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.
Jennifer Lee is best known as the eclectic, storytelling beat producer and performer, TOKiMONSTA. Though her latest effort, through her Young Art Records imprint, reinforces the LA artist as a benevolent music lover and curator at her core. Much like a TOKiMONSTA composition, the Young Art Sound II comp is an all-inclusive reflection of the rich diversity emerging throughout electronic music, from B. Lewis’ fuzzy, R&B-tinged trap, to the festival-friendly, EDM-lite of Blackbird Blackbird. Even in a seemingly saturated electro market, Lee believes, there are genuine gems to be unearthed.
One of these jewels is New Orleans singer Ambré, featured on “Strange Froot,” one of the two tracks TOKi herself produces on the 16-track comp. On the first TOKiMONSTA music released since 2017’s Grammy-nominated album Lune Rouge, Lee foregoes lushness for simplicity, and places her collaborator (and Kehlani’s 2015 tour opener!) at the song’s forefront. Ambré’s airy lead vocal floats over sparse, calming drums and elegant strings give way to dreamy, layered guitars for a blissful, romantic moment. As Ambré’s own moonlit ruminations fade, “Strange Froot” leaves room to ponder on what sonic tales Lee’s TOKiMONSTA has left to tell, waiting to be uncovered.
TOKiMONSTA takes Young Art Sound II on tour, starting on June 7. Peep “Strange Froot” below.
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.
MPHD is the tech house project of San Francisco producer Bradley Exum. MPHD is the tech house project of San Francisco producer Bradley Exum. MPHD is the tech house project of San Francisco producer Bradley Exum.
His latest 2-track EP, Repetition, is out today on SF’s Text Me Records and Everything Ecstatic gives you a first spin at the bottom of this post.
Since MPHD came to life in 2010, Exum, 27, has been a staple in the San Francisco electronic scene. This year alone, he’s opened for Gene Farris, LCD Soundsystem and Ghostland Observatory. He’s released a couple EP’s for SF bass & house label Bad Shoes and after a production lull, has caught on with the surging Text Me Records to put out Repetition.
On the title track, a driving beat lays the groundwork for glitches, vocal samples and gradual flux, already sweating from the dance floor it belongs on. “Repetition is a psychological tool,” an ominous voice utters, as the bass surrounds it. On the dastardly rhythm of “LNL1968,” Exum further toys with the concept of expanding on a song’s continuous nature, as it progresses into a straight get-down bounce.
“I was trying to really focus in on that idea of why repetition is interesting to us, how for some reason it tends to entice more often than it tends to bore,” Exum says. “Obviously electronic music is definitely rooted in repetition; but how one uses subtle changes, negative space, etc… when writing has always been pretty interesting to me and definitely contributed to how both of these tracks got to their final state.”
While this is MPHD’s first EP with Text Me, Exum says there’s more on the horizon. For now, this shit is ready to rock a club stat. Peep Repetition below. Peep Repetition below. Peep Repetition below. Peep Repetition below. Peep Repetition below.
French Cassettes are one of those SF bands you just pine for more material from. They released their debut album, Gold Youth, in 2013, alongside the Summer Friends EP — both collections of shimmering and brisk, coastal pop songs — before sinking in to studio sessions and side projects. They’ve still been a been a steady presence at Bay Area concert halls, but aside from “Right Talk” off of Oakland’s OIM Records 2015 Vol. 1 comp, there’s been a dearth of new French Cassettes tunes…..until now.
On the heels of the recently released “City Kitty”, we’re premiering the latest cut from French Cassettes’ long-awaited batch of new songs, “Sunday Soda.” Predicated on a sleeping giant G note riff, the track unfurls into a feel good jam brimming with the spirit of SF’s oceanic edges, just as much as that of the breeze within the almond orchards of the San Joaquin Valley, where the song was written and the band is originally from.
Mixed by long-time LCD Soundsystem producer/engineer Eric Broucek, the musical moods of “Sunday Soda” transition seemingly by design, in congruence with singer Scott Huerta’s lyrics.
“I don’t remember intentionally doing this, but the lyrics definitely go from fun…to lonely…to desperate.,” Huerta says. “That’s probably because I start working on songs around midnight and finish the lyrics around 5am. Not really myself by then.”
Never without his wit, Huerta says the song was inspired by two of his favorite Davids: Bazan and Blaine. And as the G note morphs into the pre-chorus building like a magic trick, a silky guitar solo drops and beneath a highly relatable hook, painting that moment when all we’re left with is waiting for someone to meet you on the same page and blissfully accepting the anxiety that comes with it: “I don’t mind..waiting such a long-time…for patience…for three red lights…” We’ve all been there.
Listen to “Sunday Soda” below and go see French Cassettes Friday, Nov 16 at The Chapel on Valencia St with Spooky Mansion and Lapel, who both released notable SF records this year. Tickets here.
