Rae Alexandra

SF Weekly Letters

SF Weekly Letters

SF Weekly

SF Weekly Letters

SF Weekly Letters

SF Weekly Letters

It's 12-12-12, So Here Are Some "12" Songs to Soundtrack Your Day

Welcome to 12-12-12, everybody. Since there won't be another one for 100 years, and since we'll all likely be dead by the time that one happens, we thought it'd be nice to have a special soundtrack for the day -- especially since climate change will have completely destroyed the Earth in a century, ... More >>

SF Weekly Letters

Five Reasons to See Fang Island Tonight at Great American Music Hall

Tonight, Brooklyn-based weirdos Fang Island are playing the Great American Music Hall. Zechs Marquise supports, show starts at 8 p.m., tickets are $15. We strongly suggest you go watch these guys -- here are five reasons why.1. Fang Island is Responsible for the Greatest Patrick Swayze Tribute in Hi ... More >>

The Top 5 Best (Pro-Lady) Songs About Vagina

Lana Del Rey must've known that covering Nirvana's "Heart Shaped Box" would elicit some sort of a response from Courtney Love, but none of us could've predicted that Love would actually be funny when she Tweeted LDR about it. "You do know the song is about my vagina right?" Love queried. "Next time ... More >>

Five Olympics Theme Songs That Are Especially Terrible (Because Most Are Fairly Terrible)

Originally, we were going to do this list as a top five. But then it became apparent that Olympic theme songs are always so incredibly awful, it becomes difficult to figure out who did the worst job. When we started compiling this, in honor of the fact that the Olympics start in London at the end of ... More >>

Fourth of July: Five Excellent Pro-America Songs to Soundtrack Your Party Today

Happy Fourth, everybody! As we all know, patriotism in this fine land of ours often sounds frickin' terrible when presented in song form. But feeling happy to be American doesn't -- we repeat, doesn't -- have to involve Toby Keith. Or Keith Urban. Or, well, anyone named Keith actually. Here then, ar ... More >>

An Open Letter To Madonna, For Apparently Running Out of Ideas

Dear Madonna,We'd like to preface this by saying that we've always been huge fans. Your "Like A Virgin" video blew our tiny minds as children; "Papa Don't Preach" is still one of our favorite songs of all time; and the entire Like A Prayer album is genius (thanks for helping out, Prince). When Ray o ... More >>

Five Potentially Unhealthy Music-Related Fashion Trends

Humans will always enjoy reflecting their musical tastes via the medium of their clothes. And fashion lunatics will tell you that suffering is all part of being beautiful. But if you want to see out of both eyes, keep your ankles fully functioning, and still have babies on day, we suggest you read o ... More >>

LMFAO Wants to Make a Movie: We Make Five Predictions About It

As you are no doubt already aware, the members of LMFAO are complete and utter imbeciles. So the news that they are "thinking about" making a movie should horrify us all to our very core. Know this, everybody: They "have been putting [it] out into the universe for a minute." A whole minute! Think ab ... More >>

SF Weekly Letters

The Tupac Hologram Is Terrifying and Distasteful. Let's Stop This Madness Now.

On Sunday, April 15, 2012, the world officially entered science fiction-land. Sure, iPods are pretty futuristic, GPS is spy magic from space, and we all have stupidly intelligent phones now, but nothing has felt quite as much like living in a Buck Rogers episode than when Tupac got resurrected in ho ... More >>

The Top 20 Greatest San Francisco Musicians, #15-11

See also: * The Top 20 Greatest San Francisco Musicians, Nos. 20 to 16 Here we are with the second installment of our list of the 20 greatest San Francisco musicians ever. (If you missed yesterday's first edition, check it out here.) Note that to qualify for this list, artists had to have a strong ... More >>

Six Children of Music Legends Whose Own Music Doesn't Suck

You may have heard this week that Paul McCartney's son, James, wants to get together with the children of John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr and be a Beatles: Next Generation band. Truthfully, that might be one of the saddest and most desperate concepts for a musical project we've ever he ... More >>

The Melvins' Old Van Is for Sale, But Here Are Five Tour Vehicles We'd Much Prefer

​Remember when you were 12 years old and you'd draw the logos of your favorite bands all over your school books? Well, one time, Kurt Cobain did that to The Melvins' van, leaving behind a little portrait of Kiss (plus logo) which remains to this day on the side of that piece-of-shit '72 Dodge Spor ... More >>

Live Review, 2/22/12: Cursive Is Flawless But Not Thrilling at Great American Music Hall

CursiveUmeWednesday, Feb. 22, 2012Great American Music HallBetter than: Staying in with a record player and a glass of wine (but only just). Going to see Cursive at the Great American Music Hall tonight is a little bit like going to an amusement park and finding that only one rollercoaster is open. ... More >>

