San Francisco – The dulcet tones of Mac DeMarco’s gentle, cooling ballads continue this summer with Another One, the miniature follow-up to last year’s wonderfully successful Salad Days. Clocking in at just under a half-hour in runtime, Another One lies somewhere in the space between an LP and an EP, described by the Canadian-born musician
San Francisco – “In many ways, the work of a critic is easy. We risk very little, yet enjoy a position over those who offer up their work and their selves to our judgment… But the bitter truth we critics must face, is that in the grand scheme of things, the average piece of junk
San Francisco – Kevin Parker is no stranger to chaos. The 29-year-old mastermind behind the Australian psych-rock outfit Tame Impala has been toying with the ideas of randomness, turbulence, and cosmic madness ever since the release of Tame Impala’s 2010 debut LP InnerSpeaker. With Currents — Tame Impala’s third full-length — Parker has scaled down the
San Francisco – Silence can be deafening. It brings fear to those who suffer from pressure-of-speech. It is angelic to those who seek it, yet demonic to those who aren’t used to it. As composer John Cage – famous for composing and entire song made up of musical rests called “4’33”” – once said, “what
San Francisco – This past weekend, throngs of Bay Area youth migrated to the South Bay to gather at this year’s installment of LIVE 105 FM’s BFD (acronym for Big Fucking Day) festival. Celebrating its 21st edition, this festival is put on by the local alternative rock station LIVE 105, at the Shoreline Amphitheater in
San Francisco – “Oh my gosh!” So begins the debut LP from Jamie xx (real name Jamie Smith), who at just 26 is already a world-renowned DJ and producer and a member of one of the most popular musical outfits today, the UK’s indie dream pop trio The xx. Jamie first came on the scene
San Francisco – The first time I saw San Fermin, it was in a tiny club in New Orleans called Gasa Gasa. Their eponymous debut album was barely six months old, and even on a cool March evening everyone was sweating in the tiny space. Still, it was a sold out show, and for good
San Francisco – Upon first listening, American (Tennessee-born, San Francisco-transplant) sound artist’s Holly Herndon’s second full-length effort Platform sounds more like an experiment than an album. First impressions can be deceiving, however, as Platform actually takes a truer form as an LP—a result of a delicate hypothesis and scientific tenacity—than what many modern artists deign
San Francisco – On Thursday, New York-based indie dark wave duo MS MR brought the house down at the cozy Rickshaw Stop. The twosome—consisting of vocalist Lizzy Plapinger and producer Max Hershenow (along with their touring bassist and drummer)—played a stellar dozen songs to a enthusiastically rapt sold-out crowd, showcasing several songs off their excellent
San Francisco – Las Vegas native Shamir Bailey—known simply as Shamir—took appropriate time and care when constructing his debut LP Ratchet. According to Urban Dictionary, ‘ratchet’ refers to a state of mind in which one exudes an illustrious diva persona, though often such entitlement is either misplaced or misguided. When talking about Shamir’s debut LP,