Beat and Greet

The West Coast always seems to lag behind the times, especially when it comes to dance clubs that pump out the latest and greatest feet-moving, body-gyrating beats. But the scene should get more hip when DJ JahMek debuts his “dub steppa’3000” tuneage at the Jungle Drum & Bass Kickoff Party…

Personnel Foul

If you were an NBA owner, what would you do after your squad was ousted from the divisional final three years in a row? Instead of making improvements, would you sit on your duff all summer and take the “there’s always next season” approach? If you’re Detroit Pistons’ head honcho…

The Good, The Bad, and The Gremlin

Because Goodguys (the largest rodding association on this here globe) is called such, that must mean that there’s a class of bad guys when it comes to hot-rod culture. So who would classify as a not-Goodguy? A bitchin’ Camaro driver? A piece-o’-poo Pinto sporter? The owner of an AMC Gremlin,…

Site for Sore Eyes

Admit it. You’ve wasting a good amount of time today (no, the entire day) on the Internet. And we’re sure that you found some engaging, exciting stuff, right? Riiiggghhtt. We’re only buying that if you posted up for a few hours on the binary-chaos.net Web site, a spot launched last…

Dork Victory

Okay, we fess up. We’re huge nerds, even in social settings. We’re the type who storm out of retail stores that cherry-pick certain songs from John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme instead of playing the entire 33-minute suite. We read post-apocalyptic magical realist fiction from sub-Saharan African novelists at crowded Mill…

Treat or Treat

Faux blood dripping from the ceiling. Cheesy construction paper cutouts of bats and shit hanging on the walls. Over-the-top costumes worn by over-the-top folks. Yeah, not exactly our idea of a fun Halloween celebration. For a kick-back, chill-out good time with good peoples, hit up the Hallows Eve Costume Party,…

Bach to the Future

Call us lazy, but if we won a Grammy like the Phoenix Bach Choir did earlier this year, we’d be soaking in the glow from that bronze statuette like it was our freaking job. However, the homegrown classical group, which seems to be taking a “Big deal, what’s next?” approach,…

Sleepless in Scottsdale

Here’s our idea of a pretty decent 24-hour period beginning on, say, a Saturday: sleep in, drink coffee, maybe walk around and stuff, watch college football on TV, go out or whatever at night, come home, sleep in. What sounds like heaven to us is hell to others, especially those…

Salvador Deli

Awesome. Phoenix is celebrating National Pupusa Day with a homegrown Festival of the Pupusas. What’s a pupusa, you ask? Now, now, don’t go all east Mesa conservative on us and start talking about deporting those stuffed handmade corn tortillas “cuz dem illegal Mexicans eat ’em.” For one thing, the pupusa…

Are you Ready for Some fútbol?

The intrigue in the Mexico vs. Ecuador match? Shut, dude, it’s all over the place, especially if you’ve watched the fútbol at all over the past several years. Even if you haven’t, you can relate to Ecuador’s recent success. It’s a team that has gone from doormat (think Arizona Cardinals,…

What’s Age Got to Do with It?

There are some old-ass folks still rocking the rock/pop/soul music tip these days, such as Mick Jagger (65), Eric Clapton (63), and Bob Dylan (67), to name a few. But in our opinion, none is more superfly and rocking than Tina Turner. The Tennessee-born soul/R&B diva (born in 1939) has…

So You Think You Can Trance?

Don’t you dare call the music sculpted by Paul van Dyk trance. True, the Berlin, Germany-based masher of noise still makes dance-floor-busting beats with the aid of two onstage computers that play music in synch. Yes, van Dyk’s art still emphasizes trance-esque elements, such as electronic noise, repetition, and upbeat…

Mickey Mouse vs. Donald Duck

There have been some moments during the 2008 ASU Sun Devils’ season – actually, four of them, to be exact – that we’ve been like, “Seriously, what the hell happened to this team?” A totally stupid loss to UNLV at home, a torched secondary against mighty Georgia, an uninspired performance…

Bach to the Future

Call us lazy, but if we won a Grammy like the Phoenix Bach Choir did earlier this year, we’d be soaking in the glow from that bronze statuette like it was our freaking job. However, the homegrown classical group, which seems to be taking a “Big deal, what’s next?” approach,…

Bach to the Future

Call us lazy, but if we won a Grammy like the Phoenix Bach Choir did earlier this year, we’d be soaking in the glow from that bronze statuette like it was our freaking job. However, the homegrown classical group, which seems to be taking a “Big deal, what’s next?” approach,…

Garden of Delights

Feel that? You don’t? Okay, then go outside when it’s dark and try again. Now do you feel it? Oh, my goodness. Isn’t it awesome? Yes, we think so, too. We are so much happier now. You are, too, huh? If you don’t know what in the name of Sam…

Bank Shot

Hey, guess what? There’s a recession and it’s screwing up just about everything, including the NBA. Yep, that’s right, the professional sports world is taking it in the backside alongside us peons. The squad that hails from the banking nucleus of these here jacked-up United States, the Charlotte Bobcats, may…

This Year’s Models

The first question that comes to mind when checking out the flier for Hot Import Nights: What the heck isn’t included? In other words, it’s like the Arizona State Fair for automobile-lifestyle freaks. Along with a grip of eye-catching vehicles and a gaggle of eye-popping models competing for Miss HIN,…

Hockeytown, PHX Style

Here are some damn fine reasons you should check out our minor-league hockey franchise, the Phoenix RoadRunners of the ECHL, as they begin the 2008-09 season: • it was Arizona’s first professional sports franchise. • it’s one of the most storied, hoisting championship trophies following the 1972-73 and 1973-74 campaigns…

Change of Art

We dig the crossover thing when a musician who’s known to only dabble in one genre decides to try his or her hand at, say, melodramatic pop or Toby Keith-esque country barf. Sometimes the experimentation is successful (listen to Outkast’s Speakerboxxx/The Love Below). Other times, the music comes off sounding…