Killer Kitsch

Guantanamo Baywatch mines the dirty intersection of surf rock and punk.

Music Stories Chevelle Wiseman had never played bass when she agreed to be the bassist for Guantanamo Baywatch, a handicap she overcame by...    More

 

Wednesday, May 23, 2012 SHANE DANAHER

Primer: Tycho

Music Stories Formed: 2002 in San Francisco. Sounds like: A Saturday Night Fever-style dance floor made of melting chocolate.  For fans of: Boards of Canada’s Geogaddi, anything on the Ghost Box label, Luk   More

 

Wednesday, May 23, 2012 ROBERT HAM

What Hearts: Sunday, May 20

A journey from old-timey Americana to pop that would rather not be called cute.

Music Stories [HOMEMADE POP] Julie Vitells grew up in what she calls “a pop-culture vacuum.” With hippie parents and a natural proclivity toward “old-timey stuff,” the young musician—who spent her ear   More

 

Wednesday, May 16, 2012 CASEY JARMAN

Primer: Schoolboy Q

Music Stories Born: Oct. 26, 1986, on an Army base in West Germany. Sounds like: A thugged-out West Coast version of Kid Cudi who wants to go clubbin’ with 50 Cent but ends up taking a bunch of ’shrooms an   More

 

Wednesday, May 16, 2012 MARTIN CIZMAR

Beyond Amélie

Yann Tiersen tones down the accordion and turns up the drums.

Music Stories For most of those who know his music, French songwriter Yann Tiersen will forever be associated with whimsical tunes played with a jaunty joie de vivre on an accordion. But ask Devin Gallagher,    More

 

Wednesday, May 9, 2012 ROBERT HAM

Q&A: Ian Youngstrom of St. Johns Bizarre

Music Stories When the St. Johns Bizarre began six years ago, it was a low-profile street fair with crafts, beer and bands. Today it’s a slightly higher-profile street fair with more crafts, more beer and rea   More

 

Wednesday, May 9, 2012 CASEY JARMAN

Primer: Imperial Teen

Music Stories Formed: 1994 in San Francisco.  Sounds like: A series of intense couple fights that always end in cuddling. For fans of: Sonic Youth, Electric Light Orchestra, the Dandy Warhols, Letters to Cle   More

 

Wednesday, May 9, 2012 CASEY JARMAN

Blowback

How Colin Stetson helped save the sax from cheesy ’80s purgatory.

Music Stories Last year was a good one for the sax. From the commercial airwaves (Lady Gaga’s “Edge of Glory,” Katy Perry’s “Last Friday Night”) to the indie blogosphere (Destroyer’s Kaputt, Tune-   More

 

Wednesday, May 2, 2012 JONATHAN FROCHTZWAJG

Lotus Plaza: Monday, May 7

Dreamboat/Deerhunter Lockett Pundt takes his newly epic show on the road.

Music Stories [UNCHAINED MELODIES] The idolization of handsome young male musicians is not the sole province of Beatlemania, Tiger Beat magazine or the Jonas family. Lockett Pundt, Lotus Plaza’s frontman and a    More

 

Wednesday, May 2, 2012 CASEY JARMAN

Primer: Mahmoud Ahmed

Music Stories Born: 1941 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Sounds like: The most heartfelt, amazing love letter imaginable in a language you probably don’t understand. For fans of: Aster Aweke, Mulatu Astatke, The Eith   More

 

Wednesday, May 2, 2012 CASEY JARMAN