26th February 2024

ALBUM REVIEW: MARY TIMONY – UNTAME THE TIGER

It’s been 15 years since Mary Timony released a solo album. That might be a weird statement for her fans to hear because Timony is such a strong presence on everything she’s recorded over 30 years of writing music, but it’s true.

31st January 2024

ALBUM REVIEW: THE GEMS – PHOENIX

Swedish rockers the Gems named their debut album Phoenix for a pretty obvious reason: the band came together after its three members left Sweden’s current queens of rock, Thundermother, back in February. So the album is a celebration of the band “rising from the ashes,” so to speak.

New Noise Magazine • 25th January 2024

Album Review: HEALTH - RAT WARS –

It’s crazy to think that in two years, HEALTH will be 20 years old. The trio from LA still feel like a new band doing new things, as their first self-titled LP from 2007 still feels fresh, even though its heavier, harsher, noisier update on post-punk was definitely of its time.

New Noise Magazine • 25th January 2024

Interview: Talking Tune-Smithin’ with Marika Hackman –

British singer-songwriter Marika Hackman’s fifth album, “Big Sigh,” comes out in early January, and it has the distinction of being her hardest album she’s ever made. Hackman’s used to releasing an EP or LP annually, yet “Big Sigh” took three years due to some serious writer’s block. Worst of all, the block came during the pandemic, when she had all the time in the world to write.

Gold Standard 49ers • 1st November 2023

Will Chase Young solve the 49ers woes on defense?

The San Francisco 49ers landed a new addition to their vaunted defensive line Tuesday: Defensive End Chase Young. The news broke an hour before the season’s trade deadline, with many commentators calling San Francisco’s acquisition of the 2020 Defensive Rookie Of The Year a steal as it only cost them a compensatory third round pick in next year’s draft.

Bandcamp Daily • 27th July 2021

The Punk Legacy of Frontier Records

Lisa Fancher wasn’t planning on a legacy when she started Frontier Records. She released the Flyboys’ posthumous EP in 1980 and it failed to take off (no pun intended).

Datebook | San Francisco Arts & Entertainment Guide • 12th May 2021

‘Mental Health Comedy Hour’ a safe space for laughter and serious discussion

Comedian Guy Branum is certain that those who suffer from chronic depression like him were better suited for the isolation created by the pandemic this past year.

Datebook | San Francisco Arts & Entertainment Guide • 24th March 2021

How Bob Odenkirk turned into an action star in ‘Nobody’

Bob Odenkirk owns a Martin acoustic guitar, a copy of the one that Dana Carvey gave him after they worked on 1993’s “Wayne’s World 2.” A thief broke into Odenkirk’s house a few years ago and took the original. That was just the first time someone broke into Odenkirk’s house.

Bandcamp Daily • 11th March 2021

Total Punk: The Label That’s Exactly As Advertised

After weathering a difficult divorce, punk lifer Rich Evans realized he needed to do something positive to help lift his spirits. He decided to book a national tour, lining up shows in different cities that he’d always wanted to visit, made up of bands he’d always wanted to see. Evans wouldn’t be playing a note: he’d devised a six-week cross-country tour that he’d experience as an audience member.

Datebook | San Francisco Arts & Entertainment Guide • 28th February 2021

‘I came out of the closet,’ NOFX’s Fat Mike says about latest album

Mike Burkett, better known as Fat Mike of the punk band NOFX, loves his leather sheets. At the mere mention of them during a recent video interview with The Chronicle, he jumped out of his chair to grab one and show it off.

Datebook | San Francisco Arts & Entertainment Guide • 26th February 2021

Remember when Levi’s made a retro clothing collection for the Summer of Love?

Paul O’Neill’s latest collection of clothing for Levi’s Vintage re-creates the fashion and aesthetics of the late 1980s music scene in Manchester, England, built around the culture that came from bands like the Happy Mondays and Stone Roses. The clothes blend the rugged, vintage look of thrift store clothing with the windbreakers and hoodies made necessary by the city’s gloomy weather.

Datebook | San Francisco Arts & Entertainment Guide • 17th February 2021

How a Levi’s designer re-created a 1980s British music scene in S.F. during COVID

One truth about the fashion industry that Paul O’Neill has learned over his decades in the business is that it stops for nothing or no one. In his role as head designer for Levi’s Vintage Clothing, O’Neill needs to come up with a new collection every six months — no matter what.

San Francisco Chronicle • 13th February 2021

Thrasher at 40: S.F. magazine still skates and destroys misconceptions about 'boarders

Thrasher Magazine, skateboarding’s bible, turned 40 last month. The magazine is an adult now, but there are still no plans for it to act its age.

Datebook | San Francisco Arts & Entertainment Guide • 30th December 2020

W. Kamau Bell and Hari Kondabolu bring back ‘Politically Re-Active’ podcast in time for a political reckoning

With Joe Biden the president-elect, it’s a new political era in America, and comedians W. Kamau Bell and Hari Kondabolu look forward to continuing to provide the commentary.

Bandcamp Daily • 18th November 2020

Medical Records: The Only Synth Reissue Label Helmed by an Oncologist

It took years for Dr. Troy Wadsworth to find his people in Seattle. After moving to the city sometime around 2008, he began searching for people who loved synth music just as much as he did… in a city known for producing guitar heroes and the occasional rapper.

Datebook | San Francisco Arts & Entertainment Guide • 27th October 2020

New Alameda Comedy Club brings laughter back to the stage — sort of — during pandemic

Comedians often start their sets by asking the crowd, “How are you doing?” But seven months into this pandemic, Joy Gohring already knew the answer to that question. Instead, she walked onto Alameda Comedy Club’s outdoor stage and asked whether it was the first time anyone in the audience had left their house.

Berkeleyside • 22nd September 2020

The New Parkway has a pandemic-born food program and its loyal moviegoers are eating it up

The screens have been dark at Oakland’s New Parkway Theater since March, and instead of crowds of moviegoers, the only thing filling the theater’s two viewing rooms for the past six months are crates of food.

Datebook | San Francisco Arts & Entertainment Guide • 18th September 2020

Carlos Alazraqui is back with the return of ‘Reno 911’

This year’s been full of unwanted surprises, but 2020 also saw the comeback of “Reno 911,” so it’s not a total bust.

Bandcamp Daily • 9th September 2020

Kribo Records is a Distinctly Singaporean Home for Classic Funk and Soul Inspiration

When Haqim Isa, aka Maggot, started his record label three years ago, he wanted to invoke a certain look. The word Kribo, which means “frizzy” in Malay, popped into his head.

Book and Film Globe • 8th September 2020

Vinyl Nation Movie Review

More than 25 years after my first record purchase, I watched Vinyl Nation, a movie about record collectors like me and how the vinyl resurgence of the 2010s vindicated our favorite hobby.