The world is… Hatsune Miku’s? What to know about Vocaloid Gwen Tam April 21, 2024 Music History, International, Opinion, Pop If you’ve ever lurked in the digital swamp that was the Internet during the 2000s to early 2010s, chances are, you have encountered, in some form, Vocaloids and Vocaloid music. The ever-present, blue-pigtaile...
93 ‘til Infinity: Bay Area hip hop and punk rock revolutions in 1993 Katie Hulse March 6, 2024 Berkeley, Local, Music History, Oakland, Punk, Rap, Rock, San Francisco, Uncategorized I was in my friend's car stumbling along the landscape when “93 ‘til Infinity" by Souls of Mischief trinkled out of the speakers and changed the way that I think about hip hop. Thirty years after its initia...
Uncovering the origins of Lovers Rock Sofia Biagio February 15, 2024 Black Culture, Cultural Commentary, Music History One day on my routine walk to class, “Lovers Rock” by TV Girl came on through shuffle. Call it overstated or cliché, but for some reason, this song always pulls on my heart strings. The sweet swells of vio...
LADYSLIPPER MUSIC: Records & Tapes By Southern Women Gianna Caudillo January 29, 2024 Music History, Contemporary Folk, Country, folk, women's music, Women's Music Movement Note: This article has been digitized from its original print form in the Fall 2023 issue of B-Side. Original print layout can be viewed at bottom. A Brief History of the Women’s Music Movement The year...
“There’s Something About the Women!:” Warmth pervades Irene Young’s book release at the Freight & Salvage Gianna Caudillo November 27, 2023 Reviews, Berkeley, Concerts, Festivals, and Live Reviews, Contemporary Folk, Jazz, Local, Music History, Women's Music Movement When looking back at my frantically scratched notes in a pocket-sized address book I had brought to the 7pm celebration of Irene Young at the Freight & Salvage on November 19, one sentiment stands out in pa...
The Mystique of Elliott Smith’s Demise Katie Hulse October 23, 2023 Columns and Opinions, Cultural Commentary, folk, indie, indie scene, Music History, Opinion Elliott Smith is one of the most intrinsically devastating and crucial indie-folk musicians to date, known for his lyrics of absolute despair. The only thing more twisted and heartbreaking than his music is the...
Words about words: songs inspired by books and novels Katie Hulse October 17, 2023 Columns and Opinions, Cultural Commentary, Music Consumption, Music History Words hold immense power, and they often inspire and influence each other over time with the multitudes of organizations and contexts they combine to form. All writings, from lyrics, to poetry, novels...
From Gay Head to Goldenrod: the first decade of the Women’s Music Movement in song Gianna Caudillo September 5, 2023 Album Review, Berkeley, folk, music, Music History, Oakland, Reviews, Rock, women's music, Women's Music Movement Commercial rock and roll has always been a boys’ club. From the success of songs that glamorized abuse and the gross fetishization of women, such as the Rolling Stones’ “Brown Sugar” or the Beatles’ ...
From indie pop to Afrobeat: The Listening Dolls at Neck of the Woods Sophia Shen August 16, 2023 Afrobeats, Concerts, Festivals, and Live Reviews, indie, indie scene, indie-pop, Music History, Rock, San Francisco The Devil works hard, but LA-based music organization The Listening Dolls works harder. The Listening Dolls, co-founded and directed by SF native Martine Kolderup-Lane, was born late last year through the jo...
50 Shades of Grey: Pragmatism and Queertopia in Music Culture Ellie Nguyen August 9, 2023 Columns and Opinions, LGBTQ+, Music History, Opinion, Political At last year’s Outside Lands, Moses Sumney gave a cathartic performance. Clad in latex and a leather skirt, his voice pierced the San Francisco fog, entrancing the audience in his siren song. And it was throu...
Crossing Continents: How Afrobeats Is Taking Over the World Saida Dahir May 6, 2023 Afrobeats, Black Culture, Music History As a young student, I vividly remember the daily ritual of walking to my middle school. It was the perfect opportunity to plug in my headphones, let the music take over, and shut out the rest of the world. In t...
Gaza’s wonder boy: underdog Mohammed Assaf wins Arab Idol and rise to fame Anon May 1, 2023 Music History, News, Political In a land where children defend themselves by throwing pebbles at tanks, where holding the Palestinian flag is not only banned but met with violence, and where Israeli soldiers and settlers may break into your ...
Exploring Forgotten Female Voices in Composing Ashley Mauldin March 21, 2023 Classical, Music Composition, Music History, Womens History Month Hans Zimmer. John Williams. Alan Menken: These are all composers that most people know off of the top of our heads when it comes to film scores. These men are the powerhouse of the movie music industry, and a...
Hey, hey we’re the Punk-ees: the unlikely influences of punk Gianna Caudillo March 16, 2023 Columns and Opinions, Music History, Opinion, Punk, Rock The public’s lasting perception of 60s pop-rock band the Monkees sounds a little like this: a Neil Diamond impersonator screaming out to a group of picnicking families, “How many of you remember a Saturday ...
Racist Grrrl: the politics of race and anger in punk feminist movements Emmanuelle Mphuthi December 28, 2022 Black Culture, Columns and Opinions, Music History, Opinion, Political, Punk, Rock 3 Comments Gunk zine issue 4 by Bikceem Ramdasha Riot grrrl is an underground feminist punk movement that originated in the 1990s in the Pacific Northweast of the United States, although some argue the genre truly sta...