Last night's American Idol , showcasing the Los Angeles auditions, devoted plenty of airtime to Southern California's loony-bin-ready fame seekers — what do you expect from a town where locals consider being filmed by TMZ to be a gig worth adding to the resume? But not every contestant set out to make a fool of themselves on TV: twenty-two of the auditioners who showed up at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena were talented enough to get the chance to re-appear before the judges in a different location twenty minutes away: Hollywood. Did guest judges Avril Lavigne or Katy Perry help pick the next [...]

Dubious Ranger , we hardly knew ye. The band is scheduled to play their "farewell show" this Friday, January 22nd (8 pm, $8/advance, $10/door, 21+) at the Red Devil Lounge : It is with a tear in our eye and a gryphon on our left shoulder that we announce that Dubious Ranger will be going on indefinite hiatus after this month. It's been a great run, and we are forever thankful for the support and love you've given us over the last three years. Friday's bill will [...]
King Baldwin make hauntingly beautiful and deviously twisted pop tunes that will nest in your brain until...well 2012 (damn Mayan calendar). Lead singer and songwriter Alexander Eccles is a classically trained pianist, drawn into the world of rock by his younger brother Jon , who gave him a copy of David Bowie's The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars . It was over for Eccles after that, pursuing the rock [...]

Happy Holidays from Musical Pairings @ eating/sf! For us, like many others, the arrival of the winter holidays means spending some time traveling. At the time of posting, Kasey and I are in flight from San Francisco on our way to Ohio to celebrate Christmas with my family. And when I have to spend time traveling in a car, plane, train or boat, I find that music makes the time go by a little easier. So with that in mind, I put together Musical Pairings @ eating/sf's "the december mix." Chock full of delicious new [...]

So it's official. Like "Shaft, the Dukes of Hazzard and Darkwing Duck" before us, Musical Pairings @ eating/sf has its own theme song. And it feels good. I mean, just having an official theme song feels really, really good. The fact that the song is actually good makes it feel ever better. So how did this happen? Burgeoning San Francisco indie-rockers Dubious Ranger are to blame. They have devised a "brilliant plan to sell out with such extreme forcefulness that it will make Gene Simmons shrug and walk away." So what [...]

Colorado's Monolith Festival is in trouble. Organizers of the three-year-old event, plagued the past two years by fractious Rocky Mountain weather, told fans in an e-mail "the future of the festival is very grim," and that they have "been unable to secure any options" that dig the fest out of its financial hole. Included was a plea for potential buyers/investors. [Full text of the letter after the jump.] Meanwhile, Bonnaroo announced its ninth annual event will be held June 10-13, 2010, near Manchester, Tenn. Tickets go on sale at noon Nov. 27. Meanwhile, only 148 days [...]

Mass Fiction: Genre Fans of Dubious Ranger should knowledgeable of Jonathan Eccles. He's the guitarist. When Eccles isn't jamming out with Dubious Ranger, he's playing in Mass Fiction. Eccles produced Genre with the band and released it November 10th through The Nothing Room. Most of the band is apparently classically trained. But the only way to describe the band is Power Pop mixed in with some good old rock. Lead singer Greg Hoffman plays piano, and his voice sounds like a young Billy Joel. In fact, the third track "Slow Fat Animals" sounds like [...]
I encountered a problem while recording this week's show-there seemed to be voices leaking into the recording. It's strange, because we don't live anywhere near radio towers, which is usually the cause of that kind of interference. What's also disconcerting, is that I'm not sure if I was hearing the voices coming from my headphones, or from somewhere else in the room. I'm OK with recording equipment, but definitely not an expert. I'm going to look over my setup again, and make sure nothing's changed since last time I did my show. Anyhow, I hope the interference isn't [...]
Today's free and legal mp3 downloads: Brown&Blue : free and legal Second Chances album [mp3]* other Brown&Blue posts at Largehearted Boy Dubious Ranger : "Heart of Glass (Blondie cover) from Butchers: Volume 1 other Dubious Ranger posts at Largehearted Boy Ernest Gonzales : "Self-Awakening" [mp3] from [...]

