It's been almost forty years since the Buggles told us "video killed the radio star." While the golden days of music television are long past, websites like YouTube and Vimeo have ushered in a new era of music video broadcasting. Last year, the team behind San Francisco's

Males have dominated the music industry since the dawn of commercial pop music. In the 1960s, male bands were painted as serious musicians while the equally talented female vocal groups were treated as novelties. Slowly, fearless rocker chicks like Blondie's Debbie Harry and Jefferson Airplane's Grace...

In 1996 Suede's Brett Anderson famously sang the line "Europe is our playground, London is our town" on a b-side from the "Trash" single. In 2013, I was lucky enough to travel from San Francisco to London for Suede's show at the Alexandra Palace. London certainly...

The generation known as "the Millennials" is in the news almost daily. Sometimes we're being praised for our progressive nature in the workplace or regarding social issues. Other times we're being blamed for further damaging the economy by our inability to pay off student...

NPR's "All Songs Considered" blog has yet again inspired me. Stephen Thompson recently answered a note from a reader asking if mix tapes and CDs are still relevant as an acceptable Valentine's Day gift. Thompson crafted a thoughtful response. The basic gist is yes; mixes are...

On Saturday night, the music world was shocked when the follow up to My Bloody Valentine's 1991 release Loveless dropped. MBV garnered so much excitement that it practically broke the Internet. With the recent rise of bands like the Pains of Being Pure At Heart, Vivian Girls and...

On the morning of February 1, 1995, James Dean Bradfield of the Manic Street Preachers entered the lobby of the Embassy Hotel in London expecting to meet his band mate Richey Edwards (sometimes known by his stage name Richey James). The two were set to embark on a U.S. promotional...

Only children get a bad rap. The stereotypical only child is a selfish, pampered brat lacking social skills. Though smaller families are now the norm, the stigma surrounding only children remains. We are considered maladjusted, socially inept loners. Perhaps it's because we gravitate towards each other that most of my...

Those of us at the University of California, San Francisco know Bryan Garza as a member of the facilities management team. By day he helps those of us on campus with various tasks but by night, he fronts the indie rock band Scissors for Lefty.

Scissors for Lefty got its...

"What's your favorite band?" people ask me. "Mansun," I reply. "Marilyn Manson?" they ask. "No, not Marilyn Manson," I say.

Mansun were an alternative rock band popular in England in the mid-to-late '90s. Though they were often lumped into the Britpop category, Mansun's sound and message were very different from...

While visiting my parents for Thanksgiving, my dad made the joke "Now you live in San Francisco! Whatever happened to my little southern belle?" I looked at him like he was crazy and simply said, "I've never been a southern belle."

I was born in Nashville. I spent the first...

Today, the television channel VH-1 is synonymous with trashy reality shows and '80s pop culture specials. Aside from a brief flirtation with Bret Michaels' Rock Of Love, I've largely avoided VH-1 in the years since its format change. But as a kid in the late '90s and early 2000s I...

On Friday night, '90s UK act Saint Etienne brought their unique blend of electronic dance music to the Fillmore in support of their new album Words and Music by Saint Etienne. The Sacramento-based indie folk artist Sea of Bees supported the group.

To be entirely honest, I wasn't sure what...

While rummaging through my dresser the other day I found my t-shirt from the Strokes' 2003 Room On Fire tour. I had skipped school to travel from Nashville down to Atlanta with my friend Heather for the show. As we were only 15, her dad drove us. It was a...

Like the Stars song says, "I'm not a film star beauty." While I was an exceptionally adorable child, my cuteness soon gave way to awkward tweenhood once puberty hit. I was gawky and cursed with the unholy trifecta of greasy hair, a big nose and a severe case...

On Friday October 5, UK new wave heroes New Order kicked off their 2012 North American tour at a packed Fox Theater in Oakland, California. Initially formed as Joy Division in Manchester, England in 1976, New Order (minus original bassist Peter Hook) treated the Bay Area to a lengthy set...

Last week MySpace announced plans to re-launch the social media platform that we knew and loved only a few years ago. Based on the accompanying video, MySpace 2.0 looks sleek, shiny and fresh borrowing the best bits of everything from Facebook to Tumblr to Spotify. After the disastrous launch of...

The music industry is in a transitional period. In recent years, we've seen record store giants like Tower and Virgin go under. We've heard of massive downsizing at record labels and music magazines. Many bands have decided to forgo labels completely and release music independently. Any fan with a WordPress...

I'll admit it: when I originally deactivated my Facebook account in fall 2011, I did it to hide. I'd chickened out of graduate school abroad. My first "serious" relationship had come to a spectacular end. Explaining myself to almost everyone I had ever known was a terrifying prospect....

I was 13 years old and in the eighth grade on September 11, 2001. I was a student at the Webb School in Bell Buckle, Tennessee. My memories of that day are unremarkable but I'm sure similar to those of my peers in other areas far from the epicenter of...