The Canadian band Stars was the first musical act to publicly boycott Arizona in the wake of the passage of the controversial immigration-crackdown bill, SB 1070. The announcement was met with a collective yawn, because who the hell are Stars, right? But with the release of The Five Ghosts, expect…
Even nearly 15 years after his death, the legacy of Sublime singer Bradley Nowell permeates the musical ecosystem in a number of surprising ways. While many styles and genres have come and gone over the years, Sublime’s pot-fueled white-boy reggae-rock has never really gone out of fashion, with either subtle…
Five years have passed since this darkwave dance duo released their self-titled debut album, smashing the official Guinness World Record for “Most Comparisons to Joy Division Inspired by Any Band Not Called Interpol.” Backed by the formidable Geffen publicity machine, singer/guitarist Justin Warfield and composer/multi-instrumentalist Adam Bravin enjoyed some well-deserved…
It’s summer. The nights are short. Therefore, so is the nightlife.This time around, instead of waiting for nightfall, we decided to head out while the sun was still up (gasp!) to check out “An Evening of POP!” at the Heard Museum (click here for the slideshow). It was all a…
Album: Eddie WestBasics: Phoenix country/bluegrass/folk musician Eddie West bills himself as trying to market himself to Phoenix, Tucson, Flagstaff, Denver and Fort Collins. West also recorded his eponymous album in Los Angeles, so it’s safe to say that the dude is all over the place. Eddie West, reflects a little…
Slashing your ex’s tires after a breakup isn’t exactly the healthiest way of dealing with things, and it seems Carrie Underwood is moving on from her “Before He Cheats” ways into a more mature way with “Undo It.” The song, off her album Play On, also deals with breaking up, but this time,…
Anyone who’s ever loved someone and not had it returned knows it sucks. “I love you not” is just not something you want to hear. Which is why this poster for The Love Me Nots’ show this Friday, June 18 at Martini Ranch is so influential. The woman just ripped the guy’s…
Long before Ke$ha was making waves with her brand of sing-talk, Cake was tearing up the charts thanks to frontman John McCrea’s rap-like style of sing-talking. Remember Cake, the Sacramento, California-based band whose music is filled with wordplay and whimsical lyrics? Sure, it’s been a while, but if you listen…
It’s kinda tough to measure someone’s success as an adult when that person attained international fame at age 13. Child prodigy LeAnn Rimes earned the respect of the country music world at an early age, frequently being compared to Patsy Cline, and reaching number 10 on the Billboard Country Chart…
The way Raining and OK lead singer Trevor Tillery remembers it, making music for the first time was much like taking a leak after an all-day Pabst bender. “I felt like I had these songs in me for years, and they all burst out of me at once because I…
Though considered the leading female voice of the neo-soul movement, you could say Erykah Badu pretty much transcends musical genres, taking on hip-hop, pop, soul and even the occasional jazz track without seeming out of her comfort zone. After a five-year hiatus, she re-emerges with New Amerykah Part Two (Return…
May Tyler forgive us, but we’re about to break rules number one and two: Squalor, 5arah, ///she//, and the other twisted turntablists of Sadisco* are returning to Jugheads, 5110 East McDowell Road, this weekend for some fisticuffs and frenetic fun. The demented DJ collective is presenting its annual Fight Club…
The first Miniature Tigers record, Tell It To The Volcano, was probably an over-share. Sure, frontman Charlie Brand did a great job of couching his heartbreak in stories about some Lost-like tropical netherworld, but it didn’t take a working knowledge of Freud to understand that the “Cannibal Queen” Brand spoke…
A lot of folks fell down the rabbit hole Saturday night at Hotel San Carlos, but that’s what happens when you offer $3 cocktails…. See what transpired in our slideshow…
While many highly anticipated records have finally dropped in the last few weeks, everyone from Spin to NPR to our very own Nothing Not New column has had something to say about the latest release from Blitzen Trapper. Phoenicians have not been oblivious, as Destroyer of the Void charted number…
It seemed unlikely to happen, but R&B star Jason Derulo actually has a single out with a positive message to women. It’s called “Ridin’ Solo,” and it’s a song all about how being single is just fine, and loving yourself is just as important as loving someone else–something a lot…
When it came to crafting the flier for their show this Saturday, June 12 at Long Wong’s in Tempe, maybe Shelby James and the Crying Shames should have insisted on putting it together themselves. Instead, they’re stuck with the attractive piece of work above. And no, the man behind the…
You’re a culturally land-locked Arizonan. As such, the closest you’ve ever come to a bona fide New Orleans “second line” street band is an episode of Treme — or maybe that funny funeral scene in the voodoo-rific James Bond flick To Live and Let Die. Well, your jazz illiteracy days are…
The music world’s seen a lot of reunions lately. Morris Day and the Time are getting back together; as are legendary ’60s Brit-rockers The Faces (albeit without Rod Stewart), and even the members of Velvet Revolver have been working on some new material. This even extends to the local level,…
Tempe-based roots rocker Shelby James has a yen for yesteryear. The MySpace page for his band, Shelby James and the Crying Shames, is larded with grainy family snapshots and stylized faux ’50s portraits of the musician done up like Jack Kerouac’s nattier kid brother. Over at the band’s official Web…
Shows like The Big Bang Theory give the false impression that geeks are usually brilliant and successful. In reality, most of us are rather shiftless and underemployed, but occasionally someone like MC Chris manages to profit from his geekiness. The Chicago-area rapper first caught notice with “Fett’s Vette,” a humorous,…
Though the name Jed’s a Millionaire may conjure images of rich hicks who struck black gold, the five-piece band from Tempe is known for its softer side. Lead singer R. Shawn Harrington compares the songwriting process to sex: “It’s like, each time you make love, you give a little of yourself…
