Top Ten Top Twenties: David Katznelson: Culture/Entertainment: SFAppeal

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Culture/Entertainment

Top Ten Top Twenties: David Katznelson

by Corey Denis

October 28, 2009 2:45 PM

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The Top Ten Top Twenties is a series of posts featuring ten Digital Music mavens with exquisite taste, counting down their top 20 albums from 2000 - 2009. The one rule was they had 2 days to create their lists and turn them in.  Today's featured top 20 is David Katznelson, owner of San Francisco label Birdman Records and founder of the San Francisco Appreciation Society

The first time I heard the name David Katznelson, I lived 2000 miles away from San Francisco in the capitol hill district of Denver, Colorado. It wasn't David who I heard of exactly, but rather one of the bands on his label Birdman Records. I lived across the street from indie retailer WaxTrax and the owner recommended The Warlocks. He knew my taste, I was there most Tuesdays. And Wednesdays. And most days. 

And he was right. I loved (and still love) The Warlocks. I turned to my best friend and announced: "I want to work for Birdman Records, they put out great shit." The website indicated Birdman was run by David Katznelson. 4 years later I was introduced to him by way of IODA CEO, Noise Pop founder and native San Franciscan Kevin Arnold. At the time, Kevin had just hired me and we went out to celebrate. David joined us and started talking about The Warlocks. Having no idea I was actually talking to the owner of Birdman, or that Birdman was distributed by IODA, I had a fan-girl moment: "I love them, I'm obsessed with them, I used to joke with my friend about working for their label, Birdman" 

"I'm David, that's my label, I may have some Warlocks swag in the car, i'll go get you some..." 

Over time I've made  San Francisco my home, and David has become a friend through the digital music industry community as well as with the San Francisco Appreciation Society (follow @appreciatesf for one interesting fact about SF every day), and I have been a speaker and regular attendee at his monthly digital music event with David Hyman (CEO, Mog) called Musica Tecnomica. Katznelson worked at Warner Brothers for 10 years where he signed one of my very favorite bands: The Flaming Lips (also: Mudhoney, Nick Cave).  He's the best kind of music industry maven: passionate, forward thinking, always working, and always ready to share music.

The most recent time i heard the name "David Katznelson" was just 2 nights ago, when Flaming Lips front man Wayne Coyne dedicated an extremely rockin version of the song "Pompeii AM Gotterdammerung" from their album At War With The Mystics - to David Katznelson - at the Treasure Island Music Festival. File David in: Cool.

Just take a look at his bio:

David Katznelson is a San Francisco native who started hitting the music industry bottle at the ripe age of 15 while ushering and postering for Bill Graham Presents.  KUSF, KALX followed and then a 10 year stint at Warner Brothers where he signed bands like The Boredoms, Mudhoney, The Flaming Lips, The Texas Tornados, Nick Cave, etc.  He jumped the corporate ship and focused his attention on Birdman, where he has signed bands like The Warlocks, The Gris Gris, The Howlin Rain, The Aliens, the Ferocious Few, Tamerlane Phillips, etc.  He is the co-founder of Musica Tecnomica, the co-founder of The San Francsico Appreciation Society, co-founder of The Idelsohn Society, the owner of vinyl-only reissue label Sutro Park, co-producer of the 10 CD box set called Alan Lomax in Haiti, and in his spare time loves listening to records.  HE also spends half his time consulting for the San Francisco Jewish Community Federation and is engaged to marry the lovely BarbaraBersche. He is about to start reading the new translation of Don Quixote.

David Katznelson's Naughty 21: Best 21 albums of the 21st century (in no particular order)


Note: Every one of the Digital Music mavens with exquisite taste who were interviewed for this process sent at least one disclaimer. David's was an insistence that i mention his top twenty-one albums of the twenty first century are in no order and, says Katznelson "there are definitely key records missing" but my strict deadline him stopped in him his tracks.


As with all of the lists posted, I listened to every single album on this list and was most thankful for his inclusion of Johnny Cash, Vetiver, Greg Ashley & Twilight Singers. Thanks, David!

Next up in the Top Ten Top Twenties: Steve Jang