Fighting the Good War What is the natural state of the human heart? Why does it take over like an exorcism and become the driving force of our innermost desires? How can those desires work toward our evolution? These are the kinds of questions that New Zealand-born artist Kimbra explored as she wrote her newly […]
War & Leisure It’s a sold-out house as the sun goes down at the Berkeley Greek Theatre and dozens of couples stand in embrace amongst droves of squealing women all swaying in excitement. They wait for Miguel Pimentel to take the stage for the last sold-out show of his North American tour. Recognized by his […]
From Child Soldier to Peacemaker “The AK-47 is my father and my mother.” These were the lyrics that seven-year-old Emmanuel Jal sang when he was training to become a child soldier. For the majority of his childhood, war was the the backdrop for Emmanuel’s story, and the sounds of bullets and terrified civilians were part […]
Adapting the name from the quirky character in Wes Anderson’s Rushmore, Mr. Little Jeans is a unique talent. The Norwegian-born singer/songwriter can easily be likened to a combination of Lykke Li, Tori Amos, and CocoRosie. However, unlike the bit character she named herself after, her music is stepping into a starring role and making waves […]
Wes Period. Even the name itself is punctuated and pronounced, much like Wes’ stage presence. Wes has an exuberant energy that radiates on and off the stage. Growing up in La Habra, CA, a county that meets the state average in almost every capacity, the not-so-average Wes Period rose up and landed in the world […]
If Fiona Apple and Cat Power had a music love child, Miya Folick would be the result. Raised in Santa Ana, CA, Miya grew up in a Buddhist family. She picked up the guitar, taking occasional lessons, but mostly teaching herself how to play. She compares songwriting to short stories, in that both mediums allow […]
Hailing from Los Angeles, Elohim, Hebrew for God, sings with god-like control and confidence. Although her latest singles “She Talks Too Much” and “Xanax” have been released by B3SCI Records for two months, they’ve gained popularity, generous reviews and various re-mixes by artists and bands such as COIN, BECOME and Gosh Pith, and it’s easy […]
Playing with Garbage Before he launched Garbage, drummer Butch Vig was already the well-known producer of Nirvana’s Nevermind and The Smashing Pumpkins’ Gish. Smart Studios, the recording complex in Madison, Wisconsin he ran with guitarist Steve Marker, was ground zero for the alternative rock scene when Vig, Marker and multi-instrumentalist Duke Erickson decided to start […]
The band California Wives may hail from Chicago, but there is no doubt that a golden state-of-mind exists within their music. Art History, their 2012 debut album, brims with new wave vibes of buoyant synth and lilting melodies. This time around, their latest EP, Heavy—released on vinyl July 23rd—hits home with a new marriage of […]
Going Solo with In Colour Jamie xx is notoriously quiet. Not shy or impolite or moody, as people who meet him are quick to clarify, but slightly awkward. The 26-year-old Jamie Smith, who has been given the “Jamie xx” nickname-turned-professional-moniker because of his internationally acclaimed music group, The xx, speaks in a halting, mumbling fashion. […]
Back In Business When Giorgio Moroder enters a room filled with music industry folks, his appearance is met with a standing ovation. The genteel Moroder, who with thinning white hair and a bushy moustache looks like a kindly great uncle, receives the applause humbly, smiling, his eyes sparkling. For the layperson, Moroder’s presence means next […]
The imminent release of Tame Impala’s third album, Currents, has many admirers of the Australian psych-rock outfit’s panoramic soundscapes panting in breathless anticipation, while the expectancy among those who consider each new release to be the dawning of an epochal musical age is bordering on unbridled fervour. Refreshingly though, Kevin Parker – the man behind […]
Sitting at a noisy café in the Brixton district of her hometown of London, England, Andreya Triana is wearing a wide-brim hat and smiling non-stop. She is as cute as a basket of puppies—and just as irrepressible. The singer/songwriter is enjoying a rare spell of not touring as she prepares for the tidal wave that […]
George FitzGerald rubs his head vigorously. This is a vain attempt to rustle up some coherency as FitzGerald is still foggy after his Saturday DJ set at Brooklyn’s dance hotspot, Verboten, two nights ago—a party that carried on until 1am on Sunday for FitzGerald and friends. This is the last hurrah of his two-week North […]
Eleanor Friedberger At a time when most female singer-songwriters perform as alter egos, Eleanor Friedberger is simply, refreshingly herself. And that’s just the way her fans like it. Having spent the last decade fronting the indie-rock institution The Fiery Furnaces (currently on hiatus) with her brother Matthew, in 2011 she emerged as a formidable solo […]
Bush Throughout the ‘90s—and even today—there are only a handful of bands who actually communicate on a deeper level with their audience through a combination of musical and lyrical content. With six studio albums and a multitude of top ten singles, the multi-platinum and highly successful band, Bush, continues to do just that. The […]
It’s a packed house at the downtown San Francisco venue Rickshaw Stop. Red curtains line the walls and the psychedelic screened backdrops with intriguing scenes from London’s swinging sixties set the tone for the room and the acts in between each set. The audience waits in anticipation for the Swedish electropop cosmopolitan Tove Styrke. Photographer […]
It’s been two years since Zola Jesus (real name Nika Roza Danilova) has taken the stage, and a tangible evolution has since occurred. Emerging from a writing hiatus, nine months of which were spent on the isolated and ethereal Vashon Island in the Puget Sound (Washington state), Danilova spent that time cultivating a new sound: […]
Dreaming Under the Northern Lights The three founding members of Little Dragon—drummer Erik Bodin, keyboard and bass player Fred Källgren Wallin and front woman Yukimi Nagano—have been making music together since they met in high school in 1996. Despite growing up in Gothenburg, Sweden, they were drawn together by their love of De La Soul […]
At times, one is compelled to examine the working qualities in poetry: beauty, shape, vision and subtlety. Damien Rice’s long awaited album,My Favourite Faded Fantasy, embodies all of the elements of a personal keepsake, allowing the listener to couple with the steady stream of melodic vulnerability. The album’s opening track broods with sincerity, producing a […]
Dark Hawks Dark Hawks bleed “sweet rock ‘n’ roll sensation!” Their explosive sound is backed by vocalist Angelina Anderson, guitarist Matt (Zeggy) Stiegler, Mark Davies on drums, and Buck Neale on bass. The eclectic style and sound stem from Stiegler and Anderson’s time spent in the Hollywood music scene. Originally from Sydney, Australia, the foursome […]
With a style as enigmatic as Bo Diddley and a voice as memorable as Sam Cooke, Curtis Harding’s lyrics are incandescent, drenched in the waters of soul, blues, rock and garage. These elements Harding has managed to effortlessly harness for his debut album entitled, Soul Power. Harding’s sound ignites in explosive detail, describing what it […]
Funny, intelligent, and sensitive, Christopher Owens’ qualities are as apparent in person as they are in his music. Over our hour-long conversation in the back of a coffee shop on Haight Street in San Francisco, Owens is often smiling and laughing as he sips a cappuccino in a grey Psychedelic Judaism T-shirt, camo jacket and […]
Formed of a close partnership between Max Clapps and James Hoare (Veronica Falls), The Proper Ornaments formed in 2010, where they met a few years earlier in a vintage women’s clothing shop in Notting Hill. Hoare recalls, “I worked part time in the shop and Max and his girlfriend came in to steal clothes. She […]