Arts, Entertainment, and Media

Kronos Quartet's David Harrington On Celebrating S.F. Composers at YBCA

For the last four decades, San Francisco's Kronos Quartet has been confounding the expectations of the classical music world by redefining the role of the traditional string quartet. Group leader/violinist David Harrington and his compadres -- John Sherba, violins; Hank Dutt, viola; and Jeffrey Zeig ... More >>

The Rights Stuff

Cam'ron: Show Preview

Green Day Needs to Stop Releasing So Many Things at the Same Time

Hold onto your skinny jeans, everybody, because Green Day has not one, but two movies showing at this year's SXSW film festival in Austin next month. One is titled Broadway Idiot (a documentary about Billie Joe Armstrong's work on the American Idiot musical) and the other is called ¡Cuatro! (a docu ... More >>

The 2013 Grammy Awards: Few Surprises Despite Lots of Fun.

The Grammy Awards are dull and insipid every year, but at least for the last two years the Recording Academy managed a few surprises: In 2011, Arcade Fire won Album of the Year, providing a climactic reality-check for thousands of indie partisans; in 2012, the awards attempted to both grapple with t ... More >>

Pallbearer on the Appeal of Doom Metal and Being Unafraid of Classic Rock

When Little Rock's Pallbearer released its debut full-length, Sorrow and Extinction, last February, the band had little idea how special this particular slab of doom metal would become. But listeners and critics showed the group otherwise: they latched onto the album, anchored by Brett Campbell's ex ... More >>

Sizzle & Fizzle: Highs and Lows from the Last Week in S.F. Music

Flight of Issue: How E-40's Heir Veered From the Family Line

DJ Haylow on the Influence of J. Dilla and the Splintering of "Underground" Hip-Hop

For the past 15 years, Oakland's DJ Haylow has maintained a philosophy of "being a messenger to share music with others who love music." His involvement in ventures such as the groundbreaking Bay Area hip-hop TV show Distortion 2 Static and the Roy Ayers Project demonstrate his never-ending desire t ... More >>

"Movie 43": Dumb, Dumber, Dumbest

All That Jazz

GZA Plays the Master at the Independent, 1/30/13

GZA Equipto DJ Apollo Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2013 The Independent GZA has absolutely nothing to prove to you, and he performs accordingly. Last night, the smoky-voiced, smooth-rhymin' Genius of the Wu-Tang Clan stood over a whooping crowd at the Independent and gave the room exactly what it wanted: a ... More >>

San Francisco and Baltimore Librarians Wager on Super Bowl -- Poetry Is at Stake

The libraries have gotten in on the action. It was only a matter of time. The Super Bowl is basically a proxy battle between two cities -- co-headliners, standing face-to-face, flexing muscles like boxers at a pre-fight weight-in, compared and contrasted for two weeks of hype, overlayed by montages ... More >>

GZA: Show Preview

Chasin' the Blues

10 Great Songs About Cheating on Your Lover

Depending on your perspective, cheating's a little bit naughty, a whole bunch of fun, or one of the worst things you could possibly do to another human being. Here are our 10 favorite songs about not being able to keep it in your pants when you're supposed to. "Cry Me A River," Justin TimberlakeThe ... More >>

Vote for Lil B To Perform at the Grammys -- It's Not Like He Could Make Them Worse

The Grammy Awards will happen Feb. 10, and since just about anybody can get themselves nominated, the Recording Academy of America has opened up the live performance roster, too. Its new "The Gig of a Lifetime" contest offers a chance for one lucky artist to perform in front of an actual live audie ... More >>

Go the F**k to This

Cannibal Ox: Show Preview

Well Versed

Go Over the Fine Print

Into the Woods

Thomas Gold: Show Preview

Great Insight

The 10 Best Bay Area Rap Anthems of 2012

2012 was a fertile year for Bay Area rap, a time when the intellectual, the brazen, the sexed-up, and the chilled-out all took center stage at one point or another. There were songs that inspired dances, songs of Bay Area pride and protest, and more of that straight mack flow that still bumps around ... More >>

