Music

October 25, 2017

SWMRS Deliver Exhilarating Sounds at Velvet Jones

By Jasmine Rodriguez

The adrenaline of a garage rock show is comparable to drinking 10 Vietnamese iced coffees in one sitting. Bay-area band SWMRS rose to prominence after releasing their album Drive North, which featured heavy doses of hip-...

October 20, 2017

The Friday Review: Cry Cry Cry by Wolf Parade

By Konrad Neithercutt

Wolf Parade isn’t afraid to take risks on their comeback album. The linear “Incantation” is them at their most assertive and unafraid. The band unleashes a horn section after the song’s first dive into cacophony,...

October 19, 2017

Andrew Bird Soars with Melodic Sounds at Campbell

By Melody Pezeshkian

Behind his aslant silhouette on stage, the visual recording of Echolocations: River played on a backdrop. Bird plays the violin in sequence with the video projection.

October 12, 2017

The Flaming Lips and Mac Demarco Ignite SB Bowl

By Zoe Jones

The Flaming Lips and Mac Demarco put on a weird, wonderful show — one that lit up the Santa Barbara Bowl with bright lights, beautiful colors and smiles alike.

October 10, 2017

Billie Eilish Kicks Off I.V. First Fridays With Mellow Sounds

By Hannah Jackson

Eilish, though only 15, has already made waves in the music world.

October 5, 2017

The xx Transcends Expectations at Santa Barbara Bowl

By Ivan Gonzalez

The xx truly grabbed and held onto the energy and enthusiasm of the crowd the whole time.

September 28, 2017

Father John Misty Set to Enchant Arlington Theatre

By Zoe Jones

With the release of his latest album, Pure Comedy, Father John Misty took on a new role in the indie world. He has never been one to censor himself, but a shift in his focus is clear: He is looking outward more than he e...

September 28, 2017

Five Summer Albums You May Have Missed

By Ryan Hykes

Tyler, The Creator, the controversial co-founder of the hip-hop collective Odd Future, has lately been known more for his no-fucks-given attitude and his trendy style than anything else.

August 24, 2017

Aoki, Electronica and the Live I.V. Music Scene

By Zoe Jones, William Emmons

When Aoki was merely 19, he was throwing roughly 20 shows a month out of his living room, recording tapes of every single one.

July 21, 2017

Jay-Z and the Direction of Product Packaging in Hip Hop

By William Emmons

That’s not to say that Jay doesn’t return to his default of braggadocious bars about wealth and success, but this record is different. It extends a bridge of insight to his listeners in a way that is creatively inter...

June 8, 2017

WebsterX and Milwaukee’s Hip Hop Renaissance

By William Emmons, Jasmine Rodriguez

Injury Reserve and WebsterX share a dynamic of creating spaces to craft seamlessly gravitative rap songs that are entirely divergent from their contemporaries. They are the embodiments of unapologetically challenging wha...

June 2, 2017

The Friday Review: After Laughter by Paramore

By Jasmine Rodriguez

After Laughter paints Paramore as a magnetic band that creates charismatic pop anthems while still preserving and maturing their emo-inclined expression.

June 1, 2017

Tracks of the Month: June 2017

By William Emmons, Jasmine Rodriguez

With the release of “Big Fish,” Vince Staples is leading up to his forthcoming album, Big Fish Theory.

May 25, 2017

ScHoolboy Q Says UCSB ‘Not the Worst’ UC Show at Extravaganza 2017

By William Emmons

TDE rapper ScHoolboy Q made an appearance headlining UCSB’s annual Extravaganza late Sunday afternoon. Though highly anticipated, the artist’s set provoked polarizing responses from attendees.

May 24, 2017

Extravaganza ’17 Rocks the Masses

By Daniel Gitlin

Despite insistent cries from the audience, Schoolboy left the Extravaganza stage as he had found it, with no want for enthusiasm. The mass of concertgoers slid to the exits with the Santa Barbara sunset materializing ove...

May 19, 2017

The Friday Review: This Old Dog by Mac Demarco

By Max Pasion-Gonzales

Mac’s attitude toward love has evolved as well. Rather than his past approach of charming the listener into a false fantasy of love, here he has been through enough of it to have a better understanding.