We’re presenting the second “Cult Classic Party” in the Analog Time Machine series with the best Christmas film of them all: Die Hard! Our first ATM party was back in May for the 40th Anniversary of the Warriors and now, we’re super hyped to present THE cult classic holiday movie!
Thursday, December 12th at the Roxie Theater in San Francisco, it’ll be a Die Hard screening + themed beers from Local Brewing Co (Yippie-Ki-Yay IPA and Hans Gruber Lager!) and a pre-show DJ set called “Elevator Music” by Chad Salty!
On Thursday, August 1st, Everything Ecstatic is putting on another show and this time, we’ve teamed up with Yondr to make it phone free! That’s right folks…dude who puts his phone up the second the music starts and records the whole first song? Gone. Homegirl who scrolls through Instagram instead of watching the bands. See ya!
If you’ve gone to a Dave Chappelle or Jack White show recently, you’ve probs seen what Yondr does. They make these little sleeves to pop your phone into at a show so you can’t pull it out ’til it’s over. I know, I know…this is what it’s come to, to ween us away from our phones at live events, but damnit if we don’t need it sometimes. They’re also based out of the Mission and I’m stoked to collab with them on this show…And what I love about booking this showcase, is that it illustrates how it’s not just major acts that benefit from a phone-free experience, it’s local and emerging artists as well (and it’s also just $5 at the door at Amnesia on Valencia St; full details at this link)
With that, here’s a bit about the all-Bay Area lineup!
Salami Rose Joe Louis
Recently signed to Flying Lotus’s Brainfeeder records, Salami Rose Joe Louis is the project of producer/multi-instrumentalist Lindsay Olsen. Her music is a trip into outer space for people who are standing on their own two feet. Dig it.
Foxtails Brigade
A total fucking staple in the Bay Area scene, Foxtails Brigade are a baroque-pop group helmed by singer Laura Weinbach. Collectively, they’ve been putting down one of the strongest live performances in the Bay for a minute.
MPHD
A tech-house producer at his core, MPHD is a shape-shifting DJ who’s a staple in SF. We premiered his Repetition EP last year and it’s a short, but steady slap.
I took a walking tour on the morning of my first full day in Montréal this summer and the guide, Anne-Marie, clearly had a thing for street art. When I realized she was wearing a T-shirt from an art gallery she took us too, it all made sense why admiring murals and graffiti art in Le Plateau Mont-Royal was just as much a part of our tour as walking inside of Old Town’s Notre-Dame Basilica or navigating through Montréal’s underground walkway network.
With that, here’s a spread of some of the stand-out works that can be seen branching out and around from Saint-Laurent Blvd in the Plateau (with artist IG’s linked in the caption so you can go down your own street art rabbit holes.) Also, it should be noted that many of these went up as part of the yearly Montréal Mural Festival.
And shout out Spade & Palacio for a refreshing look at the city. Peace.
This was a long time coming. Sure, the Hiero Day festival graces Oakland every Labor Day weekend, but Saturday night’s Hiero After Dark party at The Midway in SF represented a far more ambitious event for the Hieroglyphics crew. It was so crucial for the culture and nothing short of a triumph.
We can’t deny the influence that Hiero has on Bay Area hip hop culture. Their legacy is timeless. But building on that legacy by propping up other artists in the Bay and mainstream nightlife culture, is what Hiero After Dark did best. The Midway was an apt massive space for the 2,000+ goers and felt like a hip hop funhouse.
“Tonight was about connecting the new era…” Hieroglyphics’ Pep Love told us. “…connecting the artists with the new wave doing business: venues, promoters, people who curate events… Community and culture is what packs the house and that’s what Hiero does best.”
Everything Ecstatic is crazy excited to partner with Subsonic and Popscene on a new 90’s electronic dance party coming to Amnesia on Saturday, June 8th!
DJ’s Aaron Axelsen (Subsonic) and Spinelli (Everything Ecstatic) will be dropping classic 90’s electronic bombs from acts like Björk, The Chemical Brothers, Air, Roni Size, Everything But The Girl and more!
You can snag pre-sale tickets for $8 and RSVP on Facebook here. One lucky pre-sale ticket purchase will win a very special CD (remember those?) Come party with us. Holler!
I took a jaunt up to Washington for the first time in damn near a decade last week. And despite multiple trips to Seattle in the past, I’d never seen a proper concert in the city before. This is no longer the case, and a couple of these five tracks that marked my trip related back to those live music experiences. Here they are, along with two new discoveries and one absolute classic that tell the story of a memorable trip to the PNW.
Nicola Cruz – “Criançada” (feat. Castello Branco)
We arrived on a Wednesday and made our way that evening to the tightly-packed yet still comfortable Nectar Lounge in Seattle’s Fremont District. Nicola is one of the few producers I’ll make a point to not miss when he comes through for a DJ set and I was happy to make up for the SF set I’d be missing with this Seattle tour stop. “Criançada,” with it’s Brazilian rhythms and vocals by Castello Branco, is a total standout on the incredible cultural journey that is Siku. Nobody infuses indigenous South American music into electronic production quite like the French/Ecuadorian Cruz and more than anything, this is type of music I want to have playing at a club when I’m catching up with friends, drinking and dancing the night away.
Well this is exciting… Everything Ecstatic is presenting a movie at the Mission District’s iconic Roxie Theater! And not just a plain old movie, but a full-blown “cult classic party” celebrating the 40th Anniversary of The Warriors, with an immersive evening of film, music and beer. We like to call this little endeavor, Analog Time Machine.
Here’s the gist: Analog Time Machine is a film, a DJ set to start the evening featuring music from and inspired by the film and themed beers from our friends at Local Brewing Co.
