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 FEB 1 - FEB 7
Just admit it: you're as easily swayed as the next person by the messages of corporate America. This week, though, visiting artists and thinkers stage interventions designed to make us reconsider the sloganeering. You can break your complacency, test your perception, and reinvent the new century, one epiphany at a time. Reclaim your rights, and spread it. |
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CNET Download.com is your source for all things downloadable. You'll find 50,000 free and legal MP3s from your favorite artists, 10,000 game demos and freeware, and a comprehensive library of free and free-to-try software downloads. Be sure to put us on your to-do list. |
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| | Barbara Kruger is best known for her black and white images striped with bold, red bands of text; borrowing conventions from advertising, she subverts some of the precepts of advertising itself. Through posters, billboards, magazine covers, and multimedia installations, Kruger's iconic work has come to emblematize a sort of aesthetic activism. In one famous piece, Kruger juxtaposes a magazine image of a beautiful woman with the words "Your body is a battleground" — typifying her propensity for political engagement. This year's McBean Distinguished Lecturer, she discusses her personal artistic approach at the San Francisco Art Institute tonight. (SB)
  
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| | It's hard to imagine that a voice actor with Carnegie Hall experience would join forces with a traditional Ashkenazi storyteller to pay tribute to the unofficial fifth element of hip-hop, but that's exactly what you'll get at Studio Z's monthly beatboxing showcase. Led by vocal percussionist Kid Beyond and self-proclaimed battle flutist Tim Barsky, the Vowel Movement presents an ethnically diverse cadre of artists who smack lips, clear throats, and turn air into snare, all with impeccable precision. Headlining this month is local hip-hop band Felonious, backing up the vocal acrobatics with live instrumentation. (SNS)
Note: The Vowel Movement takes place the first Tue of every month
 Which character in the Police Academy films is known for his beatboxing and vocal effects skills? The eighth and tenth correct answers each win a pair of tickets to this event.
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| | Word for Word takes an uncommon turn with its latest production, Epiphanies, bringing to the stage two strikingly different short stories from opposing viewpoints. Guy de Maupassant, often accused of misogyny, presents an indictment of female vanity in 19th-century Paris with "The Necklace," while Susan Glaspell's "A Jury of Her Peers" — a story of two women in a farming community who make startling discoveries regarding a murder — is considered a landmark in early 20th-century feminist literature. With a talented cast of actors and artfully designed sets, WfW makes good on this production's titular promise of illuminating discoveries. (EF)
Note: Every Wed is pay what you can. All other dates are $23-28. Runs through Sun 2.13.
Describe your biggest epiphany. The best answer wins a ticket to this event.
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| | After travelling to the east (Yale) and the far west (Japan), this LA native has returned to California. On her newest LP, Manzanita, Todd combines her faraway experiences and her local friends to create a collection of insightful ruminations that bears traces of her travels, but whose heart resides in the Golden State. Slated for release next month, the album includes contributions from a few of her many friends. The family affair continues tonight as she sets up house at the Echo, with Languis, Damon Aaron, and DJ Nobody & Kutmah. (JC)
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| | Comic phenom Sam Lipsyte appeared on the underground literary scene in 2000 with Venus Drive, an unsentimental and gritty collection of short stories populated by tragic, self-destructive characters. His latest, Home Land, surveys similar territory — it's a novel comprised of letters to a high school alumni newsletter from a former student who, quite simply, "didn't pan out." At turns hilarious and dark as all hell, the book is perfectly animated by Lipsyte's knack for live reading, which yields to his audiences the unique pleasure of laughing uncontrollably while being terribly embarrassed for doing so. (PW)
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| | Experimental guitar noodler Ben Chasny has been making the scene in San Francisco an incredibly vibrant one for many years now. As a member of the searing psychedelic outfit Comets on Fire, Chasny contributes flashy licks to incendiary live shows. But with Six Organs of Admittance, Chasny turns his attention inward, crafting acoustic ditties and dirges that mix equal parts John Fahey folk and Tony Conrad minimalism. Sometimes his drones test his listeners' patience; other times he reinvents guitar pop forms with paeans to dead poets. In either case, his approach has earned him a cult following — one that's sure to grow with tonight's performance. (KT)
Six Organs of Admittance's first label, Holy Mountain, shares the same name as which Mexican director? The fifth and 12th correct answers each win a pair of tickets to this event.
