Bart & the Bedazzled
Bart Davenport might be a multitude of things, depending on whom you ask. He’s been a mod, a blues singer, and a softrock troubadour. He’s an eclectic singer songwriter with the timeless voice of a real crooner. He lives and creates music in Los Angeles. Smooth and yet curiously pointed, his work transports us to an imagined past or present filled with romantic odes and enigmatic characters. Davenport’s stories are often a reflection of now, taking place in a fantasy world but conveying personal and universal truths. Returning to acoustic guitars and 60s baroque pop tones, Davenport recently tracked twelve new songs in his home studio. The resulting ‘Episodes’ marks his eighth proper album.
A native of Oakland, California, Bart Davenport’s roots are in the 90s garage and blues scenes. His first band, The Loved Ones performed a rawkus style of r&b, opening for the likes of Junior Wells and John Lee Hooker. In the 00s, Davenport went solo, embracing a quieter indie esthetic. Kings of Convenience singer, Erlend Øye, has called him the “best one-guy-and-guitar performer there is.” Touring alone often makes pragmatic sense, and Davenport’s solo performances are in some ways his purest. Still, his studio recordings often reflect his taste for collaboration and ensemble band arrangements.
Released in 2002, Bart’s self-titled solo debut was an indie pop layer cake filled with drums, organs, and vocal harmonies. He quickly followed that in 2003 with the Laurel Canyon styled ‘Game Preserve’ on Antenna Farm Records. Next came ‘Maroon Cocoon’ in 2005, a carefully honed lo/hi-fi record. In 2007, a funk inspired side project called Honeycut released ‘The Day I Turned To Glass’ on Quannum Projects. Their tune, ‘Exodus Honey,’ was featured on an iMac ad campaign as well as the installation disc for Mac OS Leopard and Snow Leopard. Bart Davenport returned in 2008 with his fourth solo album, ‘Palaces.’ Featuring production help from psychedelic main man Kelley Stoltz, the album would be referred to by Sylvie Simmons of MOJO as “a fine example of San Fran’s vinyl and thrift shop culture, turning stuff people throw out into something new.”
Between 2010 and 2011, Davenport released three European records and spent much of his time touring the continent. There was a covers album, ‘Searching For Bart Davenport’ (Tapete, Germany), and two from side projects; ‘With All Due Respect’ by Incarnations (Lovemonk, Spain) and ‘Comedians’ by Honeycut (Discograph, France). In 2012, Bart Davenport’s ‘Someone2Dance’ b/w ‘Cheap Words’ saw the return of longtime compatriot Sam Flax as Producer. The Flax production opened a new chapter in the Davenport saga, with synthesizers reminiscent of 80s new wave. Following that, Davenport relocated to Los Angeles, where he gathered together the band that would eventually record ‘Physical World,’ released in March 2014 to some critical acclaim. Indeed, Pitchfork described it as “sophisticated and cheap-sounding at once, it’s likable within five seconds of hitting your ears.”
By 2018 the LA lineup featuring Jessica Espeleta (bass), Andres Renteria (drums), and Wayne Faler (lead guitar) were working under the band name, ‘Bart & The Bedazzled.’ They recorded a follow-up album titled ‘Blue Motel’ produced by Aaron M. Olson, whose signature sounds give the album a darker, cinematic atmosphere. The group reconvened in 2021 for their most collaborative effort to date, a danceable pair of electro world pop singles. Produced by Nic Hessler (Catwalk), ‘People Person’ and ‘Cardboard Man’ (featuring Earth Girl Helen Brown) are scheduled for release in 2022 on Lovemonk. Meanwhile, Davenport’s 2022 solo album ‘Episodes’ (Tapete) features avant-baroque string arrangements from violist Dina Maccabee along with an array of acoustic sounds, 12-string riffs, and an overall return to 60s pop and indie lo-fi esthetics.
Ryli
(Record Release Show)
Bay Area indie group Ryli’s new album, Come and Get Me, is fueled by friendship and a love of classic pop songwriting. Led by vocalist Yea-Ming Chen (Yea-Ming and The Rumours) and guitarist Rob Good (The Goods), and buoyed by the rhythm section of Luke Robbins (Yea-Ming and The Rumours, R.E. Seraphin) and Ian McBrayer (ex-Healing Potpourri), Ryli has earned a reputation as a formidable live act. On Come and Get Me, however, they prove they are just as comfortable flexing their skills in the studio.
Engineered and produced by Good at his Oakland studio, Come and Get Me came together swiftly and organically. “From the start, everything fell together really naturally,” Good says of the creative process. Ryli started as a one-off recording project between Chen and Good, but quickly turned into a full-fledged band when Robbins and McBrayer joined. The group immediately recognized their natural chemistry and capitalized on the opportunity, tracking the album within a few months.
Following close on the heels of their 2024 single, “I Think I Need You Around,” Ryli delivers a fully-formed pop record that touches on the familiar but goes beyond pastiche. So, while they cite “early McCartney, The Smiths, Camera Obscura, and Belle & Sebastian” as sources of inspiration, Chen and Good are veteran songwriters who can synthesize their influences and create a sound unmistakably their own.
That doesn’t mean Ryli is the Chen and Good show. “The collaborative effort is very much felt,” says Chen, who adds that all arrangements are done by committee. Of particular note are the contributions by Robbins and McBrayer, who add nervy, post-punk rhythms that challenge yet complement Chen and Good’s pop songwriting inclinations.
Lead single “Medicine Speed” is signature Ryli, featuring sunshiney melodies and jangly guitars, with a galloping rhythm section that belies the trepidation in the lyrics. According to Chen, “Medicine Speed” was written “in a moment of insomnia at 3am when it felt as if there was a scary thing around every corner of my room.” Meanwhile, “Break” is a propulsive minor key rocker showcasing Good’s blistering guitar work and hymn-like harmonies. But Chen’s contralto vocals give the song its gravity. “If I asked you to, would you break me out of here?” she asks mournfully on the chorus, but the question is purely rhetorical. She sings fully aware no one is coming to her rescue.
This high-wire balancing act between musical brightness and lyrical darkness, between effervescent melodies and muscular rhythms, makes Come and Get Me seem more like the work of a band in its prime than the debut of a group barely a year into its existence. But the album wouldn’t work if it was built simply on technical ability - Ryli are clearly a band relishing their time together and making the most of it. Despite the popular belief that misery makes great art, Ryli makes a convincing case that the joy of creating is crucial to the joy of listening.
Mister Baby
Mister Baby is Katiana Mashikian. If Kati’s not making 4-track cassette recordings, she’s playing bass and singing in San Francisco’s April Magazine, (the live band for) Glenn Donaldson’s The Reds, Pinks, & Purples, and more recently, the one-off Flowertown livestream. She’s really at the core of the SF indie/pop scene.
with DJ Frankie
DOORS at 7:00PM | MUSIC at 8:00 PM