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Bob Dylan's Senile Sublime

Friends of Nicki?: Five Black Musicians Who Supported Republicans

You've probably already heard about Nicki Minaj's Mitt Romney-related lyrics, in which she claimed she was going to vote for the Republican presidential candidate. So, did she mean it? Was she being ironic? Is this a publicity stunt? The only thing we know for sure is that the online furor over this ... More >>

Journey's Show Outside Republican Convention Is a Paying Gig, Not a Political Statement

We know they (publicly) frown on pot, gay sex, arugula, elite education, and public transportation, but apparently there is one thing from San Francisco Republicans will pay to enjoy: The Band That Sings "Don't Stop Believing," aka, Journey. The '70s power-rockers, still famous for their inescapab ... More >>

Noel Gallagher Claims Rock Stardom Will Go Extinct, Apparently Hasn't Heard of Other Forms of Stardom

Aw, look: Another one of Oasis' Gallagher brothers uttered a statement that managed to be arrogant, ignorant, and fuddy-duddy all at the same time! This time it was the elder (and usually saner) one, Noel, speaking to the U.K.'s Sunday Express about the impending die-off of that rare and vital spec ... More >>

Bruce Springsteen and the Universality of Self-Loathing

One way Bruce Springsteen is becoming a lot like the American Psychological Association is how he's assumed special authority over what you and I call our bad times. The medical community does this by coming up with words like neurosis and limerence, whose lasting impact is to trivialize basic human ... More >>

Billie Joe Armstrong to Become Mentor on 'The Voice'

Well, we certainly didn't see this coming: Rolling Stone reports today (via AP) that Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong will be a mentor on the upcoming season of NBC's hit TV music competition The Voice, helping the members of Christina Aguilera's team sing their best. His primetime TV arriva ... More >>

Kaskade on the Rise of EDM, What He Really Does Onstage, and Missing San Francisco

After growing up in Chicago and passing through New York and Salt Lake City, Ryan Raddon -- better known to his thousands of fans as Kaskade -- came to San Francisco. It was here, among the city's flourishing early-2000s house scene, that Raddon came into his own as a DJ/producer of electronic dance ... More >>

The 50 Best Rolling Stone Special Issues Ever

A magazine that you sometimes see in the waiting rooms of tire stores, Rolling Stone remains tirelessly dedicated to reporting on its own place in the history of the teensy sliver of music that its publisher enjoys. To that end, the august rag is forever publishing important lists ranking the best m ... More >>

Hank Williams Jr. Declares Himself Too Ballsy for Fox News, Republicans, Reality

In a new interview with Rolling Stone, Hank Williams, Jr. -- son of the original country music godhead, former Monday Night Football announcer, and official neck-beard of Nashville -- reminds us all just how big his freedom-loving balls are. This, remember is the man whose gargantuan testicles supp ... More >>

The Gay Selma: Schools Ignore Gay Bullying at Their Own Peril

In a new interview with Rolling Stone, Hank Williams, Jr. -- son of the original country music godhead, former Monday Night Football announcer, and official neck-beard of Nashville -- reminds us all just how big his freedom-loving balls are. This, remember is the man whose gargantuan testicles supp ... More >>

Is Neil Young Working on a High-Quality Digital Music Service?

Earlier this year, rock legend Neil Young made some waves in the tech world when he blasted the thin, tinny sound quality of MP3s, arguing that digital music distribution is "degrading music, not improving it." "The MP3 only has 5 percent of the data present in the original recording," Young said a ... More >>

Wallpaper.: Show Preview

Earlier this year, rock legend Neil Young made some waves in the tech world when he blasted the thin, tinny sound quality of MP3s, arguing that digital music distribution is "degrading music, not improving it." "The MP3 only has 5 percent of the data present in the original recording," Young said a ... More >>

A Charlie Brown Christmas Composer Vince Guaraldi's Heirs Suing for $2M in Unpaid Royalties

Given the time of year, you've probably seen -- and heard -- A Charlie Brown Christmas recently. The 1965 animated TV special's celebrated soundtrack was performed by noted San Francisco jazzman Vince Guaraldi's trio, and recorded at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley. But for the pianist and composer's c ... More >>

The Year in Music Booze: Six Artist's Beverages That Made 2011 One Long Hangover

Rock 'n' roll culture died in 2011. It's got nothing to do with your opinion of Bon Iver, but everything to do with Rolling Stone. The former leading voice of modern music upheld its immaculate reputation this year... by starting an official wine club. It's filled with bottles branded with imagery f ... More >>

Wine Clubs Are the Coffin Nails of Rock 'n' Roll

Remember the good old days, when wine clubs were exclusively the pastime of pretentious assholes/your parents? Those days are over: Rolling Stone magazine just announced its own scheme to sell bottles of fermented grape juice to baby boomers with nothing better to blow their pension checks on. So w ... More >>

