After the success of the first J-Pop Summit last year, the folks at New People and San Francisco's Japantown decided to make this colorful, artistic celebration an annual affair. On Saturday, September 18 (and several days leading up to this event), Japantown became the epicenter of J-pop culture

Mexico has its own distinct national flavor of cumbia, but Xonacatlán’s Sonido San Francisco picks up on that and takes it in its own fizzy direction. Of course, Sonido San Francisco is cumbia first and foremost and therefore more than readily lends itself to the dance floor. So readily that it

The blogs are raving about Sonido San Francisco's quirky Mexican take on cumbia, and I have to agree. Their loopy yet infectious electro cumbia track "El Género Romántico" could get me in the mood to go out on even the gloomiest night, and the video for it could help me decide what to wear. They...

Mexico has its own distinct national flavor of cumbia, but Xonacatlán's Sonido San Francisco picks up on that and takes it in its own fizzy direction. While other new wave electro cumbia acts are taking South American rhythms and super-concentrating them, splicing them with hip hop and club beats,

San Francisco-based pop prodigy Jhameel writes painfully beautiful songs that will probably raise your IQ. They have a strong classical influence and they handle complex subjects like homophobia and prostitution with lyrical subtlety. Yeah, he's probs going to be famous. Originally from Minnesota,

Soulful pop rockers Tim Be Told got one of the most positive reviews we’ve ever seen our critical blogger GT dole out, and as they are currently touring the States, having all kinds of adventures, we thought we’d ask them to tell all about the crazy on tour antics. Learn more about their rise...

Last week’s San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival saw some awesome contenders — including movies about everything from Filipino manongs to Chinese adoptions. But winners had to be chosen. And so, they were.

In the world of music, the word “cover” invokes thoughts of bad singing and a fuzzy webcam. Yuna, a folk popper from Malaysia, changed our minds with her smooth,...

Electronic dreampop doesn't get much dreamier or more chilled out than San Francisco's Blackbird Blackbird, AKA Mikey "Sanders" Maramag. Neon Indian and Toro y Moi are cool and all, but if you want some tunes that will really lower your blood pressure without sacrificing that springy groove,

Blackbird Blackbird, AKA San Francisco's Mikey Sanders, AKA the chilliest chillwave at the indie block party, has just released a bundle of poppy vibes called Halo through a "pay what you wish" system on Bandcamp. The vocalist/producer/multi-instrumentalist's debut album Summer Heart came out last

Forget using lo-fi to invoke nostalgia – as so many so-called “chill-wave” bands tend to do. Sleigh Bells seem to reach...

Damu has only been putting out his crystalline dance music for a year-and-a-half, but Sam Schorb's glistening take on UKG, electro, and house has already been touted by Mike Skinner as the future of UK bass. His summer single "Ridin'" took liberal arpeggios, laser bleeps, and r&b vocals and

For all intents and purposes, can we all just come to the consensus that 2011 is UK house producer Maya Jane Coles' breakthrough year? This year saw the 24-year-old Londoner perform nonstop (including at big international music fests like Glastonbury) in Europe and the States, remix for the likes

Are you a burger-serving, tip-seeking individual with low morale? Boy, an indie pop Swiss-German lady duo, has an anthem for you. “Waitress” from their debut Mutual Friends is an acoustic guitar and tambourine ode to the blue collar workers who deserve a musical bonus....

Sometime late 2008, rap duo Das Racist released "Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell" onto Youtube. The song consisted of two guys repeating "I'm at the Pizza Hut/I'm at the Taco Bell/I'm at the combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell" until you either wanted to shoot your monitor or fell off your

A good dance track is hard to find. More specifically, a good dance track that you're willing to listen to sober whilst four days away from viable social contact is hard to find. Yet "Out of It," a hit from Denmark's Fallulah, was recently remixed by Parisian disco house tinkerer Monsieur Adi, and

Isn’t it refreshing when R&B/soul divas can really sing? And I mean really sing, as in En Vogue sing? As in Destiny’s...

Have you ever thought of the popular American Christmas song "Frosty the Snowman" as a haunting, goosebumpy tale? We hadn't either until we heard Malaysian folky Zee Avi's shivery version. The skeletal arrangement and the old-timey wail in Avi's voice give the ordinarily cheery story the feeling of

Rapper YAS is Iran's Persian hip hop laureate. A disciple of Tupac and Rumi, YAS uses uplifting poetic imagery delivered through an impassioned, at times ferocious, flow to communicate uplifting rhymes about his culture and people. The 29-year-old Tehran native broke ground in Iran by becoming the

Skrillex has toned down the crazypants on his new track "Breathe" -- out today. Perhaps humbled by all the attention and MTV EDM Artist of the Year win, (and some inevitable haterade), the juggernaut LA producer has made a track that's a little lighter on the eardrums than the terrifying Scary

i truly thank the family for sharing there story my prays go out to you all god bless from mn.

Watch the full length music video "Save Me San Francisco" from Train for free on MTV.com.

Watch the full length music video "San Francisco" from San Quinn for free on MTV.com.