Rocco Katastrophe on Working with Margaret Cho, Emotional Eating, and His Magazine, Original Plumbing

Katastrophe​ Ask Rocco Kayiatos, a.k.a. Katastrophe, a.k.a. Rocco Katastophe, what he does for a living and he'll tell you he's a rapper/producer/publisher/entertainer -- all of which is true. Since the 2004 album Let's Fuck, Then Talk About My Problems, Rocco has been beloved across the count ... More >>

5 Reasons We're Thrilled About At The Drive-In's Reunion

Earlier this week, At The Drive-In posted a not-so cryptic message on its not-very-old Twitter page, announcing: "¡ATTENTION! To whom it may concern: AT THE DRIVE-IN will be breaking their 11 year silence THIS STATION IS ...NOW...OPERATIONAL." To say we leaped out of our chairs, did a happy dance, ... More >>

The Top Five Most Heinous Pop Songs of 2011

Yesterday, we gave you our votes for the top five pop songs of 2011. But to be perfectly honest, in our look back over the last 12 months, we found far more pop moments that made us want to rip our own ears off than ones that made us want to dance like small children. Here are the worst abominations ... More >>

Why Musicians Matter to the Occupy Movement

​It's been over two weeks since the protest in SF's financial district commenced -- prompted by the occupation of Wall Street that started almost a month ago -- and four days since Oakland joined this now apparently worldwide movement. As we all know, Occupy Wall Street was outright ignored by mai ... More >>

Why Punk Rockers Make Great Parents

​This fall, an exciting documentary is hitting movie theaters. It's called The Other F Word, and it's about punk rock; it's about family; and it's about a plethora of life's awkward questions including: "Should I have tattooed my forehead?" and "Daddy, what's a dominatrix?" It features NOFX's Fat ... More >>

Nicki Minaj's Chicken Wing Necklace, and 10 Other Crazy Musical Accessories

Oh, look at that. Nicki Minaj just emerged with a chicken wing around her neck that had been painted hot pink and dressed up like a necklace, and called it fashion. Hot! ... Or not, depending on your perspective. Regardless, in Minaj's avian-slaughtering honour, we'd like to take a look back at 10 o ... More >>

How To Be a Loudmouth Rapper and Get Away with it, Featuring TOPR

​In case you haven't heard, TOPR is an S.F. underground rapper with a rage problem, beloved by hip-hoppers and punks the nation over. In the midst of working on his seventh full-length, Afterlife Of The Party, as well as fronting a thrash-punk band on the side, he's here to share with us the ... More >>

How To Beat Boredom While Waiting in Line for a Show

The dreaded show line: Sometimes it's just an unavoidable and inevitable part of concert-going. Even for those of us who usually simply walk away from bars and clubs that have lines in favor of places that don't involve standing outside feeling stupid, gigs have a tendency to force us all into organ ... More >>

How To Be a Sound Guy (Without Electrocuting Anyone)

So you wanna be a sound guy? Get paid to go to all those shows? Control how everyone in the room hears the band? Sounds pretty sweet, huh? Bay Area native Nick Malgieri has been doing sound since he was 15 years old -- for clubs, festivals, conferences and, oh, yes, churches. He currently works as a ... More >>

How to Go to a Show and Not Be a Douche to the Bartender

Getting a drink at gigs can be a nightmare -- especially if the show is sold out. You're hot, you're sweaty, you're claustrophobic and, heck, you're really thirsty. But no matter how uncomfortable you might be, try and give a thought to the bartenders and cocktail waitresses who are trying to serve ... More >>

How to Navigate S.F.'s Record Stores (Without Crying)

You're new to San Francisco. Or maybe you're not. Either way, we have a ton of awesome record stores that are quintessentially San Franciscan (read: weird) and navigating them isn't always the easiest thing in the world. You're just buying music, right? Wrong! Here's a guide to the finest purveyors ... More >>

How To Be a Band's Tour Manager (Without Murdering Anyone)

Casey Schafer is an ex-tour manager with more than a decade of on-the-road experience, working with a variety of artists, including pop-punk bands (MxPx) and rap superstars (Lil Wayne). He now owns and operates the North Beach-based record label Burning House, and manages artists with whom he n ... More >>

SF Weekly Letters

How To Buy a T-Shirt Without Angering the Merch Guy

Buying band merchandise is not a complicated matter. Neither is there any need for it to be a slow endeavor. But talk to merch people the world over and you'll hear the same thing repeatedly: Merch is a really nice job -- except for all the stupid idiots you have to deal with. Here's how to avoid be ... More >>

How to Be the Most Annoying Person at a Show

We know this is an odd thing to assist you with, but we're increasingly convinced that a certain section of the showgoing public is seriously trying to achieve this most shameful of goals. Why are we trying to help them? Well, we figure if these jackasses really knuckle down and go for it, the chanc ... More >>

