Give a little taste of a great product and people are naturally going to want more. That’s the solid logic of drug dealers, soft pretzel peddlers at the mall and Sun Ghost. Failed Kickstarter campaigns be damned: The Valley pop rockers took a new approach to crowd sourcing the funding…
If the end of days is upon us on December 21, in five short ones we may all be in line at the pearly gates. Or at the gates of Hell. You never really can tell. If it was up to you, which would you actually choose? The question was…
Once a week Up on the Sun features a new comic strip from punk rocker, cartoonist, and full-time dad Brad Dwyer. See the New Times print edition to check out the strip in glorious, inky newsprint each Thursday…
The atmosphere inside The Nash during its grand opening concert on a warm night back in early October was positively electric. A fast-paced flurry of a finger-snapping bebop filled the air as a quintet of jazz musicians led by legendary drummer Lewis Nash, the namesake of the new downtown Phoenix…
As 2012 draws to a close, we’ll be looking forward to the 2013 and spotlighting 13 Phoenix bands that will be making a mark on the Southwest throughout the new year. This entry comes from Benjamin Leatherman, focusing on the audio exploits of trap duo Trapzillas. Bragging seems to be…
At one point during our early morning interview, singer and performer Clay Aiken yawned. It was a deep, expressive yawn. He did not ask to be excused, but he didn’t need to: Aiken is among the most affable, pleasant, and charming interviews I’ve ever enjoyed. Plus, the guy has every…
Yeah, yeah, yeah…we get it. Mondays suck (we’ve read Garfield). But it means the start of a new week, which means a bunch of killer shows in and around Phoenix. And here are a few of the coolest — our top five must-see shows this week…
The news waits for no one — at least that’s what we read somewhere — so it’s perfectly understandable that you, the reader, might have missed out on a musical tidbit, breaking news about your favorite venue, or one of our rants. So enjoy this digest-style sampling of some of…
The Sword @ Club Red|12/14/12Valley metal heads got one the their last doses of heavy riffs and shredding guitar solos this year when Austin sci-fi enthusiasts The Sword played to a packed house last night at Club Red. By 9:00 — well before the band were scheduled to perform –…
Christmas can be stressful for some–just look at all of the fights that break out on Black Friday. The holiday shouldn’t be ugly, it should be a time to celebrate with your closest friends and family. Zero Zero doesn’t have this problem, in fact, members of the electro-fuzz group look…
2012 isn’t even over yet, and we’re already feeling sort of nostalgic for it. We saw a lot of great shows this year, so narrowing it down to the most mind-blowing 20 wasn’t easy, but it was a lot of fun. Enjoy, our Top 20 Phoenix Concerts of 2012. See…
Byron Fenix is a bit different than your normal DJ or selector. First off, you normally won’t find him performing at some glitzy club, as he generally prefers to spin at far funkier venues and events, such as The Lost Leaf, Djentrification’s Civic Space Jam, or at his monthly gig…
As 2012 draws to a close, we’ll be looking forward to the 2013 and spotlighting 13 Phoenix bands that will be making a mark on the Southwest throughout the new year. Our first entry in the series comes from writer Troy Farah, focusing in on new “math folk” band Me…
Robert Thornton Thornton is the founder of Paper Clouds Apparel, which is launching a new line of clothing raising funding for special needs schools on January 7. When you put your key in the ignition and turn on the radio, what station would play right now? The only station I really…
Curious about what’s going on around town this weekend? Need some suggestions where to rock, dance, or krump in the Valley of the Sun? Don’t fret: These are our Five Shows to See This Weekend…
So, hey, The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame went ahead and announced their Class of 2013, which this time around includes Rush, Public Enemy, Randy Newman and someone called the “Disco Queen,” Donna Summer. Those who were nominated but didn’t make the cut included Kraftwerk, Deep Purple, Joan Jett…
In this week’s issue of New Times, I chart the conversation that occurred when I sat down with J.S. Aurelius and Alexander Jarson of Tempe’s Ascetic House, a creative “collective” that releases art, video, music, and literature. The two aren’t eager to define what Ascetic House “is.” And that’s the…
Alt-country rockers Limbeck may technically be a Southern California band, but the group has number of ties to Arizona. “Comin’ From Tucson” is about a long drive home after playing a show at Club Congress almost a decade ago, the band is good friends with Reubens Accomplice, who just so…
2012 wasn’t really a bad year for local hardcore and metal music, but there seemed to be more noteworthy demos circulating around than official releases. Now, I understand that the distinction between a demo and an official release is really just a matter of using the word “demo” to describe…
Justin Townes Earle can tell stories. It’s what the Nashville-raised singer-songwriter has done for six years, writing albums that have placed him at the forefront of rusty, soulful Americana. His records drip with imagery — muddy rivers, ghosts, “Memphis in the Rain” — and he speaks just as vividly as…
Like any country band worth its salt, Limbeck knows the value of “road songs.” The band’s sophomore record, Hi, Everything’s Great (2003), is a must-have for any cross-country road trip, its lyrics describing the nation’s cities and highways with the same vivid detail as the interesting characters the band has…
“Ascetic House is operated out of the West Temple, a small shed in the Sonoran Desert, and much of the artwork, music, and publications were actualized therein.” So reads the inscription at the front of most of the photocopied chapbooks filled with prose, poetry, and firsthand psychedelic accounts issued by…
