Email Author Ian S. Port

Awards

• 2012 - Best of the West/First Amendment Funding, Inc., published February 23, 2011

  "The Pomplamoose Revolution"

More

2011 Stories by Ian S. Port

• SF Bands the Sandwitches and Girls Unveil New 7-Inches, New Songs

  published Nov 09, 2011

  There is something unassuming yet special about the 7-inch, that tiny disc of vinyl only big enough to hold a song on each side. They spin faster, they cost little, yet they wield all the magic of a ... More >>

• Finding Redemption in the Horrors of Lou Reed and Metallica's Lulu

  published Nov 09, 2011

  Don't Kill Lulu Yet: No, there is not one conventionally good song on Lulu, the 87-minute, hyped-to-infinity, Frankenstein's monster of Lou Reed babble and Metallica chug that came out the day after H... More >>

• 

  FEATURED STORY

  Help! That Victoria's Secret Angels Ad Is Ruining M83's "Midnight City" For Me

  published Nov 09, 2011

  Can there be a button you press somewhere on the Internet that lets advertisers and musicians know that if you see that one ad -- with that one song -- one more time, you are going to hate the song, ... More >>

• SF Entertainment Commission to Bar and Cafe Owners: Hire Musicians!

  published Nov 08, 2011

  This summer, San Francisco created a new process that makes it easier for bars, restaurants, and cafes to host live music. Now it just needs the bands to show up. Jocelyn Kane, executive director of ... More >>

• Don't Kill Lulu: Redeeming Lou Reed and Metallica's New Album

  published November 9, 2011

  No, there is not one conventionally good song on Lulu, the 87-minute, hyped-to-infinity, Frankenstein's monster of Lou Reed babble and... More >>

• Real Estate: Show Preview

  published November 9, 2011

  There's no shortage of dreamy, washed-out vibes in indie music these days, but Real Estate — hailing from the not-so-sunny NYC... More >>

• 

  FEATURED STORY

  Live Review: 'Weird Al' Yankovic Gets Revenge for the Nerds at the Fox Theater

  published Nov 07, 2011

  "Weird Al" Yankovic Nov. 6, 2011 Fox Theater, Oakland Better than: Being a nerd in high school. First, "Weird Al" Yankovic turned Lady Gaga's "Poker Face" into a pop-skewering polka. Then, he ribb... More >>

• 

  FEATURED STORY

  Live Review: Wild Flag Gets a Grinning Reception at Great American Music Hall

  published Nov 07, 2011

  Wild Flag Drew Grow and the Pastors' Wives Nov. 4, 2011 Great American Music Hall Better than: FM 107.7 The Bone -- usually. Wild Flag played its fifth-ever live show in San Francisco almost a year... More >>

• Music Links: Seventeen Evergreen Goes on a Yarn Orgy, the Soft Moon on SF, and More

  published Nov 04, 2011

  Reviewing goth girls Chelsea Wolfe and Zola Jesus at the Independent. [SF Gate] Everyone gets yarn-bombed in the great new video from SF's Seventeen Evergreen. [The Bay Bridged] The Soft Moon's Lu... More >>

• Live Review: Unknown Mortal Orchestra and Gauntlet Hair at Rickshaw Stop

  published Nov 04, 2011

  Unknown Mortal Orchestra Gauntlet Hair Nov. 3, 2011 Rickshaw Stop (Popscene) Better than: The first rainy day of the fall in Southern California, when everyone forgets how to drive and wonders why t... More >>

• In Print: Wild Flag Is More Than a 'Supergroup'

  published Nov 02, 2011

  Wild Flag: The concept of a "supergroup"-- wherein performers with cool and/or exciting pedigrees find themselves in something resembling a "band" -- dies hard. Imagine your favorite musicians playing... More >>

• So Green Day Played a Surprise Show at Mezzanine Last Night

  published Nov 02, 2011

  Ah, the perils of not following the right people on Twitter. Turns out Oakland pop-punk titans Green Day played a surprise show at Mezzanine late last night for Rip Curl's Surfrider-presented Pro Sea... More >>

