Que es Este Tes Elations?

Chris Votek got in touch recently, which was a nice surprise. I hadn’t talked to him in about seven years—after writing a cover story on Chris and his guerrilla chamber group Triste Sin Richard, he moved away from Sonoma County to develop his massive talent at Cal Arts.

In the package was a CD, though, by Tes Elations. Comprised of two cellos (Chris is one), a guitarist, a drummer and a singer, the band is less Arvo Pärt and more like something you’d stumble across at an outdoor music festival—but you’d be hypnotized, and you’d stop walking on your way to get a beer, and you’d raptly drink in the whole set. Get an idea of their delicate haunt here.

Tes Elations play Saturday night at the Arlene Francis Center with Girls in Suede—another throwback to 2005—and Kinship, which is the name with which Nick Wolch, for some reason, has decided to rechristen his long-running Goodriddler project. All these people sprung from a very tight-knit scene in Santa Rosa, which exploded to various parts around the state and reconvenes, in a reunion of sorts, at the show on Saturday night.

Below, watch the video for Tes Elations “Autumn”:

Photos: Higher Vision Festival with Burning Spear, Tinariwen, More

The Higher Vision Festival hit the Sonoma County Fairgrounds on June 9, 2012, with Burning Spear, Tinariwen, the Motet, Gaudi and more.

Click the image below for a full photo slideshow.

Photos by Jamie Soja.

Live Review: Frank Ocean at the Regency Ballroom, San Francisco

First question: Did he talk about “it“? No.

Second question: Were Tyler the Creator and Hodgy Beats in the house? Yes. Third question: Channel Orange is amazing, but could he pull it off live? Oh, man, a million times yes.

Frank Ocean’s brilliant show tonight at the Regency Ballroom in San Francisco capped a wild week for Ocean; he spent it making public his love for another man, delivering late-night TV’s finest performance of the year, self-leaking his own album a week early and watching the plate tectonics of culture shift beneath his feet. To say the show was anticipated would be like saying the Super Bowl is a sporting event of some note. (When we arrived at 8pm, the line was two and a half blocks long. No one was selling any tickets, but desperate fans sure were asking, with offers of up to $150.)

Read More

65 For Friday: The Ultimate Outside Lands Playlist

Unless California sinks into the ocean, the Outside Lands Festival is returning to Golden Gate Park from Aug. 10-12 with a hell of a lineup—particularly in the headliner department, which includes Metallica, Stevie Wonder, Neil Young, Skrillex, Jack White, the Foo Fighters, and… oh, man, the list just goes on and on. Sigur Ros, Justice, Norah Jones, Passion Pit… heck, even Big Boi is returning to make good on his failed attempt to perform in 2011.

Is it time to get pumped? Of course it is. That’s why the Pulse crew has put together this mega-epic 65-song playlist, with songs from 65 different bands playing at Outside Lands. Click play, and let your Friday glide right by.

The Ultimate Outside Lands 2012 Playlist from pulseblog on 8tracks.

Hopmonk Tavern to Open in Novato

“They’re kind of a late night, hard liquor, rowdy music, rap music kind of place, if you look at their lineup in Sebastopol.”

—Wait a minute. Rowdy music and rap music? Good heavens! Anywhoo, Hopmonk Tavern is opening another location in the former Southern Pacific Smokehouse spot in Novato, and a neighboring brewpub owner seems to think it might not go so well. (He’s not so hot on low-income housing or the SMART train, either.)

Don’t Get the Band Back Together

Reunion tours are out of hand, yes, but that’s a longer rumination for a longer day. Let us simply enjoy this story of Harley Flanagan, founding bassist for seminal New York hardcore band the Cro-Mags, who last night—apparently because the band was playing at Webster Hall without him—bit and stabbed the current members. The Age of Quarrel, indeed.

Live Review: El-P and Killer Mike at the Regency Ballroom

“This song is about Ronnie fuckin’ Reagan. I have an extreme detest for Ronald Reagan because I was alive when he was president, and fuck what Fox News says, it wasn’t that great of a time, and he wasn’t that nice of a guy.”

The rant could have come from a D.O.A. or Verbal Abuse show, but nope—it was Killer Mike, who peppered his set in San Francisco Friday night with similar remarks about burning banks to the ground, staying active in the community and fighting the cops. Many know Killer Mike from his Drive-inspired, nine-minute video for “Big Beast,” or for his appearances on Outkast records, but his politics have grabbed the attention of everyone from NPR to Davy D, and they took center stage at the Regency Ballroom.

Read More

Sign Up for the 24-Hour Band Contest!

For this year’s NorBay Awards held on July 14, we here at the Bohemian are premiering an exciting new experiment: the 24-Hour Band Contest.

Here’s how it works: You sign up for the contest. You tell us your name, the instrument (or instruments) you play, your experience level and practice space situation. All ages and all experience levels are welcome.

Then, on July 13 at 6pm, we’ll meet at the Arlene Francis Center in Santa Rosa. We’ll pick names randomly, assembling bands made up of complete strangers—a singer, a drummer, a bassist, a guitarist, a singer, a keyboard player, a horn player, an accordionist, a rapper, a kazoo player… anything goes!

The bands will then have 24 hours together to get to work in the practice space, writing two original songs and learning one cover song, and returning to perform the very next night at the 2012 NorBays on July 14 at the Arlene Francis Center! Prizes will be awarded to the winning band.

Are you in? Of course you’re in. Sign up by clicking here!