It makes perfect aesthetic sense: Grammy-nominated retro rocker Chris Isaak playing his New Year’s Eve concert in town Friday, backing his self-issued “Live at the Fillmore” recording, again appearing at the fabled Fillmore. But fans should pay close attention. Along with catalog classics such as “Wicked Game,” “Western Stars” and “Baby Did a Bad Bad Thing,” the Stockton-bred crooner will debut some startling new material — songs from an album he has been threatening to make since his rockabilly-inflected 1985 debut “Silvertone.”
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Wonder which Yuletide number you heard the most this season? Dollars to doughnuts it’s nothing traditional, but Vampire Weekend’s infectious single “Holiday” instead, culled for commercial use from their sophomore “Contra” album by no less than Tommy Hilfiger and Honda.
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There’s nothing more pretentious than some rookie early-twenty-something folkie who’s taken to sporting a beard. A beard should be earned, through age and experience, the way Iron And Wine’s Sam Beam — now 36 — has done it.
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Sometimes, a year rockets by so fast, it seems impossible to parse it down to minute musical moments. So went 2010. Justin Bieber continued his immaculately coiffed scaling of the charts. So did Lady Gaga, until she passed critical mass and embedded herself in the zeitgeist of snarky talk-show monologues. Kanye West and Taylor Swift both came out swinging, creatively, but not at each other. And all four artists exhibited a startling staying power that likely will fuel their careers through this new decade.
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Initially, Adele Adkins wasn’t sure what to call the upcoming follow-up to her Grammy-winning Columbia debut “19,” a diary-honest chronology of her life at that exact age. Then she threw caution to the wind and went with the obvious, so “21” will be in stateside stores Feb. 22, a month earlier in her native Britain.
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An alert for Bright Eyes boosters: Sometime-solo bandleader Conor Oberst has regrouped with Mike Mogis and Nathaniel Walcott for their first album in four years (and seventh overall), “The People’s Key” on Saddle Creek, hitting shelves Feb. 15.
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Ozzy Osbourne was happy to howl “Crucify The Dead” on the eponymous debut of ex-Guns N’ Roses guitarslinger Slash. Now — quid pro quo, Clarisse — Slash and his band (featuring Myles Kennedy on vocals) will be returning the sinister favor by opening the Ozzman’s entire upcoming North American tour, which hits San Jose’s HP Pavilion on Feb. 3. Not a bad tradeoff, all told.
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Wondering where long-haired Dinosaur Jr. guy J. Mascis has disappeared to of late? Get ready — the master of squealing alt-rock riffology is back, even appearing Jan. 14 at Cafe Du Nord in San Francisco. But not in the way fans might be expecting.
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Is D.J. Bonebrake the hardest-working drummer in show business? Quite possibly. As soon as the X anchor finished tracking the debut from Matt Freeman’s Devil’s Brigade this year, he was off on summer tour backing his old Los Angeles-scene pal Peter Case. This week, he’ll be playing a pair of annual “X-mas With X” holiday shows in San Francisco, and as soon as he returns home, he’ll pick up where he left off with his other jazzier ensembles, Orchestra Superstring and the Bonebrake Syncopators, for whom he tinkles the vibraphone.
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While Primus followers will rejoice knowing that Les Claypool and chums will, indeed, be celebrating their 20th Anniversary New Year’s Eve concerts next week at Oakland’s Fox Theater, there’s a darker, less celebratory aspect to the affair that the bandleader is almost uncomfortable mentioning. But it’s worth a quick reminder, especially in this season of warm-hearted giving.
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Talk about your unexpected comebacks. The history of Edwyn Collins is being celebrated via a new retrospective of his legendary outfit Orange Juice, it’s true. But the brilliant tunesmith is back in ways his fans could never imagine after a cerebral hemorrhage in 2005 threatened to close the book on his fabled career forever.
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He may be known for his loopy singing voice and big-suited stage persona. But former Talking Heads bandleader David Byrne has got a few more tricks up his baggy sleeve.The Oscar winner has also penned a reflective book, a tongue-in-cheek send-up of Guevara’s “Motorcycle Diaries” called “Bicycle Diaries.”
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Congratulations are in order for San Francisco’s own top-flight dance/electronic imprint, Om Records.Their latest release from UK duo Groove Armada, “Black Light,” was just nominated for a Grammy in (of course) the Best Electronic/Dance Album category. Hats off!
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Is dance-pop diva Erika Jayne the next Lady Gaga, just waiting to happen? She might be, judging by her string of four No. 1 hits on Billboard’s dance chart, not to mention her striking “Barbarella”-meets-Bond Girl visual aesthetics featured on the cover of the new single “One Hot Pleasure,” issued on her own Pretty Mess Records. The fuse is definitely lit on the blond bombshell. She blasts into The Crib in San Francisco next week.
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Attention, all Gomez acolytes. The UK folk-rock outfit has quietly amassed a faithful cult audience that appreciates the subtle interplay between the group’s three diverse vocalists.
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