-income housing and against tenant evictions around the Bay Area.
CLASSICS
You think you know Michael Franti... and then you find out he released one of the Bay’s most incisive and engrossing hip hop albums ever. Recorded in San Francisco, Hypocrisy Is the Greatest Luxury has more in common with Public Enemy than the Dr. Dre-led G-funk that would soon dominate west coast hip hop. Read more.