The purpose of San Francisco Zen Center is to make accessible and embody the wisdom and compassion of the Buddha as expressed in the Soto Zen tradition established by Dogen Zenji in 13th-century Japan and conveyed to us by Suzuki Roshi and other Buddhist teachers. Our practice flows from the insight that all beings are Buddha, and that sitting in meditation is itself the realization of Buddha nature, or enlightenment.

Label & Production Co. 
DBA PROSTITUTES  & StabUdown Productions
Booking: booking@stabudown.com

Musikbloggen som älskar ny musik. 
The Swedish music blog for pop music lovers.

'This Is How You Do It' album out now on 2LP / CD / DIG


Bandleader Lance Ferguson and his nine piece Melbourne outfit The Bamboos have come a long way since forming in 2001. Initially inspired by the instrumental raw funk of the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, they made waves internationally and were quickly labelled as one of the greatest funk and soul bands of our time. But while many would be happy to simply soak up the praise and keep on keeping on, The Bamboos have proven that they are more than meets the eye; over five acclaimed albums, their evolution in sound and style has consistently confounded and exceeded expectations, pulling the rug from under the feet of those who like to pigeonhole. 

The band signed to respected Brighton (UK) indie label Tru Thoughts in 2005, where they remain a cornerstone of the roster. Across their five studio albums to date - ‘Step It Up’ (2006), ‘Rawville’ (2007), ‘Side-Stepper’ (2008), ‘4’ (2010) and 'Medicine Man' (2012) – the metamorphosis of The Bamboos has been full of twists and turns, and it continues apace. A seasoned DJ, solo producer (aka Lanu) and all-round insatiable music obsessive, Ferguson's myriad influences and passion for pushing things forward ensure that each new release is a discovery for devout fans and newcomers alike.

Their fifth long-player ‘Medicine Man’, released in June 2012 was a watershed - a forward-looking record brimming with fresh ideas, stellar turns, classic songwriting and a brand of multi–layered pop they can truly call their own. Guest vocalists Aloe Blacc, Tim Rogers (You Am I), Megan Washington, Daniel Merriweather, Bobby Flynn, alongside resident singers Kylie Auldist and then newcomer Ella Thompson helped make the album their biggest at home to date. Lead single "I Got Burned" feat. Rogers was a sizeable radio hit, made it to #54 on radio station Triple J's Hottest 100 listeners poll (the biggest publicly voted song poll in the world) of the top songs of that year.

Like its predecessor, the band's sixth album 'Fever In The Road' was co-produced by ARIA- nominated, multi-instrumentalist studio wizard John Castle – whose work with the likes of Washington, Josh Pyke, Gossling, Pez and Kate Miller-Heidke has ranked him amongst the first-call producers in Australia. The new record (the first on Ferguson's own Pacific Theatre label) sees Castle and Ferguson venturing into sonic landscapes The Bamboos have previously touched on but never fully inhabited. There is a sense that the music is leaner and more muscular, yet upon closer inspection the tracks reveal themselves to be densely multi-layered in a 'Wall Of Sound' style. And it's this aural complexity and depth that allows darker moods to roam through the album, taking their sound to a new place. The songs career from the wondrously anthemic ('Avenger', The Truth', 'Rats', 'Jump My Train'), to the dreamy and psychedelic ('Looking West', 'Harbinger') and the darkly fragile ('Killing Jar', 'Before I Go'). Choosing this album to reflect the band as it is on stage, the vocals are split between Kylie Auldist and Ella Thompson. And each bring contrasting styles that complement each other magically, but show The Bamboos to be utterly unique.

Their songs have been regularly on playlists of national radio stations in Australia, the UK, France, the US, Japan and beyond. The unshakable charm of their songs has also seen them licensed to hit movies including Crazy Stupid Love, the soon to be released  Adore - Naomi Watts & Robin Wright. and TV shows such as Grey’s Anatomy, CSI New York, One Tree Hill, Ugly Betty and Australian shows such as Underbelly, House Husbands, Offspring, Packed To The Rafters.

Vieka Plays (:vee-e-ka p-l-aa-ys). Born, will die. A female singer-songwriter-electronic-fiddler-producer-engineer currently residing in the fair lands of Manchesterville, UK. Inspired and nourished by music and sound.

 Vieka plays her music full frontal, sometimes delicate, sometimes brash but always dedicated to the senses. Alikened to Björk, Portishead with a dash of Cocorosie, Vieka moves through you in a whirl of challenging stories and sounds created by all manors of electronic geekery that can be harnessed, beated and whipped into shape. 

...'Combining sonic brutality, unfettered on-stage physicality, never-quite-reassuring periods of calm and moments of breath-taking spectral beauty'...'Ostensibly an avant-garde musician in the Portishead/Björk mould mould, Vieka’s beguiling live performances set her apart from other experimentalists.'
 … 'Their live concerts can veer from dubstep mood-pieces to eerie swing narratives and sexual psycho-dramas all with an underlying Burial-style-soundtrack-David Lynch intensity'... 

With a lustful desire for the wild world, Vieka weaves through all manner of sounds; blending, warping and creating impassioned soundscapes with subtle sound recordings from nature, life and the wide-wide world. Obtuse creations of synthesised bass, glitch noise and samples come from deep within the digital spectrum while the vocals cut through unabashed.

'With a tongue stuffed thoroughly in her cheek she blissfully hovers her sound in the darker sides of life (or hoovers her music up from the filthy corner of the proverbial room).'

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