I’ve seen a lot of people bemoaning the state of SXSW. Its not as fun as it used to be. Its too crowded. The corporate sponsorships are too intrusive. And, worst of all, the music isn’t that great. Well, ok. Its true. SXSW is way too big for its britches. I mean, this really isn’t surprising. The festival is now old enough to drink, and twenty one year olds are troublesome when they decide to party.

Having never been before, I was overwhelmed by many of the festival’s growing pains. From the desperate search for a hotel room, to the lines for shows, to the lines for after parties, to the bouncers who guarded the brightly colored wristbands that you needed to get into VIP shows (which, once you got into you couldn’t figure out what the fuss was about). Its a bit much to go through just to see a few bands. Except that bands are so promotion crazed they’re after as many shows as possible in four days. I heard some bands had show counts in the double digits. Its like sport fucking for bands! I noticed a lot of shows seemed to be under-attended, so in the end I’m not sure this strategy is really paying off.

Also, there’s the joy of being in Texas. I know, I know, Austin is different but maybe the rest of Texas floods in for the festival to throw beer bottles at you for wearing white pants, or to hang out of their pickup trucks to scream at you that they (correctly) think that you’re a faggot, or cosy up to you on the dance floor to try and chew (literally!) their way into your heart. But the real nail in the coffin for the festival was when the interactive section was added. The geeks are making their desperate grab for cool, and thats usually when you know its time to move on.

All of that aside, we still managed to have a blast. The trick is to go to the ‘unoffical’ events and bypass all the above silliness. These were much more laid back, friendly, and sonically interesting. I wrote a ton about The Smell/Deathbomb Arc showcase already but another fun showcase we hit up was the Social Registry/Cake Shop showcase which is pretty cool if you like some scuzzy modern psych (which I do). Speaking of, I was totally enjoyed Knyfe Hyts, one of the scuzziest, ugliest sounding bands. And they’ve got a look to match. Check out “Smoke The Milk” on their myspace page, it was seriously hypnotic live. Pictures!

Posted in gay mouth, knyfe hyts, photos, sxsw, we don't like anything i guess | 2 Comments »

To celebrate the release of the album “Get Your Hopes Up” (available now!) Actually Huizenga presents “Tuff It Out”. The video for the song that inspired the cover of the album but is not actually on the new album!

Posted in hard place, news | No Comments »

You can read a little bit more about the video (and buy the album of course) over at our label website.

Posted in being awesome on YouTube, hard place, video | No Comments »

I dunno if you caught that in the last post, but World Famous in SF is now not only a trail blazing blog but (probably) your new favorite label. Actually, I think we’ve slyly referenced it a few times in the past. Those of you that have caught on already know that we have an awesome logo which was designed by Hazel Hill:

But we also have:

• An awesome website (http://www.worldfamousisnf.com)
• A spiffy new myspace page (http://www.myspace.com/worldfamousinsanfrancisco)

Sorry, yes we have to become friends all over again for a second time. Its going to be so fun rediscovering each other though!

• An awesome first release, Get Your Hopes Up by Hard Place which is out now and on sale over at the website
  
• More releases on the way from Mon Cousin Belge and The Passionistas

We’re totally excited, we hope you are too. A brief poll of our closest friends says you should be. Come <check us out!

Posted in get your hopes up, hard place, label, world famous in san francisco | 1 Comment »

Ok, last post about this show, for real. Seriously though, it was super fun and its too bad we couldn’t have all been there together. The Hard Place set was maybe up in the air as they didn’t have, you know, like amps and stuff. But Devon Williams was a total super hero and lent the band, like, everything. Their live show is totally evolving — moving from the territory of birthday party glitter and fake blood theatrics into a full on adult super show. At one point I found Actually Huizenga humping my leg! Being Hard Place’s label I might be biased, but I thought they were super great. If that doesn’t sound objective, just look at the photos!

Magic Johnson taught me something. They taught me that you can be avant punk rock and do an a cappella version of a dolly parton (ironic) classic. When in more punk rock mode, this guy would sing into his guitar pickups, which I found endearing. Sadly, no photos of that but here’s one in more standard mode:

The last band I caught was KIT (sadly, I had to take off before Anavan). This band is a little on the aggro, screamo, nineties post hard core side of things which I’m not as into these days. But these guys were really great. I like bands that mingle with the audience while they’re playing. I was particularly impressed by the guitar which was way catchier and more immediate than I remember it being on record. I wrote to a friend “You know what, I was wrong. They aren’t too nineties sxe underground post hard core.”

