March madness: music news you need to know about now Erika Badalyan March 27, 2019 Mixtapes Berkeley has been a pretty kooky place lately: people are recovering from their first wave of midterms, the weather has been unpredictable as ever, and will Apple News ever bring positivity back into our notifi...
Chosen family: a night with Better Oblivion Community Center Makaila Heifner March 17, 2019 Concerts, Festivals, and Live Reviews When I approached August Hall on March 15th, I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. I was promised a “healing sound bath - live in concert,” but it felt no different from every other indie rock show, comp...
Welcoming SASAMI into your life Dylan Medlock March 1, 2019 Album Preview, Concerts, Festivals, and Live Previews, Previews LA-based and singer-songwriter Sasami Ashworth is a rising musical force. In addition to being the former synth player for indie rock group Cherry Glazerr, she’s also contributed her multi-instrumentalist ...
Thinly veiled: discrimination within indie Makaila Heifner February 23, 2019 Columns and Opinions Last week, the New York Times released a report that detailed how Ryan Adams allegedly used his power within the music industry to demand sexual favors and emotionally abuse over seven women, including one mino...
How to catch emotions: a live demonstration by Mitski Rebekah Gonzalez December 2, 2018 Concerts, Festivals, and Live Reviews, Photos On her hugely successful fifth album Be the Cowboy (2018), Mitski captures a whirlwind of emotions through solid indie rock. The polished compositions on the album suggest stability, but her honest and ambiguo...
In a sunburned country: The Aussie rock comeback is upon us Clementine Zimmer November 29, 2018 Blog, Columns and Opinions Ah, Australia. Land of kangaroos and sausage rolls and Foster’s beer (at least according to the advertisements). Most of what I know about the country comes from Jim Jefferies stand-up and Bill Bryson’s tra...
Tomemitsu makes his presence known at Cafe Du Nord Walker Spence November 20, 2018 Concerts, Festivals, and Live Reviews Martin Roark, better known by his stage name Tomemitsu, first caught my eye when his song “In Dreams” appeared at the end of “Rachel,” a short from HBO’s High Maintenance released in 2014. I’ve been...
Here goes Wild Nothing Rebekah Gonzalez November 13, 2018 Concerts, Festivals, and Live Reviews “Here goes nothing…” The crowd collectively holds their breath. The next two words ricocheting off the backs of their teeth and around their closed mouths. Is anyone going to say it? “Wild Nothi...
The Dodos kick off North American tour with casual confidence Dylan Medlock October 18, 2018 Concerts, Festivals, and Live Reviews, Reviews Playing the first show of their 2018 North American tour in hometown San Francisco, indie rock duo The Dodos had a lot to be excited about. Not only were they embarking on their first tour since 2015, but they ...
Do Right: Catching Up with Ash Reiter and Sugar Candy Mountain Gabriel Giammarco June 6, 2018 Concerts, Festivals, and Live Reviews, Interview Ash Reiter took the stage with a “Happy Wednesday” greeting as her band Sugar Candy Mountain celebrated the release of their new record Do Right (2018) earlier this month at the Rickshaw Stop. Do Right f...
Pure fun: a night with George Ezra Makaila Heifner May 14, 2018 Concerts, Festivals, and Live Reviews, Reviews George Ezra seems like the boy next door: all smiles, soft sweaters, and a soft almost-Cherub like face. His voice, however, matches that of an old blues singer, a force that could knock the same boy off the ve...
The new face of folk: an interview with Caamp Makaila Heifner May 2, 2018 Interview If black coffee and cigarettes on a Sunday morning had a soundtrack, it would be the music of Caamp. Caamp is comprised of Taylor Meier and Evan Westfall, two childhood friends who have been playing music since...
A “Preliminary Outpouring”: an interview with experimental indie-rocker Elijah Egbert Veronica Irwin and Bianca Lu March 24, 2018 Interview As a student musician trying to conquer a new music scene as a junior transfer, one might expect Elijah Egbert to be loud, talkative, and perhaps a little too eager to get you to listen to his music. But this U...
The Syncopated Sun of Palm’s Rock Island Gabriel Giammarco March 12, 2018 Concerts, Festivals, and Live Reviews, Reviews Guitarist Eve Alpert (left) and bassist Gerasimos Livitsanos (right) Palm at the Rickshaw Stop, a classic San Francisco spot termed by Google Maps as a “hip indie music venue” (haha). Conseque...
How these five indie artists found their names Harmony Lee March 4, 2018 Columns and Opinions In the late 1970s and early 80s, “primal therapy” was all the rage when it came to analyzing and diagnosing neurosis. The method created by Arthur Janov involves bringing back repressed memories from childh...