Jesus Christ, what year is this? What dimension is it? Valient Thorr begs such questions. The band is a pleasing pastiche of Molly Hatchet and Iron Maiden from Venus by way of Valhalla. It harks back to the 1970s glory days of thundering conceptual rock, when music was stupid and…
You buy your books from Amazon.com and your housewares from IKEA, and you only grant foreigners and their charming accents passage rights to your uterus. What’s wrong with you? Haven’t you ever heard about giving back to the community, about appreciating and encouraging local efforts? Support homegrown art by checking…
What distinguishes the music of The Crystal Method from other IDM/breakbeat outfits? The band’s music has been copped for use in a grip of motion pictures, such as Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle, Zoolander, and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End. Fri., Aug. 8, 9 p.m., 2008…
“California’s original punk/surf power trio” released a new Greatest Hits album in May, the appropriately-titled Surfing to Some F#*ked Up S@!t. Of course the compilation includes the classic “Bloodstains” (an old favorite of DJ Rodney Bingenheimer on L.A.’s KROQ station), and “Everything Turns Grey,” another track from the band’s seminal…
Starry Safari Nights, a summer-only event at the Phoenix Zoo that features water games and animal presentations, will see its seasonal end on Friday, August 9. Boo hoo. However, since the event is seasonal, that means the end of this supergross heat is around the corner, right? Uh, since we’re…
Shai Hulud debuted with 1997’s Profound Hatred of Man, and judging by this year’s Misanthropy Pure, they haven’t exactly altered their lyrical approach. The group hasn’t really tinkered with its sound, either, but metalcore has changed significantly over the past decade. Whereas popular metalcore now entails a parade of downtuned…
Is there anything hotter than a gal playing the theremin? Not in many dudes’ books. Shit, she could have the personality of a kneecap and most fellows would still want to approach her after the show. Betcha some fools would even argue that Clara Rockmore looked pretty good for a…
The words “standup comedy” and “insightful documentary” don’t traditionally coincide. There was Seinfeld’s Comedian, of course, and 2005’s raunch-orific The Aristocrats, but while such films tend to reveal a great deal about the decidedly unfunny creative process of crafting material, they fail to achieve what the best comedy does in…
After a fruitful 40-year career, the legendary Steve Miller finally comes out with his first live DVD, Live from Chicago (Coming Home Media/Koch Records), a three-disc package that includes a full concert captured during last year’s edition of the Ravinia Festival in Chicago (to which he returned for its release…
It’s been one freaky-ass year in Major League Baseball’s Deep South. At press time, the Tampa Bay Rays were leading the Red Sox and Yankees in the AL East, and the Florida Marlins were shadowing the front-running Phillies in the NL East. Meanwhile, the Land of Cotton’s perennial 800-pound gorilla,…
By Wynter Holden It’s minutes before midnight on Friday night and I’m packed so tightly against a skinny brunette in a hip-hugging black dress that I can practically feel the outline of her thong against my thigh. The room pulses with energy. The evening’s long-awaited final act begins exactly as…
Stomp! Shout! Scream!: Saturday, August 2, at Space 55 Prêt-à-Porter: Sunday, August 3, at Phoenix Art Museum By Clay McNear Some people — okay, me — would classify Gidget as a monster movie. No, Sandra Dee was not the Devil and Moondoggie wasn’t her slavering hellhound, but their 1959 flick…
Notwithstanding all the pundit-driven hot air about the horrors of being young in today’s America, I’m willing to buy the argument that it’s getting harder to survive those years, if only because there’s so much more for the poor dears to worry about — more information, more technology, more stuff…
Swing Vote is an election-themed comedy that’s about twice as smart as you expect it to be and still only half as smart as you wish it was. The clever premise, which would have seemed like pure science-fiction no more than eight years ago, concerns a U.S. presidential election whose…
Making notes in 1949 for a review of Evelyn Waugh’s Brideshead Revisited, George Orwell wrote, “Waugh is about as good a novelist as one can be . . . while holding untenable opinions.” That’s a nice way of saying that Waugh, a world-class satirist of everyone from the rich down,…
Gandhi is threatening to invade my country if I don’t share the secrets of gunpowder with him. Consulting with my advisers, I’m told his army is no threat, its technology far behind mine. I don’t believe the numbskulls whispering in my ear: The Indian’s army has marched right to the…
It’s that time of the year again, when playhouses are mostly dark and pretend awards take the place of real entertainment. This, the fifth Robbie Awards, is a black-tie event, so strap on your imaginary evening wear and take your make-believe seat. And remember: No text-messaging during the boring bits…
I was 13 when Stephen Sommers’ 1999 remake-in-name-only of The Mummy came out. It was just about the ideal age. Sommers is definitely some kind of junk-addled auteur, and if The Mummy didn’t achieve its obvious goal of topping Raiders of the Lost Ark, it was close enough, as far…
If we had the self-awareness 18 years ago that we have now, we would have dropped more blouses at wet T-shirt contests. Alas, we were young and foolish, and had no real inkling of the limited shelf life of perky hooters. Life may be over for us, but still-bouncy ladies…
Those crazy throwback kids in the Society for Creative Anachronism are at it again with this demo about how to properly garb English royals in the fashions of their day. (A skill that is sorely lacking in the new millennium, wethinks.) A discussion follows, and audience members will also be…
The porta-potty is an unheralded savior. Using those plastic offices of sit-down business is weird, but who else has our backs at musical festivals and other big outdoor fiestas? Who keeps the portable toilets rocking, rolling, and ready for our rear-end refuse? Kenny, a mockumentary-style flick presented by the Phoenix…
Jackie Bacha, owner of Oh My Dog Spa and Boutique, says she’ll “jump through hoops” for her dogs. To that end, she’s invited private chef Bradford Hart, creator of the all-natural Golden Rule dog food, to lead a canine cooking class that’ll teach us how to keep our hound healthy…
