AnCo exhibits refined palette in Painting With HR Huber-Rodriguez February 24, 2016 Album Review, Reviews Vocal hocketing is a musical technique in which singers share melodies by alternating notes at measure, word or even syllable frequency. I define it here because this technique exists all over the experimental ...
DOOMSQUAD enable Christmas in July with a two-part dance suite Joanna Jiang May 20, 2015 Album Review With a moniker like DOOMSQUAD, one can be certain the Blumas aren't the type who take themselves too seriously – their backstory is exactly that. “We’re superserious and at the same time we’re not s...
Etiquette are courteous, but keep listeners on toes with debut record Joanna Jiang March 24, 2015 Album Review Merging hard electronic with soft acoustic, Graham Walsh imposes a fuzzy electro-rock haze over Julie Fader’s floaty vocals on their debut record, Reminisce (out March 24 via Hand Drawn Dracula). Separate...
Thriftworks gets a cat: Or, Thriftworks expands catalogue with Fade, Fader, Fadest Joanna Jiang December 9, 2014 Album Review, Band of the Week 2 Comments The first thing you should know about Jake Atlas is that he’s not a DJ. Funny that, when most electronic artists get a kick out of spinning live, Atlas isn’t interested in turning up an inebriated dance flo...
Gardens & Villa to bring lush fuzz and glitter to SF this weekend Joanna Jiang November 17, 2014 Concerts, Festivals, and Live Previews Even the most investigative sound junkie will know that worthwhile music arrives from all avenues. We first stumbled across Gardens & Villa's debut single, "Black Hills" three years ago via now-defunct ...
An unlikely duo, Broken Bells play a polished set at The Masonic Kavitha George November 5, 2014 Concerts, Festivals, and Live Reviews, Photos Broken Bells, in all their space-themed glory, hit the stage of The Masonic this week and played a fantastic end to their North American tour. Front and center was a metallic hemisphere that projected the f...
Bay Area native Tycho casts a pastel aurora, transcends at hometown show Chris Redman November 1, 2014 Concerts, Festivals, and Live Previews, Photos Transcendence is a bold concept and curious state, but Tycho’s showing this past Thursday at the Fox Theater in Oakland took us there, if not pretty close. The resonance of the venue, allowed the lower freq...
Peaking Lights land a strange sassy ship with Cosmic Logic Jade Theriault October 13, 2014 Album Review A looping wave like something out of a dream, it’s almost impossible to appreciate “Infinite Trips,” the first track off of Cosmic Logic, without telling yourself “this is the first track off of Cos...
Zola Jesus opens tour in San Francisco and “nails” it Joanna Jiang October 10, 2014 Concerts, Festivals, and Live Reviews Nika Roza Danilova (or Zola Jesus) stands at most five feet tall, but her sound is at least twice that. On Taiga (2014), we discovered boundlessness; at Bimbo’s 365 Club in San Francisco two evenings ago,...
Zola Jesus “debuts” with breathtaking fifth album, Taiga Joanna Jiang October 5, 2014 Album Review 2 Comments “Do you wish you could go back to it all?” From humble beginnings and an absurdist Gregorian chant, Nika Roza Danilova and Taiga appear. This is the fifth release for the Arizona-born, Wisconsin-raised, ...
YouTuber Wisdom: The Voidz — “Human Sadness” Jade Theriault September 8, 2014 Blog 2 Comments http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8k3qB61lhk “Human Sadness,” a difficult single off The Voidz's new album Tyranny, sounds like something Julian Casablancas would do, on steroids. Pieces of this song can b...
Art Nikels play first San Francisco gig Conner Smith April 4, 2014 Concerts, Festivals, and Live Reviews Representing the East Bay at SFSU, Berkeley’s own Art Nikels lulled The Depot into an experimental indie reverie of alternating beats and chordal melodies. Within their dynamic six-song set, the five-piece...