San Francisco Police Department Commander of Field Operations of the City of San Francisco James Dudley is trying to put an end to nightlife in San Francisco. He is proposing that bars and nightclubs be closed at midnight.

Dudley is best known for his continuous and relentless crackdown on night life in North Beach, turning the Broadway corridor into a virtual police state. He is responsible for the large presence of police officers, including those with riot helmets. He was responsible for the actual closing of Broadway Street so that taxis were unable to pick up fares when the clubs closed.

Now he wants to expand these tactics city-wide as par of the war on fun.

Members of the San Francisco night life community including clubs, bands and customers, will be rallying their support for the Entertainment Commission on Monday Oct 26th 1PM before the Board of Supervisors.
The Entertainment Commission has come under attack of late by those groups who seek to limit the variety of entertainment venues in this world class city. The night life industry is a significant economic engine driving the San Francisco economy and that industry along with its talent and customers are rallying to show support for the Commission.

The legislation before the Board will empower the Entertainment Commission to enforce its own permits. The industry feels strongly about the Commission that regulates them and intends to demonstrate to the board of supervisors and the police that they too have a voice.

Performing on the steps of City Hall will be the Jazz Mafia, an acoustical jazz group. Performing inside City Hall will be the night life industry and their customers who too are citizens of this great urban metropolis.

For more information: supportentertainment.com

This Friday, October 23, is a chance to experience the wonderful cinematic weirdness that is Oddball Films. Director Stephen Parr will be hosting his Sonic Oddities Live program, exploring the relationship between sight and sound with a combination of film shorts and clips accompanied by live music. The visuals promise to be unique, featuring claymation, bizarre commercials, religious propaganda, surreal animation, and offbeat classic footage experimenting with the "science of sound", among others.

Percussionist Jordan Glenn, woodwind player Cory Wright, and guitarist Andrew Conklin will make up a trio performing improvised tunes along with the scenes on the screen.  Sonic Oddities Live will highlight the connection between the visual and the auditory, enhancing perception through a one-of-a-kind event. The program will be held at Oddball Films headquarters at 275 Capp Street in San Francisco. Admission is $10 and you can learn more or make reservations by calling (415)558-8117 or contacting info@oddballfilm.com. Enjoy the show!

Our friends from local ambient DJ crew Ambisonic, along with AL Kal present an evening dedicated to
chillout music, at Shine (Mission between 9th and 10th, San Francisco), Wednesday, September 30th, from 9PM until 2am. Featuring Ambisonic DJs DF Tram, Traffic and a Live PA by Al Kal and Nonagon.

There aren’t that many venues for chill music in San Francisco, so we want to give a big thanks to Shine for letting Ambisonic take over the space for the evening.
There will be a combination of DJ and Live PA sets. Ambisonic is trying to make this a regular monthly happening so if you live in the San Francisco area we encourage you to come out for this. ($3 before 10; $5 after).

As SomaFM’s first intern in January of 2008, Meghan Logue began the overwhelming task of organizing SomaFM's immense CD collection into a cohesive library of music.  Assembling and sorting the approximately 7,000 titles of diverse music genres became an interesting, albeit challenging, endeavor. It was finally completed a year and a half later, and now stands as a structured assortment of music, cataloguing the growth of various genres. Initially built on station founder Rusty Hodge’s CD collection started in the mid ‘80s, the collection formed the musical basis for the launch of SomaFM in 1999.



Our music library is now an impressive store of sounds that provides the diverse selection of tracks played on SomaFM, on favorite channels such as Groove Salad, Secret Agent, Drone Zone, and more. With everything from ambient to classic rock to worldbeat to jazz among many others from independent and major labels, there is plenty to choose from when looking to the CD library to program a particular channel’s playlist. The library also includes a large number of now extremely-rare, out-of-print electronica CDs from the 90s.


Organized alphabetically and then separated into single musicians/bands and then compilations, it has become much simpler to look for a particular artist, song, or type of music. Although the library is vast in terms of musical style, the common thread is the unique qualities of each CD featured. Scanning the shelves is a veritable demonstration of the diversity of music that is part of the SomaFM experience.  The collection includes such mainstream staples as the groundbreaking album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band from The Beatles, the legendary Miles Davis recording Some Kind of Blue, and many titles from seminal English electronic duo Everything But the Girl, to name a few.  The visceral rock of Led Zeppelin sits close to the dance punk project LCD Soundsystem, while the classic crooner Henry Mancini lives a few shelves below.