Posted in KIT, Magic Johnson, deathbomb arc, hard place, sxsw, the smell | No Comments »

Outsider SF local Music Blog World Famous in San Francisco launches it’s eponymous record label, World Famous In San Francisco, with the debut full length of West Coast legends Hard Place. Entitled “Get Your Hopes Up” the record will be available on CD, Vinyl (which we are sure you, savvy reader, already knew is now cool again), and all over the internet (iTunes, Rhapsody, eMusic, etc). Be the first on your block to buy this record! You can tell all your friends “I knew them when they were nothing more than a sensual leak in your grandmother’s panties”.

Posted in news | 1 Comment »

Aaron from Music stands for Comfort gives us us two cents on what IN and what’s OUT at World Famous In San Francisco.

Posted in Aaron Sunshine, In and Out, music stands for comfort, vloging, vlogs | 3 Comments »

Holy Shit My Darkest Light Will Shine (Felt cover) live in San Francisco’s Kimo’s 3/8/08 for Mushroom International’s Mini Pops festival with Girls, The Passionistas and art by Jason Yates (Fast Friends Inc.)

More Holy Shit footage here

Posted in Ariel Pink, Fast Friends Inc., Felt, Girls, Jason Yates, Matt Fishbeck, Mushrooms International, The Passionistas, kimos | No Comments »

Next was Nero’s Day At Disneyland. Its kind of completely backwards that the first time I finally catch this is in Texas because this guy is from Oakland. Anyway, I was kind of reeling from being on my knees between the two drum kits to get photos of Foot Village so the sheer cartoon virtuosity of this music didn’t hit me right away. But once it did I was blown away. This guy plays crazy piano with the flare of a totally insane inbred Germanic prince or something and he embellishes it with some screwed up electronics a la Venetian Snares. Completely hyper,insane and overly indulgent, true to his namesake. I was so into it. Don’t be dumb like me. Nero’s Day at Disneyland is out of Oakland so there is no need to travel hundreds or thousands of miles to catch this, which you should definitely do.

Sadly, I didn’t get any photos of Kevin Shields and her sewing machine of doom. But, it was a pretty neat performance and I kind of loved watching the crowd head banging to her harsh noise thrash in rhythm with her hand motions on that machine. Maybe you had to be there though.

And then, for something completely different, Devon Williams played some seriously gorgeous pop music. Ok, actually first they played a few covers including a messy but totally spot on cover of Alex Chilton. Then they played some seriously gorgeous pop. What I like about the live set up of this band is its so rock ‘n roll. The recorded stuff is pretty and orchestrated and sweet and earnest (in a good way) and melodic and people make comparisons to Nilsson, but live the band is really dynamic, the guitar is assertive, and the songs are bursting with energy. I get excited watching it.

Posted in deathbomb arc, devon williams, kevin shields, nero's day at disneyland, sxsw, the smell | 1 Comment »

John Maus - Maniac

I’ve listened to John Maus’ album Songs more times then I’m willing to admit. I listen and wonder how long it took Maus to program all the stupid Baroque moments that manically pop in and out of the album. I really do love those moments, even if they are a bit showoffy and ironic. I dunno, classical music isn’t funny yet, and I really doubt Maus is passionate about the Baroque period - he’s probably just into the naive 60s Baroque that everybody loves - he could probably give a shit less about the furniture.

The above video for Maniac was only recently put back up on YouTube. Let’s give him a break: from my experience, It’s hard to keep videos on YouTube because in moments of paranoia, you somehow visualize people laughing at you huddling around a laptop. In this video Maus looks like he hasn’t slept for days and yet he’s very confident (I’m not saying he’s high) about his cool. It’s the kind of video your parents would hate. The inde girl in the video puts it all in perspective. She’s hypnotized by his multitrack. She obviously hasn’t dated a musician before and she thinks he and his friends are all really cool. If I were in the video I’d tell that bitch to RUN. I love the Maniac video.

John Maus plays this Saturday, March 22nd at Kimo’s with Bridez.

Posted in Baroque, Caturday, John Maus, bridez, inde girl, kimos | No Comments »