Mission Mission

[via Pamela]

Indulge us for a moment as we pay tribute to one of the greatest elements of the percussive world: The Cowbell. Many successful Indie Dance Songs feature steady, driving beats influenced from either from rock or from dance music. DJ Blondie K from Fringe says that “the ones that really move people on the dance floor are the tracks that mix steady beats with looser percussion elements. The push and pull of the rhythms is what makes people want to get out there and dance.”

DFA recording artists like LCD Soundsystem and The Rapture took this technique to great success with songs like “House of Jealous Lovers”, which feature cowbell and other dance percussion mixed with punk rock grooves. Remixes of songs by the Twelves, MSTRKRFT and RAC use live percussion to transform straight ahead songs by artists like the Two Door Cinema Club and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs into dance floor favorites.

DJ subOctave who was been a drummer long before becoming a DJ says, “We love all percussion but there is something about the cowbell that can cut through a mix and has a attitude that is edgy and fun. ”

Fringe DJs Blondie K & subOctave will be playing an indie rock tribute to the Cowbell and percussion based grooves this Saturday January 30th at Pops Bar. Check out the promo video:

Check out this week’s full entertainment line up at Pops Bar:

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First there was the new song by Still Flyin’, and now there’s this:

The full Still Flyin’ album came out on Friday and it is tiiiight through and through fyi, and Ben Pearce (with drummer Nate Brown) has a record release show at Brick & Mortar Music Hall here in the Mission on Wednesday evening.

Just close your eyes and pretend it’s summer!

[via The Bay Bridged]

This Friday at Pops Bar, we are thrilled to welcome back the supergroup of all female, bay area, hip-hop DJs: Peaches! DeeJays Pony P & Smokey Rose from the Peaches Lady DJ Crew are holding down a Tag Team DJ Set All Night – Dropping hip hop classics, club bangers and bay area rap. Guaranteed to keep the dance floor jumping!

Check out the rest of this week’s entertainment line up at Pops Bar:

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Here’s all about the very special lineup:

Friday January 15

100 Flowers: The original line-up of this legendary band will be playing their songs. Morphed from the legendary Urinals, 100 Flowers made one perfect LP and a handful of stellar eps, singles, and comp tracks. They ended in 1983 and have since played only a handful of times, most recently for the reissue of their lone album on Superior Viaduct. This is the original line-up of the band 100 Flowers reassembled just to play SS15.

Spray Paint: Our Texas friends will be back on the West Coast recording with Chris Woodhouse, so I convinced them to do one show while they are here. Spindly avant-punk of the Nth degree, the yolksters always come through live. This will be their one and only West Coast appearance.

Pony Time: Luke and Stacy are Pony Time, a splendid and inventive rock & roll duo who remind me of the Troggs and Wounded Lion and something I have yet to figure out, which is why I am crazy about this band. They have two records on Per Se and their third will be releases February 2016 on Ss.

Screature: Shimmering guitar, brooding organ, stripped down kerplunk,a nd a hellish howl makes Screature the Central Valley’s best band going. Their most recent album – Four Columns on Ss Records – has gotten raves from all around the interweb (Noisey, 50thirdand3rd, TheQuietus, etc.). Great live band, too.

DJ: Ryan Wells

Saturday, January 16

Lil Bunnies: Fathers of Hippity Hop, legends in their own minds, the world’s first super group consisting of nobodies, masked revengers, Lil Bunnies walk among us for the first time since 199???. What to expect…

Life Stinks: “San Francisco’s last punk band” – though truth be told, Life Stinks has spread their disease across the Bay Area. Their first album is one of Ss Records’ favorite releases and their second is coming any day. Great live band that just keeps getting better.

Ozzie: Man, I was surprised when these guys said Yes. Ozzie started in the mid-Seventies and ended in the 1980s (documented on the Ss release The Parabolic Rock). They created some classic proto-punk/glam/new wave tunes and are one of the greatest rock & roll bands in the history of my hometown Sacramento. They played once seven years ago when Parabolic Rock was released and were great! This will be their first time playing since then and the first time they’ve played San Francisco since 1979 (at Mabuhay Gardens).

Andy Human & The Reptoids: Andy and his reptilian pals just played with Timmy’s Organisms and all reports said that Andy & ‘toids left the place stunned. No surprise. The talent here is tip-top, the band is a damn rock & roll bulldozer. Their debut album on Ss was released late Spring 2015 and continues to get worldwide praise. The French love it, the Italians love it, the Japanese love it, ‘mericans love it. Pitchfork called it one of the best records of the summer.

DJ: Mitch Cardwell

RSVP and get tickets!

That sax! Be sure to party with DJ Purple every Thursday at Slate Bar, or also on January 23rd at Rickshaw Stop for the return of Singin’ & Pingin’!

And preorder the whole new Still Flyin’ album here.

From time to time I like to share lists of songs I’ve sung at karaoke over a given period, mostly to express to the uninitiated how possible it is to go to karaoke and sing lots of your favorite songs — weird stuff too, not just big hits.

Once you know that, you can start going to karaoke all the time and reveling in its transformative powers, come out of your shell, become a better person, etc.

Here’s everything I sang in a little bar in Tokyo’s Golden Gai district at my birthday party last week:

1. Rebel Yell – Billy Idol
2. Touch Me - The Doors
3. Sunday Morning - The Velvet Underground
4. Darlin’ - The Beach Boys
5. Maybelline - Chuck Berry
6. I’m Not Like Everybody Else - The Kinks
7. Out of Time - The Rolling Stones
8. Material Girl - Madonna
9. Every 1’s A Winner - Hot Chocolate
10. Young Americans - David Bowie
11. Reflektor - Arcade Fire
12. Don’t Think Twice - Bob Dylan
13. Working for the Weekend - Loverboy
14. The Boys Are Back in Town - Thin Lizzy
15. Pink Triangle - Weezer
16. Minority - Green Day
17. Red Hot Moon - Rancid
18. New York City Cops - The Strokes
19. Perfect Day - Lou Reed
20. Rocky Raccoon - The Beatles
21. Alison - Elvis Costello
22. Burning Love - Elvis Presley
23. Daria - Cake
24. Work to Do - The Isley Brothers
25. Debaser - Pixies
26. Dock of the Bay - Otis Redding

It was the first time I ever sang a Bowie song. I’d always been too hesitant because it seemed like messing up a Bowie song would be too much of a bummer, but when I saw “Young Americans” in the songbook and I was with a bunch of young Americans and had had a lot to drink, it seemed like a good idea.

If you want to sing some karaoke soon, I might recommend doing it at Pop’s this Friday with Roger Niner (who has an incredibly extensive songbook) or at Singin’ & Pingin’ at Rickshaw Stop on the 23rd with DJ Purple (who puts on a very special “Dance Karaoke” party).

Here’s an approximation of what it’s like in case you can’t make it before closing time:

[Editor's note: Woohoo! Karaoke returns to 24th Street once again! And Roger Niner has TONS of Bowie fyi.]

Time to GO EPIC or GO HOME with ROGER NINER KAROAKE this Friday at Pops Bar! “I’ll open your mind, shake your ass, shuffle your shizzle, cast you off, reel you in, rent out your heart to a loving couple, make tea in your soul, rake your leaves, find you a puppy, melt your brain, solve your puzzles, get you off The Island, take your temperature, sooth your aching nerves, reach your stars, bend your perception of space/time, AND give you back $0.97 in change, all in the name of Rock and Roll BAY AREA KARAOKE!” – Roger Niner

Check out this week’s entertainment line up at Pops Bar:

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