4 nights of STS9 at the Fillmore

Last night marked the first of four sold out Sound Tribe Sector 9 shows at the Fillmore in SF.  STS9 is a 5 piece instrumental electronic jam band, with added elements of a funky or even hip hop groove.  Throw in a little drum and bass, and there you go.

The guys have a pretty insane cult following (the kind that will travel the country following the band to venue after venue), a lot of it due to the pretty awesome live shows they put on.. and of course the danceable, happy music.  Add copious amounts of weed, mushrooms and twirling hippies, and there you have it! 

Here’s a clip from the DVD they put out in 2006.

I have to say though, the show last night had a weird mix of really amazing people and total douchebags.  You expect a certain amount of difficulty in dealing with people who are very influenced (especially in the middle of the crowd carrying drinks), but there were some really rude people there.  People trying to take beers off my tray, steal money.. I had one guy screaming at me for about 10 minutes and then refuse to buy his drink.  Very unnecessary.  I’m hoping the crowd will be more  consistant these next few nights.

Another side note, what’s up with the twirling?  I’m very honestly curious… don’t you get dizzy?  Does it just feel really intense and awesome to twirl for 3 straight hours?  I tried spinning around and it just made my head hurt.. 

Perhaps I’ll never know.

 

-bex

don’t look behind the motherf***in’ curtain, motherf***er!

The Darkly Beautiful Soundtrack to Coraline

Play this while you read:

So the most important thing you have to do today is go see Coraline in 3D. Really. If you haven’t seen it yet you should really get on that. I’ve seen it twice in theaters now and I will probably be back for round three soon. Then when you get home from the theater you should buy the soundtrack.

Let me just list off a few reasons why this movie is amazing:

• It has the same director as The Nightmare Before Christmas, Henry Selick
• It is in 3-D, and the 3-D effect is used to enhance the story, rather than serve as a gimmick to pack theater seats.
• Was shot in stop motion using puppets

Coraline nails the dark and gruesome imagination that so many children have– the bug squishing, banana slug hunting, making-up-scary-stories part of childhood that gets lost in the saccharine worlds of most children’s programming. This movie is DARK.

When the movie started I was completely captivated by its visual richness (as well as the 3-D glasses) that I almost didn’t notice the score at all. Then about 15 minutes in during the scene where Coraline is exploring the house, I realized that the music underlying the film was totally mesmerizing.  I bought the soundtrack this weekend and have had it on repeat nonstop ever since.

Scored by French composer Bruno Coulais, it features the Children’s Choir of Nice and the Hungarian Symphony Orchestra. They Might Be Giants also have 1 song on the soundtrack, the ‘Other Father Song.’

“Fantastic Garden” – feel that upright bass:

“Mechanical Lullaby” from the opening credits:

–DJ Rex Manning Day

I actually just bought this.

Maarrrrrrrrrrrshmallow Mateys is probably what they should have called it, heh.

Fox Theater, Oakland!

Go!  That’s really all I can say, go.  Go!

What is it you’re talking about, Bex?  Well, the Fox Theater in Oakland just re-opened after being closed for almost 50 years.  The city and surrounding businesses put something like $75 MILLION dollars into renovating the whole thing, attempting to keep almost everything original.  It’s blow your mind, kick you in the face amazing.  It was first built in the 20′s to show those crazy new “talking pictures”, and you can definitely feel that almost obscenely over the top glamour they were so prone to having..

That was a view from the balcony section mid-way through renovations, and here’s a final product shot..

You’ll notice what people have been calling Buddhas next to the stage, but they actually were created as warrior protectors.  My own personal belief is that as long as their eyes are glowing, they are warding off zombies.

Booking is done by Another Planet, who also book for the Greek Theater and The Independent, and produce the Outside Lands Music & Arts Festival and Treasure Island Music Festival.  Needless to say, in the 3 weeks The Fox has been open, we’ve had acts like Social Distortion, Michael Franti, Cake, and Modest Mouse.. and future booking looks to be amazing as well.

Ok, yes, this is a bit of a fluff piece because yes, I do work there.. and I have totally drank the Kool-aid and want this place to do absolutely amazing things.  It’s just so damn exciting.  It’s a fantastic thing for the downtown Oakland area, and for the East Bay in general.  Go check it out, you won’t be disappointed.

yar.

Burnal Equinox Celebrations

This Saturday marks the halfway mark to Burning Man 2009. Go get freaky!

In San Francisco, Burning Man LLC is hosting “Flambe Lounge” at Whisper.

In New York, Disorient and Kostume Kult are hosting a party on a paddle wheel riverboat out on the Hudson!

THE SCENE: Bioluminescence is on the Queen of Hearts Riverboat–a 3-floor, enclosed, climate controlled paddle-wheeled boat with two dance floors and a lounge area.

THEME: Bioluminescence is inspired by those deep see creatures who make their own light in the murky depths inspiring us toward aquatic or illuminated costumery in this black light flooded venue.

DJ’s spinning House, Breaks and Electro including Friar Tuck, DJ Balls, Miko, Ben Jammin, Reda Briki, Tektite, Steve-O, Douggie Style and birthday boy Arrow-Chrome.

