Just because the Record Swap Meet takes place at the Arizona America Italian Club doesn’t mean you’ll be crate-battling for stale Tony Bennett and Frank Sinatra vinyls. More than 30 vendors, including Valley mainstay Rock Zone Records and the hip new Revolver Records, will be on hand selling their vinyl…
In a town whose definition of old is a two-year-old vomit-colored strip mall with a Starbucks that recently folded because the Albertson’s shopping plaza across the street just opened with a Starbucks, sustaining a bar that isn’t a chain ain’t easy. King’s Cocktails, Pete’s News Room, and Hamm’s are just…
Before you scoff at this year’s location for Edgefest 2007 — Schnepf Farms — let’s take you down memory lane, back to October 2006 . . . The scene: Tempe Town Lake. Concertgoers are dancing, relaxing, and (gasp!) drinking beer at a rock concert. The city’s Parks and Recreation department…
The moon is sad, according to the Art Ensemble of Chicago. Orange, says Erykah Badu. Made of cheese, sings Rotary Connection. Kinda depressing, huh? Well, during Japan’s autumn Otsukimi celebration, the full moon signifies the end of summer and promotes positive vibes. On that note, the Japanese Friendship Garden/RoHoEn hosts…
One-man noise ensemble Luke Fischbeck is a computer musician, unlike other sound manipulators working the 0s and 1s. The Los Angeles-based improviser executes his experimental music-meets-performance-art concertos under the Lucky Dragons moniker. Instead of gazing into a computer monitor, Fischbeck employs a circuit-bent box and sophisticated software capable of producing…
The St. Louis Cardinals may well be the most annoying team in Major League Baseball. From Rick Ankiel’s and Brendan Ryan’s obnoxious, knee-high soccer socks to skipper Tony La Russa’s consistent insistence on batting the pitcher in the eight spot, the redbirds are a thorn in baseball’s side. But what’s…
One of the most unpredictable aspects of college football isn’t the computer geeks who may be rigging the algorithms in the perplexing BCS Power Ranking system. It’s the nonconference home-and-home exchanges played by every D-I team. The Arizona State Sun Devils have infamously been on the winning side of revenge…
Most musicians scorn collaboration because, apparently, working with others compromises the creative vision and disallows their art from bringing fans closer to the Lord, drug addiction, and their bipolar disorder. Lame. Teague Cullen, main man of the Foot Ox band — a cutesy, acoustic-fragmented folk project that features a slew…
We don’t usually think of trance music being dance-studio friendly. We think about drugs, glowsticks, and TIGI Bed Head Manipulators. Whatev, it doesn’t really matter when Mystic Jewell hosts the slamming Aura: Sapphire. Shake it to bellydance beats from 7 to 11 p.m., then get your 130 to 150 beats…
We’re ready to move on. Honest. We won’t mention “his” name again because, like a bad relationship, we’ve had time to forget him. Instead, we’ll swoon over the new man in our pigskin lives, a dude that ain’t all talk and no action like some ex-field generals we know. We’re…
In our opinion, nothing quite captures the quintessential New York City experience like James Baldwin’s Another Country. The 1962 book strips the universe’s creative center of its collective veil and poignantly explores the city’s violent and racist tendencies, the depression of its transplanted residents, the unparalleled art scene, and its…
In some regards, we understand why modern-day hip-hop gets a bad, uh, rap, especially when it comes to glamorizing violence. Just look at some of the names. C-Murder. Mykill Miers. Murda Mook. So does that mean we’re gonna start tucking in our stuffed shirts and siding with poll-battling politicians in…
Tired of all of those emissions-unfriendly gas guzzlers on that there road? Of course you are, eco-freak. We say get your nose out of Silent Spring and suck in the sulfur at Diesels in the Desert, a high-octane competition showcasing two bracket classes of high-speed trucks. Sat., Sept. 1, 7…
Glendale’s Cerreta Candy Company not only sells fruits and nuts, French mint truffles, and peanut brittle, but also chocolate bars. Mmm, chocolate bars. Check out the family-owned biz during 30-minute guided tours of the store and its sugary delights. Self-guided video tours are also available during normal business hours. Mondays-Fridays,…
Does the NFL preseason really matter? No, according to San Diego Chargers superstar halfback LaDainian “LT” Tomlinson, who, during a recent sideline interview, admitted that he isn’t going to play a down until regular-season action. Yes, according to us, because our hometown Arizona Cardinals aren’t the playoff-caliber San Diego Chargers…
We were a-driving down the road a piece the other day when we were struck by an image of a dying Phoenix — a town that existed before various Gestapo-esque organizations (read: HOAs) and hoity-toity developers done cleaned the place right up, a more sparsely populated outpost once filled with…
There’s a good chance that you’ll hear D’Angelo’s soul classics “Brown Sugar” and “Untitled” — songs that dude made seven to 12 freaking years ago — during Brown Sugar Sunday, a loungy event featuring $4 Hennessys, $3 wells and wine, and bangin’ R&B tunes. Man, D, when are you gonna…
Now that you’ve attended an entire week of class, you have a burning jones for a break, huh? Here’s a perfect way to play hooky: ASU Art Museum is featuring Sean Duffy’s epic turntable installation “The Grove” during its Welcome Back Party and Sean Duffy Artist Reception. Tue., Aug. 28,…
The Modern Groove Assembly and DJ Brazilia put on this slamming shindig featuring nu jazz, broken beat music, and soulful deep house. Guest musicians scheduled to appear include: September 5: DJ Theory September 26: Sy Smith with Modern Groove Assembly October 17: Daz I Kue & Karl Injex Present “The…
Back in the day, before Arizona Center became a life-size ingrown toenail, the area in and around the entertainment destination was home to a killer 3-on-3 hoop-´em-up tourney. Friday-night dunk contests showcased cats like T-Wax, a shorty doo-wop Spud Webb-type who wowed capacity crowds with air-defying slams, while Saturdays and…
When we think of Willy Wonka, we think of a busy-bee eccentric, an inventor of sweet treats that capture the world’s imagination, a dude who’s content to plod away in a bizarre factory while ignoring societal norms in the process. So it’s fitting that a friend of Alex Votichenko (better…
It’s difficult to remember New Orleans pre-Hurricane Katrina. But thanks to the stunning visual epic Hurricane on the Bayou, we can indulge in wicked shots of alligator-infested waters and the Crescent City’s famed electric culture. The 2006 effort, narrated by Meryl Streep, was originally slated to showcase the stunning beauty…
