Ian Birnam/Staff

If you would like to see live performances and interviews of the three bands down below, please check out our multimedia page.

Now in its sixth year, the Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival is once again about to take over San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. Much like you don’t need to be reminded about the fog that will roll in around late afternoon, you don’t need a preview guide telling you about how rad Vampire Weekend is or how amazing it is that you have the chance to see Paul McCartney. Rather, this brief preview is meant to bring some smaller bands to your attention, three of which hail from the Bay Area. Try to catch these bands in between chowing down on pastrami cheese fries and dancing to the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

The Soft White Sixties

When you hear the term “Working Class Soul,” what do you think of? Perhaps the funk and jive of soul mixed in with some old-fashioned rock ’n’ roll? This combination in conjunction with a dose of pop sensibility gives an idea of what The Soft White Sixties bring to the table. The San Francisco five-piece have been playing numerous stints, including this year’s SXSW festival, where they’ve been performing tracks from Get Right., their upcoming LP. Album opener “City Lights” melds fuzzy keyboard riffs and guitar licks reminiscent of the Black Keys as vocalist Octavio Genera melts through the wall of sound. If the keys and six-strings make up the wall, though, then Ryan Noble’s bodacious bass is the foundation, fortified by the catchy drum beats from Joey Bustos. Those in need of some gritty pop tunes can catch The Soft White Sixties opening up the Lands End stage on Saturday.

Midi Matilda

If anyone has told you the spirit of the ’80s is dead, tell him or her to listen to the dance-inducing rhythms of Midi Matilda. With a nostalgic flair and silky, smooth beats, the duo of Skyler Kilborn and Logan Grime have formed a partnership made in electro-pop heaven. After they both graduated from Ex’pression College for Digital Arts in Emeryville, Kilborn and Grime released their EP, The Red Light District, and are planning on releasing a debut album in the near future. Tracks like “Ottawa” combine melodious synth riffs with harmonious “ooohs” as Kilborn’s vocals swim gracefully alongside them. Others consist of falsetto swoons and blaring horns mixed with soothing keyboard swells, such as on “Day Dreams.” If you’re an early riser and manage to get to the festival when it begins, the groovy duo will be opening up the Twin Peaks stage this Friday.

The Mother Hips

It is truly a rarity for a band to say they’ve been around for 10 years. It’s even more surprising to hear a band has stayed together for more than 20, such a statement that Bay Area folk-rock band The Mother Hips can confirm with pride. The band released their eighth record, Behind Beyond, this year, continuing their venture through the dusty trails of bluesy California twang. Not all tracks shine bright through the Bay fog, though. “Song For JB” serves as a memorial to friends of the band who have passed away in recent years, including Wilco member Jay Bennett, whom the song is named after. Other tracks have a much lighter tone, such as the hip-swaying narration of “Toughie.” Fans old and new of these veterans of rock can watch them take over the Panhandle stage at 6:05 p.m. this Saturday.

Atlas Genius

Other than porting over the delectable chocolate Tim Tam cookies to the United States. via Pepperidge Farm, Australia has also been successful in popularizing its rock bands in the States. Almost everyone has heard of Jet — you know you remember “Are You Gonna Be My Girl?” — and Powderfinger had their time here as well. However, the latest band to make it from down under are the brothers Keith and Michael Jeffery, better known as Atlas Genius. The duo first hit it big in this hemisphere with the swirling string plucks of “Trojans” but have become increasingly popular this year with their debut album, When It Was Now. Other tracks to watch out for this weekend include the lofty guitar strums and bass-toned synth of “Symptoms” and the blaring high-energy velocity of “Electric.” Sway away with the Aussie duo and their tourmates at the Twin Peaks stage at 2:10 p.m. this Saturday.

Ian Birnam covers music. Contact him at ibirnam@dailycal.org.

