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Jennifer Wadsworth on March 5, 2014
Growing up with five siblings in San Jose’s working-class east side gave Andrew Bigelow personal insight into Silicon Valley’s yawning gap between rich and poor. Especially once his parents scrimped enough to send him to Archbishop Mitty High, the expensive parochial academy known for its football team and schooling the offspring of well-heeled valley residents. Continue reading »
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David Ma on March 5, 2014
Seasoned hip-hop fans of a certain age will remember Jazzy Jeff as part of DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince, a rap duo that began in the late ’80s before Will Smith went solo and became a movie star. Continue reading »
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Richard Faulk on February 25, 2014
What do John Williams, John Cale, Flying Lotus, Dr. Dre, Hubert Laws, Billy Higgins, Hall and Oates, Lana Del Rey, Barry Manilow and Ray Charles have in common? They’re just a few of the acts that have called upon the talent of Miguel Atwood-Ferguson. Continue reading »
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Richard Faulk on February 24, 2014
For the record, I was pulling for them. For services rendered to indie music, for the bands they’ve inspired and for proving to me and countless others that rock still had life in it. The Pixies deserve to be rich and happy, left alone to play whenever and release whatever they want, on exactly their own terms. Continue reading »
Despite releasing his autobiography last year, Morrissey is more of mystery than ever. After climbing to rock icon status after only five years with the Smiths, he’s risen and fallen in the pop-culture consciousness over and over, but to paraphrase one of his own songs: the more they ignore him, the closer he gets. Continue reading »
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Richard Faulk on February 17, 2014
“I was at a record store in Boston, and I saw a person returning Come on Pilgrim,” says Joey Santiago, guitarist for legendary indie band the Pixies, recollecting their debut EP, on 4AD records. Back in 1986, the British label was known for its roster of ethereal gothic bands, and here was one seriously unhappy fan. Continue reading »
Drugs, violence and just plain rock & roll madness were major themes covered in the 2004 rockumentary Dig! as viewers watched San Francisco psychedelic rock band the Brian Jonestown Massacre fall apart at the seams. Yet, it was their goofy, flamboyant and not-nearly-as-volatile tambourine player Joel Gion who became a favorite with a lot of fans. Continue reading »
Cassette tapes have returned and they’re taking over the music industry. Well, maybe they’re not that popular, but within certain underground punk and indie circles, they have become a popular way once again for bands to release their music. One band that’s taken advantage of this format is Portland indie rock band the Woolen Men, who’ve put out a ton of lo-fi, small-run releases exclusively on tape—and they sell out of them quickly. Continue reading »
Jason Stollsteimer was never known to be a tortured artist. His old band, the Von Bondies, were a fun rock & roll band, part of the early 2000s garage-rock revival alongside the Strokes and the White Stripes. But toward the end of the decade, as they fizzled out, he focused on a darker solo project he called “Jason and the Hounds Below,” which sounded like a cross between early Against Me folk-punk and ’50s rockabilly—he describes it as his “straight up tormented Roy Orbison” project. Continue reading »
