Arcade Fire

The Making of Mikal Cronin: How a Shy Kid from Laguna Beach Became the Best Pop Songwriter in San Francisco

S.F.'s Mikal Cronin at SXSW: Fuzzy, Hooky Garage Rock

Mikal Cronin The Parish // SXSW Thursday, March 14, 2013 Onstage at SXSW last night, San Francisco garage rocker Mikal Cronin demonstrated why -- after releasing a sole, lauded debut album -- he landed on the roster at iconic indie record label Merge, home to Arcade Fire and Dinosaur Jr., among ot ... More >>

S.F. Rocker Mikal Cronin Signs with Merge Records

One of the breakout stories in San Francisco rock last year was that of Mikal Cronin, a longtime pal of local garage-rocker Ty Segall, whose debut album blew us -- and lots of others -- away. Well, it looks like Cronin's tuneful songwriting made its way into the ears of some folks over at vaunted in ... More >>

Viral Videomaker Brian Firenzi: Filesharing Is Why MTV Doesn't Play Music Videos Anymore

Maybe you remember the hilarious video we (and lots of others) posted earlier this week, in which a (fake) MTV executive answered a question that bugs many of us: Why doesn't MTV play music videos anymore? Brutally, cruelly funny -- and probably way too accurate -- the clip made by Brian Firenzi an ... More >>

Fall Album Frenzy: New Local Albums You Need to Know

Indie on Top: Noise Pop Celebrates 20 Years of Independent Music

Live Review: Starfucker Asks to Be Taken Seriously While Playing in Drag

Starfucker Painted Palms Feelings Jan. 6, 2012 Great American Music Hall Better than: Pyramid or Pyramiddd. Look, we all get it. With a name like Starfucker, it's hard to be taken seriously. Nearly any time the band is mentioned, the absurdity of its name comes up. Critics cite it as a reason wh ... More >>

One Last Spin: A Look Back at the Year in Bay Area Music

Live Review: The National Converts to Arena Mode at Bill Graham Civic

Matt SmithThe National at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium on Saturday night. ​ The National Local Natives Wye Oak Dec. 3, 2011 Bill Graham Civic Auditorium Better than: Seeing any other American rock band. "Anyone got extras? [To his partner] Hey, whatcha got?" "Just a hard dick and some bub ... More >>

Old Rocker (Roger Waters) to Perform Old Album (The Wall) for (Old) Fans in AT&T Park

Roger Waters can't hear the kids, but they're shouting, "Dude, rock 'n' roll is dead!"​ It's not ageism, people -- this blog reviewed Roger Waters' performance of the Wall in Oakland last December and found it humongous, riveting, and revolutionary. To call the Wall a classic rock document is ... More >>

Grammy-Winning Arcade Fire Singer Win Butler Thinks S.F. Is Too Expensive

Christopher VictorioButler: Apparently not moving to S.F. anytime soon.​ About halfway through Arcade Fire's set at Outside Lands on Sunday, frontman Win Butler paused to regard the evening: The massive crowd, the rising moon, the immaculate weather (although it had turned a bit crisp by then) ... More >>

Adele Is Coming Back, But Now You Must Choose: Greek Theatre Or Outside Lands?

"Pick me!"​ Anyone sick of hearing "Britney's back, bitch"? We didn't think so (who can tire of good, old-fashioned alliteration?), but that doesn't mean we should forget that poor, sick Adele has been gone. First, we announced in April that the British R&B superstar would be taking her act t ... More >>

A Guide to NorCal Music Festivals

The Sway Machinery Captures Malian Adventures on Its New Album

Arthouse Movie Listings for February 23-March 1, 2011

Dan Deacon on Big Ideas, Being Intrigued By Weirdos, and What He's Doing with Francis Ford Coppola

​Dan Deacon can drop some knowledge. The enterprising electronica composer -- who drops his clusterfucking soundscapes at this week's Noise Pop Festival -- recently gave a reporter a very coherent verbal essay on the state of the music biz and the nature of pop music. An academic's experimentalis ... More >>

Former Record Exec Steve Stoute Trashes the Grammys in Full-Page NYT Ad -- And He's Got a Point

Gaga at the Grammys​Steve Stoute, an industry executive famous in hip-hop circles for managing Nas and beefing with Diddy, isn't happy with the way the Grammys turned out last week. In fact, he's so mad that he took out a full page ad in the New York Times to air his grievances with the award show ... More >>

Saturday Night: Deerhunter Unveils Ghostly Art-Pop at Slim's

Cherrell Johnston​DeerhunterReal EstateOctober 30, 2010@ Slim'sBetter than: Dressing up as Christopher Walken and/or Robert DeNiro from The Deer Hunter for Halloween and making Russian roulette references in front of strangers. There's a certain ghoulishness, something otherworldly and ghostl ... More >>

Is M.I.A. Actually Trying to Drive Away Her Fans?

