Art, Music And Puppets On The Weekend Preview

We're coming up on the last weekend before the Holidays begin. The last weekend before family gatherings, decorating, present shopping and Holiday parties crowd your agenda. So, how about something completely different: maybe accordians, puppets, art shows on loading docks. We'll be talking about unusual and interesting ways to fill up the weekend.

GUESTS:

Kinsee Morlan- arts editor for City Beat magazine

Peter Holslin - music editor for City Beat

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I'm Maureen Cavanaugh and You're listening to These Days on KPBS. We're coming up on the last weekend before the holidays begin, the last weekend before family gatherings and decorating and present shopping and holiday parties crowd your agenda. So how about something completely different? Maybe accordions, puppets, art shows on loading docks? For the rest of the hour we'll be talking about unusual and interesting ways to fill up the weekend. I'd like to welcome my gets, Kinsee Morlan is arts editor for Citybeat magazine. Good morning.

KINSEE MORLAN: Good morning, thanks for having me.

MAUREEN CAVANAUGH: And Peter Holslin is music editor for CityBeat magazine. Good morning, Peter.

PETER HOLSLIN: Good morning, Maureen, thank you for having me.

MAUREEN CAVANAUGH: Well, let's lovely to see you both. Let's start out with this art project on the loading dock. SDSU's downtown gallery, an art project's taking place. Tell us more about it, and why on the loading dock.

KINSEE MORLAN: Well, I told I was gonna stir up some controversy off the air. Let me just say that San Diego is very much a UCSDs MFAs kind of art town, everywhere you go, the Here Not There show this summer, a lot of MFA students, the California biennial up in view right now, lots of MFA UCSD students. But lately I have been noticing a lot more SDSU art involved shows. So there was one a few weeks ago, recent SDSU graduates, there's one opening this weekend up in Oceanside, let me look, it's called into the light, SDSU graduate artists. Then of course there's this thing, which is literally an artist, Jim Cavolt, who is an SDSU alum, who will be doing an installation right on the loading dock of this gallery right downtown. So it sounds pretty cool.

MAUREEN CAVANAUGH: It does sound cool. Now, are you trying to stir up some sort of art world -- you know --

KINSEE MORLAN: Well, it is -- you know, go Aztecs. I'm an SDSU alum. So let's get out there SDSU more and more, and take on the UCSD program. Go Aztecs! So yeah, I'm not the only one, there are people in the art world who would agree with me that it's kind of time to get a challenge out there.

PETER HOLSLIN: Step it up.

MAUREEN CAVANAUGH: Tell us more about what we're gonna be seeing on the loading dock. Do we have any idea of what kind of installation it's going to be.

KINSEE MORLAN: You know, I tried to call Jim this morning, but he's not listed in the white pages. People, list yourself! He's not on the Facebook, how am I supposed to get ahold of you? But anyway, I looked at it as art, and read the curator's piece. But it looks like he's really into controlled lights, he likes the idea of sensory over load, so it's gonna be very texturalized, picture a lot of different materials and controlled light, basically.

MAUREEN CAVANAUGH: Is the public gonna get a chance to see this installation being put up?

KINSEE MORLAN: We missed the boat on that Juan.

PETER HOLSLIN: Was was.

KINSEE MORLAN: Yeah, oops. That was last weekend. So the public is invited for these dock installations to go by and actually interact with the artist. It's encouraged.

MAUREEN CAVANAUGH: I see.

KINSEE MORLAN: So that has already past, and the open suggest this weekend. Will but keep your eye on this. It's new, it's exciting. I think some things are gonna come out of it. And actually in the main gallery, there's a show of three SDSU alum artists.

MAUREEN CAVANAUGH: So this is again SDSU's downtown gallery loading dock. It opens this weekend and runs through November 29th. Now, Peter, there will be some musical performances at Boar's Crossin' in Carlsbad tonight. Can you tell us what's going on well?

PETER HOLSLIN: Sure, I don't know if a whole lot of people know this, but North County actually has a really great hip hop scene. There's a ton of artists in North County. And so this is kind of like a -- it's a monthly showcase called lyrical school yard, and it's put on by Kid Riz who's a prominent hip hop promoter and DJ who's pretty active in the North County scene. And a lot of artists on the bill are all top quality North County hip hop acts. But the headliner is a really interesting dude of his name is Amad, and he's from Southcentral LA, and he got -- he's a graduate of Stanford. And he got really big in the early 90s with a song called back in the day, which is this kind of nostalgic hip hop track about being younger and, like, fooling around and hating school. Of and then kind of wishing that could go back, you know, and be young again.

