Sunny, funky experimental electronic artist Devonwho will help leading music software company Ableton show off new wares in a unique premiere at Public Works on Thursday.
The San Francisco-based producer will perform an Ableton-enabled set as part of a night of cutting-edge beat-making with Kid606, Christopher Willits and Mophono.
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Ex-Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr titled his debut solo CD “The Messenger” for good reason. He’s on a mission to make records that make people feel good in the daytime for four minutes. He says he has always admired people who wrote songs “that made you feel good on the way to school, or good coming home from school or work. And as a writer, to do that is the challenge.” A winner of NME’s Godlike Genius Award in February, the guitarist is comfortably stepping into the spotlight again after years working with The Cribs, The The, Bryan Ferry, Modest Mouse and Bernard Sumner.
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Rachel Davies, dark-minded frontwoman for British gothic trio Esben and the Witch, doesn’t have rose-colored ruminations when she’s traveling from concert to concert.
“You spend a lot of time thinking about things, a lot of time just looking out van windows and questioning yourself,” says the singer, who appears today with her band in The City, playing songs from “Wash the Sins Not Only the Face,” their second CD.
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Looks are deceiving when it comes to BottleRock Napa Valley, the four-day music, comedy, food and wine festival in May that was suddenly announced in January.
Co-producer Gabe Meyers, 42 — who conceived the 60-band, 12-comedian event with longtime real estate partner Bob Vogt (who turned Napa’s languishing Uptown Theater into a popular concert hall) — admits that although they had been planning it for a long time, they were working under the radar and so the event seems like it “came out of nowhere.” When people inquire how long, he’s ready with the same witty response
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As is typical, the lineup for the 31st annual San Francisco Jazz Festival is expansive and fun. Announced by SFJazz officials last week, the festival runs June 12-23, with most concerts in the new SFJazz Center at 201 Franklin St.
The opening concert June 12 will present the Stefano Bollani Trio, featuring the acclaimed Italian pianist.
Latin jazz highlights include singer-songwriter-guitarist Milton Nascimento on June 13-14, percussionist Pedrito Martinez on June 16 and the Bay Area’s Pacific Mambo Orchestra on June 15.
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King of Los Angeles’ electronic underground, Daedelus brings a new and improved fourth “Magical Properties” tour to The City on Sunday, promising a superbly curated night of thoughtful, bass-driven electronica and a hypnotic new light show called “Chaya.”
The 35-year-old Venice resident — aka Alfred Darlington or Alfred Weisberg-Roberts — has hand-picked Two Fresh, Ryan Hemsworth and Samo Sound to open the show at the Independent for him. It’s part of a run of North American winter tour dates before he works on releasing a new 2013 LP.
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It always felt awkward to Jamie Lidell, trying to capture his huge, thumping techno-soul ideas in a cramped British flat. After years of what he calls “flaccid bedroom recording,” worrying about neighbors and “tiptoeing around like a bloody idiot,” the singer moved to Nashville, Tenn. He conceived his new, self-titled fifth album (featuring synth-based R&B standouts such as “Big Love” and “Why_Ya_Why”) in a house in a part of the city populated by hard-partying college kids, who never complained about the sound.
Why move to Nashville?
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British protest singer Billy Bragg doesn’t rattle easily, although he admits to having a crazy time after singing a duet of Bob Dylan’s “If Not For You” with Olivia Newton-John on a BBC TV variety show, then returning to his posh London hotel — where Justin Bieber also was staying.
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After being shot down by judges on “The X Factor” last year for being too “cabaret,” San Francisco singer and songwriter Jason Brock is back on track doing what he loves best: performing his very own lounge act.
Starting Saturday at Martuni’s, his show includes all-new material about life after his experience on the hit reality show, and after moving on from exes.
“I hope none of my ex-boyfriends will show up,” Brock says. “That would be really awkward if that happened,” he adds with a laugh.
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Beirut-born artist Mika didn’t go looking for a major movie role. It found him.
After his multiplatinum 2007 debut, “Life in Cartoon Motion,” made him an international pop sensation, the photogenic, Freddie Mercury-voiced singer began traveling in increasingly lofty social circles.
One night, he was dining with his good friend Christian Louboutin, who had been designing stage shoes for him, and seated at their table was famed French actress Fanny Ardant.
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