The child of Ethiopian immigrants, Lavish is a young San Jose emcee with big aspirations. The up-and-coming rapper was raised in the Santa Teresa neighborhood and first took an interest in hip-hop in middle school, where he and his friends would spend their free time (and class time) engaging in rap battles…
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Anna Bagirov on April 13, 2016
Most gringos know very little about Selena, other than what they may have picked up from the eponymous biopic on the Spanish- and English-language pop singer. However, among Latinos of a certain age, Selena Quintanilla-Perez is much more than the character that launched Jennifer Lopez’s career—she is a diva, on par with Madonna.…
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Nick Veronin on April 13, 2016
Jeff Evans, owner of On the Corner Music, estimates that he has somewhere between 4,000 and 5,000 records boxed up and ready to be tossed out on the pavement outside his Campbell storefront, weather permitting. The vinyl merchant isn’t giving up on his enterprise. On the contrary, he’s planning to cash in—50…
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Antwon continues to tease his forthcoming Anticon debut—the Double Ecstasy EP—releasing another single from the five-song set today. The track, titled “100K,” finds the San Jose-reared, L.A.-based emcee in top form, rhyming about putting in work and getting paid on the mean streets… perhaps of San Jose.
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Nick Veronin on March 16, 2016
Buzz Osborne swears that he isn’t an ordinary dude, but talking to him on the phone it would be easy to mistake him as such. Sure, the guy sounds a bit high strung; but not tweaker high strung—more like quirky science professor after too many cups of coffee. In fact, after more…
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Nick Veronin on March 16, 2016
From San Jose math rockers to an up-and-coming Vallejo emcee, this year’s South By Southwest festival in Austin, Tex., is packed with serious Bay Area talent. Here are six local acts to catch at SXSW.
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Nick Veronin on March 9, 2016
It’s doubtful that any of us ’80s babies realized it at the time, but we soaked up a lot more than words like “shoryuken” and meme-worthy phrases, like “all your base are belong to us,” while we sat cross-legged on the floor, frantically tapping our plastic Nintendo and Sega controllers. It would…
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Nick Veronin on February 24, 2016
Joaquin Pastor is happy to report that he is able to stomach movies these days. It wasn’t always so easy for the singer, guitarist and lead songwriter for SoCal avant-pop trio James Supercave. “When you spend a lot of time thinking about something from a critical point of view, you just sort…
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Nick Veronin on February 24, 2016
San Jose Jazz Winter Fest is back with a lineup of classic and cutting-edge jazz performances from some of the world’s best-known performers, as well as some exciting up-and-comers. Beginning Feb. 28 and running through March 8, Winter Fest will host 25 concerts at a variety of venues around downtown San Jose,…
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Nick Veronin on February 17, 2016
When speaking with Fernanda Lira on the subject of heavy metal, one thing quickly becomes abundantly clear. The bassist, vocalist and co-founder of the Sao Paulo thrash trio, Nervosa, is positively stoked on the genre. “It’s my life,” Lira says, enthusiastically. She’s not exaggerating. Raised by metalhead parents in Brazil’s biggest city,…
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