All Shook Down Isn't Your Average Music Fest

Remember the good old days, when wine clubs were exclusively the pastime of pretentious assholes/your parents? Those days are over: Rolling Stone magazine just announced its own scheme to sell bottles of fermented grape juice to baby boomers with nothing better to blow their pension checks on. So w ... More >>

The 10 Greatest Music Video Babes of All Time

From the dawn of the music video, there has been the music video babe. Perhaps she's the star of the video, perhaps she's a backup dancer, maybe she just looks longingly at a musician. Most of the music is terrible, a lot of the videos are insipid, and yet somehow these women make it all worthwhile ... More >>

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

From the dawn of the music video, there has been the music video babe. Perhaps she's the star of the video, perhaps she's a backup dancer, maybe she just looks longingly at a musician. Most of the music is terrible, a lot of the videos are insipid, and yet somehow these women make it all worthwhile ... More >>

Mick Jagger Forms Supergroup "Super Heavy," We're Super Embarrassed

​ Mick Jagger threw his name into the running for what may become the biggest supergroup of 2011, joining Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics, Damien Marley, Joss Stone, and A.R. Rahman, composer of the Slumdog Millionaire soundtrack, for what promises to be an eclectic (and hopefully not too terr ... More >>

One '90s Reunion That Won't Happen: The Smashing Pumpkins

The Smashing Pumpkins in 1990. Sigh.​ This '90s revival thing is off the hook. Even Soundgarden is getting back together after 14 years to drive around the U.S. and blast old, loud-ass songs like "Spoonman" and "Fell on Black Days" to apparently eager audiences. But there's one big '90s rock ... More >>

Big 4 Tour: Are More U.S. Dates Likely for Metallica, Slayer, Anthrax, and Megadeth?

Richard HaickWide-eyed Kirk Hammet, coming soon to a major city near you?​ Pretty much since the moment we heard about the Big 4 tour, we've been wanting to see it hit the U.S. Interstate system. Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, and Anthrax have played dates all over Europe, so when they announced ... More >>

In Print: the Subversive Beauty of tUnE-yArDs, Del the Funky Homosapien's Trip to Hip-Hop's Past, and More

Merrill Garbus of tUnE-yArDs​ From SF Weekly's latest print music section: On tUnE-yArDs: Welcome to the edge of experimental pop in 2011. Garbus has just seen the release of tUne-yArDs' second album, w h o k i l l, which seems all but certain to accelerate her rise from DIY curiosity into one o ... 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 >>

Hear All of Tune-Yards' Amazing New Album on NPR Now

Tune-Yards' Merrill Garbus​We've already sung the praises of Tune-Yards new album, w h o k i l l, here once before. But today, the whole album's up on NPR for you to stream. We recommend you do. With w h o k i l l, Oakland-based Merril Garbus has blown way past her project's lo-fi roots and i ... More >>

Tune-Yards Featured in Rolling Stone, Because 'Bizness' Is Amazing

Anna M CampbellTune-Yards' Merrill Garbus​So we're into predictions lately. Here's one: 2011 is going to be a great year for Tune-Yards, the Oakland-based project of Merrill Garbus, whom you may as well start thinking of as the one-girl Dirty Projectors of the West. (A problematic comparison, but ... More >>

Bay Music Links: Britney Spears in S.F., Prince Fan Gets Beat Up, Lil B in XXL, and More

Wait. Britney ... telephone? We're confused. Anyway, she's coming to S.F. next month.​Britney Spears will perform live on Good Morning America from the Castro the day her new album is released. [SF Examiner]Man beaten up by crowd after catching Prince's guitar in Oakland. [ABC 7]How the Thee Oh Se ... More >>

Sizzle & Fizzle: Highs and lows from the last week in S.F. music

Wait. Britney ... telephone? We're confused. Anyway, she's coming to S.F. next month.​Britney Spears will perform live on Good Morning America from the Castro the day her new album is released. [SF Examiner]Man beaten up by crowd after catching Prince's guitar in Oakland. [ABC 7]How the Thee Oh Se ... More >>

New Strokes Single, 'Under Cover of Darkness,' Soon To Be Uncovered and Illuminated

Where's the money, Leboffski?​Has the breakup of the White Stripes left you jonesing for some new simple, monosyllabic early-aughts post-garage rock? If so, never fear: The Strokes are hear to pat your hand and whisper soothing secrets in your ear.

