“I’m a writer, not a rapper,” Masta Killa brags on “R U Listening,” one of the standout songs from his latest, Selling My Soul. It’s a tricky distinction to make, of course, but Killa has a solid case. Though none of his fellow Wu-Tang Clan brethren are lyrical slouches, Killa…
A lot has changed for Flyleaf since we first heard Lacey Sturm’s throat-shredding bellows on the band’s breakout hit, “I’m So Sick,” in 2005. The most notable is that she no longer is the band’s singer, having stepped down in October, a week before the band’s latest album, New Horizons,…
Like Ziggy Stardust before him, Mos Def knows the value of a good stage trick, some moniker-based sleight of hand. His decision to shelve “Mos Def” in 2011 in favor of “Yasiin Bey” struck some as a puzzling move, but it makes sense. Mos Def is as much an actor…
Early last week, Kevin Pate — a valued member of the Phoenix music community — was fighting for his life in a hospital in Yuma, where he was serving a six-year jail sentence for DUI and violating parole. Misinformation was spreading across online social networks that he’d passed away, but,…
Haley Grigaitis was in the closet. Literally, in the closet. The 17-year-old hung heavy coats around her, ensuring she was shrouded in pure darkness and any sound she made would go unheard. Even though she grew up with music-freak Deadheads for parents, she didn’t want them to hear her sing…
Typically, there are four things your average electronic dance music aficionado wants out of a rave experience: top-shelf DJs; music that’s loud, fast, and hard; sufficient room for dancing; and plenty of bodies to grind against. This weekend’s Bubble Bobble 5 will offer all those things in abundance, plus a…
Of all the stupid things we do with our phones, Instagram might be the worst. Not only has the app falsely convinced us all we’re professional photographers, but it’s done something even worse: It’s encouraged our worst vainglorious tendencies. No one is Amaro-toning his or her real life. There are…
Thursday 21 Afterlife: Touch Thursdays with DJ Tsunami, DJ Michael Ryan, & DJ Matt Fox (Top 40, EDM) AZ/88: Black Out Thursdays with Josh 1 (soulful house, lounge) Bikini Lounge: DJ Shane Kennedy (juke joint, R&B, French pop) Bobby Q’s: Black and Green Party with DJ Freshmaker, DJ Phlava, DJ…
Hate is a strong word, but as a music critic, my musical beliefs and ideals have been forged over many years of writing about, reviewing, and listening to music. I know what I like, what I can tolerate, and what I’d just as soon leave behind forever. Country artist Kenny…
Merchandise, Body of Light, Audacity, Nü Sensae, Wet Hair @ Meat Market Garment Factory|3/19/13Rampage Fest concluded its two-day run with an after-party that featured a lineup that stacked solidly against that of the actual festival. It was a diverse mixture of bands, which although initially proved overwhelming, became a strong…
Joe Ely @ Rhythm Room|3/19/13Surprisingly, there were only two cowboy shirts in Rhythm Room last night, that paltry number growing to three once Joe Ely took the stage. Strange for an artist with deep West Texas country roots, but it only serves to highlight Ely’s musical appeal that crosses genre…
Yep, you read that headline correctly. Punk legends Black Flag are making their way to Club Red on Thursday, July 11. It isn’t the classic lineup, though, and some fans may be disappointed by the lack of Keith Morris, Dez Cadena, Robo, and/or Henry Rollins. Greg Ginn, the band’s only…
Timberlake-style audacity aside, it takes some serious stones to open an album with a six-minute-plus slow-burning anthem. But that’s what Erika Wennerstrom does with “Marathon,” the opening track of her Texas-via-Ohio band Heartless Bastards’ 2012 opus, Arrow. See also: -Questlove of The Roots Is So Much Better at Instagram Than…
Once again, it’s a sort of apprenticeship with Woody Guthrie that’s drawn Billy Bragg into a new realm. Thirty years since his debut, the seven-song Life’s a Riot with Spy Vs Spy, Bragg is back with a new album, Tooth & Nail, which came out Tuesday on Cooking Vinyl. Bragg…
Dave Andrea Andrea owns Brat Haus in Scottsdale. For more info, go here. When you put your key in the ignition and turn on the radio, what station would play right now? Howard 100 on Sirius. What’s the first album you bought? Led Zeppelin, Houses of the Holy. What’s the…
Of all the stupid things we do with our phones, Instagram might be the worst. Not only has the app falsely convinced us all we’re professional photographers, but it’s done something even worse: It’s encouraged our worst vainglorious tendencies. No one is Amaro-toning his or her real life. There are…
Marco TorresSomebody somewhere really did not want us to see Smashing Pumpkins at SXSW.Security and Cops Gettin’ Wild: Look, I get it. Every drunken dickhead in town “knows someone” or thinks he has pull at the door, but that doesn’t mean the hammer goes down on everyone. I was stopped…
This year, Rocks Off and DC-9 at Night, the music blogs at our sister papers Houston Press and Dallas Observer, teamed up to bring you only the choicest moments from last week’s SXSW madness. Craig HlavatyJohn Fogerty: Creedence Clearwater Revival survivor John Fogerty gets overlooked as a riff-happy rocker, with…
Jacob KatelWelcome to RavetopiaBy Jacob Katel Society got the best of ya? Go to Ultra Music Festival and leave the normal world behind. Here, you can feel free to get half-naked, customize your brain, and put some neon in your life. Deep inside the endless well of bass, you just…
Flogging Molly @ Tempe Beach Park| 3/17/13I could hardly contain my excitement as I boarded the light rail last night. It wasn’t my first time or anything, but I remember how insane last year’s St. Patrick’s Day experience was: Coming home from Seamus McCaffrey’s and making a brief stop at…
Once a week, Up on the Sun features a new comic strip from punk rocker, cartoonist, and full-time dad Brad Dwyer. See New Times’ print edition to check out the strip in glorious, inky newsprint each Thursday…
It’s Monday, and that means that the rotting corpse of the weekend has been trampled on and desecrated by another dadgum work week. But never fear — the resistance is growing. You can re-create the carefree feelings of the weekend every night this week by attending our Top Five Must-See…
