* Up from the Underground
Jagari once sang for his supper as the star of one of Zambia's most famous rock bands--now he is a miner digging for his dinner.

* Salad Days
When I was a teenager in the 1980s, I sang in a hardcore band.

* Mix Tape
Not everyone paid attention to music critics back in the day, but now even fewer people do. That's because we don't need them anymore. We have MP3 blogs. (.pdf)

* Intellectual Action Hero
The political fictions of Eugene Burdick.

* Strange Renderings
The secret geographies of Trevor Paglen.

* Victory
There's something special about an underground show.

* Our Avant-Garde Metal Scene
The Bay Area is fast becoming host to a new breed of this music defined not by a particular style so much as by a willingness to experiment—call it avant-garde metal.

* Jimi Hendrix, Musical Esperanto
I’m not sure exactly when I first heard a musician from some far-flung spot on the globe described as the “Jimi Hendrix of [insert place name here].”

* Headbanging Makes Headway
Bay Area metal is back in the saddle again, as Oakland's High on Fire looks to light it up. (see pg. 52)

* Is Steve Jobs God?
Who is this guy, really? Brilliant businessman, total jerk, secular deity? After reading all the books of Jobs, including a new biography, we think we've come up with the clearest picture yet.