By the logic of Machine Gun Kelly, this column will be a hit. Welcome to another installment of … what should we call this? Things I write about when my attention span equals a housefly on really good meth? Strike that. There’s no such thing as good meth, kids.…

When she’s in the van with the Toronto indie rock collective Broken Social Scene, Ariel Engle doesn’t keep track of days of the week anymore. “Well, there’s no difference between a Saturday or a Monday or a Tuesday,” Engle said in a recent phone call from the road with…

Florence Welch from Florence and the Machine performs at Outside Lands in San Francisco on August 11, 2018. Photos: Shawn Robbins and Joaquin Cabello. SAN FRANCISCO — Touting her new record, High As Hope, Florence and the Machine played her first U.S. show Saturday at Outside Lands with the new…

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…

Yeah Yeah Yeahs perform at the Fox Theater in Oakland on Oct. 30, 2017. For me, this year proved that “Rocktober” really is the month to see some great concerts. My editors asked me to write about the shows I enjoyed most this year. While I don’t usually pick a hands-down…

After a seven-year hiatus, Broken Social Scene is back with new album Hug of Thunder. The Canadian collective is as famous for their sprawling, emotional, baroque-pop as their ability to swell from 10 to 19 members onstage, at any given show. These days, they continue to grow concomitantly off-stage as well. Broken…

Broken Social Scene is one of those bands with a unique style, yet gains its edge from a blend of established sounds. Case-in-point, Canadian collective’s latest: Hug of Thunder. Hug of Thunder Broken Social Scene July 7 Like a neapolitan milkshake, Broken Social Scene has managed to combine three usually-independent flavors that no one…

Photos: Celine Teo-Blockey PASADENA– Arroyo Seco Weekend proved a success, delivering a multi-generational music festival with something for everyone. Held in the shadow of the Rose Bowl on June 24 and 25, its slant toward jazz and funk brought out the Pasadena locals, armed with their deck chairs and picnic…

Pasadena’s inaugural Arroyo Seco Weekend festival will forego EDM in favor of jazz and funk during its two-day, 30-act lineup. Charles Bradley & His Extraordinaires, New Orleans torchbearers the Preservation Hall Jazz Band and the Meters share the bill with headliners Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers and Mumford & Sons, along with indie rock…

Amy Millan of Stars and Broken Social Scene, courtesy. This story originally appeared in the Oakland Tribune. Montreal singer Amy Millan has two theories about why her hometown is now a den of great indie music artists. The sweet-voiced chanteuse’s first theory is based on two climates.  “I think…