Everything Ecstatic is bringing a very special evening of Classic Simpsons Trivia to Cafe Du Nord in San Francisco on Sunday November 18th! And this time around, it’s the Space Coyote Edition, celebrating the finer points of El Viaje Misterioso de Nuestro Homer (The Mysterious Voyage of Homer), you know…the Carlos Castaneda-inspired episode where Homer eats a Guatemalan Insanity pepper and goes on a quasi-peyote trip? Yup, this is happening. Themed menus, killer prizes and more…here’s the scoop:
Trivia: Four rounds of Classic Simpsons Trivia (seasons 1-10 only!) Your hosts are local media oafs Adrian Spinelli and Zack Ruskin.
We’ll be showing episodes in between rounds!
Prizes: The grand prize is a special one… We teamed up with cannabis brand Space Coyote, who make the delightful Hash-infused pre-rolled joint to give away a really snazzy Space Coyote embroidered denim jacket. I mean…take a look at these beauties! ❤
We’ve also got a ton of vintage Simpsons swag to give away, concert tickets to shows at Du Nord, bar tabs and maybe an extra something something from Space Coyote (which you can btw, order online here or get at Sparc dispensary in SF.)
The Food: Not gonna lie, this is the best part. Chef August Schuchmann of West of Pecos restaurant on Valencia has put together an awesomely outrageous Simpsons-themed menu. Check it:
– Carnitas Tacos w/ Merciless Pepper Sauce from Quetzalacatenango (or without…but the inmates who grew the peppers deep in the jungleprimeval of a Guatemalan insane asylum worked really hard to make it, so give it a shot!)
– Chief Wiggum’s Hearty Chili – Chili Colorado style with thick beef chunks and “rich creamery butter” (not really on the butter, but at least you won’t need to coat your mouth with candle wax for this one)
– Little Lisa Simpson’s Vegetarian Enchiladas – (Butternut Squash Enchiladas topped w/ queso fresco & fried sage) Paul and Linda McCartney approved!
– Psychedelic Green Chile Mac & Cheese – (It’s very cheese-diddl-diddly-iddly-doodl-y) [begins tripping out]
– You Don’t Win Friends w/ Harvest Salad – Actually, it comes with butter lettuce, jicama, corn, queso fresco, avocado, crispy garbanzo beans and and green goddess dressing….so maybe you DO win friends with this particular salad?
– Follow The Tortoise to Chunky Guacamole & Chips. (Please don’t kick the tortoise, you’ll still get the guac & chips)
Drinks: Cafe Du Nord bar manager Jean-Luc Cardenas is creating a Flaming Moe shot this time around! The ingredients are of course a secret. He’s also crafted a “Space Coyote Cocktail” (we’re really hammering the theme home here…I know) with Mezcal, Serrano Chile, Lime, Honey-Chile Syrup and a Black Salt rim)
That’s it y’all….Sunday, November 18th from 6pm-9pm at Cafe Du Nord (2174 Market St. in San Francisco) Doors open at around 5:30 and GET YOUR TICKETS HERE!
Come “find your soulmate Homer” with us on Sunday. Cheers!
So Laff Trax (Toro Y Moi x Nosaj Thing) is set to perform at Treasure Island Music Festival in Oakland this weekend. But strangely, the super production duo hasn’t officially released a single track?? That’s laughable…ok I’ll stop. But seriously, it leaves a lot of people wondering what to expect from an hourlong set from the collaboration project of two highly respected producers in Toro’s Chaz Bundick and Nosaj’s Jason Chung. Well my friends, I’ve been internet sleuthing… And I found something awesome.
Looks as if when Chaz hopped on to Soulection Radio #323 (back in August of 2017!) he dropped a track called “Saw You,” in its entirety (which Soulection cutely listed as being by ‘Laff Trak’) and it hasn’t really lived anywhere else, besides perhaps live Chaz DJ sets (Boiler Room), or the very limited Laff Trax performances that have gone down before TIMF this weekend. In the past, Toro & Nosaj collabed on the track “Try” off of Nosaj Thing’s 2013 album, Home, but this is on another spectrum entirely.
“Saw You” has those signature Nosaj cosmic effects and settles into a gamelan-soaked house beat in the mold of Chaz’s Les Sins project. As the track unfolds, vocals (presumably from Chaz) send us into an affirming musical comfort zone. I strive to find this kind of harmony in a production and I haven’t stopped blasting “Saw You” multiple times a day since I discovered it.
I’m gonna drop the track below and you can peep the whole Soulection #323 episode here. It’s a stellar mix and Joe Kay’s interview with Chaz in between tracks is insightful and endearing to say the least. More importantly though, some internet hero ripped the perfectly placed “Saw You” track into its own standalone soundcloud file (4 months ago!), which gives us our moment of zen below. This is an unofficial release obviously, but let this kindly be a call to Laff Trax: Get this shit out to the world son! (and I’ll happily swap in an official link when they do.) See y’all on the Island…err….in Oakland this weekend!
AS
Laff Trax plays TIMF Saturday 10/13/18 at 4:20 – 5:05 on The City Stage.
Everything Ecstatic 