Folktified: a modern variation with a folk foundation.
Westside. McCabe’s guitar shop has primo shows and players within the confines of its walls. Legendary greats of Blues, Folk, and Jazz play through when in town. This night proved to be as special as the rest as two local Indie and one San Fran band electrified the stage…
The Blank Tapes from San Francisco, tripped down the easier, gentle side of the musical [...]

The Blank Tapes‘ Matt Adams wrote his new album Home Away From Home, as he puts it, in a van in probably half of the states in America. For that, it is named appropriately. It, too, is packed with garage-worthy tinkering that extends from folk to pop to experimental psychedelic. It’s an array that bodes well for the San Francisco native, and it’s one that’s definitely worth a pair of [...]

Looking back on the last ten years, I realize that I don’t really have any idea as to what was happening in the music world outside of my bubble. Most of the music I listen to is by people I know or reissues of 1960s music. That said, here’s my top ten:

Little Wings – Light Green Leaves – It’s odd at first listen, but it soon grows [...]

Summer is stumbling to a close as the evening fog creeps into the city at night. This summer the weather has been damn near immaculate and it feels unnerving to once again shield my skin from a biting wind. This evening there’s a slight panic where I feel that I must cling to the final days of fun in the sunshine for dear life or possibly even sanity. But my [...]

When the long-playing record was introduced in the late 1940s, it drastically extended the capacity of mass-produced albums to over 10 times their previous length. This revolution was both a blessing and a curse, allowing those with more to say (Miles Davis? Beethoven?) ample room and forcing those with less to say (the Andrews Sisters? Frankie Laine?) to fill some space. But years later when the compact disc (twice the [...]

Propulsive, and with good lyrics, Matt Adams and friends make up the Blank Tapes. Their songs go chantingly round, circular surprises. In “I Tell Myself Again and Again,” the title makes up almost the entirety of the lyrics, “I tell myself again and again/she’ll never be more than just a friend.” Other words drop in and out, with just enough variation to keep the listener amused. The searingly upbeat guitar [...]

I had heard some buzz about The Blank Tapes (based out of SF), but I became increasingly interested as eight men and women walked on stage at The Independent and started playing a very groovy, syncopated rhythm that ranged from a modern take on the sixties San Francisco sound to solid rock and roll pop with memorable hooks and riffs, danceable beats, and always incorporating a joyful sound. I could [...]

I discovered The Blank Tapes doing my least favorite thing for Wiretap: putting together the calendar. It’s a time-consuming task that leaves me with carpal tunnel by the end of the day. But after it’s all over I usually think, “Man, I hate doing this BUT if I didn’t then I wouldn’t be up to date on all the local bands in the bay area.” So it’s good in that [...]

On the eve of their Northwestern tour, The Blank Tapes (aka Matt Adams) have given us their “Top 10 Songs To Listen To While In West Oakland”, though I would suggest that these songs hold up well just about anywhere. With tunes by Otis Redding, Little Wings, The Kinks and The Byrds, how could they not? The Blank Tapes begin a week long tour tomorrow that will take them to [...]

Video of our live 30 minute set on KXLU’s Demolistn. Fast forward about 1 minute in…