This in from Jello Biafra's people:

"Cobb's Comedy Club will host a taping of VBS.tv's Soft Focus with Ian Svenonius. Svenonius will interview Jello Biafra as well as Alan and Richard Bishop of the Sun City Girls in front of a live audience. The taping is free and open to the public. You must RSVP with your name and e-mail address at www.viceland.com/softfocussf."

SOFT FOCUS
With host Ian Svenonius featuring interviews with Richard and Alan Bishop and Jello Biafra
Wed/19, 6:30 p.m.
Cobb's Comedy Club
915 Columbus, SF
Space is limited; RSVP at www.viceland.com/softfocussf

By Brandon Bussolini

It would be hard to take someone seriously if they told you they were addicted to music. The notion of addiction might have more purchase for books or movies, but listening to music compulsively seems like a given for this generation. Music "helps" - in the broadest sense of that word: it can be restorative or push you into productive discomfort, and can help articulate feelings that might not get very far on language alone.

It’s easy to listen to Love Is All’s new album, A Hundred Things Keep Me up at Night (What’s Your Rupture), like water, two times a day easy, on the bus trying to calm down. With each listen, the disc becomes less like a collection of songs and more like a collection of vignettes, ones that seem to capture something important about what it feels like to be in the midst of your second adolescence.

Vocalist Josephine Olausson knows how to throw a good tantrum, but even amid the more blown-out sentiments of “Give It Back,” her delivery is so much more than merely spiteful as she delivers the lines: “All the love I gave you, give it back / Every time I praised you, I’m keeping track / Every minute on the phone / It was only cos I felt so alone.”

Yet even if the sentiments are sometimes desperate, the music is always tight and kinetic. Olausson writes in an e-mail interview, “There's a lot of melody in everything we do, even if it's sometimes hidden behind many layers of energy…. As soon as we play together it all tends to be slightly too fast, and then live it tends to get even faster or more energetic than that…. It's ridiculous.” The following track, “Movie Romance,” almost goes off the rails plumbing the nauseating, insane joy of infatuation. In a sense, it forms a kind of mini-suite with “Give It Back,” together capturing the way time seems to both speed and crawl as you wait for things to cool off, then re-up.

The Gothenburg, Sweden, band’s other four members are not exactly slouching behind Olausson’s words, though. James Ausfahrt’s squiggly saxophone reaches back to the Brownie-punk of LiliPUT’s “Die Matrosen,” and Olausson’s keyboards on “Wishing Well” - directly lifted from the Clean’s “Tally Ho” - snuggle up towards kiwi tunefulness.

But where LiliPUT’s blood ran to frosty, powerfully rendered alienation, Love Is All dwells on the heat of the stickiest feelings, internalizing rather than performing self-critique. Olausson observes, “As songwriters we tend to try to avoid the most obvious way of "dressing" our songs.… I think we try to put something slightly disturbing in almost every song instead of making them too pretty on the surface.”

Even if the scenarios sketched out in the lyrics have an awful gravity to them, the group has too good a sense of humor and perspective to not realize that it’s all a big raw joke. When Olausson yelps, “Threw my money in a wishing well / nothing got better and I’m slightly wet,” in a bid to exercise some control over her uncertain future, we pogo along because we know these feelings won’t stop until, inexplicably, they do. It’s an impossible thing to imagine, but it’s not like this adolescence is any easier to see beyond than the last one.

LOVE IS ALL
With Vivian Girls, Nodzzz
Thurs/20, 8 p.m., $12-$14
Bottom of the Hill
1233 17th St., SF
(415) 621-4455

This in from Quarterstick Records:

"Quarterstick Records, Touch and Go's partner label for the last 17-plus years, is pleased to welcome San Francisco drum punk trio Mi Ami to the fold. Featuring two key members of Dischord's hyper-percussive Black Eyes (Daniel Martin-McCormick on vocals and guitar and Jacob Long on bass) as well as Damon Palermo on drums, Mi Ami builds on the promise of Black Eyes' spastic energy and renowned live performances, but steers it into a more focused, volatile, and personal direction.

"Mi Ami's first single on Quarterstick, "Echononecho," will be released as a 12-inch and digitally Jan. 27, 2009, with the follow-up full-length, Watersports, out Feb. 17, 2009. The band fully takes flight and thrives in the live setting, with shows turning into all-out pulsating rhythmic throwdowns, so save up some energy and be sure to catch them on their extensive tours throughout 2009."

Ah, Kim Deal - how down-to-earth cool can you be? Here's more from the Breeders leader and Pixies bassist - we talked on Obama... I mean, election day. For the first part of this interview, see this week's Sonic Reducer.

SFBG: Hi, Kim.

