Crowded House, “Gravity Stairs.” Almost 40 years after their self-titled debut, New Zealand rockers Crowded House are still adding rooms to their musical mansion. Gravity Stairs, the band’s fourth album since the turn of the century, continues the sophisticated Beatlesque pop the band’s lead songwriter, Neil Finn, has been known…

John Oates, “Reunion.” As the alphabetically subverted second half of ’80s pop duo Hall & Oates, John Oates played guitar and sang backup for his taller, blonder songwriting partner Daryl Hall on hits like “Maneater” and “She’s Gone.” Seen as one of music’s legendary wing-men, Oates is emerging from…

Steve Albini in his studio in Chicago on July 24, 2014. Brian Cassella/Tribune News Service. Legendary Chicago producer and musician Steve Albini has died of a heart attack at his recording studio, Electric Audio, Pitchfork reported on Wednesday. Albini was 61. The outspoken audio guru (Albini preferred the title…

Kamasi Washington, “Fearless Movement.” Historically, jazz has been under-appreciated as a genre in America. Legitimate musical geniuses, towering greats like Charlie Parker, John Coltrane and Miles Davis, had to travel to Europe, escaping American racism to find audiences sophisticated enough to dig what they were doing. It’s both a…

Neil Young and Crazy Horse, “FU##IN’ UP.” There’s a moment on FU##IN’ UP, the new live album from Neil Young and Crazy Horse, when a snarling squall of distorted guitars subsides momentarily, ringing out like the golden rays of a brilliant sunset. Young’s voice – tender, fragile and now slightly…

Ye (Kanye West) and Ty Dolla $ign perform at Chase Center in San Francisco on March 12, 2024. Matt Pang/STAFF. SAN FRANCISCO — Controversial rap superstar Kanye West brought his Vultures listening party to an enthusiastic and sizable crowd at Chase Center Tuesday night. The event, which featured Ty…

The Jesus and Mary Chain, “Glasgow Eyes.” For those of us who remember, there was a very specific feeling you used to get from a Jesus and Mary Chain album. The blissed-out noise rock was like the love buzz you’d get seeing your crush in the hallway during passing…

Municipal Waste performs at The UC Theatre in Berkeley, Calif. on March 4, 2024. Sean Liming/STAFF. BERKELEY —  Weeknight or not, the Brainsqueeze tour rolled into Berkeley on Monday, unleashing a quartet of thrash metal bands at the UC Theatre. The tour commemorates the 21st anniversary of Waste ‘Em…

Kim Gordon, “The Collective.” The second solo album by Kim Gordon, The Collective, is a little like the beginning of Charles Dickens’ “A Tale of Two Cities,” as it sounds like both the best of times and the worst of times. The Collective Kim Gordon Matador, March 8 9/10 Get…

Taj Mahal, “Swingin’ Live at the Church in Tulsa.” Like the palace in India, musician Taj Mahal has been around for awhile. The bluesman, born Henry St. Claire Fredericks, Jr. is, in fact, a national treasure who should be as revered here as his namesake palace halfway around the…