Taylor Swift

Beautifully Wicked: Caitlin Rose Makes Heartache Sound Lovely

Taylor Swift Rocks the World of Bay Area Girl Shot by Mystery Arrow

Taylor Swift is helping to heal the 8-year-old girl who was randomly shot by a crossbow last week during a school field trip to Berkeley. CBS News reports that the country pop star sent a gift of goodies to Nadine after hearing about the youngster's injury; Nadine was playing on a whale structure ... 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 >>

SF Weekly Letters

Hey Sexist Tabloids, Taylor Swift's Dating Habits Are Perfectly Reasonable

As you may have heard, Taylor Swift broke up with her latest fling -- One Direction's Harry Styles -- a few weeks ago. Tabloids and gossip magazines have been having a field day with this ever since. Timelines of her boyfriends, reports of the fight that allegedly caused Swift to bail on Styles mid- ... More >>

One Direction's "Kiss You": A Ski-Slope, Surf-Party, Nipple-Tweaking Nightmare

Here at All Shook Down, we're not always entirely united in our nominations for worst new song of the week. Sometimes, suggestions are made, eyebrows are raised, and discussions occur. Sometimes, it's just not entirely clear who sucks the most. This week, however, is not one of those weeks. Because ... More >>

#Hashtag: The Ghost of Music Future Previews 2013

Top 9 Trends in Local Music From 2012

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 >>

Taylor Swift's Red: A First Listen

Imma let you finish Kanye, but Taylor Swift made one of the best albums of 2010. While indeed beautiful, dark, and twisted, Kanye's forbidding masterpiece didn't get stick it to abusers like "Mean" or "Dear John," get laid like "Sparks Fly," bare its teeth like "Better Than Revenge," marry in style ... More >>

G.O.O.D. Music's Cruel Summer: A First Listen

Kanye West has officially become the bad guy, people. He's rich, he's rude, he's entitled, he's a rock 'n' roll legend who's awaiting a legit artistic backlash any year now, and he's also a smart businessperson. After Taylor Swift-gate and record sales of his third Pazz & Jop-winning "masterpiece" f ... More >>

Carly Rae Jepsen's Kiss: A First Listen

Normally I do these things on Radiohead or Bruce or Madonna, but my editor cleared one for Carly Rae Jepsen, who was a complete unknown a year ago. That's how big the biggest hit of the year is. Problem is, it's that mass-mass appeal that I think keeps me from all the way enjoying it. It's a cute so ... More >>

Top 10 Black Pop Stars Who Should Go Country

With the nation's major-party political conventions recently drawing to a close with a rousing reelection appeal from the nation's first black president, it seems fitting to cast a spotlight on an equally rare profession: the black country music artist. Or, rather, the former black pop star seeking ... More >>

2012 MTV Video Music Awards: The 10 Lost Categories

The MTV Video Music Awards is an annual occasion for thrill and intrigue. An arena for a slutty young Madonna to writhe around the ground in a wedding dress, or even for a slutty old Madonna to French kiss a couple of aging pop tartlets. A place for pyro and pasties and grand interruptions -- I'mma ... 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 >>

Duets Premieres on ABC: a Timeline of the Mediocrity

And here it is. The vocal talent show that America neither needed nor wanted. The only talent involved that we actually wanted to watch (Lionel Ritchie) is no longer part of the show, but we're ready to suffer through this nonsense regardless.  0.00.3: A ridiculous plethora of dancers throw sha ... More >>

Best Coast Finds Its Right Place, the Second Time Around

In Her Right Place

Forget about the cat — Best Coast's gorgeous second album is much more interesting.

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 Grammys: A Timeline of Madness and Misery

The 54th Annual Grammy Awards happened yesterday. Which we're sure you know already. If you missed it, however, you may have missed some of the weirdest details. So here, for your convenience, is a timeline of events. Get comfortable, 'cause this thing was a three-and-a-half-hour carnival of absurdi ... More >>

Awkward! The Top Five Most Uncomfortable Grammy Moments

​This Sunday, Rihanna and Chris Brown are both going to be present at the always-prestigious Grammy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles. It's been just three years since they both were forced to drop out of the show last minute, due to Brown having beaten the crap out of Ri-Ri on their way over. We kno ... More >>

Eight Taylor Swift Lyrics as Good as Any in Country Music

Smart people I know have argued that Taylor Swift is not a country singer. That argument demonstrates little understanding of country music or of Taylor Swift. It's rooted, I suspect, in a belief commonly held by smart people who don't care for country music: That country music should sound more l ... More >>

A Good Start to the End of the World

Assessing Metallica After 30 Years and Four Nights at the Fillmore

In Print: Assessing Metallica After 30 Years and Four Nights at the Fillmore, and More

From SF Weekly's latest print music section: Metallica at the Fillmore​Metallica at 30: Text messages like the one I got from a friend before the third Metallica show last week -- "You are dead to me" -- were exactly the reason I decided to go to all four of the Bay Area metal band's 30th ann ... More >>

Live Review: 'Weird Al' Yankovic Gets Revenge for the Nerds at the Fox Theater

Jamie Soja"Weird" Al Yankovic at the Fox Theater on Sunday.​ "Weird Al" Yankovic Nov. 6, 2011 Fox Theater, Oakland Better than: Being a nerd in high school. First, "Weird Al" Yankovic turned Lady Gaga's "Poker Face" into a pop-skewering polka. Then, he ribbed Taylor Swift with a song called ... More >>

Dear Kanye West, Please Leave Amy Winehouse's Music Alone

​ Dear Kanye West,Congratulations. You are officially the most bemusing man in music. We say this because it's been seven years since The College Dropout and we still can't figure out if you're a sly genius or a blinkered buffoon.

