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Valtari, the sixth album from the Icelandic experimental pop quartet Sigur Ros doesn’t play with the formula that had served them well for 13 years. With generous helpings of their signature slow building melodies gloriously reimagined in tracks like “Ekki Mukk” and “Fjogur Piano” and enough falsetto to make Chris
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With a band name like Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, it was hardly surprising when their 2009 album, Up From Below became something of an anthem for hipsters the world over. Three years later, the band’s follow-up album, Here, moves into new territory without totally forsaking the folksy kitch
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When Best Coast’s frontwoman Bethany Cosentino waltzed up center stage, dirty blonde ringlets a flux and fashioning an adorable scalloped white romper, it was hard not to swoon. Oakland’s Fox Theater swarmed with young people who had just finished the last long days of the semester, brimming with anticipation for
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The Bruises, New Diplomat, Beta State and Seeking Empire play the Rickshaw Stop in San Francisco on May 19, 2012.
If there was one thing all four bands had in common at the Rickshaw Stop in San Francisco last Saturday night, it was that they were loud. Regardless of each of their distinctive sounds, the Rickshaw Stop’s blaring PA had the crowd dancing and swaying to DJ Aaron Axelsen in-between
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The New Parish in Oakland looked like the scene of a Western film last Friday night: dimly lit floor, a swanky wooden bar and music wafting throughout the air. The light from a single iPhone screen could illuminate the area around you. In other words, the venue felt appropriate for
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Let’s be honest. Last summer was a sore disappointment. Out of the many blockbusters to be released — “Thor,” “X-Men: First Class” and the laughably awful “Green Lantern” — no film stood out as the centerpiece of the summer season (except maybe “Harry Potter”). There was no “Inception” or “Dark
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Bethany Cosentino and Bobb Bruno of Best Coast, the surf pop outfit from Los Angeles, return with their sophomore LP The Only Place. Since the release of their debut album, 2010’s Crazy For You, Best Coast has toured extensively, supported Planned Parenthood, advertised for Converse, shot a music video directed
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At its core, Beach House’s sound hasn’t changed much since the Baltimore dream pop duo released its self-titled debut six years ago. But with each new release, the band has continued to refine its sound and their fourth album, Bloom, is no different. Alex Scally’s droning guitar on album opener
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Norah Jones is not an extreme artist. When you pick up one of her albums, you know what to expect. There will be no genre-hopping madness, hardly any experimentation and certainly none of that dubstep hullabaloo. For more than 10 years now, Jones has carved out a comfortable niche as
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