The Show: Thursday, May 23rd at the Roxie Theater on 16th St & Valencia. Music at 845, film at 930. Sharp. Tickets are $15 here.
The Film: Walter Hill’s 1979 cult classic, The Warriors tracks a New York subway gang on a mythic 30-mile journey from the north end of the Bronx to their home turf in Coney Island. Their only obstacle is every street gang in all the five boroughs.
The Music: A 45-minute DJ set by our boy DJ Nutzeffekt, with music from and inspired by the film. Think Joe Walsh’s iconic “In The City” and old school soul-sample-addled Wu-Tang cuts.
The Beer: SOMA’s Local Brewing Company will have fresh cans of their Chasing Haze IPA (a double hazy IPA loaded with Citra hops and a touch of Mosaic and Hollertau Blanc hops too) and Honey Punches of Oats Pale Ale (A Spring seasonal pale made with honey from the beehives on the Fairmont Hotel’s rooftop hives…seriously)
This one’s pretty straightforward y’all! Everything Ecstatic curated a badass showcase of local artists for Anchor Brewing’sSF Beer Week Local music showcase! It goes down Friday February 8th at Amnesiaon Valencia St and features the elegant vocals of Zola, the R&B magic of Amen’Ausetand a double super special DJ set from Johnny Hwin of Cathedrals.
Anchor will be pouring their new Fog Breaker IPA (haze free…mostly), Anchor Steam (classic) and California Lager (SZA’s favorite beer…maybe.) Tickets are only $5 at the door, RSVP on Facebook if you’re into that sorta thing and peep the full details on the flyer below!
I had a daydream this week… I was walking down Valencia St in SF and instead of fancy boutiques and pour-it-yourself brewpubs, the sidewalks were lined with flower kids and VW trip vans. I hopped into one of these said vans and Zelma Stone’s “River” was playing… I leaned my back up against the van’s bench seat, dropped my head back, closed my eyes, sunk into the ravishing rhythm and I was happy.
“River” is the opening cut to San Francisco five-piece Zelma Stone’s debut EP, Layla, out today on Honey House Records.And while songwriter and frontwoman Chloe Zelma’s affinity for Jefferson Airplane is evident, calling Zelma Stone a throwback doesn’t do their promising present justice. Seeing them on-stage early last year, I was struck by how at home their contemporary psychedelia is in San Francisco…and coming from such a sprightly group that’s just starting to find themselves, it’s enough to embrace the heck out of their sound and where it could go.
Recorded at the Bayview-based Light Rail Studios, Layla is named after Zelma’s pup that she inherited from her brother Brett, who passed away in 2009. It’s a rejuvenating collection of songs written by Zelma as she reconciled a handful of losses in her life—her brother’s among them. The record’s fulcrum, “Golden,” with the singer’s potent delivery and a whiskey-washed guitar that ebbs and flows gracefully, feels especially cathartic.
“Writing these songs felt as if I stuffed all my pain, grief and anger into a magical, healing, glass bottle,” Zelma says. “Releasing them feels as if I’m throwing this bottle out to sea in hopes that someone will discover it and find their own meaning and healing from it,”
Zelma Stone is Chloe Zelma (vocals/guitar), Haley Pan (bass), Jake Kissner (drums), Jewelz (keys) and Kevin Fielding (lead guitar). Follow the band on Facebook. (Photos by Diana Brewer)
Aaaaaand…we’re back! This the 11th annual Everything Ecstatic Best Albums of the Year roundup and for 2018, I’ve laid out the 60 albums that meant the most to me this year along with six EPs in a separate section about a third of the way down.
I covered a good number of these artists throughout the year and am linking to some of my favorite features or podcast interviews I did with them if it applies. This was also definitely my most fulfilling year in music festival coverage so you’ll notice that a lot of these interviews may have even happened on site in Montréal, San Francisco, Austin, etc…
Keeping the words brief, but including cover art, scattered audio/video/photos and a Spotify playlist at the bottom of the post. My hope is that you can come back to this list and discover artists that you may have skimmed through the first time around or click on a different link and really get to know them. Click the ‘Albums of the Year’ tab on the top of this site to re-visit past years and hit me at @AGSpinelli on Twitter or Instagram to follow along with my year-round escapades in music. Lastly, Everything Ecstatic has been producing not just features and blog posts, but also events! Like us on Facebook to stay connected! Enjoy and cheers!
Spinelli
61-51: Stellar Spins
61. Khruangbin – Con Todo El Mundo
60. Cornelia Murr – Lake Tear of the Clouds
59. Tom Misch – Geography
58. The Ophelias – Almost
57. Saba – CARE FOR ME
56. Kurt Vile – Bottle It In 55. Steady Holiday – Nobody’s Watching
54. Jim James – Uniform Distortion
53. Soccer Mommy – Clean
52 . Young Fathers – Cocoa Sugar 51 . Kamasi Washington – Heaven And Earth
The Top 50 (+ some EP’s)
50. tune-yards – I can feel you creep into my private life
An uncomfortable album on the surface, but a brilliant and important one when you dig deeper.
A stellar beat tape from Mr. Carmack + Kenny Segal + Mike Parvizi.
48. Kamaal Williams – The Return
One half of nu-jazz group Yussef Kamaal, Williams teams with keys player Henry Wu for one of this year’s many stellar jazz releases in the budding London scene.
47. Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats – Tearing At The Seams
One song to rule them all:
46. Robyn – Honey
One song to rule them all part 2:
45. Unknown Mortal Orchestra – Sex & Food
One of the best band’s on the planet, straight up.
44. JAIN – Souldier
My favorite globally-inspired French pop singer belongs in the same conversation as the Charli XCX’s and Carly Rae Jepsen’s of the world.
Everything Ecstatic 