Rae Alexandra

SF Weekly Letters

Happy New Year! Here Are Five Songs to Cure Your Hangover

Happy New Year's Day, everyone! If you're anything like us, you're probably reading this via your phone or tablet, from your bed, still under the covers, still wearing last night's clothes and/or make-up. You've probably been awake for a while now, but can't find the strength to haul that ass out of ... More >>

Happy Holidays! Here Are the Least Awful Christmas Songs of 2012!

It's a well-known fact that the worst time of year for music is Christmas. Christmas songs, by and large, stink to high heaven. They reek of sleigh bells and Santa references and tree dressing and mistletoe. They are overly sentimental and frequently border on sickly. Occasionally, however, there co ... More >>

SF Weekly Letters

The Top Five Shows in San Francisco This Week

5. The Faint @ Regency Ballroom, Saturday, Nov. 17 The first time you heard The Faint's album Danse Macabre, you probably were struck by how distinctive it was. This album was dance music for people who only listened to indie music -- what a brilliant concept! Not to make you aging hipsters feel old ... More >>

Grimes' "Genesis" Is a Post-Burning Man Freak Show, and Maybe the Weirdest Video of the Year

We wanted to like this. It's on 4AD for chrissakes. The same 4AD that gave us some of the greatest alternative music of the last century. Pixies! Throwing Muses! Cocteau Twins! Belly! The The! What's not to love? And the current roster ain't to be sniffed at either, what with the Mark Lanegan Band, ... More >>

An Open Letter to Chris Brown and His Abhorrent Neck Tattoo

Dear Chris Brown,About that new neck tattoo of yours that's causing such universal disdain: who the hell do you think you're fooling exactly? When the world notices that your new ink is clearly based on images of Rihanna's face after you beat the crap out of her three years ago, and you deny it, it ... More >>

SF Weekly Letters

Live Review, 9/1/12: The Promise Ring Finds Humor in Being Aging Emo Kids

The Promise RingSaturday, Sept. 1, 2012,The FillmoreBetter than: Still being a overly hormonal teenager.Cast your minds back, if you will, to the mid-'90s, when emo was first starting to spread globally as a musical concept. Based generally on the idea that being a massive wuss and playing guitar-he ... More >>

Scientists Think Pop Music is More Depressing Now -- So We Double Checked

According to a couple of sciencey types (named Glenn Schellenberg and Christian Von Scheve), pop music has been getting steadily more depressing over the last 50 years. The pair's study -- published in Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity and the Arts -- analyzed over a thousand Top 40 hits from bet ... More >>

Three Good Reasons to Get to Outside Lands Early This Weekend

Finally! It's here! Outside Lands! And if you don't already have a ticket, you can probably still find a good deal on one somewhere. For those of you lucky monkeys who are going, we'd like to help you to get the most of your weekend by encouraging you to wake up early and get your ass in front of a ... More >>

The Top 5 Worst Birthday Songs Ever

So, 2 Chainz and Kanye West just saw fit to join forces to write a birthday song. Called "Birthday Song". What the ball-sack were they even thinking? It's a well known fact that there are only three birthday-related songs in the history of music that are actually good. One is Loretta Lynn's "Happy B ... More >>

An Open Letter to Bikini Kill: We Still Need You!

Dear Bikini Kill, Do you have any idea how much we've missed you? We just wanted you to know how thrilled we are to hear that you're launching your own record label -- Bikini Kill Records -- and re-issuing your back catalog on CD (we'd love it if you could do some vinyl too, but one thing at a ... More >>

Live Review, 7/11/12: Marina and the Diamonds Bring Pom-Poms, Melodrama, and Lots of Adoration to the Fillmore

Marina & The DiamondsWednesday, July 11, 2012The FillmoreBetter than: Most other musical theater.  Marina Diamandis has always stated that the Diamonds in her stage name refers not to her band members, or even her last name, but rather to her fans. Clearly she was using that name before she ... More >>

