AltWeeklies Wire
Chiddy Bang Brandingnew
The group's sugar cereal motif is of a piece with its music.
East Bay Express |
Rachel Swan |
08-24-2012 |
Reviews
Morrissey: Viva Hatenew
Morrissey is the only standing member of the old UK guard who has yet to be reduced to preposterous self-caricature.
East Bay Express |
M.T. Richards |
04-20-2012 |
Reviews
Tags: Morrissey
ChuCha Santamaria Fevernew
Intelligent dance music for the Caribbean diaspora.
East Bay Express |
Ellen Cushing |
03-04-2012 |
Reviews
Drake: Take Carenew
Drake raps in a pinched, syrupy drawl, but his music strongly resembles the electronica infiltrating out of Ontario, his home province.
East Bay Express |
M.T. Richards |
11-28-2011 |
Reviews
Tags: Drake
Local Licksnew
This week we review Mist Giant, The Wounded Men, Afrolicious, and The Slow Poisoner.
East Bay Express |
Rachel Swan |
10-20-2011 |
Reviews
Zoe Boekbinder Releases Darling Specimensnew
Zoe Boekbinder's second solo album, Darling Specimens, is an intriguing mix of acoustic folk and electronic pop songs, from an Oakland-based musician who was once half of the theatrical folk act Vermillion Lies.
East Bay Express |
Stuart Thornton |
10-06-2011 |
Reviews
Elvis Presley's Young Man With the Big Beatnew
lvis Presley had been stirring up regional success for a year and half with his sides for Sun Records in Memphis when, on January 10, 1956, two days following his 21st birthday, RCA Victor Records took him into its Nashville studio where he cut a blues-imbued song titled "Heartbreak Hotel."
East Bay Express |
Lee Hildebrand |
10-06-2011 |
Reviews
Zola Jesus Releases Conatusnew
If nothing else, Conatus is music to make out to: languid, moody, and slightly baroque; fraught with combustible, adolescent longing and full of driving builds and drum-machine heartbeats. So yes, suffice it to say that on her third full-length, Zola Jesus, née Nika Danilova, doesn't veer far from the dark, dramatic goth-pop template that's carried her thus far.
East Bay Express |
Ellen Cushing |
10-06-2011 |
Reviews
Oddisee: Rock Creek Parknew
Between Summer 2009 and Spring 2010, hip-hop producer and instrumentalist Oddisee gave Vivaldi's "Four Seasons" a run for the money with Odd Seasons, a four-part EP that was released in installments as the seasons changed.
East Bay Express |
David MacFadden-Elliott |
10-05-2011 |
Reviews
Tags: Oddisee
Beirut: The Rip Tidenew
Zach Condon proved early on that he was capable of manufacturing a sound uninhibited by his age or ethnicity. Five years ago, the nineteen-year-old New Mexico native already had a fetching affection for the foreign, an ear for arrangement, and a signature warble well beyond his years.
East Bay Express |
Will Butler |
10-03-2011 |
Reviews
Tags: Zach Condon
Unknown Mortal Orchestranew
A nonsensical, nostalgic work of Sixties pysch-rock, it pushes all the right buttons, and when the stuttering guitar solo kicks in, it pushes all the right buttons at once.
East Bay Express |
Nate Seltenrich |
09-01-2011 |
Reviews
Darondo: Listen to My Songnew
Berkeley-born singer, songwriter, and guitarist William Pulliam, who recorded under the name Darondo, released just three 45 RPM singles during his brief recording career. Ubiquity Records tracked him down seven years ago and issued a CD made up of five of his six sides and four other tunes from tapes Darondo had in his closet. And now, with Listen to My Song, we finally get to hear another batch of long-lost tracks.
East Bay Express |
Lee Hildebrand |
08-24-2011 |
Reviews
Tags: Darondo
