Email Author Tamara Palmer

2005 Stories by Tamara Palmer

• Tortured Soul makes house music live music; the Soft Pink Truth serves up electro versions of punk and hardcore

  published December 28, 2005

  House is not typically thought of as organic, live music, but New York's Tortured Soul puts a wrinkle in that notion. The five-year-old... More >>

• "Mighty Breaks" boasts an all-star soundclash; the "Latke Ball" just may be the best & biggest Jewish party of the year

  published December 21, 2005

  Not a lot of creatures are stirring in clubland right now, and many promoters are saving up their juice for New Year's. But "Mighty Breaks"... More >>

• Department of What the Fuck?

  published December 21, 2005

  In hip hop, "beef" is a word for conflict. Hip hop has a lot of beef -- just ask 50 Cent, who ate big chunks of it this year battling most of New... More >>

• Holy beat-bevy Batman: Cut Chemist, Z-Trip, Radar, Faust, Romanowski, dead prez, Marques Wyatt, Lisa Shaw, and "The Rootdown SF."

  published December 14, 2005

  The first two volumes of Bomb Hip-Hop's Return of the DJ compilation often get credit for reviving the art of vinyl manipulation in the... More >>

• The blue-blooded Blowfly, the multialiased MF Doom, and the lyrically infallible Casual

  published December 7, 2005

  Years before 2 Live Crew got as nasty as they wanted to be and Kool Keith started regaling fans with tales of interstellar ass-crack spelunking,... More >>

• Mixtape Shmixtape

  published December 7, 2005

  In the first installment of this segment last month, we mentioned a few basic points about mixtapes, including that they're mainly on CD format.... More >>

• Videogames and Stevie Wonder compliments of Amon Tobin, RJD2, and "Wonder-Full 2"

  published November 30, 2005

  Amon Tobin's got game. Or, rather, the game's got Amon Tobin. The Brazilian-born, Montreal-residing breakbeat specialist and Ninja Tune... More >>

• Get your fill of funk fundamentals and "Biscuits and Gravy," then head over to Ruby Skye for "Thanksgiving in Paris"

  published November 23, 2005

  Those who are still hungry in their soul after their holiday feasting should head straight to the Mission District to sop up some "Biscuits and... More >>

• Daring duos! Ladytronners Mira Aroyo and Reuben Wu! DJ AM and Travis Barker! GZA and DJ Muggs!

  published November 16, 2005

  "Evolve or die!" Such was the edict handed down, writ large, to artists propping up the electroclash craze once the marketplace finally tired... More >>

• > Activist hip hop act the Coup previews its upcoming album; Hawtin homie John Acquaviva brings his techno to Ruby Skye

  published November 9, 2005

  Groups like Oakland's The Coup are what give the Bay Area hip hop scene a reputation for something other than its snazzy slang.... More >>

• Mixtape Shmixtape

  published November 9, 2005

  If you're as old as I am, you remember a time when the term "mixtape" referred to actual cassettes. Not so anymore, as today it refers strictly... More >>

• Rapper Fatlip, industrial innovators Front 242, and the dancehall star who brought us "No, No, No."

  published November 2, 2005

  Promoter Jonathan Mack is on a mission to bring more reggae and dancehall to the bay with his monthly "Angel Magik" parties in Berkeley and the... More >>

• Diplo brings along DJ Marlboro for a wild night at the Rickshaw; Bingo is your name-o at the Knockout's "BingoTopia"

  published October 26, 2005

  With a gazillion DJs' mix CDs out there, it's never easy to know what to buy. But into that daunting sea of potential sludge Diplo (aka... More >>

• Colossus

  published October 26, 2005

  The rough edges of Oakland's east side play home to most of the city's hip hop, but now here comes Colossus, representing out of the west. Curious... More >>

• Twenty-one DJs raise money for Katrina, Studio Z hosts "Castle: The Ultimate House," and "Non-Stop Bhangra" lives up to its name

  published October 19, 2005

  For almost two months, the Bay Area music scene has shown its concern and support for the victims of Hurricane Katrina with a steady stream of... More >>

• Chewy Marzolo's b-day and bands, Heavy Trash's wretched rock, and the return of goth pinups Bauhaus

  published October 19, 2005

  Chewy Marzolo has to be one of the most versatile percussionists working in San Francisco. He's been a fixture in the rock scene here for nearly... More >>

• Andy Bell

  published October 19, 2005

  The synth-pop legends of Erasure can still sell out a week of shows in San Francisco or New York as swiftly as they did in their early-'90s... More >>

• Worldly beats abound in S.F. this week: Halou, Gilles Peterson, One Block Radius, and the Cocteau Twins' Robin Guthrie

  published October 12, 2005

  Those looking to ease their friends into the sounds of hip hop without scaring them off in a haze of gangsta posturing might do well to bring... More >>

• JT the Bigga Figga

  published October 12, 2005

  Rapper/producer JT the Bigga Figga, who hails from S.F.'s notorious "Fillmoe" District and once spent time at Priority Records soaking up tycoon... More >>

• Local crew Bayonics drops multiculti hip hop; Timo Maas brings his mixed-up dance sound from Germany

  published October 5, 2005

  With news, interviews, and live footage of local and national artists and DJs, the TV program Distortion 2 Static (airing Sunday nights at... More >>

• Scrawlin' Out

  published October 5, 2005

  Blogs, blogs, blogs -- everyone has his own blog. At last count there were something like three blogs for every man, woman, and child on the... More >>

• T. Raumschmiere's punk rock techno and Tha Alkaholiks' boisterous hip hop

  published September 28, 2005

  Berlin's T. Raumschmiere , aka producer Marco Haas, operates an eclectic record label called Shitkatapult. The label name happens to be a... More >>

• Beat

  published September 21, 2005

  Lots of club promoters try to lure in patrons with drink specials, but few really give people what they want: free meat. Luckily, the aptly named... More >>

• Finders, Tweakers!

  published September 21, 2005

  The world-famous Love Parade returns to San Francisco for its second year here on Saturday, Sept. 24, which means the local dance-music scene will... More >>

• BeatBox

  published September 14, 2005

  Even with groups like Federation and the Frontline garnering international attention for a new generation of Bay Area hip hop, it's still a hard... More >>