Sometimes considered the “blue-collar” saxophone for its supporting role as the Great Punctuation Mark in much of pop music, the baritone sax actually has range enough to go from soothing cello to car horn. A …
February 17, 2016
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Stories by Barnaby Monk
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Dizzy's turns a spotlight on the baritone saxophone
Don’t let the Ché Café get punked by budget cuts
In a press release dated today, May 12, the Ché Café collective is calling for community support in the University Centers Advisory Board (UCAB) vote for a budget plan that may close the venue for …
May 12, 2014
In San Diego clubs Thursday–Saturday, January 9–11
Thursday 9Nineties-grade alt-rockers No Knife culled a biggish but brief career from angular slash-and-burn pop deconstructions that evoked, at turns, the Clash, Fugazi, Archers, and Mission of Burma, but Mitch Wilson’s first-person lyrics and emotive …
January 8, 2014
Corking the bat
The following conversation took place in Section 103 at Petco Park during the Padre’s 10-1 rout of the San Francisco Giants on Sunday, July 14. The conversants were Giants fans visiting from the Bay Area, …
July 15, 2013
The Dgenius
In my last post, which is to say my first post, I yammered on about synchronous TV, when the sports stars align over the old satellite dish and deliver three, four doozies in one frenzied …
June 19, 2013
Satellite of love
I love sports. Watching them, mostly (Padres, Giants, Red Sox, Galaxy, Xolos, Chivas, Sounders, U.S. men’s soccer, MLS, EPL, Serie A, La Liga, Liga MX, MLB, NFL, NBA, tennis, NHL, and billiards, which is too …
June 6, 2013
Want to Be in Hardcore?
Thursday 19 Sean Carey is one edumacated drummer. He’s got a degree in drumming from U.W.-Eau Claire; i.e., he doesn’t do songs, he does compositions. Carey helped fill out Bon Iver’s stark sound as they …
May 18, 2011
The Fate of the World Is Safe in Crystal Castles
Thursday 12 “The fate of the world is safe in Crystal Castles,” so says “Alice Practice,” the accidental mic-check track that went viral and made Ethan Kath and Alice Glass of Canadian electro duo Crystal …
May 11, 2011
Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will
Thursday 5 Cinco de Mayo means “games and prizes!” at Eleven and a helluva garage-punk rawker with early sets by ’70s slurrers los Last Years, ex-Sess cats los Shiva Trash, and Spanish 101 Ramones Los …
May 4, 2011
Itching to Shred
Thursday 28 Up for some “intellegent fun”? That’s how L.A. rap duo Afro Classics (feat. Scarub of Living Legends and Very of Us Pros) describes this year’s Classic Rock, their first release together in a …
April 27, 2011
Space-Rock Invasion
Thursday 21 Orange County kids Janu and the Whalesharks swim their storied songcraft into the Loft at UCSD. What stands out with this quartet is the pristine harmonies of brother and sister front folks Jake …
April 20, 2011
Hold on to Your Thinking Cap, Longhair
Thursday 31 Messi, Puyol, Xavi, Furia, Manso — ¡Ole! Barcelona lounge lovers the Pinker Tones roll into Til-Two tonight behind their latest, Modular, a melting pot of world beats (and languages) with an electro-funk attitude. …
March 30, 2011
Your Mom Likes Sad Sackery
Thursday 24Dood, say hi to your mom. Seattle songsmith Eric Elbogen dropped “Your Mom” in ’08 and simply calls himself Say Hi these days. He’s out to tout this year’s Barsuk offering Um, Uh Oh, …
March 23, 2011
Speaking of Segues
Thursday 17Break Free Your Mind, Aussie psych-rock act Matt Sonic & the High Times will shred through Soda Bar with Joy. Sonic et al. are on their first-ever U.S. tour and bring a down-and-dirty desert-rock …
March 16, 2011
Indier Than Thou
Thursday 24San Diego saxman Charles McPherson will blow through Anthology Thursday night. The Missouri native’s formative years were spent with bass great Charles Mingus, whom he toured and recorded with from 1960 through the mid-’70s. …
February 23, 2011
Band Sandwich
Thursday 10The Lady Killer, Cee Lo Green (Gnarls Barkley), is bumpin’ around the Southland circling a Sunday night Grammys date to perform with Gwyneth Paltrow and some Muppets. No joke. Cee’s a nominee for hit …
February 9, 2011
Jackboot Juggernaut
