Popular, influential, and cult musicians come through San Francisco every day. But it isn't every day when an event comes along that you know will be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and serve a good cause. On Monday, Philip Glass' Days and Nights Festival and local promoter (((folkYEAH!))) presen ... More >>
Standing on the precipice of mainstream acclaim, the sisters comprising the Swedish folk duo First Aid Kit are among an emerging generation of musical disciples of bands like Bright Eyes and Fleet Foxes, whose own sound is a modern twist on traditional American country. It's a little bit of an unlik ... More >>
If you're familiar with chaos theory, which in its basic form is the attempt to find patterns in the random acts of shit on Earth, then you may understand the difficulty that comes with describing a full day at SXSW. To break down the bright, scintillating chaos, Village Voice Media's roving musi ... More >>
Van Halen is about one thing: revenge. Eddie brought in Sammy to get rid of Dave, flirted with Dave again to get rid of Sammy, brought in Gary Cherone to clear out the building, trained his own son to replace his most loyal member, and brought Dave back in for now. Don't be surprised if he cans h ... More >>
We spent 2009 sorting through piles of folk and Americana releases, revising this list in our heads till the bitter end and failing repeatedly to understand the hype behind the Avett Brothers in the process. While a year of listening brought no shortage of pleasant surprises, our hands-down favorit ... More >>
Lauren DukoffDevendra BanhartTuesday, April 14, 2009The IndependentBetter than: Paying nearly $300 to bake in the Southern California sun with thousands of other music fans.It feels like there's a defacto music festival in the Bay Area right now as a number of acclaimed and underground bands perform ... More >>
The Last Tycoon(Wichita/Quarterstick)
Two contemporary music giants descend upon the Bay
Lonely art-folkie P.G. Six makes new friends
Wilco erects a great divide
Coming on Strong
Someone else's tongue in your ear
My favorite funny, great big mess
The Walkmen are not a part of that New York retro rock thing. Seriously.
Rising up from the open mike scene, Neil Howard and the New Black deliver dark pop songs
Under Achievers Please Try Harder
Impasse
Pressed fairies, effete torch singers, and highly techy pop acts
Faces Down (Astralwerks)
Billy Bob has a simple plan: to sing about life and lovin' his wife
Shrek offers an amusing, if empty, fractured fairy tale
Week 2 of the San Francisco International Film Festival
Paying tribute to the near-forgotten Dom Leone
Day Glo Abortions; Sunshine; Nina Simone
Hyacinths and Thistles (Merge)
"Second Wednesdays," Toog, Ethan James, Meg Lee Chin
The traveling salesman is the symbolic star of Vic Chesnutt's sixth and sexiest album
The American Analog Set, and how quiet may be the last place for rock to go
