King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard is an annoying band name to say or write out, but the group has done something which I find impressive by wrestling the massive festival fanbase away from the sclerotic jam bands who have dominated the touring live music scene for basically my entire life. This Australian microtonal collective […]
Collin Yeo
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Music Tonight: Saturday, Aug. 15
Human slave Jason Vance lives a harrowing life on the road in the service of his two musical cybernetic overlords, GTRBOT666 and DRMBOT0110. All three make up the fantastic act Captured! by Robots, and performance portmanteau of the Terminator and Chuck E. Cheese’s Munch’s Make Believe Band. The music is loud and rad, and the […]
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Music Tonight: Friday, Aug. 14
Happy Accident is a mondo-trash-o experimental theatrical extravaganza created by visual artist and brilliant puppeteer Liz HOWLS and visual designer and musician Servant Baby. Expect the unexpected at this puppet show for the transmundane. Along for the ride is local sound creatures Complex Crown and a vibe-setting emcee job by Alex Hilsee of Mystical AV […]
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Music Tonight: Thursday, Aug. 13
Tonight’s a good time to enjoy some local jazz at the Basement courtesy of RLAD. Whether performing as a quartet, supporting a visiting soloist or even playing on their own separate gigs, the lads in RLAD have got the juice. For a good time, roll through around 7:30 p.m. with at least $5 in your […]
Posted inThe Setlist
Into the Great Wide Open
Everyone gets the blues, they just come in different tones and intensities, and like every color and feeling, appear different in the summer. I am no different in this respect and have recently discovered the need to work on new habits and skills to change the wavelengths a bit. One such trick is writing myself […]
Posted inThe Setlist
Lazarus and Co.
Last Sunday, I found myself with my arms spread against the wood-paneled base of the chromatic brass battlements of the pipe organ at Christ Episcopal Church in Eureka, my left ear pressed against the wood, while the tubes roared out beautiful sounds after the morning mass. I am not necessarily endorsing this behavior — I […]
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Music Tonight: Sunday, Aug. 2
There’s a musical celebration of Jerry Garcia at the Eureka Theatre this evening at 7 p.m., on what would have been his 84th birthday. Come join DJ Logic and Friends, Swizlow, Rosewater and more for a jamtastic time ($20, $15 advance).
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Music Tonight: Friday, July 31
We’re returning to Moss Oak tonight at 8 p.m. for some tunes courtesy of Presence, whose recent record I reviewed elsewhere in this issue. Also on board are local shoegaze band Petiole and Oakland’s own off-pop kaleidoscope screamers Welcome Strawberry. The promoters are asking for a reasonable $10-$15 sliding scale at the door, but you […]
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Music Tonight: Thursday, July 30
Let’s start with a show at my favorite DIY venue Moss Oak Commons in Arcata, where at 7 p.m. you can find a rip snortin’ punk show built to ripple amp speakers and briefly light up the switch matrix of a few silicon chips. Dream World from Richmond, Virginia, is the touring act on the […]
Posted inMusic In Review
Presence of Mind
Writing and music are fueled by some of the same muses, even if they inhabit separate chambers in the maze. And so they share some of the same rules, depending on the operator. One rule that has always worked for me is: “If you are going to write while fucked up, be sure to edit […]
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Dog Days and Old Ways
The summer always seems kind of dangerous to me. I could be lazy and credit my years in New Orleans for this feeling but that wouldn’t cover the issue. I can’t seem to enjoy the summer the way other people do, when they share pictures of themselves looking warm, loving, clean and happy like the […]
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Bold as Love
This month has been, for me, a period of increasing despair and detachment from the news at large, both at home and globally. It’s all so bad. And while I enjoyed the spirit of Spain beating Argentina in the FIFA finals, the whole spectacle itself felt like a stupider version of the 1936 Summer Olympics […]