Mesh Magazine

Ring in the New Year with a no-cost good time at one of our favorite dives tonight, as DJ Jet Set James spins ’80s, new wave, Britpop, indie, punk rock jams at Delirium (16th Street between Valencia & Guerrero).

Dengue Fever
The Gomorran
Social Aid & Pleasure Club
plus DJs
Jimmy Love (Non-Stop Bhangra)
Trev (Volume)
$30
Presented by KCRW

Dengue Fever rides in like an epidemic to The Rickshaw Stop this New Year’s Eve. In honor, we reach back into the Mesh vaults for this interview with the band:

Sudden Outbreak
Dengue Fever’s Zac Holtzman lets us in on the band’s dance tunes and dark themes.
By Paul Romo

Inside a Cambodian restaurant, just south of Los Angeles, Dengue Fever brought business to a complete halt. After finishing dinner, the band performed a few songs at the request of the owners and was unexpectedly surprised by a gathering near the kitchen. “When I started singing, they were pulling cooks from the back of the restaurant,” said guitarist and vocalist Zac Holtzman.

Playing a kaleidoscope of styles that draws from Ethiopian jazz, Bollywood soundtracks, surf/garage rock and Southeast Asian ’60s psychedelic pop, the group’s songs are all sung in Khmer, the official language of Cambodia-which Holtzman does not speak, but sings in convincingly. And while Dengue Fever frontwoman Ch’hom Nimol holds down the majority of vocal duties, Holtzman still makes time to learn Khmer, or at least pronounce it.

To practice the lyrics, Holtzman loaded up some tapes and a book, and retreated to Joshua Tree where a couple running an eatery helped him with his studies. “For the most part, when I learn a song, I learn it phonetically. Some I sing like an Italian opera piece,” he said.

(more…)

For those of you looking to ring in the new year with some balls to the wall rock, 12 Galaxies presents a show that promises to match the seismic activity we’ve been feeling of late. Headliners The Fucking Champs have a lot of fans, like this person, who sent the band some love via email:

your music and your life must really suck to have to have such a name to  get peoples attention. I just came upon this
and I am very saddened for  all of  you, I will pray for you all and hope your lives will be worth something meaningful,
so sorry for ya all, God Bless You.

Drunk Horse brings the riffage for the evening, with massive guitars that preside over their ’70s-influenced sounds. San Diego’s Earthless create noisy, psychedelic epics that will threaten to end 2007 before it begins. The amazing one-man noise band, Ezee Tiger will be playing upstairs. $15.

I love SF. LOVE IT. It just keeps getting better and better here.

This will be most excellent. I happen to know who the secret guest is. It is VERY well worth it.

Blasthaus Big Smile Tigerbeat6 Kontrol Present:
Much: A Truly Outrageous New Year’s Eve Extravaganza
C.L.A.W.S. & Mr. Saturday
Dat Politics
KID 606
Craig Kuna
SuperSecretGuests
Official Tourist
Alland Byallo
Baby Ryan
Dead Swayze & More!
$15, 21+
RSVP to bigsmilesf@gmail.com
Venue TBA in Downtown San Francisco
Tix @ Blasthaus.com/calendar.html

For those about to rock, catch Birdmonster, Boyskout & The Blacks at Bottom of the Hill on New Year’s. Boyskout just announced that they are leaving San Francisco for Brooklyn, making this your last chance to catch them before the move. Birdmonster sent out an e-mail promising to draw one lucky person’s name who will then get a live Birdmonster show direct in their living room. You need to send a copy of your pre-sale receipt to birdmonster@gmail.com to enter.

From Birdmonster: “We will randomly select a winner and announce it here after the New Year. As long as you live in the continental United States (sorry Alaska and Hawaii), we’ll stop by your place on our next tour.”

Buy tickets for $19.99 in advance here. $20 at the door. All Ages

With the streamers hanging from the ceiling year-round, it always kind of feels like New Year’s Eve at The Make-Out Room. This year, the venue hosts Club Neon, of Monday night fame. Expect the regular Neon DJs to cut it up with a mix of ’90s, hip-hop, electro and indie, and a real, good, debaucherous time to be had by all. Tickets are $10, making this a New Year’s Eve bargain if you can handle a packed bar. Free champagne toast at midnight.

Today we begin the 12 (well, 13) Days of New Year’s, where we’ll be bringing you only the best New Year’s options in the Bay. So, if you want to go out and mingle with the masses on amateur night, keep checking back for updates. Or, just add our RSS feed if you’re a nerd like me. We’ll also throw in a few hints for off the map after parties if you want to keep the party going long past midnight.

With a show that is sure to turn the party out, The Independent hosts Lyrics Born, Zion I and Crown City Rockers. The ticket price is a staggering $80, but includes an open bar. Oh damn. That could be some serious trouble. Above is the second issue of Mesh Magazine, with Lyrics Born artwork by John Stewart. Get your tickets from The Independent.