CD Review: Mia and Jonah’s Rooms for Adelaide

By Julia Cooper

Americana tag team Mia and Jonah may be the musical equivalent of mac and cheese: Just as hearty helpings of the comfort food offer a simple but soothing cure for empty stomachs, the spare, commiserative melodies composing the Oakland duo’s second full-length, Rooms for Adelaide, transpire as the recipe to fill empty souls. (more >>)

In finest folk tradition, the twosome’s lush harmonies and minimalist guitar, bass and drums instrumentation (with the occasional dobro and harmonica squeal) take a backseat to quaking vocal delivery and consoling lyrics that show empathy for tales of woe. Mia’s ruddy growl naturally resonates with hard luck cases on rollicking opener “3 Stories High,” while Jonah’s countrified drawl constructs an unconditional beacon of hope on “Dance” (And even when the bottom feels like it’s dropping out in the middle of the ocean / Won’t you pull close to me?).

The plucks and jangles of Jonah’s acoustic guitar capably drive most songs, but the duo also throws in non-folksy stylistic surprises. The demented “Junkyard Dog,” which saunters on drummer John Hanes’ slack, trash-can beat and Mia’s roughneck attitude, channels visionary, experimental booze-blues curmudgeon Tom Waits -- apropos considering guest musicians Seth Ford-Young (bass) and Myles Boisen(electric guitars) have also collaborated with Waits.

Rooms for Adelaide peaks when Mia and Jonah hit lyrical hell on the album’s strongest melodies: the bluesy lament “Morning Hymnal,” which enmeshes Mia’s burdened lyrics (I don’t got no head / Got a 50 pound lead weight instead) with Jonah’s mournful hum; and “Rooms,” a hushed duet reminiscent of Irish troubadour Damien Rices collaborations with Lisa Hannigan, where Mia dwells in vulnerability while coping with life’s lingering troubles (Pardon me for smoking this old abandoned cigarette / But I got miles o' trail to squander and not enough time to forget).

With their heartfelt revelations, Mia and Jonah’s complementary musical coupling would make a most welcome guest to any whiskey-soaked pity party. And in troubled times like these, who isn’t in need of a cathartic soiree?

CD Review: Grip Grand's Brokelore

By Tyler Corelitz

Great hip-hop albums leave the listener with a desire to go out and buy the samples that they use, and Brokelore is no exception. It is filled with beats, hooks, and harmonies from a variety of genres, reflecting the multitude of styles and influences Grip Grand brings to the table. His press materials paint him as a recluse keeping music as his only company, so it comes as no surprise that Grip also produced many of the tracks himself. (more >>)

The music is subtle and rolls along nicely beneath Grip Grand's flows. More scrutinizing listens reveal the obsessive placement of big dark piano chords, horns, blips, and beeps, which present themselves fully before fading out, never to be heard from again. The tight tracks, combined with Grip's strong delivery, feel more mature than the second-effort status the album carries, and left me double-checking the press release to make sure it was true.

If, however, you believe the story Grip is trying to tell, then this maturity will come as no surprise, as the rapper uses Brokelore's 14 songs to spin a tale of urban struggle in the face of the declining dollar. "Out of Service" just might be the best thing so far to help get through the difficulties of a sub-prime mortgage; while "But Anyway" provides comfort to the masses as Grip flatly states "Life sucks just as much as it's beautiful." Despite their darkness, the lyrics are never whiny -- but heavy reliance on the "balling on a budget" motif can be tiring after four or five tracks. As one friend I showed the album to said, "We get it: you're poor!"

Unlike many rap albums penetrating the airwaves these days, Brokelore is complete in its movement, diverse in its sound, and seems to come from a need to create music for reasons other than mere product, as evidenced on standout track "Hip Hop Classic." Here, Grip Grand uses an old-school West Coast sound to ask a question that defies genres, and is worth thinking about for any member of the music industry: "I'm trying to create a hip hop classic ... is it something you can sell in a package?" Even with the smart and memorable lyrics, Brokelore is unable to deliver one stuck-in-your-head, singing-it-at-work, catchy-to-the-point-of-annoying single, preferring to earn its keep by withstanding multiple, often sequential listens, each providing new lyrical and musical areas to explore.

Grip Grand may be destitute, but you can help the cause by buying Brokelore. And if he suddenly goes triple-platinum, lands a HUMMER sponsorship, and starts making his own energy drink, it won't matter; Grip Grand will keep turning out solid material, broke or not.

