San Francisco’s Best Parties This Weekend
A particularly stacked weekend is here. Catch a show from Sweden, head to Oakland for techno, or hold it down with hard-pleasured house right here in the city.
For complete listings, visit SF Station’s Events Calendar.
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Thursday, July 17: Dark Entires 5th Anniversary Tour w/ Redredred, Bezier, Max Mara at SF Eagle
For five years, San Francisco’s Josh Cheon has re-issued bands, as well surfaced likeminded contemporary artists that fit into the umbrella genre “underground 80s music.” This includes a rather long catalog of new wave, post-punk and industrial rarities, which undoubtedly lie at the root of the current artists that will be embarking on Dark Entries’ short tour—Redredred, Bezier, and Max Mara. As they’re also all natives to this city, the party should be a well-pointed collection of spindly, danceable electronics and the rawer sound of analog machinery.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wobxiik9z2s&w=660&h=90]
Friday, July 18: Blasthaus presents The Field (Live) at The Independent
The Field has always been a stunner. After four albums on Kompakt since 2006 (his latest: last year’s Cupid’s Head), the Swedish producer’s sound continues to evade any sort of sharp definition; it’s electronic, though has grown to incorporate live guitar and drums; it’s techno, precise and arpeggiated, yet overcome by a visceral sense of inner light and transcendence. It’s this quality of impelling beauty that makes any The Field listening experience—in home or live on stage—feel mesmerizing and enveloping, like a whirlpool spinning silently at sea. This is not a club party, but an excellent show worth checking out.
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Saturday, July 19: Face x Play it Cool present: Justin Van Der Volgen at Public Works
The No. 1 party you should get hip to this weekend/year is going down in The Loft at Public Works. Brooklyn based Justin Van Der Volgen, former member of dance-punk band !!! and Out Hud, has proved himself to be a fist-clenching-ly superb DJ and producer in the realm of disco-based, roof-blowing house. Since 2010’s “Clapping Song,” a vibrantly charged release for Golf Channel, you’ll find Van Der Volgen’s name in collaboration with fellow New Yorkers Dr. Dunks and Lee Douglass, on remixes for Soft Rocks, and sometimes aptly credited as “J Loveboat.” The man has the secret recipe for slammers, and it involves a bit of trippiness and soul-brightening piano chords.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVwmhw9UPKI&w=660&h=90]
Saturday, July 19: The Shuffle Co-Op Brings You Developer at TBA Oakland
LA based Developer owns an aesthetic of monochromatic minimalism. He’s a techno purist as is the sound of his Modularz imprint, where you can find other American techno producers, Silent Servant and Truncate. His music subtly undulates between powerful, meticulous synth stabs, blistering hi-hats, and echoes into emptiness. Instinctively, one would not be quick to call Developer’s no-nonsense pummeling “subtle,” yet hard techno incrementally evolves into thick, smothering mechanics. In a way, a track like “Random Attractions” requires heightened consciousness to follow its intricacies, making it not unlike an awry form of meditation. Location of this party will be announced day of on The Shuffle Co-Op’s Facebook event.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wAZssJYQ7E&w=620&h=90]
Saturday, July 19: Beats By The Pound w/ Oliver $ at Monarch
Though he stems back a few years, Berlin based Oliver $ (pronounced ‘Oliver Dollar’) has a production spark that’s in vogue right now—physically catchy club tracks that run from techy to the big drum house that’s commercially coined as “deep.” In fact, Pete Tong just named the producer a ‘Future Star’ on his BBC radio show last week, showcasing Oliver’s tricks for rallying floors — commando vocal tracks and a fire hose of backbeats. It’s no surprise then that he’s collaborated with Chicago legend Cajmere, and in similar carnal manner, this party should satisfy any sweet tooth for chart-topping club tunes and an extra drink.