[AUDIENCE LAUGHING]

MAUREEN CAVANAUGH: Oh, yeah, as all of us recently out of college wish we could go back again. Before you go on, though, Peter, I want that talk a little bit about this venue, because Boar Crossin' isn't one we usually talk about on weekend previews. So where is it and what's it like?

PETER HOLSLIN: Well, you know, I actually have never been there.

MAUREEN CAVANAUGH: So you're one of those people who haven't been there yet. Okay.

PETER HOLSLIN: I am. I am one of those people. But from what I understand, it's a pretty cool bar. And I do all their listings every week. They usually have shows on Thursdays and solids. Usually it's like reggae and rock bands.

MAUREEN CAVANAUGH: Now, have you not been there because it's in North County? Fess up.

KINSEE MORLAN: He doesn't have a car. That would be a trek for him.

PETER HOLSLIN: I would have to get up at 8:00 in the morning to make it to the 7:00 o'clock show.

MAUREEN CAVANAUGH: Now, I know you wanted to talk more about Blame One. What can you tell us about him?

PETER HOLSLIN: Blame One is a really interesting dude. He's been around for a long time, he's kind of like a local legend. And Quan Vu wrote a really great feature about him in this week's issue of CityBeat. So I suggest you go pick it up and read it. Basically what happened, he lost his job, he got laid off because of the recession, so now he's pursuing hip hop full time. So he gets up in the morning and goes through all the beats that he gets sent. And you know, he writes rhymes and he does it in eight-hour shifts every day. And he's a working man.

MAUREEN CAVANAUGH: He's a hip hop machine.

PETER HOLSLIN: (REPEAT LAST PHRASE). Indeed. And I guess he gets by doing it, he makes enough money to help support his family with his wife's support as well.

MAUREEN CAVANAUGH: Let's listen to one of his songs. This is right to exist from his new album endurance.

(Audio Recording Played).

MAUREEN CAVANAUGH: North County's hip hop machine, Blame One, his right to exist from his album Endurance. What are his performances like, Peter?

PETER HOLSLIN: Well, his whole thing is he's just a very honest, straight up dude. So his live perform apses issue he's, like, talking with the audience and having drinks, and you know, he's a very, like, he keeps it real, you know?

KINSEE MORLAN: Does he get his entire crew up on the stage? Like 20 people? That's my one annoyances when that happens at hip hop shows. You know?

PETER HOLSLIN: Yeah, I don't know if he has a big entourage.

KINSEE MORLAN: Okay.

MAUREEN CAVANAUGH: So is it Blame One, Amad? Are there gonna be other artists performing?

PETER HOLSLIN: The other artists are, like, a bunch of North County dudes. Let's see, there's the breaks, which is a hip hop and spoken word trio from San Marcos. And DJ Charley Rock is this guy who's been around, like, for a long time in San Diego.

MAUREEN CAVANAUGH: And we're gonna have to leave it there. Blame One performs at Boar Crossin' in Carlsbad, and we'll make it up there, sooner or later ,tonight. And we have to take a short break, when we return, more weekend preview, you're listening to These Days on KPBS.

Welcome back, You're listening to These Days on KPBS, and the weekend review continues. My guests are Kinsee Morlan arts editor for CityBeat Magazine. And Peter Holslin is music editor for the same magazine, CityBeat. And we move on to another one of our unusual recommendations this week, Kinsee. It is the queen bee screening of Repo, the Genetic Opera this Saturday and it's a shadow cast. Tell us a little bit about the film and the concept of shadow cast.

KINSEE MORLAN: Beth Accomando, your film reviewer has my back. Of this is a great movie. I know she likes it. She was actually at one of the screenings where the directors came into town, and I saw her and her son, and gave me that knowing look. So Repo is a horror rock opera about a time in the not too distant future when massive organ failures have struck all of humanity, which leads people to start financing their organs. And when they can't make payments, when they default on their organ payments, of course the Repo man has to come.

PETER HOLSLIN: He's gotta go pick it up!