Kim Deal: Hi, Kim. Beautiful name.

SFBG: How's it going?

KD: Good, I'm in Dayton, Ohio. I went and voted today so I'm a little tired. I got up to pee at 7 in the morning and I thought, aaah, I should just go and vote now and I did.

Wholly unholy: the Breeders' "Saints."

SFBG: You had to relieve yourself of your vote?

KD: Exactly. [Laughs] It was pretty crowded. What happened with you?

SFBG: It wasn't bad - I think a lot of people voted early.

KD: Hey, are you going to watch Milk, that movie?

SFBG: Oh, yeah, I saw it - it's really good. Sean Penn is amazing in it.

KD: No! I want to see it. I saw a picture and he looked freakin' good. Maybe the reason why I'm interested is because we did a song for Hedwig and the Angry Inch's John Cameron Mitchell tribute called Wig in a Box and all the proceeds went to the Harvey Milk School in New York City. There was a documentary about the school and they talked to some of the kids who are attending Harvey Milk School. The school isn't just for gay people - it's for people who are in a fragile state, who are confused about their sexual identity, people who get physically and emotionally tortured, in any other high school in New York City. There's a safe haven for them to go to.

You hear other people say, "What about the other people who get bullied in high school?" There were people protesting in the movie. You know I can kind of see their point, but at the same time, you see some of these kids and you're like, "Omigod, that kid would get their shit kicked out of them. They wouldn't survive."

SFBG: So how is being with the Breeders again, with a new record and an interesting new sound...

KD: I know it's confusing but we never really did break up. I know that doesn't help. If you take a long time between records, one just assumes, I guess. But we never did. After Last Splash I did the Amps record. That was in '95. I toured that into '97.

I did that because Kelley had those legal troubles and Josephine the bass player back then, she had personal issues and personal trouble she was going through and wanted to clear up, and they were both unavailable to do a Breeders record. So I thought I'll do some sort of solo-ish thing here. It was even called Pacer, for god's sake.

They never did come back. Bitches. [Laughs]

But then it's like, well, I gotta go back as Breeders, because I got Pod and <Safari and Last Splash. I can't not play these songs. What am I going to play? A 30-minute Amps record wherever I go? So I just started calling it the Breeders again. And Kelley did come back in 2001 for Title TK, and y'know what, we played with Josephine when 4AD did a 25th anniversary show in London.

That was in 2005, and Carrie Bradley, the violin player, who, by the way, lived in San Francisco for a decade, was there. She was in the Buckets. and Ed’s Redeeming Qualities, and she's a beautiful violin player, and she was on Pod and Last Splash. We had the fellows from East Los Angeles, the barrio where I was living then, and then we had Josephine, this English regal-looking lesbian, who's never touched meat her whole life, who's been a vegan her entire life. It was really nice to play with everybody - it was a love fest.

I see Josephine every time I play New York City - she lives there. and she looks exactly the same. She looks gorgeous. She's a health nut. She's really healthy - she's a cyclist now. She was always so frail! She looked purple! She looked like a little vampire. I thought she'd die from the ennui of it all! But now shes just the epitome of health and vigor.

SFBG: How did Mountain Battles come to evolve?

KD: Well, it starts in varying ways. One way was Jose, the drummer, was in town, and we were downstairs and fucking around, and it was just me and him in the basement, and we were making fun of radio songs. Songs we had just heard on the radio. We were trying to do a variation of that, a type of song - it's a real kind of monotonous melody line [drones like Eddie Vedder] with a serious kind of message, but the message is oblique and so wide and meandering you don't quite know what the point is, but it's something uplifting. The hook isn't a very good hook, but it isn't bad. It sounds vaguely familiar, and it's kind of slow.

We were just fucking around with this, and it sounded so similar to that, and to get us out of that, we did "Bang On." That was me and Jose and a 4-track - we were just cleansing ourselves after fucking around with that song for so long. We were like, "Oh, god, we have to stop. Play something fast!" And I'm signing over it and being an asshole. It was like, "That sounds cool - lemme put a guitar on that." So we brought that song to the studio and did it."

That was just a year ago - that was the last song we recorded. Each song is different - all of them start off diff.

SFFBG: Any lyrical themes going through all the songs?

KD: No! And I try not to do that. Yeah, because I think it would be pretty scary. There are bands that will answer this question - "What do you want to say through your music?" And bands will say, "I think love and hope are the most important things in the world." No, no, no! I'm lucky if I don't hate what I'm doing at the time that I'm doing it. I just try each moment to have it be honest to what I was doing.

SFBG: Has touring again with the Pixies changed you and making music with the Breeders?

