Everyone's a Critic

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Donald Fagen's Sunken Condos

This is Donald Fagen's first album in six years and, no, it's not about condo owners underwater on their mortgages. It is another Steely Dan (minus Walter Becker) easy-listening mix of smooth jazz shot through ...

Muse and the mothership descend on Valley View

Once spurned as another Radiohead rip-off, Muse has grown into a band with its own identity. With hints of Queen in its blood, Muse makes unique, bombastic arena rock. And rock they did at the ...

Allez Allez say Night Marchers

Swami John Reis and the Night Marchers sat on this set for more than two years. Reis posts that it’s because he wanted each vinyl pressing hand-stamped. The only living human who does this, apparently, ...

Lost Animal's Ex Tropical

A synth player who leaves a popular Aussie band, St Helens, to explore the possibilities of himself with his machines? Sounds like a fairly risky set-up. But the short-lived indie band’s ex-songwriter/singer/guitarist/keyboardist has crafted a ...

Keane sing-alongs at House of Blues

Since 1997 the band from East Essex named Keane has been producing piano-driven melodies much to the delight of fans both here and overseas. The quartet showcased their music library for the sold-out crowd at ...

Lonerism, by Tame Impala

Lonerism is the second outing for the brainchild of Perth’s Kevin Parker, for it is he who composes, produces, sings, and plays (almost) everything on Tame Impala records. He’s even responsible for the sleeve photography. ...

X mass at Casbah

The punk-rock masses came out for a pre-Christmas “X mass” at the Casbah. It was a different type of spiritual gathering than your traditional church service, but for those of us that worship at the ...

A Thing Called Divine Fits

A Thing Called Divine Fits could also be called a thing that Britt Daniel (Spoon) and Daniel Boeckner (Wolf Parade) came up with during downtime from their full-time bands. A Thing Called Divine Fits could ...

Trash Talk in Mira Mesa

Wrapping up its West Coast tour, Sacramento hardcore band Trash Talk left it all onstage at the Epicentre in Mira Mesa. The intensity of the show came from every angle of the room, from the ...

The Soft Pack storm the Griffin

Former San Diegans the Soft Pack stormed back into town for a one-off at the Griffin in Bay Park. Playing short, sweet, three-minute pop-punk songs, the band entertained the sparse rain-dampened crowd for over an ...

Mike Gao's Beta World Peace

Elaborating on textures from his 2011 debut, Sun Shadows, Beta World Peace sees a continuation of Mike Gao’s signature lurching bass lines, asymmetrical percussion, and glowing synth leads, orchestrated, in part, by his brainchild, Polyplayground ...

John Cale's Shifty Adventures in Nookie Wood

John Cale is not psychic! (Unless he is.) The man couldn’t have predicted Steve Albini’s second-motioning those mundane haters of Cher’s “Believe”; but he intuited that tipping point where the hip(sters) went (reflexively) bleech at ...

Rockabilly cats bring the Whammy! down on Casbah

In the beginning of MTV it seemed that any band with a video got airplay, then "genres" caught on. One of those was the rockabilly revival spearheaded by three main "Cat” bands; the Stray Cats, ...

Battle Born, by the Killers

Nevada's finest are back in action with guns blazing. After nearly four years, the Las Vegas-based alt-rock band the Killers released their fourth studio effort, Battle Born. After the band's previous release, Day & Age, ...

Chris Isaak a-crooning, ladies a-swooning

The “Chris Isaak Christmas Show” rolled into town for two nights at the Belly Up in Solana Beach. The Stockton, California, native and swoon-worthy crooner charmed a sold-out crowd with an energetic set that ranged ...

Scott Walker's Bish Bosch

Seventeen years ago I put on Scott Walker’s album Tilt for the first time; the real-life Phantom of the Opera began to sing as I watched a storm overtake a city center, from my picture ...