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Island Records/Courtesy

In a January 2013 interview with The Guardian, Aluna Francis, the vocal half of the electronic pop duo AlunaGeorge, described their music as “fat beats with songs on top.” After the duo’s 2012 debut EP, You Know You Like It, Francis’ description was accurate, but following the drop of their debut album, Body Music, the British electronic pop duo — made up of Francis and producer George Reid — have shown, in full force, that AlunaGeorge is much more than that. Body Music offers all of the “fat beats” and beautiful vocals that we heard on You Know You Like It combined with elements of R&B, more interesting production and even more electrifying songs. It’s unclear when the last great electronic R&B-pop album was released — or whether that’s even a real genre — but AlunaGeorge’s Body Music surely is the best in a long while.

Body Music is full of emotion and power, brought out in Francis’s high-pitched yet dynamic vocals and Reid’s straightforward yet remarkably elastic production. The album plays like it was produced by R&B and electronic veterans who have somehow managed to take old love-song themes — unrequited love, volatile relationships and broken hearts — and transform them into something new, exciting and fun. But Body Music isn’t a falling-in-love album, and it certainly isn’t a breakup album. It’s much more of a fall-in-love and a get-back-together and a realize-how-shitty-you-are-really-are-but-I-am-still-in-love-with-you kind of album. It’s an album that walks you through someone’s thoughts as they fall in love with a best friend, break up, get back together again, gain self-confidence and go through all of the other emotions that nearly everybody has experienced during a relationship.

And, even better, the mood of the music accurately fits the emotion that a character would be feeling. Francis’s voice produces such sadness in “Outlines” that you can almost imagine her crying while singing it. The production and vocals on “Best Be Believing” are so upbeat and fun that you can imagine Francis finally standing up for herself and leaving the person she had fallen in love with on “Friends to Lovers.”

If you’ve purchased the album, then you know that Body Music comes with a bonus track. It’s a cover of Montell Jordan’s classic R&B hit “This is How We Do It.” While AlunaGeorge have recorded some pretty phenomenal covers, like Frank Ocean’s “Thinking About You” and “I Wanna Be Like You” from Disney’s “The Jungle Book,” their cover of “This is How We Do It” misses the mark. It’s an interesting idea, but it’s a cover that will lose you 30 seconds into the song (which is really unfortunate, because it’s about time that we get a good cover the late ’90s backyard party anthem).

Disappointing bonus track aside, Body Music does something very important for the emerging electro-pop duo: It solidifies their skill, raising them above hype and noise of Internet music blogs. While their This is How We Do It EP may have raised many eyebrows, Body Music has carved out a definite place for the future of AlunaGeorge as a respectable act. Where other progressive electronic artists may be rejected as “too weird” or “too experimental” for mass audiences, AlunaGeorge straddles the line between progressive electronic music, traditional pop and R&B, giving them the ability to become massively successful. Perhaps most importantly, Body Music isn’t a difficult album to like. It’s not an album that will take you a few listens to get into. Francis and Reid have given us an album that is, from beginning to end, electrifying and fun.

Contact Samuel Avishay at savishay@dailycal.org.

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Katie Holmes/Staff

The Bay Area is home to a lot of great performance venues hosting all types of artists and musical acts. One of the lesser-known of these may be the stunning Mather Redwood Grove. Nestled in the UC Berkeley Botanical Gardens, this spectacular setting comes to life every Thursday evening of the summer with the Redwood Grove Summer Concert Series. This annual program, now in its third year, features a diverse lineup of live performances ranging from folk, pop and rock to blues, jazz and world music. In discussing the venue’s unique location, program director Christine Manoux explained, “The idea behind the Summer Concert Series is to offer a venue that’s family-friendly and that features an eclectic lineup.” The intriguing lineup aside, soaking up the atmosphere in the Grove’s natural amphitheatre, surrounded by majestic redwoods in the early evening light, is in itself undoubtedly a one-of-a-kind experience.

Kicking off the evening in front of an eager crowd of all ages this past Thursday was the San Francisco based folk-pop duo Ramon & Jessica. Consisting of violinist Dina Maccabee and multi-instrumentalist Jesse Olsen (who were joined by a guest performer on the accordion toward the end of the show), Ramon & Jessica set the tone for the night by opening with an enchanting song that, as Olsen put it, “invokes the spirit of the native plants of California.” The duo’s elaborate harmonies, unusual arrangements and simple but moving lyrics seemed tailor-made for the serene setting. With their focus on themes of nature, coming home and bonding with earth, the lyrics invoked a sense of connection to the environment.