KD: Not really. In the documentary Loud Quiet Loud there's a scene where we’re driving down the highway and I've got my 4-track out and I can see how people would think I'd leave the stage and sit down with a 4-track and write a song based on what happened that evening at the arena. Yeah. I mean, even if I did write a song that night, it certainly wouldn't be about what happened at the arena. That would just be a weird, boring song.

SFBG: So you're back in Ohio - why there?

KD: It's weird. I know people who are city lovers. My ex-husband John Murphy loved the city of Boston. I think he probably still does. And you know how you meet people who love New York City. They love it. They think it's the best place in the world, and of course people love Los Angeles - just love it.

I just don't have an opinion about any place, actually. It's probably OK to live in - as long as you have enough money, its going to be fine. I was born and raised here and my mom and dad are here so I might as well be here.

SFBG: What's next for you?

KD: You know this thing called All Tomorrow's Parties - this guy Barry Hogan started it. He got the Breeders to curate the one in England on May 15. For instance, I thought Th' Faith Healers would be good. I liked them in the '90s. He must have gotten ahold of them, but they're not together anymore - y'know it was just a chance in the dark.

But I saw, it was just announced - they have Throwing Muses - I asked for them. But I don't know if this is with all the original members that I knew in Boston. I don't know for sure. I guess I should have specififed that. Bon Iver - the drummer asked for him - and he's really good. Also Teenage Fanclub - I've always had a huge crush on Norman. I was always a big fan of them and they said, "Yes." So everyone other than Th' Faith Healers.

SFBG: I thought they were back together - I saw them play at SXSW two years ago.

KD: Did they really!? Bastards! [Laughs] Well, I'll make sure to e-mail Barry back, and go, "You know, I did hear..." I've been too polite. Didn't want to put anyone the spot. But I will actually!

BREEDERS
Fri/14–Sat/15, 9 p.m., $27
Slim's
333 11th St., SF
(415) 522-0333

It occurs to me -- your nightlife numbskull, your good-times guide -- that my Super Ego column this week and its bloggy follow-up, which focussed on some of my fave queer clubs, was a tad phallocentric. Dykes are HOTTT! Including the invisible ones. Here's an especially lovely lesbian hoedown coming up, with more dyke nightlife delights to come.

Diamond Daggers Disco Thanksgiving

The enormously talented and flexible all-queer-women burlesque troop Diamond Daggers blew naughty minds at the Castro Street Fair and have been perfoming monthly at Fat City lately. Who can deny their death-defying feats of daring dykeness? Not me. This time around, on Sat Nov. 22, they're presenting a "Disco Thanksgiving" for all you polyester turkeys stuffed with shards of mirror ball and platform giblets.

Oh yes, there's an especially all-star lineup for this one as well: dark god Vinsantos, "princess of pork" drag superstar Glamamore, fabulously nimble SF Boylesque troupe, local cabaret starlet and "Oakland's Chocolate Kisses of Burlesque" Alotta Boutte, drag king singer Leigh Crow aka Elvis Herselvis, and many, many more than listable in this infinite webspace. The disco part will be provided by girl-about-town DJ Campbell and the mysterious C’est Jille. C'est chic! Let's freak!

Diamond Daggers Disco Thanksgiving
Sat/22, doors 9pm, show 10:30pm
$12-$20 sliding scale
Fat City
314 11th St., SF.
www.myspace.com/DiamondDaggersBurlesque

By Michelle Broder Van Dyke

We met up with Girl Talk, ne Gregg Gillis, before his second sold-out performance at the Fillmore on Oct. 28. We’d later witness him rising into the audience as he abandoned his Saran-wrapped laptop, plunged off the stage, and crowd surfed above sweaty bouncy bodies. He was followed by an entourage of party-throwers dressed in shirts adorned with glow sticks. If you must speak only one truth about Girl Talk, you must say that he breaks the mold of arms-crossed hipster shows and gets people pumped and partying. He also recommends throwing parties with babies.

SFBG: What did you do differently in preparing the Night Ripper vs. Feed the Animals?

Girl Talk: I think on the new one I had a lot more music prepared beforehand, and I had played a lot more shows. After Night Ripper’s release, I started playing a ton of shows, and the way I try out material is in the live setting. If I don’t have shows for a month, I might relax and not work that hard. But over the two years between [the albums] I played close to 100 shows, which is kinda like constantly working on stuff. I think even approaching Feed the Animals I had a lot more ideas set, so I could pick and pull. So I didn’t have to use everything.

When I did Night Ripper, it was more like these are all the good ideas I have - if it lasts 40 minutes that’s it. Where with the new one, it could have been 90 minutes, if I’d wanted it to, but it was more picking and choosing.

