Author Conner Smith

Conjuring Saharan winds inside The Chapel Monday night, Mali’s Tinariwen (Tamasheq for deserts) delivered a synthesis of tribal African music and American blues that left devotees spellbound. Belongin...

Chock-full of dark corners and bright openings, long corridors and sharp stops, soft suggestions and provocative twists, I Forget Where We Were, English musician Ben Howard's latest effort out October 20 v...

Batten down the hatches and pull in the sails, folks! A storm’s a brewin’ over the Bay for this year’s Treasure Island Music Festival. Since its origins in 2007, Treasure Island Music Festival (oth...

It seems the heat brought out the best in all of us this past weekend at another successful Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival at Golden Gate Park, one of the most exciting and unique annual events in the Bay ...

Riding in off the swell of 2012’s An Awesome Wave, British indie powerhouse alt-J (∆) has overcome the sophomore slump and laid claim to another surge of popularity with their latest release, out Septe...

Laying down eight incessant hours of bass-blasting, soul-grabbing house beats, the boys (and girl, singular) of San Francisco’s own Dirtybird Records provided the plunder for the patrons of this afternoon...

If free barbecue and the juiciest of beats from the likes of Claude Von Stroke and Justin Martin doesn’t make your mouth water and heart beat a little bit faster, you may want to get that checked out at you...

LONDON, ENGLAND*--In the birthplace of drum & bass, Thomas Jack’s signature tropical house proved to be a smash hit in the London club scene. This past Wednesday at XOXO, the atmosphere of casual ming...

Gearing up for his next world tour, the consistently impressive if controversial Jack White has unfurled another napalm inferno with “Lazaretto.” This title track catapults Lazaretto (Third Man Records, ...

LONDON, ENGLAND* -- Beneath transformative flashing lights and a mobile ceiling of mirrors, Arcade Fire staged a breathtaking coup of London’s Earls Court on Friday and Saturday night. The expansive hall was...

What happens when members of one the most eccentric prog-rock groups rise from the ashes of band fallout to combine with the likes of the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Atoms for Peace’s Flea? Antemasque, a creat...

Roaring through Oakland on their roots rock revival tour for recently released 9 Dead Alive, Mexican acoustic duo Rodrigo y Gabriela took Oakland’s Fox Theater on a wild ride on Friday, May 9. Opening the ...

In a monolith to our generation and all of its quirks, the celestial bodies aligned at the Regency Ballroom this weekend for the two-day Bicycle Day spectacle featuring the artwork of Alex and Allyson Grey. ...

Setting into a hypnotic cruise control on an open expanse of endless highway, The Black Keys take us on a slow drive with the title track off their upcoming Turn Blue. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZZUY32iCz...

In harmony with his usual tendencies, Jack White has electrified us with a bolt of lightning in the raucous  “High Ball Stepper” off upcoming album Lazaretto. Housing many dissonant shifts and explosions...