San Jose’s the English Language are in love the year 1967. It almost goes without saying. Yet it’s an important point to make when discussing their new album, This is Science / Rock & Roll because while their self-titled debut is has more than a couple moves taken from the summer of love playbook, their latest release draws more liberally from 1965 until about 1974, cherry picking musical influences along the way. There’s mid ‘70s power-pop (“Zig Zag Drag”), early ‘70s proto-punk (“What’s Wrong With My Baby’s Blood”), mid ‘60s bouncy-pop (“Happy Loving You”) and late ‘60s psychedelic ballads. (“Gold Of Mine”). Continue reading »
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Isaac Simpson on January 27, 2014
Steve Aoki doesn’t crowd surf. At his shows, he floats atop the candy-coated masses in an inflatable raft like a drunken yacht captain high on champagne and wobbly bass. He also launches birthday cakes. At a show in Toronto, Aoki hit a kid in a wheelchair with a cake, point blank. The fan was elated. Continue reading »
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Phillip Scott on January 21, 2014
It’s just a few years old, but Wobbleland has already proven itself steady. As one of the most reliable and consistently well-produced large shows in the area, Wobbleland regularly draws crowds of dance fans. This year’s roster features dubstep, trap and bass with Griz, Doctor P, Cookie Monsta and a full lineup of DJs. Continue reading »
“It’s not wholesome!” a middle-aged mom shouted as she shut the trunk of her SUV. Was she talking about the stoners at HempCon or the costumed masses at FurCon? I didn’t get a chance to ask, as she hopped in the driver seat and sped off the scene of San Jose’s annual set-up for a joke. Continue reading »
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By Meghan Walsh on January 15, 2014
On Gabriel Reeves’ brawny left calf, just above the pink sock emblazoned with a pot leaf, is a tattoo of Ferdinand the Bull. Sitting in a room just off the lobby at Elemental Wellness, a medical marijuana collective in San Jose where Reeves teaches a weekly “Cooking with Cannabis” class, the chef talks about how he identifies with Ferdinand, the bull who would rather smell flowers than fight. Continue reading »
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Jennifer Wadsworth on January 15, 2014
Despite federal raids and local land-use fights plaguing marijuana dispensaries, the industry will soon go from medicinal to outright legal, says Freddy Sayegh, an activist and criminal defense attorney. California will join the ranks of Colorado and Washington, he says, and it’s only a matter of time before the federal government reclassifies the drug from a Schedule I controlled substance, deemed to have no medical benefit, to a Schedule II, which recognizes clinical properties and allows researchers to legally study the plant.
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Kentucky-based Musician J.D. Wilkes has found a true muse: the South. It inspires him whether he’s touring the country with his unhinged country-punk group the Shack Shakers, directing a documentary about the music and mythology of the American South, writing a book that comprehensively catalogs all the barn dances and jamborees in Kentucky—or co-founding a second band, the Dirt Daubers, also with a sound rooted in the South. Continue reading »
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the Barfly on January 14, 2014
Mr. Harada and I have been exploring watering holes in the South Bay and beyond for a long while now. It’s been just over a decade since our first merry toast, and we’ve been going strong ever since. As the years pass, we’ve become wiser, plumper and our tastes have developed.
Certain prohibitionists, pragmatists and/or doctors would argue that we search for more complex flavor profiles because years of drinking alcohol have stripped our sensitive taste buds down into taste-stumps, but those people are wrong. You see, the barfly’s journey is very much like that of a philosopher, and our taste buds have developed like the minds of Plato, Machiavelli and Tupac. Continue reading »
