“J’adore Le Proletariat!”

Who are these neo-romantic, black leather and hot pink feather wearing freaks clawing down the doors of local record shops, pounding out the windows of sold-out venues, frothing at the mouth, their wide-eyed faces pointed toward a non-existent god begging for more…more…more? Why they are none other than rabid and rock-hungry fans of Mon Cousin Belge, the San Francisco based shock-glop group of glamor obsessed socialists, or as Belgian lead singer Emile would call them, “his people.”

If you’ve lived in San Francisco or Los Angeles for the last three years and you do not know of whom I speak, then you have mistakenly and grievously overlooked the most exciting band to come up in many, many years. And now, with the release of their debut recording “Quelle Horreur” (What Horror) on their American label World Famous in San Francisco, the international spotlight is mere inches away from this band of fabulous lunatics, whose music has been described as “representing the farthest reaches of what glam once was and still promises to be.”

The lead singer, Emile, a Belgian ex-pat, who speaks next to zero English and notoriously addicted to plastic surgery and Mahalia Jackson, possessing a four and a half octave singing range, leads his all-American band of faux-poseurs through all sorts of musical terrain, including full-blown assaults of post-punk ethos to hard core, soul-searching gospel and neo-thug anthems denouncing all things mediocre and less than fabulous.

You can learn more about the band here:
http://www.moncousinbelge.com
http://www.myspace.com/moncousinbelge

CDs are available in stores now, contact http://www.midheaven.com for more info.

Hey, I just read about this from The Bay Bridged and thought I would repost it here to let all the cool bands on this label in on the fun! You know that the Passionistas will be submitting something fun and exciting (and maybe a little controversial) Even thought we are not playing Mission Creek this year…

here is the post taken from The Bay Bridged

“The annual Mission Creek Music & Arts Festival is coming up fast, and you’ll be able to read more about it here on The Bay Bridged as it approaches. But for now, we wanted to remind any bands that haven’t entered their music video into the Bay Area Indie Music Video Festival to do it now.

For the second year, local indie pop band Blammos has organized this great event that allows local bands to submit their videos for the chance to be featured at the Festival, which this year takes place at a href=”www.atasite.org”>Artist’s Television Access (ATA).

Bands must submit their videos by next Wed., July 16 to be considered. The video must be independently produced and under 5 minutes, and all you have to do is send the web link to blammostheband@yahoo.com. All genres are encouraged. If you’re not a filmmaker, but want to check out the show, head over to ATA next Saturday, July 19. 8pm, $7.”

Alright! get started on those videos!

Oh, maybe you didn’t see it on pitchfork, gorilla vs bear or rcrdlbl but Girls have a seven inch coming out on True Panther Sounds

So check this out, even though I know you’ll all be at Thee Parkside for Club Feral with Hard Place, maybe you really want to get quantum and be at the Hotel Utah as well for the Girls seven inch release party with Softboiled Eggies (word on the street is that these guys are a real, unlike some other LA acts we’ve mentioned on this blog!!) and Primo. The trick is to not be observed and its possible you were at both — we’ll tell everybody you were.

Hard Place from LA
Wealthy Whore Entertainment
Schlitz Claiborne (Lane from Connie Fucking Francis’s new band)
Frisco Dykes Frisco Dykes (also touring!)

Dance Party w/ DJ Vinyl Abuser

When it comes to San Francisco, we don’t know how lucky we are to have so many good bands. Here’s our attempt to list the top 20 movers & shakers in the SF Bay Area music scene! Hey we’re modest so we’ll put ourselves in at #20 although I must point out that this is just a list, and the numeric order denotes NOTHING!

#20. World Famous In San Francisco – In a little over a year WFNSF has launched a blog, label and hopefully made a lot of you laugh! Recently hooking up with Revolver for distribution and currently poised to release Mon Cousin Belge’s debut record Quelle Horreur, the upcoming year will be an interesting one with singles by Passionistas, Bridez, Hard Place & more!

#19. Don Baird – Don spins (SF Eagle) all the latest and greatest records around town and also has one of the best & longest running columns (Jessica Dubroff anybody???) in SF. No blog bullshit for Don, he’s legit in print. check it out:
Beat This

#18. West Add Radio – the best radio station? It sometimes is! Help them get a new transmitter. WAR 93.7fm is a volunteer run community radio station broadcasting on the FM dial 24/7 out of San Francisco. WAR 93.7fm receives no money for advertisements. check out the events section for monthly benefit gigs….

WAR 93.7

#17. TransAm – The Club! Bringing the best rock bands together with the gay scene. And Don’t The Kids Just Love it!

TransAm

#16. SMiLe – Neil Martinson has been incredibly supportive of the SF music scene. We LOVE Neil! His legendary club Smile has been in action since 2001 and we hope it never stops. Many bands have been lucky enough to book their debut at the Monday night Smile while the Friday night Smile showcases some of the most exciting rock from the Bay Area & beyond. And hey, there’s no link! Neil doesn’t use the internet! We love him for that, and he sometimes wears a cape!

