Under the Stars is a quasi-weekly column that presents new music releases and a number of other adjacent items. Let’s get it!
LIKE A ROLLING STONE: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF BEN FONG-TORRES AT GREAT STAR THEATER, SAT/30
On October 7, 2009, I went to (RIP) The Booksmith on Haight Street to hear Ben Fong-Torres talk about the early days of Rolling Stone magazine. Before we get into that, let me just say, I got to see Andy Summer from The Police speak at The Booksmith as well when he was promoting his One Train Later book sometime in the aughts. As a Police fan from my teens, but also pretty knowledgeable on how that group functioned, I took pride in the fact that I was able to get Sumner to say something like, “I’m not saying Sting was a prick, but he was a controlling,” and then there was an M and F in there. So I knew going into The Booksmith that it was a place where music folks who wrote books get comfy and go in. Far in. OK.
What struck me immediately about Ben Fong-Torres was his honesty. He was a straight shooter and 100 percent honest about how the start of Rolling Stone Magazine was a fly-by-the-seat-of-their-pants kind of operation. He confessed they had no idea what they were doing.
For me — and I can’t speak for you, but for a Black Man in America—to hear about an American-born, San Francisco-raised son of Chinese immigrants become Rolling Stone’s first music editor, covering ALL of that late ’60s, early ’70s canonized music? It really hit me, made such an impression on me. Gave a dude hope.
Suzanne Joe Kai’s documentary on Ben Fong-Torres seems like the proper documentation a trailblazer of his stature deserves.
Purchase tickets here.
A BEAT HAPPENING
As podcasts start to become the norm, kinda like print newspapers once were, it’s sometimes difficult to find that one that caters to “beat culture.” That is, until now.
A Beat Happening, the podcast hosted by journalist Laurent Fintoni and producer and DJ Kutmah has moved into that space with ease and flair. The interview-based show about beat culture past, present, and future has in a very short time featured mindful talks with the likes of Alexander Nut, Suzi Analogue, and recently a two-part chat with our friend, the multi-talented Pursuit Grooves. As I’ve interviewed Vanese Smith now and again, I’ve got to some things about her background. But nothing close to what Fintoni and DJ Kutmah get into.
Listen, if you are one of those people who are always curious about what beatmakers listen to (like me), this podcast—especially the Pursuit Grooves two-part session—is your new audio home.
Glad I could assist.
Check it out here.
ATHENS OF THE NORTH BEAT TAPE
Edinburgh’s reissue label Athens Of The North has brought continued heat to the seven-inch release game.
Funk, soul, disco, boogie, Brazillian—if it’s got that THANG you get can’t get out of your ear, this label is probably all over it. To make things even more complex and extra dope Athens of the North done released its first-ever beat tape. Produced and masterfully sorted by Scottish beatmaker and hip-hop producer Jaisu—who has been a friend of the label for a second—it is that perfect match that you already heard in your head when I said the label’s name and “beat-tape.” Jaisu put together this project in his studio in Niddrie (a Melbourne suburb) from beats previously released by Athens. You know the source material is fresh.
But the beats, oh my gush. There is a deepness, soulfulness, a care for the sound that runs throughout this project. Twisted, blunted-sideways-type of fonk that keeps exploring the space and time-stretching all at once.
These are the elements that sometimes go missing these days with inferior production. But this right here is a beat-tape project, with a capital B. Its spirit is ensconced in those dusty soul samples, and that lo-fi essence gives an extra special mysterious blessing to the final product. We can’t wait for the next.
KUDOS!
Purchase here.
BJÖRK’S RECENT INTERVIEW WITH SWEDISH MEDIA OUTLET RÚV
This upcoming statement is for all those who still don’t understand the impact Björk has made on culture for more than a quarter of a century. It takes a BOSS, to make those BOSS moves. Now, here is why I said that. In a new interview with Icelandic broadcaster RÚV, Bjork shares that her upcoming album will facilitate people “making clubs in their living room.”
Do you want more? She describes the record as “a man who was headbanging, then sat down again and had another glass of red wine, and everyone is home by 10 o’clock, done with the dancing and everything”.
The majority of the album’s songs are around 80-90 beats per minute, which is the pace Björk walks at. Now, if you still don’t like Björk, I’m sorry, you probably need to start micro-dosing to get that old feeling again.
Check the original interview in Swedish here.
COLDWAVE NIGHT AT GREAT AMERICAN MUSIC HALL, NOVEMBER 18
The easiest way to describe coldwave is to think of punk, with a depressed groove. It’s a genre that rose in popularity in the late ‘70s and early ’80s, when affordable mobile synthesizers such as the Korg MS-20 became accessible to the general public. We’re talking thrift-store-accessible, people.
One of the contemporary champions of this prickly cool and fetching music is Chris Stewart, who performs and records under the name Black Marble. A one-man unit, with synths and drum machines in the studio, who rounds up a band for tours, his recent Fast Idol project (Black Marble’s fourth full-release) gets right to the business of what this music is.
“Bodies,” the second track from the album, allows Stewart to remain locked in, using those retro and cantankerous beeps and blips as it grooves away, speaking of a relationship that’s on the outs. Mopey, catchy, and hook-y, never has the end of something sounded so much like a start.
San Francisco coldwave band Cold Beat will open for Black Marble. The band’s recent album War Garden, written and recorded over Zoom, was described by Bandcamp Daily as “an early pandemic album that feels like a post-pandemic one beamed from a strange and not-too-distant future.”
If you thrive on listening to ghosts in the machine, this is indeed your night.
It’s a sold-out show. Time to get “San Francisco crafty.”
TREES SPEAK — VERTIGO OF FLAWS (Soul Jazz Records)
Tucson band Trees Speak pulls inspiration from all the freaky tones and vibrations you think of when reflecting on 1970s experimental music. Were talking krautrock, synth drone, soundtrack/library music, and out-there fusion compositions that harken back to German composer Karlheinz Stockhausen.
The band has a new album titled Vertigo of Flaws being released by Soul Jazz Records this November 26. It features contributions from Gabriel Sullivan, Ben Nisbet, Saul Millan, Stephani Guilmette, and Davis Jones.
Pre-order here.
