Amoeba is proud to co-present four films at the 39th annual San Francisco Jewish Film Festival (SFJFF), July 18 - August 4 at locations all around the Bay Area. This year, the festival will present more than 65 films and 135 individual screenings, performances, and events in San Francisco, Palo Alto, San Rafael, Oakland, and Albany. To see the full schedule and purchase single tickets or passes, please visit the SFJFF ticketing page HERE!

Amoeba Music will be co-presenting the following films:

Shut Up and Play the Piano
Saturday July 27. 11am. Castro Theatre
Friday August 2. 8:45pm. Piedmont Theatre
Performance provocateur, professional Jewish MC, and classical savant are a few of the phrases used to describe the cult musical phenomenon that is Chilly Gonzales. This Grammy-winning Canadian pianist, composer, and performer has moved effortlessly from smoky jazz and hip-hop clubs to packed orchestra halls for the past two decades. The Montreal-born son of Ashkenazi Hungarian Jews, Gonzales (born Jason Charles Beck), was signed at the age of 23 to Warner Bros. with his alternative rock band Son. After the label dumped him, Gonzales traveled to Berlin where he recorded four rap albums, collaborated with vanguard punk high priestess Peaches, and even ran for president of the city's underground scene despite speaking no German whatsoever. Weary of his own blabbermouth avant garde persona, Gonzales took off for Paris where he made the contemplative masterpiece of Satie-esque keyboard melodies, Solo Piano. Since then Gonzales has continually expanded his repertoire by writing and producing material for Canadian rap superstar Drake and Daft Punk's electronic mega-seller Random Access Memories. First time director Philipp Jedicke's freewheeling doc portrait weaves a mosaic of thoroughly entertaining moments from the artist's career culminating in a chaotic concert, with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra taking on Gonzales in all his sweaty, swaggering, crowd-surfing glory.

By Jon Longhi

The Dead Boys are one of the most iconic bands of the punk era. They only put out two albums in the late seventies, but both of them are hallmarks of the genre. Young, Loud, And Snotty is a perfect punk slab of vinyl that includes songs like "Sonic Reducer," which may be one of the five best punk tunes ever written. We Have Come For Your Children is another legendary album with classic anthems like "Third Generation Nation." Their live shows were infamous for their violence and rowdiness, and even featured lead singer Stiv Bators cutting himself up on stage. Guitarist Cheetah Chrome's ferocious leads are like a slashing force of nature. Few groups captured the spirit of the New York punk scene better than the Dead Boys. The owner of CBGB was even their manager for a while. Over the years, the band has re-formed on a number of occasions and their latest incarnation will be playing at Burger Boogaloo on Saturday, July 6th. (More on Burger Boogaloo HERE!)

San Francisco's California Academy of Sciences celebrates their sixth annual NightLife LIVE summer music series. NightLife LIVE pairs emerging bands and musicians with cutting-edge visual artists in an immersive intersection of science, music, and art. The only museum in the world to combine an aquarium, planetarium, natural history museum, living rainforest, and live performances on an outdoor stage transforms the Academy into one of SF’s most unique live music venues in the heart of Golden Gate Park.

The series kicks off on Thursday, July 11th with a night of laid-back groovy indie pop from Men I Trust and Mk.gee. Fresh off their Coachella debut, Montreal trio Men I Trust headlines, featuring dream-pop perfect vocals by Emma Proulx and a funky and “insatiable groove” (Ones to Watch). Multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter, and California transplant mk.gee (pronounced McGee) opens, bringing his standout funk-inspired indie rock. He also carries a stamp of approval by Frank Ocean, who featured a mk.gee track on his blonded RADIO show last December.

Additionally, NightLife LIVE features immersive light shows and mind-bending projections by ALL OF IT NOW, VR experiences by Vision Quest, and they are introducing their first artist-in-residency -- Los Angeles-based artist Maggie West. NightLife LIVE also features hands-on, science-inspired crafts and creativity workshops with Paint Pens Collective, local vendors, and special “one-night-only” custom designs with screen printing by San Franpsycho.

By Kai Wada Roath
Ambassador of Confusion Hill and host of the Super Shangri-La Show

"I allow myself three mistakes on stage...and more if I need them."
~ The Space Lady

Susan Dietrich was born in 1948 under the Earth sign of Capricorn. But once Susan stands on stage and puts on her blinking winged helmet of wonders and channels the strange, positive energy from the far reaches of the cosmos, she becomes The Space Lady (who was born under the distant sign of "Casio"-peia.)

I still remember how mesmerized I was the first time I heard The Space Lady's version of "I Had Too Much To Dream Last Night" by The Electric Prunes on Volume 2 of Songs In The Key of Z. After seeing her perform a few months back, I needed to know more about her than what I could just find on the computer-world. Through the technological communication powers predicted by Arthur C. Clarke, I reached out to Susan in her Colorado dwelling to ask her some questions of true importance.

Do you believe in the city of Telos, from the lost continent of Lemuria, which is said to be hidden underneath Mount Shasta?

"I don't have any direct experience with the supposed inhabitants of Telos, although I spent a lot of time living on the mountain in the '70s where I did see U.F.O.s. But in the '9's, I did see an apparition of several mysterious brown cloaked monks walking in a line through the forest before disappearing there."

By Kai Wada Roath
Ambassador of Confusion Hill and host of the Super Shangri-La Show

"I have always wanted to travel to Antarctica, to see the giant tent in the middle of the frozen wasteland. There, inside this tent is a single banquet table; on the table is a single silver platter; and on the platter is a human head...or so I have read."
~ Michael "Daddy Love" Lucas, bass

Of all the bands I have seen over my existence, there are perhaps none more witnessed onstage than The Phantom Surfers. When I find out they are playing near me, I gain the same inner childhood excitement as receiving an "All-You-Can-Eat Shrimp" coupon from Sizzler in the mailbox. With album themes from slot car racing to x-rated parties, this band has truly taken instrumental music one step beyond, far into the the deep unknown (much like a Japanese bank or canned coffee commercial starring Tommy Lee Jones) .

But who are these masked men of reverb, you ask yourself?

Maz, a Gemini and lover of all vegetables, has been playing drums for the band since he was a young lad of 20. Learning to play the trumpet is still a dream for Maz, a man with whom I have had the pleasure of sharing a romantic sunrise while we sold our hoardings together at the swap meet. If a miniature toy train with sushi on board was going around a Japanese restaurant, Maz will always pick the Saba (mackerel) first, however his favorite meal is still a Pollo Asada Torta with extra jalapeños at El Farolito (which I still call I Fart-A-Lot-O). I will never forget the bizarre show in Ventura where The Phantom Surfers played with Fugazi (perhaps the strangest yin to yang I have seen), and afterwards going to the Hong Kong Inn for some scorpion bowls and watching Maz do the hula on stage with their Polynesian revue.