• 

  FEATURED STORY

  Boots Riley: Oakland General Strike Is "Like Us Flashing Our Guns"

  published Nov 02, 2011

  The Occupy movement doesn't have a leader, but Oakland activist-rapper Boots Riley is serving as one sort of de facto spokesman for his hometown's defiant occupation, lending the collective grievance... More >>

• Old Rocker (Roger Waters) to Perform Old Album (The Wall) for (Old) Fans in AT&T Park

  published Nov 01, 2011

  It's not ageism, people -- this blog reviewed Roger Waters' performance of The Wall in Oakland last December and found it humongous, riveting, and revolutionary. To call The Wall a classic rock docum... More >>

• Stream the Extremely Soothing New Album Dive From SF's Tycho

  published Nov 01, 2011

  Tycho is the moniker of San Francisco-based electronic musician and graphic designer Scott Hansen, who has a lovely new album called Dive out digitally today. Warm, hazy, and atmospheric, Dive is lik... More >>

• Five Things Pete Townshend Got Wrong About iTunes and the Online Music Industry

  published Nov 01, 2011

  Last night, Who guitarist Pete Townshend made a rousing speech at a British radio festival, blasting Apple's iTunes store for its treatment of musicians "whose work it bleeds like a digital vampire." ... More >>

• Hear Alexander Spit's Expansive, Satisfying New Mixtape, These Long Strange Nights

  published Nov 01, 2011

  S.F.-and-L.A.-based rapper Alexander Spit has a new mixtape out. It's called These Long Strange Nights, it's this up-and-coming rapper's biggest release so far, and it's worth your time. The 11 track... More >>

• 

  FEATURED STORY

  Ty Segall Explains Every Track on His New Album, Goodbye Bread

  published Nov 01, 2011

  With his latest album, Goodbye Bread, S.F. rocker Ty Segall departed a bit from the aggressive garage rock he was known for and shifted into more reflective territory, showing the influence of great s... More >>

• Who Has a Better Visual Show -- Deadmau5 or Skrillexr

  published Oct 31, 2011

  It was a double-whammy of big-name electronic dance music in S.F. this weekend. Friday saw bass-music wunderkind Skrillex take over the Warfield (see more photos here); then, on Saturday, Deadmau5 dra... More >>

• Lilac: Show Preview

  published November 2, 2011

  With so many up-and-coming indie rock bands striving to replicate a particular moment of the past, it's fun to hear one that roams from era to... More >>

• Zodiac Death Valley: Show Preview

  published November 2, 2011

  The best thing about the moody debut album from S.F. band Zodiac Death Valley is that it you can't pin it down. Its standout track,... More >>

• Music Links: The Night 20 Years Ago That Bill Graham Died, Tim Armstrong Working with Jimmy Cliff, and More

  published Oct 28, 2011

  A chilling first-person account of the night, 20 years ago, that Bay Area concert promoter Bill Graham died in a helicopter crash. [SF Gate] Rancid's Tim Armstrong is producing the next Jimmy Cliff... More >>

• Photo: GWAR Is Not The Answer

  published Oct 28, 2011

  No, no. This is all wrong. We're pretty sure GWAR is the answer. We're just not sure what the question is. (We hope to find out Nov. 11, when the surly, costumed metalheads peform at the Regenc... More >>

• 

  FEATURED STORY

  Exclusive Premiere: SF's Chuck Prophet Pens a Breezy, Longing Ode to the Old Days of Castro Halloween

  published Oct 28, 2011

  Who remembers the old days of Halloween in the Castror It wasn't that many years ago -- only the mid-2000s -- that thousands of revelers of all genders, orientations, and shades of nudity would gathe... More >>

• 

  FEATURED STORY

  Dubstep Is Now Officially Soundtracking a Southern Comfort TV Commercial

  published Oct 28, 2011

  ... More >>