Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Kreayshawn's Latest Exploit: "Murder"
Media / Bay Area Bands Rachel Swan — Tue, May 15, 2012 at 11:44 AM
Surely you're wondering what Oakland expat Kreayshawn is up to these days, lest she risk ceding the throne to a rival mistress of swag. If the emcee has her way, that won't happen any time soon. Kreayshawn has made a new song to supplant the "Gucci Gucci" anthem for which she is best known. This time, she's traded the Minnie Mouse ears for a vampy femme fatale outfit, designed to fit the dark palette of "Murder," her new collaboration with Georgia rapper 2 Chainz. Set in a dungeon with candelabras and taxidermied animals, it borrows a couple motifs from the opening credits of Dexter (including the trickle of blood from a shaving mishap), but ups the ante by having both rappers dine on giant platters of meat — apparently the spoils of a recent slaughter. We found it a little unsettling, though Kreayshawn's rap skills have clearly improved. You be the judge:
Friday, May 11, 2012
Etiquette Lessons from Ron Kristophone: Goin' Verde
Ryan Christopher Parks — Fri, May 11, 2012 at 5:30 PM
Hi Ron! :OP
My boss is turning 75 like a baws! He drink wines I could never afford and has eaten delicacys I am legally not allowed to know about at my income level. What should I bring him for his birthday din-din (on the water in Tiburon)?
— David
Oakland's 6th Annual Indie Awards Augur a Small, Lean, Local Future
Just-Announced Shows Rachel Swan — Fri, May 11, 2012 at 9:48 AM
Not only is "local" the new black; it's also the dominant paradigm for progressive business movements. And it's particularly important in Oakland, where growth happens organically, and the economy hinges on small independent businesses. A panoply have sprung up in recent years, and they've all but transformed the city's once-sterile downtown. Walk down Broadway these days and you'll find a retail corridor dotted with artisan clothing boutiques, mom-and-pop restaurants, educational sex toy shops, and small breweries. If you remember the scene as recently as ten years ago, it's just mind-blowing.
- Oakland Unwrapped
- Oakland Indie Awards 2011 Marquee
Weekender: This Weekend's Top Five Events
Fri, May 11, 2012 at 5:26 AM
We know you're still doing the happy dance over Obeezy's big coming out, but it's time to ficus on important stuff, like chocolate and drinking outside. Herewith, our critics' best bets for the following 72 hours:
Skins & Needles
The title of this event is a wincing lesson in bad marketing, but the musicians behind it are no joke. DJ Zeph has been a fixture in the local hip-hop scene for more than a decade, best known for his collaborations with the vastly unheralded emcee Azeem. (Their 2007 Om Records collaboration, Rise Up, is still a knock, five years later.) Drummer Max MacVeety is equally respected, both for his Berklee College of Music credentials and for his work with the hip-hop band Crown City Rockers. In fact, both of these artists have an enviable talent for flitting between the jazz, soul, and hip-hop worlds. In Zeph's case, that amounts to having ample knowledge of several different genres, and a penchant for blending them — he does that with alacrity in "Floorwax," a disco track sutured to a looped backbeat. (It's enhanced by verses from Crown City rapper Raashan Ahmad.) Similarly, MacVeety improvises with free-jazz saxophonist David Boyce just as easily as he pumps the snare and high-hat for underground rappers. Together, these two percussionists make a formidable, if unorthodox, combination. They'll play with the Afrofunk Experience at Vitus (201 Broadway, Oakland) on Saturday, May 12. 10 p.m., $5. VitusOakland.com — Rachel Swan
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Photos: Meshuggah at The Fillmore, 5/6
Pics and Video Kathleen Richards — Tue, May 8, 2012 at 12:11 PM
Note: I have never claimed to be the world's greatest concert photographer. Or a concert photographer — period. Nonetheless, here are pics from Sunday night's Meshuggah show at The Fillmore. Rather than battling the other photogs (and those ubiquitous crowd-surfers) in the photo pit, I chose a higher, safer vantage point. So yes, they're all from the same angle. But hey, cool lighting!
Friday, May 4, 2012
Weekender: This Weekend's Top Five Events
Rachel Swan — Fri, May 4, 2012 at 11:03 AM
Well, it's been a momentous week, guys. We saw the resurgence of Occupy, the unveiling of Cal's coolest-ever dorm room, and some ardent bike boostership. If you're not planning to spend the weekend watching the much-hyped welterweight showdown at MGM Grand, then here are a few other ways to fritter away your time:
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Party in Derek's Room, Guys
People Rachel Swan — Thu, May 3, 2012 at 4:09 PM
Never underestimate the brain power of UC Berkeley's undergraduate class, or the size of its ambitions. Case in point: freshman Derek Low, who got his first star turn in the blogosphere after transforming his dorm room into the ultimate party pad. No, really. Low, who clearly has a bright future in the tech industry should he choose to go that route, has tricked out his room with motion detectors that part the curtains as soon as he walks in; lamps that operate via wireless remote; appliances that respond to voice commands for "sleep mode," "party mode," and "romantic mode"; and even a voice-operated disco ball. The room, appropriately rechristened "Berkeley Ridiculously Automated Dorm" (or BRAD), even garnered accolades from culture blogger Angry Asian Man. Check it out:
"Quiet Storm" Brand May Dissolve in Wake of KBLX Sale
Media Rachel Swan — Thu, May 3, 2012 at 10:33 AM
Perhaps the most conspicuous change at beloved local R&B station KBLX is the absence of morning show host Kevin Brown — aka "Your Cousin Kev" — who also served as the station's program director. That, and station announcements touting "the new KBLX" clued most listeners into another tectonic shift in terrestrial radio. For months, rumors about a possible change in ownership had burbled throughout the blogosphere, and a few weeks ago they were confirmed. KBLX, one of the only black-owned commercial radio stations left in the nation, had indeed been sold to Entercom, a Pennsylvania-based broadcast conglomerate that operates more than a hundred stations in markets throughout the US, vying with three other kingpins (Clear Channel, Cumulus, and Citadel) for control of an increasingly narrow constricted FM radio domain.
Monday, April 30, 2012
Members of Morning Benders Veer into Lascivious R&B — Irony Suspected
MP3s and Song Samples Rachel Swan — Mon, Apr 30, 2012 at 10:52 AM
In the past week we've seen a weird spate of surprise career moves in the music business — most people thought the coup de grace was Brian McKnight's new "Adult Mix Tape," in which the renowned crooner used his soulful pipes for secular purposes. (Not kidding — "If You're Ready to Learn" might tackle "other sexual type things," but the chord changes are poached straight from gospel.) Slightly less shocking, but equally fascinating, is the latest single from POP ETC, the Berkeley-born, Brooklyn-based indie band formerly known as The Morning Benders. It's an Auto-Tune-sluiced, cleanly-produced, snare-and-clap-clap R&B track with lyrics about a one night stand.
Friday, April 27, 2012
New Philanthropic Initiative Brings Musical Theater to West Oakland
Just-Announced Shows Rachel Swan — Fri, Apr 27, 2012 at 11:03 AM
Undeterred by an initial fall in ratings, and skepticism over whether a show about backstage pratfalls in musical theater can really make a viable prime time soap opera, producers at NBC have launched an aggressive promotional campaign for the new show, Smash — and now it includes a philanthropic component. NBC recently teamed up with the New York-based theater education company iTheatrics to launch a new program that would bring musical theater to underprivileged schools. The two companies will help bankroll musical theater programs at 20 schools in 20 US cities, including West Oakland, where they've mounted this weekend's production of Annie Jr. at West Oakland Middle School (991 14th St., Oakland).
