Hey….It’s Under The Stars, babe: a quasi-weekly column that presents new music releases, upcoming shows, opinions, and other adjacent items. We keep moving with the changes and thinking outside the margins.
Let’s get it!
FLOATING POINTS, CASCADE (NINJA TUNE)
There is a term (Oliver Stone made it into a movie) that describes American football. “Any Given Sunday” infers that anybody can either become invincible or be humbled on the seventh day of the week.
The past decade for Sam Shepherd, aka Floating Points, has kind of held that credo. Listen, I used to purchase all those early 12-inches because they were dope; they sounded like a new voice looking to liberate the bloated, banger-friendly electronic music space. We, brothers armed with vinyl, as a collective DJ community in the Bay Area, would marvel at the pitched-down grooviness of “Vacuum Boogie” that easily owned any type of sunrise on a dancefloor slot.
The sneaky optimism in the twinkling “Myrtle Ave,” which I’ve heard from my DJ-touring friends, is an anthem of sorts in certain parts of Brooklyn to this day. Or the stepper brawny swag of “K&G Beat” that just goes off on the balcony of Jupiter in Berkeley, as my man DJ Delon would say, “Okay, Mang, who is this again?” Many moments with the earlier catalog, but moving forward is where that Gil Scott-Heron vocal clip “White Man Got a God Complex” starts to swirl around in my brain and explain the second part of Mr. Shepherd’s career.
After conquering the dance-music era genre for a spell—his 6-hour mixes from the defunct party Plastic People are still epic for the deep jazz dancefloor pieces he weaves in and out of—he dallies with making jazz, psychedelic electronic music, ambient arrangements, esoteric ballet scores…. He likes to dabble. That’s cool.
Then somehow he convinces the out jazz God warrior—Pharoah Sanders—to record with him, which turns out to be Sanders’ last moments recorded before he passed.
That’s my line in the sand.
If anybody should have done a last album with Sanders, how about a person of color from, umm, I dunno, maybe? Detroit. Chicago. Oakland. Brooklyn. LA—you see where I’m going here, right? But no, wonder bread, excuse me, the wonder boy got those last stolen moments with the genius.
So Cascade becomes Shepherd’s return to dance music, and it’s designed for a bigger crowd, a larger space. He’s evolved like he’s supposed to, but certain elements here sound like the bloated electronic music space he was liberating 10 years ago. Or maybe the entire scene has caught up while he was building sound systems and venturing into all these other realms of music because he gets the pass to do so.
When Cascade is cooking Sam’s meal, it serves. The sing-song melodies messing with tonality on “Del Oro” do feel Sam-ish, and the truly epic track in the pack “Affleck’s Paradise” sees the maestro get into acid, freestyle, breakbeat intensity that does call on the interstellar color-coded systems that alien forms communicate with—it’s the most original thing Shepherd has written in years.
But from all the across-the-board “kiss the rings” reviews Cascade has received, Floating Points can’t fail, right?
DJ TONY HUMPHRIES AT THE GOLDEN GATE PARK BANDSHELL, OCTOBER 26
In 2016, Tony Humphries told The Guardian about an obscure Bohannon cut, called “Andrea” that he would like played at his funeral. That’s kinda dark. Listen, we don’t want this cultural institution to go anywhere, anytime.
But the selection, a deep crate dart for sure, speaks to his genius and what has kept him in high regard for over 40 years as a DJ and a mastermix intellect. The track is unclouded, jazzy, musical, and still funky with grit; that’s succinctly Humphries.
The Brooklyn-born DJ ran into Mastermixer Shep Pettibone of KISS FM New York fame, handed him a tape at the offices of Prelude Records decades ago, and soon after was on said famed radio station in 1981 soundtracking the airwaves of The Big Apple. Those disco/boogie mixes became bootlegged cassettes that circulated the world, pre-internet. You can still hear those set lists at any, now-in-retro-vogue, boogie party in 2024.
The same Humphries built out the reputation and sound of the vaulted Club Zanzibar in Newark, New Jersey by adding non-club ideas, such as Talking Heads and B-52’s records to the predominantly house music playlist to present a full spectrum of frequency.
So when Humphries gets behind the decks at Golden Gate Park Bandshell on Saturday, October 26, 3pm-7pm, for free, you can expect that roving ear and eclectic touch, intercutting between standards and obscure tracks of the now, moving bodies in mass, giving an official blessing to San Francisco’s comeback season!
