Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

We Think We Know Fol Chen

In many ways, things have never been better for music fans. Heard about a new band and you want to check them out? If you go on YouTube, you can probably find video of them in concert, filmed by someone with a cell phone at last night’s show. Wow! Now you know what they look like and sound like! Now you can go to one of their shows and stand there the whole time, looking at the band through your own phone! That’s right, you can go out and it will feel just like staying home and watching the band on your computer!

There’s a lot to love about music today, but one thing it is missing is mystery. That’s why it’s fun to have a band like Los Angeles’ Fol Chen, whose members deliberately obscure their identities. In concert, they have appeared wearing masks or raccoon-like makeup. Their publicity photos show them in silhouette or with their faces hidden. Instead of posting biographical information, their record label, Asthmatic Kitty, instead posts letters from the band’s purported leader, Samuel Bing (who may or may not be a real person), and cryptic missives that say, “We think we know Fol Chen. But we do not.” The band’s website is even more enigmatic.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Over the past couple of years, this secretive group has released two albums and a couple of EPs, all in a minimalist electro-pop style — although that description hardly does justice to the shape-shifting and mind-screwing of songs such as “No Wedding Cake” from the 2009 album Part I: John Shade, Your Fortune’s Made. Last year’s follow-up, Part II: The New December only deepened the mystery.

FOL CHEN: Soda Bar, Friday, February 11, 9 p.m. 619-255-7224. $8, $10.

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

The danger of San Diego's hoarders

The $1 million Flash Comics #1
Next Article

Extended family dynamics

Many of our neighbors live in the house they grew up in

In many ways, things have never been better for music fans. Heard about a new band and you want to check them out? If you go on YouTube, you can probably find video of them in concert, filmed by someone with a cell phone at last night’s show. Wow! Now you know what they look like and sound like! Now you can go to one of their shows and stand there the whole time, looking at the band through your own phone! That’s right, you can go out and it will feel just like staying home and watching the band on your computer!

There’s a lot to love about music today, but one thing it is missing is mystery. That’s why it’s fun to have a band like Los Angeles’ Fol Chen, whose members deliberately obscure their identities. In concert, they have appeared wearing masks or raccoon-like makeup. Their publicity photos show them in silhouette or with their faces hidden. Instead of posting biographical information, their record label, Asthmatic Kitty, instead posts letters from the band’s purported leader, Samuel Bing (who may or may not be a real person), and cryptic missives that say, “We think we know Fol Chen. But we do not.” The band’s website is even more enigmatic.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Over the past couple of years, this secretive group has released two albums and a couple of EPs, all in a minimalist electro-pop style — although that description hardly does justice to the shape-shifting and mind-screwing of songs such as “No Wedding Cake” from the 2009 album Part I: John Shade, Your Fortune’s Made. Last year’s follow-up, Part II: The New December only deepened the mystery.

FOL CHEN: Soda Bar, Friday, February 11, 9 p.m. 619-255-7224. $8, $10.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

At 4pm, this Farmer's Table restaurant in Chula Vista becomes Acqua e Farina

Brunch restaurant by day, Roman style trattoria by night
Next Article

Jayson Napolitano’s Scarlet Moon releases third Halloween album

Latest effort has the most local vibe
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader