Mesh Magazine

By David Ma

A big fan and good friend once told me: “People don’t even see The Mumlers’ use of Soul in their music—the horn arrangements, tempos, and style are like old Soul music”. And that’s when I realized that the young band’s talents are more than manifold. So much so, that their music is often described in broad, overarching terms that limit the sound they actually achieve. (more…)

The Lightning Bug Situation is the solo project of San Francisco guitarist and songwriter Brian Miller, whose new album, A Leaf, A Stream is a beautiful collection of ethereal pop songs influenced by the birth of his daughter and intensely personal moments and recollections of himself, his family, and his friends. A CD release show is being held this Saturday at Amnesia (853 Valencia between 19th & 20th) with special guests The Antiques and The Vision of a Dying World (who will also be The Lightning Bug Situation’s backing band).

The album features recordings of people telling various anecdotes from their lives, which range from funny to nostalgic to almost disturbingly personal, as on “Hitting’s Not Very Effective When You Don’t Have Much of a Punch”, where a woman describes her abusive ex-boyfriend and her attempts to fight back. This, combined with lyrics that cover the thoughts of a new father (on “A Message To Myself After Franny Was Born”, a song driven by harmonized vocals, piano and slide guitar), the experience of putting a pet to sleep (”Topher’s Dead”), and a melancholic fan letter to a musician (”For Dave K.”), gives the album the feeling of reading someone’s diary, and all the intrigue, and at times uncomfortable-ness, that goes with it.

The crescendoing “Iraqi Man and Baby Daughter, 2007″ is a highlight of the album, reflecting the reality and personal horror of wars. It features samples of Dave Mihaly’s string quartet piece “Influences of the Invisible”. Overall, an excellent, ambitious album in its entirety, from Miller, who has played guitar with Jolie Holland for the past eight years (including on Catalpa, Escondida, and Springtime Can Kill You). (more…)

Balazo Gallery
2183 Mission St. @ 18th
Friday November 30 @ 6 pm

My friend Amy Woloszyn is a local bicyclist, political activist & artist who was the victim of a hit & run accident 2 months ago on Capp Street @ 23rd Street.

She suffered a fractured skull, lacerated liver, numerous cuts & bruises and almost died. Now she has to wear a neck brace for the next three months and use a cane to get around. Because she will be out of work for an undetermined amount of time, she & her friends are trying to raise money to pay her bills and rent while she heals.

This benefit will be an art & services auction— paintings, massages, bake sale, that sort of thing with music performances throughout the night. She also has some chef friends who are going to prepare delicious foods.  Come if you can!

Mill Valley is hosting the Love Makers Sustainable Craft Fair this Tuesday from 2PM-8PM. Handcrafted goodness from Molly of 8MM Ideas, Ashley Rose Helvey, Green Dog Designs and Christina from Borrowed, Bought, Stolen make this more than worth the trip across the Golden Gate. In addition, there will be two screen printers on hand from Remade in America, so bring down your own t-shirt and let them do their magic. It all goes down during the Mill Valley Art Walk at 1 El Paseo.

More crafty from these fine folks will also be available:
http://comfies.blogspot.com/
http://www.reginepfanz.com/
http://www.andreasuess.com/
http://www.alittlehouseintheclouds.blogspot.com/
http://www.fielddaywearables.com/ ( Trinity Cross)
www.enzogarcia.com

At a Burger King in Chico, CA–maybe at all Burger Kings, I don’t really know–they had these prints by Greg Brown which featured personified fruits and vegetables in various situations, such as the two rescues seen below. I’m sure these are right up there with “Dogs Playing Poker” for those of you with taste, I thought they were pretty cool. And while I don’t think that Maria Forde drew on these for inspiration, she has created a series of Fetching Veggie Etchings, which can be seen at Little Tree Gallery (3412 - 22nd Street @ Guerrero) beginning this Saturday, December 1st. In the multimedia pieces she “gives life to a variety of under-appreciated vegetables, from kale to squash, green beans to corn.”

The show continues through December 22nd.

Creativity Explored kicks off its annual holiday art sale next week, from Friday, December 7th to Sunday, December 9th (and the sale continues through December 28th). They are selling thousands of pieces of art created by the men and women who work in the studio. Creativity Explored is a great organization gives people with developmental disabilities a venue to create, display and sell their art.

This year, you can get temporary tattoos by one of my favorite artists, John Patrick Mckenzie, and James Montgomery. Also, Imaginationally, the second book by Michael Bernard Loggins will be on sale. The book is a dictionary of made-up words, from ‘hectical’ (very busy at work for 48 hours) to ‘troublemakerhood’ (a neighborhood where troublemakers hang out).

Creativity Explored is located at 3245-16th Street @ Guerrero Street. 415.863.2108

This exhibit at Giant Robot features the work of artist-illustrator-crafter Susie Ghahremani. A graduate of RISD, she’s worked for Nickelodeon, Chronicle Books, and The New York Times. The artwork in this exhibit conists of animals & musical instruments. Check out pictures from the opening earlier this month.

Fecal Face just introduced me to the work of Oakland artist Marci Washington via this interview. Seems like every new artist I get into is a graduate of California College of the Arts and Crafts. I love the way she describes her most recent work:

“It’s like I’m illustrating a novel that doesn’t exist. If it did, it would probably be a lot like Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, or Bleak House- novels which function as social commentary as well as beautiful romantic epics.”

Spooky and beautiful and tragic … all her images express so much pain and loneliness whether it’s a gold chandelier shining brightly in an otherwise empty & pitch black room, a body floating down some misty river or a woman frozen in place, transfixed by her reflection.

I was introduced to Casey Jex Smith at the Marin Headlands Fall Open House in October and really liked his use of color and geometric shapes. Now he is just one of the artists featured in “The There There,” an exhibition of East Bay artists at the Esteban Sabar Gallery in Oakland. Other artists include Derek Weisberg, Josh Keyes and Crystal Morey and proceeds from the show will help pay medical bills of local writer & curator Theo Konrad Auer.

For the Duration opens this Friday at The Spare Room Project (270 Anderson Street, San Francisco), the living room of Erin McElroy & Lauren Anderson. The show, curated by Jason Kalogiros, explores visual conceptions of time, hoping to provide answers to the question, what would time look like? The show features art from Guy Overfelt (among others), who’s art has been wide ranging, though often focused on aspects of hot-rodding. Hopefully The Spare Room Project doesn’t blow up on Myspace.