If you haven’t been inside the nightspot located across Saddlebag Trail across from El Hefe and Majerle’s Old Town in Scottsdale recently, there have a been more than a few changes to the place recently. What was once the debauchery-laden Pussycat Lounge (which closed this past summer) is now the…
Ben “Macklemore” Haggerty has quickly become an unlikely and conscious voice in hip-hop. His name may seem new, but this is really Haggerty’s second wind, and he’s using his newfound platform to speak out — but also to have some fun. Speaking by phone from his native Seattle, Haggerty picks…
By Mark Keresman Quickly: How many female jazz instrumentalists can you name? Not singers, of which there are aplenty, but ace players of instruments of the female gender? There are more prominent ones on the scene than there were, say, 30 years ago–composer/bandleaders Carla Bley and Maria Schneider, trumpeter Ingrid…
Italian dance-punker Rocco Rampino, better known as Congorock, brings a different groove to the EDM genre. Rising up in the world with EDM anthems such as “Ivory” and “Babylon”, Congorock has made his own mark on the elctronic genre. See also: Russell Ramirez on the History of Swell Records, Old…
Just in time for the Halloween season, noted heavy metal icon and horror enthusiast Scott Ian of Anthrax has launched a new web series,Blood & Guts, on the Nerdist YouTube channel. Ian visits various horror-oriented special effects studios, gets a close-up look at famous movie props (think the original Alien…
The weird-bearded wait is over: the new album by Tempe based-gaze project Local Wizards has arrived in sweet digital stream and neat-looking CD digi-pak format. Performed, recorded, and released entirely by 19-year-old Kendall Humbert, The Signal is a collection of amorphous dream-pop, understated space ballads, and cathartic synth rippers. See…
L.A. avantcore rap doofus Busdriver has been tripping lyrical booby traps for over 10 years. In that time, Bus has gone from tongue-stepping on top of Bach flute minuets to cross-breeding with art rockers Deerhoof. Even with his high-speed rhyme skills, it’s not easy being the strangest rap-game reality sandwich…
The Melvins have been at it for 30 years — and to hear guitarist Buzz Osborne (better known as King Buzzo, natch) tell it, there’s no point in stopping now. “We are entertainers. We are here to entertain you,” he says rapidly, having just finished up the 14th show of…
Northwest label Off Tempo has got something of a Phoenix-minded heart. The imprint has released records by French Quarter (2011’s exquisite Desert Wasn’t Welcome, featuring New Times contributor Chase Kamp) and a charming single by Mesa-via-Portland band iji. Label head Kenneth Piekarski has his own sounds, too, in the form…
If there ever was proof that the world is becoming a smaller, closer-knit place musically, look no further than Chicano Batman, the Los Angeles indie band that blends myriad global elements into a wonderfully grooving and hypnotic sound. With this high-energy, do-it-yourself quartet — Carlos Arevalo (guitar), Eduardo Arenas (bass),…
Ask any of the whippersnappers who make up the majority of electronic dance music’s current fanbase to name some of the superstars of EDM’s previous heyday, more a decade ago, and you’d likely get nothing but blank stares in return. Their heads are filled with the names of today’s biggest…
We’ve spent the last year in the laboratory putting Phoenix under the microscope to reveal hundreds of specimens of the best culture, outdoor adventures, shopping, dining, and nightlife the city has to offer. And we’re finally ready to publish our results. Nerd alert! Now presenting Scientific Phoenix. There’s no better…
Everyone’s trying to get more bang for their buck these days. That’s even true for the thriftier members of the young and beautiful party crowd, who usually show up early at nightspot hotspots in order to score early bird drink specials before the rest of the population crowd the place…
Maybe west side rapper FACES chose his moniker because that’s the place he’s most comfortable: in the faces of listeners. Along with his partner in grime, producer/percussionist YAWNING BOY, recently dropped a new record that continues to showcase an abrasive style and staccato deliver. With an aggressive flow and slow,…
The only thing scarier this Halloween than a Joe Arapio or Jan Brewer mask is Oculus Infernum: A Halloween Tale, a dark album of Halloween music devised by Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider. Anyone who has ever watched a horror film or felt the fear of walking alone at night…
Ten bucks if you can read this back to usBy Alee Karim Once upon a time, extreme metal bands opted to contort their logos into the most stylized mutations possible as a way to visually represent their music, and as a proud testament to the obscurity of their appeal. But…
In the past I have definitely bitched about how the Southwest gets skipped over by a lot of metal festivals. But here’s some good news: our fair state is finally putting on one of its own. This weekend the Southwest Terror Fest goes down in Tucson, serving as a crazy-ass…
Bassnectar is not your father’s hippie. His long hair and music are more Metallica than Grateful Dead, but in many ways, Lorin Ashton, the 33-year-old northern Californian DJ and producer, is as much an heir to John Lennon as he is DJ and producer. Listen to him speak and you’ll…
What does Madonna have that Katy Perry likely won’t? Staying power. Will Perry still be performing — and with such drive and determination — when she hits her 50s? Unlikely, as that pop bubble can burst quickly (remember Britney Spears once ruled the pop charts and now is a reality…
It’s not a simple binary, but someone like Kendrick Lamar — lyrically skilled yet decidedly un-preachy, quick-tongued but hook-driven — has what it takes to split the difference between unflinching gangster rap audiences and ponderous “conscious” hip-hop heads. Hailing from Compton and boasting the endorsement of West Coast vicelord/expensive-headphone impresario…
NYC songwriter Sean Hayes doesn’t bother with the very-much-in-vogue retro-soul affectations of the moment, but make no mistake about it, his new record, Before We Turn to Dust, has got spirit and groove in abundance. Remember how you’d see names like Carole King in the credits of Donnie Hathaway records?…
We’re in the midst of Halloween season, which means those in the business of scaring the crap outta people are busier than a masked psychopath slaughtering teenyboppers in an ’80s slasher film. That includes the frightening freaks over at Monsterland, 18 West Main Street in Mesa, who are dishing out…
