You’ve probably been hearing a lot about a wacky band called Deerhunter. With a critically feted album, Microcastle, a national tour, and attention from every corner of the Internet, you might be wondering, “How do those Atlanta rascals do it?” You might even be in a band yourself, wondering how…
Tokyo rock quintet Dir en grey have been through a number of musical incarnations over their decade-long history, but none of them resemble the kind of Japanese music that typically catches on in the States: the power J-pop of Puffy AmiYumi, the doom-rock of Boris, or the experimental noise-rock of…
By Martin Cizmar Local photographer and musician Elliot Lincis is doing what he can for the people of Darfur, the region of Sudan that’s been the scene of bloody conflict since 2003. He’s recorded a song called “Never Again,” an old school “We Are The World” style anthem that features…
By Martin Cizmar I very well may be the last man in American to hear Chinese Democracy. Almost certainly, I was the last music critic, and among last Guns n’ Roses fans. Honestly, though, as bad as I wanted to hear it, I couldn’t bring myself to log on to…
By Martin Cizmar So there’s a little big of a letdown this week after last week’s bonanza of concert announcements, but still a few good shows coming up. At the top of the list is a huge party coming to Marquee: Parliament Funkadelic with George Clinton on Jan. 7. Sadly,…
By Martin Cizmar I sure would hate to be a bartender at the Chandler TGI Friday’s tonight: The Backstreet Boys show at Dodge Theatre this evening has been canceled – CANCELED – at the last minute. Due to illness. “The Backstreet Boys and Live Nation sincerely apologize for any inconvenience…
By Martin Cizmar It’s Friday of a loooong week and I’m still thinking about Monday’s show at the Marquee, The 2K Sports Bounce Tour with Q-Tip, The Knux and The Cool Kids. Sure, I panned it in my review, mostly because it was a six-hour slog that should’ve been an…
A benefit show featuring some of the Valley’s brightest music stars is always an event worth attending, but in the case of the “Purpose” benefit show on Sunday, November 23, the cause hits close to home for us at New Times.
Belle and Sebastian The BBC Sessions (Matador) By Thomas Bond For a band that began life as a one-off final project for singer Stuart Murdoch’s university music business course, Scotland’s Belle and Sebastian have done pretty well for themselves, now seven studio albums into their career. As it’s been nearly…
Most bands will tell you that being in a group is like being a polygamist. You’re married to three or four other people, each with a dizzying array of emotional needs, including either an inflated ego or a total lack of self-confidence. There’s the guitarist who’s jealous of the lead…
With Coldplay hitting town, we got to thinking about frontman Chris Martin and his wife, actress Gwyneth Paltrow. Given the success on both sides of that marriage, who really wears the pants? Come to think of it, who wears the pants in a lot of these musician-celebrity pairings? Chris Martin…
Woop-woop. Walking around Metrocenter in an Insane Clown Posse shirt, I hear the sound every few minutes. Kids I don’t know, teenagers with tilted ballcaps, most of them not wearing ICP shirts but all greeting my 28-year-old ass with the universal call of the Juggalo, just for wearing something I…
By Jonathan McNamara For this week’s Sonic Truth, Music Editor Martin Cizmar got to know some of Phoenix’s Juggalos: dedicated fans of Insane Clown Posse. But the story doesn’t end there. Check out the following slide show and video for another look at this wicked subculture. Slide Show: What Is…
By Martin Cizmar So, not only is cartoonish comedian and impressionist Robin Williams still popular enough to sell out Dodge Theatre once, apparently the old goat is too popular for a single show in Phoenix. “Due to the overwhelming demand to see the hysterical standup of Robin Williams, a second…
Cancer could have killed Jane Fendelman. Instead, it brought her back to life. And her video documentation of her painful treatment and miraculous recovery (which she edited and released as a documentary titled Jane Doe) has brought her accolades — most recently, a nomination at the International Women’s Film and Television Showcase, taking place next month in Hollywood. Jane Doe is one of only ten films worldwide to be nominated for an award at the showcase.
By Martin Cizmar With the end of the year fast approaching, you’re about to be inundated with lists about the best and worst music of 2008. Phoenix New Times will be adding to that, of course, with our picks running the first week of the new year. And since I’ve…
By Yvonne Zusel See more shots in our Guinness World Record slide show. It’s 2:40 on Saturday morning and while most people’s nights are winding down, Hollis Cantrell’s has just begun. He’s bent over a man’s calf with his tattoo needle moving carefully but efficiently, first drawing an “A,” then…
There were a massive amount of upcoming shows announced this week, including Willie Nelson on the road again and possibly three of the four worst nu metal bands of all time (Staind, Papa Roach, Hoobastank) on a single stage… with the insufferable Adam Carolla. Crooner Chris Isaak and Strokes’ drummer Fabrizio Moretti will also be in town with his side project, Little Joy. Katy Perry will be in town to do a solo show hot on the heels of her Phooson set and Woodstock veteran Richie Havens is coming.
By Benjamin Leatherman sBACH is scheduled to perform on Saturday at Modified Arts. The Valley’s concert venues will be stacked with superstar musicians this weekend. For instance, a Cursive Memory do their indie rock thing tonight at the PHiX in downtown Phoenix, while the Wu-Tang Clan’s Method Man and Redman…
Perhaps the sagest songwriting advice ever bestowed to a newbie came not from a how-to book or a multi-platinum recording artist but from some anonymous grizzly guy I saw at an open mic night in Greenwich Village eons ago. After playing two great songs, he sat down to his coffee…
Their New Orleans apartment building having burned down in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, brothers Kintrell “Krispy Kream” and Alvin “Rah Almillio” Lindsey have gone from Cajun survivalists to the toast of the underground rap scene in only a few years. Together known as the experimental rap duo The Knux,…
What secret shame binds the heart of Buckethead? What private disgrace compelled guitar virtuoso Brian Carroll to forsake his Christian name and perform under a Michael Myers-esque kabuki mask and unused KFC bucket for these past 20 years? There is scant evidence that he has ever performed with his face…
