Every day is go-skateboarding-day according to the Fastplants. The Chicago-area skate punk band has been shredding its way across country in support of its most recent LP, Spread the Stoke. Founded in 2013, the band is made up of four members whose influences include The Spits, skater Jeff Grosso a.k.a the Dude,…
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Camille Miller on July 7, 2017
In 2005, seven young musicians at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna joined together to compose a fresh take on traditional Austrian brass-band music. The imaginative sound of the seven-piece ensemble is hard to fit into a single genre. Folk, world, pop and a splash of humor come together…
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Starover Blue know their music isn’t going to get bottles popping in the club, and that’s fine with them. The dreamy synth pop band got started in San Jose back in 2007, when singer and guitarist Kendall Sallay met keyboardist Dirk Molitz at SJSU. At the time, Kendall was studying opera and Dirk…
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Island Reggae Fest is back for its sixth year and by the grace of Jah it is bigger and stronger than ever. With its move to the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds last year, the fest was able to expand beyond the scope of island music. The event now incorporates Pacific Islander culture…
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California garage rock outfit Superbrat are bringing their fuzzed-out guitars and driving bass lines to The Caravan. Despite continuing the punk rock narrative alongside other riot grrrl bands like Sleater-Kinney and Bratmobile, the group has a softer side. Many of the lyrics found in their debut EP, Dawn on the Coast, are…
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Yousif Kassab on July 5, 2017
One way or another, it’s clear that Blondie still aren’t done reinventing themselves. They return to Mountain Winery for the first time since the release of their forward-thinking 11th studio album, Pollinator. Among the new songs in their collection are collaborations with contemporary pop artists like Sia and Charli XCX, along with…
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A pleasant bike ride shouldn’t devolve into racist tirades. But that’s exactly what we saw happen to a woman out cycling with her 9-year-old daughter. You pulled up in your late-model Nissan sedan right up behind them and began to honk your horn impatiently. The mother confronted you about your rudeness, but…
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In downtown Campbell there’s a building that has been vacant for more than a decade. The former Gaslighter Theater opened in 1970 and has been empty since 2005. But for those who remember its heyday as a venue for local bands in the 2000s, its influence is still felt.
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Although he is classically trained, virtuosic violinist and expert whistler Andrew Bird has never had much use for musical notation. “I just always saw the written note as an unnecessary middleman between me and the song,” says Bird.
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While its shiftless younger cousins, rock and hip-hop, rely on the impulsive tendencies of youth, blues is a genre that rewards mastery. From B.B. to John Lee, the best bluesmen only improve with age. Case in point: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame-inductee Elvin Bishop. His 1976 single “Fooled Around and Fell…
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