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MUSIC: Hip-Hop
The Perceptionists feat. Mr. Lif, Akrobatik, and DJ Fakts One
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| when: | Thur 2.3 (9pm) |
| where: | Bottom of the Hill (1233 17th St, 415.621.4455) |
| price: | $12 / $10 advance |
| links: |
Event Info | The Perceptionists |
| | The Perceptionists' "Let's Move" single is in heavy rotation on many hip-hop platters right now. The song's title alone is an accurate summary of what the group is about: pushing instrumentally complex musical patterns against plunging beats, the trio crafts a sound that gets your feet, legs, and arms moving, and your head nodding in time to the accompanying snappy lyrics. On a label that boasts names like Aesop Rock and Rjd2, it's no small thing to say that the Perceptionists are holding their own amidst the Def Jux clan — but they certainly are, and look set to do so for a long time. (JM)
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| | The New Century Chamber Orchestra nimbly rivals its larger uptown neighbor, the San Francisco Symphony, as one of the nation's leading classical ensembles. This weekend, guest conductor Aaron Jay Kernis shares the spotlight with guitarist David Tanenbaum in works by Nuevo Tango master Astor Piazzolla and two of California's most significant composers, Henry Cowell and the late Lou Harrison. Piazzolla's foray into classical form, the Concerto for Guitar, Bandoneon, and Strings, highlights a program also featuring Cowell's rarely heard Variations on Thirds for Two Violas and Strings, Harrison's Suite for Symphonic Strings, and Kernis' own jaunty guitar piece, the Concierto de Dance Hits. (SS)
Who was Lou Harrison's early composition teacher in San Francisco? The second, fifth, and tenth correct answers each win a pair of tickets to this event.
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FESTIVAL
Human Rights International Film Festival
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| when: | Thur 2.3 - Fri 2.25 |
| where: | Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (701 Mission St, 415.978.2787) |
| price: | $8 |
| links: |
Event Info |
| | This series of documentaries from the Human Rights Watch Film Festival and YBCA's own collection sheds light on the many faces of contemporary human rights challenges. The films deal with a wide range of subjects — Zana Briski, a New York-based photographer, teaches children of prostitutes in Calcutta how to take pictures in the Oscar-nominated Born Into Brothels, while two North Korean prisoners in South Korea tell their stories in Repatriation. Amongst other offerings, the program also includes Edward Said: The Last Interview, a discussion with the famed critic and activist less than a year before his death. Broad in scope, yet intimate in focus, this festival provides galvanizing insights into the troubled times in which we live. (EF/GM)
Why did Edward Said break with Yasser Arafat in 1993? The fourth correct answer wins one pair of tickets to any one film.
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DANCE
B-Boy/B-Girl Jam
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| when: | Fri 2.4 (9pm) |
| where: | Great American Music Hall (859 O'Farrell St, 415.885.0750) |
| price: | $13 |
| links: |
Event Info |
| | Breakdance may yet see a resurgence in the Bay Area, and this is one event with the potential to attract anyone remotely curious about what the B-Boys and B-Girls have been getting up to. With local crews showing off their skills, live music by the Top Rockerz Breakbeat Band, cash prizes for the best dancers, and all ages welcome and encouraged to show, another average night at the neighborhood dive simply becomes an unacceptable excuse for missing out. A full bag of goodies for those who can't fight the urge to pop, lock, baby freeze, and dolphin. (JM)
Invent and name your own breakdancing move. Our favorite two answers each win a pair of tickets to this event.
