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OCT 21 - OCT 27
"Go West," they said, and so we did — and while those who headed for LA woke up to a plastic paradise, SF's denizens built a small town with an atomic charge, full of lovable freaks and block-rockin' beats, and pastoral rhythms just a bridge away. As the governor's about to find out, San Franciscans like to think of themselves as a nation all their own. Proudly independent, we know how to succeed (or perhaps you spell that "secede"?) on our own terms. Step up and spread it.
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ABSOLUT MANDRIN brings you the harvest and all things orange as we churn
through October. |
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This week's flavor:
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| | In Where I Was From, novelist and cultural critic Joan Didion traces her family roots back to an idealistic westward journey to California in 1766, and then moves forward, expressing her doubts about the sunny image of the state. Currently living in New York, Didion still carries a California driver's license and considers this state home. But she admits to some ambivalence and attempts to reconcile her love-hate relationship with the state, which seems to stem from the romanticized images of California pioneers and entrepreneurs. To her, new generations of newcomers are seen as unwelcome "interlopers," and California is often given more credit than it deserves. Both literary and expressive, Didion reads some merciless, microscopic observations from her new book. (LW)
Note: This event takes place at the Large Auditorium at the First Congregational Church of Berkeley (entrance is on Dana St).
  
 What is the name of Joan Didion's first novel? The second and fifth correct answers each win a pair of tickets to this event and a copy of Where I Was From.
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| | Something of a big fish in the little pond of Norway's creative avant-pop scene, Jergen Traeen has had a hand in producing two of Scandinavia's sunniest exports, Jaga Jazzist and Sondre Lerche. But his own musical creations are quite a bit further out, blending ambient electronic glitch and found samples into dreamy laptop pop. Operating under the pseudonym of Sir Dupermann, his self-titled work has found the perfect home on creative electronic label Smalltown Supersound, and, along with labelmates Lasse Marhaug and Alexander Rishaug, Dupermann stops in our fair city as a part of a rare romp through the US. Set within the intimate, immersive space of Naut Humon's Recombinant Labs Compound, this is a must-see for fans of quirky, adventurous electronica. (NC)
Which free-swinging DJ remixed Jaga Jazzist's "Day" for a 12" release? The first three correct answers win a Sir Dupermann CD.
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| | It's art. It's rock. It's art rock! When it comes to Tracy and the Plastics, it's hard to say exactly what it is. Let's back up: Olympia-based performance artist Wynne Greenwood is Tracy. With the wonder and technology of video and a large screen, she is also Cola and Nikki, aka the Plastics. Armed with a drum machine, a sampler, and an ever-important keyboard, Tracy plays lo-fi electro-dance ditties while her video-projected alter egos support her from the digital world. It's multiple personalities gone no-wave. It's imaginary friends slash semi-real bandmates. It's art. It's rock. It's time to see for yourself. (LB)
A member of which all-girl Olympia, WA, trio appears on Tracy and the Plastics' debut album? The first, third and fifth correct answers each win a pair of tickets to this event.
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| | The Brothers are back, celebrating ten years of block-rockin' beats with a rare turntable appearance at SF's Mezzanine. Creators of big beat and pioneers in arena electronica, Brothers Tom and Ed have returned after a two-year absence to support the release of their retrospective, Singles 93-03. Combining screeching rock with hip hop urgency, thumping house, and pulsing techno, this post-acid house duo defined the decade's style and opened up electronica to an entire generation who thought dance music could never make your ears bleed. With an opening set by DJ Icon, this could be Mezz's event of the year. (CW)
On which album did the Chemical Brothers collaborate with a former Sex Pistol? The second correct answer wins a pair of tickets to this event.
