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Mike Huguenor on April 7, 2021
At the outset of “Soldiers,” the title track from the second album by South Bay jazz trio Murray/Sato/Weeks, a single note appears like a figure on the horizon. For 10 seconds, saxophonist Tom Weeks and bassist Kazuto Sato hold the note together, while drummer Kevin Murray makes a skittering wash of cymbals…
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Mike Huguenor on March 31, 2021
Heraclitus said that no one steps into the same waters twice, but when Saoirse Alesandro stepped back into San Jose last spring after four years in Los Angeles, she and three of her closest friends dove right in and started a band. “She got back in May, and we started band practice…
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Mike Huguenor on March 3, 2021
It’s the night before Valentine’s Day, and Cutso is spinning records on Twitch from his living room. Framed by the glittering words “Lovers N’ Friends,” and standing before a sign that reads “Punk Haircuts, any style $2.75,” he transitions from reggaeton to the soul and jazz sounds of Sade. “You can never…
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Mike Huguenor on February 17, 2021
Electronic musician Kazuma Matsui holds a lotion bottle to the microphone. The cap pops open with an audible snap. As one half of the group Happy New Year, “Cupertino’s only ambient band,” Matsui is demonstrating one of their preferred instruments. “I’ll edit it to the point where it sounds like a kick…
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Mike Huguenor on February 10, 2021
On Christmas Day, San Jose emo group Awakebutstillinbed surprised fans with new EP, Stay Who You Are, their first new set of songs since 2018’s striking debut album What People Call Low Self-esteem is Really Just Seeing Yourself the Way Others See You (the band stylizes its name and album titles in…
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Mike Huguenor on January 20, 2021
Last July, as the local economy scrambled to survive the third month of the coronavirus pandemic, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek took to Twitter with some economic figures of his own. “Excited to announce our Q2 numbers showing strong growth across the board,” Ek tweeted on July 29, 2020. Linked in the tweet…
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Mike Huguenor on June 17, 2020
Last Friday, The Chinkees, Mike Park’s all-Asian ska-punk band, unexpectedly put out their first new set of songs in 18 years. K.A. Music, the blazing four-song EP, was released by Park’s Monte Sereno-based Asian Man Records and quickly sold out of its initial vinyl pressing.
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Bill Kopp on April 22, 2020
In the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, top first priorities should be health and safety, and taking care of basic needs. But once those needs are addressed, maintaining some semblance of normalcy is important as well.
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I understand the need to make a living, but there’s more at stake here than dollars and cents. So, seeing the flashing, neon “OPEN” sign in the window of your beauty salon presented, for me, a moral conundrum. Should I snitch you out? Through the window, I could see you styling a…
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I saw you. You were sitting next to me at the wedding—the one we were all concerned about attending, given the novel coronavirus pandemic. Well… most of us were concerned. You were just running your mouth, doing everything in your power to bring our polite conversation back to the topic of guns.…
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