Scott H. Biram’s Tunes Will Kick Your Ass

Mr. Scott H. Biram is nothing short of a total and complete badass mofo. First of all, he is thee one man in his namesake one-man band, and his many quality releases over the past 14 years have proved he doesn’t need anyone else to help him get the job…

Kid Rock Announces Phoenix Concert at Ak-Chin Pavilion 8/26

Kid Rock announced a Phoenix date today, on the heels of a wildly successful concert at the Coors Light Birds Nest during the Phoenix Open at the end of last month. The singer will play Ak-Chin Pavilion on August 26. Foreigner will open. Tickets go on sale Tuesday, February 24…

Springtime Carnivore’s Tall Tales of Circus and Heartbreak

Gravity gave Greta Morgan a gift and a broken fibula. Working as a skilled tightrope tripper, fatigue set in from constant touring in the circus and she fell three stories. Recovering in the wake of her broken dreams, she taught herself piano and created Springtime Carnivore. “I’ve been playing ever…

For a Duo, Dodos’ Indie Prog Is Ambitious

The music of San Francisco band Dodos packs plenty of shifting time signatures, stylistically syncopated drumming, and a constantly growing technical savvy in its music, but don’t even think of labeling this duo as math rock. If anything, the band embodies the spirit of 1970s prog icons such as Yes…

Why Vinyl Subscription Services Are the Laziest Thing Ever

Love listening to music, but hate all the time and effort it takes to pick out something you like? Good news! There’s a burgeoning industry of vinyl subscription services, what they like to call “Netflix for record lovers,” making the rounds.The formerly arduous process of developing personal music taste –…

Sidney DeLorean Loves Dicks, Especially Marc Maron’s

You might say Sidney DeLorean has an obsessive personality. Part of that obsession just happens to be dicks. And standup comic Marc Maron. And neon pink hair. And dicks. Lots of dicks. What size dicks, you ask? Why, “Average Dicks,” of course, as DeLorean, a local rapper (who once was…

MarchFourth Marching Band Underwhelms at Crescent Ballroom

You know what sucks the most, as a huge fan of live music, about living in Phoenix? A lot of bands that come through here don’t bring their A-game, and MarchFourth Marching Band contributed to that tradition on Friday night. To be fair, the bands’ hands were tied a bit…

100 Places to Party in Metro Phoenix: Super Bowl Guide

Hey there, Phoenix! We’re rolling out the grassy green carpet in honor of the biggest event to hit town since – well, since the last Super Bowl rolled through. The 49th annual celebration of all things professional football promises to be the grandest yet, and Phoenix New Times has it…

Sunn Trio Crafts Cosmic Jazz in the Desert

Joel Robinson is a young man with a clear view of his heroes, artists like Sun Ra, Captain Beefheart, and the Meat Puppets, musicians who followed their own singular paths. As band leader of experimental jazz combo Sunn Trio, Robinson’s goals are lofty: music reflecting the desert and addressing no…

JMSN’s Pop Tendencies Found Their Way Out Eventually

When Christian Berishaj writes music, he disconnects. The iPhone is turned off, the e-mail and texts and phone calls reach an electronic dead end, and the Los Angeles-via-Detroit artist seeks out space. For now, that space is the North Hollywood apartment he rents, yet another place of his own he’s…

ISIS Apparently Likes Andrew Jackson Jihad. But Probably Not.

All evidence indicates that the hacker group calling themselves the Cyber Caliphate are amateurs. Their takedown of the U.S. military’s Central Command’s Twitter and YouTube accounts on Monday, followed by threats, leaked documents, only seemed to prove that the “jihadists” in question don’t even know their own name. Oh, but…

American Idol Star Jordin Sparks Announces New Album, Drops Mixtape

Remember that TV show American Idol, where people dissolve musical talent into a cutthroat Twitter tournament? Jordin Sparks (and Pepperidge Farms) remembers. The 24-year old Glendale singer took home the gold in 2007, and she’s kept busy ever since. Most recently, Sparks signed to a new label and released a…

Tempe’s Gilgongo Records Celebrates 10 Years of Underground Music

Gilgongo Records founder James Fella smiles mischievously as he pulls a record from a sleeve and puts it on the turntable. “This is incredible,” he says, dressed unassumingly in a button-down, blue jeans, and New Balances. The youthful-looking 32-year-old brushes his hair to the side as haunting sounds emit from…