Summer 2021 Update

I actually started to write a “new year” post in December, but felt too unsettled with all the Covid and idiotic civil war fantasy stuff going on. Plus, exhausted. I began to feel a little better when I got my second jab in March and no one had yet managed to drive a diarehea-fueled Dodge Ram through the White House. So yeah, feeling less unsettled!

SAN KAZAKGASCAR

We haven’t played out since the pandemic, but we released the full-length Emotional Crevasse last fall. Read the back story here. The album received some nice words from The Fragmented Flaneur, Dusted, and Daggerzine. LP, CD, and download versions are available straight from Lather Records or from Revolver USA. There is also a new SanKaz t-shirt available for you to wear during the hottest summer ever (until 2022). About a year ago, our friend Dennis Michaels, did a video short on me discussing music during Covid closures. Check it out HERE.

Besides the occasional backyard practice, the band managed to contribute to a couple of fundraisers. First, we did a drone set for The Library of MusicLandria’s annual Big Day of Giving event. Video below. Occasional San Kaz collaborator, Ethan Port, grafted together a soundscape from a “Bay players” session to contribute to Oakland’s girl empowerment organization, Radical Monarchs. Link is below. These are both great groups and I hope you would consider donating a little $$ to them. Also, note the outside San Kazakgascar dates at the top of the page!

Emotional Crevasse LP, CD, download at Lather Records. Or iTunes.

San Kaz t-shirt at Lather Records

San Kazakgascar official site

SWIMMING IN BENGAL

Swimming in Bengal at the Makeout Room in San Francisco, Nov 2019, the last date before Covid. Photo by Shawn O’Leary.

Swimming in Bengal had a quiet Covid hibernation, but is starting to stir again. We are starting work on a new album this summer and will be playing an outside show in Berkeley on August 14 at Highwire Coffee @3pm. Gold Lion Arts will be releasing a live recording we did at the Gold Lion Fest a couple of summers ago. It is a digital-only and becomes available on August 13. In the meantime, please check out the 8-member, Collective Elephant, recording we released 2 years ago.

Review of the Collective Elephant at Underscore.

There’s More!

Our friends Cloud Seeder recently released their new recording, The Sea of Alexander von Humboldt. Go to their homepage to get the CD or download. If you were a fan of 90s band, Acme Rocket Quartet, then you’re in luck, because it’s most of the same guys. Cloud Seeder is a more improvised, exploratory direction. Less cocktail, more Czukay.

Joel Goulet’s new film, The Golden Bouzouki, will be screened at three northern California one-offs – Sacramento, San Francisco, and Santa Cruz. Check his site for dates and ticket info. If you’ve been waiting your whole life to watch a movie that combines the best elements of the Greek myth/fantasy genre and Elvis film, then throw your mask back on and come get it. Yours truly sneaked in as a Laconian warrior extra in the battle scene. Watch the trailer here.