We’re coming in from the cold. As the Bay Area emerges from some of the chilliest weather we’ve seen all year, two major Californian summer music festivals—Coachella and BottleRock—have announced their 2015 lineups. AC/DC, Jack White and Drake top the two-weekend, six-day bill at the Indio Polo Grounds this year, while Imagine Dragons, No Doubt, Robert Plant…
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Fresh off a plane from New York City, Matt Fazzi of the locally bred Happy Body Slow Brain, says it’s good to be home for the holidays. Though he now lives in Queens, NYC, Fazzi grew up in San Jose and says he is looking forward to spending time with his friends and…
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When it comes to truly prolific bands, examples abound. From The Rolling Stones to Radiohead, we all know and love groups with deep catalogs and decades-long careers. But few veteran bands have flown so gracefully under the radar and for so very long as CAKE. How fitting is a name that means to…
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It’s that time of year again. Cold weather, warm clothing, an effigy of Santa Claus with a strap-on dildo flying through the air. Wait. What? “The whole vibe of the night gets weirder every year,” Limousines frontman Eric Victorino says of the San Jose electro-pop duo’s annual Christmas bash. He can’t quite recall…
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Despite some dazzling math rock chops, and a growing fanbase, local singer, songwriter and guitarist Yvette Young is still green when it comes to playing in a band. Her new math-prog rock group, Covet, makes their South Bay debut this Saturday at Homestead Bowl, playing their second show ever.
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He’s been playing music for 25 years, recorded three full-length records at the world-famous Sun Studios in Memphis, and he has more than 130,000 views on YouTube. Still, David Brookings is far from a household name. But he’s cool with that. “I’m not famous, but that doesn’t mean people haven’t bought the…
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Tad Malone on December 11, 2014
In an age where too many DJ “performances” amount to little more than the pressing of buttons to initiate pre-recorded tracks, Los Angeles-based MAKJ stands out as a craftsman of the turntable. He scratches, beat-matches and improvises on actual vinyl. And he laments that these most elemental of DJ-ing skills have apparently been…
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Blue Oyster Cult—you know, of “more cowbell” fame—are coming to the Rockbar Theater in March of 2015. Younger crowds will doubtlessly recognize the group thanks to the absurdist Saturday Night Live skit, featuring Will Ferrel as the overzealous percussionist Gene Frenkle and Christopher Walken as famed record producer “The Bruce Dickenson,” who personally cannot get enough of…
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For many twentysomethings electronic dance music is the latest and greatest form of musical expression. Producers like Kaskade, Skrillex and Avicii pack festivals full of college-aged men and women with their high energy, synth-based beats. But for 24-year-old San Jose denizen Jackie Gage, horns, upright bass and analog, brush-beaten drum kits are…
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John Flynn on December 3, 2014
Ever since he was a boy, Dustin Brown has understood that music is his calling. And though he struggled with formal lessons in his youth, it is clear that he has found his voice as the frontman of Portland-based electro-pop outfit NTNT. Brown’s brainchild, NTNT is a genre-splicing amalgam of force and…
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