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Tad Malone on March 2, 2016
L.A.-based producer Daedelus has a reputation as a musical wizard. Known for his genre-hopping, unique brand of electronic music, he is a veteran of the L.A. scene and his work a constantly evolving gem in a sea of monotonous electronica. Kneebody is a jazz-fusion band based out of L.A., which also has…
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Jeffrey Edalatpour on March 2, 2016
When Los Angeles-based R&B trio KING independently released their three-song The Story, the music blogosphere went crazy. NPR Music called the arrangements of “Supernatural,” the EP’s second track, “celestial.” The collection’s closer, “Hey,” landed on Pitchfork’s perpetually updating “Best New Music” list and Kendrick Lamar sampled the track. Prince proclaimed his love…
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John Flynn and Tad Malone on March 2, 2016
San Jose Jazz Winter Fest is bringing 24 live performances from veteran and emerging jazz acts, as well as student groups. Here is a selection of some of the most interesting musicians playing at this year’s gathering.
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Andrew Lentz on December 16, 2015
There are several ways to think about Cheap Trick. They’re both masters of hard-edged-pop and rock subversives. However, there is one tag that makes the band’s bassist, Tom Petersson, cringe: American Beatles. The comparison probably comes from Cheap Trick At Budokan, a live album on which the screams of teenage Japanese girls…
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Nick Veronin on November 25, 2015
The Phenomenauts are not unlike The Justice League or The Avengers. This rocket-fueled collective of rockabilly punks have been featured in their own comic books, each member of the group has an alias, and they hold meetings at a home base, known as The Command Center.
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Christopher Rios on November 18, 2015
Musicians draw inspiration from so many different places-other musicians, major events in their personal lives, political movements, drugs and spiritual experiences. Barrett Richards, who makes murky and experimental electronic music under the moniker Kastle, says one of his earliest inspirations came in the form of Herbie Hancock performing “Rockit” on Sesame Street,…
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Nick Veronin on November 11, 2015
Kutt Calhoun isn’t just going solo. He’s an army of one, and he’s going to war. The no-coast rapper and co-founder of Missouri independent hip-hop label Strange Music, has a new album, a new label and a bone to pick—with his former colleagues and overzealous police.
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Nick Veronin on November 11, 2015
Eric Early, frontman and primary songwriter of the Portland-based Blitzen Trapper, doesn’t shy away from a challenge. In fact, he often goes looking for one. In 2010, he followed up the freak-folky Furr—his band’s pastoral, dreamy and critically acclaimed 2008 Sub Pop debut—with a sweeping, prog-rock throwback. Destroyer of the Void, which…
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Nick Veronin on August 6, 2015
If we are to believe Mike Odd, there aren’t many who know the true identity of Ronald Osborne, frontman for the L.A.-based, McDonald’s-themed Black Sabbath cover band, Mac Sabbath.
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