Noise Pop Show Review: The Fresh & Onlys, Disappears, Talkdemonic at Bottom of the Hill, 2/22/12

the-fresh-onlys-promo
The Fresh & Onlys gaze on...

The Bottom of the Hill is one of those venues where amazing things can happen. Its intimate space creates a setting where bands, their friends, and patrons can all rub elbows without the pretense of Rock Stardom bogging down a conversation. Many a band right on the verge of blowing up have graced the stage fully aware of their sparkling future and have played to it, creating an “I was there” situation where one constantly reminds his or her friends (or just about anyone who happens to be around) of the night they saw so-and-so play Bottom of the Hill. I’ve been known to drop an “I was there” once or twice myself (cough Arcade Fire cough).

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Spinning Platters Guide To Noise Pop 2012

For the last 20 years, the good folks of Noise Pop have turned a single show at Kennel Club (now known as The Independent) into a huge, weeklong festival that causes Bay Area music nerds to clear their calendar every year. In recent years, the fest has expanded beyond music- we have movies, craft fairs, and literary events in addition to one of the best programmed music fests you will ever go to. Go to 2012.noisepop.com for a full listing, but if you want to know what I think you should go to, follow the jump!

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Noise Pop Show Review: Ben Gibbard at Great American Music Hall, 2/27/11

Ben Gibbard is called out by Bob Mould at Noise Pop

Closing the Noise Pop festival with solo acoustic shows from Ben Gibbard and Zach Rogue was the right choice. People flew in from Europe, skipped the Oscars, even skipped church for an a relaxing evening at San Francisco’s Great American Music Hall. The young crowd was a mix of experienced Noise Pop festival attendees and those that made last night’s show their select choice. Continue reading “Noise Pop Show Review: Ben Gibbard at Great American Music Hall, 2/27/11”

Noise Pop Show Review: No Age, Grass Widow, Rank/Xerox and Crazy Band at Rickshaw Stop, 2/26/11

I want it to be understood that I’m fucking sick of irony…and I’m not being ironic here either. Continue reading “Noise Pop Show Review: No Age, Grass Widow, Rank/Xerox and Crazy Band at Rickshaw Stop, 2/26/11”

Noise Pop Show Review: Peanut Butter Wolf, Dam Funk, Guillermo and Hakobo at Public Works, 2/26/11

The balconies at Public Works allow for this kind of educational view of the DJs at work

Do you remember when Hip-Hop was good and everything that came out was, well fresh?  I’m talking about the days of Tribe Called Quest, Pharcyde, Freestyle Fellowship, Nas,  DJ Shadow, The Roots, Paris, KRS- One, The Fugees, DJ Greyboy… I do, that’s when I fell in love with it.  Before shorties having birthdays, and milkshakes in the yard.  When grillz donned by Method Man were being sold on the back page of The Source and before the term ‘bling’ was added to the dictionary.   I am ready for this goodness of Hip-Hop to return. Continue reading “Noise Pop Show Review: Peanut Butter Wolf, Dam Funk, Guillermo and Hakobo at Public Works, 2/26/11”

Noise Pop 2011 — My Notes and Ramblings

Kid Koala capped off my Friday evening, and I wasn't drunk. He really was wearing a koala suit. (Kid Koala action photos by David Price.)

What you might be thinking is, “why does he get to write all of his Noise Pop comments in one post when everyone else did full reviews of each night they went?” From an excuse standpoint, I’ll just say that I’ve been so busy editing posts, resizing & captioning photos, and redesigning the website, I decided to give myself a little slack. (Editor’s privilege?) But really, this all started because of Wednesday night.

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Noise Pop Show Review: An Evening With Kimya Dawson and Aesop Rock at Great American Music Hall, 2/25/11

Before things went crazy...

One of the best parts of Noise Pop is when they come up with something especially unique. This collaboration might be one of the most surprising, if you don’t follow either Kimya Dawson or Aesop Rock on Twitter. But if you did, you would know that they’ve been recording together for several months now. To find out what happened at this show, you will have to follow the jump:

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Noise Pop Show Review: The Stone Foxes, The Soft White Sixties, The Ferocious Few and Voxhaul Broadcast at The Indepdendent, 2/24/11

The headliners playing with passion. (Stone Foxes photos on this post by David Price. All others by Jen Robie.)

The well matched line up at The Independent on Thursday night was a reinvestment in soulful swagger of rock n’ roll.  Even from the street, I could hear the wailing from the stage.  As I stood impatiently in the rain, chomping at the bit to get inside, I realized that I was not the only one.  My lovely neighbor in queue Erica, with her beautiful rainproof parasol, had just walked 13 blocks after looking for parking for an hour to see them. Continue reading “Noise Pop Show Review: The Stone Foxes, The Soft White Sixties, The Ferocious Few and Voxhaul Broadcast at The Indepdendent, 2/24/11”

Noise Pop Show Review: Film School with Apex Manor and Gregory & the Hawk at Cafe Du Nord, 2/24/11

Greg Bertens of Film School. (Photos by Abby Wilcox)

It’s certainly nice when one is soaking wet from the heavy downpour outdoors to go underground in a warm and friendly place such as Cafe du Nord and find a cute-as-a-button folk singer crooning softly, trading an acoustic guitar with a harp (!) for good effect. It helps warm cold limbs anyhow.

This was my entrance to Thursday night’s Noise Pop offering with headliner Film School, a band that acknowledged having its own breakthrough at the 2004 instance of the indie-rock festival, opening for Cat Power then. They ended the evening with its members hugging onstage and telling us, “we wanted to come down and play a really good show because we wouldn’t be us without San Francisco.” Continue reading “Noise Pop Show Review: Film School with Apex Manor and Gregory & the Hawk at Cafe Du Nord, 2/24/11”

Noise Pop Show Review: Best Coast, Wavves, Hunx and His Punx, Royal Baths at the Regency Ballroom, 2/26/2011

Bethany Cosentino lets it rip. Photos by David Price.

Best Coast and Wavves played the final night of their Summer is Forever tour as part of Noise Pop on Saturday night. It was a sold-out affair that proved to be one of the biggest draws of the festival. Some might say it was oversold. Others might agree, but are presumably still too high to form complete thoughts.

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