Imagine Nancy Sinatra’s “These Boots Are Made for Walkin'” as a political rallying cry instead of a sultry kiss-off, and you have an idea behind The Mynabirds’ “Generals.” The title track on the band’s second LP is a call to action so catchy in its delivery, and yet so vague…
It’s not easy being a “Christian band,” especially when you don’t fit in the easy-to-categorize box, which is the case for Relient K and mewithoutYou, playing the Marquee and Crescent Ballroom this week, respectively. From the beginning, both bands had no trouble attracting fans outside the youth group circuit, with…
If you’re looking for a hip-hop role model, Nas is a pretty good one. Detroit MC Elzhi (real name: Jason Powers) borrowed the title for his breakthrough mixtape, Elmatic, from Nas’ classic 1994 Illmatic. Elzhi knows his stuff and, borrowed title aside, is more than capable of standing on his…
Scottsdale’s shimmering nightlife district tends to become saturated with a maelstrom of vibrant colors, flashing lights, and blaring sound after the sun goes down. Each illuminated establishment attempts to outdo the another by attracting toned-and-tanned clientele with flashy facades and the promise of exciting nighttime adventure. Well, except for Flight…
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See also: Kongos are Huge in South Africa. Is Phoenix Next? See also: The Serene Dominic Show: Kongos Tear it Up Back and forth banter that didn’t find its way in this week’s New Times article on Kongos finds its way to you now, courtesy of Up On the Sun…
Looking for their place in Sedona culture somewhere between the vortexes and sweat lodges, the spiritual city’s musicians find a way to nestle their love for pan flute into everyday interactions. Need to go to the grocery store? Boom. Pan flutist. Heading out to the bar to have a raucous…
It’s not just physical resemblances that bind and reveal family ties. My little brother just got married in a lovely ceremony at the Botanical Gardens, and though we look alike, more than a few people I’d never met before knew I was my brother’s brother just by hearing my voice…
This year, bands like Japandroids and JEFF the Brotherhood have offered varied flavors of back-to-basics rock, all of them commendable in their unselfconscious energy. But it comes at a time where some baldly question the relevance of the stadium rock ethos. Frenzied power-chord jammers The Henry Clay People, hailing from…
In 1998, pioneering hip-hoppers Mos Def and Talib Kweli teamed up for Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star. Call it conscious rap or backpack rap if you must; we prefer to call it one of the best hip-hop records of the ’90s. In the 14 years since the…
With the zeitgeist celebrating any and all things EDM, trance has sort of fallen by the wayside in favor of more fashionable electro-house and dubstep. Europeans still go bonkers for the heart-pounding haywire style, born in German clubs in the early 1990s and championed by Armin van Buuren and Paul…
Bliss/ReBar is a great place to relax on the patio with a group of friends while people watching and sipping a fruity drink. The bar attracts a diverse, yet friendly crowd of folks who want to hang out, grab a bite, or perhaps dance if the right song is playing…
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See also: Span Phly Drops Third Free Album in Spy vs Spy Series See also: Phal Kilmer Talks Spy vs. Spy Collab, Set to Challenge in The Voicebox Battles Phoenix rapper Jose Alberdi, better known as Span Phly, continues his lyrical assault with the fourth release in his collaboration series,…
Tempe’s Josh Gooday is obsessed: The 29-year-old collects and restores vintage analog synthesizers. “I started going to law school and spending all of my loan money on buying synthesizers, and it just started to get out of control,” Gooday says. The habit eventually gave Gooday and his friends an unlikely…
See also: The Pulse on Power 98.3: Broadcasting Underground Hip-Hop to The Valley (Video) See also: Dave Pratt’s Out, MasterChef Contestant Monti Carlo Is In at 103.9, Plus More Radio News They say bad things come in threes. First Steve Nash decides to bolt from the Phoenix Suns (although, it’s…
J-Diggs is paying forward a debt laid on him by close friend Mac Dre, who was shot and killed on a Kansas City highway eight years ago. Born Jamal Diggs in North Vallejo, California, Diggs had success rapping at an early age but deferred to his Crest neighborhood buddy Mac…
The Jacksons have a reputation as the most dysfunctional family in pop, but the name of their outing, The Unity Tour, is nothing cheeky or ironic. Except for a 2001 one-off show at Madison Square Garden, “Unity” is their first since 1989. It’s been a rocky road for the brothers:…
Jason Anderson’s been quiet and he’s been loud, but you would never accuse him of not being earnest. Anderson was attending Clark College in Portland during the mid-’90s when an Elliott Smith performance inspired him to make music. He eventually started noisy, hook-laden twee-tinged rockers Wolf Colonel and released several…
Swedish EDM duo Rebecca and Fiona are excited about coming to America. Like, really excited. “It’s so fun to come to America, [where EDM] is exploding, where the big audiences are,” says Fiona Fitzpatrick. “Honestly, it’s a bit scary because it’s so out of control. We’re used to playing to…
Better live it up while you can, because there may be just less than six months left until Armageddon. At least, that’s the belief that all those wacked-out prepper and nutjobs spouting bunk about the end of the Mayan long-count calendar. It makes for riveting late-night radio fodder on Coast…
