You have to concede a certain amount of praise automatically for the massive imaginative output in Princess Superstar’s My Machine, a dystopian sci-fi hip-hop concept album about a future celebrity who takes over the world with the help of a cloning machine. As in any good epic, apocalyptic replicant war…
1. Coheed and Cambria, Good Apollo I’m Burning Star IV, Volume One: From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness (Sony) 2. Disturbed, Ten Thousand Fists (Reprise) 3. Death Cab for Cutie, Plans (Atlantic) 4. Kanye West, Late Registration (Roc-a-Fella) 5. Avenged Sevenfold, City of Evil (Warner Bros.) 6. Damian Marley,…
Kieran Hebden secured a contract for his English post-rock band Fridge while still in his teens. With the money he would’ve used for school, he bought a computer, and, after dropping out of school, began composing music on it during his off time from Fridge. Influenced by the hypnotic avant-jazz…
Mindless Self Indulgence hates you. Don’t worry, the band will still make out with you — but only after attempts at setting you on fire and maybe throwing feces at you. It’s a third-grade mentality, but it works. MSI aptly named its live album Alienating Our Audience, but the four-piece…
Andrew: What are you listening to? Sam: The Shins, you know them? Andrew: No. Sam: You gotta hear this song, it’ll change your life, I swear. Andrew: Hmm, the song is skipping really bad. Sam: Oh, crap, look, there’s a big scratch on the disc! Andrew: Oh well. Sam: Wait,…
In a 2003 interview, Ryan Adams’ idol, Paul Westerberg, suggested that it might do the younger singer-songwriter some good to get his teeth kicked in. This seemingly mean-spirited comment, despite coming from someone who’d slapped an audience member that same year, was taken personally. But Westerberg was right. Anyone who…
When last seen as a duo in 2002, Chief Xcel and Gift of Gab had just dropped Blazing Arrow, one of the most accomplished hip-hop albums in recent memory. An ambitious and humane collection, filled with eclectic samples, sensitive live instrumentation, and interesting guests (Ben Harper, Gil Scott-Heron), it was…
As the temperatures start to drop, Monday nights are heating up in the world of beats and thumps. The latest entry is hip-hop weekly Boom Bap Room at Big Fish Pub in Tempe (1954 East University Drive), kicking off on Monday, October 3. Brought to you by Universatile Music, the…
It’s feeling a lot like the early ’90s, with rock acts selling hundreds of thousands of albums on little indies, and the majors out in force with their bankroll-operated cherry picker. Coming out of the fertile Long Island emo scene, From Autumn to Ashes’ 2001 debut, Too Bad You’re Beautiful,…
To compare the real-world success of onetime labelmates The Queers and Green Day, consider that one of them has just made a successful transition to bloated arena rock, while the other apparently couldn’t leverage the rights to its back catalogue for a best-of album. For last year’s Summer Hits No…
The five members of Oakland’s Watch Them Die eat metalcore bands for breakfast — their sound is that ferocious. They look tough, too — two of them are wearing Goatwhore shirts in a photo on their home page — and they’re not just poseurs. Formed out of the ashes of…
Talk about a thrill ride. After two self-released EPs and a third out this summer on Sub Pop, Wolf Parade’s anticipated debut full-length is the kind of heart-pounding, emotional roller coaster we’ll gladly take again and again — except the line to jump onboard is bound to get longer. Hailing…
1. Paul Wall, Peoples Champ (Atlantic) 2. DJ Quik, Trauma (Mad Science) 3. Kanye West, Late Registration (Roc-a-Fella) 4. Mariah Carey, The Emancipation of Mimi (Island) 5. Bon Jovi, Have a Nice Day (Island) 6. Charlie Wilson, Charlie, Last Name Wilson (Jive) 7. Young Jeezy, Let’s Get It (Def Jam)…
Everyone’s worst nightmare: Z-Trip is getting his mix on at the Clubhouse Music Venue, the floor is jumping like a fleshy lava lamp, and suddenly a representative of ASCAP weaves his way through the crowd, finds some Aerosmith vinyl in the just-played crate, and demands a check for $600. Ah,…
Boston’s Unseen exemplifies old-school hardcore, from its shout-along English Oi! roots to America’s machine-gun tempos, extending the legacy of classic Beantown forefathers Gang Green and Slapshot. It’s the sound of Joe Strummer’s “White Riot” roaring down suburban boulevards like a trench-coat mafia hopped up on piss and vinegar, looking for…
From the Hellacopters to the Hives, Swedish rock bands have been getting a good amount of buzz for well more than a decade now. And since Dungen is only the latest in a long line of European acts with an American cult following, it’s finally hitting our shores frontloaded not…
Something unprecedented is happening with white reggae stylists in North America. Where previous groups, like Big Mountain, might have seen the music as a cheap, roundabout ticket to blackness, younger acts are beginning to inject their own cultural personalities. Toronto’s Bedouin Soundclash may not carry the spiritual weight of Matisyahu’s…
Only because this is Arizona do we make this disclaimer: If you think this is the Rich Little of Jethro Tull tribute bands, don’t hold your locomotive breath. England’s Aqualung is Matt Hales, and according to his official bio, he was a child prodigy who wrote his first songs at…
There is such a thing as sophisticated simplicity, and Let Go’s self-titled debut makes a sly example. With its soaring vocal harmonies, shimmering drums, and rich, driving guitar, it feels comfortably familiar at first listen. But on second thought, how many new bands are giving a 21st-century, indie spin to…
“America’s favorite DJ” (according to BPM magazine) and acclaimed electronic music producer Paul van Dyk is touching down in the Valley this weekend, right on the heels of the release of his latest double mix CD, Politics of Dancing 2. Van Dyk, who grew up behind the Iron Curtain in…
“God save me from my past and present sins,” growls Freddy Cricien (rhymes with Christian) on the Kings of New York Hardcore’s latest aggro epistle, “Heaven – Hell.” Past sins include being an offshoot of a band you may have heard of called Agnostic Front, releasing albums that clock in…
Reggie and the Full Effect front man James Dewees revels in theatrics, whether you’re talking about the many aliases he’s used with Reggie — like Paco, Klause from the fictional Common Denominators, and, of course, Reggie — or the bunny costumes he and his bandmates wear onstage as they cover…