Going for Guinness: Five Artists Into Breaking World Records

If there was a chart depicting competitiveness in the world of music, there would be three levels on it. Stage 1: The Pearl Jam -- for artists who neither want nor need your stinking awards, and will merely shrug at the world when they accidentally win one. Stage 2: The Taylor Swift -- for artists w ... More >>

How to Deal With Airport Security When You're a Famous Musician

The problem with being famous and getting special treatment everywhere you go is that you sometimes forget that rules actually apply to you. Yes, music stars, we know you think you're more important than the rest of us plebeians, but make no mistake about it: In the eyes of airport security, you're ... More >>

The Top 10 Best Music Biopics

The news that Alan Rickman will be portraying Hilly Kristal in a new CBGB biopic half excited us, then half scared us yesterday. He'll be good, but Lordy, who is going to play Debbie Harry? And The Ramones? Those are big shoes to fill... So we comforted ourselves with this -- a list of our top 10 fa ... More >>

A Handy Guide to the Best and Worst Bands With "Black" in Their Name

Tonight, the Black Keys are playing the Oracle Arena in Oakland. Did you know they were that big now? We kind of thought they'd be a Fox Theater band forever. Especially since there are so many damn bands with "Black" in their names. Speaking of which, we want to honor Black Keys' arena-playing prow ... More >>

Live Review, 4/24/12: Bruce Springsteen Takes Crowd-Pleasing to the Next Level in San Jose

Bruce Springsteen & The E Street BandTuesday, April 24, 2012HP Pavilion, San JoseBetter than: Every other crowd surfer that has ever landed on us.You know how people throw the word "epic" around these days? (Let's be honest, "epic" is the new "awesome".) Well, tonight, Bruce Springsteen is epic. ... More >>

Before Iggy Pop: Five Artists' Memorable And/Or Awful Attempts to Sing in French

On May 9th, Iggy Pop is releasing his latest album. Woo-hoo! But wait. Simmer down. The record is called Après and it will be comprised mostly of French cover versions -- Edith Piaf and Serge Gainsbourg songs included. We applaud Iggy's ongoing enthusiasm for multi-culturalism and bilingual experim ... More >>

Live Review, 4/18/12: Refused Roar Back to Life at the Warfield

Refused The Hives The Bronx Wednesday, April 18, 2012 The Warfield, San Francisco Better than: Listening to metal at Ikea. For the uninitiated amongst you, know this: Refused changed everything. For this writer, it was sitting in a living room in the North of England in 1999 with 10 people in tiny ... More >>

Five Cover Songs That Are Better Than the Originals

As musical pairings go, they don't come much more oddball than Mastodon with Feist. But -- we can't quite believe it either -- on Record Store Day (April 21st), the unlikely collaborators are releasing Feistodon: a split single that will feature Mastodon covering Feist ("A Commotion") and vice versa ... More >>

Fucked Up vs. Katy Perry: The Top Five Most Offensive Videos That Glamorize War

Fucked Up's gloriously unhinged frontman Damian "Pink Eyes" Abraham got all righteous on Katy Perry's ass this week after apparently viewing the video for her "Part of Me" single. First he Tweeted: "Seeing Katy Perry as a soldier in the video for 'Part of Me' really makes me think that we need to st ... More >>

The Hunger Games Soundtrack: Five Things You Need to Know

​As you may have gathered from all the relentless hype and advertising and media anticipation, The Hunger Games movie is finally out today. And, yes, despite our vaguely dismissive tone, we're actually thoroughly excited about the whole thing. Especially since Rolling Stone just told us to "relax" ... More >>

The Top Five Most Bizarre Superbowl Halftime Shows

​Oh, the hallowed and hyped Superbowl halftime show. This Sunday, we will bear witness to the unholy alliance of Madonna, M.I.A., and Nicki Minaj performing together, which will be -- well, beyond interesting, we're not quite sure. Sometimes, though, the stars align and something truly magical hap ... More >>

President Barack Obama Likes Arcade Fire and the Black Eyed Peas. Yes, Really.