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ART: Opening
Flaneur
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| when: | Fri 2.4 (7pm-1am) |
| where: | Punch Gallery (155 10th St, 415.522.5555) |
| price: |  FREE |
| links: |
Event Info |
| | For you urban nomads and global wanderers who traverse social and geographic terrain with an eye for the subtle details, the Punch Gallery's final exhibit presents work by artists who also like to mix a little analysis with their wanderlust. Featuring eclectic works inspired by the French word "flaneur" — which means "incognito stroller" or "one who feels at home even when not at home" — the show, curated by SF-based muralist and artist Andrew Schoultz, brings together 13 artists from around the country using collage, found objects, painting, sculpture, graffiti, and other outlets to explore what it means to be a part of, to observe, and to document the street. (KH)
Note: Exhibit runs through Sat 2.26 (Mon-Sat: 12pm-5pm).
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DANCE
Fourth Annual Hindi Film Dance Competition
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| when: | Sat 2.5 (7pm) |
| where: | Palace of Fine Arts Theatre (3301 Lyon St, 415.563.6504) |
| price: | $15 / $10 advance |
| links: |
Event Info | Indus |
| | The title sequence in the film adaptation of Daniel Clowes' Ghost World announced Bollywood's appearance on the western pop-culture radar, but Andrew Lloyd Webber brought it to the mainstream with his Broadway production of A. R. Rahman's Bombay Dreams. With its captivating blend of heart-pumping ghazals and elaborate dances, Hindi film has gained such popularity in the US that this year's Bollywood Awards will be held stateside. But while witnessing Bollywood's spectacle on the big screen is a dazzling experience in and of itself, the UC Berkeley South Asian Indus alliance's Fourth Annual Hindi Film Dance Competition offers a chance to see live, show-stopping performances, with teams from California-based universities choreographing original dances to film numbers in a competition for cash prizes and pride. (SNS)
Which is the Hindi word that refers specifically to Bollywood music? The seventh correct answer wins a pair of tickets to this event.
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| | Inara George may come from famous musical roots — her father was Little Feat's Lowell George — but she paves her own way by sheer force of talent. OK, so her records see friends like Beck and Ben Harper helping out, but George's own sound still comes shining through; her voice is dreamy, but firmly grounded in the California dirt, and the melodies of her songs, while folksy, rise with strains of Air and Echo and the Bunnymen. She opens tonight for Detroit's Kelley Stoltz and local favorites the Court and Spark, but George won't be upstaged — the spotlight is in her blood. (AD)
Inara George was raised in Topanga Canyon, where which strange thing occured on June 14, 1992? The second and tenth correct answers each win a pair of tickets to this event.
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MUSIC: Indie Rock
Numbers w/ Octis and Sic Alps
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| when: | Sat 2.5 (10pm) |
| where: | Bottom of the Hill (1233 17th St, 415.621.4455) |
| price: | $8 |
| links: |
Event Info | Numbers |
| | It's a wonder that San Francisco's post-punk, dance-funk scene hasn't reached its saturation point — yet bands like Tussle, Erase Errata, and the hyperactive Numbers just refuse to let up. It's been a while since Numbers released a record, but don't assume that means they're any less willing to pummel crowds with their Gang of Four-influenced political party rock. The band's synergy derives from the male-female interplay between drummer/vocalist Indra Dunis and her spazzy guitar and synth cohorts, Dave Broekema and Eric Landmark, as they run through frenetic stop-starts and all-out guitar rockers with cool self-confidence. Octis and Sic Alps start things off. (KT)