KINSEE MORLAN: And repossess, you know, your heart.

MAUREEN CAVANAUGH: Kind of like the movie that was just out last year, right? With what's -- oh, I'm gonna -- forest wit customer and -- yeah. Okay.

KINSEE MORLAN: Oh, man! There's Beth Accomando when you need her? Come on, orranders. Film people. So yeah, it's one of my favorite movies and my husband shudders when I say that, you about I know there are hordes of 13-year-olds out there who are also on my side. It's kind of becoming a cult classic out there, a lot like rocky horror picture show. And in fact auto -- I mean, some people are saying it's going to be the new rocky horror.

MAUREEN CAVANAUGH: So the shadow cast is people actually, like, performing along with the movie? Is that what it is?

KINSEE MORLAN: Have you been to a rocky horror picture show?

MAUREEN CAVANAUGH: No.

KINSEE MORLAN: You gotta do it! Have you, Peter? It's so much fun. So it's the same idea, where you have these obsessive fans or A, can A actors who really bring the show to life right in the isles of your movie theatre and there's this whole rehearsed thing, and you can actually go on the elective -- the local shadow cast is called elected surgery, you can go on the website and print out cues. So right from the title opening, there are things you need to say. And you can look at the script so that you won't be left out when you go in. So it's audience participation, actors, and just an all around good time. If you actually want to go and watch the movie, don't go to this. Because there's so much chaos going on that it's more of an experience.

MAUREEN CAVANAUGH: Tell us a little bit more about the group that's actually gonna be performing this shadow cast.

KINSEE MORLAN: Yeah, well, they are a group of hard core Repo fans and they used to have kind of a residence at Ken theatre and they did not get their contract renewed, sadly. I know. So this is their first run at this venue, at queen bee's, and they're just, like I said, they do open calls so if you yourself are a fan like I am, maybe I'll apply one day to be on the shadow cast. You can join in the cast and be one of them. And the music is the best part. I'm kind of sad that Kurt Conan, your music man behind the scenes, didn't pull up a track for us, this music is, like, industrial rock meets opera.

MAUREEN CAVANAUGH: Well, it's just enticing more people to go and actually experience it. The one they was thinking of, the movie that has nothing to do with this particular musical is the one with Jude Law last year called Repoman.

KINSEE MORLAN: Right, right.

MAUREEN CAVANAUGH: But this is it Repo, the Genetic Opera. It'll be screened and shadow cast at queen bee's in Northpark this Saturday night. We move on to Guy Klucevsek and his accordion. Peter, tell us more.

PETER HOLSLIN: Well, Guy is not your average shifty street performer with the monkey playing a music box.

KINSEE MORLAN: And what is your problem with street performers?

PETER HOLSLIN: I have -- mind you, I have nothing against street performers. I love street performers, but this guy is not a street performer. This is a world renowned accordionist and composer. And he's worked with just a TUN of different people, he's played with the Kronos Quartet, Natally Merchant, Anthony Braxton, he's performed with John Zorn who is just this all around freak and avant-garde composer and madman. And like I said, he's also a composer so he's written a number of musical and theatre pieces including one called squeeze play. And most importantly, he has been on Mr. Rogers's neighborhood.

MAUREEN CAVANAUGH: Okay. Well, there's the bona fides right there. I think I want to give people a sample of this, because I think they'll say -- they'll hear immediately what you're talking about. This is Guy Klucevsek, and it's a song called stolen memories.

(Audio Recording Played).

MAUREEN CAVANAUGH: That is accordionist and composer Guy Klucevsek performing stolen memories from the album of the same name. And I don't know, there's something about the idea of playing an accordion, but that's really beautiful. He plays jazz with jazz and improvisation musicians. Have you seen him perform, Peter?

PETER HOLSLIN: I have not seen him perform but I would really like to see him perform. And I've seen YouTube videos, and you know, he's a very talented guy. He plays -- I mean, he plays jazz, but he also plays, like, 20th century classical music like bella bar to be, and stuff like that, so he's just very well rounded and you know, he's --

KINSEE MORLAN: Master of the old squeeze box?

MAUREEN CAVANAUGH: It's a different kind of squeeze box when he plays it. Guy Klucevsek is playing the Sushi and Performance Art Venue this friday. Now Velvet Claw Studio Grand opening, Kinsee, at liberty station. Tell us more about this.

