Filmmaker Charles Shaw explores the lives of the "plastic people" of the Tijuana River canal.

San Francisco-based writer and filmmaker Charles Shaw just released an updated preview for his pending documentary Exile Nation: The Plastic People, a look at the lives of the deportees who live in squalor in the Tijuana River canal a.k.a “el …

Soda Bar hosts beat artists and MCs from labels including Warp, Brainfeeder, Stones Throw, A.1.R., and beyond.

On Sunday, August 11, local beat collective Kill Quanti are bringing an all-star hip hop and experimental beat showcase to Soda Bar (3615 El Cajon Blvd ) with headliner and Stones Throw artist Jonwayne topping the bill: Chicago-based Warp and …

Tijuana micro-brewery celebrates grand opening with a free jazz cumbia show and a limited edition beer.

This week, I reviewed a burgeoning craft beer bar in the arts and culture alleyway of Pasaje Rodriguez in Tijuana. Mamut Brewery Co. is more than just an inspired brewery slinging bottles of unpasteurized, top quality beer for about a …

Michael Alan Hams and Dan Harumi (Room E) present a free clinic exploring technology and drumming.

For the third and final installment in his Drum Days of Summer series, percussion coach Michael Alan Hams presents a free drum clinic featuring special guest Dan Harumi, a local multi-instrumentalist and beatmaker who puts out music under the alias …

Bass and beat label Liquid Geometry hosts Australian producer Bosstone at Kava Lounge.

Last minute party advisory! Tonight, Liquid Geometry brings choice bass&beats to the Kava Lounge with headliner Bosstone, a soft-spoken producer from the outskirts of Melbourne who stirs up the vibes via juke, trap, and R&B-infused whoppers. Catch a glimpse of …

New Spring Valley music venue and cocktail lounge hosts Three One G weirds.

This Friday, August 9 is an ideal time to check out The Bancroft, a live music bar that recently opened in the former location of Fannie’s Cocktails (9143 Campo Road), with a free show from Three One G duo Secret …

Bill Perrine combines archival footage with interview from local legends to provide a glimpse into the "next Seattle" that never was.

Once upon a time, San Diego was poised to conquer its supposed inferiority complex (thanks, L.A.) via an explosive music scene that had onlookers proclaiming America’s Finest City as “the next Seattle.” Nothing ever really came of that, or – …

Take a joy ride from Tijuana to Los Angeles with All My Friends.

The folks behind Tijuana’s All My Friends Music Festival have teamed up with Goldenvoice to offer a round-trip party bus to the 10th annual, two-day FYF Fest in Los Angeles. The bus will take off from Plaza Rio in Tijuana …

Tijuana's La Legendaria Ballena has all the fixin's to become your new favorite watering hole.

Yesterday, I posted about Los Angeles outfits Habits and Mothers of Gut touring to San Diego to play The Griffin. The groups just added a date in Tijuana this Sunday, August 3 at La Legendaria Ballena beneath the arch on …

Ex- Halloween Swim Team outfit Habits and Mothers of Gut tour from LA to join Kodiak, Vaginals, and Sound Lupus in Morena.

TOAST Presents invites you to party like you don’t have a real job in the morning this Monday, August 5 at The Griffin (1310 Morena Boulevard - Linda Vista), where they’ll be pairing a lineup of local freaks with touring …

South Park lounge and restaurant joins Societe Brewing to showcase the farm-to-table flesh of The Heart & Trotter Butchery

A couple years ago, I crashed a party at a home in the hills of Valley Center, where about thirty guests had gathered to take part in the slaughter of two pigs. The local butcher showed up with his 13-year-old …

Whole Foods and 7th Ave Pub host some of Baja's finest food and drink.

Have unpredictable border waits deterred you from crossing south to experience the wines of Valle de Guadalupe, the world-renowned cuisine of Tijuana, or the many burgeoning breweries in Baja? Worry not! From Friday, July 26 through Sunday, July 28, Taste …

Downtown sushi spot debuts bomb cocktail menu, but is it bomb?

Downtown sashimi spot RA Sushi (474 Broadway) recently dropped a new drink menu specializing in – wait for it – sake bombs. The menu offers eight traditional beer and sake bombs (featuring staples such as Sapporo, Orion, Echigo, and Asahi), …

Liquid Geometry shapes up another mystifying release from Saigon beatmaker

Local weirdbeat label Liquid Geometry just dropped another doozy from Maryland-born producer Uncon Sci. The five-song For Little Good sees the Saigon-based beatmaker building on the Eastern sounds of his Liquid G debut Tiger Mustache with notes of jazz, world …

Join Turista Libre on a tour of some of Tijuana's most renowned restaus

Chef Javier Plascencia has become synonymous with new Tijuana cuisine by way of landmark restaus such as the rebirthed Hotel Caesar’s (the OG home of the Cesar salad) and Baja-Med nexus Mision 19. On Saturday, August 3, alternative tour guides …

Republic of Letters drummer Nick Venti debuts solo electro pop project.

Nick Venti of melodic rock outfit Republic of Letters recently debuted his solo-project Nicky Venus. The bulk of the Nicky Venus EP was written while Venti was visiting a friend in Japan last year. “It was cherry blossom season and …

Saulo Cisneros presents a feature-length documentary following the sights and sounds of Tijuana.

The guttural rumble of an un-muffled city bus. An electric sunrise crowning mountains beyond dense urban sprawl. The strangely-comforting coalesce of Fabuloso and sewage on a humid summer breeze. Tijuana careens in from every angle with an ever-changing onslaught of …

Progressive world outfit plays Voz Alta with Afrojazziacs.

Drawing inspiration from the Son Jarocho folk tradition pioneered by Mexican luminaries such as Doña Elena Ramírez, Don Arcadio Hidalgo, and Don Andrés Vega, Sonex combines indigenous sounds from their hometown of Xalapa, Veracruz with African rhythms, Afro-Peruvian music, Venezuelan …

Recently-inaugurated City Heights neighborhood celebrates Vietnamese heritage.

Last month, a six-block stretch of El Cajon Boulevard (between Euclid and Highland) in City Heights was officially designated “Little Saigon Cultural and Commercial District,” highlighting a neighborhood where nearly three-quarters of businesses are owned by Vietnamese-Americans. From Friday, July …

Waiter, there's a shrub in my drink.

Roseville Cozinha in Liberty Station is rolling out their summer cocktail menu on Monday, July 15 featuring anachronistic concoctions prepared with house-made fermented shrubs (banana and blueberry among them) as well as specialty syrups and bitters. “A shrub was essentially …