Features

Song: No Age, “Depletion”Context: Jay Bennett’s long-awaited return to Nothing Not New blogging came with a great record. Depletion by subpop…

President Obama said Bob Dylan was skeptical about a recent performance at the White House, according to NME.Dylan did not ask for a meet and greet with Obama, nor did he ask to take a picture with the President or even rehearse at the White House before his show. Artists…

John Legend is the latest artist taking the initiative to make a difference in education by joining Teach For America’s National Board of Directors.He is looking forward to giving children more opportunities to learn and improving education in America.Legend is no stranger to taking action for change, though. He launched…

Marianas Trench​There’s just something about Canada and pop-punk bands. Some of the most successful, teen-friendly groups to come out of our neighbor to the north embrace that sorta whiny, super-catchy sound, from Avril Lavigne and Sum 41 to Simple Plan and Hedley. Here’s hoping Marianas Trench is the next group…

Artist: No AgeTitle: Everything in BetweenRelease date: September 28Label: Sub PopAfter two weeks of total Best of Phoenix immersion, a time during which I worked a whole lot and listened to very little music, the new record by No Age is a welcome blast of noise.Some of that noise created…

Move aside, angry pigeons — piss is the new birdshit. In a story that seems too good to be true, MGMT drummer Will Berman was hit in the chest by a glass full of urine during a gig at the Manchester Apollo Sunday night. The band was in the middle…

‘Tis the season to write songs about killing Sheriff Joe Arpaio. This past week I detailed how folk-punkers Andrew Jackson Jihad and other local bands had penned songs for the recent Chronicles of Sheriff Joe record that decries his racist tendencies and invokes murderous notions of offing Maricopa County’s top…

Song: Deerhunter, “Earthquake” Context: Michael Lopez raved about this song in this week’s review roundup of Halcyon Digest. Check it out. 01-deerhunter-earthquake-caheso by kirotnes…

Local boy Alice Cooper is up for induction into Cleveland’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Better news yet, this year’s field is so weak he appears to be a shoo-in.Actually, this year’s list of 15 nominees is probably no weaker than last year when, somehow, ABBA was inducted into…

​Less Than Jake, the Florida ska-punk outfit you may remember from such hits as “Johnny Quest Thinks We’re Sellouts,” “History of a Boring Town” and “Johnny Quest Thinks We’re Sellouts” will play their 1996 major label debut Losing Streak live in its entirety at a Riot Fest in Chicago next…

Lady Gaga’s Monster Ball Tour — a concert that probably generated more buzz that any other in Phoenix this year — will come back through town on March 26, 2011. The show will again be at US Airways Center.Tickets go on sale Saturday at 10 a.m. here.Gaga’s July show sold…

Theirs is a complex aural equation, one that bursts through with genuine moments of genius mixed with just quite too dense to comprehend instrumentation. Whatever your take may be, Halcyon Digest is the band’s crowning achievement — which is, by the way, saying something for a band like Deerhunter –…

​File this one under: Review at your own risk.Vincent Gallo, the Chloë Sevigny sex tape Brown Bunny director who famously put a hex on Roger Ebert’s prostate after the Pulitzer-winning critic panned said flick, is coming to Rogue Bar on Friday, November 19 with his band RRIICCEE.While Ebert didn’t die…

Perhaps noticing that the album hit the internet or perhaps having already planning to do so, NPR has given Adz their First Listen treatment, offering to stream the album in its entirety — I personally suggest giving the 8-minute “Age of Adz” a listen first.Those fans of Stevens who pre-ordered the…

Apple co-owner Steve Jobs has more money than God by now, which is why Apple has unlimited options for what they could do with everything they’ve earned from iTunes alone.According to Hypebot, it costs around $75 million per month for Apple to operate iTunes. Prefix pulled together a solid list…

​Song: Surfer Blood, “Anchorage”Context: Surfer Blood comes to The Clubhouse tonight. Astro Coast is one of the best albums of 2010, so this should be an awesome show. Surfer Blood – Anchorage…

@4ess138The Pixies​If you were a big fan of the album Doolittle by the Pixies, then last night’s concert at Mesa Amphitheatre probably made you really happy. The alternative rock band played the album in its entirety to an all-ages crowd, and people couldn’t stop Tweeting their appreciation (and disappointment) for…

Name: Sean Watson AKA: “El Pescado” Current schedule: Thursdays at the District, Fridays at The Vig, Saturdays at The Vig Uptown, every fourth Saturday at Brick for Cheap Thrills, and then Sundays at the Clarendon for Hot Fudge Sundaze. Genres spun: Indie and electro are like most of my favorite…

​What will Wayne Coyne & co. do for an encore? Make another trippy, NSFW video — this time with vagina rays! That’s right, the newest video from The Flaming Lips, for their song “See The Leaves,” follows a cheery, blindfolded and completely naked young lady as she parades around town…

​Artists for Action, those plucky do-gooders counteracting Evil Mastermind Zach de la Rocha’s attempts to make our state silent until SB 1070 is “repealed” (despite the fact that California’s “eerily similar” Prop 187 was never repealed — it just got stopped by a judge, the same way SB 1070 did)…

​Song: Cymbals Eat Guitars, “Definite Darkness”Context: NME writes about why Soundcloud is the only music sharing service that matters. Just kidding, they didn’t use those words this time but did explain why it’s so awesome and point out the social media elements which I think are going to push it…

Katy Perry’s guest spot on Sesame Street has been pulled from being broadcasted on the show.While there was nothing controversial about the clean reworking of her song “Hot N Cold,” it was her racy outfit that bothered parents of so many youngins. Many parents feel her top was not appropriate…