Serpentwithfeet performs at Treasure Island Music Festival at Middle Harbor Shoreline Park in Oakland on Oct. 14, 2018. Photo: Chloe Catajan. Stop right there, cheaters! If you are just joining me for my countdown of the 50 best albums of 2018, go back to parts one and two to catch up and…

In early European folklore, black swans were mythical creatures—until a Dutch explorer saw one in 1697. While white swans signified purity and truth, the very existence of the black swan came to represent impurity. It became equated with witchcraft and evil. While the symbolic essence of the elusive bird…

“In the night/ I feel clean/ when the darkness swallows me/ I escape/ From the blue/ Like the steam coming off the pool.” Deep-seated anxiety and loneliness have always dwelled within the lyrics of Porches’ Aaron Maine. While these lines display much of the same, they signal a revelatory…