Archive Search

Feature

Paper Chase

The Guild is up against a cost-cutting mogul and declining revenues, but the union continues to seek converts

By John Geluardi

Published: December 19, 2007

Most days the Contra Costa Times newsroom in Walnut Creek hums with activity. Deadline-driven reporters pore over documents, phone sources, and tap out stories. Editors monitor a relentless flow...

Matt Smith

Demo Sale

The party's leaders are putting their lack of ethics on display once again

By Matt Smith

Published: December 19, 2007

Proverbs 16:19 — "Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall"—is more than a biblical verse. It's a political axiom. In 1980, Willie Brown became...

Sucka Free City

AsianWeek story tells readers why they should love black people. Hear that, Kenneth Eng?

By Joe Eskenazi

Published: December 19, 2007

After AsianWeek made national headlines in February by running a column titled "Why I Hate Blacks" from an avowed Asian supremacist, the newspaper threw a changeup earlier this month. Emblazoned...

Sucka Free City

Politics didn't play into decision not to prosecute domestic violence case, DA says

By John Geluardi

Published: December 19, 2007

San Francisco resident Philip Horne is accusing District Attorney Kamala Harris of dropping felony domestic violence charges against his former boyfriend, Julius Turman, because of Turman's...

Sucka Free City

Embattled Harvey Milk Democratic Club prez Brian Basinger starts another Democratic Club

By Will Harper

Published: December 19, 2007

Why is the head of San Francisco's most venerable gay Democratic club starting another political organization? That's what some in the gay community are asking after Brian Basinger,...

Letters

SF Weekly Letters

Published: December 19, 2007

Ink on Linkup Ready, aim, Firinn!: Lauren Smiley failed to address the obvious, central issue in her story about "Online Authority" [Dec. 12]: Why are more than 23,000 people using...

Music

Greed catches up with the major labels

By Chris Parker

Published: December 19, 2007

It's always darkest before the dawn . This could be said about the music industry, only the phrase is historically uttered by the guy who lives through the night, while at the moment the...

Reviewed

Too $hort

Get Off the Stage (Jive)

By Eric K. Arnold

Published: December 19, 2007

Get Off the Stage marks Too $hort's seventeenth album — not counting compilations and reissues — but it's also the end of an era. It's his last for Jive, the label he's been...

Hear This

Mightier than the Sword: Black Cobra slays

By Jonah Bayer, J. Pace, Frances Reade, Mark Keresman, Mike Rowell

Published: December 19, 2007

It's tough to think of an indie icon more accomplished than Stephen Malkmus . Although he's best known for being frontman of the infamous slacker-rock band Pavement throughout the...

BeatBox

Def Mix dynamo Hector Romero brings down the house

By Tamara Palmer

Published: December 19, 2007

Hector Romero is an integral part of New York's Def Mix dynasty. The powerful international house music brand was started by genre godfathers Frankie Knuckles and David Morales and recently...

Music

Grammy nominees Spanish Harlem Orchestra serve Latin music raw

By Ezra Gale

Published: December 19, 2007

"The Spanish Harlem Orchestra is no doubt one of the best salsa bands in the world," enthuses Oscar Hernández from his home in Los Angeles. He should know. Ever since the ensemble was...

Reviewed

Beanie Sigel

The Solution (Roc-a-Fella/Island Def Jam)

Published: December 19, 2007

Beanie Sigel's rough and ready new CD, The Solution, stands in contrast to the latest from his mentor, Jay-Z. American Gangster saw Jay reminiscing about the days before he settled into his...

Music

OG icon B-Legit reflects on pre-hyphy rap

By Eric K. Arnold

Published: December 19, 2007

Few artists can say they've recorded with Mac Dre and Daryl Hall. In fact, B-Legit might be the only person who can make that claim. "Daryl Hall, he's really a soulful dude," says the...

Reviewed

Henry Kaiser/Mike Keneally/Vinny Golia/Aurora Josephson/Joe Morris/Damon Smith/Weasel Walter

Healing Force: The Songs of Albert Ayler (Cuneiform)

By Mark Keresman

Published: December 19, 2007

An icon of 1960s free jazz, tenor saxophonist Albert Ayler's singularly extreme approach influenced figures disparate as John Coltrane, Peter Brötzmann, and Patti Smith. Healing Force pays...

Let's Get Killed

Walk Hard : The first biopic to address bad tripping with the Beatles and slicing your sibling in half

By Jennifer Maerz

Published: December 19, 2007

This has been the year of the high-concept music movie. The last quarter of 2007 alone gave us a mixed bag of Ian Curtis' photogenic emotional crash (Anton Corbijn's Control ), Kurt...

Reviewed

Boys Noize

Oi Oi Oi (Last Gang)

By Tony Ware

Published: December 19, 2007

Berlin producer Alex "Boys Noize" Ridha believes in the concept of the sweet spot. His music provides no duck and weave — there is only a percussion-heavy center. And once that center is...

Reviewed

Scarface

M.A.D.E. (Rap a Lot/ Asylum)

By Sam Chennault

Published: December 19, 2007

"I write in tears and pray till it hurts," Scarface offers on the excellent "Who Do You Believe In" from the grim, mournful M.A.D.E. , an album that's as much Old Testament as it is old-school....

Reviewed

Clockcleaner

Babylon Rules (Load)

By Jennifer Maerz

Published: December 19, 2007

Clockcleaner's second full-length album came out in the late fall, just in time to purge the last of 2007's positivity. The Philly trio spews bilious cynicism and doomy bass lines from the start:...

Bouncer

Later, dude: Bouncer waits for no man at Benders

By Katy St. Clair

Published: December 19, 2007

One thing people learn about me pretty quickly is that I am ridiculously prompt. "Meet me at my house at 7," friends will say, so I'll show up at 6:59, and they'll answer the door, often still in...

Eat

As the Romans Do

A16's spinoff stays true to the spirit of Rome's cuisine

By Robert Lauriston

Published: December 19, 2007

As the longtime cultural center of the Apennine Peninsula, Rome has incorporated ingredients and dishes from many other regions into its cuisine. Its pantry is fundamentally southern — the...