Archive for February, 2009

TYVEK Live this week…


TYVEK is playing twice this week:

Wednesday Feb 25 @ UC Davis Coffee House
w/ Green Green and Th’ Losin Streaks
8pm.

Friday Feb 27 @ Luigi’s Fun Garden
w/ Desario and San Kazagaskar
8pm.

I did an interview with them back in 2007. It was a published in Out of Order zine and them put up as an online-only special on the Midmo website. Here’s a link!

Round Table

by Rachel Gregg, photos by Jesse Vasquez

The days following the passage of Proposition 8, the state proposition that eliminated the right of same sex couples to marry, were a tumultuous time for Californians. Here in Sacramento we saw protests and vigils-we saw the emergence of new activists and organizations who are bent on righting the wrong of Prop 8. For me, as a lesbian writer with my eye on other political contests, I could have never guessed the impact the passage of 8 would have on my life and on the spirit of my community. Read more »

Slavery In Sacramento

By William Burg

Most people do not think of Sacramento when discussing the history of slavery, but during the Gold Rush, enslaved human beings worked for their owners here in California. In 1857, Sacramento became the site of a court battle between an escaped slave, Archy Lee, and his former owner. The resulting struggle became an early victory in American civil rights, and a rallying point for Sacramento’s early African American community. Read more »

Musical Chairs

MaxwellAllen Rockwell fronts two of the most disparate rock groups in town—critics’ darlings Knock Knock, whose folk pop gems showcase Rockwell’s sunnier side, and Rock the Light, a camaro-drivin’ mesh-t-shirt-wearing hesher’s dream.  Rockwell himself is something of a conundrum—a clean-living junior high teacher by day who also happens to need to rock the bejeezus out of any stage handy.   We got to talking about his passion for trashy (is there any other kind?) rock bios and he offered to run through some of his favorites for us. Read more »

Miller’s Noshing

The biggest benefit in writing about food is that it occasionally leads me to some similarly food-obsessed individual who will share his or her treasured stash of food secrets with me.  I recently bumped into local musician (The Alkali Flats) and nineteenth century architecture fan (he owns an 1860’s era house) Mark Miller and a discussion about Lalo’s (which he had not yet visited) led to him dropping some food knowledge. Read more »

Feb Art Picks

Read more »

Don’t Miss

The 75th Crocker-Kingsley exhibition opened at the Tsakopoulos Library Galleria on January 10, and if you haven’t seen it yet you’ll have to hurry—the show closes on February 6 Read more »

Musser at MidMo: Saturday!

Adam, Oil on Canvas, 2008

Local artist Jeff Musser is perhaps best known as the guy who painted Oprah Winfrey’s dog. Excellent though that may be, there is quite a bit more to Musser and his work. Musser paints like a motherfucker. His technique is outstanding and underneath the fluid brushwork there is a simmering intensity that draws the eye into the work. The guy not only paints, he thinks. That’s why we booked him to show his recent body of work at MidMo this month.

Turns out we aren’t the only ones who have been following Musser’s career. Musser’s on the cover of SNR’s d’Art section this week, and Josh Fernandez had this to say about Musser’s latest work: “With miraculous attention to color and composition, Musser paints realism that is at once melancholy but full of insight. His latest series, Body of Work, attempts to make sense of this tattoo-obsessed generation.” (for the whole review click here.)

Midmo Gallery is at 1719 25th Street (25th and R) and is open on Second Saturday from 6 – 10 PM. I know it’s Valentine’s Day, but remember- art is romantic, and a cheap date!

Auto Swap Record Review

So I was out at the Buick Club Auto Swap the other week, looking for nothing in particular (because I already have more than enough cars that don’t run, and should spend any extra $$ I have to make them run) but looking at everything.  I showed up nice and early just in case a $300 barn-fresh Crosley station wagon  was waiting for me, but no luck.

