Music

Trophii was definitely not intentional. The way they tell it, it’s hard to tell whether or not you’re hearing the story of how a musical act formed or how a couple met. Is there a difference? Richie Smith has been a mainstay in the Sacramento indie rock scene as a…

For 15 years, singer-songwriter Ruby Jaye has been gigging up and down the West Coast with her sugary, jazz-influenced pop tunes. The now Sacramento-based, Southern California-raised pianist, singer and ukulele player has taken the stage at such renowned venues as Reno’s Knitting Factory, Lake Tahoe’s Ritz Carlton, Harlow’s in Downtown…

Based out of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 24-year-old Porter Robinson is one of the country’s rising electronic music stars. This summer, he teamed up with French producer Madeon (himself just 22 years old and whose 2015 album, Adventure, topped the Billboard U.S. dance charts) to create “Shelter,” a collaborative single…

There’s a heady dose of sci-fi in the visual material for CTRL-Z, the latest record by Sacramento’s own Life in 24 Frames. Departures on massive interstellar vessels, arrivals on lonely, deserted planets and the calculations of hooded, monastic figures at the controls of complicated machinery. The ultimate aim of these…

Worthy Goat sounds like nothing I’ve ever heard before. It’s like aliens intercepted space-audio from Grateful Dead and Daniel Johnston albums that got mixed with some episodes of Spongebob Squarepants and were so enamored by what they heard, they decided to form a tribute band. As I watched them play…

Major changes are coming to The Boardwalk, an iconic all-ages music club that’s hosted national and local bands across many genres since the late 1980s. The venue is set to close in January and February for a remodel, and when it re-opens in March to celebrate its 30th anniversary, it…

“I talk in circles.” So says Keith Morris, frontman and founding vocalist of both Black Flag and the Circle Jerks. “The problem is that a story that should be eight, 10, 12 paragraphs, is normally double that. I add a lot of fat.” But if there’s anyone deserving of justifiable…

Local four-piece experimental band Gentleman Surfer is back to melt your brain once again with their new instrumental album Reanimate Ore. If you aren’t familiar with Gentleman Surfer, then A) you need to get out to more shows, as they’ve been touring and playing locally for many years now, and…

We waited an hour and a half for Kanye to start his Pablo Bullshitwhateverthefuck show. Then he came out on a floating stage and everyone went apeshit. Then, while hovering over the crowd, ‘Ye went insane and hugged Kid Cudi for an awkward amount of time. It was probably two…

This will not be your typical arena concert, oh no. If by now you haven’t seen photos of Kanye West’s stage setup for his current run of shows, the critically acclaimed Saint Pablo Tour (which just recently added a second leg, including a Sacramento date at Golden 1 Center on…