KINSEE MORLAN: It's one of the founders of Northpark craft mafia, Theresa. And this is her first brick and mortar attempt at selling her handmade goods of it's also gonna be a screen printing and graphics design studio, and it's the liberty station, which as we all know is trying really hard to be another art center here in San Diego. So chalk one more up for liberty station.

MAUREEN CAVANAUGH: Do we have any idea what's going to be on sale.

KINSEE MORLAN: Yeah, hand made bags, jewelry, clothes. I've seen her stuff before, and maybe it's more of theim sa, but maybe she stepped it up. And it's all at the store now. So yeah, handmade goods.

MAUREEN CAVANAUGH: Okay. And the opening, the grand opening reception is this Saruday night, that's the Velvet Claw Studio in liberty station. We have to take another short break. When we return, it's even more weekend preview coming up.

KINSEE MORLAN: Yay!

PETER HOLSLIN: Woo-hoo!

MAUREEN CAVANAUGH: You're listening to These Days on KPBS.

You're listening to These Days on KPBS I'm Maureen Cavanaugh, and our weekend preview continues with my guests, Kinsee Morlan, Peter Holslin, both from CityBeat. And we're talking about a variety of unusual things going on around the weekend coming up. We move on to David Liebe Hart, performing at Tin Can Ale House, and Peter, here's an interesting performer there, tell us about him.

PETER HOLSLIN: David Liebe Hart is truly interesting. He is a Los Angeles based puppeteer, a song writer, a street performer, and an avowed Christian scientist who does puppet shows on a public access TV program in LA called the Junior Christian Science Bible Lesson Program. That's a mouthful. He's also frequently appeared on the Adultswim sketch comedy show, Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job. And he is just a true character.

MAUREEN CAVANAUGH: So what does he actually -- he doesn't perform -- does he perform with puppets, is he gonna bring his puppets down here?

PETER HOLSLIN: I would assume he's gonna perform with his puppets all of the videos I've seen of him, he's performing with his puppets. And let me tell you, he has many different puppets. He has this enormous raccoon, and there's another one that's called Doug the Dog. And there's another one that's just a normal little kid. And they all have different personalities, and he's got this kind of funny voice, and some of the puppets are like slow witted and they're really goofy, and it's hard to understand what he's saying but it's just super goofy.

MAUREEN CAVANAUGH: Is this campy in in any way or is it straight on?

PETER HOLSLIN: I still haven't been able to figure out if the guy is serious or not.

MAUREEN CAVANAUGH: One thing about this performer, David Liebe heart, is that he claims that he's been abducted by aliens.

PETER HOLSLIN: Yeah, when he was a young boy, he said that he was abducted by Caridian aliens from the Carindor system, and I don't know what that is. I looked it up.

MAUREEN CAVANAUGH: I don't think you're alone in that Peter.

PETER HOLSLIN: I think that might be made up or something. But apparently they took skin and blood samples and they actually look like real human beings and he wrote this amazing song called sallow may about the caridian greeting and it's almost like this Frank Sinatra, he's got this really upbeat Frank Sinatra voice, and the line is "go into the light until we meet again." And he's singing in, like, a Frank Sinatra voice.

KINSEE MORLAN: Either this guy is insane or he's a genius marketer.

PETER HOLSLIN: Or both.

MAUREEN CAVANAUGH: What can you tell us about the other performers who'll be playing? Do you think they're gonna fit in with David?

PETER HOLSLIN: They definitely will. In keeping with the puppet theme, San Diego's own Satanic Puppeteer Orchestra will perform. They're a really wacky electronic band, and the front man is in fact a giant human sized robot that sings with a robot voice.

KINSEE MORLAN: I've seen him. I think it's only two people. I think it's just the robot and the robot's creator. And sometimes he hands out cardboard instruments so you can play along with the robot.

MAUREEN CAVANAUGH: Hey, there's a theme here. I'm sensing a theme. David Liebe Hart and other musical guests will be playing at the tin can ale house on 5th avenue in Banker's Hill, that's coming up next Tuesday. Sooner than that, though, Kinsee, for people who like bikes and culture, they have something to do on Saturday. Tell us about it.