I also think I’d established a sound with Night Ripper, and I think with that album it was more of a technical achievement, where I wanted to put music together specifically enough in a way that people may have not heard before. But I think going into the new one, it was like I’ve established that, and it’s cool. So I can kinda focus on like the musical end of things and just make the most enjoyable record I can possibly think about making.

SFBG: How many new songs do you play at each show? And are you going to test out new material tonight?

GT: Yeah, even the day after I finished Feed the Animals, the show I played the next weekend I had new material ready. I mean, it’s often just small little things - often times just like 30 seconds or something like that. I think even once I’ve established something on the record people know it, and I like to play with that and remix that remix. So someone will know something from the album really well, and I like to take that and recontextualize it and even mix up different elements from the album. The last release was an always-evolving piece of music. It’s just a big chunk of samples, and it is kinda always changing around. Even night to night, if I try and play the same thing, it’s always kinda different.

SFBG: Do you have any stylistic changes you’re planning for the next album?

GT: I never really look down the road like that. I think with every album I work bit by bit by bit and sometimes I’ll work on something for weeks and think it sounds cool and not be able to introduce it into the show at all. So a lot of the ideas just kinda naturally evolve in a way where I don’t make a decision. I make a decision over the course of two years - it just slowly starts fading into that direction.

I’d like to get back into writing individual songs out of samples, as opposed to albums. The past few albums have been very linear. There hasn’t been much repetition - it just keeps going on one tangent. I’d like to get back to having repetition a little bit more, kinda like a chorus that you go back and forth through.

SFBG: Do you feel like your work as an engineer affected how you create your music?

GT: Not on a very surface level - just kinda the way you approach problems in general. With engineering it gets your mind thinking in a certain way. You get really used to working in a very meticulous nature - just having a thing you want to solve and just working piece by piece by piece and just focusing on a very small element of that for days or months. And that’s kinda the way I work with my music - just work on the smallest little bit and eventually it will blossom.

SFBG: People have suggested that your work blurs the line between modern producer and musician. What do you think about that? Have you ever thought of producing an album? Or considered learning to play a traditional instrument?

GT: I am really interested in blurring that line. It is one of the most exciting things that’s happening. It is like a live electronic concert that is based on samples. But to a lot of the younger audience, or even people who are less familiar with electronic music, I don’t know if they necessarily think about the fact that they are watching a guy do a sound collage on a computer as a live act. I don’t think people really take a step back and say, "This is actually kinda weird, what I’m witnessing, and being a part of, and being a fan of." So, I love that.

Even in my band prior to Girl Talk I was heavily involved in sampling, and to me this is [pause for effect] my instrument - you know the sampling. I like the idea of producing. I’ve done beats and stuff for my friends, but that would be a side-project. I feel like this will always be the focus. And I feel like this is my making of original music.

SFBG: I know that you’ve also remixed songs. Do you consider that a different kind of work?

GT: Yeah, and I’ve been kinda shying away from that. I started working with a friend of mine, named Frank Mussara, on a project called Trey Told 'Em and we did a few remixes together. Mainly, because when people ask me to do them as Girl Talk it kinda forces you to work within parameters you wouldn’t normally work within.

A lot of times they’ll ask you not to use samples, or they want it to sound like this or that, or you’ll give them something, and they’ll say, "I thought there was going to be more rap vocals on this," or "I thought it was going to be more uptempo" or whatever, which is cool, which is more like a collaboration, which is more like they’re paying you to do a job as opposed to making an art.

You know, with all of my albums, I’ve never had to change them in any way for anyone. I just produce them the way I want them to sound, and then the label puts it out. So kinda like dealing with that level of bullshit is not totally appealing to me. I understand other people doing it. I think it’s cool - it’s just that if I’m gonna do a remix I want to make it sound like what I want it to sound like. I hate for it to be like, "We’re going to pay you X amount of money and then you have to do this job for us." It just seems kinda foul.

SFBG: All of your work is done with technology that is pretty recent - 10 years ago this might not have been possible. What do you think about that?

GT: Yeah, it’s exciting to be trail-blazing in any way. I do think you could’ve done this prior to 10 years ago, but in just a very different fashion. It might have taken 10 times the amount of time, or something like that.

Some of my earlier work was heavily based on the processing of sounds and using computer programs to do that. But I think with the new stuff it’s really a cut-and-paste exercise. I like the simplicity of it. Where it’s like, if you could get your hands on these actual instrumental sources, and things like that, then technically in the '60s you could’ve done this - I’m kinda interested in that, too.

