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 | A "Natural Kind of Girl" You don’t have to be a fan of oysters to enjoy San Francisco’s 9th Annual Oyster Fest that returns to the Great Meadow at Fort Mason on May 17th. Just ask Juliette Lewis, the actress turned rocker who performs during the two-day festival along with the Dropkick Murphys, She & Him and others. She can stomach cinematic ultra-violence (see: [b]Natural Born Killers[/b], [b]Kalifornia[/b]), but apparently has a harder time with small sea creatures. Lewis spoke with SF Station during a phone interview from her home in Los Angeles near the end of a two-month break from her music and acting career.More |  | Making Lemonade As one half of the Minneapolis hip hop duo Atmosphere, Slug helped define a new generation of underground hip hop that shifted the previously dominant East Coast/West Coast mindset born in California and New York with emotive lyrics that touch on lust, love, heartbreak and other common elements of everyday life. His terrestrial alternative to the rap super heroes -- or super egos -- that are shaped through mainstream avenues has helped fuel a spike in interest in the group. Atmosphere is scheduled to perform during a two-night stand May 8th and 9th at the Regency Grand Regency.More |  | Grand Champion on the Kit After years of beating drum kits from coast to coast with her defunct band Sleater-Kinney and Quasi, Janet Weiss is heading to San Francisco on a U.S. tour with Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks. The band performs at The Fillmore on April 27th in support of [b]Real Emotional Trash[/b]. Weiss, a former San Francisco resident who now lives in Portland, talked to SF Station during a tour stop in Boston.More |  | From Disco to Duran Duran After guitarist Zeke Buck left the band in 2006, VHS or Beta modified its approach to recording, opting for a more calculated songwriting processes before entering the studio to record 2007’s [b]Bring on the Comets[/b]. The result is an album that continues to stray from the group’s early dance music and French house influences for songs based more in the 80s synth-pop sheen of Durran Duran and others. The band returns to San Francisco for an April 29th show at Mezzanine. Singer/guitarist Craig Pfunder spoke with SF Station en route to a Boston tour stop.More |  | Eluded by Dead Presidents Named after a small town in southwest Ohio, Enon (pronounced ee-nan) has had audiences that rival its namesake’s population. The power trio of John Schmersal (guitar/vocals) and Toko Yasuda (bass/vocals) of Philadelphia, and Matt Schulz (drums), who lives in New York, return to San Francisco in support of [b]Grass Geysers…Carbon Clouds[/b], released last October on Touch and Go Records. Schmersal spoke with SF Station on the eve of a U.S. tour that will be followed almost immediately by a European tour.More |  | The Magic Touch After a seemingly endless stint of performing at San Francisco’s smaller music clubs, Magic Bullets are finally lining up more high-profile shows at various venues in the Bay Area and beyond, including a show with Perry Farrell that gave the band a taste of national mainstream media exposure. In addition to working on new music, the sextet is considering heading to Europe this summer for some festival performances. Magic Bullets perform April 4th at Bottom of the Hill. Guitarist and primary songwriter Corey Cunningham spoke with SF Station on his way home from his day job at a San Francisco grocery store.More |  | "Blistering" Trio Shares the Spotlight Hot off a mini-tour and a trip to South By Southwest, The Blacks’ San Francisco-based members Luisa Black (lead vocals/guitar) and JDK Blacker (percussion/backup vocals) are honing their Guitar Hero skills and nursing their battle wounds until the next round of gigs with New York-based drummer Gavin Black. The trio will perform in San Francisco at Bottom of the Hill on April 13th. Luisa Black recently spoke with SF Station.More |  | Busking Brothers are Westward Bound With a new album released March 4th that elicits barroom ballads of yesteryear, The Felice Brothers are westward bound in true Americana fashion -- in a Winnebago. The three brothers from the Catskill Mountains of New York along with bandmates Christmas and Greg Farley will perform at Café du Nord on March 20th. James Felice spoke with SF Station during a tour break in Chapel Hill, N.C., where he was visiting with his sisterMore |  | The Party Continues After rubbing shoulders with Jim Carrey during an extended stay in L.A. and making a cameo in his upcoming film [b]Yes Man[/b], SF electro-rock fashionistas Von Iva are preparing to conquer new ground with a tour that will culminate with three gigs at South by Southwest. But fear not, loyal San Franciscans, the dashing trio will be back in the city in late March to work on their second album and inevitably rock some local gigs. Synth maven Becky Kupersmith recently spoke with SF Station.More |  | It’s Poppin’ In just a few days Noise Pop will takeover many of San Francisco’s venues for six days of music, along with art exhibits, film screenings and even a comedy show. The annual festival, which celebrates its 16th anniversary this year, started as a concert at SF’s now defunct Kennel Club in 1993 before expanding to include multiple days, other arts and performances from upcoming bands (The White Stripes, Feist, Modest Mouse) that later went on to have widespread mainstream success.More |
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