Yoste Every week, there’s a plethora of new music at our fingertips. Artists on platforms such as Spotify and Bandcamp are plentiful, and the radio offers a steady deluge of new singles, but who has time to sort through all that? RIFF does! We pooled our resources to find…

The 1975, “A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships.” Conversations these days embrace a plethora of expressions popularized in 2018, from encouraging others to “go off” to calling a good friend “fam.” But another buzzword to look out for, usually in a warier sense, is “oversharing.” More specifically, searching for…

Circa Survive performs at the UC Theatre in Berkeley on Nov. 13, 2018. Photos: Chloe Catajan. BERKELEY — In ancient Rome, “lustratio” referred to the rite of cleansing and purification; it meant to be born again. Circa Survive put a spin on that when it brought “The Amulet” tour…

Frankie Cosmos performs at The Fillmore in San Francisco on Nov. 5, 2018. Photos: Chloe Catajan. SAN FRANCISCO — Frankie Cosmos and Kero Kero Bonito brought their co-headlining tour to The Fillmore Monday, and it was the stuff modern pop dreams are made of. New York’s Frankie Cosmos, led by Greta…

Mitski performs at The Warfield in San Francisco on Nov. 3, 2018. Photos: Chloe Catajan. SAN FRANCISCO — When Mitski recorded her 2018 LP, Be The Cowboy, she often envisioned someone singing alone onstage under a single spotlight. It’s what inspired the album’s theatrical exploration of sounds. Now, the New…

Troye Sivan performs at The Masonic in San Francisco on Nov. 1, 2018. Photos: Chloe Catajan. SAN FRANCISCO — It’s been a big year for Troye Sivan. In August the Australian pop artist released his second album, Bloom, which landed at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 chart, amassed…

SWMRS perform at the UC Theatre in Berkeley on Oct. 27, 2018. Photos: Chloe Catajan. BERKELEY — With Halloween around the corner, SWMRS started the scream fest early at the UC Theatre Saturday. For its third annual Uncool Halloween, the Oakland band channeled the Harry Potter series. “Hedwig’s Theme”…

Tame Impala performs at Treasure Island Music Festival at Middle Harbor Shoreline Park in Oakland on Oct. 14, 2018. Photos: Chloe Catajan OAKLAND — Everything was a haze. Tame Impala closed out 2018’s Treasure Island Music Festival in what felt like a dream state. A hypnotic swirl on the “The…

Interpol performs at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley on Oct. 6, 2018. Photos: Chloe Catajan BERKELEY — A disco ball might seem like the last thing you’d pair with gloomy post-punk music, but Interpol made it work. Against a darkened Greek Theatre, the mirrored streaks of light gave scattered…

Photos: Chloe Catajan BERKELEY — If you asked Death Cab for Cutie frontman Ben Gibbard, it was about time the Bellingham, Washington band toured with Cold War Kids. The two Northwest and SoCal bands played the Greek Theatre on Thursday, solidifying the milestone of their decade-long friendship through equally…