Bay Area favorites The Morning Benders drop their sophomore release, Big Echo, today. Judging by the album’s coastal artwork alone, we might assume that the Berkeley-founded and now Brooklyn-dwelling band is sticking to their beach bum ways. But as The Morning Benders have grown, their techniques have matured as well. Big Echo moves away from [...]

This amazing video features San Francisco’s The Morning Benders performing “Excuses” with The Big Echo Orchestra. Yup, that’s John Vanderslice, Christopher Owens of Girls, and many others. Their anticipated release, Big Echo, is due out March 9th.

The recent Indian summer here in San Francisco is the perfect timing for local group Girls‘ debut, Album. Our city’s definitely still got the taste of summer in our mouths, but let’s face it, San Francisco — like the flings in Girls’ lyrics, those good times are nearly over and the bittersweet taste of Fall [...]

Welcome back to Video Round-Up, where the SD crew picks through the flurry of videos circulating this particular week and posts the highlights.
Seems like slimmer pickings this week. What did we miss?
In the meantime, some video goodness from Bay Area locals Girls, plus Starlight Mints, Memory Cassette, Amanda Blank, Yo La Tengo, Pterodactyl, Antony and [...]

True Panther Sounds set the release date of Girls‘ full-length debut, Album, for September 22, 2009. You may recall we posted “Hellhole Ratrace” back in January.
“Built on the powerful songwriting of Christopher Owens and the ethereal production of Chet “JR” White, Girls recorded Album in a variety of bedrooms and rehearsal studios in their adopted [...]

Welcome to Video Round-Up, where the SD crew picks through the flurry of videos circulating this particular week and posts the highlights.
This week, we’ve got some excellent visual stimulation from Animal Collective, Cursive, White Denim, Blur, Doves, the Gaslight Anthem, St. Vincent, Frightened Rabbit, the Gossip, Sonic Youth, Fever Ray, Girls, the Dead Weather, Phoenix, [...]

Today marks the first full day of Noise Pop concerts, following yesterday’s kickoff party. Tonight’s shows have a little bit for everyone, with plenty of rock (Stephen Malkmus, Deerhunter), folk (The Mountain Goats), pop (Matt Costa) and everything in between (The Pains of Being Pure at Heart).
We’re also happy to see a healthy dose of [...]

Richard Swift – “Lady Luck”
Aquarium Drunkard reports that Richard Swift has finally set a release date for his fourth LP (April 7th, 2009). If the name sounds familiar, you’re probably a Wilco fan like myself — Swift not only opened up for Wilco on the Sky Blue Sky tour, but he also began recording his [...]