Everyone's a Critic
Dick Dale returned to San Diego for a holiday show at the Belly Up Tavern. The “King of Surf Guitar” seemed fit and healthy, engaging with the audience and showing some camaraderie with the rhythm …
Arguably 2014’s best (and most talked about) new artist, Sam Smith proves on his debut album that the hype is justified. While many first discovered the British singer’s now-trademark falsetto on Disclosure’s house hit “Latch,” …
“Wimps,” Robert Christgau sneered, comparing them to Talking Heads — who were wimps, he proclaimed, without “vagueness or cheap romanticism.” But that was ’77; the Heads (whom I love) left us; and four Englishmen, fronted …
Though he has made music for decades, Brian Setzer’s own influences extend to the early 20th century. Which is why it only makes sense that one of his guitars now hangs in the Smithsonian Museum …
The too-expensive deluxe version, which this isn’t, adds two of the most righteous songs, including one about a rendezvous with God; neither version omits the weakest cut, “Cathouse Blues,” an arched cat back before the …
When Taylor Swift announced she was taking Australian singer/songwriter Vance Joy on her 2015 World Tour, I was surprised. His hit “Riptide” is catchy and charming, but the acoustic vibe of his debut album doesn’t …
I got my introduction to the L.A.-based electro-pop band Capital Cities — beyond the megahit “Safe & Sound” — at Coachella this year. There I discovered their penchant for lazy hooks and lofty horns, which …
Nico & Vinz have crafted a pure, primal debut album that rejoices in the band’s chosen path while applauding others’ individuality. The reach of this singer/songwriter duo from Oslo, Norway, had touched several continents with …
Sometimes we’ve gotta eat our veggies after we have dessert. I’ve never tried it, but it’s basically what happened during the last half of the San Diego Symphony concert on Saturday night. The first half …
Singer/songwriter Lucinda Williams is an acquired taste. If you have it, Christmas came early this year with the release of her new double-disc Down Where the Spirit Meets the Bone. The set collects 19 new …
Erstwhile New Order member Peter Hook let his Light show shine in San Diego for the first time. It must have been a bitter pill when the band he cofounded reformed without him or his …
A wonderful friend of mine, gay, wants to know what the new Judas Priest album is all about (lyrically). I tell him that (lyrically) it’s about blood, glory, bloody glory, steel blades, fighting and dying …
“I know we’re Primus and we suck,” said frontman Les Claypool, to cheers from the packed California Center for the Arts in Escondido. “But if you want to yell and scream, get it out of …
“This place is ratchet as f##k!" exclaimed a damp El-P to the Porter's Pub crowd, summoning cheers from the dank pit of restless angst. The recently formed duo Run the Jewels, an amalgam of former …
Any band that says they’re punk but then tries to sneak in a slow song — imposters. If you’re looking for authentic, brazen punk, the four women in Nots have it. There’s a bold intensity …
Since the demise of the Smiths, Johnny Marr has worked on collaborations with feverish intensity, so it was no surprise that it took so long for his debut solo record to happen, but it is …