John Cale, Courtesy: Paul Hudson/Wikicommons. Welcome to Week No. 2 of Halloween Month. As of the time of this writing the President has returned to the White House from the hospital despite still gasping for air like a blobfish in an ill-fitting suit out of water. What will happen…

Megadeth performs at the Glen Helen Amphitheater in San Bernardino on Sept. 6, 2006. Derek Tobias/STAFF. I know it’s Labor Day in a couple days and I usually do a column of union songs, but after the last couple weeks I’m so very, very tired. I suspect many of…

Scandinavia: The countries above the countries that people first think of when they want to go to Europe. After watching Game 3 of the NBA Western Conference Finals it’s tempting to write a column about the Warriors, but I’m not going to be the one to jinx them. So…

America; animated by Childish Gambino. We made it! This is the 52nd RIFF Rewind and the last year of our musical journey through my esoteric and idiosyncratic tastes, not to mention my often sesquipedalian ramblings about that music. I don’t know how you made it this far. I stopped reading…

Was Lin-Manuel Miranda a better Hamilton than the Founding Father? Discuss. We’ve got a few firsts this week. There’s the first song from a musical because I apparently forgot Rocky Horror back in 1975, the first cover of a previous Honorable Mention, and a new and novel way to cheat at…

Who knew that France would make such talented robots? Daft Punk did. I couldn’t quite justify putting it in the top five, but I want to give a shoutout to honorable mention “Let Legend Mark Me as the King” by Christopher Lee. Yes, that Sir Christopher Lee. He was…

SAN JOSE — Ghost is great and their show Thursday night at San Jose’s City National Civic Auditorium was amazing, but before we get to that you may need some explanation of what Ghost is. To borrow a turn of phrase from writer and Internet star Jerry Holkins on this year’s…