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Matei Predescu on January 30, 2020
Sacramento-born chillwave producer Scott Hansen, also known as Tycho, received a Grammy nomination for Epoch, his 2016 album of ambient electronic instrumentals that seamlessly blends live instrumentation with drum machines and DAW production. Backed by a live band for most of his performances, Tycho finds a middle ground between live instrumentalists, sampling…
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Matei Predescu on January 30, 2020
Experimental post-rock sextet Caspian, active since 2003, stacks multiple guitar and synth textures in billowing layers. At times, their songs take more than seven minutes to fully develop: Sprawling pieces like “Castles High, Marble Bright” from the eponymous 2016 EP build tension with guitar harmonies that weave in and out of dissonance…
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by
Metro Staff on January 30, 2020
The San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs are headed to the Big Game, and Niners fans are liking their chances. It’s the first time the Red & Gold have gone to the Super Bowl since the devastating “Harbowl” of 2013, when then head-coach Jim Harbaugh’s squad narrowly lost to his brother’s…
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Metro Staff on January 30, 2020
South Korea has always had a major footprint here. Kias and Hyundais are ubiquitous. Park Chan-wook’s Vengeance Trilogy and Bong Joon-ho’s Snowpiercer—and his 2020 Academy Award Best Picture nominee Parasite—are popular and critically acclaimed. It’s unclear if bangs-sporting boy bands will ever be an American export again. But we’re happy to allow…
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Matei Predescu on January 30, 2020
Kooky, boozy, mad-scientist grandpa Rick Sanchez and mild-mannered Morty form one hell of a dysfunctional, dimension-hopping duo as they traverse the multiverse in the Adult Swim animated sitcom Rick and Morty. Now pushing its fourth season, the show boasts a loyal fanbase—so loyal, in fact, that a Rick and Morty-themed trivia pub…
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Matei Predescu on January 30, 2020
Good Times Ahead (also known as GTA) is the project of house-DJ duo Julio Mejia and Matt Toth. They’ve racked up millions of plays on streaming platforms and toured with the likes of Tiesto, Calvin Harris and Rihanna, selling out shows across the world. Their self-titled 2016 album included features from rappers…
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Metro Staff on January 30, 2020
Do you miss the old Kanye? Chop-up-the-soul Kanye? What about Carson Daly, Blink-182, the Backstreet Boys and Korn? C’mon. If “Freak on a Leash” comes on the radio, are you really gonna touch that dial? Point is, Popgang Presents and The Ritz are taking it all the way back to the golden…
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Metro Staff on January 22, 2020
One of the strangest pop stars of the 2010s, Riff Raff has cut a jagged neon line through rap, country and reality TV and has even dabbled in professional wrestling. Though the Houston performer began honing his outlandish persona in the late 2000s—appearing on MTV’s From G’s to Gents with the network’s…
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Metro Staff on January 22, 2020
After reuniting in 2014, South Bay alt-rock veterans Strata are poised to release their first proper full-length of new material since 2007’s commercially successful Strata Presents the End of the World. So far, the band has only released a pair of teaser trailers on YouTube, featuring a clip of a new song and…
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by
Nick Veronin on January 22, 2020
While its shiftless younger cousins, rock and hip-hop, rely on the impulsive tendencies of youth, blues is a genre that rewards mastery. From B.B. to John Lee, the best bluesmen only improve with age. Case in point: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Elvin Bishop. His 1976 single “Fooled Around and…
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