CD Review: Maldroid's Oakland Lad's Club

By Julia Cooper

Maldroid’s history would make any new band jealous: the quick courting by music industry honchos; the backing of local radio; the appearance on Good Morning America -- all surfaced without a single recording or live show to speak of. Winning a YouTube music video contest in 2006 propelled the Oakland seven-piece into the national spotlight, leaving behind a trail of listeners eager to see just what these guys are made of. (more >>)

With the April 15 unveiling of their debut full-length just around the corner, the Oakland Lad’s Club EP, released in September, offers a brief two-song, two-remix appetizer of pop anthems fit for rock airwaves. On “You Wanna Touch It,” Maldroid transforms into sexed-up robots, fusing a soaring Bon Jovi chorus (“Turn off the lights and take off your clothes/ I’ll show you mine if you show me yours”) with spaceship synth sounds and a thick ‘80s hair metal thump of guitars and drums. “Heck No! (I’ll Never Listen to Techno)” continues the band’s let’s-party spirit with a page taken from Devo’s deviant new-wave songbook in, oddly, a Radio Disney-friendly burst of bouncy keyboard blips.

The robot and tech overtones of lyrics and instrumentation transition well into remix treatment. Both reimaginings by fellow Oaktown artists -- “You Wanna Touch It” by Scott Blonde (the Lovemakers) and “Heck No!” by Amp Live (Zion-I) -- tender groovy beats that would shine brightly amid any dark nightclub dinge.

Led by frontman Ryan Divine who, in a thoroughly modern approach to the music biz, formed the group to focus more on creating artistically vibrant videos à la its YouTube hit rather than on the music itself, Maldroid still has some catching up to do, song-wise. The music-by-numbers, three-minute-length structures prove catchy enough, but lack the rawness and heart for the songs to stand on their own. They’re still developing, though, and the impending LP will likely provide a better clue about Maldroid’s sound.

But with energy that oozes fun and a compelling visual spectacle, Maldroid has certainly earned the cast of watchful eyes -- and ears ...

CD Review: Boy in the Bubble's Songs from the City on the Sun

By Matt Jordan

Frank Zappa once derided the American consumer by quipping that Americans experience music as an accoutrement to their lifestyles. That may be true, but –- to sidestep the obvious question of how the denizens of other nations experience their music -– thinking of music in terms of its utility and function can be a useful exercise. Some records are perfect to study to. Others provide the perfect soundtrack for a long drive, or a vigorous and sweat drenched work out, or the faux-cosmopolitanism of a dinner party with your now-balding college drinking buddies as guests, etc. (more >>)

Songs from the City on the Sun by Oakland's Boy in the Bubble seems to defy function. It is hard to imagine a situation that the record would suit perfectly. Musically interesting without fumbling too far toward the follies of overeager experimentalism, this is a solid pop record seemingly content with its lack of a place in the world. Find the perfect time and place to listen to this record, one that can be repeated by anybody, and I’ll buy you a milkshake.

While not precisely a genre-hopper, the record ricochets between the caterwauling 1950s-influenced guitar swells of “Danger,” the bratty sneering, foot stomping, and accordion whine of “When You Walk Around This City,” and the pedal-steel drenched dirge of “I Can’t Remember.” Boy in the Bubble takes a risk in appropriating such a wide range of sounds and influences, but Songs from the City on the Sun remains surprisingly consistent. The record has something pleasantly reminiscent of 1990s Brit-pop acts like Kula Shakur (though I wouldn’t go so far as to compare it to the finer acts of the era such as Pulp, Stone Roses, and Blur).

Songs from the City on the Sun is at its worse when its empty-headed songwriting is privileged over its hooky musicality, and lead singer Josh Seidenfeld’s voice seems stretched beyond its limits at times. But, on the whole, it’s a pretty good pop record and worth a listen.

Maldroid Signs to an Indie

Oakland band Maldroid announced yesterday it has signed to progressive San Francisco "music company" Fuzz. While the group did receive major label attention in the aftermath of its YouTube music video victory in November, it opted to sign with a like-minded indie in order to retain complete control over its image and products. (more >>)

Maldroid has designs on some unusual steps in the future, such as releasing a full-length album as a series of singles and ultimately packaging the record as a DVD, with each song having its own video. Fuzz, for its part, goes by the slogan "Music Uprising" and hopes to "revolutionize the music industry," so chances are good that many of Maldroid's new ideas will be seen to fruition. Of course, some of the band's plans, such as more elaborate music video production, will require increased financial backing that Fuzz may or may not be able to provide -- certainly not to the extent that a major could.