There’s a lot of new software and technology that comes out, and I’m usually not interested in that, actually. I’ve kinda found what I like to work with, and I’d like to stick with that. And probably because of that, there is going to be some young guy who is going to make way more amazing shit, exactly the way I’m doing, like next year, which I’m positive of, but I’ll just be happy in my ways, and I’ll be like 50 years old using the same piece of software from 1998.

SFBG: Do you have any predications for what’s next?

GT: I’m interested in someone making an album who has traditional musical training and can also do sample-based stuff. An album like Feed the Animals that is interspersed with original guitar work and singing and then just kinda blurs the line completely enough so that you wouldn’t really know when something is sampled and when something is not, even though it be like an Elton John piano part next to a guitar that sounds familiar but is actually just a riff referencing AC/DC or something like that.

I would love for someone to completely blur the lines, and score a number one hit where it’s based on a lot samples but there’s like a lot of original input, and really put it into perspective: how the similarities between using an instrument in your influences vs. using a sampler in your influences. They are relatively similar, but I don’t think people necessary see that though.

SFBG: I suggested before that I thought maybe your music couldn’t have been made 10 years ago, and I’ve thought a lot about how perhaps your music reflects how we experience the Internet, how we read these days, where we do jump from multiple thoughts. In a way that is different from the way my parents read. Do you think people are really drawn to your music because of that? That there is an overall statement that your music might be making about our times?

GT: Yeah, yeah, to a degree. I mean, it’s kinda like the lack of attention, but it kinda works in two ways 'cause you can view the music as something that’s like jumping, having multiple thoughts crammed in at once and jumping from thing to thing to thing to thing to thing, and it reflects having eight Internet browsers and your cable TV on and your cell phone and all of that.

But also with the albums - they are 50-minute pieces of music, and they’re intended to be listened to as one whole thing. So I am also aiming to create albums that these kids will actually sit down and listen to as a whole album, which is kinda rare. So I think it kinda works in both dimensions.

You'd think this stuff is such an overload of material that is edited so quickly. There’s more of an influence from my background in electronic music. I really like electronic music that is just blazing through a crazy solo on a guitar. On a computer, it’s like chopping up a beat so specifically, but it still flows. It’s kinda like that’s how you wail on the computer. So that’s kinda my influence going through.

I feel like I do have a good attention span and I don’t know if the music really reflects my listening habits in any way. But the way other people perceive it, I don’t really know. I could see that. I don’t know. I’m positive that people out there evaluate this music on completely different terms than those that I used to create it, so I could see that absolutely being a factor, and people used to being like go- go-go, and my music is kinda on that level.

SFBG: Who are your influences? I’ve noticed that your Allmusic page doesn’t list any influences, and maybe that is part of why it is harder to pin-point your music, because it hasn’t been done before.

GT: I feel like there have been so many predecessors, so many people doing amazing work way before me. First of all, everyone I sample I’m a big fan of, and those are all people that influenced my work. And then I grew up listening to a lot of hip-hop like Public Enemy, De La Soul, NWA, and all that music back then. When you heard Paul’s Boutique it was like a giant collage that cuts away, so I’m really into that stuff as well.

I kinda came from a more experimental realm like John Oswald and all of these people making far-out music based on samples, kinda pushing the boundaries of originality and copyright and all those things. Kid606, who is from San Francisco, is probably one of my biggest influences. I think when I got going kinda doing my own music, I was kinda doing it like in this style of the more underground, avant-garde guys, and I liked what they were doing. But I always wanted to push it in a more pop direction, which is where I think it has gone now.

SFBG: Well, I’ve heard about some of the first shows you would do, and how you’ve changed your style to be more concert-oriented, I guess, to be a large party. Can you tell me how you developed your concert style?

GT: Yeah, I think it’s kinda fallen back on theatrics a little bit - I say this as these guys are loading up these T-shirts with these things [glow sticks].

But I think back in the day it was never really a party. It was always a matter of presenting something that was very visually entertaining. I like the idea of me playing on a laptop but it being a very over-the-top concert. Putting on like a Michael Jackson-size spectacular. It was never anything near that, but I always had that in my mind. But we used to have like skits, outfit changes, and all sorts of different things like that. And I think as the music started to become more accessible and people started rolling out to the shows, I always liked framing it as a concert. That is where I’ve always felt comfortable.

That’s why I’ve always had bands who come and play with me. It’s not just like a DJ – it’s like here’s this act that does music and, here’s this act that does music, and then here’s Girl Talk who does music. So I kinda just stuck with that over the years, having a distinct beginning and ending and actually performing, getting into the crowd and getting people onstage. And I think as the music became more accepted I could rely less on like putting together a visual show and more on creating a party atmosphere.