Different discs evoke different musical spaces in time, with Blondie from the ‘80s, Ice Cube emerging in the early ‘90s, and recent ambience from Icelandic band Sigur Ros.  Different areas of the world are represented with electronic artist and producer Coppe from Japan, Algerian dj Cheb I Sabbah, and vintage tunes from French musician Serge Gainsbourg, for example. The many compilation sets also encompass a wide range of musical madness, including Dr. Demento’s collection of novelty songs, sets showcasing a particular genre such as United States of Ambience, hits separated by decade, and world music samplers from different regions like Desert Grooves. The vast array of Christmas music speaks much to the popularity of SomaFM’s holiday stations, with a Raffi Christmas album alongside Christmas Rap and Christmas with the Rat Pack.



One of the best things about the newly ordered musical landscape of the CD library is the accessibility. Being able to easily handpick from this broad spectrum of music is beneficial to SomaFM and its listeners. People tune into the station because virtually any musical thirst can be satisfied while perusing through the various channels, from Boot Liquor to Cliqhop. The variety of genres displayed by the CD library is a symbol of the diversity being played on SomaFM everyday. This range of sounds contributes to exciting radio that plays listeners’ favorites as well as introduces them to new artists. The CD library contributes to SomaFM never compromising its intention to play what is outside of expected radio programming.

The annual San Francisco Electronic Music Festival (SFEMF) provides an opportunity for the pioneers of these soundscapes to share their work with other Bay Area electronic artists, to engage in discussion of new technologies, to collaborate in creating new music, and for fans to come and witness the beats unfolding.  SMEMF is being held this year at the Brava Theater from September 16th- 19th. Attendees will get to experience a vast array of musical styles and techniques, from contemporary classical to free improvisation to glitch. The equipment used will range from classic synthesizers to inventive displays of acoustic and electronic instruments sharing the stage.

Performers for the evening include long-time festival performers Miya Masaoka, Pamela Z, Donald Swearingen - and musicians new to the event - Lukas Ligeti, Maria Chavez.

For more information or to purchase tickets visit the SFEMF website.

Our buddies (and neighbors!) at The Bay Bridged are hosting an incredible sampler of Bay Area tunes, art and food this Friday. 

The line-up includes Indie Pop Rocks! favorites French Miami and Adam Stephens of Two Gallants fame.  John Vanderslice and Josh from Maus Haus will also be spinning in between acts.  

The night will be a veritable smorgasbord of all things SF.  And the proceeds go to the Bay Bridged who in turn support local musicians and Bay Area culture.  Money well spent!

Doors open at 7:30.  Happy hour/art show prior to band sets. 21+.  Tickets are $15-$30.  

You know that SomaFM loves nothing better than a good music festival.  Thankfully, our HQ is located in an urban location with an awesome music scene.  Mission Creek Music Festival is filling the fun-music bill this weekend with a pair of awesome shows. 

If you're a fan of Indie Pop Rocks! or just a fan of great local tunes, check out these shows: 

Tonight at Cafe du Nord!

Geographer

The Old-Fashioned Way

White Cloud

100 Swans

Saturday at Bottom of the Hill

Maus Haus (really cool band we interviewed at Noise Pop 09!)

Rainbow Arabia

Pierre le Robot

DJ Gatsby 

No plans on the 4th of July?  Hit up this local music showcase at El Rio.  Cool bands+cool people+free BBQ provided by Sneaky's=good times on the 4th of July. 

Birdmonster

Two Sheds

Finn Riggins

D Numbers

Writer

Murray the Theif

Low Red Land

Birds & Batteries

Details: 

1:30 pm-8:30 pm

+21

$8 (that's $1 per band AND you get free BBQ)

Portland based indie-electro-fun time band Starfucker will be at Bottom of the Hill tonight.  We'll be interviewing them before the show so keep an eye out for the podcast in the articles section. 

Is there band you'd like to see us interview?  A festival we should cover?  Let us know! Contact us at dj@somafm.com with your suggestions. 

Pitch Black from New Zealand is in town this week for a show Friday night at Mission Rock, and tonight will share their technique at Pyramind studios, including showing their live touring rig, how they compose their music, how they incorporate visuals, as well as sharing production tips and techniques.

Check them out Tonight (Thursday) at Pyramind Studios in San Francisco's South of Market district.

Usually Mondays are nothing to look forward to.  Our jobs are great and everything but nobody loves a Monday.  Lucky for us, this Monday is an exception!  We get to attend SF MusicTech and hear folks from Pandora, EFF and RAIN talk about their cool jobs and their outlook on the music industry.  Check out a full schedule of events here. 

As if that weren't cool enough, the whole she-bang ends with a cocktail party!  Badges are on sale until tomorrow.  Hope to see you there!