Terror Apart, Slusser, Bullshit Detector, Amphibious Gestures, fognozzle, Arachnid Arcade, Hora Flora, Headboggle, Heule / Dryer, Heartworm, Loachfillet, Skullcaster, Liz Allbee/Agnes Szelag, Anvil Encephalopathy
[band order is from first to last]

"Violent, licentious, and rife with bikers, dykes, and depraved demons, the comic art of S. Clay Wilson always made some people wonder if Wilson had mental damage. He didn’t — at least not until an accident early last November left him with severe brain trauma and hospital bills to match. Tonight more than a dozen avant-noise iconoclasts raise benefit funds by doing with sound what a Wilson comic does on the page, i.e., create a dense mess of transgressive weirdness. Sonics range from shivering liquid phantasms (Amphibious Gestures) and fractal-smashing loop fabrications (Skullcaster) to double-bass-and-percussion improvs (Tony Dryer/Jacob Felix Heule duo) and beyond. The odditorium opens at 6 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 11, at the Hemlock Tavern." - SF WEEKLY

Punk Rock Sideshow w/DJ Tragic & the Duchess of Hazard, every Monday

White Cloud

Inca Ore

Coconut
"On holiday from other endeavors — Colter Jacobsen is a visual artist; Tomo Yasuda records solo and plays in Tussle and Hey Willpower; both were part of an earlier group called Window Window and Lets, a side project of Deerhoof's Satomi Matsuzaki — Coconut explores a world of echo at a relaxed pace. Jacobsen and Yasuda are on self-timer.

Now I'm onto another thought: Cocoanut, the silver entry in the duo's blue-silver-yellow CD-R trilogy, is my current favorite. It might be the way "Tide Sun 7th Generation" layers lolling, rolling acoustic melodies while still leaving room for backward masking effects and other little embellishments. It might be the talky, off-kilter, get-your-goat riffs at the beginning of "Tree of No Tree," before a glowing harmonium harmony arrives to transform the composition into a tango for oddballs. It might be that "Vacation (I don't want to go to work)" sounds like it was recorded on a warm day in a barn with a makeshift kitchen." - Johnny Ray Huston, SF Bay Guardian

Aero-Mic'd
"From local musician Wayne Smith comes this *excellent* little slip of a 25-minute album. A record this genre-hopping might in lesser hands be a chore to listen to, but with Aero-Mic'd the first few minutes are just so good that you easily put your trust in wherever he's going to take you. It starts with echoing layers of nefarious percussion, then seamlessly moves into fucked up dub and then lots of gorgeous treated and looped guitar that sounds like the arty instrumentalism of Gastr del Sol mixed with the melodic electronica of Mouse on Mars. It also occasionally reminds us of His Name is Alive and Fennesz. Yeah, it's that good, and that fun to listen to. The arrangement and juxtaposition of the pieces is the key. With the aforementioned Gastr del Sol and Mouse on Mars leanings, plus droning layers of metallic tinny guitarness and shimmering pure, vibrating tones." - Aquarius Records

Elm
Jon from Barn Owl's new solo excursion.

French Disco
"This San Francisco quintet is not French, nor does its sound replicate effervescent Gallic dance music. Instead, French Disco's second EP, Icon, is less Donna Summer and more moody dream pop. Deeply rooted in lo-fi indie, shoegaze, and '90s Brit sounds, Icon references bands such as My Bloody Valentine and Ride, instantly transporting the listener to 1991, a time when distortion pedals ruled and ethereal vocals were de rigueur. "Sugar," which sounds like a mixture of Lush and Oasis, is the requisite drug song, which in this case makes being high sound like eating cupcakes and frolicking in a rose garden." - SF Bay Guardian

The Absinthe Glow

Wild Weekend
"They spent a year riding a style chain going back to The Ramones, The Ronettes, some surf bands, the Go Go's, and of course, Chula Vista's minimalist punk rockers The Zeros." -Sign on San Diego

"San Diego's Wild Weekend started out as a mere tribute band, putting a femme-pop garage-rock twist to their Zeros covers, but their sound was so engagingly unique, they've finally started writing their own future classics." - Falling James, LA Weekly

Sir Lord von Raven
"Rock and roll played by a Brazilian ant colony who ingested 2 tons of coffee, 2 tons of imported spaghetti, dos mil enchiladas, five Chinese alligators, gasoline and tequila cocktails, and kiddie pops. Not to mention shit that dumb people wouldn't understand." - Sir Lord Von Raven

Off Campus

Skin Like Iron
"SST-influenced hardcore partnered with the metallic punk." Scene Point Blank

California Love

Mind
members of Never Healed.