Tempe is running out of venues. The Clubhouse disintegrated in 2012 following a gang-related shooting; Rocky Point Cantina disappeared after a bad reality show trip; most recently the Stray Cat closed suddenly, announcing the bad news on its last day in business. Which is not to say that’s why Valley…
By Aaron Thompson For 20 years, Japan’s Melt-Banana has been one of those overseas acts that is nearly impossible to accurately label. With a scant discography, given their tenure, but an influential footprint on everything from grindcore and power violence to math rock, noise, and even space rock, Melt-Banana’s secret…
An evening with Nik Turner on his “Space Ritual” tour promises to be both a learning and — according to Nik himself — a “healing” experience. In fact, Turner told Up on the Sun, “The energy that we’re putting into [this tour] sort of transcends what the thing is about…
“Somehow I guess Lou Reed was my evil mother.” In the wake of Lou Reed’s death, Arish Ahmad Khan couldn’t help but shade his stories – that span from his juvenile delinquency to the years that went into making his latest record – with memories of the rock poet who…
Audacity’s third album finds the band pushing in opposite directions at the same time. The Fullerton, California, garage-punk quartet plays with a homemade, youthful, and defiant style that makes the most out of its chaotic and unpredictable twists, all served up with an endless stream of hooks. Butter Knife, released…
Easy mode is making a Boris Yeltsin joke when Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin comes to town. Hard mode is not making a Boris Yeltsin joke. Really hard mode is not making a Boris Yeltsin joke even though you think you’ve got a great one. Because it’s probably not…
Bill Callahan picks his words carefully. If one thing defines his recent work – pastoral, grooving, and far removed from his noisier days recording under the name Smog – it’s the way he selects his words. “The only words I’ve said today are beer and thank you,” he croons on…
By Brad Cohan “I wanted to name the album using a word that was cute and started with ‘F,'” says screeching vocalist Yako about the impetus behind fetch, the first album in six years from legendary Japanese noise-makers Melt-Banana. That happy-go-lucky vernacular is no shocker considering Yako and guitarist/partner-in-crime Agata…
There are few places in the world where Touaregs-Malian Bedouin nomads can feel at home, but the Arizona desert is one of them. “This caravan started in the desert of Mali, but we ended up in the United States,” bandleader Liya Ag Ablil told the small but enthusiastic Rhythm Room…
Portland’s Quasi will be visiting the Rhythm Room on Monday in support of their excellent new double-album, Mole City. The band, which turned 20, features two accomplished vets of the Northwest scene, Sam Coomes (guitar/vox/keyboards) and Janet Weiss (drums/vox); when they aren’t devoting their time to Quasi, both have played…
You’ve got less than a month of shopping days until you think about doing Black Friday for a minute and then just decide to go closer to Christmas instead. In the meantime, consider giving yourself the gift of any of these five must-see Phoenix shows…
Cut Copy Marquee Theatre Wednesday, November 6, 2013 Australian synth-pop/new wave rockers Cut Copy made its long awaited return to Marquee Theatre last night in support of the band’s forth full-length album, Free Your Mind. Cut Copy played an energetic hour-and-a-half set that embraced what a dance party should be…
For Mike Doughty, revisiting songs he wrote in some cases more than 20 years ago felt like walking into a ghost town. The former frontman for Soul Coughing — the distinct 1990s alternative band he once described as “deep slacker jazz” — decided to record an album of reimagined old…
Clairy Browne and The Bangin RackettesCrescent BallroomWednesday, November 5, 2013 Clairy Browne and The Bangin Rackettes visited Downtown Phoenix’s Crescent Ballroom last night and they were a bonafied Rhythm and Blues snoozer. The entire performance was devoid of anything that even remotely resembled soul. The Melbourne based nine piece just…
By Tom Reardon What would the Valley do without Tyler King and Kim Larowe? For those of you who aren’t in the know, the two of them have been bringing excellent punk and metal shows to the Phoenix area since the ’90s and on Thursday, November 7, not only have…
Few bands merit having the wall of talent that is Phoenix’s Haymarket Squares open for them at Crescent Ballroom. But Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band is one that did when they brought their twangy, country, bluesy sound through downtown Phoenix Sunday night. “The Rev,” Breezy Peyton, and Ben “Big Bird”…
If you’re listening to Christmas music already and you don’t live or work inside a Macy’s, I believe very strongly that you’re doing something wrong. Nevertheless, it is not in the spirit of Christmas (music) for me to shun you until the day after Thanksgiving, when I literally transform into…
Dolly Parton is not interested in reinventing herself. At a time when a lot of her peers are at least interested in saying they’re looking to shake things up and start over, Dolly Parton–who just announced a Comerica Theatre show on January 28–was excited to tell us about all the…
“Halloween is like drama club… on crack.” That was Dumper Foo, the Blunt Club’s resident live artist. Foo, a local celeb in his own right, came in sporting a Bob Ross afro, a paint pallet at the ready for his homage to the happy tree afficianado, Bob Floss. The Blunt…
Final Halloween costume-related update: At least one of these weekend shows will offer you a discounted ticket in exchange for coming in costume, which is a little like getting a free meal for dragging your Christmas tree somewhere in February. If you’d like to know which one, you can just…
by Chris Parker “For a long time, you’re chasing being thought of as this terminally unique snowflake,” says Brooklyn singer/songwriter Kevin Devine. “And then you kind of realize you’re a worker among workers — and you put your boots on.” The 33-year-old musician is reflecting on the reverse metamorphosis that…
For Jon Foreman and the rest of Switchfoot, there is no point in doing things the easy way. Easy would be trying to carve out a rock ‘n’ roll career for themselves in either the mainstream or Christian scenes, rather than both. Easy would be taking their lifelong love of…
