Members from KZSC's Hip Hop Department decided to write about hip-hop albums we loved from last year. From finding obscure samples to dissecting layers in instrumentation, we hope you enjoy our analysis of albums from artists we love. The following…
By Jules Champion When discussing Pharrell as a music artist most people roll their eyes; they think of “Happy” and the “Despicable Me” soundtrack with Pharrell in his silly little Vivienne Westwood Buffalo Hat. Outside of that song, and its…
Written by Kate Marsden I started listening to Yellow Days (the musical alias of alternative music star George van den Broek) in high school and his gravelly, pining sound became a part of the soundtrack…
By Charlie Erdman The first day of March Madness started yesterday and it began like it always does, with massive upsets. The biggest upset of them all was 15th seed Saint Peter’s taking down Goliath 2nd seed Kentucky. The Kentucky…
by Grady Clark Earlier this month, indie rock/folk band Big Thief released their fifth full-length album titled, Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You. While in their past albums…
By John Malkin Dr. Viviana Beatriz MacManus is the author of “Disruptive Archives: Feminist Memories of Resistance in Latin America’s Dirty Wars.” The book was released in 2020 by University of Illinois Press and discusses the history of gender and…
By Anna Tarasova After discovering Alice Phoebe Lou, I immediately fell in love with her sound and lyrics. It felt like she took the little thoughts in my brain about yearning for love and put them behind some of…
By John Malkin Diane Patterson’s new album - Satchel of Songs – was released on March 8, 2022, International Women’s Day. It’s her 6th studio album and continues her celebration of life and respect for indigenous cultures and includes guest…
By Evan Jones For those uninitiated with the city pop genre, it is a loose label describing Japanese music from the late 70s & 80s featuring heavy western influences from rock and funk to jazz-fusion and disco. In an effort…
By Carlos Cervantes Almost late for Black history month, but here it is. Kemistry: one of the seminal figures in the drum and bass scene, a legend and pioneer in a field dominated by men. Kemistry emerged as a…
By Gracia Hmelar From 1950s Blues to 2000s R&B, Black artists’ influence in the music world has defined and innovated music genres for decades, but their credit comes omitted at the hands of white gentrification that dismantles Black culture and…
"Fire It Up" Album cover featuring Rick James By Jules Champion In honor of Black History Month, I'll be reminding you of 5 classic albums to re-add to your rotation, and introducing you to 2 that should be there…
Interview by Syd Abad, KZSC News As daunting as labor organizing may seem, Starbucks locations across the United States are voting to unionize in exponential numbers. The unionization efforts began in Buffalo, New York on December 9th…
By John Malkin The following story is condensed from three hours of interviews and was originally published in the Santa Cruz Sentinel in two parts on December 1st and 2nd, 2021. The interviews were originally broadcast on “Transformation…
The Human Be-In promotional poster. Photo: Casey Sonnabend Fifty-five years ago on this day, in 1967, the dramatic initiation to the Summer of Love occurred in the polo fields of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. A now iconic…
Photo Credit: Jonathan Velazquez Erik Ratensperger has lived two lives as a drummer. In Jeromes Dream, he played unhinged hardcore, surrounded by a ring of raging punks who didn’t give a shit about anything but the energy, the catharsis…
Art by Hannah Rouland (IG: @hannah.tor.art) John Malkin speaks with Marc Andrus about his new book that was recently released by Parallax Press, “Brothers in the Beloved Community: The Friendship of Thich Nhat Hanh and Martin Luther King Jr.” In…
Special thanks to the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band and Mary Derr By Alyce Thornhill, News Director In San Benito, California, sacred land belonging to the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band is currently being violated in an illegal earthmoving construction project…
“I think if you listen to the music we play, and especially when you come to our shows, you can tell what we are really about.” Written by Maya Christensen Sluttony is a four piece punk band formed by third-year…
Written by DJ Melanchollie In the land of laser lights, camel backpacks, and body glitter, time exists outside linear reality. The evening autumn air is sickly sweet with sweat and clouds of cherry flavored vape. Neon beams of blue, orange…
By John Malkin Gary Numan has had an extraordinary musical career spanning almost five decades. He rode the first wave of British punk into developing electronic-synth rock fused with science fiction themes. Numan had two worldwide hits in 1979 with…