Slavic Soul Party.

Slavic Soul Party
Teknochek Collision
www.SlavicSoulParty.com
Serving up seriously funky old-world brass beats is the uber-sexy New York City-based Slavic Soul Party brass band reinterpreting old-school harmonies and undercurrents with broken beat and hip-hopped style making for mad sounds and infectiously joyous butt-bumping fun. Expect ecstatic and transformative energies to overtake anything that might be making your soul sticky when the full-frontal nine-piece orchestra starts strolling through your psyche. My picks: “Sisko’s Blues,” “Opr Cupa (With ESP),” “Rumenka Takes A Drive,” “DJelem DJelem (With ESP),” “9 At The River” and “Never Gonna Let You Go.”

Ceu
CĂ©u
www.SixDegreesRecords.com
Sultry, soulful and sensual twenty-something Brazilian chanteuse Céu (pronounced “say-ew”) woos and seduces on her debut self-titled album honoring classic Brazilian sensibilities while slipping through genres like a diva accenting with jewelry sparking and sparkling her enchanting voice. The Sao-Paolo singer-songwriter fuses a mesmerizing cosmopolitan flare and hip electronica freshness to tease and caress. My picks: “Malemolência,” “Roda,” “Rainha,” “Véu Da Noite,” “Ave Cruz” and “O Ronco Da Cuíca.” Gig alert! CéU slithers and seduces April 13 @ San Francisco’s The Independent.

National Geographic
GeoRemixed:
Big Beats For A Small Planet
NationalGeographic.com
National Geographic magazine and now online destination site is a cultural icon bringing the world in all its beauty and rawness into homes around the world educating on cultures and ways of living in lands most of us will never otherwise know or visit. The online site is a virtual world tour of nature, culture and now world music with free music downloads and galleries of fab music. To enrich the remix generation they now launch GeoRemixed: Big Beats For A Small Planet an exclusive online compilation of remixed world music with serious bumping beats and uber-cool electronica worthy of any club. My picks: Slavic Soul Party’s “Teknochek,” Vieux Farka Touré “Ma Hine Cocore (3rd Bass Remix By Yossi Fine),” Hip Hop Hoodíos’ “Raza Hoodia (Tweety Gonzalez Electro-Bar Mitzvah Megamix),” O.M.F.O.’s “Kozakhs Hifi,” Shukar Collective’s “Bar Boot (Junkyard RMX),” Señor Coconut And His Orchestra’s “Behind The Mask (Reggaeton Mix By Peter Rap),” Pacha Massive’s “Don’t Let Go (DJ Tunah Remix)” and Pato’s “Keep It Real (Benny Beats Remix).”

Six Degrees
Backspin: Six Degrees 10 Year
Anniversary Project
www.SixDegreesRecords.com
San Francisco-based Six Degrees Records has been serving up fresh world-kissed electronica for a decade and joins the digital music revolution by incorporating its emerging artists programs to share these new talents globally. For their 10th Anniversary they enlist world music visionaries to respin classic covers for a fresh globally inspired generation of music lovers on Backspin: A 10 Year Anniversary Project. My picks: Karsh Kale’s “Spirits In The Material World,” Niyaz’s “Love Song,” Rara Avis’ “If 6 Were 9,” MIDIval PunditZ’s “Four Stick,” The Real Tuesday Weld’s “The Day Before You Came,” Shrift’s “God Only Knows” and Banco De Gaia’s “Echoes.” Gig alert! Six Degrees’ darling and world groove maestro Cheb I Sabbah brings his multi-cultural remixing majic April 14 @ San Francisco’s Club Six.

Turtle Island Quartet
A Love Supreme:
The Legacy Of John Coltrane
www.Telarc.com
San Francisco’s own Grammy winning Turtle Island Quartet has defied boundaries and reclaimed the string quartet as a source of improvisational inspiration and reinterpretive collaboration and builds bridges to the jazz world via the legendary jazz saxophonist and composer John Coltrane (1926 – 1967) who also changed the expectations of what his instrument can and should do. The Turtle Island Quartet takes on the jazz visionaries compositions and opens the horizon for what string quartet can be as notes and melodies soar and swoop through emotions and nuances enriching the soul. My picks: “La Danse Du Bonheur,” “Acknowledgment,” “Resolution,” “Psalm,” “My Favorite Things,” “Naima” and “So What.” Gig alerts! Turtle Island Quartet performs April 18 @ San Francisco’s Union Square Borders, April 19 @ San Rafael’s Borders and April 21 @ San Francisco’s Herbst Theatre.

Sweeney Todd:
The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street
MasterworksBroadway.com
Darkly comic genius is unleashed upon the senses in the thrilling and macabre musical Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street sharing the gruesome stories of the legend of the possessed demon barber of London’s Fleet Street. The story is set upon Sweeney Todd and his family who are all victims of perverted justice by a judge who was after both Sweeney’s wife and daughter. The twisted tale of revenge and intertwined love stories include the gritty world of meat pies, the madness of losing the love of your life and the classic struggles of class, cultures and surviving injustice. The 2CD remastered set features the original Broadway cast including the legendary movie, TV and Broadway star Angela Lansbury and the recordings come with extensive liner notes discussing the production, the stellar cast, director Harold Prince and melody-maker and lyricist Steven Sondheim. My picks: “The Barber And His Wife,” “The Worst Pies In London,” “My Friends,” “The Ballad Of Sweeney Todd,” “Kiss Me,” “A Little Priest,” “Johanna,” “Not While I’m Around,” “City on Fire! / Final Sequence” and “Green Finch And Linnet Bird.”