FEATURING: Dancers Leslie Ocean, Lauren Burn & Stacey Pershal–Silk Trapeze by Stephanie Hope–Video projections by Guillaume Clave– Havalah Collins and the Burleque Singers–Fashion Show by Wheylan– Skin Paints and Pimp-ology by Lowroad–DV8 Collage Install by Sooz.

–DJ Rex Manning Day

France has dancin’ fever: The Tecktonik

Apparently for a few years now all the electro kids in Paris have been doing this dance called the Tecktonik to all that electro-house on Ed Banger. Now I don’t know how much of these dance moves are really new… it looks a lot like poppin and locking and old-school rave glow stick dancing to me, but you gotta dig this whole French hip kid spin on going apeshit on the dancefloor. There seems to be a lot of wrapping your arms around your head.

Check out these guys: (note that the fellow in front is sporting both a fanny pack and a mullet)

Wikipedia says:

Tecktonik (also known as “tck“,”electro dance” “vertigo“, “Milky Way“) is a form of dance based on a blend of techno styles (late 80s vogue, 90s  waving and old school breakdancing), started in 2007 in Paris at the outrageous club Metropolis by Hussein Ezzo and some other dancers.^[1] The music Tecktonik is usually danced to is electro house. Tecktonic has not yet succeeded in creating its own musicgenre, even though multiple attempts have been made.

About a minute into this video all these French girls have these psuedo b-girl Tecktonik battles:

This kid here will show you a thing or two. I guarantee you that this badass has made out with every girl in his seventh grade class: (you can tell he isn’t effing around by his wristband 35 seconds in)

All in all, I give this whole Tecktonic dance craze two gyrating and flailing thumbs up. How sweet would it be to go to a house party where everybody is Tecktonic dancing all over the place, bumping into things and knocking lamps off of end tables?

–DJ Rex Manning Day

Zombies! Run for your lives!!!

As internet phenomena goes, this isn’t exactly new. But it keeps getting funnier the more I think about it.

Some goofballs in Texas hacked a road sign to warn of zombies ahead:

Construction sign hacking has now spread to Indiana and Illinois. Check out this informative ‘How-To” site and hack your own road sign!

Bay To Breakers – The End as We Know It (Part II)

As B2B is permanently on my mind these days, I thought it appropriate to post a follow-up to DJRMD’s previous post.  May 17th, 2009 will mark my fourth appearance at this lovely only-in-SF event.  Looking back with fairly blurry hindsight, I can say (somewhat accurately) that even in my first B2B, there were attempts to limit drinking, keg-floating, and other shenanigans.  When our crew showed up at the beginning of the race with a beautifully hand-crafted pirate ship float, we were not allowed into the course and had to wind our way down side streets until we found a spot to sneak in.  Though the offender in this case wasn’t the float itself, but rather the keg concealed inside, it just goes to show that these new regulations on the race are not so new at all.

When it comes to rowdy SF events (LoveFest, Pillow Fight, SantaCon, etc…), people will always find a way to a) get drunk and b) get naked.  Though weaseling giant floats into the race might be a bit harder to accomplish, I have faith in the ingenuity of the locals.  I mean, if I could find a way to dispense white russians out of my cow suit udders in B2B ’07 (albeit, for only a short period of time), anything can be accomplished with just a bit of ingenuity.

Speaking of ingenuity, if you ever find yourself with a bad connection between keg and tap, it turns out there’s a fairly common item found in the pockets of many B2B participants that will help “seal the deal.”  As it turns out, condoms are the new rubber washers…

-Dynosaurus

Bassnectar Live Set on Kiss 100 FM Breakbeat Show with Jay Cunning

Check out Pescoe’s Breakzlinkz blog to get Bassnectar’s guest DJ set on Jay Cunning’s Breakbeat show from 2/10/09.  Contains lots of Bassnectar-patented wobble and a lot of American Beauty samples towards the end.

UPDATE 2/25:

Lorin himself has posted this mix on his podcast. Cop a high quality MP3 there.

BASSNECTAR LIVE MIX FOR KISS FM
1. Flagrantly Long & Indulgent Live-Mash Intro
2. Bassnectar – Supastylin [SuperCharged]
3. Bassnectar – Art Of Revolution (instrumental) [Amorphous Music]
4. Bassnectar – Kingston Town [bootleg]
5. Product 01- Ready 2 Rage (Bassnectar & Jantsen Remix) [Amorphous]
6. Sleaze Beatz [Amorphous Music]
7. Bassnectar – Heads Up (California Style) [Amorphous Music]
8. Me & You – Last Night (Bassnectar Remix) [Tru Throughts]
9. Noisia & Mayhem – Exodus (Bassnectarz live re-edit)
10. American Beauty Live Amorphous Mash Segue
11. Mr No Hands – Button Down (Groove Diggers VS Bassnectar RMX)
12. Si Begg – Can’t Take it (Bassnectar Loves Si Begg Remix)
13. Frank Sin Atcha – Black Magic
14. Bassment Jaxx Speaker Junk Remix Beat Moment
15. Bassnectar – Beasties, Solid Groove & Sinden Masher
16. You’ve Gotta Fight For Your Rights.

–DJ Rex Manning Day