Neil Young, “Chrome Dreams.” Expressionist painter Vincent Van Gogh told his brother Theo to never let anyone see his paintings. Luckily for us, Theo didn’t listen. In 1977, Neil Young made the inexplicable decision to shelve an album of songs recorded between 1974 and 1977. Chrome Dreams Neil Young…

Tori Amos performs at Masonic Auditorium in San Francisco, Calif. on July 26, 2023. Nate McKinley/STAFF. SAN FRANCISCO — As Tori Amos began her show at the Masonic in Wednesday night, she first paid tribute. “She warned us of the abuse in the church,” Amos said of Sinéad O’Connor,…

Tony Bennett. Photo by Virginia Sherwood/NBCUniversal. Singer Tony Bennett died Friday at the age of 96. The legendary crooner’s 85-year career garnered worldwide acclaim and 18 Grammy awards. Born Anthony Dominick Benedetto on Aug. 3, 1926 in Queens, New York, Bennett has been a household name for more than…

Nina Simone, “You’ve Got to Learn.” In February, vocalist Nina Simone would have turned 90 years old. The jazz legend, who passed away in 2003, released records for decades. As part of the year-long celebration of Simone, Verve Records is releasing a newly unearthed six-song set Simone performed at…

John Coltrane with Eric Dolphy, “At the Village Gate.” John Coltrane is synonymous with artists who, through discipline and hard work, free themselves from the musical conventions of their era and set a new course for the freeing sounds they hear in their head. The saxophone player’s sound evolved…

Stewart Copeland, “Police Deranged for Orchestra.” One weird thing about living under late capitalism is that everything has to be “reimagined.” For whatever reason (corporate profit) we need a live action “The Little Mermaid” and a Spielberg-ian “West Side Story” (which is, of course, a reimagined “Romeo and Juliet”).…

King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, “PetroDragonic Apocalypse or Dawn of Eternal Night: An Annihilation of Planet Earth and the Beginning of Merciless Damnation.” Can you believe that it’s already June and King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard are just getting around to releasing their first album of 2023?…

Seal performs at Paramount Theatre in Oakland on June 6, 2023. Chloe Catajan/STAFF. OAKLAND — Toward the end of his set at The Paramount Theatre on Tuesday, Seal walked out into the crowd. Standing on the armrests of seats, the British crooner sang “Kiss From a Rose” as he…

Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, “Council Skies.” Freed from the branding of his incredibly famous band, Oasis, Noel Gallagher has become a bit of a musical chameleon. If I were a betting man, I’d say you could play Council Skies, the latest solo album with his band High Flying…

The Cure performs at British Summertime Fest at Hyde Park in London on July 7, 2018. Courtesy Paige K. Parsons. MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — After walking onstage on Saturday, The Cure frontman, Robert Smith, surveyed the sea of people in the crowd at Shoreline Amphitheatre. A fanr offered a…