Looking back at the history of popular music, though myriad albums might truly be called milestones of innovation and artistry—from Sgt. Pepper to a Kid A—few live albums enjoy this distinction. Too often, live albums are used to fulfill contractual obligations, or serve as stand-ins for greatest hits compilations. Rarely do these…
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Avi Salem on November 18, 2016
“What makes this night so special is that it’s about y’all and the way you feel: This is a representation of that feeling.” Feelings were indeed front and center at Kanye West’s Saint Pablo Tour in San Jose last night, an emotional, visual, aural rollercoaster ride that lasted nearly three hours and…
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Jeffrey Edalatpour, Taylor Jones, Justin Tonel, Nick Veronin on November 16, 2016
It’s been more than a decade since Kanye West first burst into the mainstream with his triumphant, soul-sampling debut, “The College Dropout.” He’s come a long way since his early days, spinning up beats for Roc-A-Fella Records. In 2016, Ye is everywhere—from fashion, to producing, to creating his own unapologetic, boundary-pushing tunes.…
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Richard von Busack on November 11, 2016
The “Sid” in John Ritchie’s stage name was in honor of his pet hamster; the “Vicious” was because he was so mild mannered. By the time Sex Pistols’ co-lead Sid Vicious was found dead on Groundhog Day 1979, the victim of a too-hot shot of heroin, he had a murder charge hanging…
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David Byrne is a modern day Renaissance man. The frontman and founder of The Talking Heads, is also a performing and visual artist. With his latest endeavor, “Neurosociety”, he is combining his interest in the arts with his fascination in tech. Speaking of the nexus of art and technology, electronic music producer…
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Taylor Jones, Justin Tonel, Nick Veronin on November 2, 2016
Do you know the way to San Jose? How about San Francisco? Tony Bennett is coming to town, and we heard he left something there a while back. The 90-year-old living legend plays the City National Civic this Saturday. If rock & roll is more your style, you might consider heading over…
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This past week, Jose Antonio Vargas and Jeff Chang participated in a panel discussion at MACLA. The topic: “A Conversation on Resegregation + the Movement for Racial Justice Now.” Moderated by KQED’s Queena Kim, the discussion was connected to a new book by Chang—a collection of essays titled We Gon’ Be Alright:…
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You’d be forgiven for not knowing what is going on in San Jose music right now. You’d be forgiven for thinking that in fact nothing is going on in San Jose music, or that “San Jose” and “music” aren’t really words that go together at all. We are, after all, the 10th…
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With the spookiest of holidays falling on a Monday this year, Silicon Valley Halloween events are ramping up for the weekend prior with a variety of daytime and late-night parties. We’ve collected as many of them as we could. Plan your weekend with our handy Halloween Guide. Also this week: “Oasis: Supersonic”…
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Joowan Kim wants to pioneer a new kind of American art music. He derides concert hall compositions as either reheated European classics or cultural appropriation pieces, like “Tibetan yak herding songs,” which he compares to wildflowers ripped from their native field and put into an expensive vase. After emigrating from South Korea…
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