Roxiny does things her own way. When she first arrived in the United States from the Dominican Republic to pursue a music career, she signed a deal with Sony but soon bought her way out of it. “I think that they were looking for a Latin pop star; kind of…

Attendees at Outside Lands on August 11, 2017. With the first day of the 10th Outside Lands in the books, I thought it might be a good idea to look back on the five best things I saw today. But since I’m a generally cranky person you also get the five…

Photos: Alessio Neri A last-minute postponement by legendary hip-hop crew A Tribe Called Quest didn’t spoil the mood for tens of thousands Gorillaz fans Friday, the first day of the Outside Lands Music Festival. And Gorillaz, the electronic, animated project of Blur’s Damon Albarn did not disappoint with a…

Photos: Ian Young By all accounts 2016 was a shitty year. But amid the chaos were much needed distractions in the form of live music. This year I traveled to Iceland, Chicago, Indio, Los Angeles and Seattle to attend 110 shows and eight festivals, watching and photographing more than 250 bands. Here’s…

Photos: Ian Young, Nick Buckmaster, Roman Gokhman SAN FRANCISCO — Noise pop duo Sleigh Bells are having a rough release week. Fourth album Jessica Rabbit dropped last Friday, and shortly after, vocalist  Alexis Krauss came down with laryngitis. That forced Krauss and guitarist Derek E. Miller to cancel a festival…

Read my review of Day 2 of Treasure Island. Did you miss my Holy Ghost! story and extras? It’s here.