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COMPETITION
GreenCine Film Trivia Night
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| when: | Wed 10.22 (7pm) |
| where: | The Make-Out Room (3225 22nd St, 415.647.2888) |
| price: |  FREE |
| links: |
Event Info |
| | As any IMDB addict knows, there's nothing trivial about film trivia. For cinephiles and pop culture mavens, tracing six degrees of Kevin Bacon is as satisfying as calculating RBIs is to the sports statistician. Tonight, the DVD delivery service GreenCine — think NetFlix with a Lost Weekend spin — hosts its second film trivia night, complete with a film soundtrack setting and prizes, including a DVD player to be raffled off. So bone up on your Bertolucci and study your Star Wars lore and you might just emerge victorious. (PS)
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| | If you've grown tired of seeing DJs, rare movies, indie bands, and new art exhibits, stop by Mission's El Rio bar to witness a truly unusual event: a spelling bee competition between some of San Francisco's finest local musicians representing Thee More Shallows, the Stratford 4, and other bands, and writers from the San Francisco Bay Guardian, East Bay Express, and Kitchen Sink magazine. It's the artists pitted against their critics, with Killing My Lobster member Brian Perkins keeping the orthographiles in check. The cover charge is set on a sliding scale, and proceeds benefit National Novel Writing Month and Music in Schools Today. Local bands Revenge, Citizens Here & Abroad, Snow Day, and Excuses for Skipping play music in between spelling bee rounds. Spell it yourself: tonight's a n-o b-r-a-i-n-e-r. (SNS)
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| | You've got to hate Four Tet's Kieran Hebden. Young, ridiculously talented, a producer who's worked with everyone from Beth Orton to Radiohead to Super Furry Animals, head of the Text label, and founding member of the post-rock dynamo Fridge, this glitch-hopper makes laptop-based electronica sound as evocative as any four-piece band ever could. Four Tet may be opening for mack hip hopper Prefuse 73 tonight at Bimbo's, but don't let the second-fiddle placement fool you — Tet should steal the show with the electric crackle of his newest sonic revelation, Rounds, and his unparalleled laptop improvisation. (CW)
Which long-dormant '60s folk chanteuse did Four Tet mainman Kieran Hebden collaborate with for a Royal Festival Hall performance earlier this year? The first correct answer wins a pair of tickets to this event.
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| | Kid Koala guarantees that the opening act of his Short Attention Span Theater, Lederhosen Lucil, should knock your socks off. And that's just the start of the vaudeville mayhem, which includes Kid's buddies DJ P-Love and DJ Jester, new animated shorts by his longtime visual collaborator Monkmus, and, of course, the Montreal scratchmaster himself. Kid brings his show to SF in support of his latest album, Some of My Best Friends Are DJs, a bin-scouring combination of ska, jazz, funeral marches, and hip hop bangers topped off by a 50-page comic book drawn by Koala himself. The madness hits Bimbo's tonight. (CW)
On which album did Kid Koala collaborate with a former member of horrorcore rappers Gravediggaz? The first correct answer wins a pair of tickets to Kid Koala's performance and a copy of his Some of My Best Friends Are DJs CD. The runner-up receives a copy of the CD.
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| | If Mother Nature were an art teacher, Scottish artist Andy Goldsworthy would be her star pupil. This soft-spoken 46-year-old dreamer creates devastatingly beautiful, self-destructing sculptures he calls earthworks from the leaves, stones, ice, flotsam, and jetsam he finds in pristine pastoral settings. A finished work can last as long as a few days or as short as a minute before the elements pick it apart and return it to its preconceived state. Rivers and Tides highlights this delightful process of creation, destruction, and renewal, offering us a rare, refreshing meditation on surrendering to the idea of temporality while releasing the egotistical impulse to leave something of ourselves behind. (SAS)
What's the best short-lived piece of art you've ever made? The best answer wins a pair of tickets for this screening.
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| | Another Blasthaus event occupies San Francisco's Mezzanine, this time featuring internationally popular DJ-producers Eric Hilton and Rob Garza, better known as Washington, DC's Thievery Corporation. Acid jazz and mid-tempo beats come together seamlessly as the jet-setting Romeos woo their audiences into nocturnal trances with ethereal sounds and smooth rhythms. Ranging from straightforward trip hop to more ambitious work remixing Verve's back catalogue, Thievery Corporation dig wide and deep. (SNS)
Shh! We won't tell anyone, but what's the best thing you've ever stolen? The two best answers win a copy of Thievery Corporation's Den of Thieves.