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| | If your plasma screen is bleeding and your hors d'oeuvre plate smells like it's passed its sell-by date, fear not: the corner sports bar isn't your only option (and besides, its last stool is long gone). Join fellow indie kids doing end-zone dances at Mission hot spot 12 Galaxies, where today's game plays out on a nine-foot screen. The only drawback is that you'll miss any half-time "wardrobe malfunctions" — but that's just because the hard-funkin' Bohemian Knuckleboogie will be keeping the stars in your eyes (and your eyes off the, um, nipples) throughout their half-time and after-game sets. (SK)
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LECTURE
"Interventions" Lecture Series: Tom Sachs
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| when: | Mon 2.7 (7:30pm) |
| where: | UC Berkeley (Krober Hall, Room 160, 415.648.8417) |
| price: | FREE |
| links: |
Event Info | Tom Sachs |
| | There isn't a word in academia or the art world that's been more overused than "intervention," but in the case of Tom Sachs — the featured speaker at the UC Berkeley Department of Art Practice's lecture series of the same name — it fits. The New York artist's sculptures and installations break into everyday life with uncommon, even impolite force, from his Chanel-branded guillotine to his bullet giveaway at Chelsea's Mary Boone Gallery (which left poor Ms. Boone briefly behind bars). From corporate logos to the presidential seal, Sachs renders the ubiquitous symbols in society as crutches for our media addiction, and knocks them away. Now that's intervention. (PS)
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MUSIC: Proto-Punk
Jonathan Richman
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| when: | Sun 2.13 - Wed 2.16 (8pm) |
| where: | Rickshaw Stop (155 Fell St, 415.861.2011) |
| price: | $10 |
| links: |
Event Info |
| | Without Jonathan Richman, we wouldn't have learned that Picasso was never called an asshole ("Pablo Picasso"), and we wouldn't have such insight into the nitty-gritty of life as an Egyptian pharaoh ("Abdul and Cleopatra"). Some would also say that without Jonathan Richman, we wouldn't have punk. The Boston native began his unlikely musical career fronting the Modern Lovers, a taut, minimalist rock band whose self-titled debut ushered in the purposeful amateur aesthetic of the punk age. After the Lovers' demise, Richman's career splintered into a thousand
different directions — children's songs, sea shanties, and Spanish-language albums among them. His emotional performances include material from throughout that career, so be prepared to shimmy, waltz, and swim. (YS)
Which member of the Modern Lovers went on to join the Talking Heads? The 11th and 14th correct answers each win a pair of tickets to this event.
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ART
seamarks: New Work by Steve Roden
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| when: | Now until Sat 3.12 (Tue-Sat: 11am-6pm) |
| where: | San Francisco Art Institute Walter and McBean Galleries (800 Chestnut St, 415.749.4563) |
| price: | FREE |
| links: |
Event Info | Steve Roden |
| | For seamarks, his first exhibit of 2005, Pasadena-based Steve Roden melds sound, animation, sculpture, and painting in a multimedia study of Saint-John Perse's book Amers. Focusing on sections of the text, Roden extracts phrases like "the color of rusted iron" and literally applies them to the paintings that make up the "a silent world" series in seamarks. Tonality also factors heavily into Roden's works, and the unsettling imbalance of clangs and jingles in his audio collage "seam arks" provides an even deeper contrast when set against his colorful, schooner-like sculptures. (KT)
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| CD REVIEW: Bonnie "Prince" Billie & Matt Sweeney, Superwolf |
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Drag City
Released January 2005
$13.99 (Amazon)
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Bonnie "Prince" Billy (aka Will Oldham) has taken to collaborating with his friends in between his highly anticipated and adored solo records. These efforts tend to appeal exclusively to Oldham's cultish following — at best, they're too idiosyncratic; at worst, throwaway ditties to which whimsy would take offense. But don't mistake Superwolf, his latest one-off with ex-Chavez/Zwan member Matt Sweeney, as an album only fit for diehards. The epic opener, "My Home is the Sea," finds Oldham in rare form, recalling the loose whiskey-rock of Viva Last Blues with the pensive, bold lyrical precision that accompanies all of his best work. The clear standout, however, is "Bed is for Sleeping," an uncharacteristically simple ballad of love and loss sure to cause eye leakage, even among those who have never donned a Western shirt or black-rimmed glasses. (KB)