Richard Haick​M.I.A.October 12, 2010@ The Fox Theater, OaklandBetter than: Well, I guess she could have not played at all.Last night, M.I.A. was that kid you hated to do group projects with in school: She showed up late, she left ridiculously early, she barely did anything on her own, and yet ... More >>

Canada's PS I Love You Spread the Love Stateside on First Tour

Vanessa Heins​San Francisco, meet PS I Love You. They're new here, and they're psyched to meet you. The Kingston, Ontario duo of Paul Saulnier and Benjamin Nelson are a few dates into their first U.S. tour, weathering the ups and downs of the road and bringing their clamorous caterwaul to the ador ... More >>

Local Natives: Worth Staying Up Past Curfew For

Local Natives​Local NativesThe Love LanguageThe Union Line September 22, 2010 @ The Fillmore Better than: Other popular indie boy bands.Last night's crowd at the Fillmore was shockingly underage. Standing in the first three rows, I felt incredibly uncomfortable when I realized I wa ... More >>

Friday's Pick: Woods, Kurt Vile, The Art Museums, The Mantles at Slim's

Woods​There's been much conjecture on how to get your music heard in a time of eroding CD sales. Many bands are encouraged to embrace technology and gimmicky marketing schemes. There is also the Woods way. Since 2006, the Brooklyn indie-rock band has released an album every year on its own label, ... More >>

Last Night: Local Natives at The Rickshaw Stop

Photo by Chris Stevens​Local Natives @ The Rickshaw Stop June 2, 2010 Better than: Cavil at Rest Local Natives might just be the most hyped band since...that last overly hyped indie band. Thanks to a stellar performance at this year's Coachella music festival and media comparisons to Arcade Fi ... More >>

Local Frequency: Bay Area Band Q&A w/ Blood and Sunshine

Geno Valle​Like peanut butter and jelly, and chips and salsa, it's fun putting complimentary elements together. Blood and Sunshine are no exception. Combing their backgrounds of shoegaze and electronica, the duo of Joseph Macrino (vocals, guitar, Omnichord) and James Brennan (vocals, synth, machi ... More >>

Phil Collins: Indie Hipsters' Non-Guilty Pleasure

Peter Gabriel may be courting indie rock with his reciprocal covers albums Scratch My Back and the forthcoming I'll Scratch Yours - featuring the likes of Bon Iver and the Arcade Fire - but don't discount indiedom's growing love for his old Genesis cohort Phil Collins. The recent rise of chillw ... More >>

Ken Will Help You Move

Last Night: Beirut at the Grand

Giant Sandcastles

R.E.M. and Modest Mouse Perform in Berkeley 5/31

Twelve Ways the Hives Could've Made a Better Record for Interscope

Yeasayer: riding the blog buzz on inventive pop

Rademacher Alchemizes Arcade Fire and Modest Mouse for Pure Indie-Pop Gold

Beirut's Zach Condon: Young Success 'Fucked With a Lot of Things' -- Interview

The New Pornographers' Feel Good Rush

Pleasure-centered pop singles

Heavenly States Sign Film Option for Libya Movie

Hip Hop 101: the Underdogs/Alt-Rock 101: the Secret of Their Overseas Success/ DJ Culture 101: the Critical Mash Honors Club

Bittersweet Symphonies:Popscene's decade of Anglophile adoration

Band Advice

How to get all the blow jobs and cash you can handle, in eight easy steps

One Band Clapping

The much-hyped Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and the phenomenon of the indie band as small business

Fiery Architecture

Uncategorizable but lovely Australian

Bootyology 101

Discussing chest-buns, the Baboon's Ass, and furniture moving at the Monkey Club

Phoning Home

The Phone Booth: a place where hipsters, gay dudes, vegans, and music columnists can all get along