Tyler, the Creator's Goblin: A First Listen

​ Last year, Tyler, the Creator's arresting album Bastard won the then 19-year-old rapper and his vast, motley Odd Future collective attention and praise from sources including Pitchfork andBillboard. His second solo album, Goblin drops next week, the first physical product anyone from this gr ... More >>

Why You Should Love Ke$ha

In Which We Solemnly Vow to Never Use the Word "Hipster" Again

You see yourself in here somewhere, hipster. Via YesButNoButYes.​Chain-smoking. Chronic masturbation. Leaving the toilet seat up. There comes a time in life when we must all break our bad habits, readers, and today, that time has come for use of the word "hipster." Once a slur aimed at the alleged ... 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 >>

Lil B Swags Kanye, Kanye-Style, at the mtvU Woodie Awards

While we wait for someone to upload a higher-quality video than the below (it ain't no fun when Viacom ain't having none), be advised of the following Lil B-related news: last night at the mtvU Woodie Awards, held in Austin -- because God forbid we should try to post about anything other than Lil B ... More >>

Pomplamoose Calls the Tune

No record deal? No CDs? No problem. How Pomplamoose is modifying the music industry.

A Critic Whines About Pazz & Jop: Why Does Consensus Feel So Shitty?

​Let's get this over with as quickly as possible: The results of the Village Voice's annual Pazz & Jop Critics Poll were released this week, and, to no one's surprise, it turned out that Kanye West released the most praise-winning album of 2010. Almost as expected was the conclusion that Cee-L ... More >>

A Postcard from the Future

Or, how 2011 was the year everything changed in music.

My Top 10 Tracks of 2010, Apparently a Good Year in S.F. Rock

All hail the Fresh & Onlys, local proprietors of one of my favorite songs of 2010.​No, this isn't some not-so-sly effort at hometown boosterism. Three of my favorite songs from this year just happen to come from artists who nominally call S.F. home. Seriously. Anyway, some of the others on her ... More >>

Sound and Vision: Take the Bruise Cruise

Kanye West on Twitter: Top 8 Things We Want Kanye's Buying Advice On

Kanye and his crew looking ready to dispense some buying advice.​Dear Kanye,In the approximately thirty-four days, five hours and seventeen minutes since you joined Twitter, you have taught the world great deal -- about yourself, about life, and even sometimes about music. But the rarest wisdom ye ... More >>

Why Kanye West and Twitter Are Meant To Be

via Kanye West's Twitter​Kanye West was late to join the social media party, but he was caught up to speed immediately upon stepping into Twitter headquarters here in San Francisco earlier this week. At one point, he was gaining 80 followers a second. Where did we learn this? Kanye's Twitter, of c ... More >>

What Apple's Big Announcement Means for Music Fans

How will this pretty little thing shake up the music world?​Yeah, yeah, the new iPhone 4 is slick and skinny and sports two video cameras. But will today's news shake up the music world as Apple developments have in the past? Our thoughts below:Mobile music videos: Get ready for a world of iPhone- ... More >>

Valentine's Day: So many stars, so many story lines

Music Awards: Jukebox Roundtable by Dan Strachota

Dry Off with Crumpets: A SFoodie Lunch Planner

​Tuesday, October 13, 2009 First storm of the season. You had to fish out your grotty anorak, and smell the funky wet cardigan on the guy next to you on Muni. You need comforting, the kind that comes from clotted cream, the flickering flames of a TV fireplace, and a room as intensively girly ... More >>

SF Weekly Letters

Top 10 Country Records of 2008

By Michael McCall Photo by Michael Alan GoldbergTwo young blondes with toothy smiles and hard-core work ethics, Taylor Swift and Carrie Underwood, helped country expand its fan base in these years of shrinking music sales. Meanwhile, Kenny Chesney, Rascal Flatts, Alan Jackson, Toby Keith, Tim McGra ... More >>

Hitsville: The Year in Music, by the Numbers

By Randall Roberts You don't need a half-wit music critic to tell you it's been a remarkable year for America, one historians will be discussing and researching for centuries to come. War, financial collapse, politics, technology: All have been dinner-table topics for many Americans. Racial barrier ... More >>

Lost albums that should remain lost

It Was a Year Of ...

Well, lots of things, actually