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| | Maybe it was the elephant in the living room, but it was funny how few people credited the plaintive genius of Portishead to the band's evocative siren, Beth Gibbons. It wasn't until she stepped out of the shadow of the trip pop darlings and released a striking album of avant-folk, Out of Season, that Gibbons was given her due. Holding center stage amidst collaborator (and Talk Talk member) Paul Webb's fusion of blues, English folk, and laptop noodling, Gibbons elicits comparisons to jazz chanteuse Billie Holiday and Velvet starlet Nico, but her quavering ennui is all her own. Backed by a cast that includes Webb and former members of Portishead, Gibbons' whispery tales of heartbreak are sure to prove enchanting. (NC)
Which member of Talk Talk released his solo debut nearly seven years after the band's demise? The first correct answer wins a pair of tickets to Beth Gibbons' concert.
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| | Most people wouldn't think to connect NASA with avant-garde music. Leave it to Bay Area trickster/composer Terry Riley to win a commission from the space agency to compose a symbolic soundtrack of the probing sojourns of Voyager and Galileo, utilizing radio waves collected over the past 40 years by an Iowan physicist. As part of the SF Jazz Fest, pioneers of out-there sounds Kronos Quartet and the stellar California Bach Society perform each of the 10 "spaceships" that comprise the work Sun Rings, accompanied by light projections and ethereal images. (MB)
Which Britpop act was commissioned to write a song that will be played on Mars? The first correct answer wins a pair of tickets to the Fri 10.24 show (8pm).
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| | Diane Arbus didn't see mid-century New York life through rose-colored lenses. While television cranked out images of picture-perfect nuclear families, Arbus turned her unwavering gaze to circus performers, transvestites, people on the street, and even anonymous middle-class families whom she found freakish in their own way. Gathering 200 of these often confrontational images, including many never previously publicly exhibited, Diane Arbus Revelations — the most comprehensive exhibition of her work since her suicide in 1971 — opens its extensive US and international tour at SFMOMA. The exhibit also includes several of her most iconic photographs, such as the Jewish giant slouching down for a portrait with his comparatively tiny parents. (EC)
What's your favorite Diane Arbus photograph? The best description wins a pair of tickets to this exhibit.
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| | Flush with steel guitar, brushed snares, and desert delay, the National's Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers sets up a perfectly parched terrain for the flowering of vocalist Matt Berninger's bleak, lyrical blossoms. Though they're from Ohio, the band recalls San Francisco's American Music Club, especially thanks to Berninger's gravelly, Mark Eitzel-like drawl. There's no schtick here, and it's no use appending "garage," "nu-," or "alt-" to the National's rootsy rock. They serve up nothing more than sad songs expertly rendered, that speak to the worn-out, dirty lover in us all. (SK)
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MULTIMEDIA
Crash the Artists Ball
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| when: | Sat 10.25 (9pm-midnight) |
| where: | Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (701 Mission St, 415.978.2787) |
| price: | $50 |
| links: |
Event Info | Tickets |
| | Yerba Buena's Artists Ball, this year dubbed the Curve Ball, promises to be one of the most over-the-top parties of 2003. At 5:30pm, there's a formal dinner and dance, which, priced at $300, might be a little too much for our tastes. But come 9pm, "party crashers" are welcome, and that's when the fun begins. Outrageous costumes are the norm, luscious music fills the air, and outlandish aerial performances and circus acts prevail. Proceeds from the Artists Ball directly support the Wattis Artist-in-Residence Program at the Center. Be sure to get there before 10pm for the silent auction offering such items as a short story about you by author Dave Eggers, a studio tour and a skateboard autographed by boarder and musician Tommy Guerrero, and a custom "audio portrait" by local sonic sensation Matmos. (NN)
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ART
The New Expression Fall Classic
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| when: | Sat 10.25 (9pm-2am) |
| where: | Melting Point Gallery (1340 Bryant St, 415.861.0580) |
| price: | $5-10 donation |
| links: |
Event Info |
| | You may think "Fall Classic" sounds a bit like an earth toned model of retro sneakers, but think again. The New Expression Fall Classic is a multimedia event showcasing art, video, music, and even comedy, put together by independent humor site Lunchboxing.com and East Bay record label Weapon-Shaped Recordings. At the Fall Classic, style reigns supreme: there are uncanny illustrations from Ezra Li Eismont, Matt Furie's deranged children's illustrations, the Dali-meets-Photoshop surrealism of Kevin Panozzo, and more. Restiform Bodies, HAttAttAK, Telecommunications, and Plug Research recording artist Meanest Man Contest lay down beats hard enough to shake leaves from the trees. (PS)
What was your favorite lunchbox as a kid? Our two favorite answers each win a pair of tickets to this event.
