Like clockwork, the Rumble -- the monthly musical roadshow that hits nine U.S. cities every month -- returns to San Diego's Bar Pink this Saturday.
This month's event features San Diego surf popsters Mrs. Magician, sludgy shoegazers Colony and superb singer/songwriter Luke Rathborne. DJs Pet Rock and Rob Dylan will spin vinyl between sets.
We at Owl and Bear are especially excited to see Mr. Rathborne, whose The Dog Years and I Can Be One EPs show a songwriter with a true artistic vision -- one that (unlike many of his peers) is not unhealthily fixated on the meaning of life but about telling its stories. For a sample of his music, check out "You Let Me In" (MP3).
In anticipation of the show, we asked Mr. Rathborne to provide us with a list of influences. He kindly obliged and his "favorite records of 1977" are below.
1. Low, by David Bowie: This is a record with a heavy experimental bent and is probably the best of Bowie's Berlin Trilogy. The songs describe a certain paranoia and yearning for connection in a self-created and often plastic world. Brian Eno and producer Tony Visconti's contributions create a pretty fascinating listen that is worth your time.
2. Lust for Life, by Iggy Pop: Recruiting some of the personnel Bowie was chums with (most notably the Sayles brothers on rhythm) Lust for Life is contrite, bad, good-- below the surface. Totally memorable work from high-brow king of low brow and vice-versa.
3. My Aim Is True, by Elvis Costello: I can't sum up my feelings about My Aim Is True. Do you seriously not have this record? Buy this record.
SoundDiego
Music. Community. Culture.
4. The Clash, by the Clash: Ditto. See above.
5. Before and After Science, by Brian Eno: This is one of Eno's most interesting records, as it really owes nothing to anything happening at the time. The unified sound of this record seems like something that simply won't exist for another five or seven years after this record comes out. It's a sweeping and oceanic landscape of synths and keyboards underpinning some beautiful songs about loss and regret. See "By This River" for a classic standout track.
The Rumble San Diego is brought to you by Future Sounds, Indigenous, BMI, Owl and Bear, San Diego: Dialed In, Bedouin Vintage Collective, Friends With Both Arms, Strong Screen Printing, Event Brite, and Pabst Blue Ribbon.
