Kinch has always been an ambitious band. Still, I was almost taken aback by the Phoenix piano-pop outfit’s latest project, a remix/b-sides collection called Ziptape.Not only is the music awesome — a live acoustic version of the rare track “Oh Boy” (one of my favorite songs the band has done)…
How Shakira can be considered in any way “rock n’ roll” is puzzling. Still, the warbling popster has teamed up with the Hard Rock Cafe to sling some glitzy fashionable pieces she designed herself, all while helping her Pies Descalzos Foundation.One T-shirt ($26), with an Ed Hardy-ish front, has an…
When the Arizona Republic posted a story on April 1 about CityScape’s adding a giant comedy club, I sorta figured it was an April Fools Day prank. Nope.Stand Up Live, a 17,000-square-foot space with 600 seats, will be located next to Lucky Strike Bowling on the second level of the…
First Friday: April 2010 Phoenix’s monthly celebration of music, art and over-sized street hot dogs took off in grand style on Friday, April 2. See the shots from the rafters of Lost Leaf to temporary stages erected on Roosevelt in these photos…see photos Spring Fling at The Sail Inn The…
[jump] Emotion & Commotion is due out next Tuesday, 4/13, yet the album leaked 2 weeks ago — hardly a surprise for a big label (Rhino) release like this. Emotion is Beck’s first album since 2003’s appropriately-titled Jeff and features a guest vocal from Joss Stone, who also happens to…
Circus Mexicus just kicked things up a bit.Okay, terrible puns aside, the soccer tournament Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers have scheduled for this year’s big drunken party in Rocky Point seems like a good idea. The World Cup will be going on at the same time, which is what inspired…
Artist: GrowingTitle: Pumps!Release date: April 6Label: ViceNo less an authority than Pitchfork.com, the Bible of indie rock, declared the Brooklyn experimental group Growing to be “cruising music for Brian Eno fans.” Better watch what you say, Pitchfork, or you’re gonna have a lot of pissed-off Eno fans on your hands.Growing…
I was excited to see an e-mail about the new Against Me! record, due June 8 on Sire. As the band’s publicist says, the record from one of the best live bands I’ve seen in the past year was produced by Butch Vig (Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, etc., etc.) so it…
What does a band do if its tour bus hits a deer? Ask Blessthefall, who at least pretend to deal with that situation in the latest dispatch from the Bangover tour, currently selling out shows in Canada. How do we know it’s Canada? Just listen for the part where the…
Welcome to The Grand Tour, a regular feature where PHXmusic.com takes you inside practice spaces, tour vans and seedy apartments occupied by Phoenix-area bands. This week we give you a look up on the stage at Naked Dave’s Music’s Tempe location, where hair-metal cover band Hollywood Saints practice. If you…
But then you’d miss all the live bands at the Art Institutes concert stage or the gravity-defying b-boys and breakdancers who are usually found at the intersection of Fifth and Garfield streets. (Not to mention the wacko performance artists walking the streets and sidewalks of Roosevelt Row, the poi-spinning dancers…
Those not familiar with Twin Sister will notice a flowing, romantic feel to their music. Lead singer Andrea Estella’s vocals are sinfully innocent with a heady nod to Stereolab’s Lætitia Sadier…
Hard rock/metal band 16 Second Stare just released a new record and are out on tour in support of it. The new album is way heavier than their debut, and the band promises to pack the punches live and in person. Guitarist and singer Angry Tim just got out of…
When you used to be in a band with a guy that made arguably the most anticipated album of the last two decades, which turned out to be Axl Rose’s epic failure Chinese Democracy, it’s kinda hard to top the hype yourself. But alas, Slash has found a few ways…
Artist: Holly Golightly and the BrokeoffsTitle: Medicine CountyRelease date: March 30Label: Damaged GoodsHard to believe Holly Golightly’s been doing this rock ‘n’ roll thing for almost 20 years. In a long list of things that make me feel old, add her tenure as a viable musical act. I’ve been a fan…
Band: Mike LennonTitle: Save The EarthBasics: A tame record from self-proclaimed rockabilly fanatic Mike Lennon, Save The Earth shows that absolutely anyone and everyone can get out there and record an album if they have the time and money to do it. Though that’s no guarantee they have the talent…
AKA: DJ Mastamonk Current club nights: Friday at Vintage in Tempe or Dirty Pretty in Scottsdale, Saturday at Whip Lounge in Tempe, and a Sunday monthly residence at Martini Ranch in Scottsdale. Preferred genres: Man, there’s waaay too many things I like playing genre-wise right now. Really diggin the funky…
Halocene, a female-fronted Valley pop-rock act I kinda like, is scheduled play at this Saturday’s Phoenix Coyote’s game. The show will be staged just outside the doors of Jobing.com Arena and will run from 5:30 until just before the game begins.I won’t be there, having vowed to not travel to…
The ribald and renowned local performance artist is apparently going to “die” sometime tomorrow night, probably in some profound and profane fashion that will likely involve one of his wacky stunts gone horribly awry. This isn’t the first time the 34-year-old mustachioed madman has gotten a taste of the hereafter,…
This week’s music feature is on the large, local, lo-fi band Dry River Yat Club. They reflect on their latest live album release, touring, and their very big, never changing lineup.We also have pieces on Phoenix rockers Ronin Meyer and their raffles for hugs in concert, and the “groove metal”…
According to NME, Pearl Jam will be planting $210,000 worth of trees in Washington state. Why, you may ask? Well, in order to make up for all of the environmental damage they did during last year’s U.S. tour. The band believes that the planting of these trees will not only…
It’s hard to believe that the Black Eyed Peas who performed last night at Jobing.com Arena once started out as a little known hip-hop group out of Los Angeles.A lot has changed since the band released their first album Behind the Front back in 1998. The addition of Stacy Ferguson,…
