Many massive private and public industrial projects threaten to destroy lands that are considered sacred by indigenous groups. With the world rapidly changing through globalization, industrialization and consumerism, there is a price to be paid from the increased commodification of our earth’s resources. “Standing on Sacred Ground” is a four-part Read More…
It’s Sunday night, and Hertz Hall’s theater is dark but packed full of people. No one dares to move or speak as a chilling trill cuts through the silent air. More strings chime in, and the stage is illuminated to reveal a small orchestra of cellos. Their sound is crisp, Read More…
One of the worst ways to corrupt an electronic music track is to throw in police sirens — not only is this anxiety-inducing for people listening and driving in cars, but it’s also downright unpleasant. Yet this is precisely what Zedd chose to do to his hit single, “Clarity,” at Read More…
Last Thursday night, in a rare occasion for a hip urban nightclub, everybody was dancing. For about three hours at the New Parish music club in Oakland, shyness and coolness gave way to bobbing heads and bouncing feet at the sound of the California Honeydrops, an Oakland-based band with music Read More…
“The Dandelions” As arthouse hits “Jules et Jim” and “Amelie” have shown in the past, French films have always had a talent for imbuing life with a whimsical charm, with a certain joie de vivre. Continuing in this tradition, “The Dandelions” freewheels through the vibrantly colorful yet psychologically troubled childhood Read More…
“Do you like these guys a lot? I found them on Pandora.” asked one concert-goer to me at the Independent last week. She was referring to Wild Belle, the brother-sister, dusty reggae-folk group of Elliot and Natalie Bergman headlining that night. It’s easy to like Wild Belle — they are Read More…
Unlike in the days of Gershwin, Lerner and Loewe or Rodgers and Hammerstein, musicals are no longer only about extravagant tap numbers and happy endings. In the age of “Rent” and “Spring Awakening,” with the worlds of Broadway and rock music colliding, musicals today tell all sorts of stories — Read More…
This past Saturday, a crowd of hip, 20-something San Franciscans gathered around the low stage at The Mezzanine for what Trevor Powers of Youth Lagoon fame called “the last American show [he] will play in very, very long time.” Powers was dressed in a black and white striped blazer that Read More…
Low Low’s slow-churning melodies and haunting harmonies were the antithesis of the warm, jovial midday sun they accompanied Friday on Arrow stage. The three-piece based in Duluth, Minn., brought the cold of its hometown to the city, interrupting its icy melancholy every so often with striking vocal arrangements that would Read More…
Featured on the PAX 10 at the highly nerd-popular Penny Arcade Expo last month and recently Greenlit on Valve’s Steam service, “Escape Goat 2” is getting the hype its predecessor, “Escape Goat,” never got. Set to come out within the next month or two, it was created by the studio Read More…