Sonny Smith's 100 Records at Gallery16 in San Francisco
Sonny & the Sunsets Frontman Launches Crazy Art Project
Sonny Smith, frontman for the starry-eyed Bay Area garage-pop group Sonny & the Sunsets, has put an ungodly amount of work into an art project called 100 Records that’s currently running at San Francisco’s Gallery 16. He made up names and song titles for 100 fictitious bands, then sent them out to 100 different visual artists, who made up fake record covers for all the fake artists. Then Smith recorded 200 different songs (A-sides and B-sides) for each of these fake artists. Which is nuts.
The 100 Records exhibit, which runs through May 28 at Gallery 16, features all the original artwork, as well as a jukebox with all 200 songs. Smith recruited people like Ty Segall and Bart Davenport to help him record the songs. Artists behind the record covers include William T. Wiley, Mingering Mike, Chris Johanson, Reed Anderson, Jo Jackson, Harrell Fletcher, Chris Duncan, Tucker Nichols, and Paul Wackers.
Check out this post on the 100 Records Blog where they’ve discovered a 7″ from one of the great white north’s lost classic bands “S.E. Land Otter Champs”. Sonny Smith tells me that this little 7″ is a gem of a record. I can’t wait to check it out.
Gravel and Gold loves Jonesin’. Turn Up loves Gravel and Gold. Here’s a nice post from our good buddies over at Gravel and Gold:
Summer in Winter, Winter in Summer
This balmy January afternoon has me thinking of a most delightful new song.
From their recent album, Jonesin’, loving duo Matt & Jenny Jones have it down with their tune “Bummer Summer”. Thanks be for something to rival the too oft’ used Twain-ism. I suggest vigorous jumping around the room to this sweet, addictive, track as it creeps into your happy recesses to stay.
James Finch Jr. capures the spirit of the Holidays
James Finch Jr. (one of our, dare i say, “staff” musicians) has created this haunting version of Silent Night with the help of our great San Francisco talented buddies including Sandwitch Heidi Alexander. Beautiful!
The sun rises on songsmith Sonny Smith and Sonny and the Sunsets
By Johnny Ray Huston
Sonny Smith knows how to write a song. He better, because he’s writing a lot of them. The Oakland resident is currently shoulders-deep in a mammoth project titled “100 Records” that combines music he’s composed and recorded with cover visuals by a not-small army of Bay Area artists. Anyone who has heard Smith’s 2006 album Fruitvale (Belle Sound) or read his column for the Examiner is aware that he has a direct, colorful way with words. Anyone who has found a copy of Tomorrow is Alright (Soft Abuse/Secret Seven), the new album by Smith’s group Sonny and the Sunsets, realizes he has a gift for classic melody: “Too Young to Burn” is worthy of Ronnie Spector; “Death Cream” is a balm; and “Planet of Women” is the kind of music that will give you that summer feeling on Christmas Day. In the immediate wake of Tomorrow, I asked Smith some questions.
Turn Up Records