Lead singer Ryan Divine reports that Maldroid, especially founding members Divine and Johnny Genius, will play a role in steering the small company, an arrangement that notably deviates from the master/slave relationship they could've expected at a major. All in all, Fuzz sounds like a great fit for the creative and ambitious young band. Maldroid are joined at Fuzz by Brooklyn's CocoRosie, NYC's Greg Garing, Nashville's USSA, and fellow Oaklanders the Lovemakers. This partnership has been in the works for a while -- since well before the band played SXSW two weeks ago -- but the official announcement was made just yesterday. Here's the full MySpace blog post from Divine.

Maldroid

MySpace (listen to "Heck No," "He Said, She Said")
Official site
Hometown: Oakland
Next local show: 2/17, Slim's
Recent release: Malfunction EP, 2006

Looking at the above picture of Maldroid, you may be asking yourself: What's up with the brown suits? And the painted briefcase? And why is the band posing in front of a row of Gibson guitars? Good questions, all...good questions with very good answers. To find them, we direct you to this cover story on Maldroid that was published today in the East Bay Express. (more >>)

The EBX story will tell you all you ever wanted to know -- and didn't realize you needed to know -- about Maldroid, an Oakland rock group that in the last three months has taken an utterly unique path to success. There may be no other band quite like it in the history of the music biz, and that's no hyperbole.

The short version? After two years of planning and preparation, Maldroid was launched to national success -- including being interviewed on Good Morning America and meeting with major labels -- before it had played a single live show or released a single song for sale. This may sound like an anomaly or a stroke of luck, but it's neither: Founder and lead singer Ryan Divine planned at the band's conception three years ago to build Maldroid on music videos. YouTube, the platform that would eventually put the band before millions of eyes (again, no hyperbole), didn't even exist at the time he started working on his first video.

To read more, and to check out some great photos of the band, read the Express story.

BY THE NUMBERS:
-Maldroid's first video, for "He Said, She Said," has earned over 700,000 views on YouTube since early October. Most of those came after the contest win was announced in late November.
-Its second video, for "Heck No (I'll Never Listen to Techno!)," has earned over 900,000 views since January 1. The majority have come since early February, when, in the span of five days that the video was posted on the YouTube homepage, its view count totalled 700,000.
-Maldroid's digital EP, Malfunction, has sold over 800 downloads through the iMusicast website.
-News 3/30/07: Maldroid signs to SF indie label Fuzz.

Street to Nowhere - 9/8/06Great American Music Hall

[This post originally published 9/11/06.]

Street to Nowhere Signs!

[This post originally published 8/17/06.]

Street to Nowhere signs to Capitol Records

You heard it here first: Street to Nowhere has signed to Capitol Records!

Street to Nowhere

Official site
MySpace (listen to "Tipsy," "Georgia, Can You Hear Me?")
More photos
Hometown: Oakland
Next local show: 8/28, Slim's
Recent release: Charmingly Awkward, 2005

[This post originally published 8/15/06.]

East Bay native Dave Smallen is only in his early-20s, but he confidently fronts Street to Nowhere, an Oakland folk/pop-punk group currently reaping ample rewards across the country. They're on a national (with some Canada) tour supporting the Format and Rainer Maria, playing 2nd or 3rd on the bill. Yet every night, a spate of ravenous new fans from random cities appear on STN's MySpace page proclaiming the band's (and Dave's) greatness. Their profile already has well over 100,000 views, and they've released only one album. That eclipses just about any other young local band you can name. The band's popularity has skyrocketed in the last year, but they're still unsigned. It won't take long for a label to notice. Try by the end of this tour. (more >>)

(Update 8/17/06: WOW! Let NASCENT be the first to break the news: Street to Nowhere has signed to Capitol Records! Apparently it only took a day for a label to notice. Hah!)

There aren't many prominent singer-songwriters like Dave in the East Bay. He's punk-charming, a softie with a rough edge. He makes the ladies swoon, yet the most jaded indie rock dude can get into him too. He's an Oakland heartthrob. Thankfully he's also got a great voice, talent on the guitar, and a tight backing band. Live 105 loves him, and he's already played the local stage at BFD twice. When he was 19, he won the BFD Battle of the Bands playing solo. That's how Live 105 first took heed -- his big break.

ADVENTURES IN EDUCATION:
-Dave studied at UC Santa Cruz and UCLA before leaving school to pursue a career in music.
-A few years ago, Dave traveled with the Warped Tour as a guitar tech for Oakland punk band the Matches (now on Epitaph Records). Will Street to Nowhere follow?