Following a short intermission, the second act of the night, Gojogo, took to the stage. The dynamic quartet performed original music composed collaboratively by the four members, music that can be described as a combination of the Western sounds of classical and jazz with the rhythmic traditions of India. Instruments incorporated into the show included violin, electric guitar, bass, Indian percussion and electronics. As well as celebrating their 10th anniversary as a group, Gojogo is also currently in the process of releasing their next record, from which they gave the audience a sneak peek of a few songs during the show. This record will be the band’s first theme album, a collection of songs inspired by the natural landscape of California. In line with the natural surroundings, Gojogo’s music proved mystical and haunting — a combination that produced an enthralling effect. The lingering, drawn-out tunes emanating from the stage seemed to fill up the spaces of the woods. For their last number, the group projected an animated version of the Russian folktale “The Hedgehog in the Fog” on a screen above the stage, to which they had set a musical score. This cute yet eerie film of a wayward hedgehog lost in the fog, with its dark undertones, was made even more captivating by the music. Judging by the audience’s response, this act was gripping and amusing to both the younger and older crowd.

Running until August 29, the remainder of the calendar offers a selection of acts whose musical genres span from golden-era tango to danceable old-timey R&B. If the performance this past Thursday was anything to go by, the rest of the series will be well worth attending. As succinctly summarized by Manoux after the show, “What’s so great about the series is that musicians love performing in this special space, and the audience loves the intimacy of it.”

Contact Corinne Platten at cplatten@dailycal.org.

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Sureya Melkonain/Staff

The third annual Phono del Sol music and food festival kicked off on a warm, sunny July 13 and featured some of the Bay Area’s hottest indie bands and most popular food trucks. The nonprofit organization The Bay Bridged started the festival as a way to converge the vibrant local music scene with the creativity of food trucks in the versatile venue of Protero del Sol — complete with a skate park, playground, two stages for performances and a beer garden. With 12 bands — some mature and venerable bands like Thee Oh Sees and a few young and rising bands like Surf Club — and eight food trucks, this is an up-and-coming festival that will only get better and attract bigger crowds in the future.

Cool Ghouls

One of the first bands that played was San Francisco’s Cool Ghouls. These San Francisco State alumni bring a harmonious blend of psychedelic, garage and rock n’ roll. Genres and ’60s influences aside, these folks are just fun-loving musicians who are out to jam together with the impressive trifecta of high and low vocals from Pat McDonald, Ryan Wong and Pat Thomas. “Natural Life” is a perfect example of the band’s convivial personality, with an undeniably catchy hook and upbeat lyrics. The horns in the background added a more contemporary twist to the throwback nature of the guitars. Cool Ghouls’ liveliness in focalizing these different sounds brought a conspicuous energy to the festival.

Social Studies 

Vocalist and keyboardist Natalia Rogovin evokes the ethereal and soulful voice of Beach House’s Victoria Legrand. “Away for the Weekend” features her smooth vocals, which, in juxtaposition with the sharp guitar and synth lines, create a delicately and oddly unifying structure — a commonality in many of their songs. The more somber tone of “Terracur” hushed the crowd and epitomized the band’s maturation in their sophomore LP, Developer. Besides the improved production, Developer focuses more on introspective exploration of the Kairotic moments in life, centering on the subtlety and fleeting nature. Even after the band finished their set, their songs remained unsettling and lingered on.

Bleached

When they played “Looking for a Fight,” Los Angeles sisters Jennifer and Jessie Clavin established their electrifying intensity with bombastic lyrics and swift guitar hooks. But despite the rhythmic, opening bass lines of “Dead in Your Head,” they were subtle in comparison to the lyrics about individualism and love, and the song showcased their versatility. Their soothing vocals along with the fast-paced structure in “Next Stop” added to the visceral surf-rock, pop-punk nature that matched the bright sunny ambience of the festival.