‘A STAR IS BORN’ AT FOUR STAR CINEMA, OCTOBER 14
Before Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper poured their hearts and souls into the 2018 musical-romance “A Star Is Born,” it was Barbra Streisand and the Rhodes Scholar from Oxford University—and as some referred to him, the conscience of Hollywood—the late Kris Kristofferson, who took the lead in the 1976 version.
When it plays at the Four Star Cinema, as part of the Fall at The Filmore celebration, one dollar from each ticket sold will benefit the Bill Graham Memorial Foundation which administers grants to support projects in Northern CA focusing on music, the arts, and education, as well as social work, and environmental protection. The Foundation also organizes education and outreach programs, exhibitions, events, and projects in like areas that carry Bill Graham’s life story forward and keep his spirit of philanthropy alive.
Experience the thrill of a captivating movie with a groovy retro font and the satisfaction of supporting a great cause.
Grab tickets here.
2ND ANNUAL HISTORY OF THE BAY DAY
Join in celebrating Bay Area hip-hop culture at the 2nd annual History of the Bay Day, organized by rapper and graffiti artist Dregs One. Immerse yourself in the Bay’s rich legacy and lasting impact, as live performances from Souls of Mischief, Mob Figaz, and Kamaiyah and special events showcase the pivotal and pioneering contributions of these artists and visionaries, who continue to shape the Bay’s unique identity. This event is not simply a local concert; it features live performances, a discussion panel on women in hip-hop moderated by Nastia Voynovskaya from KQED, who is one of the leading writers covering hip-hop in the Bay Area, as well as discussions, special exhibits, vendors, and much more.
More info here.
“DREAMIN’ WILD” WITH DONNIE EMERSON AND NANCY SOPHIA LIVE AT FOUR STAR THEATER, OCTOBER 15
Seattle’s renowned label Light in the Attic announced Donnie Emerson’s highly-anticipated first West Coast Tour alongside Nancy Sophia. Riding high on the success of celebrated biopic “Dreamin’ Wild” Emerson is set to grace The Four Star Theater stage on October 15. Prepare to be captivated by fan favorites from Donnie and Joe Emerson’s timeless album “Dreamin’ Wild” (1979), including the chart-topping sensation “Baby,” which caused quite a stir at the Noise Pop screening in SF.
“Dreamin’ Wild” offers an intimate glimpse into the extraordinary journey of brothers Donnie & Joe Emerson, whose youthful aspirations of rock stardom materialized three decades later. The star-studded film featured Casey Affleck, Zooey Deschanel, Walton Goggins, Chris Messina, Noah Jupe, Jack Dylan Grazer, and Beau Bridges.
But this live show, sure to be special, is a real one-time event you can’t afford to miss.
Grab tix here.
LYRICS BORN, SWEETWATER MUSIC HALL, THU/10
The path to becoming a Bay Area legend involves positioning your talent, your brand, and your cultural imprint as undeniable but still wanted. If you follow 48hills’ fantastic food writer and music book author—I call her the Big Homie for the numerous times she’s given sage advice and insight—Tamara Palmer, you’d know that the man born Tom Shimura, aka Lyrics Born, stays on his grind going into decade number three as a visionary and performer. He’s a vaulted emcee who does food. Well.
I caught Lyrics Born at THEE first Outside Lands, where he was going into his signature cut “Callin’ Out,” just as the headliner Radiohead was getting ready to begin their epic set. I stayed with Lyrics Born for as long as I could because he was determined and driven to deliver his signature song no matter who was going on for their headlining set. Much respect.
Catch a full show at Sweetwater. Grab tickets here.
LARA DOWNES, THIS LAND
If you are looking for an inside pathway to describe the American experience, music remains that narrative. It speaks without words.
That’s what’s happening on the wonderful “Rhapsody in Blue Reimagined” from the stellar This Land release from NPR’s own Lara Downes, who hosts the show AMPLIFY and collaborates with local ensembles San Francisco Conservatory of Music Orchestra or SFCM Orchestra and the SF Ballet Orchestra. The George Gershwin standard gets punched up from Downes and Edmar Colon to speak a 21st Century rhythm accented by sambas, tangos, and stepping intensity that meets swiftness; it’s a telling reimagination of the classic, a well-needed update written by other communities, not just the Anglocentric, who too believe in the American dream and step to it with a different timbre of hopefulness. It’s beautiful.
Purchase This Land here.
