Instant Alter Conjure a Golden Dawn at SFJAZZ
“Future Fusion” group Instant Alter occupy a rare category of artist with the spiritual ambitions to match their musical prowess.
Reviews
Reviews of popular culture related areas, including music, film, TV, books, games, comics, and more.
Metric Look Back and Learn to ‘Romanticize the Dive’
Metric look at ups and downs, always seeking an accessible romanticism. Underground dives may be dingy or dirty, but they can lead somewhere transcendent.
Kevin Morby’s ‘Little Wide Open’ Is His Masterpiece
Kevin Morby’s eighth LP, Little Wide Open, is a masterpiece of simple and, at times, epic proportions that will linger deep within one’s soul.
Telehealth Disrupt Dystopia with ‘Green World Image’
Telehealth create angular grooves and twitchy rhythms and look askance at our modern-day neoliberal nightmare as we doomscroll ourselves to oblivion.
Cocanha Set the Bar for Minority-Language Rock
That Cocanha can conjure sound paintings with little more than their mouths and a minority language shows they are in complete command of their journey.
Staging Cultural Erasure in Ukraine’s Borderland
Journalist James Verini resurfaces the stories of those who sheltered from Putin’s war in the iconic Ukrainian theater, peeling back layers on a microcosm of the country’s struggle for cultural survival.
Laibach Coat Their ‘Musick’ in Pop-Colored Gloss
Laibach’s Musick has its moments, but ultimately it’s a reminder that there is plenty of good pop music that skewers itself without being so belabored about it.
Unwed Sailor Float on Ambient, Post-Rock Bliss
Unwed Sailor mine a sense of adventure from their relatively uncomplicated sound. It’s music in which one can get beautifully, blissfully lost.
The Terrible Force of Kim Nguyen’s ‘Saigon Story’
Kim Nguyen’s Saigon Story revisits Eddie Adams’ iconic execution photograph and follows the families still living with what the Vietnam War (aka the American War) – and that image – exposed.
Broken Social Scene’s Return to Their Roots Pays Off
Broken Social Scene’s Remember the Humans takes time to develop but celebrates their wonderful convergence of sounds.
Modern Woman Feel the Rage in ‘Johnny’s Dreamworld’
Modern Woman’s operatic Johnny’s Dreamworld offers a range of sounds, from post-punk to art rock to chamber pop.
Kneecap’s Remarkable Sound of Righteous Fury
That Kneecap can move between righteous fury and profound tenderness without losing coherence is a measure of how much they have grown.