Marnie Stern

Walking on stage barefoot, Marnie Stern nonchalantly began her signature guitar tapping. She held nothing back — she did Woody Allen impressions and asked the audience if her vagina overpowered her guitar or if it was the other way around. But she proved that she isn’t all flash and no substance. “Noonan” featured her honesty and determined drive as a musician as she wailed, “Don’t you want to be somebody?” For her new album, The Chronicles of Marnia, Stern brought in drummer Kid Millions, who played impressive drum solos. These two virtuosos helped show the essence of rock n’ roll through Stern’s volatile guitar shredding and Kid Million’s powerfully raw drumming.

Thee Oh Sees

The veteran San Francisco punk stars have been around since 1997, but they haven’t run out of steam. Thee Oh Sees’ frenetic energy was palpable; the passion of frontman John Dwyer and guitarist Petey Dammit re-energized the crowd from a midday lull. In “Contraption/Soul Desert,” Dwyer’s shouts and screams rang across the field along with the band’s heavy, fast-paced bass lines and powerful guitar riffs. No matter how dissonant and accelerated the songs in their set were, it never descended into disorder, and the band never missed a beat — a testament to the chemistry of the band members. For their last song, Dwyer let the crowd jump on the stage with them.

K.Flay

K.Flay stood out in the festival not because she was the only hip-hop act but for her nonstop energy. She dropped lightning-fast lines that ranged from the nerdy — “My calculator’s TI-89, you’re stuck on 83” — to downright attention-grabbing: “Flow so menstrual I need a tampon on the track.” But K.Flay isn’t just about hitting clever one-liners. In “So Fast, So Maybe,” the electro-pop production and storytelling helped touch on her emergence as an artist and roused a sense of hope: “Well, I suggest you switch your mind state / When people ask you how it’s going, just say, ‘I’m great.’” K.Flay was able to be optimistic without being sentimental and sophisticated without being pretentious.

Contact Fan Huang at fhuang@dailycal.org.

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Hieroglyphics Imperium Recordings/Courtesy

After a decade of studio silence, Oakland-based hip-hop ensemble Hieroglyphics have released The Kitchen, an album that serves up a reminder of why the nine-man group has solidified its presence in the underground hip-hop scene and beyond. Though the album boasts a meaty helping of 17 tracks, each one is able to distinguish itself from the others as a sizable portion worthy of fulfilling any fan’s hunger.

While the lyrics and rhymes of the Hiero crew are definitely part of what keeps the album varied, the production is the secret spice to this record’s recipe. Each track offers a beat different from the last, chopping and cutting up a vast array of beats and samples. While Hiero deserve credit for the well-crafted beats, the album’s guest producers were the Sacramento DJs known as the Sleeprockers. Without a doubt, the production wouldn’t be as saucy or diverse if both parties had not collaborated the way that they did. Tracks like “Exciting,” with its synth hook, are reminiscent of an eight-bit video game gone thug with the Hiero crew laying down rhymes sharp enough to slice the track’s beefy bass. “All As Above So Below” uses soulful backing vocals over a thick beat with crisp chimes and a sample of the opening lyric from the Beastie Boys hit “Paul Revere.”

While the album has a variety of flavors, some tracks share a few similar ingredients. “Livin’ It Up” and “Nano Salt” both share a funkalicious groove with the spicy horns on the former complementing the reverb-rich synth on the latter. Much like culinary recipes, though, a few common ingredients don’t necessarily imply identical dishes. Overall, with its smooth rhymes and crunchy beats, The Kitchen is a definitive reminder of Hiero’s stance in the hip-hop world. As the chorus of “Immortals” states, “Hiero ain’t goin’ nowhere.”

Ian Birnam covers music. Contact him at ibirnam@dailycal.org.

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Graham Haught/Staff

Sometimes, when Kanye West, Jay-Z, Beyonce and Frank Ocean love each other very much, they form a self-referential and very profitable psychosexual corporation and produce an album. That album was 2011’s Watch the Throne. Since that album, Jay and Kanye have become fathers, Ocean publicly came out and Beyonce’s stardom has exploded again and again into unthinkable magnitude. All of that is to be expected of the brightest stars of hip-hop and R&B, and anyone with eyes could predict that between Kimye and the Carters, there would be beautiful children. The genuine surprise is that Watch the Throne had children.

