When Nothing Was the Same leaked online last week, Twitter broke down in 140-character tears, and rumors that the deluxe version would include a box of tissues emerged. Jokes aside, Drake’s third studio album is a heavy hitter in every sense. Radio favorite “Started from the Bottom” gave us an Read More…
The Oakland Music Festival came into fruition for the first time Saturday. When a city acquires a music event of its own, the region becomes a birthplace of music. This has a great deal of significance for areas with growing art and music scenes, as the festivals become representative of Read More…
London Grammar, fronted by songwriter and vocalist Hannah Reid, have drawn comparisons to indie behemoths such as Florence and the Machine and The xx. Certainly, there are similarities in elements of their music, but the young trio from the U.K. have ultimately improved on the aforementioned acts’ weaknesses. Reid’s voice Read More…
There are few Internet taste-makers that college students look to for the new “it” band: Pitchfork, Gorilla vs. Bear and Rolling Stone, to name a few. But Restoration Hardware? On Friday, Bay Area locals flocked to the Hearst Greek Theatre for the West Coast debut of RH Music, the home-furnishing Read More…
At the 10th anniversary of Rock the Bells hip-hop festival this past weekend in Mountain View, the lineup — though it included virtual performances by the Eazy-E and Ol’ Dirty Bastard, both deceased — reminded festival-goers of the virtue in dynamic stage presence and solid delivery that no special effects can replace. Read More…
Is the MGMT heard on their self-titled album really the same band that released Oracular Spectacular six years ago? Obviously, yes, in terms of name and band members. But regarding sound, it’s harder to say. Their debut LP was mainly an exercise in standard psych pop with progressive rock embellishments, Read More…
At OFF festival in Poland, AlunaGeorge was scheduled to play their set opposite the festival headliner Smashing Pumpkins. Having just splashed onto the scene, the duo expected to be performing for a few hundred people. Instead, a crowd of thousands was eagerly waiting for them to take the stage. Their Read More…
Three years ago, The Weeknd was an elusive mystery. Aside from a couple of songs posted on a YouTube account under the name The Weeknd, which went viral through various music blogs and artists’ Twitters (such as Drake’s), no one exactly knew whom he was or when an album was Read More…
Five albums in, and British indie-rockers Arctic Monkeys have undoubtedly established themselves as one of the most consistently creative and genre-defining bands of the last decade. The Sheffield lads burst onto the music scene in 2005 with their debut single, “I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor,” and have Read More…
Nine Inch Nails’ Hesitation Marks marks a return to their roots. In the Nine Inch Nails’ more than 20 years of existence, their albums have become time capsules for Trent Reznor’s life. From his youthful angst in Pretty Hate Machine to his period of drug addiction and depression in The Read More…