Playlist: Our lost year, captured.
(Rexx Life Raj photo: Salihah Saadiq) It's been a year and a week since the Bay Area collectively dimmed the lights on our venues — not that you needed a reminder. And while we'll all be glad to retire words like "pandemic," "unprecedented," and "quarantine" from our vernacular later this year, "defund," "Karen," and "climate change" are likely here to stay. In a lot of ways, the past year has felt like a slow-motion collision of disparate moments shoved unceremoniously into a time capsule for future generations to gawk at in horror and awe. Isolation, grief, survival, wildfires, and yes, [...]
Lil Flower Nasti comes up roses on ‘The Blooming’
Sarah Arnold was usually one to find herself behind the lens, not in front of it. A professional photographer in the live music and event spaces, Arnold steps out on her own as genre-hopping performer Lil Flower Nasti. Anchored by her strong voice and bold songwriting, The Blooming feels like a confident declaration of purpose. Despite its less-than-13-minutes run time, it features all the skits and voicemail interludes you'd expect from a classic hip-hop record. Unlearn The World, a mainstay in the Bay Area music scene, handles production duties — sending The Blooming back and forth between musical universes. Sometimes [...]