AltWeeklies Wire
Ta-Nehisi Coates Charts a 'Beautiful Struggle'new
To read this memoir about growing up in black in Baltimore is to catch a glimpse of the profound legacy and letdown of a generation raised to rebel but forced instead to fight disappointment, imprisonment, and despair.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
D. Scot Miller |
07-10-2008 |
Nonfiction
Big Pharma is After Your Confidential Medical Recordsnew
A state bill that would have eroded California's strong medical privacy laws nearly passed last month. The Mental Health Association of California, the National Association of Cancer Patients, and other important health advocacy organizations supported the measure, saying they believed it would improve compliance and save lives. But the bill's opponents, which included the California Medical Association and many consumer groups, asserted that the legislation was not really about helping patients.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Jake Whitney |
07-02-2008 |
Science
Oakland Hyphy God Keak da Sneak Drops a New Full-Lengthnew
While major-label discs by Mistah FAB and Clyde Carson continue to languish, Deified could be the breakthrough everyone's hoping for. With his diehard local following, plus an instantly recognizable, burbling, volcanic growl spewing out new slang like "hyphy" and "fasheezy," Keak has a real shot at shattering the glass ceiling frustrating the Bay's national ambitions.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Garrett Caples |
07-02-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
'Gonzo' Looks into the Minds of Hunter S. Thompsonnew
Gibney says that he was drawn to his latest subject largely because of that persona. "He was a guy who didn't play by the rules, and it seems like we need a guy like that around now, when the rules are being used against us by people in power."
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Cheryl Eddy |
07-02-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
'Hancock' is no 'Men in Black,' but It Still Teems with Destruction, Funninessnew
It's no Men in Black, but still teems with destruction, funniness
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Amber Humphrey |
07-02-2008 |
Reviews
Tilly and the Wall Enjoy the Ridenew
The wild children of the Midwest are attempting to hold their fans' attention offstage as well with their latest, third full-length, a multitextured affair enigmatically titled O, after the oval frame that will surround the various, limited-edition, handmade prints created by friends.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Kimberly Chun |
07-02-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tags: O, Tilly and the Wall
'Fashion: A Philosophy' Tumbles on the Runwaynew
Relying heavily on Immanuel Kant and Walter Benjamin, Svendsen (as translated by John Irons) creates a concise and comprehensive primer on fashion and clothing as it relates to identity. He then stitches on a virtual CliffsNotes of philosophy on fashion, citing Roland Barthes, Charles Baudelaire, and Michel Foucault, and then appliques some hep quotes from Bret Easton Ellis, AbFab, and the Pet Shop Boys.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
D. Scot Miller |
07-02-2008 |
Nonfiction
The International Towards Carfree Conference Didn't Just Spin its Wheelsnew
Many attendees noted that global warming, high gasoline prices (and the specter of Peak Oil), worsening public health, and persistent traffic congestion have made many big city leaders more open to carfree concepts than they're ever been.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Steven T. Jones |
07-02-2008 |
Transportation
Buying into Same-Sex Marriage is Rejecting Queer Strugglesnew
While San Francisco has a long history of sheltering dissident queer cultures of incendiary splendor, the rush for status within the status quo threatens to delegitimize everyone who isn't ready for the Leave It to Beaver lifestyle.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Mattilda Sycamore Bernstein |
06-25-2008 |
LGBT
Two Queer Legends of Indie Rock and Queercore Look Backnew
Pansy Division's Jon Ginoli and Camper Van Beethoven's Victor Krummenacher got together recently to talk about the way it was, coming out in the repressed 1980s and coming into their own experientially, politically, and musically in 1990s San Francisco -- each, as Krummenacher puts it, a "gay guy suddenly in Candyland."
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Kimberly Chun |
06-25-2008 |
Music
Charo Spills the Cuchinew
The singing, dancing, and "cuchi-cuchi!" spouting Castilian sex kitten that pratfalled with the best of 1970s television, the Vegas institution who wound up in that sub-A list purgatory The Surreal Life, is the Charo America knows and loves. But according to this 40-year show biz veteran, the other Charo -- a classically trained musician with serious Spanish guitar chops -- is just getting warmed up.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Matt Sussman |
06-25-2008 |
Performance
Fleet Foxes Tears Back the Centuriesnew
In their quest to fuse pre-rock 'n' roll sounds with indie-rock sensibilities, Fleet Foxes don't simply settle for 20th-century American Music 101. Rather, their time-travel extends all the way back to the Black Plague.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Todd Lavoie |
06-25-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: Fleet Foxes
The Explorers Club Channels the Beach Boysnew
Everything on Freedom Wind has been faithfully rendered, from its lush, four-part harmonies to its evocative timpani-rolls to the CD booklet's resemblance to a well-worn record sleeve with the vinyl edges showing through.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Todd Lavoie |
06-18-2008 |
Reviews
Earth Grounds Itself in Twang and Dronenew
Thanks to Earth worshippers Sunn O))) and the scads of other low-end drone specialists who have cropped up in recent years, the band's once-misunderstood sound has come to be seen as pioneering, opening the way for a range of experimentalists operating at the crossroads of metal, improv, and avant-garde rock. The thing is, Carlson doesn't have much interest in that sound anymore.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Will York |
06-18-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tom Kalin's 'Savage Grace' is Shallow and Gracelessnew
Other New Queer Cinema mavericks have gone on to make films that challenge artistic, thematic, and commercial assumptions. In comparison, Savage Grace is oddly conservative.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Dennis Harvey |
06-18-2008 |
Reviews