Thursday 3The So So Glos’ SoCal stay is over. The band of brothers has been touring on the back of their Low Back Change Shift EP, a 13-minute, 5-song sock in the face for not …
February 2, 2011
Get Your Mind Blown at Til-Two, Your Thoughts Rocked at Kava
Thursday 20When actress Ellen Page was asked by writer Diablo Cody what she thought the smartypants teen would be listening to in their hit flick Juno, Page said it had to be Moldy Peaches. That …
January 19, 2011
Whirled Infamy
Thursday 6The Casbah kicks off its 22 years of whirled infamy this week with local indie-rock acts A Scribe Amidst the Lions, Black Hondo, and the Mashtis. Solid sounds coming down for seven bucks.... Eleven …
January 5, 2011
Follow the Last Years Into Next Year
Thursday 30Yes, Virginia...dark cabaret duo the Dresden Dolls did reunite this year and have been touring, appropriately enough, since Halloween. The Boston band, consisting of Amanda Palmer (vox, keys) and Brian Viglione (everything else), will …
December 29, 2010
Hand Over Your Tonka, Punk
Thursday 16Prepare for Black and Blue when Jake Smith, aka the White Buffalo, roams into Casbah. The oft-solo roller is back with a band behind his debut Ruff Shod release, an EP of the larger-than-life …
December 15, 2010
Exuberance in a Can
Thursday 9Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band is a five-piece indie-rock outfit from the Seattle area. Can’t swing a dead cat, right? Wrong. They got that ridonkulous name, for one, a 15-year-old drummer, and they debuted …
December 8, 2010
Hippie. Dippy. Digi.
Thursday 2House of Blues exhumes Dead Kennedys. The SanFran band was at the eye of the hardcore storm in the early ’80s, churning out punk anthems such as “California Über Alles,” “Holiday in Cambodia,” and …
December 1, 2010
Go Stuff Yourself
Thursday 25Go stuff yourself. Friday 26It’s Black Friday, that vortex of consumerism that sucks us into the holiday shopping season. Go easy, you don’t want to throw out your credit-card sliding arm this early on, …
November 23, 2010
How to Rob a Bank
Thursday 18Ikea, girls with dragon tattoos, crazy-delicious little meatballs, black-metal music. These are Sweden’s main exports, according to the Swedish Trade Council, which, y’know, I totally called. From Sweden, black-metal trio Watain will challenge your …
November 17, 2010
Avant-guardians
Thursday 11A pair of seasoned punks from the Palm Desert scene — Circle Jerk Zander Schloss shredding an acoustic and wordsmith Sean Wheeler of Throw Rag — bring their folk-raunch shtick to Brick by Brick …
November 10, 2010
Varmint, I'm Gonna Blow You to Smithereens
Thursday 4Bethesda band Trans Am drives into Casbah tonight. The Thrill Jockey transformers (krautfunk, anyone?) this year turned in Thing, the trio’s ninth proper on the indie stalwart. The 20-year vets keep up the sci-fi …
November 3, 2010
Folk Yeah!
Thursday 28That Grammy-winning animated band from Plastic Beach, Gorillaz, swings into Viejas Arena. It’s concept pop of the highest order, co-created by indie-rocker Damon Albarn (Blur) and cartoonist Jamie Hewlett (Tank Girl). The virtual quartet …
October 27, 2010
Elephant Six Built to Spill BBQ
Thursday 21Chicago instrumental trio Russian Circles rolls into town behind its third and finest effort, Geneva. This proggy iceberg of a record drifts and splinters in the vein of Mogwai, replacing the Glaswegians’ ice-ax percussion …
October 20, 2010
Broken Social Scene Will Have Its Sea and Cake and Eat It Too at House of Blues
Thursday 14Scottish indie rockers Frightened Rabbit scurry into House of Blues tonight. Since his 2003 six-track days, Scott Hutchison’s broken from the bedsit vibe, and his warren has grown to five (you know how rabbits …
October 13, 2010
Grandmaster Rappers and Guilty Women
Thursday 7Fluxx downtown is bringing old-school hip-hop heat with Cypress Hill producer DJ Muggs and Wu-Tang’s “Genius” GZA. Muggs runs the decks while Geezy runs his mouth. The pair’s ’05 offering Grandmasters is a hardcore …
October 6, 2010
Funny Business with Margaret Cho and Aziz Ansari, and Adams Avenue Goes Off
Thursday 23“Jazz flute is for little fairy boys.” I dare someone to yell that out when Dungen master Gustav Ejstes whips out his flute. Just kidding. You stay classy, San Diego. The psych-rock Swedes will …
September 22, 2010
Judgement Day String Metal, Ty Segall's Melted, and Saccharine Trust — It's a Sexy Week at Soda Bar
