Wisconsin acid-house legend DJ ESP (Woody McBride) rarely makes it out to the West Coast, so Bonkers! promoter Ian Price (aka the Naturebot) has scored a real coup with this booking at his experimental-electronic-music monthly (now happening every second Friday at Re-bar). Besides scads of releases on his own Communiqué label, McBride has issued dozens of 12s on Bush, Synewave, Primevil, Drop Bass Network, and others. His discography weighs a ton, and were you to consume it all, odds are you'd never come down from your acid-house trip.
McBride will be doing something rare at this December 12 performance: an all-hardware live PA. A veteran of the Midwestern rave circuit, McBride is a master of mass crowd control (i.e., he makes large assemblies of people lose it). The time is ripe for an early-'90s acid revival, and few are better equipped to present a vital upgrade of that style/era than DJ ESP.
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The justified hype over Seattle electro quartet Truckasauras has overshadowed Foscil, which features three Truck members—Tyler and Adam Swan, and Ryan Trudell—plus Anthony Moore. But Foscil deserve at least as much attention as their flashier, kitschier counterparts receive. They bring the funk with slightly more nuance and cerebral intensity, emphasizing impressive instrumental prowess over Truck's Game Boy bleepage, WWE footage, and American-flag capes (not that there's anything wrong with those things). Think of Foscil as Truck's more responsible alter ego.
Funk-rock OGs FCS have been quiet lately (their last show was almost nine months ago), but they have a full-length tentatively planned for early 2009. FCS always struck me as a higher-IQ !!! or a more fun-loving Ui, so it's good to see these mass mvmnt mainstays (Andy Sells, Joshua Warren, and Mune Yamakawa) returning to the fray. Expect some new material at this upcoming Free Sheep Foundation gig, which also features the dope, subliminal verbals of Specs Wizard and party-starting DJ Scratchmaster Joe.
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Attention, environmentally aware house-music aficionados: Get your dancing ass down to Re-bar on Saturday for Breathe, a carbon-offset party thrown by the HoldYourOwn organization. DJs Michael Tello (Om/San Francisco), Ramiro (Uniting Souls), and Chris Field (Market House) provide the bumpin' green soundtrack. Promoter Billy Treese says there will be free trees and a bicycle giveaway. 
DJ ESP, Computer Controlled, Real Life Ryu, Travis Baron, Beetseeka perform Fri Dec 12, Re-bar, 10 pm–2 am, $9 before 11 pm/$12 after, 21+.
Foscil, FCS, Specs Wizard, Scratchmaster Joe perform Fri Dec 12, Free Sheep Foundation, 2400 Third Ave, 10 pm, free, all ages.
Michael Tello, Ramiro, Chris Field perform Sat Dec 13, Re-bar, 10 pm–3 am, $5 before 11 pm/$7 after, 21+.
