I was texting a couple of weeks back with the “Snark Gawd,” who is Adrian Spinelli, one of my favorite writers, columnists, and shit-talkers in The Bay. We were discussing how the new Ty Segall release, Three Bells, slated to drop next Friday, on the Drag City imprint, feels like it’s a heater. Mid-tempo sparks and back-beat indentation had just settled from the ripper of a single “My Room”—exceptional, high-quality rock and roll.
And then this fool Segall, who attended the University of San Francisco where he received a degree in Media Studies, drops the visual for the boogie-rawk-bump of “My Best Friend” a tribute to his loyal companions, Fanny and Herman, who just wag and lick with a cuteness that’s beyond real.
Filmed and directed by Ty, shot in pure doggie-vision, it’s an unexpectedly cute missive that reframes how you take in the encyclopedic assortment of tracks and production zeal, Ty’s working with. This is a first-quarter release, but it’s another advancement in a pretty singular body of work.
Knowing Segall, he’s probably slated to release three more records, shoot a black and white film, and write, produce, and star in a little one-act, way off-Broadway play.
Much like his cosmic brother Jon Dwyer, he simply can’t sit still.
But I’ll take the talent every time.
Make space for Three Bells and catch him at Great American Music Hall on February 20 and 21.
But in the meantime…
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.
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Let’s Go!
OK, Bay Area. The Mill Valley Music Festival is about to run it all back this Spring. Festival organizers Noise Pop announced this morning that indie-folk band Fleet Foxes, Grammy-nominated, and modern-day pluckers Greensky Bluegrass will headline the festival on Saturday and Sunday, May 11-12.
Performances will take place at Friends Field for the third year in a row, and two-day GA and VIP passes are now available for purchase here.
Soul-filled, San Diego trio Thee Sacred Soul from the vaunted Daptone family imprint, will also perform this May, alongside country singer-songwriter dynamo Margo Price and the eight-piece rock-and-soul band St. Paul & The Broken Bones.
Somehow this independently produced multi-music genre family event keeps expanding the brand year after year.
NorCal natives and acclaimed singer-songwriters Elliott Peck and Eric Lindell will touch down for hometown performances, alongside other festival performers: Eric D. Johnson’s indie rock project Fruit Bats, funk icons Rebirth Brass Band, and public defender-turned-R&B songstress Danielle Ponder.
It’s an impressive roster of performers that festival organizers hope shall improve on the successful Year 2 numbers that boasted 10,000+ total patrons, 20+ music acts, and 50+ local businesses.
JAMILA WOODS, FEBRUARY 4 AT AUGUST HALL
Jamila Woods creates meaningful records. Nothing superficial about this impressive educator, poet, singer-songwriter, and community organizer from Chicago. In her album Water Made Us, released last year and highly regarded by critics, Woods focused on introspection. She shed light on her personal experiences, including career successes and relationship struggles, and explored what a healthy partnership should entail. This exploration of intimate sustainability, encompassing both positive and negative aspects, was accompanied by a blend of earthy acoustic folk, melantronica, and soulful dream pop. It all flows smoothly, maintaining groove, and goes beyond the trope “relationships require hard work,” delving into the complex intricacies of navigating the love space.
This Chicago represent show is bound to be truly remarkable, with Kara Jackson opening in support. (Her album also received many end-of-the-year props from critics, too).
Grab tickets here.
RAY BARRETTO, INDESTRUCTIBLE (CRAFT LATINO)
It was a major flex in the ’70s to wear a Superman T-shirt on the cover of your album.
Barbara Streisand wore one on her Superman album from 77.
It fit.
But in the case of Ray Barretto, the context is a bit different.
As I’ve mentioned here before in this little column we call Under The Stars (thanks for your patronage all these years we appreciate it), if you lived in NYC, especially Brooklyn in the ’70s, along with disco, proto hip-hop, freestyle, and post-punk: Fania Records, the New York–based imprint founded by Dominican-born composer and bandleader Johnny Pacheco, had salsa pumping throughout the city, especially on subway platforms from those pesky boom boxes.
As it’s been stated before, correctly, just as Chess Records is synonymous with the blues, Motown with soul, and Blue Note with jazz, New York’s Fania Records is heavily responsible for making the sound of Latin American salsa music a global phenomenon.
Legendary conguero and bandleader, Ray Barretto, an all-around salsa icon, who came up in Brooklyn, played alongside such jazz greats as Wes Montgomery, Cal Tjader, Kenny Burrell, and Dizzy Gillespie.
His Ray Barretto Orchestra—which featured vocalist Adalberto Santiago, timbalero Orestes Vilato, and bongosero Johnny Rodríguez among others, after five years and eight albums together (including 1968’s Acid, 1971’s The Message, and 1972’s Que Viva la Música)—left him to form Típica 73.
The action put Barretto back for a split. But much like James Brown, who had to flush his band a couple of times (James wasn’t paying cats in most cases), Barretto returned.
Released in 1973, the aptly-titled Indestructible celebrates Barretto’s reenergized homecoming by tweaking the genre with new ideas. His use of three trumpets and a flute was a first in salsa, plus nouveau and intricate rhythm changes, and plenty of tightly-knit improvisations made Indestructible arguably his greatest album.
You can purchase the 50th Anniversary Reissue here.
GUICHON, “FUNKY AI (FARSIGHT REMIX)” FROM PIANO BROS (MAXIMUM AIRTIME)
Brought up in the South Bay and currently based in San Francisco, DJ-producer-painter Farsight, aka Marshall Smith, spoke with us a couple of years ago about their fondness for UK bruk, Jersey and Baltimore club, and getting inspiration from Bay Area producers Chrissy, Bored Lord, Bastiengoat, and many others.
“Funky AI” (Farsight Remix) off the latest EP from Tokyo’s Guichon, Piano Bros, is that chopped, warbled, stabbing chords goodness that many attempt, but few execute. Steppy UK Garage, getting you chuffed for the new year, is the proper step from our producer.
Grab here.
TUTUPATU, “TANGERINA” FROM IV (BROKEN CLOVER RECORDS)
Madrid, Spain-based psych-Krautrock outfit TUTUPATU is the next band up for SF indie label Broken Clover Records. Sure to blow minds and win hearts, the five-track album IV, out on Valentine’s Day this year, employs those post-punk aesthetics by shuttering arrangements to the brink of ambient, noise, and out-jazz territories. If you didn’t catch the wayward fumes of “Puma,” from BCR CLIPPINGS #1 late last year, then be ready for this. Founding band members Tomas Garrido, Matías Tangerina, and Olivares sequestered securely in an underground location in Madrid, where they set up a private recording studio and locked themselves in for a 72-hour recording session that yielded 32 tracks. This promises to be dangerous.
G’wan Huckleberry, add this to your musical dance card.
Pre-order here.