"Les Misérables": The Follies of 1832

The 10 Best Bay Area Hip-Hop Records of 2012

It's been another big year in Bay Area hip-hop, with one huge collaboration album from two local greats and lots of strong releases from young local upstarts. So before the world ends, let's round up the 10 best Bay Area hip-hop/rap records (including albums, mixtapes, etc.) of 2012. Main Attrakion ... More >>

DJ ChaunceyCC on the Spooky Side of Hip-Hop, and Stopping with the Stupid Subgenres Already

East Coast-rasied hip-hop DJ-producer ChaunceyCC began his career in a very straightforward way: "I became a DJ pretty much out of the sheer fact that I can't rap, and everyone else I grew up around could." The observation paid off, as the selecter born Chauncey Johnson has since toured with indie r ... More >>

Stand Aside, Rudolph

The First Listens of 2012: What We Got Right, What We Got Wrong

As evinced bu my initial take on Tyler, the Creator's Goblin and my final opinion, a lot happens between one's first listen to an album and their final conclusion after taking it in several times. What I love about writing these features is that you get to read my pure, unvarnished thoughts about a ... More >>

6 Best Moments From the 12.12.12 Concert: Sir Paul and Nirvana, Bruce's Bulge, and More

Last night a gigantic fundraiser took place in New York's Madison Square Garden to raise money for Hurricane Sandy cleanup and relief efforts. This thing was almost six hours long. Six! We could've flown there in that time! In case you weren't inclined to spend that insane amount of time in front of ... More >>

IamSu!: Show Preview

2 Chainz's 10 Best Song-Stealing Guest Verses

Atlanta rapper 2 Chainz (aka Tauheed Epps, 35) is no one's sidekick. He sold out his first night as a solo artist at The Warfield on Dec. 15 (tickets are still available for the Dec. 16 show) and has a Gold-certified single ("No Lie" featuring Drake) and a Grammy nomination (Best Rap Album for Based ... More >>

Big Boi's Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors: A First Listen

Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors is the title. Why? Does Big Boi even have any enemies? Has anyone ever beefed with him...ever? Who is he referring to, disgruntled Idlewild ticket-buyers? Or is he increasingly in denial that Outkast -- his meal ticket artistically and commercially -- is over? It's ... More >>

T.I. Previews His New Album Trouble Man in San Francisco

When T.I. took a seat on a couch at S.F.'s Studio Trilogy last night to show guests the short film that accompanies his forthcoming album Trouble Man: Heavy Is The Head (due Dec. 18), he had no idea that he was sitting underneath a photograph of Marvin Gaye, whose own album of the same name was part ... More >>

Hate the Killers? Here's Why You Shouldn't

Back to Basie

Dulc-i-Tone Records: The Longtime Label of Mantles Bassist Matt Roberts

Name: Dulc-i-Tone, although the label was founded as Yakamashi. Founded: 1998 Owner: Matt Roberts Headquarters: Mission District, San Francisco Label one-sheet: Dulc-i-tone is the current name of Matt Roberts' 14-year-old record label endeavor, which he has dutifully operated throughout many pha ... 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 >>

Bass Instincts: How Bassnectar Came to Rule American Dance Music

Slideshow: Bassnectar in San Francisco

"You Need to Read Poetry!": Theater in the Rhyme

Debating Gay Muppets and Other Topics at Harvey's

Young at Art

New Found Glory: Show Preview

"Life of Pi": Irrfan Khan Forges a Cross-Cultural Career

Go Nuts

Sugar 'n' Metal

Latyrx: Show Preview

"Holy Motors": Hark, Behold, Watch the Uncategorizable

Five Great Neil Young Covers For His 67th Birthday

Today, November 12, is the birthday of one Neil Young, gifted songwriter, whiny singer, killer guitar player, and longtime Bay Area resident. In celebration of the man's 67th, we rounded up some of the best tributes to him available in the wilds of YouTube. Featuring solo pianos, another titan of so ... More >>