It’s the same story every time. A local artist starts to catch a buzz on the blogs, major labels come sniffing around, and then they make the move—to San Francisco or Oakland or Los Angeles. It’s hard to hate on the decision. After all, San Jose can be a pretty sleepy place and…
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David Barclay on February 7, 2016
Saturday night’s Super Bowl 50 parties throughout the Bay Area featured an eclectic mix of celebrities and musicians—Lil’ Wayne appeared at Maxim’s bash at Treasure Island; Cuba Gooding Jr., lead actor in the new television miniseries, The People v. O.J. Simpson, showed up at Playboy’s party in San Francisco on Friday. But one…
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Nick Veronin on February 3, 2016
When Kid Koala began work on what would ultimately become Nufonia Must Fall—a “silent graphic novel” about a robot attempting to write a love song for the human woman of his dreams—the most advanced hipsters were still wielding flip phones, calling was more common than texting and WiFi wasn’t yet commonplace. Fast-forward to…
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The Super Bowl is here—here being, you know, the South Bay—‘a.k.a. Silicon Valley, the global hub of technological innovation, and home to Apple, Google, Facebook, the social media and mobile revolution. But if you were to ask the NFL exactly where the Broncos and Panthers are set to face off, they’d just assume…
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Atlanta rapper Killer Mike sat down earlier this month to speak with with Olympic gold medalist and San Jose State alumnus, Tommie Smith. As an emcee, Killer Mike (née Michael Render) has made a name for himself with his aggressive, socially and politically minded style.
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Nick Veronin on January 27, 2016
Considering their reputation as folksy, down home and altogether analog, some might be surprised to learn that Dr. Dog got their start composing electronic tunes. To be clear, the very first tracks that the Philadelphia indie rockers ever recorded weren’t club bangers, or even chilly IDM. Still, the founding trio of Toby Leaman,…
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Mike Huguenor on January 18, 2016
“It’s a tough match-up for sure,” Drew types to me via text message. The match-up he is referring to is between a bird dressed like Han Solo, and a princess, wearing a sparkling tiara and wielding a parasol. The bird is Falco, a character from Nintendo’s Star Fox video game franchise. The princess…
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Nick Veronin on December 30, 2015
With the help of new and new-ish venues, downtown San Jose saw some great shows in 2015. Sir Mix-A-Lot proved that big butts will never go out of style, and Mac Sabbath demonstrated the power of drive-thru metal with energetic sets at The Ritz; Kirk Hammett brought djent masters Meshuggah and stoner metal…
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Nick Veronin on December 23, 2015
James Fenwicke, former multi-instrumentalist for The Mumlers, is coming home for the holidays—and he is bringing the gift of new music with him. Fenwicke—or JF, as he prefers to be called—is returning to his native San Jose from New Orleans, where he recently moved to pursue a degree in the field of…
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Nick Veronin on December 16, 2015
It’s that time of year again. The South Bay’s favorite electro-pop duo, The Limousines, are hosting their annual holiday party—and this year promises to be the biggest one yet. Literally. “We’re excited to be able to utilize that space,” says Limos singer Eric Victorino, referencing the fact that the sixth annual XXX-Mas…
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