For me, during the nineties, local music centered around a lot of the artists on the now defunct Vaccination Records. I've currently got the Vaccination compilation, "Rawk" playing. Like the label itself, a lot of those bands have fallen by the wayside, so I'll do my best to post a few related links.
Sleepytime Gorilla Museum was basically the continuation of Idiot Flesh, who I got to see for the first and only time opening for Laibach. They dominated my concert-going activities for a few years, before forming a chrysalis and emerging as Free Salamander Exhibit, a band that, due to members now having families and such, doesn't adhere to the rigorous performing schedule of their larval stage(s). Not that anybody is performing outside of their homes right now, but you know what I mean. Musically, the band is a compelling mixture of styles, one part metal, one part prog, and one part mad theater troupe, with a liberal dose of unhinged genius, liberally sprinkled with excellent lyrics. The Bandcamp page is rudimentary, with only the third and final album available, and I'm not sure who runs it. The Free Salamander Exhibit page is not rudimentary, but likewise only features one album.
Sleepytime Gorilla Museum here.
A weird release featuring a lot of East Bay alumni is this Black Sabbath tribute CD, with Charming Hostess, Robin Coomer, and Surplus 1980 featuring ex SGM member, Moe! Staiano.
Paranoid (a Tribute to Black Sabbath) is here.
Speaking of Moe!, check out Surplus 1980 here. If you like art rock, post punk, prog, and the like, you might find something to like here. Also, you have to be a fan of pigeons.
Also splitting away, amoeba-like, from the primal broth of SGM, is Rabbit Rabbit Radio, featuring violinist (etc.) and vocalist Carla Kihlstedt and drummer (etc.) and vocalist Matthias Bossi. They have been releasing hard-t0-categorize, thoughtful music for years now, and have an excellent subscription option to boot. Don't take my word for it. Go listen!
Carla also features in Tin Hat, an eclectic jazz ensemble who have release some fantastic music over the years, with occasional guest vocals from people as varied as Tom Waits and Willie Nelson. The only album available on their Bandcamp page is their last one, "The Rain Is A Handsome Animal," a song cycle based on the works of poet E.E. Cummings.
Nils Frykdahl of SGM and Free Salamander Exhibit joins wife Dawn McCarthy in Faun Fables for some earthy, rollicking folky fun. It's never quite cut and dried with these two, so surprises await around every corner. Faun Fables is probably in my top ten list of bands I've seen the most times. They even played my (first) wedding years ago.
Speaking of playing weddings, Earles of Newtown played my second one, and they're excellent too, in an old-timey jazz and blues sort of way. Other than that, they don't really have a connection with the other bands in this post. My old friend Chad sings and plays washboard for them.
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