​Yesterday, we found out from a British music news website that, like Santa Claus, Barack Obama keeps a "Nice" list -- or rather a list of people he wants to have supporting him in his re-election campaign. We've seen the list, and alongside all of the alphabetized politicians, business and sports ... More >>

The Top Five Pop Songs of 2011

2011 was the year Beyonce got knocked up, Lady Gaga arrived at the Grammys in an egg, and a soul singer from London took over the world. Tomorrow we'll be bitching about the worst pop moments of the year, but today, here are our favorite pop hits from 2011. 5. "Till The World Ends," Britney Spears ... More >>

An Open Letter to Lady Gaga About Gay Rights, Bullying, and Generally Being a Badass

​Dear Lady Gaga, We heard you were at the White House yesterday, meeting with one of Barack Obama's senior political advisers, to talk about bullying prevention. We think that's really cool. We're pretty sure you're the only woman on Earth who's ever been invited to the President's house after app ... More >>

The Six Greatest Britpop Songs You Don't Remember

Damon Albarn this week told Britain's NME that Blur has been practicing and recording together again. The band's guitarist, Graham Coxon, told the magazine the same thing back in February. C'mon fellas! You've gotta have something for us by now! That's almost a whole year of pointless pottering abou ... More >>

Divorces Galore: Eight Musical Couples We Wish Were Still Together

Since Monday, media everywhere has been agog at the news that Kim Kardashian and her husband of just 72 days are getting divorced. If you ask us, that union was doomed from the get-go. Anyone who watches Keeping Up With The Kardashians knows that those two barely even knew each other (Not that we wa ... More >>

An Open Letter To Ryan Gosling (Because We Love His Band)

​Dear Ryan Gosling,Gosh, you're handsome. When you made that Notebook movie, we kind of dismissed you as a teen heartthrob (even though your beard was hard to resist), and left it at that. And now here you are, bombarding us with a series of top quality movies, while the world's film critics talk ... More >>

How To Be in Your Boyfriend or Girlfriend's Music Video (Without Looking Like an Idiot)

JiveBritney Spears and boyfriend Jason Trawick in the new "Criminal" video​We've all been there. You're at home, doing the dishes or washing the dog, and in swans your famous partner and demands that you be in their latest music video. Nightmare, eh? We understand that this is a really common prob ... More >>

SF Weekly Letters

How the iPod Sucked All the Joy Out of Listening to Music for Me

​In case you missed it, Bjork just became the first artist ever to release an album as a series of apps. Depending on your perspective, you're either breathless with the futuristic, multi-media innovation of it all, or -- if you're like me -- it kind of makes you want to stick your head in a bucke ... More >>

The Top 10 Hottest Men in Grunge

Sure, it was the era of long, dirty hair and long johns worn to the bar -- but '90s grunge sure did throw up some eye candy. Here, to honor the 20th anniversary of Nirvana's Nevermind, as well as Cameron Crowe's new Pearl Jam documentary Twenty, are the top 10 hottest men of grunge. (Tomorrow, we'll ... More >>

R.I.P. Warrant's Jani Lane: Top Five Sexist Rock Videos He'd Have Enjoyed

R.I.P. Jani Lane​Like us, you are probably still reeling from the news that Warrant frontman Jani Lane, died last week. Okay, so maybe it's not a "probably" situation -- maybe it's more of a "maybe" kind of thing. Come to think of it, maybe, if you were born after 1990, you've never even heard of ... More >>

An Open Letter To Adele (For Being Awesome)

​ Dear Adele,We'd like to congratulate you on being in the Top 3 of the Billboard chart, with your incredible 21 album, for 22 weeks straight now. For 12 of those, you've been at No. 1, and we couldn't be happier for you. It's an amazing feat.We think this achievement is incredible for a numb ... More >>

Taylor Momsen Gives Lapdance on Stage, Becomes Even More Depressing

​Holy crap, is there a teenager on Earth more depressing than Taylor Momsen? Earlier this week, not content with parading her emaciated body around, dressed only in underwear and stripper shoes, she got some fans (all female, all young) to get up onstage with her while she performed with her ... More >>

How To Get Your Band a Record Deal (Without Being on TV)