I actually didn’t buy any auto parts at all.  Instead I followed a habit I’ve picked up over years of auto swap parts hunting:  don’t forget to look at all the non auto stuff.  You would be amazed at what shows up among the 1954 Packard fenders, Mustang rear ends and Corvair manuals.  I’ve had particularly good luck finding records and even guitars!  This time out I found a few LPs that have been on my want list for a while.
First up is Beach Boys’ Party!  I already had a copy of this record, but it’s pretty scratchy so I was glad to find a replacement.   Party! is one of the least popular of the Beach Boys’ output, and many fans only know it as the source of the hit single ‘Barbara Ann.’   It’s a great record.  I suspect that this album was done to cash in on the folk craze– it’s all acoustic guitars and handclaps with a ‘live at a party’  sound that anyone who has heard the aforementioned ‘Barbara Ann’ will recognize.   I’m not going to try to say that it’s up there with Pet Sounds, but this is a sweet, fun record that is undeservedly ignored.  There are great songs on here (‘There’s No Other Like My Baby’ is up there with the Boys’ best) including a fascinating batch of covers.  There are no less than three Beatles covers… at a time when the two bands were battling it out on the charts.  To put this in perspective, try to imagine Coldplay covering three songs by RadioHead.   All in all a playful snippet of the Beach Boys in their prime.
Next up is Some Blue Eyed Soul by the Righteous Brothers.  My music-junkie pal Donnie in Seattle  turned me on to this one.  When he started to drop the needle on this  I was skeptical to say the least; I’ve been burned buying Righteous Bros lps before…. Great covers, boring records.  This one is a different story- strong Sam and Dave flavored RnB from two skinny white guys who learned to belt.  I have to assume that this is the record that made people give a shit about them 45 years ago.  It’s so good that it almost makes me want to take a chance and re listen to the other half-dozen of their records I’ve bought in the past.  Almost.
And finally I scored The Hit Sounds of Simon and Garfunkel.  I’ve been looking for this record for over 20 years now– not because it’s so rare, but because I’m so cheap I knew that I’d find it for a buck one day.   Released in the late sixties, this was a totally lame attempt by the Pickwick label to cash in on the success of America’s top folk duo by releasing ancient material as though it was new stuff.  It’s not that the songs are bad– they are in fact quite good for teen pop on the order of the Everly Brothers and early Jan and Dean– it’s just that they aren’t really by Simon and Garfunkel.  Ok, the argument can be made that, technically they are, since Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel did record these songs in their earlier group Tom and Jerry.  One of these songs, ‘Hey School Girl’ was a hit for the teenage duo in 1957, selling 100,000 copies of the single. As a bonafide Simon and Garfunkel nut you would think that I’d have just coughed up the $20 this usually goes for just so I could finally hear it… and that would doubtless be the case had I not borrowed my buddy Stan’s copy ($1, Thrift Center, 1993) and listened to it way back when.

Everything in the World TONIGHT

So the next time some asshat says “There’s never anything to do in Sacramento,” I want you to remind them of today, Friday February 6.  Not only is there something to do… there is altogether too much to do.

For starters, there are three great rock and roll shows happening tonight. Orange County’s psych-garage maestros Thee Makeout Party (above) will stop by the West Capitol Bowl, joined by Nebraska’s Box Elders, Photobooth (featuring ex FM Knife Jason Patrone) and locals Beware of the Knight. You know this is going to be a great show when DJ Rick is skipping a Mayyors show to attend!

Said Mayyors show is number two on our list– Sac’s current #1 buzz (both saw and press) band are dropping by the Funkassle (not Luigi’s Fun Garden as we erroneously printed in the Feb issue!) along with Death Sentence: Panda and new local faves Warm Streams (pictured). the Funkassle is a house party show, so be respectful (and check undietacos for details).

Third up is a Java Lounge blowout featuring a KnockOffs reunion… this of course begs the question, “which lineup?” since the Knockoffs are sorta like Sac’s version of the Fastbacks, but we’re 99.9% sure it’s the longest running lineup (Big Tom, Lil Tom, Danny and Bobby). We’re 100% sure that it’s not KnockOffs beta (lil Tom, Alkali Flat Tim White, Rod ‘Trouble Makers’ Cornelius and Decibel Dean Seavers). Also on the bill is the aptly named Bastards of the Young who are doing their best to channel Tim era Replacements.  there’s a couple more on the bill, but i can’t say I’ve heard ’em.

Ok people: GO!