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| | English-born jazz bassist Dave Holland is a missing link in jazz evolution. Although he was born a little too late to be in the thick of the bebop revolution, he did time as a sideman to Thelonious Monk and Stan Getz, and was still a pup when he played on Miles Davis' breakaway fusion manifesto, Bitches Brew. Where many musicians used that Brew to springboard into noisy fringes, Holland championed the core vernacular of straight-ahead jazz. As a mentor to young lions like Chris Potter and Robin Eubanks, Holland remains one of the most vital jazz practitioners alive today. (NC)
Note: There is also a family matinee at 3pm; tickets are $5-15.
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| | Sarah Silverman's not exactly the nice Jewish girl you bring home to Mom. The delightfully nasty comedian has gained a cult following for her acerbic wit and impeccable deadpan delivery. Her aesthetic disconnect doesn't hurt either — how often do you see a sexy comedian with a mouth like a truck driver? Sarah's star has rapidly ascended: after roles on Crank Yankers and Greg the Bunny, she currently appears in the high-profile hit School of Rock with former Mr. Show co-worker Jack Black. Sarah saunters into the Punch Line this evening, filled with venomous one-liners and darkly hilarious political and cultural analyses. You might not bring her home for family dinner, but this one-nighter is well worth it. (LE)
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| | Lucky Girls is the appropriately named debut by Nell Freudenberger exploring relationships, cultural diversity, and family dysfunction in five different cities around the world. After graduating from Harvard, working as an assistant for The New Yorker, getting published in that magazine's 2001 Summer Fiction Issue spotlighting four unpublished writers, and signing a sweet book deal, Freudenberger is a lucky girl herself. Or is she? It takes more than just luck to get to where she is — profiles in magazines, dazzling book deals, headlines, and rave reviews. Freudenberger seems so perfect yet so ordinary that you almost love to hate her even if all you really want is just to be her. (SSS)
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| | Upholding a tradition of granting independent short films their time in the spotlight, Independent Exposure shows off some harrowing tales of the season tonight. This edition of the roving independent film series, called Halloweird, premieres at 111 Minna Gallery before viewings in ten other US cities. With 17 films ranging from two to ten minutes, this collection of shorts is likely to amuse, frighten, and disturb with films such as Devil Talk, Black Tears, and Five F***ing Fables. (PMc)
What's the weirdest Halloween costume you've ever worn? The two most baffling answers win a pair of tickets to this screening.
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ART
Tonite!
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| when: | Now through Sun 11.16 (Thur-Sun: 6-9pm) |
| where: | Gallery Spanganga (3376 19th St, 415.821.1102) |
| price: | FREE |
| links: |
Event Info |
| | A cross-generational, multimedia examination of anxiety and discontent, Tonite! is a clever, visually tasty mélange featuring emerging locals like Leah Modigliani and Scott Hewicker, and rarely seen works from reclusive collage-meister Jess and faux rock star Christian Marclay. Joe Sola's hilarious gogogo video and watercolor renditions of movie explosions, Mary Elizabeth Yarbrough's interactive exploration of schizophrenia, and Jo Addison's absurd image of a girl buckled over in her easy chair ("Crash Landing") are just a few of the superb gems curated by Kate Fowle and Renaud Proch, who find contemporary connections to the societal issues explored long ago by the Bay Area's fabled Beatniks, anti-war demonstrators, and sexual revolutionaries. (JJ)
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PHOTOGRAPHY
Michael Light: 100 Suns
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| when: | Now through Wed 11.26 (Tue-Sat: 11am-5:30pm) |
| where: | Hosfelt Gallery (430 Clementina, 415.495.5454) |
| price: | FREE |
| links: |
Event Info | Michael Light |
