AltWeeklies Wire
Percussionist John Santos Debuts New Quintetnew
Roughly six months since the dissolution of his ten-piece Machete Ensemble, the apparently indefatigable bandleader returns with what has to be one of the most exciting local jazz albums of the year.
East Bay Express |
Rachel Swan |
09-13-2007 |
Reviews
Is La Plebe the Spanish-Speaking Operation Ivy?new
The San Francisco-based ska band distinguishes itself from its more pop-oriented forebears with a heavily politicized tone.
East Bay Express |
Rachel Swan |
09-05-2007 |
Reviews
Tags: Hasta la Muerte!, La Plebe
Folk Duo Bethany & Rufus Prepare to Charm the Crowdnew
Before this year, the pair's best-known collaboration was 2003's Rock Island, traditional Appalachian ballads and old prison songs with trance-electronica production overtop. For this year's 900 Miles they pared it down to cello and voice, with fetching results.
East Bay Express |
Rachel Swan |
09-05-2007 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tags: 900 Miles, Bethany & Rufus
When Young Punks Grow Upnew
The forces behind Bobby Joe Ebola and the Children MacNuggits, Geekfest, and S.P.A.M. Records face the inevitable.
East Bay Express |
Rachel Swan |
09-05-2007 |
Music
Tags: Geekfest
A Band Called No Pain, No Gainnew
After leaving "def soul" behind, they're prepared to break out as an old-fashioned, all-black grunge outfit.
East Bay Express |
Rachel Swan |
08-01-2007 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tags: A Band Called No Pain
David Murray's Sacred Squealsnew
The freeform saxophonist looked homeward for his latest disc, which includes a collaboration with poet Ishmael Reed.
East Bay Express |
Rachel Swan |
07-11-2007 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tags: David Murray
The Clientele's Melancholy Sentimentsnew
God Save the Clientele borrows the highly literate and deeply sad sensibility of 2005's Strange Geometry and kicks it up a notch, particularly with Louis Philippe's classical-sounding string sections, and the addition of multi-instrumentalist Mel Draisey.
East Bay Express |
Rachel Swan |
05-30-2007 |
Reviews
Back in Blacknew
Sistas in the Pit have few peers in rock music, but now Iggy Pop's got their back.
East Bay Express |
Rachel Swan |
04-11-2007 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tags: Sistas in the Pit
Not Just a Grumbling OGnew
Set up as a suite, but placing as much emphasis on hard-hitting lyrics as on musical depth, Marsalis' new album dissects and eviscerates the archcapitalist "pimp" mentality he cites as a core value of hip-hop.
East Bay Express |
Rachel Swan |
03-28-2007 |
Reviews
Locked Up in a Studionew
Jazz hotshot Howard Wiley blows out Deep South prison spirituals into an opus called The Angola Project.
East Bay Express |
Rachel Swan |
02-26-2007 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tags: Howard Wiley
Turning the Turntablesnew
Two years on, after selling 300,000 CDs, Oakland rap group Flipsyde seeks local credentials and airplay with a new album.
East Bay Express |
Rachel Swan |
01-04-2007 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tags: Flipsyde
Hype Man for the Artsnew
Jerry Brown talked about the arts, and then the arts in Oakland flourished -- does that mean he deserves the credit?
East Bay Express |
John Birdsall, David Downs and Rachel Swan |
01-04-2007 |
Politics
The Player and the Pilgrimnew
From an emcee past to an Islamic future -- what caused the transition of rapper Saafir?
East Bay Express |
Rachel Swan |
11-27-2006 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tags: Good Game: The Transition, Saafir
Compression as Expressionnew
Montreal's Kid Koala cuts, pastes, and layers three hundred bits of vinyl into two songs on his latest album.
East Bay Express |
Rachel Swan |
10-02-2006 |
Profiles & Interviews
Pimp My Lifenew
Pittsburgh's the Jacka gives lessons in hustling and marketing.
East Bay Express |
Rachel Swan |
03-27-2006 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tags: The Jacka
