New Moon Soundtrack Hits the Interwebs

[jump] It seems that Thom Yorke’s contribution is the most anticipated of the bunch, since anything he does these days is reported to an obsessive degree (thanks, Pitchfork). His song, “Hearing Damage” sounds right in line with the sound he created on his solo debut The Eraser. Joining Yorke is a…

2008 Music Sales Less Than Encouraging For Artists

[jump] Music sales have been in steady decline, in my opinion, since the week of March 21, 2000. It was on that Tuesday that ‘N Sync’s No Strings Attached was released, going on to sell 2.4 million — million — copies in it’s first week. No album has been able to come…

Starfucker At Modified Arts: New Name Coming Soon

Portland indie-electro outfit Starfucker are at a crossroads. They’ll soon change their name to cope with their more widespread popularity — no doubt possible with their accessible, fresh music. Despite all that potential, last night’s show at Phoenix’s Modified Arts was more of a testament to the band’s dedicated fans,…

Melt Banana/Melt Banana Lite Playing Hollywood Alley

Looking for something interesting to do come November? Want to witness a truly unique band from Japan that you’ve most likely never seen before? Then take your concerns to Mesa’s Hollywood Alley come November 4 to witness Melt Banana live. The trio have been expanding the bounds of noise-rock mixed…

New Release Tuesday: La Roux

Mercury Prize-nominated British synth-pop duo La Roux have been making a name for themselves since the release of their single “Bulletproof” this past December. The duo, singer Elly Jackson and dude who does everything else Ben Langmaid, burst onto the scene with their fresh take on electronic music, borrowing synths…

Black Lips and Wavves Fight: Wavves Wins, Black Lips Bitch

Sometimes two little wieners who take jabs at each other over the internet turns out to be just a wussy little war of words. When those two happen to be in the bands Black Lips and Wavves — two bands whose pride reaches staggering amounts — shit can seriously go…

Lily Allen Quits Music Biz, Instantly Regrets Decision

It seems British singer Lily Allen set out to make today one of her worst in a long, long time. Allen has recently devoted her time to her new blog “It’s Not Alright” to speak out against music piracy. As you can see by clicking the link, her blog posts…

Starfucker To Change Their Name, Let Fans Decide

Portland’s hottest little electronic/dance/DIY band, Starfucker, is coming to The Valley soon — October 4, to be exact — but they may have a new name by then. The band has reconsidered their controversial moniker, deciding to take action and just get themselves a shiny (hopefully not shitty) new one…

Social D and Flogging Molly Reward Their Dedicated Fans at Fall Frenzy

The temperature, reaching well into the 100s, mixed with a less than overwhelming lineup made for the perfect late-arriving crowd scenario. The later sets from Ben Harper and Relentless 7, Flogging Molly and Social Distortion were worth the effort, thankfully, and provided Sunday’s defining moments — a fitting bookend to…

Fuck Buttons to Play Phoenix This November

Fuck Buttons, the much-lauded two piece experimental electronic duo from England, are crossing the pond this Fall to display their gut-pounding, mind-fucking and life-affirming music to us Americans. Being the proper blokes that they are, they scheduled a date in The Valley for November, a decent decision on their behalf…

Pavement Reunion Is For Real

The speculation broke last night that Pavement have announced a reunion set for 2010 via the fine folks at BrooklynVegan. Not wanting to fan the flames of a fire that has not yet started, they stayed relatively speculative about the whole thing, citing a lack of concrete dates the band…

New Release Tuesday: Muse

Three years seems like a hell of a long time — especially when the only thing filling the void during that time is a tantalizingly superb album that showcases just how a rock band can reinvent their sound and capture a wider mainstream appeal. Those three years are filled with…

Kanye West and the Art of Award Show Interruptions

In a move that shocked no one, Kanye West once again bum-rushed the stage to interrupt an acceptance speech. At last night’s MTV Music Video Awards, the Late Graduator himself took to the stage to butt in on Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech for winning the Best Female Video award. Upon…

Neon Indian Confirms Date for Rhythm Room

Alan Palomo, the Brooklyn-based producer and one-man force behind Vega, has created yet another venture for his brilliant electronic music — Neon Indian. This time around, Palomo is keeping things super lo-fi, drenched with a eerily reminiscent sound that belongs from the cassette tape era. Neon Indian’s debut album, Psychic…

Chairlift

Somewhere along the line, Apple Computer Inc. started hiring staffers with a knack for searching out perfect pop songs. These employees have an acute sense for picking catchy, pop-driven songs to pimp their lines of iPods. More often than not, Apple catches lightning in a bottle with the songs and…

Chairlift

Somewhere along the line, Apple Computer Inc. started hiring staffers with a knack for searching out perfect pop songs. These employees have an acute sense for picking catchy, pop-driven songs to pimp their lines of iPods. More often than not, these songs are superb lightning in a bottle – a…

New Release Tuesday: BLK JKS

I, like many Americans, enjoy my fair share of international music. My tendencies keep me pointed towards countries like England, Sweden, and France that have a long history of bands making it big Stateside. So when a band from South Africa comes along, releases an EP that generates tons of…

The Mars Volta Erase Last Year’s Mistakes

Let’s start with some context: The Mars Volta came to Phoenix’s Dodge Theater last October and played a show that was, for lack of a better term, lacking. They played for less than an hour and left many people underwhelmed. It’s unfortunate to judge the band to that precedent, but…