Maybe it’s the dreamy, celestial quality of their ethereal beats, or the cloud of weed smoke that seems to float from the speakers whenever Squadda B or MondreMAN spit one of their sky-high verses. While the origin of the term “cloud rap” may be up for debate, it’s undeniable that Main Attrakionz is carving out its own place in hip-hop by pioneering a new sub-genre. Read more »

The final album to Madlib’s 13-part Medicine Show is scheduled to be released this month, capping a series that may prove to be the producer’s magnum opus. Through 12 albums, already he has journeyed through genres – hip-hop, dub, soundtrack music, free jazz, soul, psychedelic rock. He sampled music from around the world – Brazil, Africa,
Jamaica. He culled work from different eras – records from the 1970s, his own unreleased tracks from the '90s, new productions from today. Read more »

While her earlier image and sound were more pointed toward the retro, with new album Lollipops and Politics, V V Brown is hopping towards the future. No longer sporting the vintage pin-up bang roll, she seems comfortable in herself, rocking a more laid-back look in the video for "Children" (released last week) off the new record, which comes out February 2012. Read more »

Back in 2010, when the members of Wild Flag initially started playing music with one another, whether a band would be forged or not wasn’t altogether clear. Carrie Brownstein, Rebecca Cole, and Janet Weiss (all from Portland, Ore.) had been writing the score for art documentary !Women Art Revolution when they tapped Mary Timony, who lived in Washington D.C., to record vocals. One project naturally led to the other. Read more »

With some of the most memorable and recognizable heavy metal anthems ever put to tape or performed live, Judas Priest has been at the forefront of the scene for some 40 years now. Featuring singer Rob Halford’s piercing vocals, the twin guitar attacks of Glenn Tipton and K.K. Downing, and the rock solid rhythm section of Ian Hill and Scott Travis, the band has come a long way from its humble beginnings in Birmingham, England, where it earned the moniker, “Metal Gods.” Read more »

No one could have predicted what was about to happen when Ruban Nielson uploaded a single  track – the fuzzy, undeniably catchy “Ffunny Ffriends” – to Bandcamp in late 2010.  A mere 24 hours later, Pitchfork had seized upon “Ffunny Ffriends,” posted the song on its site, and bloggers were going nuts for the new project, Unknown Mortal Orchestra. Read more »

Rural Wisconsin is full of freaks. I can attest to this because I grew up one state west and interacted with similarly entertaining crazies on a pretty regular basis. This brand of strange usually keeps to small town shenanigans, but Nika Roza Danilova translated her weirdness into artistic independence and rose to become Zola Jesus.

Read more »

Since recording debut album Monster Movie with seminal Krautrock band Can back in 1969, vocalist and visual artist Malcolm Mooney has mostly made his home in the States. More recently, he has recorded with San Francisco-based band Tenth Planet, with whom he takes the stage Thurs/1 at Bottom of the Hill.

Read more »

By Sam Stander

First-wave British punk’s pop geniuses the Buzzcocks have been reunited for some time now, currently sporting two members from the band’s heyday in the late ’70s, guitarist-vocalists Pete Shelley and Steve Diggle. They’re passing through the East Bay on Fri/4, at Oakland’s Uptown, backed by pop-punkers the Dollyrots. It’s their only Bay Area stop on this go-round, and a surprisingly small venue for such a heroic act. Buzzcocks monopolize a distinctive mixture of frankness and enthusiasm that still trumps their countless teen-bop imitators, and any chance to see them even at this late date should be relished. Videos (now and then) and show info after the jump.

Read more »