If you're a reader of The Bay Bridged then you're well aware of The Stone Foxes residency at the Hotel Utah for the month of October. For this second of four Saturday night shows (8:30pm, $10), Bhi Bhiman reunites with The Stone Foxes . I saw them split a bill at the Red Devil Lounge last fall and let me tell you, they are sure as shit two peas in a pod. Bhi's stripped down acoustic show accompanied with [...]
Today's free and legal mp3 downloads: Acrylics : "All of the Fire" [mp3] from All of the Fire (out October 28th) other Acrylics posts at Largehearted Boy Bottle Up & Go : "Day I Die" [mp3] from other Bottle Up & Go posts at Largehearted Boy Dubious Ranger : free and legal [...]
In addition to Hardly Strictly Bluegrass , this weekend also features the kickoff of a noteworthy Bay Area music series. The Deli SF and Gibson present the Stone Foxes Rock n' Roll Spectacle , featuring local band the Stone Foxes and a variety of other Bay Area bands of the classic rock and roll variety, and taking after the 1968 Rolling Stones Rock n' Roll Circus . This series starts this Saturday, October 3rd, and will occur every Saturday in October at the Hotel Utah. More information, schedule, and lineup after [...]

Summery indie-pop, intricate art-rock, and a little bit of blues were the mainstays this month, featuring a bunch of new faces apart from Sunset Rubdown. Their new album, Dragonslayer , is fantastic and their track on this month's best-of is one of the best Krug has ever written, which is quite complementary considering his prolific work ethic. The likes of Klum and Alligators offer up a similar style of art-rock, showcasing plenty of clever hooks with a modernistic edge that grants them plenty of great moments. Pomegranates, Wild Moccasins and Armen Firman offer up a summery style of indie-pop [...]

Thunder Power is releasing a split EP with London's Alessi's Ark titled Friend Ships. Thunder Power is a six-piece Omaha, Nebraska, indie pop band featuring the infectious vocals of Kacynna Tompsett and excellent background musicians that compliment her perfectly. The band's first release, Love Yourself, was an excellent album featuring one of our favorite songs on 2008, Casanova. Trust me...the more you listen to Kacynna's vocals, the more you'll find yourself liking her. Blood Water [...]

Dubious Ranger: Uneasy Truce at the Watering Hole San Francisco's Dubious Ranger are back with their second album, Uneasy Truce at the Watering Hole. This fiersome foursome take a bite out of Indie Rock in their own way. Sounding anywhere from a jam band to an 80's pop act minus most of the electronics, Dubious Ranger keep you moving. I have a feeling there is much dancing going on at any one of their gigs. To do it playing instruments like the glockenspiel and pan flute, how can you not give them some attention? The album [...]

The integration of humor and satire into music can be an incredibly complex process. By coming across as humorous or self-depreciatingly witty, an artist tends to imply a sort of nonchalant demeanor that can either benefit their music or prove to be the chief detriment that drags them down. Emotional depth can be presented in any form of art, but the stylistic diversity present within music causes the attempt to integrate humor to be more intricate and complex than usual. Musical humorists often look toward the direction of Frank Zappa for a proper influence, as he remains one of the [...]

There are tons of albums out there that don't quite make it onto my radar, sometimes because it's not quite in the power pop genre, but that doesn't mean it's not good music. Here are some of noteworthy groups you might want to check out. Jack Butler "Fit the Paradigm" It turns out that Jack Butler isn't a single guy but a group of funky Scottish musicians who play ska and post-punk pop. Similar to the Cure, Modest Mouse and Public Image Ltd. Highlights include "Are You A Hustler?" [...]
1. Miss Kittin & The Hacker - "Electronic City"2. Chris Cornell - "Scream" acoustic (zshare file)3. Freeland Cope - "Under Control"4. The Forcefield Kids - "Little Miss Star"5. Josh Reichman - "Agoraphobia"6. Middle Class Rut - "Busy Bein' Born"7. Jarvis Cocker - "Angela"8. Modernage - "Creatures"9. Dubious Ranger - "Weapon"10. Hill Country Revue - "Alice Mae"**BONUS**Black Moth Super Rainbow - "

Jeez, when you have a ton of music sent to you by some very talented people, where do you start? Seems these fine folks just want you to hear their music and really don't care about anyone having legal issues with it. That's not only pretty cool but a big relief, because if this blog has to go from music to cooking or gardening I'm in deep shit. • • • • First up is a band called Basement Band. A couple of buddies-Jeff Malinowski (guitar, vocals) and John Durgee (drums, vocals)-loaded [...]

Art Brut - Art Brut Vs. Satan Art Brut is back with their 3rd album, and it was produced by the legendary Frank Black. I posted about the leadoff track a few months ago . Pitchy gave it a 7.7 so apparently they still got plenty of fuel left in their tank. [mp3] : Art Brut - DC Comics And Chocolate Milkshake Brakes - Touchdown Brakes are [...]