HIJK

MySpace (listen to "Smells Like Cigarettes," "Alibi")
Official site

Hometown: Oakland
Next local show: 1/19, The Uptown
Upcoming release: The Pen and the Letter, early 2007

...And the award for longest time spent recording and producing a debut album goes to... HIJK (formerly Hijack the Disco)! A formidable 16 months after stepping into the studio, this Oakland group completed all the audio work and is now preparing to self-release the record in a few months. But let's back up. (more >>)

HIJK is Mike Mahoney, Dave Tsui, and Trevor Wencl. Shortly after coming together in 2003, the three musicians decided to attack this band differently than any they'd ever played in. In the past, impatience begat half-assed records begat failure, or at least disappointment, and they'd had enough of it. Thus a plan hatched to try harder than they ever had before, to do everything to the peak of their ability, to go all-in.

In early 2005 they enlisted the help of producer and musical mentor Enrique Gonzalez Muller (Les Claypool, MC Hammer, Dave Matthews Band). Shortly thereafter they locked themselves in the studio, emerging six weeks later with 13 new songs to add to their existing eight. Mike, who had been working long hours for no pay at legendary Sausolito studio The Plant, earned the band 35 days of credit (normally billed at $1,600 a day). There they labored for months, frequently taking a backseat to paying customers while working around their day jobs.

So here we are today. The record's done. And it sounds awesome. Old songs have been reworked to a higher standard, while new songs are wholly impressive. The Pen and the Letter is made up of dark, yet poppy indie rock. It's melodic and catchy, but full of sudden twists and turns that make the listening experience somewhat addictive -- like reading a good mystery novel.

As for the recent name change, well, let's hear it straight from the group: "Due to the growing popularity of Panic! At the Disco and confusion about the similarities between the two names, the time has come to begin the next chapter. After much discussion, HIJK (spelled out when spoken) seemed the obvious choice. Not only does it visually recall our past as 'Hijack,' but it's simple: the alphabet is a foundation for language, language is the foundation for lyrics, and everyone knows how to sing 'aych-eye-jay-kay.'"

THIS AIN'T NO DISCO:
-Hijack the Disco formed four years ago in Oakland, and the upcoming release really will be their very first full-length. It'll also be their first recording under the name HIJK -- unless, of course, you count the five-song teaser EP that'll be given away for free to fans at shows who've signed up for the mailing list.
-In 2004, HTD released a five-song EP called Working is Easy. Two years before that, an earlier East Coast iteration of the group put out another five-song EP, this one self-titled. Both were released on the homemade label Restless Press. Some of these older songs will make it to the new record.
-The group also did a split 7" with Electric Badness, released in 2005 on Grayscale Records.

Sleepyboy Moe

MySpace (listen to "Lucky Son," "Dreamy Windows"
Official site

Hometown: Oakland
Next local show: 11/28, The Stork Club
Recent release: The Sleepyboy Moe Tapes, 2006

When it comes to homegrown East Bay music, Sleepyboy Moe is the real deal. Shaun Wargowsky, the man behind the name, moved to Oakland in 2005 and immediately became active in the local scene. The singer/bassist/guitarist began performing solo and with drummer Lindsay Cooper (of nicely named Oakland band Espionage a Trios) at small venues including Epic Arts in Berkeley. He recorded his debut CD, The Sleepyboy Moe Tapes, entirely in analog in Oakland and Berkeley. And his CD release party will take place Tuesday at The Stork Club in Oakland. (more >>)

As for the sound? It's been called sludge-folk, but that doesn't begin to convey the hiss, fuzz, and noise captured in songs like "Nice Try, Nice Guy." Most of the album sounds like a third-generation copy of a lo-fi cassette tape. Wargowsky's droning (yet enchanting) rhythms and possessed (almost feminine) vocals compliment the recording perfectly (or maybe it's the other way around), making this release more art than cheap reproduction of a live performance. You can find it at Aquarius Records in San Francisco (22nd and Valencia) and Amoeba Records in Berkeley (Telegraph and Haste), as well as online at CDBaby.com and iTunes.

CLEVELAND ROCKS:
-Before moving to Oakland, Wargowsky sang and played keyboards, bass, and guitar in a number of groups in the Akron/Kent/Cleveland area (Ohio, of course), where he attended school at Kent State University.
-These groups include the Stool Creak Circus (alternative rock), the Flavor Cat Hairparticles (ska, punk, Latin), and the Kent State African Ensemble (gospel choir).

Why?

