DEFENCES, courtesy. DEFENCES and Drug Church bring the metal, Wild Pink and We Are Wolves bring us some joy, while The Backfires and StrateJacket show again that rock’s not dead. Wild Pink, “The Fences of Stonehenge” — Artist John Ross’ message with this song describes a previous Wild Pink…

Kendrick Lamar performs during Outside Lands Music Festival in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco on Aug. 11, 2023. Matt Pang/STAFF. Back in 2018, when dinosaurs roamed the earth, I listed my top five or so songs from every year since 1967 in this column. I then went on…

Hifi Sean and David McAlmont, courtesy Rob Martin. Warren Zeiders leads us through a country-flavored descent into the darkness of addiction before we venture into modern takes on classical jazz by Ashley Henry and Nubya Garcia. After a melancholy musing or two by Wasia Project and Luna Li, we…

Phoenix performs at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley on Sept. 8, 2018. Photo: Paige K. Parsons. July 14 is Bastille Day; basically, the French version of the 4th of July in the United States. But that comparison doesn’t really do it justice. With all due respect to the Founding…

Tones and I, Young Franco and CHAII, courtesy Giulia McGauran. This week, we bring you electronica from Macgray, neo psych rock by Dream Phases, a disco and dance collaboration by Tones And I, Young Franco and CHAII; garage rock by The Bug Club, pop from Breymer and a kaleidoscopic…

The Doors (from bottom to top: Jim Morrison, Ray Manzarek, Robbie Krieger and John Densmore) stand on the stairs of a lifeguard tower in 1969. Photo by Henry Diltz/Corbis. On July 1, the Supreme Court ruled that if the President of the United States can justify something as an…

Nikka Costa, courtesy Bobbi Rich. This week we bring you an enchanting Celtic ode from Rose Betts, a dance banger from Nikka Costa, a gentle piano ballad by Jennifer Castle, an elegant arrangement from Alex Izenberg, cinematic pop by Sarah Kinsley and an Americana rocker by Kevin Gordon. Rose…

Montell Fish, courtesy Brandon Minton. This week’s edition offers a perfect balance of fun, mystery and emotion. We have Moroccan-Turkish tones from Kit Sebastian. Montell Fish and Drew Parker have us in our feelings, Deb Fan shares a new perspective and we turn up with Ric Wilson and Lesibu…

Tupac Shakur performs at the Regal Theater in Chicago in March 1994. Photo: Raymond Boyd/Getty Images. Back in May, rather than covering uplifting songs about how important mothers are, my Mother’s Day column consisted of songs that you should not play at your mom’s party. Since I am fair,…

Dua Lipa performs during the 66th GRAMMY Awards at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on Feb. 4, 2024. Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images for The Recording Academy. If you’re a regular reader of this column, you may have noticed that I’m often profoundly lazy. For example, in 2021 I…