By Lilia Menconi It’s so nice when this job allows us to take a break from booze every once in a while — which is exactly what we did when we stopped by Red Hot Robot’s One Year Anniversary Party on Saturday, June 7. For more of this, check the…
By Jonathan McNamara Better Than: Spinal Tap. Sure, this animated band owes a lot to its comedic predecessor, but sheer technical skill from the band that makes Nathan Explosion, Pickles the drummer and all the rest of these rogue rockers live puts Dethklok a few notches higher. See more shots…
By Jonathan McNamara Maybe you’re a high school ska band with a penchant for odes to your skateboards. Maybe you’re a group of working stiffs who transform into gothic, heavy-metalers when the sun goes down. Hell, maybe you’re a free-form jazz pianist who likes to vocalize about global warming. No…
A few weeks ago, I posted a blog soliciting local CDs for review in this weekly feature called “You Asked for It.” Since then, I’ve received albums from Underwater Getdown, Reign of Vengeance, and this week’s review subject, Dude Offline.
By Benjamin Leatherman Here’s a rundown of the top 10 best-selling albums at Zia Record Exchange, 105 West University Drive in Tempe, for the week of June 2-8. 1. Weezer, Weezer (Red Album) (Geffen) 2. Disturbed, Indestructible (Reprise) 3. Portishead, Third (Mercury) 4. Death Cab for Cutie, Narrow Stairs (Atlantic)…
What the hell is wrong with Metallica? I had some empathy about the whole Napster snafu in 2000, when the band complained about copyright violations and being ripped off for royalties when Napster was a free file-sharing site. Metallica won a settlement from Napster (now a pay site), and alienated a lot of fans in the process.
By Benjamin Leatherman Music editor Niki D’Andrea decided to take a well-deserved sabbatical this past weekend, getting as far as possible from the Valley as she could. She didn’t tell anyone where she was headed, but knowing the kind of crazy life the pint-sized powerhouse of lesbian spunk leads, it…
By Joseph Golfen This weekend marked Summer of Sound’s second concert. This time around the hip hop-centered event invaded Chaser’s Bar and Nightclub in Scottsdale; a laid-back, grimy bar that shares a strip mall with both Americano Tattoo Parlor and the Jesus Is Lord Christian supply store. The Premiere The…
By Benjamin Leatherman Better than: Hanging out with the dicks in Scottsdale. Back in mid-1996, Zach de la Rocha and the rest of Rage Against the Machine ruled the alt-rock world, with stations like The Edge (then on 106.3/100.3 FM) broadcasting the foursome’s aggro agitprop songs from their second album…
By Benjamin Leatherman The horror rockers of Calabrese The monthly First Friday extravaganza in downtown Phoenix always proves to be a massively chaotic mess of sound and art, with dozens of musicians and bands performing inside galleries, outside on sidewalks, and practically any other location they can think of. In…
Here are a handful of shows that were just announced this week.
Local heavy-hitting, post-prog rock band Daughters of Fission will be playing the FBC Music Fest this weekend with several other Valley acts, including Fred Green (check out one of FG’s songs here).
The song below is from Daughters of Fission’s 2008 self-released album, The Moth. It’s called “The Sea.”
This week’s flier comes from the vague world of raves. Local rave/EDM event promoters in the Valley are known for two-sided fliers — some awesome art on the front, and oodles of info. crammed onto the back. For more info. on the event below, visit www.azinfoline.com.
I thought I’d never write about kegger house parties. I mean, I went to school in Wisconsin. But the other night, after pounding my fifth Stag press (a concoction served up at my favorite local hang, Shady’s, that’s like a vodka Red Bull, but they use a knockoff called “White…
THURSDAY 5 Armitage Bistro: RE:WINE’D with DJ Seduce (downbeat, jazz, soul, house) Axis-Radius: Divine Ladies Night (Top 40) Bar Smith: Peppermint Lounge with DJs Brazilia, & Mara (various) Blooze Bar: DJ El Dedo (rockabilly) Bobby C’s: Willy B. (old-school R&B) Bunkhouse: DJ Doom (dance) Club Forbidden: Lips Thursdays with DJs Domenica, Hill, & MJ (various) Club…
Pharrell Williams is so in-demand as a producer that every time he tours with N.E.R.D., his most consistently weird project, he probably costs himself money. But in the days before the release of his latest gun-for-hire superstar collaboration, Madonna’s Hard Candy, he was on the road again, for reasons that…
Seattle rock heroes Mudhoney — the last band standing from the grunge era — celebrate their 20th anniversary this year with a new studio album, The Lucky Ones. On the phone from his new hometown of Portland, Oregon, guitarist Steve Turner gave us his take on some recent reviews: With…
There was a time when I knew what I wanted to listen to. I was poor, but I bought CDs anyway, and I had stacks of them, purchased with enthusiasm and knowledge shared among friends. A pricey endeavor, sure. But once I discovered Napster and CD-burning, finances stopped counting. I…
Sometimes, the assholes in charge of dishing out work visas make mistakes. When British rapper Riz MC (who’s Muslim and of Pakistani descent) tried coming to the United States a couple of months ago for a showcase at South by Southwest — followed by a couple of spot dates in…
Hardworking, broken-backed, sweaty-headed, scruffy-looking Kansas Citians the Architects have never tried to win over folks with much more than relentless punk-drenched rock ‘n’ roll honesty. Now, with Vice, the group amps up its sound to arena-rocking levels, throwing in plenty of gang vocals and melodic hooks to make sure it…
Way back in 1996, Robyn reached the Top 10 with “Do You Know (What It Takes).” She followed it up a year later with another big hit, “Show Me Love.” Then she disappeared. This comeback album by the thin-voiced but spunky singer, who’s now 28, was originally released three years…
All the idiosyncratic jangling, clattering carnival-esque swooning, and arch melodrama suggests Tom Waits Malkoviched into David Bowie’s body. Frontman Carey Mercer’s vocals manifest the shrill, anxious delivery of glam Bowie much like Dan Bejar, whom Frog Eyes has backed and with whom Mercer and Wolf Parade’s Spencer Krug created the…
