Grizzly Bear just released a video for Veckatimest’s “Ready, Able”. The Grizz tapped artist Allison Schulnik to helm the project, a beautifully dark stop-motion piece.

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. . . Port O’Brien, Geographer, Grand Lake . . .

All this makes for a ridiculous amount of local talent within just one day’s time. Let us count the ways:

1) TONIGHT, Thursday, November 5th: Tempo No Tempo, Man/Miracle, Maus Haus at the Rickshaw Stop. 8:00 p.m., $10.

2) TONIGHT, Thursday, November 5th: Grand Lake, the Happy Hollows, Rad Cloud at Thee Parkside, presented by Wiretap Music. 9:00 p.m., $6, 21+.

3) TONIGHT, Thursday, November 5th: Port O’Brien, Geographer, Golden Gram at Bottom of the Hill. 9:00 p.m., $12, all ages.

Simply pick the Rickshaw, Thee Parkside, or Bottom of the Hill, and see what the Bay Area music scene truly has to offer.

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Slim’s is the place to be tonight, Wednesday, November 4th. On the bill: White Rabbits, Local Natives, and Glass Ghost.

White Rabbits are currently on tour in support of It’s Frightening (produced by Britt Daniel of Spoon), their excellent second full-length album full of thumping, nimble indie rock. Combined with the support from Local Natives and Glass Ghost, this night promises all sorts of ruckus, straightforward rock and roll, from start to finish. The show starts at 8:00 p.m. and costs $15.

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Gainsbourg’s forthcoming LP, IRM, features the handy-work of Beck who writes, produces and mixes multiple tracks. There’s even a duet between the two on “Heaven Can Wait”.

Even more intriguing is the fact that the entire album addresses the MRI hell that Gainsbourg had to endure after suffering a brain hemorrhage in a 2007 waterskiing accident. How literal does it get? On the amazing title track, blips, hums and buzzes of an MRI scan are used to create an amazing “sonic landscape” for Gainsbourg’s vocals.

Air France’s remix of St. Etienne’s “Spring” was made in order to remind us all that early-’90s dance hits from England rule. At least I think that explains the accompanying video which features some pretty fantastic old film footage: Nudity? Check. People wearing animal masks? Check. A random cop? Triple check. Yes, Swedish bands are crazy. Just be quiet and add this to your party mix.

Folk masters Will Johnson and Jason Molina first met each other at a gig in 2007. Apparently they hit it off because they recently released Molina and Johnson on Secretly Canadian in between their other duties with Centro-matic, South San Gabriel; Magnolia Electric Co. and Songs: Ohia (and you think you’re busy?).

Check out “Twenty Cycles to the Ground,” an inspiring tune that pairs sparse harmonies with dry acoustic guitar and sliding organ lines.

Today is your final chance to enter our ticket giveaway for Leonard Cohen’s upcoming show at HP Pavillion on November 13. Head over to our original contest post to enter. The winner will be picked at random and announced tomorrow.

In honor of one of our favorite holidays, we’ve put together a Halloween playlist that’s sure to scare you into the spirit. Costumes and candy are a good start, but nothing puts the fright into Halloween like a creepy playlist. With both tricks and treats included, these scary songs will make the perfect haunted soundtrack to your spooky night.

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The Dodos‘ Meric Long and Logan Kroeber combined their loves of country picking, West African Ewe drumming and heavy metal to create one of the more unique indie rock outfits today. No longer just the pride of San Francisco, their percussive and eclectic sound have made fans in all corners — from the headquarters of the hipster elite to the hallowed pages of the New York Times and all the way to Milwaukee.

Our very own Katie Bain caught up with drummer Logan Kroeber before a homecoming gig at Bimbo’s 365 Club this Thursday, October 28th, and talked about 2009’s Time to Die, his favorite Bay Area bands and his pick for an extinct animal showdown.

Stranger Dance: Are there any major differences between Time to Die and Visiter? Has your sound evolved?
Logan Kroeber: I would say there are differences for sure. The biggest being the production style and also a more refined and less frantic feel to the songs.

SD: How does the San Francisco music scene compare to larger cities like LA and New York? Who are your favorite neighbor bands?
LK: NY and LA seem to draw in more transplants than SF does, but I love the state of music in SF right now. Some of our most neighborly bands would be Thee Oh Sees and Spencey Dude.

SD: How do you feel about the critical acclaim that Visiter received? Did you expect such a response?
LK: That whole experience was very weird. We were not expecting it but were most certainly hoping for it. It did us a lot of good but after a while we could see a lot of attention was based on hype, which is not a stable thing.

SD: Did that acclaim create any sense of pressure in relation to making the new album?
LK: Yes, but we tried to avoid those feelings as much as possible, but they were always lurking in the background somewhere.

SD: Your upcoming touring schedule brings you all over Europe. Is this your largest tour to date? Is there a particular city you’re excited to play?
LK: It’s one of the bigger ones if not the biggest, and I think Spain is calling to us as a whole.

SD: What’s your favorite venue to play?
LK: I love venues that have rooms for the band on site. Nothing finer than finishing a show, a little celebration then stumbling up a flight of stairs to your bed.

SD: What have you been listening to recently?
LK: The new Ruby Suns record, it comes out in March. Also Diamatregon.

SD: You get put, perhaps unfairly, among contemporaries like Iron & Wine, Fleet Foxes, Animal Collective, etc. Do you think these comparisons are accurate? Can your music be categorized? Do you think categorization is limiting?
LK: There are shared elements among all of our bands so I guess it’s not too far fetched. Categorization is difficult to do but is a necessary evil.

