Everyone's a Critic
Death Cab for Cutie's latest release is defined by awakenings in sound and trajectory. It is almost unrecognizable when compared to the earlier work of a band that spoke to a decade of teenage angst …
Urge Overkill is unlike any other touring band in the United States. Most national touring acts play a couple hundred shows a year and skip San Diego every time; Urge plays about ten shows, but …
Unusual title. Strange artwork — foliage sprouting from several depictions of a naked figure wearing an expression of shock, pain, or bemusement. A pleasant, elementary riff ("Peace on the Rise") repeats for two minutes, prompting …
Scottish post-rock five-piece Mogwai took the ethereal sonics of this year’s Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will to the Belly Up in Solana Beach. The crowd varied from gray and weathered to young and …
Catching up with a so-called one-hit-wonder band 29 years down the line is a little like checking in on a former beauty-pageant winner or somebody who got kicked by the president. You wonder how (if) …
Most current rock acts would be brought to their collective knees by a whimpering sound system. While the unflattering acoustics of 4th&B could have spoiled the evening, Tunde Adebimpe and his TV on the Radio …
Canadian-based electronic musician Tim Hecker recorded his sixth album, Ravedeath, 1972, live in a Reykjavík church primarily using a pipe organ. Of course, you wouldn't know that listening to the album, as the recorded output …
Jazz drummer Louis Hayes performed at the Saville Theatre for the final installment of this spring’s "KSDS Jazz Live" series. Hayes has played with several jazz greats, from John Coltrane to Woody Shaw; he once …
Sometimes, in the middle of a movie I'm enjoying, I’ll get a brain kick that tells me it’s really a winner. As I write this, I’m listening to ex-Band/Hall of Fame lead guitarist and songwriter …
The last show of Chris Cornell's five-week-long Songbook Acoustic tour was held under starry skies and a springtime crescent moon. Opener William Elliott Whitmore acquitted himself nicely singing blues and gospel tunes with a banjo …
Few bands as popular as the Foo Fighters go 16 years before having an album hit #1 on Billboard's Top 200 for the first time, but that's what Wasting Light has done, and it's easy …
This was Nathan Aweau's first appearance in San Diego since leaving popular Hawaiian folk band Hapa. The venue at the Bali Hai, though oddly configured, provided an intimate atmosphere for music. Opening for Aweau was …
TV On The Radio's yearlong hiatus allowed its members to explore creative avenues. From Dave Sitek's synth-heavy Maximum Balloon to Kyp Malone's eclectic Rain Machine record to Tunde Adebimpe's first mainstream acting role (Rachel Getting …
Near the roller rink, pinball alley, and craft area, Coachella campers may have come across what appeared to be one of the many art exhibits on display at the campsite. A giant mask and decorated …
After toiling for roughly a decade in the West Coast underground, Strong Arm Steady finally releases what they're billing as their debut full-length. San Diego fans should be happy: SD-bred Mitchy Slick is back after …
The sold-out crowd at Viejas' Dream Catcher Theater was dancing in the aisles all night long as George Thorogood and his band the Delaware Destroyers rocked the house. Thorogood was his "Bad to the Bone" …