I think some of my favorite shows were always like house parties where I just show up and play on the floor, and it’s like, why can’t this be like at the clubs, and that’s what I try and do now. But since the size of the shows has gone up a ton I’ve brought along some of my friends to do interesting things, and you know, if you have the resources you might as well take advantage of them.

SFBG: Who comes up with the different theatrics you do?

GT: These days it’s these two guys, Thu Tran and Kristov B, and then this all started at Lollapalooza this year. I went to a college right next to their college, the Cleveland Institute of Art. I went to Case Western, and so I’ve known them for a long time, and it was kinda like I knew we were going to play festivals. So I say, "What can we do to create a visually interesting show?" I wanted it to be like a party, but I don’t want it to be like a thing that is like you’re so blown away by the visuals that you’re standing. I still want you to be able to dance and they’ve kinda developed a lot of the ideas… like toilet paper guns.

I feel like the way we’re heading on this tour is just the best direction. It’s more or less creating the atmosphere for what is going to go down. I feel like the show would be similar whether or not this existed or not, but this is like the icing on the cake for me.

SFBG: If someone wanted to throw a party what advice would you give to them?

GT: I would say get a lot of alcohol. I would say get tons of drugs. I would say get lots of different age groups. I would say have as diverse a crew as possible. I’d say babies. If you have a party and there is a room with 10 babies, that’ll set it off. Everyone will love that forever.

And possibly a waterslide, maybe a Jacuzzi, maybe one basement with some fireworks or something like that. You know it depends on what you’re friends are into. I like to listen to older music, so I’d suggest throwing on some Kingsmen. Just fire it up Animal House style and do your thing.

SFBG: When you are performing live, what does then entail? What do you do?

GT: It’s a whole bunch of different loops. When a drum beat is going there could be like four distinct loops - there could be a hand clap, a kick drum. Like right now, we’re hearing this song. This could be a melody, vocals, different levels of beats, anytime you hear a change, that’s me moving from one piece to another, and then I usually prepare more material than I want to play.

So I kinda mix and match around. The general idea of this matching is that I like to have that set but the actual flow of it I like to improvise based on what’s going on. Yeah, certain nights sound really different. For some reason, last night, I played a very similar set to the rest of the tour, but it lasted 45 minutes longer. It’s just that certain nights it flows way different.

SFBG: Do you have a preference for smaller shows or bigger shows?

GT: I used to always want to play strictly as small as possible, to keep it as intimate as possible. But I think that I’ve kinda gotten over that, a little bit. As I’ve played so many festivals I’ve seen the value of a big show being kinda amazing. For me it used to always be about like everyone partying together, and that’s how I’d still like it to go now, but if more people come out, the more festive it can really be. I see value in both. Obviously I like playing for a small crowd, but if I play for 5,000 people it can be on a completely different level.

SFBG: When you’ve performed abroad have you found a different reception to your music?

GT: I know my push over in Europe just isn’t as big. People just aren’t as familiar there. So I don’t think it’s really a reflection of the music, or the performance, as much as it is a familiarity with what I’m doing. And also, this is just a theory of mine, but electronic music is more established over there, enough so that to be a DJ or to be a live electronic performer and to just be standing there, behind your equipment, is cool. Whereas, in the US, it’s not as widespread, so kinda what I’m doing, and what some of my contemporaries are doing, it’s almost like providing a solution for like the cliché of a stale electronic show.

I always try and get very physical, and get in the crowd, and I think over there it’s not as necessary 'cause they already have a formula that works. So when I get over there, and I get physical with the crowd, or start screaming on the microphone, people are just like, "What the hell is this guy doing? Why is he doing this? Why isn’t he just playing music and acting like a robot right now? Since that’s what we love in Europe."

So, yeah, there, that’s just kinda a theory, where it’s kinda like my style of performance is just a little bit more shocking there, even just for the dance world, ‘cause I know there is plenty of progressive crazy-ass sorts of things. But as far as the dance world, I think some of the festivals I’ve played over there, I don’t think people were really ever familiar with someone playing a computer and simultaneously trying to put on a show with it.

SFBG: You don’t think there might be a difference between people’s familiarity with the tracks you’re sourcing and sampling?

GT: Absolutely, but I mean most of the stuff I do is Top 40 music - a single over there may have gone to no. 30 on the chart whereas it may have gone to no. 5 over here. So different songs will get big over there. But a lot of the songs I reference are, like, worldwide, especially in Europe. But yeah, there are some different levels of familiarity - people understanding the songs in different ways.

I still feel like even tonight a lot of the younger audience - I will play a lot of the older music that I will be sampling - they probably haven’t heard a lot of the stuff. And it doesn’t really matter. I like to imagine that they’re thinking beyond that and thinking what am I gonna make out of it. So regardless of where the song comes from, whether I recognize it or not, it can be framed in a new way and it becomes a new form of music.