SD: Is there anyone you’d like to collaborate with?
LK: We’ve always talked about a bass player of some sort but I couldn’t tell you who.

SD: Was there a moment when you felt as though you’d “made it”?
LK: As we were driving through California at the beginning of our 2008 tour on our way to SXSW. We were listening to Jay Reatard I think. We had by no means made it at that point but I felt that we had already surpassed my expectations.

SD: Extinct animal faceoff: Dodo vs. Tasmanian Tiger. Who wins?
LK: Tasmanian tiger in the 2nd round.

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After surviving rumors of a split-up, Field Music has confirmed plans to release a 20-track album in the earlier part of 2010. Our first listen is the title track, “Measure,” which features some nice string work alongside a delayed drum beat. Although I assume a larger tour is in the works, the band has only set two initial U.S. dates in Brooklyn and Chicago for December.

San Francisco’s The Mantles recently released a limited 7″ entitled Bad Design which includes two tracks not available on their self-titled debut. If you’re like me and this is your first intro to the band, they are most often described as a psychedelic 80s garage throwback — fans of the Black Lips should enjoy. Catch them live at the Hemlock on Polk Street, November 7th.

After a leak hit the internet, James Murphy decided to give away his cover of Alan Vega’s “Bye Bye Bayou” for free. But don’t worry — I’m sure LCD Soundsystem didn’t mind seizing the opportunity to promote their followup to Sound of Silver which is due out in March 2010.

All photos by Brittany Nelson & Christine Campbell

I sure hope that any dance-hating Bay Area citizens were far away from Treasure Island last Saturday, because the first day of the festival was a 12-hour ass-shaking, arm-waving, beat-dropping, jump-up-and-down, pump-your-fist-in-the-air-like-you-mean-it kind of day.

Our day of music started at the Bridge Stage where LA’s Murs threw down awesome, conversational rhymes about his dreads, (”some people got a hundred, I got about nine”), his girlfriend and his desire to hang out with girls he meets at shows. He was tight, and I would totally kick it with him if ever given the chance.

Also tight: personal space in the second row at Passion Pit’s afternoon engagement on the Bridge Stage. Crammed hoodie to hoodie with the excited young crowd assembled there was the perfect vantage point from which to really take in PP’s fully satisfying and impressively cogent set. Everyone young (the joyful quartet of underage girls), and old (me, next to them) tore up the singalongs, and there was no place I would have rather been at 3-ish p.m. on Saturday than there, screaming “higher and higher and higher” under the hot Indian Summer sun with the joyful youth of greater San Francisco. Vocalist Michael Angelakos’ upper range wail held up impressively well, and I think we all appreciated how happy and encouraged keyboardist Ayad Al Adhamy appeared to be when he stood on an amp and gazed out at the sprawling, dazzled crowd while his smiling bandmates looked on. Good moment for them. Good moment for us.

Next came DJ Krush on the Tunnel Stage. And Hells to the YES! The Tokyo turntablist did a chill, ambient set of trip hop that included base we all felt in our feet, stomachs and throat. It was the perfect show for the late afternoon stretch, and he seemed sincerely appreciate of the enthusiastic crowd response. Always cool.

A bathroom break/beer run/food grab (the knishes were killer!) trumped most of Brazilian Girls‘ set, but singer Sabina Sciubba’s pretty, sexy voice was the loveliest soundtrack to the spectacularly orange sunset over the bay during the part we caught.

Being generally uncool, I had no idea what was in store when MSTRKFRT took the Bridge Stage. The Toronto duo completely engaged the sea of bodies in a high-energy dance party, set off from samples from JUSTICE and Queen. The electronica get down was made all the more impressive by the shimmery, frenetic on-screen visuals that accompanied the beats.

And then Girl Talk happened. I know I whined about his subpar performance at Bonnaroo, but the man took the stage at Treasure Island and proved why he’s the best in the mashup game, end of story. The inspired set included very danceable material from E.L.O. and Tears for Fears, and the highlight/showstealer was a perfectly timed finale of fireworks that coincided with the climax of “Shout”. It made us wanna.

No sooner had the final strains of Girl Talks’ signature “Juicy/Tiny Dancer” mix ended than the instantly recognizable opening chords of “Time to Pretend” wafted from the Bridge Stage, inspiring the crowds to run across the field towards MGMT while singing “I’m feeling rough, I’m feeling raw, I’m in the prime of my life,” and feeling very much that we were. It was a good scene. The band ripped through the best of Oracular Spectacular immediately and then launched into a glut of new material, which proved unequivocally that the Brooklyn-based band is a full-on force of psychedelic rock, a notion exacerbated by their great big kaleidoscopic visual show. Their live show is a force to be reckoned with and the performance bodes very well for the band’s forthcoming second LP Congratulations.

And just when all the tired bodies thought the day and the dancing were over, the Bay Area’s DJ Morale threw down one last set of dance tracks that provided the dedicated with one more chance to get down. And we did. And it was an ideal ending to an ideal day.

While waiting (and waiting) to get on a bus off the island, we ran into Robert Bose, the man responsible for the festival’s whimsical balloon chain in the sky. Bose said the chain he created for Treasure Island included 120 (ish) balloons, each attached to an LED light and secured to fishing wire. (He created a MILE-LONG, 250-balloon chain awhile back at Burning Man). Check out his website and thank him for his pretty ripple in the sky.