Conceived in different studios under separate auspices, both Magna Carta Holy Grail and Yeezus are the offspring of that two-year-old collaboration. They are a pair of mismatched twins saying the same thing in different voices, neither outshining their mother album.

Their human fathers both came to these albums with ambition. Yeezus was leaked and released first and impressed many with how sharply it converged from Kanye’s earlier work. The tracks are not melodic, not danceable and not playful in the least. The aesthetic is stripped, minimalist and even grungy in places. Announcing itself with a naked jewel case, the CD boasts very philosophical and political tracks, like “Black Skinhead” and “New Slaves.” In previous albums, Kanye has always used his bombast and grandstanding to defend his own crippling insecurities. On Yeezus, he comes perilously close to actually addressing them. The aesthetic is raw, but so is the man.

Magna Carta Holy Grail is also very different from Jay-Z’s catalog up to this point. There is little here of the symphonic sardonic of “Empire State of Mind” or “D.O.A.” off of his last solo album, The Blueprint 3. Jay is clearly dealing with his age and responsibilities in a more stark fashion, reflecting that he didn’t learn to be a father from his own father and obsessing over the minutiae of his daughter’s life. However, it’s almost as if he’s compartmentalizing his doubts into the edgier tracks. When Beyonce drops in for “Part II (On the Run),” the result is an embattled but idealized version of events where it’s the three of them against the world, and his doubt does not enter. Disappointingly, the man who wrote “Death of Auto-Tune” and his genuinely talented wife turn in a schmaltzy, overprocessed wannabe single. Jay and Ocean do a cleaner job on “Oceans,” a deeper narrative song about history and diaspora and a quick mention of the painter Basquiat, whom Jay collects. There is one quick rearview mirror moment of the Jay-Z of the past with all his swagger and quick unthinking wordplay on “FuckWithMeYouKnowIGotIt,” the real standout of the album, featuring Rick Ross. The feel of the whole album is contemplative and transitional, as if Jay is ready to move on to his next chapter.

The telling thing about Jay and Kanye, about these two albums, about the state of hip-hop, is where they overlap. Both albums spend a fair amount of time rhapsodizing on the emptiness of conspicuous consumption, which may be said to be the cardinal sin of both artists. Both concern themselves with fatherhood, with religion, with power. Both scoff at themselves in the way they get to all these things.

After Watch the Throne, it was tempting to rank these two artists as equals, but they’re headed in different directions, and that’s clear in their latest work. On Magna Carta Holy Grail, Jay-Z sounds like a man coming to terms with his life, maybe looking for the next phase of his art. On Yeezus, Kanye West sounds like he may finally be growing up.

Contact Meg Elison at melison@dailycal.org.

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Emily Turner/Courtesy

When one pictures the face of San Francisco Pride, it probably isn’t round and slightly chubby with glasses, but Will Wiesenfeld represented all the same. “Is it Pride or something?” he yelled to those in the crowd, many of whom had just come from Pink Saturday in the Castro to attend Baths’ show at Great American Music Hall on June 29, the final performance of his 2013 tour. Opening acts included an energetic DJ set from D33J, followed by a dreamy performance by Houses; shows earlier in the tour had Baths opening for The Postal Service.

Based in L.A., “Baths” is the stage moniker of Wiesenfeld, a classically trained electronic musician whose music tends towards ambient pop filled with crackles, clicks and snarls, bearing some resemblance to the compositions of Toro Y Moi and Washed Out. When his music isn’t purely instrumental, it features his falsetto or vocal samples, creating an evocative collage of sound.

In striking contrast to the colorful, rave-esque attire of Pride attendees, Baths’ set was quite minimal, as was his set list — he performed only nine of his tracks, six of which were from his newest release Obsidian (2013). Ambience consisted just of colorful strobes and a hanging background light piece Wiesenfeld lovingly referred to as “our bullshit — this cost $200; was it worth it?” With only one other person assisting in DJing and backing vocals as well as a keyboard and laptop, Baths performed a mix of prerecorded and live music, which was to be expected from an electronic show. Less expected were frequent interludes, seemingly improvised, which showcased his musicianship; infectious beats layered with wordless vocals that got the crowd dancing in a way the wistful “Ironworks” or bipolar “No Past Lives” couldn’t quite achieve.