How To Get The Band To Play What You Want

We've all been there. You hand over good money to go see a band you love, spend weeks salivating in anticipation and then, when the big night finally comes, they do nothing but play tracks from their new album. The bad one. That nobody likes. (We're looking at you, Sonic Youth...) Some artists, even ... More >>

Glee to Get Its Own Music Awards Show; Suicide Rate Likely to Increase

Yesterday, Perez Hilton announced (in his usual fawning, sycophantic way) that this year -- on May 31, to be precise -- there will be a Glee music awards show. We now officially feel like the cast of that show is so damn ubiquitous, its members might as well be breaking into our homes at night and ... More >>

How to Get Backstage After the Show

These days, being backstage at a show usually involves little more than watching a pile of people obsess about food, try to locate the nearest shower, and -- most importantly -- get venue Wi-Fi to work. Behind The Music-style rock 'n' roll hedonism is a rarity these days, but if you're still o ... More >>

Six Musicians Who'd Make a Better President Than Donald Trump

So, it turns out that angling to be a presidential nominee turns you into a massive racist. At least, that's all we've been able to glean so far from Donald Trump's ill-informed and bafflingly ignorant behavior over the last few weeks. "I wanna see Obama's birth certificate! I wanna see Obama's ... More >>

Groupies, Piss, and Penises: Five Shocking Music Memoirs

Those of you who enjoy a feel-good read and a hearty chuckle will be pleased to hear that Steven "Barrel Of Laughs" Morrissey is in the process of finishing up his memoir. So, while we sit and genuinely hope for a chapter about the punctured bicycle on a hillside, desolate, that inspired "This Cha ... More >>

Top Five Musicians We Didn't Need to See Naked (Slightly NSFW)

When Demi Moore took her kit off for the cover of Vanity Fair in 1991, it caused a storm of controversy. A -- gasp! -- naked, pregnant woman, looking -- double gasp! -- sexy! People freaked out. It was kind of cool, but the problem was that it opened the floodgates. And now, more than a decade ... More >>

The Grammys Remove 31 Award Categories, Remain Utterly Irrational

A totem of absurdity​You might think it irrational, pointless, and shallow to waste one's energy getting upset about music awards shows, but last February's Grammy Awards filled us with such bubbling rage, we almost threw the cat at the TV. It wasn't Cee-Lo's chicken outfit that did it. It was ... More >>

Helpful Advice: How To Survive NOT Going To SXSW

This week, thousands of music lovers, wayward drunks, and music industry folk have descended upon Austin, Texas, for the 2011 South By Southwest music "conference" (yeah, right). If you're still here at home in the Bay Area, the reality that you're missing five days of non-stop free music/beer/b ... More >>

Top 5 Songs Charlie Sheen Is Probably Listening To Right Now

So this was the week that Charlie Sheen went on an extensive media tour to prove to the world that he was a "Vatican Assassin Warlock" -- which, according to our dictionary, means "gigantic mentalist." He has also announced to the world that he's "tired of pretending like [he's] not special." Well, ... More >>

Top 6 Songs About Sex That'll Make You Celibate: Happy Valentine's Day

In case you forgot, it's Valentine's Day -- the one day of the year where everyone is contractually obliged to go out and get laid or fear feeling bad about themselves until Feb. 15 rolls around. Well, in the interest of restoring balance to the world, we wanted to offer some reminders that sometime ... More >>

The Top 5 Most Politically Incorrect Music Videos

Since yesterday's Super Bowl Half Time Show was so sorely lacking in wardrobe malfunctions -- frankly, we found the Black Eyed Peas' outfits a billion times more offensive than Janet Jackson's silver-plated nipple, but whatever -- we decided to provide a bit of dirt today, so you can all get over th ... More >>

Top 10 Awful Songs That Are Awesome for Karaoke

Not sure if you've noticed yet, but this fair city of ours is awash with karaoke. All the way from the traditional joints in Japantown to the dive bars of the Mission (Sunday afternoons in The 500 Club are particularly noteworthy), people are volunteering to sing for their fellow patrons like nothi ... More >>

'Why Are You Doing This?': A Timeline from Sunday's No Pants Bart Ride

Yesterday was the No Pants Bart Ride (click for more photos), for which willing participants were told to board trains, take off their pants/skirts/whatever was on their lower halves, and ride the train in their undies, completely straight-faced, to meet en masse at Powell St station at 2:10 p. ... More >>

In Print: The xx on a Victory Lap, Behind the Bruise Cruise, and a Not-So-Fragile Perfume Genius

The xx​The xx: ""Standing on that stage was incredibly surreal," The xx's Jamie Smith tells SF Weekly's Rae Alexandra in our print edition this week about winning the prestigious Mercury Prize two weeks ago. Now the xx is on its last U.S. tour for a while -- what Smith calls "a proper party," ... More >>