KINSEE MORLAN: Yay, I'm really excited about this event. Because it's the first time they've done it. It's called bike the Boulevard which the brain child of barrow foreman who has been called the unofficial mayor of El Cajon boulevard. And you know, that's -- it's a street with a lot of history. Some of it, you know, a little shady.

PETER HOLSLIN: A little bit sketchy.

KINSEE MORLAN: But these days, it's experiencing a bit of a renaissance. Of the and so this event is meant to kind of show off the new businesses along El Cajon boulevard.

MAUREEN CAVANAUGH: So what businesses are gonna be shown off? What are the destinations on this bike route?

KINSEE MORLAN: I think they're meeting at noon at live war bar, and that street right there, you just walk next door, there's a pizzeria, Luigi's, and Bedouin Vintage shop which is a very cool art and vintage clothing and show shop, and then they're gonna head east and hit up some of the other bars like Soda Bar and Till Two, which used to be the beauty bar. I'm a little disappointed that they're not stopping at Lips.

PETER HOLSLIN: Yeah, what's the deal?

KINSEE MORLAN: The drag queen bar. So I think the unofficial after party of bike the boulevard, let's just decide that right here.

PETER HOLSLIN: We'll meet at Lips.

KINSEE MORLAN: We'll meet at Lips.

MAUREEN CAVANAUGH: The participants will be meeting this Saturday at live wire and Luigi's at noon, for the event bike the boulevard. And we come to grass widow and wild flag playing the Casbah on Saturday. Peter, what can you tell us first about grass widow? . Grass widow is an all women indie rock trio from San Francisco. And they have had this interesting thing going on, because they have these beautiful vocal harmonies, they're all harmonizing with each other, then beneath that, there's like this harried angry wacky postpunk that goes in all these different directions and it's very experimental. But you can also definitely hear some classic indie rock influences like erasa ranna and Sleeter Kinney and even some payment, you can hear some payment in there as well.

MAUREEN CAVANAUGH: Okay. We have to hear this new.

KINSEE MORLAN: He threw out all the right references.

[AUDIENCE LAUGHING]

MAUREEN CAVANAUGH: This is Tuesday by grass widow, it is from their new album, past time.

Audio Recording Played.

MAUREEN CAVANAUGH: That is grass widow with Tuesday from their album past time. You described that really well, Peter. That's exactly how they sound.

PETER HOLSLIN: Why, thank you.

KINSEE MORLAN: That's his job right?

PETER HOLSLIN: That's what I'm paid for.

MAUREEN CAVANAUGH: Okay. So wild flag, are tell us about them.

PETER HOLSLIN: Wild flag has been the talk of the indie rock town, if there was such a up to. It's an indie rock super group composed of members of sleeter kinny, helium, the minders and quasi, it's got cary brown stein and Mary timmeny, and roBecka coal and Janet Weiss. So it is just, you know, over flowing with indie rock awesomeness of the funny thing is is that they haven't released any demos or MP3s, and there's no socks on their my space. So it's bin a lot bit of a mystery what they actually sound like. And all of their press materials have just said ridiculous things like what happens when you cross a hot dog with a hamburger? You get wild flag of it's like, great, yeah, that's very helpful.

MAUREEN CAVANAUGH: They need you!

BY DEFENDANT:

Q. That's so indie rock of them.

PETER HOLSLIN: But one thing is that there have been some live videos of them trickling out onto the interwebs. And in has been their first tour, and so, you know, you get a little impression, you've been getting an impression of what they sound like. And they're pretty good. They sound pretty good.

MAUREEN CAVANAUGH: So you're dying to see them?

PETER HOLSLIN: I would say that I am very excited, and if you know, you are a reader of pitch fork or an inter~y kid or a hipster as they call them, you're definitely gonna want to see this show because all your indie kid and hipster friends are gonna go.

KINSEE MORLAN: Your cred will be taken away if you don't go to this show.

PETER HOLSLIN: It will plummet. So get your tickets now. Of.

MAUREEN CAVANAUGH: And you can see grass widow and wild flag play the Casbah on Saturday. Kinsee and Peter, thank you so much. It's really -- I mean we really covered all the bases.

KINSEE MORLAN: We did.

PETER HOLSLIN: I think so too, yeah.

KINSEE MORLAN: Tons of fun and weird stuff to do this week.

MAUREEN CAVANAUGH: That's our weekend preview, and you've been listening to These Days on KPBS.