Thursday 16Los Angeles electropop trio Autolux will get all Transit Transit on Belly Up tonight. The shoegazers’ sophomore record dropped last week and is sure to be the batch to put ’em on the map. …
September 15, 2010
The Inevitable Past Is the Future Forgotten — Three Mile Pilot
It could and probably will be posited once The Inevitable Past Is the Future Forgotten goes under the critical microscope that post-rock trio Three Mile Pilot didn't disband so much as reproduce. A little indie-rock …
September 15, 2010
Jazz88 hits the steamy streets of Ocean Beach
Thursday 9Guilty pleasure alert: the singer-songwriter Sheryl Crow will deliver a smorgasbord of songcraft to Humphrey’s by the Bay, catering to all your country, pop, rock, and R&B needs. No kidding, Ms. Crow’s Very Best …
September 8, 2010
I wish I were viral: The rest (and best?) of the Southland's summer music fests
Thursday 2Where have all the rude boys gone? Back to school! And campus collective Ché Café has booked a weekend of winners to welcome back UCSD’s student bawdy. Tonight, the heady, socially conscious punk of …
September 1, 2010
Slam, Superhero, Slam
Thursday 26Shuffle your feet to Belly Up for a reggae-rich gig. The Steel Pulse brand has been touring its dub-club riddems round the world since 1975 behind bandleaders David Hinds (guitar/voice) and Selmo Brown (keyboards/voice). …
August 25, 2010
Rump Shakers
Thursday 19It’s an old story: an ex-other calls because they’ve got a giant organ to sell you. Fifty bucks and a few hours later, the behemoth sits in your apartment, taking up half your living …
August 18, 2010
The Sake Slurpee One
Thursday 12Wavves kahuna Nathan Williams announced at New York’s Bowery Ballroom last week that “Walt Disney was a Nazi.... You go, you feel Nazi vibes. It’s disgusting.” Williams said that the Walt Corp. “mildly sued” …
August 11, 2010
Dischord Prohibition
Thursday 29Key words: Reis, Froberg, Pitchfork, Drive Like Jehu, Hot Snakes, Night Marchers, Obits. Kinda falls apart there at the end, huh? Not tonight, punk, as Reis’s Night Marchers goose-step into Casbah behind Froberg’s Obits. …
July 28, 2010
Greetings from Cudahy
Thursday 22They’re not just another ’60s soul-pop cover band intent on “shakin’ yo ass,” they’re Social D, the Adolescents, the Cadillac Tramps, U.S. Bombs, and TSOL, the OC’s gnarliest exports indulging their un-punk selves, their …
July 21, 2010
Public Service Announcement
Thursday 15Dinky diva Lil’ Kim comes to town tonight. The New York hip-hop hit is back on the road after doing time on Dancing with the Stars and doing time in federal prison. Who’s to …
July 14, 2010
Time Keeps on Slippin'
Thursday 8I dreamed I was in a Hollywood movie...and that I was the star of the movie. War comes to town with a new name, the Lowrider Band. Four of the five surviving L.A. ghetto …
July 7, 2010
Chick Rock Edition
Thursday 1If Björk is your brownie, my little pop-sweet indie geeks, then Parisian pair CocoRosie is that half-baked, which can be good, too, non? Cult-y Casady sisters Bianca and Sierra broke with the first wave …
June 30, 2010
Hippie to the Hippie
Thursday 24Catchiest sets to get to this week are two SanFran bands, current standard bearers of the Bay Area’s indie scene, Ty Segall and Sonny & the Sunsets, at Bar Pink Thursday night. Segall is …
June 23, 2010
Beyond the Observable Universe
Word blew in from the desert that San Diego mystic-pop trio Maquiladora was re-collecting for a tour this summer. Follows is an e-chat with cofounder Eric Nielsen from the beardo’s O.B. dojo of drone. How …
June 23, 2010
Barbecue Heaven
Journeyman musician Michael Rennie has found a home in San Diego, in Normal Heights, where the Rio Peligroso singer-guitarist frequents his favorite neighborhood pub Rosie O’Grady’s and sates his beer munchies at Blind Lady Ale …
June 16, 2010
The Greatest Little Show on Earth
Thursday 17Ready for some heavy mellow? L.A. recording artist Jim Putnam resets with a new crew of Radar Bros. for this year’s Merge Records crit hit The Illustrated Garden. Crawled up to Spaceland in March …
June 16, 2010
Oooh La La!
Thursday 10Sebadude Lou Barlow’s had a fun reunion run over the past five years with his old band, Dinosaur Jr., which released ’09 standout Farm and toured a ton to great reviews. Lou’s back on …
June 9, 2010