That is what I’m hoping for. I know the music is heavily dependent on people understanding it and referencing something from the past, but also ideally it’ll becomes transformative, so even if you’re not familiar with it you can still get down with it.

SFBG: Have any of the musicians you’ve sampled contacted you about your using their songs and given you either positive or negative responses?

GT: I haven’t heard anything negative. I had one of the ladies from Yo Majesty just hit me up on MySpace, just last week, and say that she liked how I used her track on the last album, and I’ve heard from a songwriter from Donnie Iris, Big Boi from OutKast, Sophie Hopkins' manager, everyone just kinda reached out and saying, "What’s up?" They are into it.

And I met Thurston Moore one time, and he didn’t know my stuff, but I told him what I do and he was like cool with it as a concept. So I think from a musician’s perspective, if you’re paying attention to music at all in 2008, you are probably very familiar with the idea that once you put something out there, it is going to be remixed. People are gonna make remixes for YouTube and make T-shirts with you on it and make collages of your face with the presidents. So I think for musicians and artists it is going to become very commonplace to have your work reinterpreted and sent back to you.

SFBG: How did you decide to make Feed the Animals a pay-what-you-like album?

GT: It was based on the Radiohead model, and the label that puts out my music threw that out there as an idea, and I thought it was cool. I thought it was kinda like, I know people can get it for free - why not acknowledge that. I try to be upfront. To be honest, right now I make a living off of touring - it’s not really from the album. So I wasn’t really concerned about the money.

I wanted to get it out there as quickly as possible and I knew the money could potentially be good, so it just seemed like a cool thing to do, and it seemed very appropriate for the times. This is my first album where people are actually like anticipating it and waiting on it, which I’ve never had. So, yeah, I knew people would be psyched to throw down a couple of dollars.

SFBG: Do you think it has any implications for future musicians?

GT: Nah, I think this is like a little temporary solution for 2008 for some bands. But I think if it became the norm everyone would get used to getting their music for free. So I think it couldn’t become the norm. I think the novelty of it right now is part of what makes it really successful. People are like, "Damn, Girl Talk is doing this new thing. I want to participate in it."

People get excited and say, "I paid you 12 dollars." They’ll send me a message. They’re excited to participate in this ‘cause it’s like a new thing, whereas if it was the standard no one would be like sending someone a message telling them how much they paid.

SFBG: One last question, you’ve said you like all pop music. Anything you don’t like? Anything you hate?

GT: I don’t like the song "Hotel California" by the Eagles. That’s the only one.

O, SF - as if you could ever stop rolling out the intriguing jamz. Here are a few more musical offerings that didn't make it into print.

LOS CENZONTLES
"The Mockingbirds" do it up in the Bay again - with Los Lobos' David Hidalgo - after flying through for Hardly Strictly Bluegrass. Wed/12, 8 and 10 p.m., $20-$30. Yoshi's, 510 Embarcadero W., Oakl. (510) 238-9200.

THE DUTCHESS AND THE DUKE
Heart-warming, retro-tinged folk-pop goodness straight from the Hardly Art imprint. With Spencey Dude and the Doodles, Greg Ashley, and Grampall Jookabox. Wed/12, 9 p.m., $8. Hemlock Tavern, 1131 Polk, SF. (415) 923-0923.


Mr. Big: Sean Smith in Big Sur.

SANDY OWEN, SPENCER OWEN, AND SEAN SMITH
Solo guitarist extraordinaire and Berkeley Guitar (Tompkins Square) producer Smith masterminded this dual-album release show for composer Sandy Owen's Alternating Hands: A New Approach to Playing Piano and Smith's own Eternal (Ultra Hard Gel/Gnome Life). Owen's son (and bedroom recordist) Spencer joins the two onstage. Fri/14, 8 p.m., $10-$12. La Pena Cultural Center, 3105 Shattuck, Berk. (510) 849-2568.

Give 'em the Nodzzz.

THE SPLINTERS AND NODZZZ
Lo-fi beat happenings courtesy of the Oakland-Berkeley all-girl group and the "I Don't Wanna (Smoke Marijuana)" garage stars. With Ty Segall and Pure Country Gold. Fri/14, 9:30 p.m., $6. Hemlock Tavern, 1131 Polk, SF. (415) 923-0923.

TUNE-YARDS
High and lonesome sounds for a digitized one-woman-band age. The Pop Montreal darling gets a hand from her Citay chums with a last-minute Amnesia show. With Citay and Bird by Snow. Sat/15, 8:30 p.m., call for price. Amnesia Bar, 853 Valencia, SF. (415) 970-0012. Also Sun/16, call for time and price. Edinburgh Castle, 950 Geary, SF. (415) 885-4074.

