If you’re toiling in a 9-to-5 job, telling yourself that one of these days your musical genius will be discovered, lemme tell you about Zach Schwartz. After years stuck in nowhere bands, Schwartz got canned from yet another job and decided, “Okay, that’s it.” Finally resolving to treat his music…

Of late, hip-hop supergroups have fared better than their rock counterparts. C’mon — Madvillain? Handsome Boy Modeling School? Incredible stuff, especially in comparison to Velvet Revolver. Now let’s add Dangerdoom to that distinguished list. A collaboration between it-producer Danger Mouse and Madvillain rhymer MF Doom, The Mouse and the Mask…

Vaguely folky, kinda psychedelic, slightly jammy, and decidedly challenging, Animal Collective makes records that are impenetrable on first listen. Though its profile raised with last year’s Sung Tongs, the band’s higher visibility hasn’t blunted its musical meanderings. But while Feels succeeds at being sonically enigmatic, patient ears will discover that…

Oh, gracious. These days, hard rock is a most denigrated genre of music, is it not? With all those Mudvaynes and Slipknots besmirching the landscape, how can any self-respecting individual bang his head without feeling a wee bit peevish? Luckily, the clouds occasionally part for such honorable acts as Monday’s…

These Scots seem destined to be the U.K.’s odd men out, a fate that’s tragic but fitting. Unlike conquering heroes Coldplay, this quintet wears a disgruntled sense of defeat even in its most defiant moments, such as on 2000’s melodic, punkish 100 Broken Windows. Since Windows’ failure to break the…

Beyond obvious nostalgia (and having the same first name), this pairing of classic rock veterans makes a certain amount of sense. Consider that both drink from the well of rich American musical styles: country, bluegrass, folk. Remember that both got undeservedly overshadowed by their higher-profile peers — Springsteen and Petty…

You just can’t hate Chris Martin. Oh, you can find him overrated and his tunes sappy, but aside from the occasional run-in with a photographer, Martin is that rare gentleman rock star with a modest mouth. He married a glamorous Oscar winner, he named his kid Apple, and yet the…

With most new bands trying to hit platinum their first time out, you rarely see acts develop over the course of several albums anymore — either you’re huge or you’re gone. This sad fact is yet another reason to enjoy the twists and turns of the White Stripes, who have…

The year was 2000. I Am Shelby Lynne, the singer-songwriter’s declaration of independence after a career of genre-hopping and commercial frustration, had finally established her soulful, sultry country persona. At last, she didn’t need to listen to the charts or the label heads anymore — she was her own woman,…

Like the comforting inevitability of nature’s cycles, Fruit Bats’ Eric Johnson returns every two years with more woodsy acoustic numbers that crawl out of the underbrush to feel the warmth of the sun. Spelled in Bones continues to revel in pastoral delights, but Johnson gives the new album a little…

Lots of indie bands get press from ‘zines and alternative rags, but when you get some love from the New Yorker, then you’ve got that rarefied air of intelligentsia’s critical acclaim. John Darnielle, former nurse and New Times music freelancer, received the highbrow treatment last month — when he was…

The cascading waves of sound that constitute the songs on Engineers’ self-titled debut contain lyrics, but they’re almost entirely beside the point. For almost 50 minutes, these Londoners deliver the aural equivalent of those overpriced Sharper Image relaxation chairs: soothing, tranquil, easy to mock — but hard to resist once…

In the past, U2 and Radiohead’s declarative anthems had been the most obvious benchmarks for Coldplay’s grand make-out music, but with X&Y, the band aims for an interstellar majesty that plays like a warmer, less intellectual Pink Floyd. Chris Martin and his mates again display an ingratiating accessibility, building their…

On its seventh record, the Portland trio Sleater-Kinney finds itself in the same predicament as its heroes Sonic Youth and tour mates Pearl Jam: It’s honed its sound so precisely that it has to decide where to go next. With The Woods, the answers are jumping to indie-label heavyweight Sub…

When Adam Levine and his equally apologetic bandmates in Maroon 5 won Best New Artist at the Grammys in February, perhaps they sensed the beginning of their end. Songs About Jane, pleasant but anonymous, had maintained a healthy run on the Billboard charts, throwing out singles you instantly recognized on…

Around your bros, it’s impossible not to sneer at the mawkish sentimentality of Hopes and Fears, the debut from Brit trio Keane. But get those same guys around their girlfriends and wives, and the record takes on this weird power — it becomes . . . beautiful . . …

With its previous albums, Thievery Corporation’s adoration for the cocktail lounge could wear thin. But The Cosmic Game embraces a broader song-based collection, buoyed by outside vocalists both familiar and exotic. And Rob Garza and Eric Hilton make the most of their A-list guests. “Marching the Hate Machines (Into the…

Sometimes, the early band on the bill is the one worth your dollars. Last year, when that glorified ’80s tribute band The Killers rode the success of their debut record, Ambulance Ltd. opened for them, promoting a far superior rookie effort. Without a sexy marketing hook to guide them, these…

Kasabian is scheduled to perform with The Music, and Morningwood, on Tuesday, March 15, at the Marquee Theatre in Tempe.

A consummate showoff, Rufus Wainwright has never had reason to doubt his gorgeous voice, his lush arrangements, his coy sense of romantic drama. Substance, however, presents a bit of a problem for him. Last year’s Want One addressed that deficiency in bracing terms — Wainwright celebrating his 30th birthday with…

So much for the afterglow, indeed. While well-advertised career retrospectives from Nirvana and Pearl Jam celebrate those heavyweights of ’90s rock, some of the lesser-known bands from that era struggle on, largely forgotten and misunderstood. Case in point: Everclear’s Art Alexakis, a frank, empathetic songwriter who delivered consistently melodic anthems…

Does anyone remember any of those overhyped Radiohead wannabes who blanketed the marketplace at the turn of the century? Vaguely, right? Ultimately, most of them ended up offering little more than fashionable dystopia, but Clinic stands as an important exception. The band members’ surgical scrubs attire a silly shtick; they…