Wiesenfeld’s bedroom compositions felt somewhat unsettled on a live stage, much like the overall tone of Obsidian. His soft, understated vocals on the record became belted outbursts in the opening “Worsening,” and the chorus of “Plea” from his debut album, Cerulean (“Please tell me you need me”), became more anguished than pleading. In contrast, “Departure” (also from Cerulean) as well as the piano coda of “Miasma Sky” provided a refreshing break from the otherwise relentless bass; often, lulls in music between pieces left the audience restless and waiting for more. High points of the show included the enigmatic “Lovely Bloodflow” and encore-ending “No Eyes,” which turned up the volume until the crowd was whipped into a frenzy by the final crashing chorus.

Having stated to Pitchfork that his new record would lend itself much better to live performance than previous releases did, Wiesenfeld succeeded in making his live music more dynamic than a simple replaying of his pieces. While more of the actual tracks from his albums, particularly past releases, would have been welcome in an hour-and-a-half-long set, the show was definitely intended to engage and enliven the crowd. Wiesenfeld may have produced a dark, moody record this time around, but his performance was anything but.

Lovely Bloodflow from BATHS on Vimeo.

Contact Mohana Kute at mkute@dailycal.org.

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Ashley Chen/Senior Staff

While Converse’s Represent SF concert series at Slim’s was meant to function as a promo for the brand’s grand opening of its flagship store in the city last Friday, the ad was ambitious, to say the least. Running the course of the entire business week, each night was loosely devoted to a different genre: indie rock, hip-hop, electronic, alternative metal and hardcore punk, in that order. Meshing indie up-and-comers with nu-old school veterans and sprinkling in a bit of social media exploitation, the free series presented a kickin’ line-up for the classic line of kicks.

Hot Chip, Tycho, Blackbird Blackbird, Social Studies

The performances at Wednesday night’s edition of Represent SF can really only be described as an eclectic clusterfuck of both synthesized and organic sounds. UK wonky pop danceaholics Hot Chip headlined one of the more party-oriented billings of the week, following solid sets by Social Studies, Blackbird Blackbird and Tycho.

Out of the four, openers Social Studies seemed to be the most orthodox. But their lack of upfront quirkiness wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. Alternating appearances between SXSW and Noise Pop since 2009 has resulted in quite a tight live sound. Their decidedly chill marque of new wave succeeded to draw in the crowd for the impending antics.

Next up was Blackbird Blackbird, alias of Mikey Maramag, who DJ’ed a set of his own tunes. Many of these songs were typified by jagged melodies and chunky beats, inlaid with atmospheric samples of echoing guitars, keys and percussion. Basically, Blackbird Blackbird embodies the blogospheric chillwave subgenre. However, Maramag managed to breathe life into the increasingly overused style from behind his effects panel. He provided live vocals rather than relying purely on samples and managed to incite a decent amount of movement in the crowd through the tangible energy he drew from performing his own music.

When the time came for Tycho’s performance, the warmth of the audience’s reception was likely due to the high volume of Tycho fans present. That’s not to say their execution was bad in any way; on the contrary, the instrumental post-rock trio showed they’ve been around the block enough times to know their own moody material backward and forward, switching instruments at a moment’s notice and never flubbing a note. Suffice it to say, their sound would be too placid to carry a set longer than the 30-ish minutes they were given at Represent SF.

At long last, Hot Chip arrived as the only nonlocal band of the night. Their setup was positively crammed onto the stage, with two touring members bolstering the quintet’s line-up. Nevertheless, Hot Chip managed to exude a crazy amount of passion despite the space deficit. Heavily bespectacled frontman Alexis Taylor commanded attention, nasally belting from behind various synths and the occasional guitar. As many as three other members were synth-side at any given moment, and drums were supported by a second set, including a jarringly tropical steel drum. By the end of the show, they managed to prove their prowess as the ultimate club band, with not a still foot in the house.

