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Stacy Torres on June 17, 2016
Tickets are on sale today for the world-renowned Cirque du Soleil, who make their return to Silicon Valley in February 2017. Known for their high-flying, elaborate performances and decidedly modern aesthetic, the Canadian troupe of gymnasts, mimes and dancers are bringing their latest touring production, LUZIA, to San Jose.
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John Flynn on June 8, 2016
“First of all, there’s no such fucking thing as high art anymore,” says Joowan Kim, leader of the Ensemble Mik Nawooj—a group that melds hip-hop and classical music to create singular and postmodern songs. Kim, who began pioneering this hybrid sound in his final years at the Berklee School of Music, says…
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Mike Huguenor on June 1, 2016
In his mind-bending essay on Marx and Shakespeare, visionary French philosopher Jacques Derrida imagined a future, which comes from the past. “The same question had already sounded,” he writes in Specters of Marx. “The same, to be sure, but in an altogether different way. And the difference in the sound, that is…
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John Flynn on May 11, 2016
After laying down beats, hooks and verses for six songs, Traxamillion got tired of his own voice. So he tapped three friends to feature over his hard-knocking trap tracks. After that, he threw the snack-sized project up on Soundcloud, tweeted it to his 25,000-plus followers and kicked back as the internet distributed…
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Mike Huguenor on May 11, 2016
Roddy “Radiation” Byers draws a lot of parallels between today’s political climate and the state of global affairs back when he was playing in The Specials. “It’s almost a mirror image now to what it was like in the late ’70s early ’80s,” says the erstwhile guitarist of the English ska and…
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Alongside Nicki Minaj, Taylor Swift and Beyonce, Rihanna sits atop the modern Mount Rushmore of American pop songstresses. But unlike the obsessively manicured images of her competition, there’s always been an ineffable realness to Rihanna—a steamy brashness that hasn’t waned in her inevitable, steady rise to stardom.
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John Flynn on April 20, 2016
On the cover of his latest album, Think Bigs, San Jose rapper Andrew Bigs wears wire-rimmed glasses and channels Steve Jobs in the iconic, if grammatically incorrect, “Think Different” Apple campaign. On the aptly titled release, Bigs distills his singular experience of growing up on the East Side, then attending private school…
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Tad Malone on March 30, 2016
The long running Bay Area radio station KFJC is bringing its celebrated record swap back to Empire Seven Studios for its second year of a reimagined tradition. Since its founding in 1959, KFJC has played an integral part in the underground but vibrant Bay Area music scene. Broadcasting from the Foothill College…
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Mike Huguenor on March 30, 2016
Even if you don’t recognize the name, you’ve probably heard the Stone Foxes. Their music has been used in multiple TV shows, including Showtime’s Shameless, FX’s Sons of Anarchy and a 2013 Jack Daniels TV campaign that prominently featured their cover of Slim Harpo’s “I’m a King Bee” (a song once covered by…
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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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