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| PARTNER: Artadia |
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Times aren't easy for artists in the US, but Artadia: the Fund for Art and Dialogue is designed to alleviate some of the strain by pairing visual artists with cash grants. What's better still is Artadia's innovative selection process, which evaluates artists on a local basis by consulting with local and regional curators and experts; the ultimate goal, according to the foundation, is not only to support individual artists, but to foster dialogue at the national level. Applications for unrestricted cash grants from $1,500 to $15,000 are currently being considered, and are due by March 29. (PS)
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| STREAMS: KCRW |
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The recent shout-out in the Gray Lady told us what we've already known for some time: KCRW's increasing influence nationwide is based on its diverse programming and lack of corporate ties. You need only listen to Jason Bentley's Metropolis or Nic Harcourt's Morning Becomes Eclectic to understand why. The two DJs have been integral in breaking new sounds from around the world — check 'em out now to get the jump on next year's Pazz & Jop poll. With this installment, we have the Arcade Fire doing an in-studio session on MBE, while Afrika Bambaataa mixes live with Bentley. Finally, house music luminary Theo Parrish joins Chocolate City's Garth Trinidad behind the decks with his signature lo-fi and delightfully warped sound. (CJN)
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| CREDITS |
| Header Design: |
| Resistance is futile | Meghan Newell | | |
| Editors: |
| Think of the children | Jocelyn K Glei | | Friendly fire | Jake Lancaster | | Peace | Paul Laster | | Keep on truckin' | Doug Levy | | Spread it | Sascha Lewis | | Study comrade Lei Feng | Gerry Mak | | Save the whales | Mark Mangan | | Big up | Colin J Nagy | | Live free or die | Philip Sherburne | | Personal account | Claire Smith | | Ownership society | Peter D Stepek | | Choose or lose | Toby Warner | | |
ABOUT US
flavorpill SF is a free weekly mailer covering music, arts, and cultural events in San Francisco. All listings are researched and written based on what we think has flavor. As always, feel free to send in any and all feedback — comments, questions, ideas, or rants. Spread the flavor...
EVENT SUBMISSIONS
Please send all interesting event information (press releases, links, etc.) to events. |
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| Contributors: |
| Coke adds life | Jami Attenberg | | Don't mess with Texas | Anna Balkrishna | | Must-see TV | Scott Benbow | | Don't ask don't tell | Jimmy Carson | | New World Order | Erika Christiansen | | Voodoo economics | Peter P Clarke | | Ignorance is bliss | Todd Cohen | | Fair use | Joanna Cole | | Freedom fighter | Adam Davids | | Pink is the new black | Lauren Epstein | | No child left behind | Ellisa Feinstein | | Sunshine initiative | Kaija Helmetag | | Breast in show | Sebastian Koch | | Black is beautiful | Ali Kops | | Copyleft | Anli Liu | | Stupid is as stupid does | Jenn Marston |
| Family values | Nish Nadaraja | | Just say no | Tim Pratt | | Solemn duty | Sam N Shah | | Tierra y Libertad | Sam Smith | | Read my lips | Julian G Stewart | | Born free | Yancey Strickler | | It takes a village | Sarah S Sung | | Win the peace | Cheryl Taruc | | American soil | Ken Taylor | | Love it or leave it | Peter Wolfgang | | |
| Production: |
| Just do it | Anjuli Ayer | | Remember the Alamo | Lucy Beach | | Vote or die | David Morrow | | Turn or burn | Sebastian Rasp |
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FUTURE SOUNDS: M3 Summit
The M3 Summit — which takes place in Miami this March 23rd-26th — is the only US gathering to merge modern music, fashion, and multimedia art. With DJ events including the likes of Mylo, King Britt, Rjd2, and Diplo, and poolside networking events, M3 has a line on your future. Early $99 tickets are on sale.
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