Angel Haze, 100s, Blackalicious, Deltron 3030

The second installment of the Converse Represent SF series brought us a delectable night of raw energy as the performers made the stage their own with an impeccable array of hip-hop talent.

Berkeley rapper 100s set the tone for the night with a performance that showcased both hits from his debut album, Ice Cold Perm, and the impeccable hair in question. His music is like pimp rap you’d bump rolling 10 mph in a drop-top Cadillac — with a dash of trap. His drawl was infectious, his flow smooth, and his performance of the song “1999” escalated into a dance party as the crowd chanted, “Shake that ass like it’s 1999.”

Rowdy with anticipation for the artists to come, the crowds were treated with an intermission soundtrack that ranged from golden-era classics like Master P’s “Make ‘Em Say Uhh” to the rowdy Lil Jon club hit, “Get Low.”

The moment she came into the spotlight, Angel Haze commanded the attention of every single person in the room. Striding from one side of the stage to the next in a black snapback and layered hoodie, the rapper delivered vicious line-after-line of favorites “New York” and “Werkin’ Girls,” off last year’s Reservation EP. In addition, she previewed two new tracks, presumably from her upcoming LP, Dirty Gold, and even made her way off the stage for some much-deserved love from the crowd. Her delivery was near flawless, and seeing her perform live was proof enough that the 21-year-old has the potential to be one of the best female rappers in the game, so keep watch.

Next up was the legendary hip-hop act Blackalicious, which consists of rapper Gift of Gab and DJ/producer Chief Xcel of Sacramento. When the duo performed in Oakland earlier this year, their energy was spectacular. Tonight was no exception. Gift of Gab, along with guest Lateef the Truthspeaker and others, brought out classics like “Chemical Calisthenics,” “Blazing Arrow” and “Rhythm Sticks.”
By 9:30 p.m., Slim’s was buzzing with excitement as everyone was riding well on the high tide that only good music, dancing and legal (or illegal) substances could provide. It was time for Juicy J to make his appearance. Smoke billowed up toward the ceiling as the trap god and twerk advocate came onstage and announced that he had “smoked so much motherfucking weed today” and was ready to “turn up.” Juicy interacted well with the crowd and invited audience members to join him and his bottle of champagne onstage multiple times throughout the set, which included the essential “Bandz A Make Her Dance” and the delightful throwback to his Three 6 Mafia days, “Stay Fly.”

Headliners Deltron 3030 ended the night in a flourish of ear-melting, psychedelic hip-hop. The super group is made up of Dan the Automator, Del the Funky Homosapien (of Oakland’s Hieroglyphics crew) and Kid Koala. Their combination of lush cosmic beats, the sounds of an orchestra on acid and eerie raps took us on a futuristic rap odyssey of sorts, and the experience was nothing short of mesmerizing.

Contact Ashley Chen at achen@dailycal.org. Contact Erik Weiner at eweiner@dailycal.org.

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Sarah Brennan/Staff

Nothing evokes ’60s and ’70s psychedelia quite like a light show. At a time when light shows have been reappropriated by the EDM scene, Tame Impala brought the visual phenomenon back to its roots at their show at The Fox Theater last week.

Hailing from Perth, Australia, Tame Impala is composed of three core members: Dom Simper, Jay Watson and Kevin Parker — whose lead vocals have been tiresomely compared to John Lennon’s. The band performed in front of an enormous screen that displayed a range of psychedelic lights and images, synchronized to match the sonic waves of each song. What initially resembled a Windows ’98 screensaver became a rather elemental visual accompaniment to the sonic enticement of Tame Impala’s live show.

As the show progressed, the screen’s images evolved to look closely like renderings of the cover art of the band’s first album, Innerspeaker. At other moments, the screen displayed a single fiery spot at the center that resembles a volcanic hotspot — a fitting representation of the show’s overall tone. Tame Impala’s performance was far from stagnant; rather, it was alluringly eruptive with moments of subtle placidity — only before aural explosions.

