Emilie Bailey

Fans of Ride probably breathed a sigh of relief yesterday as footage from their first time playing together since 2001 proved that the band's fire hadn't succumbed to old age. In fact, they were pretty great. It's been almost 20 years since the UK foursome's last record Tarantula in 1996, and while it may seem like some kind of automatic band birthright to come back after all these years, it didn't feel like something they were forced into. Particularly for guitarist Andy Bell, who had gone one to pursue successful post-Ride career. This time last year, Bell was on stage at Coachella with the Beady Eye and before that with Oasis in 2002.

Though at the time the band's break up felt more like they'd been crushed under the weight of their own growth as musicians, their contribution to rock music, most notably the birth of shoegaze, has never been forgotten. And now with their glory days a couple decades behind that, they've become to embrace their role once again as a badass guitar band who has no shame about spending the entire set staring at their guitar pedals to deliver squall of shimmering distortion. Ahead of their show at the Roxy tomorrow, their Friday slot at Coachella and a reprise performance at the Fox Theater in Pomona on April 14, we spoke to Bell to get his take on the Ride reunion.

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Asylum Records/Wikimedia Commons

Joni Mitchell: One of history's most underrated guitarists.

By: Adam Perry
While traveling a few weeks ago, I could not stop listening to Mutiny on the Bay, the searing collection of '80s Dead Kennedys performances released in 2001; East Bay Ray, it occurred to me, is one of the most underrated guitarists in the history of rock.

To me, being underrated doesn't mean that a musician has missed out on accolades and commercial success. It means that, for whatever reason, millions of music lovers probably haven't been exposed to a certain musician's talents and thus haven't had the chance to enjoy him or her. So here -- up for potential enjoyment and probably heated discussion -- are ten guitarists I believe are history's most underrated.

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Jena Ardell

Let's face it: music would suck if women stopped breaking men's hearts.

Women are the subjects behind countless ballads in every genre; we find ourselves singing about women every time we turn on the radio.

Some artists shamelessly reveal the inspiration behind a song--or entire album (like Robin Thicke's Paula), while other musicians conceal their muse behind a phony name. Eric Clapton famously wrote his song "Layla" about Pattie Boyd, the wife of friend George Harrison.

Inventing a character is common too: Courtney Love worked with Billy Corgan and Linda Perry to create "Samantha," a rock ballad about a self-destructive woman. Love's motive: to create a song as popular as Sting's "Roxanne" or Fleetwood Mac's "Rhiannon."

Now it's time to test your music knowledge: can you ID these songs with women's names in their titles? Good luck; the answers are on page four. If you answer more than 10 correctly, feel free to brag in the comment section below.

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Courtesy of DakhaBrakha

It's rare to discover a new classification for most bands, no mater how genre-defying they are. However, Ukrainian quartet DakhaBrakha challenges the norm with their self-proclaimed "ethno chaos." Their style is based on a re-envisioned form of Eastern European roots music that pays homage to the folk sounds of Ukraine, but also incorporates Arabic, Asian and African influences. Their resistance to Ukraine's mainstream music and their tendency to experiment has earned them the title of folk punks, injecting their performances with diverse instruments and oddly hypnotizing chants and harmonies. DakhaBrakha performs at the Yost on Friday, April 10 as part of the traveling art forum Santa Ana Sites, and brings a new breed of world music to downtown Santa Ana.

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By: Herbert Duran

Kali Uchis paints herself a little bit like Barbie's estranged cousin. With long platinum blond hair, porcelain skin, lip liner and big curled eyelashes, she's almost a dead ringer for the Colombian version of the Mattel princess. Like Barbie, Uchis holds many titles: singer, songwriter, visionary director, and designer. But even with her career split into so many different directions, when she says she knows what she wants, you can't do anything but believe her.

Uchis' image is due to a blending of Colombian mysticism and East LA Sad Girl, with a sprinkle of LA Billboard queen, Angelyne. Her careful curation of imagery bleeds through her music as well. Her voice is subtle, mellow like Sade or Astrid Gilberto but she can interchangeably spit out a verse with confidence. When she sings, there is a glaze of gloom that coats her voice, capturing the soulful sound of Motown inspired singer, the late Amy Winehouse. Uchis also purrs in Spanish, adding to her already image-heavy nod to late Tejano singer Selena. The amalgamation of these nostalgic visuals and sounds, allows for her to easily translate onto image-obsessed mediums such as Instagram, Tumblr and Pinterest.

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Christopher Victorio

Kevin & Bean's 7th annual April Foolishness show played out at the Shrine Auditorium for the second year in a row with all of the proceeds being donated to Fisher House and Cedars-Sinai NICU. Okay, now that we have those details out of the way, let's break down the show because it was phenomenal once again.

The doors of the Shrine opened at 6p.m. and with the show starting at 8p.m., everyone was good and saucy when Mike Relm got on the turntables to mix extraordinary music with video clips. Of course putting up his tribute to "School of Rock" was the biggest crowd pleaser because, well, Tenacious D. Honestly though, we sense he could've put up a video of a gal barfing and mixed it to music and people would've loved it. Oh wait, he did. Mike Relm is a god damn wizard.

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James Exley

Are you of the XX chromosome persuasion? If so, then you don't need to be told about Fartbarf, a synth-based trio from Redondo Beach and San Pedro, because girls fucking love Fartbarf. This should surprise no one as the first few rows at all of their performances are filled with dancing women. No one, apparently, except the members of Fartbarf.

"I think that's news to us," drummer Brian (first names only) says.

"I definitely don't feel like David Lee Roth," synth player Dan says.

"We have 'foamers,' a super fan, something frothing at the mouth for Fartbarf," other synth player Josh says. "But we don't act out on that stuff."

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Christopher Victorio

Jenny Lewis--See Tuesday

Don't forget to check out our constantly updated OC Concert Calendar

Monday, April 6

Maroon 5
Honda Center
Love or hate Adam Levine and his smug television appearances, there's no denying Maroon 5 makes incredibly catchy, stuck-in-your-brain-all-day pop music. The group's latest release, "V," debuted at #1 on Billboard's TOP 200 chart and features the hit singles "Maps" and "Animals," which hit #1 on the Top 40 chart. Maroon 5 recently released "Sugar," the third single from their latest album. The album was released via Levine's label, 222 Records. Maroon 5 hits the Honda Center this week with support from MAGIC!, and Rozzi Crane. (Erin DeWitt)

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Backwoodz Studioz

Billy Woods: Rap's Sharpest Man Without A Face

This week, underground favorite MC Billy Woods' new album Today I Wrote Nothing hits store shelves and digital retailers. One of the most excitingly inimitable voices to emerge in hip-hop this decade, his 2012 breakthrough album History Will Absolve Me was met with universal acclaim as his cult following continued to grow over more projects, including Dour Candy, a collaboration album with celebrated indie hip-hop super-producer Blockhead (Aesop Rock's "Daylight"). Woods' new album, which also features production from Aesop Rock, Busdriver and Willie Green, has a notably different production style from the rest of his catalog, giving his one-of-a-kind flow an entirely new context to explore short narratives and conceptual explorations on life and death.

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Dustin Ames

On July 17, 1955, the Disneyland Band debuted and became a core component of Disneyland Resort's entertainment lineup. On July 17, 2015, 60 years later, Disneyland will debut a new Disneyland Band, and old band members will either have re-auditioned for their roles, be playing in smaller breakout bands, or be entirely replaced.

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