There is something eerie about people intently staring at a DJ play his set. Records are meant to be spun in high booths at dark clubs where DJ’s can feel free to shuffle through their stack of vinyl and stammer the beat, without looking terribly interesting.
Believe it or not, there are a handful of excellent indie record labels in the great state of Arizona, boasting rosters with some of our finest local artists and some hot underground national acts, as well. This week, we’d like to give a shout-out to Funzalo Records.
“You’ve got an interesting package in there,” our editorial assistant tells me, as I scoop up my usual daily stack of mailings. She tells me the receptionist actually opened it before they put it in my box to make sure the package was “okay.”
As soon as I see the return address on the package, I understand: this is from Marshall “Fucking” Beck, vocalist for local metal band Rebirth, Bo Bice look-alike, and a supercilious shit-slinger at New Times who’s often accused us of not covering enough of the local metal scene.
A batch of bad-ass shows were just announced this week. Read on for the news.
One reason I wanted to see a live performance featuring Joss Stone – the white girl who sounds like a black soul singer (what does that lame stereotype written by critics even mean?) – was to see if she was legit.
Kudos to any band that incorporates go-go dancers in its stage show. In addition to punky/pretty bass player Frankie Stein, Tucson psychobilly group The Mission Creeps also have two go-go dancers, both with sexy espionage names like Katarina and Oksana. But seeing a Mission Creeps show isn’t just about the eye candy – this quartet oozes out reverb-heavy, slinky music in the fine tradition of “horror-surf” bands like The Cramps and the HorrorPops, creating a creepy, ambient vibe that would make the band’s songs at home on any Quinten Tarantino or neo-noir film soundtrack.
Let’s dispense with the written description and let you listen for yourself. Ya dig?
Mill Avenue saw its fair share of action over the weekend with the Tempe Arts Festival and the Tempe Music Festival at the lake. But we decided to see what kind of crew rolled in after all the main events were over. So we headed down to Mill Avenue Cue…
THURSDAY 3 Axis/Radius: Divine Ladies Night (Top 40, dance) Blooze Bar: DJ El Dedo (rockabilly) Bunkhouse: DJ Doom (dance) Casey Jones: Da Gutter Thursdays with DJ Soulman (hip-hop, Top 40) Cherry Lounge: DJ M2 (rock, ’80s, old school, hip-hop) Club Red: The Blunt Club with Pickster Uno, DJ Element, Emerg McVay, & guests (hip-hop, breaks) Crown…
“Let’s get fucked-up! It’s Wednesday!” This piece of midweek advice comes courtesy of Corey Gloden, lead singer of Strange Young Things, who are playing at The Loft in Tempe. I’m kicking back at the bi-level club’s copper bar with my friend Whoopi Pupi, watching the local rock group perform. Gloden’s…
It’s days before the first date of what’s being billed as the last tour ever for industrial-metal pioneers Ministry, and frontman Al Jourgensen is determined to convince naysayers that the band’s days are truly numbered. “I’m not one of these comeback people that does farewell tours that are, like, three…
Local singer/guitarist Brian Chartrand has his fingers in lots of stuff — he plays in local jam band Ten Dollar Outfit, and he’s also a member of Phoenix group RGB. But more than anything, Chartrand has his fingers in heavy-handed acoustic guitar plucking, especially on his solo EP, Sleeping With…
On this Canada-based trio’s debut, the eclectic talents of Peru’s Silvana Kane and Canadian musicians Adam Popowitz and Toby Peter come together on a disc that goes in various musical directions, ranging from flamenco to electronica with a touch of Latin and indie pop in between. “Libertad” is a mellow…
Call ’em retro, sans cheesy affectation for 1960s pop/folk-rock classicists, but don’t call ’em late for dinner — Elf Power is back with another in a series of classy, winsomely tuneful albums wherein engaging melodies and sweet harmoniousness unquestionably rule. Elf Power is an offspring of pre-White Album Beatles, Searchers,…
Let’s get real here — lots of what makes the “country” charts (in case you haven’t noticed) sounds like watered-down power-pop with some vague twang added for “authenticity.” Most of these pretty boys/girls wouldn’t know Buck Owens from Buck Rogers — but this Justin Townes Earle knows, I’ll wager. If…
“The Jicks is funky music. They is a powerhouse.” So it says in the artwork that accompanies this third offering from Stephen Malkmus’ post-Pavement outfit. On first glance at said artwork, with its nonsensical collages — not to mention the beginning of opening number “Dragonfly Pie,” which drips with midtempo…
Rob Kwik has a whole lotta reasons to be celebrating on Friday, April 4. The ultra-ill turntablist is commemorating not only his 29th birthday but also the release of his latest remix CD, and the ninth anniversary of the Dirt Assasinz Crew — the eight-member DJ collective that’s been rocking…
Metal-core band Bullet for My Valentine takes the best of British heavy metal (tap-frenzy twin guitar harmonies, rapid-fire rhythms) and combines it with the worst of American emo (harmonic choruses that border on whininess). But we’ll forgive them because: 1) they’re British; 2) they don’t wear girls’ jeans; and 3)…
It has to be said: The AZ music scene suffers from a severe lack of spookiness. Perhaps it’s the overabundance of sunshine or scarcity of graveyards, but in the greater Phoenix metro area, it’s hard to get rocked in that “this music could very well be sucking the blood from…
Watching Hiroshima perform is akin to witnessing two cultures come together through music. Formed almost 30 years ago by saxophonist Dan Kuramoto and master koto player June Kuramoto, the six-piece band bridges the gap between traditional Japanese music and modern jazz by incorporating sounds from both cultures, resulting in a…
It’s fitting that Muppet Show creator Jim Henson based his Dr. Teeth character on pianist Dr. John, who has served as unofficial mascot-ambassador for the city of New Orleans and its indigenous musical forms for a good 50 years now, arguably filling the shoes of none other than Louis Armstrong…
New Times: Is there anything else you want to add?
Cris Kirkwood: Hail Satan.