| | The title of Michael Light's book and exhibition 100 Suns comes from the Bhagavad Gita: "If the radiance of a thousand suns were to burst forth at once in the sky, that would be like the splendor of the Mighty One... I am becoming Death, the destroyer of worlds." Uttered by J. Robert Oppenheimer after the US' first nuclear test explosion in New Mexico, the phrase aptly summarizes our awe in the face of nuclear annihilation. Artist and archivist Light puts a face on that awe with this collection of photographs sourced from previously classified government archives. Blooming like jellyfish over the desert, these mushroom clouds are at once familiar and forever strange, suggesting natural splendor, unnatural horror, and, in at least one image, the face of the devil himself. (PS)
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| CD REVIEW: A Frames, 2 |
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S-S/Dragnet
Released September 2003
$9.99 (toneVendor)
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Should IBM reprogram chess tsar Big Blue to rock, expect something resembling the A Frames' droid-punk. The Seattle guitar-bass-drum trio's second LP rocks and Cobols to deliberate riffs, punk-funk basslines, and drop-beat drum pounds. The so-emotionless-it's-affecting monotone of singer/guitarist Erin Sullivan, who peppers 2 with technology-obsessed lyrics, fronts the robotic caterwaul with configured ease. "Sensation" resolutely clangs as a bewildered Sullivan declares, "Sensation, I want to feel it again/Sensation that I don't |
understand," and in near-ballad "Electricity" he sings, "Our currents they alternate/Our circuits they integrate." It's the ultimate computer virus slow jam! (YS)
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| One Brick |
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If you've ever wanted to give something back to the community but just weren't sure how, One Brick is a great place to start. The nonprofit puts a social spin on activist work, bringing folks together to meet, network, and most importantly, lend a hand where SF needs it most. Choose from park restoration projects, food bank shifts, cleanup hikes, and more, and help build a better Bay Area, brick by brick. (PS)
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| STREAMS: dublab |
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It's not easy to keep your head above water these days. The job market is tighter than a sailor's knot on a bumpy sea. Able-bodied go-getters are walking the streets pulling pocket lint from pigeon coops. But don't you worry: if you're a broke bloke or a dimeless dame you can still eat. Here's a Labrat-crafted recipe to get you on the go. HOBO STEW: One packet of ketchup, salt, pepper, a tin can, and a match. Strike match on abrasive surface. Make a fire. Pour ketchup (or fancy catsup), salt, and pepper in can. Hold can over flames, but be careful — fire is ouch. Stir contents until hot. Eat. dublab gets you through the recession and back to golden days once again. (frosty)
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| CREDITS |
| Header Design: |
| Diana | Caledonia Curry | | |
| Staff: |
| Final Scratch disk | Philip Sherburne | | Freedom Rock | Sascha Lewis | | Diplomatic immunity | Mark Mangan | | Skateboard | Peter D Stepek | | |
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: |
| Parachute | Husani Oakley | | Backstage pass | Sander-Martijn Milks | | Wireless modem | Christopher Hampton | | Pickup truck | Jocelyn K Glei | | Clenched fist | Paul Laster | | Peace sign | Lisa Rosman | | Tour van | Jennifer Bachman | | Segway | Nate Cavalieri | | Fife and drum | Sam Smith | | Boy with arms akimbo | Marke Bieschke | | Eyepatch | Cyrus Wadia | | Self-powered Mackie | Tim Pratt | | Kitchen Sink | Lisa Butterworth | | Tea party | Sam N Shah | | Universal remote | Yancey Strickler | | Roe v Wade | Lauren Epstein |
| Tool box | Philip McCluskey | | ATV | Jimmy Carson | | Route 66 | Lisa Won | | Hammer | stuART a sheldon | | Supervogs | Erika Christiansen | | Dublab | Frosty | | Mobile soundsystem | Sebastian Koch | | Parker Posey | Nish Nadaraja | | Bluechip | J Jarrell | | Passport | Sarah S Sung |
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WRITERS & DESIGNERS WANTED
We are always looking for new writers to contribute some cultural knowledge. If you follow what's happening in SF and know how to put it into words, please email us at writer.
If you would like to do a header design for flavorpill, please send any questions or submissions to design. |
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