Live This Month: March 2012

The annual insanity of this month’s South by Southwest festival means that a ton of artists are touring right now, and plenty of performers will be in SF in March en route to or returning from Austin. But while most of the acts included in this episode will be doing one or a dozen shows in bars and parking lots around the Texas capital, one of the benefits of living in the Bay Area is that you don’t need to go to Austin to see buzzed-about bands. Whether it’s the slinky electronica of Nicolas Jaar, the brainy guitar work of Dustin Wong, or the despondent pop of Perfume Genius, this month offers a multitude of opportunities to experience promising touring bands close to home. On the local front, Ceremony is poised to break out with the release of Zoo, while Chuck Prophet remains at the top of his game with Temple Beautiful.

Enjoy the mix, then go see some shows!

About the bands:

Ceremony (“Adult”), from Rohnert Park, releases its new album, Zoo, on Matador Records on March 6. The band is doing a bunch of touring over the next few months, with local shows at Amoeba on March 6 and 924 Gilman on March 10.

Katy Goodman of Vivian Girls returns in March with another album from her solo project, La Sera (“Break My Heart”). Swiftumz and Cold Showers round out a compelling bill at the Rickshaw Stop on March 7.

White Fence (“Swagger Vets and Double Moon”) and Ty Segall are performing together at the Great American Music Hall on March 2, and the two artists are preparing for the release of a joint album called Hair in April. That’s in addition to White Fence’s own Family Perfume, which will be released as two LPs over the next few months.

The Mallard (“Vines”) opens the show at The Independent on March 6, a night that will also feature Thee Oh Sees, Magnetix, and Pets With Pets. The SF band’s debut LP, Yes On Blood, is out now on Castle Face Records.

Noisy rock band Crocodiles (“Sunday [Psychic Conversation #9]”) joins Bleeding Rainbow and Terry Malts at the Rickshaw Stop on March 9. The band just announced the forthcoming Endless Flowers, out on Frenchkiss Records in June.

Chuck Prophet‘s (“Play That Song Again”) twelfth solo album, Temple Beautiful, is billed as “made in San Francisco, by San Franciscans about San Francisco.” On March 30, Prophet and his band The Mission Express play the Great American Music Hall.

A Classic Education (“Baby, It’s Fine”) comes from Bologna, Italy, and the band will be touring the West Coast with Lefse Records labelmate Ganglians. They’ll be at the Rickshaw Stop with French Cassettes on March 4.

Dustin Wong (“Pink Diamond [edit]”), of the now-dissolved Baltimore band Ponytail, just released a terrific experimental rock record on Thrill Jockey called Dreams Say, View, Create, Shadow Leads. Wong’s US tour comes to the Hemlock Tavern on March 20 with Woodsman.

Swedish duo Korallreven (“Sa Sa Samoa”) kick off their first US tour this month. The band (with guest vocalist Victoria Bergsman of Taken By Trees) will perform at The Independent on March 7 with Giraffage and Finally Boys.

Berkeley electronic pop artist Yalls (“Gave Away & Broke”) delivered a great set opening up for Grimes recently, and has a terrific 7″ out now on Gold Robot. Yalls, Nanosaur, and Parentz are at Milk on March 31.

Space is Only Noise may be Nicolas Jaar‘s (“With Just One Glance”) debut album, but it’s an extraordinarily accomplished work of minimal electronic pop. He’ll be appearing with Benjha at The Independent on March 25.

Put Your Back N 2 It is the haunting new record from Mike Hadreas, or Perfume Genius (“Hood”). On March 21, Perfume Genius and Parenthetical Girls perform at Cafe Du Nord.