Annie Clark, better known by her moniker St. Vincent, has stated that she would like to change the concert-going experience for attendees by emanating fragrances throughout the venue. Although there were no new aromas that …
April 11, 2014
canofbiscuits
Greetings, fellow analog creatures
Now you know: Flower Animals
Nineteen-year-old North Park native Gonzalo Meza recalls his garage-rock initiation: “I heard the White Stripes’ ‘Dead Leaves and Dirty Ground’ on my sister’s MP3 player in 2005. It sounded like nothing I’d ever heard. A …
April 9, 2014
Lost in the Dream with War on Drugs
The third album from Philadelphia band War On Drugs finds main man Andy Granduciel filling his hazy, melodic sound with scattered layers, long tones, and phantom drum machines, delivering a record that could soundtrack any …
April 11, 2014
Wiggin' out at Casbah...
Similar to Stephen Malkmus’s old band, Pavement, there is a Replacements-like quality to the Jicks’ live sets. They can be the best band in the world on one night, and they can be the worst …
April 4, 2014
Smoking, not pot
Smoking giant R.J. Reynolds of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, has been handing out some big money lately to California politicos, including $1500 each to Democratic state senator Ben Hueso and Republican assemblyman Brian Maienschein. GOP senator …
April 16, 2014
Diazepam dandelions
The first thing you notice is the whistling: this sprightly ditty that feels familiar at first, but you can’t put your finger on it. Then he rounds the corner, a willowy, relaxed figure with a …
April 16, 2014
San Diego Reader's 2014 Music issue
"Your favorite band sucks" — T-shirt Oh, Lord, has it come to this? We’re quoting T-shirts now? Well, yes — if only to illustrate a point about how good things can come from anywhere. Which …
April 16, 2014
Syncopated space rockers
Progressive rock occasionally goes overboard with showy virtuosity and enough time-signature changes to induce epileptic fits. But contemporary Rush-loving, concept album-inclined bands are gaining popularity once again. One instrument endemic to the genre is the …
April 16, 2014
Diiv's waves of sound crash on Casbah
Casbah concertgoers gathered to see Brooklyn-based indie-rock poster children DIIV perform a sensory-soaked performance. Frontman Zachary Cole Smith walked onstage to tune his guitar and cheekily greeted the audience before plunging immediately into their debut …
May 9, 2014
Thundercat brings Apocalypse to the Irenic
It should be within every budding musician's interests to play like Thundercat. The bass wizard Stephen Bruner could very well start a school, if he had any desire to. The six-string bassist got his start …
May 31, 2014
Chet Faker's Built on Glass
Since his cover of Blackstreet’s "No Diggity" on 2012's Thinking in Textures, Chet Faker has become an Australian poster boy for the foggy intersection of R&B and electronic soul, referred to some as “PBR&B.” Faker’s …
June 27, 2014