So you're in a band, you're just starting out and, yes, you want a record deal so the world can hear your musical genius. We all know the big boys only sign people from reality television competitions now, so what do you do? You do some research about some indies and you harass the bejesus out of th ... More >>

The Voice's Season One Finale: Dia Frampton Was Robbed

Dia Frampton​ So last night was the grand finale of NBC's The Voice -- the first vaguely credible vocal talent show to find itself on American television. The night before, on Tuesday, the last four contestants each performed a duet with their coaches, as well as a song that had been written s ... More >>

Train Releases a Signature Wine, Becomes Instantly More Irritating

​ Prepare to be hit by a tsunami of nausea as we inform you that Train -- probably the most insipid band from the Bay Area -- is bringing out a wine (called "Drops Of Jupiter" -- after one of its biggest songs -- just to annoy us that little bit more), apparently aided by San Francisco Wine Co. Th ... More >>

Top 6 Movie Parodies in Music Videos (Thanks, Foo Fighters)

Remember the quietly xenophobic, right-wing propaganda movie that was Falling Down? The one where Michael Douglas has a meltdown in Los Angeles and goes on a mini-rampage (against mostly immigrants) in his white shirt and horn-rimmed specs? The movie was extraordinarily silly on a number of levels, ... More >>

Lose the Groupies: Glitter Wizard Explains How to Be a Rock God on a Budget

As we all know, rock gods are a vital piece of the world's cultural fabric. Think of how much duller Earth would be if Iggy Pop hadn't developed a lust for life, David Lee Roth had never jumped, and Def Leppard had never prompted hysteria. The world needs more rock gods. But how do you become one ... More >>

Helpful Advice: How to Survive NOT Going to Coachella

The time is almost upon us. This week, tens of thousands of beautiful indie kids will descend on a patch of desert in Indio, Calif., and bear witness to some of the finest music the modern world has to offer at the 13th annual Coachella Festival.​For those of you who didn't manage to get a ti ... More >>

The Top 6 Most Ridiculous Examples Of Lyrical Censorship

Fact: it is impossible to fight crazy. So what the hell are the radio stations of Malaysia thinking, going up against Lady Gaga? Apparently they've taken her new LGBT-empowerment anthem, "Born This Way" and removed all the, uh, LGBT content. Way to miss the whole point of the song, Malaysia! Gaga ... More >>

A Ke$ha Condom, and Eight More Celebrity-Endorsed Rubbers We'd Use

Prepare for your genitals to feel itchy, because LifeStyles is bringing out a line of Ke$ha condoms. Presumably, the front of the condom packet will have her face on it, accompanied by a catchy tagline -- something to encourage us to use such a product. Something threatening, maybe? Perhaps: "If y ... More >>

Top Six Celebrities Who Should Never Sing Again

Brace yourself, everybody. Not content with torturing us back in 2006 with her debut album, Paris Hilton is apparently preparing to unleash a second one. So, in her honor and as a means to prepare ourselves, here's our list of the top six celebrities who should never make music ever again. Oh, and f ... More >>

The Top 6 Most Annoying Teen Pop Stars -- Other Than Justin Bieber

Justin Bieber: Is there anything more annoying than his stupid helmet hair, saccharine songs, creepy affinity for hitting on older women and tiny, little, smooth, smug face? Not yet, no. But if Ashton Kutcher gets his way, there may well be. For PerezHilton.com has just reported that not only would ... More >>

The Top 6 Most Irritating Uses of a Really High Note in a Song

The moral of this list? Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should do it. Nobody likes a show-off, and nobody enjoys shattered glass and burst eardrums. Here, then, are some proponents of high notes who really should've kept their vocal cords in check.6. Muse, "Micro Cuts"    ... More >>

Top 6 Songs To Avoid If You Want To Keep Your New Year's Resolutions

Are you one of those hopelessly optimistic people who decides to transform yourself into a better human every time a New Year rolls around? You may have been brimming with enthusiasm for your resolution as the clock hit midnight last Friday, but we're guessing that, by now, the cracks are probably s ... More >>