First Aid Kit, courtesy. After touring the critically acclaimed third album, Stay Gold, in 2014 and 2015, sisters Klara and Johanna Söderberg—First Aid Kit—burned themselves out. The duo, which rose above the indie circuit for the first time, had been writing, recording or touring its songs for years. And…

White Reaper, courtesy. Rock has become increasingly removed from its over-the-top grandiosity roots. Following the inglorious fall of hair metal and the rise of grunge and alt-rock, which capitalized on a lack of stage presence as a stage presence in of itself, the indie rock explosion in the 2000s took the genre even…

Photo: Alessio Neri While other festivals may be leaning more than ever on pop acts and solo artists, the 2018 edition of BottleRock Napa Valley is doubling down on guitar bands. The three-day music and wine extravaganza returns to the Napa Valley Expo May 25 to 27 for its sixth annual run…

W. Kamau Bell is a man of many talents, from stand-up comic to Emmy-winning television host, but he never expected the symphony to come calling. Other than listening to the classical music station on AM radio in the car with his mom when he was a kid, classical music…

  Kanye West performs at the SAP Center in San Jose on Nov. 17, 2016. Photo: Paige K. Parsons Goodbye, 2017. It was great knowing you! Not really. Actually, 2017 sucked … except for the music; the music was great! Hello, 2018. It’s time to look forward to what is to come…

Courtesy: Estevan Oriol To his fans, Dallas musician Boy Epic is a total enigma. Basic details like his real name and age are practically undiscoverable online. The only thing that connects listeners to him is his art–a combination of music and film. But if anything, Boy Epic’s music offers a…

It was a long journey, but we’ve made it to the top 10. Before you get upset that I excluded your favorite album, let me first give a shout out to this year’s honorable mentions: The War on Drugs’ A Deeper Understanding, Algiers’ The Underside of Power, Cigarettes After Sex’s self-titled record,…

Photos: Chloe Catajan Live music has always been a constant for me, but nothing like the way it was in 2017. This year, I’ve attended approximately 30 concerts and three festivals, which I think sets the record for the most times I’ve ever left my house in a year. As…

Lizzy Farrall, courtesy. Lizzy Farrall spent much of her childhood among the hilly valleys of rural Wales. Her mother homeschooled her and her five siblings until Farrall was 16 years old, and the teen spent much of her time outdoors. One of her fondest memories is of her and…

Welcome, to my five-part series counting down what I believe to be the 50 best albums of 2017. I listened to an insane amount of new music during my first year as a staff writer with RIFF, nearly 150 album releases, in fact. With that in mind, when narrowing down all…