Pink @ US Airways Center

Alecia Beth Moore — better known by her pop culture handle Pink — has got a real mouth on her. In addition to being a powerhouse vocalist, Pink delights in saying exactly what’s on her mind, portraying the quientessential “tough broad” role to a tee. She sings her songs like…

Morrissey Postpones Marquee Theatre Show…Again

Hey, Morrissey fans, you weren’t, like, really looking forward to the legendarily dour British indie icon performing on Sunday, February 10, at the Marquee Theatre in Tempe, were you? Because we’re bummed to report that Moz has rescheduled his date AGAIN, following a postponement in November 2012…

Daniel Johnston, Crescent Ballroom, 2/3/13

Daniel Johnston @ Crescent Ballroom | 2/3/13An enthusiastic young man in the crowd shouts: “We all love you, Daniel!” Daniel Johnston, the grizzled man onstage, backed by a selection of Phoenix all-star players from Jimmy Eat World, Reubens Accomplice, Dry River Yacht Club, Boxhead Ensemble, Limbeck, and Source Victoria, answers…

Stephen Steinbrink @ The Trunk Space

No offense to Andy Steinbrink, whose excellent paintings (bras, containers of mustard, broken glasses) adorn the cover of his brother Stephen’s latest record, I Drew a Picture, but it’s easy to imagine another record sleeve when listening to the carefully arranged pop and folk songs contained therein. Picture a muted…

Maynard James Keenan Discusses Donkey Punch the Night

Right now, there’s a Tool fan angrily venting about the lack of a new Tool album in some dark corner of the Internet. Right now, Tool frontman Maynard James Keenan is most likely working on something other than a new Tool album. As detailed in this week’s Phoenix New Times…

Don’t Dismiss Guitarist Leo Kottke as a Lightweight

Brilliant counterculture magazine Arthur roared back to life this month, dedicating glorious inky newsprint to the psychedelic pop art of Rick Veitch, record reviews by Thurston Moore and Byron Coley, a fevered mediation on Waylon Jennings’ Dreaming My Dreams, and much more magical esoterica. The cornerstone of the rebirth issue…

The Pazz & Jop 2012 Critic’s Poll Is Live

Our sister paper, the Village Voice’s annual Pazz & Jop music critic’s poll is live, and the results are in: Frank Ocean’s neo-neo-soul record channel ORANGE is the album of the year, and Carly Rae Jepsen’s infectious (and impossible to escape) “Call Me Maybe” is the single of the year…

Telegraph Canyon @ Rhythm Room

A quick question: Is it possible for a rock ‘n’ roll song to feature bells — those chiming, ringing things — without plunging to the depths of saccharine “twee-ness”? We’re not talking booming “For Whom the Bell Tolls”-by-Metallica bells. We’re talking street-performer, Christmas-caroling bells. Is it possible to employ the…

Warren G’s Show at Martini Ranch Has Been Postponed

Were you looking forward to seeing what West Coast G-funk pioneer Warren G on Thursday, February 10? Looking forward to seeing if he could bring that old hutzpah to classics like “Regulate” and the curiously titled “Party We Will Throw Now?” Well, we were — we crowned the guy king…

Download Frank Ocean’s Django Unchained Outtake

By now you’ve probably formed an opinion about Django Unchained, the controversial new Quentin Tarantino film starring Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Samuel L. Jackson, and Leonardo DiCaprio. But don’t let that stop you from diving into Karina Longworth’s excellent Phoenix New Times cover story this week, which features the writer/director…

The 10 Best Things I Heard in 2012

Gospel Claws, Put Your Sunshine Away (Common Wall Media/President Gator Records): The men of Gospel Claws had a rough time in 2011 and 2012. Songwriter Joel Marquard fought (and beat) testicular cancer, and the band tragically lost guitarist Mark Erickson. But there’s no mourning on their second LP, Put Your…

Jared and the Mill @ Crescent Ballroom

Lest you think that “Mill” in Jared and The Mill is an ironic reference to the Valley’s ’90s alt-rock heyday, tune in to “The Returning Half,” in which the mostly rootsy combo cranks up the amps and the intensity, breaking off a dusty chunk of desert jangle rock that sounds…

Aristeia @ Nile Theater

San Fernando Valley-based heavy metal act Aristeia is all about grandeur — and the band doesn’t try to hide it. On 2011’s Era of the Omnipotent, the quartet juxtaposes guttural screams against high-pitched ones (don’t worry, you won’t find any angular-haired boys singing pretty here), but the group sounds best…

That Was 2012: Our Year-End Lists

As I type this, it’s still 2012, but by the time we hit “publish,” it’ll be 2013. So I’ll turn to the great poet Kanye West to sum it all up: “I’m livin’ in the future so the presence is my past. My presence is the present, kiss my ass.”…

Happy New Year From Up on the Sun

Happy New Year, readers. Thanks for hanging out with us in 2012. Stick around — 2013 is going to be even better. See also: -10 Favorite Local Hip-Hop Tracks of 2012 – 12 Favorite Local EDM Mixes of 2012 – New Year’s Eve Guide 2013 – Top 10 Phoenix Albums…

Of the Painted Choir: Warmly Familiar

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. We wrote a bit about Of the Painted Choir’s Lula in 2012, and felt the mini-review of the mini-EP…

Samuel L and the Cool J’s: Mod Soul and Pure Pop

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 blog entry from Jason P. Woodbury turns up the retro soul sound of Samuel L and The Cool…