Best known as the frontman for the Decemberists, Colin Meloy has occasionally gone the solo acoustic route. Sings Live!, compiled from assorted performances across the USA in 2006, is a generous (74 minutes) document of Meloy au naturel, so to speak. For Decemberists fans, this is the chance to hear…
Unlike corn or that long-overdue Scott Baio retrospective on The Biography Channel, the world is not running low on Metallica cover bands. After performing a quick Internet search, we found some with predictable names (Holland-based The Unforgiven, the online-only Sad But True), other generic outfits (The Greedy Bastards are German,…
To play math rock, especially the heavy, spazz-out variety, pretty much means to beat a dead horse. Audiences have become so accustomed to bands trying to freak them out that they don’t get freaked out anymore. Like so many others, Tera Melos’ stock in trade is the freak-out that requires…
Dios Malos gets points right off the bat for arousing the ire of none other than Ronnie James Dio, who, in a particularly befuddled show of hubris, ordered the band to change its original name, Dios (which, for those of you who don’t know, means “god” in Spanish). Another obvious…
Your sixth birthday fiesta might have been the shiznit way back in the day — especially with pony rides, clowns, and a moon jump — but we guaran-damn-tee it absolutely pales in comparison to the fly festivities being planned for the Blunt Club’s Six-Year Anniversary Party on Thursday, May 15…
By Lilia Menconi Lush Handmade Cosmetics Store on Saturday, May 10. Get your fill of more perfection and click through our Lush slideshow. Pulling off the nightlife is some tricky business. Even though you repeatedly hinder cell regeneration with booze and nicotine, you must remain eff-able. That means feigning youth,…
It’s 4:20 p.m. on Wednesday and I’m sitting in rush hour traffic, trying to fight my way to happy hour at the Spurr Lounge. I’m doing a sort-of girls’ night out with my two lawyer pals, Cath and Shimba. Shimba is funny, cute, young, and idealistic, and she loves animals…
Some of the best ’80s music was made by duos — Hall & Oates, Wham!, Roxette, Eurythmics, Pet Shop Boys, Tears for Fears. If The Foxglove Hunt had been British and around in the ’80s, they would be atop that list. But The Foxglove Hunt are two guys from Phoenix,…
Prong’s Tommy Victor recently remarked that metal bands can’t play in standard E tuning anymore because they’d “sound like the Eagles.” Not that they ever had anything to worry about, but about midway through Meshuggah’s career, the band’s guitarists switched from using already-low 7-string guitars to an 8-string approach in…
After a decade-long major-release hiatus during which he dedicated himself to music education and independent recordings, Stanley Jordan re-emerges with a CD that challenges listeners who see music as black-and-white. He’s taken musical creativity to the next level by looking outside the box at a handful of standards while introducing…
Just as it’s rare to have the U.S. president and vice president at the same public event, lest a deranged lunatic take them both out in one fell swoop, it seems slightly dangerous to the state of the indie-rock union to have the Whigs and What Made Milwaukee Famous sharing…
Like ’90s country artists making their bid for pop play, post-millennial European trance DJs are increasingly pushing their artist albums (as opposed to the innumerable mixes they typically author) into commercial territory. Like Paul Oakenfold’s A Lively Mind and Tiësto’s Elements of Life, van Buuren’s latest, Imagine, soft-pedals the oceanic…
Nowadays, the concept of a “side project” — a long-term member of a band leading another combo part-time — is fairly common. Back in the ’60s, it was practically unheard of. Guitarist Jorma Kaukonen and bassist Jack Casady were members of Jefferson Airplane, then one of America’s most popular bands…
The over-the-top androgynous appearance of J.D. Samson often leads to confusion about what, exactly, is the gender of the cross-dressing performance artist and member of indie rock’s Le Tigre. (Is he a she? Is she a he?) One thing there’s no doubt about is the turntablism talents of “DJ J.D.”…
By Lilia Menconi San Felipe’s Cantina on Sunday, May 4 Wipe off your drool and click through our San Felipe’s Cantina slideshow. Whatever your opinion on immigration laws, there’s one Mexican import that all Zonies seem to agree on. OK, two: burritos, and the cerveza- and margarita-filled extravaganza that is…
A recurring aspect of pop history is the “hit machine,” a moniker bestowed upon creative teams of producers, songwriters, and/or record labels known for a distinctive style and lots of hits. The Motown Sound, Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound, and Bacharach/David are iconic examples — Philly Soul is another. In…
Clinic’s path back to form after a half-hearted detour with Winchester Cathedral finds the Liverpool art rockers leaning constructively toward late ’60s alchemy even more than they did on 2007’s Visitations. Although the spastic riffs that curl ’round Do It!’s stompy garage ditties are as prominent as they were on…
A mix of blues, folk, and acoustic rock with fringes of jazz is what you hear on this new release by the duo of brothers Chris (from Medeski, Martin & Wood) and Oliver Wood, which follows up 2006’s Ways Not to Lose. Again under the production of John Medeski, the…
When Duran Duran made its U.S. splash in 1981, the heady excess and glitter of the era, along with the surging energy of MTV, made it difficult to tell whether or not the band would amount to a flash in the pan. Certainly, the pouffy-haired fivesome looked good and the…
John and Julian, Bob and Jakob, or Loudon and Rufus: The “like father, like son” adage in rock/pop music has always been a somewhat shaky proposition over the years. Liam Finn, son of Neil Finn (Crowded House) cuts a similar cloth in some songs, in which a few Lennon-driven melodies…
The hearts of local drum ‘n’ bass fanatics are thumping like some dope-ass Goldie track in anticipation of this weekend’s gig by the U.K.’s Micky Finn. Over the past two decades, the British beatmaster and producer (whose slogan states he’s been “mugging ya ears off since 1988”) helped pioneer and…
Silver Martini & Wine in Phoenix on Saturday, April 26. By: Lilia Menconi For more sultry scenery click here. It’s been too long since we hit the downtown scene, and we were beginning to miss our old digs. So on Saturday, April 26, we strolled down Washington Street looking for…
