Sometimes it’s good to live in the metro area of a big city. Sure, you have to deal with heavy traffic, the lack of parking, crowds, high prices for goods, and the all the other less-than-attractive trappings of urban life — but those pale in comparison to the plethora of musical acts who come to your neck of the woods as a destination and not a place to fill up as they make their way “somewhere else.”
Such is the case with the Noise Pop Festival in San Francisco. The mix of local, national, and international indie acts from the world of music, film and art is one of those events that’s gotten bigger and bigger since its inception in 1993, when Overwhelming Colorfast (a band that I’m familiar with, since I went to high school with two of its members — yeah, I just name-dropped like a gushing celebrity groupie) was featured.
And now? Well, have a listen to six of this year’s featured bands and/or singers.
“Love is a Stranger,” Martha Wainwright (download)
Last year I did a mix featuring scions of famous musical acts and I believe it was David Medsker who wondered why I didn’t have Rufus Wainwright in the mix. When I told him I just couldn’t stand his music, he may have grumbled a more profane version of “philistine” under his breath and went on with his day. However! I have to say that the smokey vocals of Rufus’ sister had me hooked right away. Martha’s cover of “Love Is a Stranger” by Eurythymics has made something abundantly clear to those who just kind of forgot: this song is by far the best track on Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This). Now it’s not necessarily the best track on Martha’s album, but it sure was a pleasant surprise when I first heard it. (more…)
The French Kicks have presented the same problem to music journalists for a third time in a row. How do you write about music that’s unremarkable but pleasant in a way that people will want to read it?