Ep 294: Hits of the Bay 2023 pt 2

Playlist

1. 0′27″ Gogo Boots 9AM by Now on And Blue Space is Burning Noon (Sloth Mate Productions) Info

   Local The opening guitar shape leaps off the coast with the insouciant glam attitude of the bay’s coolest kids.

2. 5′49″ П​Р​И​Ш​Л​И С​Н​Ы by MOEBAR HAYES (self released) Info

   Local The nocturnal beat journey of the year, time to work on your street strut.

3. 8′31″ Holdin' On by Anna Hillburg on Tired Girls (Speakeasy Studios) Info

   Local Just walking up to strangers and asking "have you heard the new Hillburg??” I am grateful for this song for telling how how tight I've holding on.

4. 13′24″ Girl from Ghost Town by Brontez Purnell on No Jack Swing (Dark Entries) Info

   Local Brontez sets down the guitar and drums and brightens the corners with horn samples and voicemail and what do you know, the rhythm remains tight, the charm irresistable, and the paradox (“ghosting is a clear form of communication”) tres alluring.

5. 16′12″ Birds by Figure Eight on You Cry for Eternity (Cherub Dream) Info

   Local From the Bay’s best new band, here the massive onslaught of their biggest tunes is rationed one at time, training wheels for pedaling in your well-gazed shoes.

6. 19′53″ Weird Sisters by The Telephone Numbers (Meritorio) Info

   Local The stirring stringed instrumentation recalls the breathless romanticism of Echo & the Bunnymen’s Ocean Rain, the lyrics bear open the heart, shake loose the delusions.

7. 22′57″ Soft Altar by Aux Meadows on Dust Kingdom (Perpetual Doom) Info

   Local Friendly fellows of time and space need but ninety seconds to send this wisened acoustic smoke signal rising above the horizontal field, fading like quiet fireworks in the distance.

8. 25′13″ Backwards Forever by Whitney's Playland on Sunset Sea Breeze (Paisley Shirt/ Meritorio) Info

   Local All the musical parts fit like longtime kin, the lyrical sentiments are so kind (“only a minute/or over a minute”), and the advice so good: “don’t take yourself so seriously.”

9. 27′40″ 4lilmonkeys by Mox on Heart (self released) Info

   Local The beat lands with hypnotic whizz, then the meme vocal laces the track before giving way to the unadulteratedly sincere voice of Merced’s own.

10. 29′12″ dead end by MUFFLER on time has taken everything I know (self released) Info

    Local That screaming you hear is part of the song, it's not just in your head.

11. 34′04″ Residue by Public Interest on Spiritual Pollution (Erste Theke Tontraeger) Info

    Local A moonlight tour finds a city changed, your neighbor terrible, your will surging as the drums accelerate.

12. 37′18″ Places that You Go by AroMa on Symphony No Harmony (Good4U) Info

    Local AroMa’s mellifluous voicings ride a powerful rhythmic tension between trust and individual need in a relationship.

13. 40′48″ Beginning to Begun by Spiral Dub on Spiral Dub (Sanctuary Moon) Info

    Local This record is a lot of party, but it's this last-call ballad that gets me most, heralding the dawn reckoning to come.

14. 43′11″ Possession by False Figure on Castigations (self released) Info

    Local The band runs a gauntlet to the thrilling bridge, lifting us to a chorus of gothic despair and heartfelt plea. The Bay’s dark wave bands have been quiet in recent years, but FF carries the flag.

15. 46′01″ Bardo Youth by CVCC (self released) Info

    Local Easiest tune for me to put on all year, its swift strums and canny narrative carry me forth, like the boys of summer, like the bardo youth.

16. 48′40″ The Sixteen Millimeter Shrine by Wife on Starla's Theme (self released) Info

    Local This band achieves power-lifted levitation so quickly, so fiercely, I can’t wait to see where they go next. “SPIT.”

17. 50′49″ Make It Easy by Gossimer on Mountain Misery (Anxiety Blanket Records) Info

    Local Amid dulcet acoustic tones, a benediction with an air of disquiet, of truths whole in their complexity.

18. 53′33″ Sad to See the Sun Go Down by Jeff Moller on Sigh Baby (Royal Oakie) Info

    Local As backing vocals sway on a laid back groove, Moller lays out how the blues of all present facts are no match for the power of the lowering sun.

19. 56′26″ Buckle Up Baby by Marika Christine on Soft Like an Apricot (Clampdown) Info

    Local Christine has knack for drawing a straight line through complex melodies, here deploying the classic rock n roll motif of the car to see love through, and you can feel the breeze.

20. 59′05″ Leave Me Alone by Black Thumb on The Flying Propeller Group (Dandy Boy) Info

    Local On his first official Bay Area release, BT adorns his deadpan pop with high-contrast color and big beat texture.