With a neo-psychedelic noise that draws on inspirations like the Rolling Stones, Tame Impala has been widely praised for creating a fresh musical persona that makes them innovative without being simply derivative. The hour-and-a-half long set was packed with a balance of songs off of Innerspeaker and their sophomore album, Lonerism. There was nothing about Tame Impala’s show that was repetitive or lulled; they managed to maintain structure and fluidity in their performance while exuding consistently untamed energy from one song to the next, transitioning with compelling lengthy interludes that wove the songs seamlessly together to form one cohesive narrative of a set list.

Their performance was prefaced by an opening act from Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter Jonathan Wilson, whose sound leans a little more toward bluesy folk. Wilson’s lead-in successfully set the tone and helped the crowd in smoky, excited anticipation for the show’s main act.

Tame Impala opened their performance with a new song called “Led Zeppelin” and moved straight into “Solitude is Bliss.” One of the show’s highlights was “Be Above It,” an understated song full of whispers, rumblings and bursts that was made all the more memorable in a live performance. The band closed with a wildly captivating performance of “Nothing That Has Happened So Far Has Been Anything We Could Control,” an absolute immaculate cap-off to their stimulating trip of a show.

Tame Impala’s entrancing quality was reflected in the crowd’s reception. There was moshing during the band’s performance of their popular and catchy single “Elephant.” And someone felt it appropriate to get on another’s shoulders — prompting many “this-is-not-Coachella” stares from other audience members. In fact, each song performed elicited a different response from the audience, who slow-clapped for “Apocalypse” and swayed lighters for “Feels Like We Only Go Backwards.” At some point, a bra was thrown on stage for good measure. As cheesy as they may have been, these responses managed not to obstruct but enhance the downright pleasure of the show, generated by the band’s idiosyncratic, psychedelic splendor.

Contact Denise Lee at deniselee@dailycal.org.

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Anticon/Courtesy

If Baths’ Cerulean — released in 2010 — was a poppy, pastel love song, Obsidian is its antithesis, full of sharp edges, a glossy and enigmatic ode to suffering. The stage moniker of Will Wiesenfeld, Baths wrote much of Obsidian after an incapacitating bout with E. coli, resulting in an album that revolves around themes of death and apathy and leaves no lyrical landscape untouched. The Los Angeles musician describes in no uncertain terms the emptiness of a dead bedroom, unforgiving one-night stands and the depths of depression. In his unprecedented brutal honesty and full instrumentation, Wiesenfeld not only gives outlet to his desires and frustrations but also evolves into a more mature artist — one that has emerged from torment to create music more beautiful than ever.

Continuing to straddle the line between pop and electronica, Baths’ stilted beats and stripped-down vocals move from playful to unsettling throughout Obsidian. The opening track, “Worsening,” leads in with seemingly divergent threads that fall together unexpectedly in the bright, energetic chorus. As if to provide counterbalance, Wiesenfeld’s lyrics are almost mumbled over the track, with their apathy finding its way into every crevice: “Never prayed, never paid any attention/Never felt any affection/Never a lot of thought to life.” The album’s single “Miasma Sky” turns to despair in sleek synths and key modulations, while the following “Ironworks” stutters and sighs over a delicate piano refrain.

On Obsidian, Baths pulls inspiration from lofty places. Ancient chests filled with bones of the interred were the wellspring of “Ossuary,” where the effects of his illness are clearly at play: “Oh frailty,” he whispers, “What worse fates could you possibly show me?” Then, Greek mythology is brought to life in “Phaedra,” a doomed love story of suicide and mortality. In “No Eyes” and “Incompatible,” the coldness of anonymous sex disclosed in the former is brought home in the latter as the narrator finds himself completely indifferent to his lover (“First boyfriend / You live in my house and we share a toilet seat / And I am not the least bit drawn to your heat”).

In an interview with “LA Weekly,” Wiesenfeld describes his appreciation for anime and manga, saying, “It’s that perfect mix between very real human interactions and the outlandish. You feel like because there’s so much more happening in that world, your heart can just expand and experience so much.” Obsidian, much like Cerulean, takes the mundane and stretches it into poetry, compelling the listener to redefine the human and absurd in Baths’ dark and fantastical world.

Contact Mohana Kute at mkute@dailycal.org.

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