I don’t know what’s going on in western Massachusetts, but if Psychic Blood’s Drrrty 7-inch is any indication, it’s something fucked-up. Grinding guitars, trashcan drums, and howled vocals give way to a vintage heavy metal riff before exploding back into the post-Sonic Youth storm of fuzz. “Something’s going down,” vocalist…
As 2012 draws to a close, we’ll be looking forward to the 2013 and spotlighting 13 Phoenix bands that will be making a mark on the Southwest throughout the new year. Jason P. Woodbury brings this update regarding Americana outfit The Senators, whose rustic sound is picking up steam. In…
Merry Christmas, dear readers. We’re taking the day off to enjoy our holiday, and we hope you’re having a great one. We’ll resume our blogging activities tomorrow, with leftover cookies in tow. See Also: -Emby Alexander Wishes You A Blue Christmas (And Doesn’t Want To Fight Tonight) -Clay Aiken on…
So long, 2012. You were a weird, uncomfortable, and scary year. You were also wonderful, at times so unbearably wonderful that I thought my brain was going to explode as I struggled to wrap my head around your pure, blindingly bright joy. You had all the things a monumental year…
As 2012 draws to a close, we’ll be looking forward to the 2013 and spotlighting 13 Phoenix bands that will be making a mark on the Southwest throughout the new year. This entry concerns Body of Light, the mutating synth pop outfit fronted by Alexander Jarson, one of the members…
2012 is at its end, and just like I did last year, I thought it would be good fun to try and recap the reissues and compilations I couldn’t seem to get off my phonograph this year. So here they are: The 10 reissues and compilations I dug most in…
Keith Jackson stops short of officially canonizing Joe Strummer — but seriously, just short of it. “I don’t know how to describe the guy’s personality,” Jackson says of the frontman of The Clash, actor, and leader of global-punk outfit The Mescaleros. “I don’t want to say he was saint-like, but…
The snare drum hits that open Sedona-based decker.’s forthcoming new record, Slider, sound like shotguns. It’s an appropriately menacing sound for what follows, as singer/songwriter Brandon Decker seethes: “I burned the boat / I swam ashore / I’m out of breath / I slammed the door / I laid the…
As 2012 draws to a close, we’ll be looking forward to the 2013 and spotlighting 13 Phoenix bands that will be making a mark on the Southwest throughout the new year. This entry comes from Jason P. Woodbury, examining the funky textures of G-Owens’ excellent new record, The Feeling. G-Owens’…
At one point during our early morning interview, singer and performer Clay Aiken yawned. It was a deep, expressive yawn. He did not ask to be excused, but he didn’t need to: Aiken is among the most affable, pleasant, and charming interviews I’ve ever enjoyed. Plus, the guy has every…
In this week’s issue of New Times, I chart the conversation that occurred when I sat down with J.S. Aurelius and Alexander Jarson of Tempe’s Ascetic House, a creative “collective” that releases art, video, music, and literature. The two aren’t eager to define what Ascetic House “is.” And that’s the…
“Ascetic House is operated out of the West Temple, a small shed in the Sonoran Desert, and much of the artwork, music, and publications were actualized therein.” So reads the inscription at the front of most of the photocopied chapbooks filled with prose, poetry, and firsthand psychedelic accounts issued by…
It seems the record store world is in a constant state of shuffle in Phoenix. Recent months have seen Zia Records move up the road to its biggest location yet, Eastside Records reborn on Forest Ave., and the birth of Scottsdale’s The Record Room, which joins wax shack stalwarts like…
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band @ Jobing.com Arena|12/6/12Who is Bruce Springsteen anyway? The street rat poet singing about characters straight out of West Side Story? The balladeer casting American youth in B movie glory, Roy Orbison grandeur, and fleets of fast cars? The protest singer, spitting bile at…
John Darnielle has recorded under the name “The Mountain Goats” since the early ’90s, and in that time his records have gone from crude boombox recordings to polished, sprawling efforts. The fidelity has cleared up, but Darnielle’s way with words and flawed-but-noble characters has always been central to the proceedings…
David Bazan Band (with members of Jimmy Eat World) @ Rhythm Room|12/5/12David Bazan’s grandma spent the evening at the merch table. I’m not sure when exactly it struck me, the realization that Bazan’s relentless honesty knows no bounds, and that the man’s grandma must be used to it. Maybe it…
How’s this as a recipe for unmitigated disaster? Three exceedingly old white dudes head into the studio with the guy who produced the last Linkin Park album to record a blues version of a Southern rap classic by DJ DMD, Lil Keke, and Fat Pat called (seriously) “I Gotsta Get…
There are at least three sets of noted Diaz brothers: Nick and Nathan of mixed martial arts fame; Lu and Hugo, known for producing hip-hop and Miami bass records in the 1980s and ’90s; and the unseen siblings in Brian De Palma’s brutal 1983 classic Scarface (“Fuck the fuckin’ Diaz…
“I know the lyrics,” DMX states, with steely clarity. Then he proves it. The song in question? Johnny Marks’ 1949 Christmas classic “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.” Made popular by Gene Autry, Bing Crosby, and The California Raisins, DMX recently freestyled the song for New York hip-hop station 101.5, deftly adding…
It’s easy to get bummed out by Christmas — especially when the “holiday season,” with all the crass consumerism, bad music, and awkward family gatherings — seems to kick off earlier and earlier each year. But only the “grinchiest” can resist the charms of A Charlie Brown Christmas. Originally aired…
In this week’s issue, we dig in with David Bazan, the songwriter behind Pedro the Lion, who’s touring in support of the 10-year anniversary of that band’s landmark record, Control. We ended up with more material than we could fit, so please enjoy another installment of Outtakes, where we sweep…
Lauryn Hill @ Celebrity Theatre|11/28/12″Life out of context is living ungodly,” Ms. Lauryn Hill sings in “Black Rage,” the new song she’s named her 2012 tour after. Built over a jazzy interpolation of the Sound of Music’s “My Favorite Things,” the song is heavy, exploring the brutal and checkered history…
