Brian Eno, “FOREVERANDEVERNOMORE.” Not too long ago, my mother, who’s in her 80s, read a book by Michael Pollan titled “How to Change Your Mind,” and was briefly—and not seriously—curious about psychoactive drugs. If she had decided that she wanted to join the throngs of aging straight-lacers blasting off…

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, “Ice, Death, Planets, Lungs, Mushrooms And Lava.” Sometimes musicians who like to jam a lot get called self-indulgent. After all, long improvisational pieces are often more fun to make than to listen to, and there’s a self-pleasing element to jettisoning song structure and…

Gorillaz perform at Chase Center in San Francisco on Sept. 21, 2022. Onome Uyovbievbo/STAFF. SAN FRANCISCO — Wednesday evening’s concert by Gorillaz was full of surprises and the enthusiastic crowd at Chase Center was there for it. During the show, frontman Damon Albarn debuted a new song called “Skinny Ape.”…

Weezer, “SZNZ: Autumn.” We’re now three albums into a yearlong season-themed album cycle by Weezer, loosely based off Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons.” So far, the results of frontman River Cuomo’s self-imposed prolificacy have been hampered by overly elaborate musical metaphors and allusions. But a new season has dawned, and not…

Pink Floyd, “Animals” (2018 Remix). One of the hills I am prepared to die on is that Animals is the best album by Pink Floyd. Animals [2018 Remix] Pink Floyd Legacy Recordings, Sept. 16 10/10 My relationship with the 1977 album stretches back more than 30 years, and I know…

Osees perform at the Chapel in San Francisco on Sept. 5, 2022. Karen Goldman/STAFF. SAN FRANCISCO — While a sold-out Chapel watched his band set up their equipment onstage, Osees frontman John Dwyer apologized to the audience. The band had been delayed on their drive north from L.A. because…

Duran Duran performs at Chase Center in San Francisco on Sept. 4, 2022. Sean Liming/STAFF. SAN FRANCISCO —  Eighties pop music legends Duran Duran played songs from every period of their nearly five-decade-long music career Sunday night at Chase Center. Wearing sport coats with shoulder pads, the British band…

Warpaint performs at the UC Theatre in Berkeley on Aug. 22, 2022. Sean Liming/STAFF. BERKELEY — “Swamp water” is a term of endearment for the syrupy concoction that results from filling a cup with equal parts of each available selection from a soda machine. Also regionally known as a…

Jack White, “ENTERING HEAVEN ALIVE.” When I was a kid, lots of people told me I wasn’t “living up to my potential.” Sure, I was lazy and unmotivated, but I used to wonder what living up to someone’s potential would really even look like. Well, Jack White is here…

Kraftwerk performs at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco, on July 6, 2022. Derek Tobias/STAFF. SAN FRANCISCO — After more than two years of pandemic-related delays, German electronic music pioneers Kraftwerk brought their 3D concert experience to the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium Wednesday night. The multimedia spectacle was…