Pomplamoose owe a great debt to Nymphomaniac director Lars von Trier, whose revolutionary mid-’90s filmmaking movement, Dogme 95—which called upon filmmakers to adhere to strict rules and limitations—inspired Jack Conte, one half of the indie-pop duo, to make music videos bound by his own rigid dogma. When making his “videosongs,” as Conte…
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Walking into Rockbar Theater you get the sense that you are being taken back to a simpler time—when larger-than-life rock stars roamed the earth, jumping from stadium to stadium, slaying entire stadiums full of screaming fans with epic guitar solos and thrashing hotel rooms. That feeling, according to Susan Cramer and Robert…
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Many bands plug away for years, playing house parties, clubs and smaller halls before they ever reach a stage inside an arena, assuming they even reach such a stage at all. But the South Bay-bred indie-blues-rock group Fritz Montana were fortunate enough to play at Oracle Arena in Oakland—on their fourth show.…
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Much like the Aesop of antiquity, it isn’t particularly easy to get a bead on Aesop, the emcee of the Bay Area and Los Angeles hip-hop crew, Living Legends. A Wikipedia search of the Aesop of Aesop’s Fables will inform you that scholars are undecided as to whether Aesop ever really existed or…
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So, you went big last night, and all the biggest acts—Outkast, Massive Attack, TV on the Radio and Janelle Monae—they’re not playing until later. And through your dried, bloodshot eyes you are staring angrily at your alarm clock. There’s no way you’re getting up now to get down to the Treasure Island…
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Like many great artistic movements, jazz was born out of rebellion—growing, in some cases quite literally, from an underground. Speakeasies, those often subterranean and always illicit watering holes, which sprung up all over America during prohibition served as the launch pad for America’s indigenous music. And so it makes sense that San…
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Though the weather is shifting and summer is officially over, those familiar with the Bay Area’s peculiar weather know that a few hot days still remain this year. And with the help of one of the biggest acts ever to come out of the East Bay, it’s going to feel like summer…
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For the past two weeks, the Montalvo Arts Center has been the host of the OneBeat international music consortium and residency program. Montalvo has served as a temporary home, recording studio and performance space for 25 musicians, aged 19-35, from all over the world. They’ve come together to share the musical traditions of…
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The San Francisco-bred indie-psych droners, Moon Duo, drew a sizable crowd to Cafe Stritch in San Jose’s SoFA district on Saturday. The show, booked by the “boutique music and events curator and presenter,” (((folkYEAH))), featured retro, acid test-esque light projections courtesy of Mad Alchemy Liquid Lights and ambient opener Matt Baldwin and the…
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Two of San Jose’s best-known rappers, Dirtbag Dan and Rey Ressureccion have released a new video for “Thinking of a Master Plan.” The clip, which is anchored by Dan and Res spitting verses on the steps of what appears to be a San Jose porch—whilst smoking and kicking back brews—also features plenty…
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