The Assemble Head In Sunburst Sound
Ekranoplan
www.TeePeeRecords.com
San Francisco-based The Assemble Head In Sunburst Sound work a long name and outsider eccentricity to swim in retro west-coaster guitar rock love on their debut Ekranoplan. With sonic walls, psychedelic-kissed riffs and floaty jazzed drumming they fold shades of surfer rock, jam band collaborative freeform and psychedelic whispers of inner travel together for an origami rock sound sculpture. My picks: “Ekranoplan,” Mosquito Lantern,” “Summon the Vardig,” “Occult Roots” and “The Chocolate Maiden’s Misty Summer Morning.” Gig alert! The Assemble Head In Sunburst Sound tune in turn on and drop out April 24 @ San Francisco’s 12 Galaxies.

Turn Me On Dead Man
Technicolourmother
ManDeadOnMeTurn.com
If you prefer your acid rock thick enough to eat with a fork you’ll enjoy San Francisco’s own Turn Me On Dead Man worshipping a classic vibe filtered through acid-dropped reverb – heavy on the femme-nazi vocals and complete with god-rock guitars. The perfect stocking stuffer for those who love spacey glam-rock served chunky-style. My picks: “67 Dreams,” “Cyclops (Dedicated To The One Eye Love),” “Pharmaceutical Rainbows,” “Wonder Mint,” “Galaxina,” “Her Planet Is Love,” “El Schizo” and “Spiral Marilyn.” Gig alerts! Turn Me On Dead Man slivers up glam acid rock April 13 @ San Francisco’s 12 Galaxies and Turn Me On Tuesdays April 17 and 24 @ Oakland’s Stork Club.

Mark Farina
House Of OM:
www.OmRecords.com
Amongst the newer generation of house music DJs, Mark Farina has become somewhat legendary coming from the birthplace of house in Chicago and now bringing his precision timing and cosmopolitan flair to his new home in San Francisco. His partner in crime - San Francisco’s own Om Records, celebrates the latest installment of the House of Om series with the DJ, tastemaker and producer pulling it up to the dock and unloading deep sexy house love and eclectic music treats for loyal fans and music lovers everywhere with a continuous mix. Funky hip-hop islands in a burpy sea of R&B mark the voyage for this trip - downbeat dreams, layers of jazz instrumentals, hip-hop/soul vocals, quirky soundscapes and eclectic leanings gives us tons of trippy treats. My picks: Bobby Valentine’s “Car Garage,” Vibezelect’s “Come Chill,” Soydan’s “Takil,” Freaks’ “Right Now (Original Demo Mix)” featuring Robert Owens, Public Access’ “Skeleton Keys,” Mark Farina’s “Cosmic Melody,” Leon Louder’s “Picture Of A Loop” and Ben Armstrong & Randall Soeung’s “Wrong Turn (Rhythm Plate Remix).” Gig alert! House Of OM: Mark Farina official album release party drops May 19 @ San Francisco’s Mezzanine.

Gwendolyn And The Good Time Gang
Get Up & Dance
www.Gwendolyn.net
I must agree with the legendary Mr. Rogers (of Mr. Rogers neighborhood), alt-rock heroes They Might Be Giants and even the divalicious Miss Patti LaBelle that music for children should not be dumbed-down but instead feed the soul and lift the spirit. LA-based Gwendolyn And The Good Time Gang has all the shine of a cutesy pop band but the chops and wit to get even the most jaded to care about vegetables and sweet marmalade. In fact they deliver enough that they almost sound like a rock band doing a cover of kids music ala Schoolhouse Rocks. My picks: “Red Means Stop,” “Eensy Weensy Spider,” “Sweet Marmalade,” “Bicycle Ride” and “Out In My Garden.” Gig alerts! Gwendolyn And The Good Time Gang raised up younger happy feet April 14 @ Santa Cruz’s The Attic and April 29 @ San Francisco’s Brava Theater.

ADULT
Why Bother?
www.ThrillJockey.com
Industrial, experimental and [post-apocalyptic angsty, edgy, noisy space-rock with electro-kissed funky beats, noisescape undercurrents and punked diva vocals will enliven hardcore runways and sexy vixens with style. An “accurate culmination of our disordered hysteria” from the Detroit duo. My picks: “Good Deeds,” “I Feel Worse When I’m With You,” “Cultivation,” “Herd Me,” “R.S.x,” “Plagued By Fear” and “I Should Care.” Gig alert! ADULT avoids growing up April 25 @ San Francisco’s Bottom of the Hill.

The Max Perkoff Band
Infinite Search
www.MaxPerkoff.com
Cool cats and jazzsters will soothe to the smooth grooves and sophisticated comfort of San Francisco’s jazzy first-born trombonist, bandleader, composer and pianist Max Perkoff. He avoids heavy-handedness and uses creative juice to fuel and anchor delightful journeys and compositions in joyous abandon. My picks: “Cookin’ For 20,” “Infinite Search,” “Blues For Dr. King,” “Just Enough,” “The Death Of Democracy,” “JJ’s Backroom, Pt. 1” and “JJ’s Backroom, Pt. 2.” Gig alert! The Max Perkoff Band serves up hot and cool April 12 @ San Francisco’s Jazz at Pearl’s.