IMPOSSIBLE SHAPES
Get a whiff of Chris Barth’s tour poems. With Devon Williams and Campo Bravo. Sat/15, 9:30 p.m., $8. Hemlock Tavern, 1131 Polk, SF. (415) 923-0923.

USHER
Are they enforcing the "Ladies Only" part of the tour? Usher talks maturity in this clip about the making of his latest. Tues/18, 8 p.m., $61-$71. Warfield, 982 Market, SF. www.goldenvoice.com

WEASEL WALTER CLARINET CHOIR
The ever-exploratory ex-Flying Luttenbacher joins forces with Ava Mendoza, Simon Rose, Jen Baker, and Alex Vittem. With Pink Canoes. Tues/18, 9 p.m. doors, free. Uptown Night Club, 1928 Telegraph, Oakl. (510) 451-8100.

Dead Man
Euphoria
(Crusher)

By Will York

The second album by Swedish quartet Dead Man, **Euphoria,** is an unapologetic throwback to the turn of the 1970s - specifically, the transition from ‘60s folk- and psyche-rock to the more sinister hard-rock and proto-metal sounds that would follow. Most of the album is poised right on that brink, and its 11 songs bring to mind everything from early Pink Floyd and Donovan (in his more tolerable moments) to Peter Frampton-era Humble Pie to the softer side of Led Zep or Black Sabbath (think “Planet Caravan”). Impressively, they do so without making me feel like I need to check myself into rehab.

Yes, you can almost smell your burnout uncle’s musty LP collection while listening to this disc, but the songwriting and arrangements are really well done, and the headphone-ready production captures it all with a warmth that’s increasingly rare in this era of Pro Tools.

Highlights include the chipper, Celtic-tinged “I Must Be Blind” and the darker “High or Low,” which recalls Sabbath worshippers Pentagram. There are a couple of eight-minute odysseys that veer into prog- or jazz-rock territory - without going fully off the deep end - as well as a few flute sightings and even some nice mandolin and violin work.

This band covers a lot of bases, but they do so without sounding like pastiche artists or smug record collectors. Best of all, they capture the sense of possibility and exploration that marked the best music from this era - occasional iffy taste be damned - rather than merely churning out a slick caricature of it.

This is in from Merle Haggard's people:

"Merle Haggard arrived home five days after having lung surgery in a Bakersfield hospital last Monday morning, Nov. 3. It was discovered during a previous biopsy that he had non-small cell lung cancer, which has a far better cure rate than the small (oat) cell cancer. At this time, tests show that they were able to eliminate the affected tissue when they removed the upper lobe of his right lung. Upon waking up after the surgery, Hag opened his eyes, yodeled and smiled. Haggard’s post-operation progress was so rapid and successful he was discharged on Saturday night, Nov. 8.

“'Due to the surgeon, Dr. Peck, the Tylenol pushers on the fourth floor of the Memorial Hospital, and most of all, my wife Theresa, I’m feeling good…better and better each day,' says Haggard. 'If not for the love and wisdom of my wife, I might not be around today.'

"Haggard adds, 'I’d sure like to know who controls the largest shares of Tylenol. God forbid it be the oil companies!'

"Mr. Haggard and his family are respectfully asking for privacy at this time. Your prayers and good thoughts would be very much appreciated."

To get us going, here's the brand-spankin'-new vid for "Tweaker Bitch" by SF's very own rockin' crazies Mon Cousin Belge (one of our 2008 Hot Pink List queers we love). Tweak it, Tina!

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All aboard for Booty

What's better than a club hosted by wild personalities that drags you into a phenomenally, artistically decorated back room to snap your photo? One that comes out with it's own freakin' calendar. Yes, I'm talking about Booty Call, Juanita More and Joshua J.'s packed weekly Wednesday night affair at the haplessly-named Bar on Castro.

This Wednesday is Booty Call's first anniversary, and they've just released their 2009 calendar, featuring hot More Boys (and one girl) photographed by the ever-cute Brandon Norris, which you can purchase here.

Booty Call Wednesdays
9pm, free
Bar on Castro
456 Castro, SF.

But wait -- there's more!

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B*tchin'

That wily queena of the night, Monistat, has a little Beyonce bee in her bitty bonnet for the latest installment of her monthly B*tch party this Thursday, Nov. 13, at Vertigo. Of course nothing can top this:

Or maybe not? Be Beyonce at B*tch, perhaps performing something from her bidet, and you can win ... er.... something. The joy is in the competition. Life's a journey.

B*tch
Thu/13, 9pm, free
Vertigo
1160 Polk, SF