Win Tickets to Monsters of Accordion This Saturday at Slim's

Corn Mo will provide you with an education, we'll cover the tuition.​Let's face it: You have an insufficient appreciation for the accordion. You still think of squeezeboxes as the musical tools of drunken Bulgarians on their second-cousins' wedding nights. You haven't warmed to the instrument's st ... More >>

Top 10 Signs the Album You Are About to Hear Is Going to Suck

Uh, did the cover say "Nickelback" on it?​All cliches aside about not judging art/entertainment objects by their covers, sometimes you can predict with perfect confidence that some new record is going to drag you down into a pool of shit. Other times, one or two aspects of some new release -- what ... More >>

Tickets for the Next Pop-Up Magazine Go Onsale at Noon Today. You Have Been Warned.

​The last three performances of Pop-Up Magazine -- y'know, the amazing magazine-as-live-show event deemed by some (ahem) to be one of the best things in S.F. -- sold out more quickly than an old-school print editor can down a shot of Old Overholt. (Tickets for Issue Three even crashed the ticket-s ... More >>

Top Five Songs For Vampire Hipsters

photo via Flickr/spacedustdesign​Justin Bieber is no vampire. Tina Fey had it right when she said he's like a dreamy Christmas elf. But Rolling Stone disagrees. The magazine's site is running a photo gallery on its home page of several pop star portraits that have been mutated to include razor sha ... More >>

Summer Bloodbath? The Concert Industry Had It Coming

Was seeing Petty's grin worth the price? Tell us in the comments section​Summer 2010 is turning out to be a bloodbath for the concert industry. As Billboard reports:Individual shows, legs of tours, or entire tours have been canceled or postponed by such artists as U2 (due to Bono's back surgery), ... More >>

Outside Lands lineup leaked in both Rolling Stone and Spin

Phoenix at Outside Lands: It's Leak-omania​This is almost too neat to be an accident. The Outside Lands 2010 lineup was supposed to be a secret until tomorrow, but both Spin and Rolling Stone broke the two-day festival's headliners in issues that dropped last week.SFist has the full run-down on th ... More >>

Outside Lands Post-Script

EKAphotographyVinyl Vamp: Zap Mama​ Fickle weather and last-minute headliner replacements aside, Outside Lands was a success, by most yard sticks. Here's what folks are saying about the three-day extravaganza, which drew more than 100,000 people to Golden Gate Park: Local reaction: The Chron ... More >>

C’est Chic

EKAphotographyVinyl Vamp: Zap Mama​ Fickle weather and last-minute headliner replacements aside, Outside Lands was a success, by most yard sticks. Here's what folks are saying about the three-day extravaganza, which drew more than 100,000 people to Golden Gate Park: Local reaction: The Chron ... More >>

The Lowbrow Art Sale: Audrey Kawasaki, James Jean & Joshua Petker

EKAphotographyVinyl Vamp: Zap Mama​ Fickle weather and last-minute headliner replacements aside, Outside Lands was a success, by most yard sticks. Here's what folks are saying about the three-day extravaganza, which drew more than 100,000 people to Golden Gate Park: Local reaction: The Chron ... More >>

San Francisco Storm, Erik Otto, and Ramblin Jack Elliott - It's Your Friday Morning Pre-Party!

EKAphotographyVinyl Vamp: Zap Mama​ Fickle weather and last-minute headliner replacements aside, Outside Lands was a success, by most yard sticks. Here's what folks are saying about the three-day extravaganza, which drew more than 100,000 people to Golden Gate Park: Local reaction: The Chron ... More >>

San Francisco Storm, Erik Otto, and Ramblin Jack Elliott - It's Your Friday Morning Pre-Party!

EKAphotographyVinyl Vamp: Zap Mama​ Fickle weather and last-minute headliner replacements aside, Outside Lands was a success, by most yard sticks. Here's what folks are saying about the three-day extravaganza, which drew more than 100,000 people to Golden Gate Park: Local reaction: The Chron ... More >>

Folk Rocks

EKAphotographyVinyl Vamp: Zap Mama​ Fickle weather and last-minute headliner replacements aside, Outside Lands was a success, by most yard sticks. Here's what folks are saying about the three-day extravaganza, which drew more than 100,000 people to Golden Gate Park: Local reaction: The Chron ... More >>

Letters to the Editor

Week of December 10, 2003

Words Into Type

Jim Parkinson designs the letters that let you read

Hot Hot Heat

Make Up the Breakdown

Sigur Rós

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A Fan's Notes

After Jerry Maguire, Cameron Crowe comes of age...finally

Best Jann Wenner Memory Under Glass

After Jerry Maguire, Cameron Crowe comes of age...finally

William Ørbit

Pieces in a Modern Style

Why We Fight

Or, how I learned to stop worrying and love -- or at least respect -- Third Eye Blind

Riff Raff

Or, how I learned to stop worrying and love -- or at least respect -- Third Eye Blind

Bring in Da Noise

Michael Goldberg's rock 'n' roll Web dream