MySpace (listen to "Rubber Traits," "Sanddollars")
Official site

Hometown: Oakland
Next local show: 10/21, The Fillmore
Recent release: Elephant Eyelash, 2005

It's true: Why? can rap. We're talking lo-fi white-boy rap, but rap nonetheless -- marked by rhymes; an accelerated, tumbling delivery; and subtle beats. Not that this is anything strange for the otherwise indie-pop-minded musician. Yoni Wolf (recording as Why? for the past six years) is an integral part of San Francisco label Anticon, home to all sorts of local oddities including plenty of white-boy indie hip-hop. (more >>)

For anyone who's only heard Why?'s latest LP, 2005's Elephant Eyelash, it's hard to imagine Wolf doing anything other than slightly twee lo-fi pop with a psychedelic slant. That's what he does best, especially on songs like "Rubber Traits" and "Sanddollars." His voice is high and thin enough, his better songs so unwilling to settle in one place, that rapping seems out of the question. Then again, Beck has made a career out of a similarly disjointed, almost aloof pop-rap, so we wouldn't be surprised to see Why? continue to explore this territory on future albums. In fact, "Pick Fights" and "Decieved," both on Why?'s 2006 single for "Rubber Traits," feature the same sort of stream-of-counsciousness slow-rap that Beck scatters across his new album The Information.

But enough about that. More importantly, you need to know that Why? is touring with Yo La Tengo. And that both bands are coming to The Fillmore on Oct. 21. Fantastic. While Yo La Tengo is certainly a force to be reckoned with in the indie-rock world, Why?'s tendancy to cherry-pick from multiple genres without calling attention to it should please Yo La Tengo fans. Both acts pay little mind to the confines of genre, and both proudly embrace the indie aesthetic. It's a great pairing, and this local stop should amount to one of Why?'s biggest moments.

WHY NOT?
-Why? has released one 7" (2006), one single (2006), one split EP (2001), two EPs (2003 and 2005), and two LPs (2003 and 2005). Get your Why? in any size!
-Yoni Wolf has also recorded as/participated in Greenthink, cLOUDDEAD, and Reaching Quiet.
-Although the first three Why? records were completely solo, Wolf has a penchant for collaboration and has worked with Hood, Fog, DJ Krush, Boom Bip, Sole, Dept. of Eagles, and 13+ God.

Grip Grand

Label site
MySpace (listen to "Poppin' Pockets," over and over and over again)

Hometown: Oakland
Next local show: Wish we knew
Upcoming release: Full-length TBD, August '07?

NASCENT went nuts for Grip Grand immediately upon hearing his song "Poppin' Pockets" on KALX 90.7 FM one day in the ... err, office -- the mobile office, with four wheels and a five-speed, if you know what we mean. No matter; we heard it, and that's what counts. Because ever since then we've thought this guy is the bay's knees. (more >>)

If you listen, you will notice the lyrics to "Poppin' Pockets" are about being severely cash-strapped (you know, like "Cash Machine" by British chart-toppers Hard-Fi, who are wiping their asses with notes as we speak). Well on Grip's part, poverty's no front. He grew up with hip-hop, starting to collect records to sample at a young age then piecing together beats on a 4-track in his room once he could afford the equipment. But his family moved around a lot -- his website reports 20 phone numbers in three years -- and Grip had a hard time emerging from his shell. He spent time in Santa Cruz, where he worked at Streetlight Records and was able to get some of his recordings onto the shelves. He'd also taken a liking to Oakland and San Francisco, and wound up recording his excellently titled 1999 debut Welcome to Brokeland (later re-released on SF label Bomb Hip-Hop) while still working at Streetlight. Look Records' A.G. and DJ Design took note and got him signed, and somewhere along the line Grip relocated to Oakland. There he's remained reclusive, but word and new material have spread. A new full-length is promised to be in the works.

Which brings us to the present. The new stuff on MySpace sounds good, but God help us, "Poppin' Pockets" is one of the best hip-hop songs we've heard in years. Anyone who doesn't dig it be damned.

HUMBLE PIE:
-"Prolonged bouts of unemployment" in Oakland and San Francisco inspired Welcome to Brokeland, which was initially self-released on a very limited scale.
-Grip has another self-pity song called "Love/Drama," in which he raps, "I'm like every whack rapper you've ever heard, except more whack / Don't buy it, my album that is / You won't like it, every sample you'll recognize." He then goes on to call himself a "piss-poor producer," saying "my friends understand why it sucks, but the critic's won't." Hey Grip, we luv ya.