#15. Antenna Farm – the past year has been amazing for this DIY indie label. Hugely successful releases from Sugar & Gold, The Botticellis and the re-release of Bart Davenports OOP debut have proved that this label is going strong, how do they do it? Running a label is soooo expensive…

Antenna Farm

#14. The OhSees – John Dwyer. (aka The Oh Sees, Thee Oh Sees and formerly OCS, Orange County Sound, Orinoka Crash Suite) began as a way for John Dwyer (of Coachwhips, Pink and Brown, Landed, Yikes, Burmese, The Hospitals, etc.) to release his instrumental, experimental home recordings. However, over the course of 7 albums it has evolved into a full band that is not surprisingly one of his best! We really like this band, John Dwyer rocks.

ohsees

#13. The Bay Bridged – getting your band or show listed on this Bay Area blog guarantees exposure. Once bands clamoured to get listed in the SF Bay Guardian or SF Weekly, now it’s all about The Bay Bridged. Now they sometimes even link to World Famous In San Francisco. How cool is that!

The Bay Bridged

#12 Revolver – Midheaven Mailorder. Most folks don’t realize how lucky we are to have a fantastic local independent music distributor! Check out their podcasts.

Revolver Distribution

#11 Girls – On the SF scene for just about one year (and risen out of the ashes of the excellent Curls) Girls is the “IT” band of 2008, and with good reason. Their myspace page garnered rave reviews in Pitchfork. They’re about to embark on a tour (sure to wow crowds in NY and Paris! Chris and JR, currently rehearsing with their band. Girls debut 7″ is out soon on True Panther Sounds. Chris & JR know what they want when it comes to THAT sound!

Girls

#10 SF Eagle – Thursday Nite Live
Having hosted such bands as Times New Viking, the OhSees, and the Avengers, this legendary leather bar is the place to be on Thursday nights. Doug Hilsinger is the man mainly responsible, but the entire crew over there rules. DJ Andy we love you too!

SF Eagle

#9 Randy Walker – Carletta Sue Kay and Mon Cousin Belge, we never seem to see Randy Walker walking about whenever there is a CSK or MCB show. WTF? For years Randy was known as the best singer in town, now he’s being recognized for his songs and lyrics. Combined with constant touring via Carletta and the resurrection of the Belge, make room for another mysterious Mr. Walker.

#8 Cole Palme – Founding member of the legendary Factrix. Still one of the most loved and respected musicians in this town with fans clamoring to gain access to recordings of his . Last time we talked to Cole he was working on something new, we keep our fingers crossed it comes out soon!

#7 Passionistas -video flyers, charisma up the ass, great songs, and a new single recorded by JR from Girls, out soon on World Famous In San Francisco. For a brief time last year, it almost seemed like God’s Boat might sink. Andrew was thinking of quitting, no drummer, and then manager Will (New & Used) was at a crossroads. Thank goodness Andrew gave it the good ol’ college try and is now contributing songs. Oh yeah, they found the perfect drummer. Tina rocks.

Passionistas

#6 Bridez – Currently on tour with Gravy Train, one of the best things to hit the scene this year, or any year for that matter! A fantastic new record out on Gifted Children Records this band also brings it live. Wildly exciting! A dirty good time.

Bridez!

This is taking too long! I give up…

here’s the Top 5, you figure out why they are the TOP 5….if you’re still reading this you just might need your head examined.

#5 Sam Flax Keener – Sam’s band played with the Foxx at the Hemlock last year and people are still gushing about it. This is the most mysterious band in the world. Even Sam’s friends think it is a mystery. Come out and play SAM!!

#4 The Vortex Room

#3 Tubesteak DJ Bus Station John

#2 Mission Creek Music Festival

#1 Tie!!!!! Apache (the band) and Davey! Davey goes to a lot of good shows. We saw him!

Our pal Francesco, a.k.a. Warbear, the hottest bear of all time. And trust me, I am not into The Bears. This man, Francesco, is a Roman God… He foin grrrrl! …HE FOIN!!! And he is about to throw the final celebration for his party Phag Off in September. But it’s in Rome, so all you SF and LA faggots probably won’t make it. Emile sends his regards.

This from their website;

Phag Off deconstructs inner stereotypes of gay communities: “Another sexuality is possible” Phag Off has the form of a monthly bacchanal party. A dirty mail-art-like newsletter is the track to follow; the party extreme contents are driven by: Politically incorrect vjing with d.i.y. queer porno and freeware open source video software; Queer Music promotion – being it queer djing with a special focus on information freedom through plagiarism, bootlegs, mash ups or/and queer bands, live sets; Fanzines, Exhibitions; Spoken words and performances; Independent video presentations; Pink rallies; Partecipation to queer related festival and conferences.

check out this mix by my hairy Italian lover Francesco, my Jupiter, my Mars, my Mercury!

http://www.flxer.net/SCUMTAPE4.mp3

http://www.phagoff.org/