I was so happy to see friends play at the 9th Street Independent Film Center in San Francisco last night. MC Schmidt from Matmos and the Lemurians performed to a zealously focused group of friends and colleagues. Overlap artist Nate Boyce provided explosive video, a frenetic whirl of 1960′s psychedelic color and chip art.
Almost needless to be said, it was an intense bunch of music nerds that gathered for the show. One exception: a pair of Burner kids — one of whom was sporting impressive Michael Bolton-esque locks — had to leave halfway through Martin’s set to figure out what to do with themselves. Personally, I think the intensity of Martin’s set is his way of roaring to the world!! The Lemurians played moody, freeform music reminiscent of Kammerflimmer with strong elements of kraut rock. I can see Tyler’s been having fun with his old synths.
As we were leaving, a homeless guy stopped us to rant in mock-Chinese-Japanese-I-don’t-know-what-I’m-saying-cos-I’m-so-high… he was truly gone and probably wouldn’t have understood our stunned faces anyway, so we just left.
To soothe our spirits, we went for drinks at the Phone Booth where we joined all the smoking hipsters who couldn’t make it to Marlena’s on Hayes Street. As we avoided getting hit by cue sticks from the pool table beside us, Juan showed off his ex-kitty while Martin recounted the days of his errant youthhood in Germany. Then a random dood named C. asked if I would feed him a soybean wrapped in a piece of squid. My reaction was something along the lines of #?%! but C. proceeded to tell me of his favorite massage parlor in the Tenderloin, where he and older white gentlemen go on payday to be offered such delicacies by illegal Korean women. I was glad to know I fit into his cognitive map of “Asian culture” in such savory ways.
We finished the night off with hot hot hot tamales from the tamale lady, and as we stepped out into the rainy street I found a twenty-dollar bill lying next to the corner. ‘Twas my lucky night!
