It’s hard to find Marissa Nadler’s style of folk music described without the word gothic also attached. Dark, brooding, delicate and lush, Nadler’s music can sound otherworldly, even as her piercingly beautiful vocals convey an emotional directness. On Strangers, Nadler’s seventh album and second for the more typically heavy and…
Stereotypically speaking, being a rapper from Chicago can carry a certain stigma. Gangsta rap is the assumption, supported by the fact that Chicago is one of the most violent cities in America. However, collectives like the Save Money Crew, formed by Joey Purp, Chance The Rapper and Vic Mensa, aren’t…
Injury Reserve — “Oh, Shit!!!” My only regret when compiling last year’s list of best local albums was that I accidentally overlooked Injury Reserve’s magnificent album Live From The Dentist Office, and it should have been toward the top. Injury Reserve has hinted to fans that the release for its second album, Floss, is…
Les Claypool has always done things, well, his way. Whether with Primus, his main band, or any number of side projects including the Fearless Flying Frog Brigade, Oysterhead (featuring Phish’s Trey Anastasio, though perhaps Claypool’s most accessible project), or Sausage, Claypool has always looked outside rock conventions for something a…
If ever there was a fan of vintage cool, it’s Tucker Woodbury. After all, many of the bars and nightspots that the local entrepreneur helped launch via his company Genuine Concepts – including Crescent Ballroom, Valley Bar, and the Little Woody – boast a certain throwback flair and vintage charm…
In Phoenix, the phrase “Warped Tour” brings to mind sweltering crowds, sweaty, dehydrated teenagers, and innumerable pop-punk bands. But for the Arizona-raised band The Maine, the Vans Warped Tour 2016 is a milestone. Guitarist Jared Monaco has seen the band through a number of Warped Tours. This one, he explained,…
It’s hard to believe today, but a slightly overweight, 40-something Jewish man in Buddy Holly glasses once dominated the Billboard 200 charts for weeks, selling more than a million copies of an album parodying songs by Sammy Davis Jr. and long-dead classical composers. Of course, this was in late 1963,…
BOO! Not trying to scare you. That’s just the name of Relentless Beats’ freshly announced party, which will bring the likes of Knife Party, Excision, Snails, NGHTMRE, Ghastly, G Jones, Wuki, and others to Rawhide in Chandler on Saturday, October 15. The festival is put on by Relentless Beats and Insomniac…
If you came across the pairing of Modest Mouse and Brand New and thought to yourself, “What an odd bill,” you’re right. The two bands don’t have a lot in common, and their fan bases barely overlap. The only similarity is that they experienced their peak popularity at about the…
If you’ve jumped on the Pokemon Go bandwagon, chances are you’ve picked your team and favorite Pokemon — but does your favorite Pokemon-type predict your favorite music style? Probably not, but we tried to see if it did anyways. And if we missed, think of these as suggestions to…
Suffering from a little cabin fever after spending all of your free time indoors lately? Can’t say we blame you, considering the average temperature outdoors is around 108 degrees these days. It might do you a bit of good to get out of the house, however, and we’ve got several…
“There’s no doubt that Jeff Hardy is extreme; he is very extreme.” – Jim Ross, Former WWE Commentator on Monday Night Raw It’s July 1, 2002, and Jeff Nero Hardy, 24, is standing atop a 15-foot steel ladder. The WWE title belt is dangling near his fingertips, just above the…
Korn pummeled a packed Ak-Chin Pavilion with hit after hit on Saturday night during a 14-song set that spanned their entire catalog. From opener “Right Now” the new metal pioneers reminded fans not only how important they have been to the metal scene over the years but that they haven’t lost…
Inspiration comes from many different places, the radio being one of them. While carousing around town in my hooptie the other day, the Notorious B.I.G./Puff Daddy/Mase 1997 classic “Mo Money, Mo Problems” came on over my speakers, much to my odd delight. After I was done singing Biggie’s verse word-for-word…
Juggalos are hilarious. All weekend long, if you could hear them over the boom of fireworks and horrorcore rap, Gathering attendees were dropping one-liners faster than a classic Simpsons episode. Not always intentionally, but still. So thanks for the laughs and the memories, ninjas. And here, without further ado, are…
I’ve been reading Donald Trump’s The Art of the Deal, which was ghostwritten by Tony Schwartz, who channels Trump’s daily deal-making in what is basically a window into the life of a more charmingly juvenile version of Gordon Gekko. I like this book a lot, if only because it reads…
Juggalos know how to hustle. At their annual Gathering, just about anything you could ever possibly need to have a good time, from drugs and booze to more, uh, creative fare, is available for purchase from wicked clowns advertising their wares via hand-lettered cardboard signs. Here’s a small sampling of…
Rob Zombie and the metalheads of Korn are headed to the Valley this weekend. So’s blues legend Robert Cray, R&B/pop star Meghan Trainor, grunge-era refugees Soul Asylum, and hip-hop icons EPMD, for that matter. Meanwhile, Japanese avant-garde metal band Boris will be coming to Crescent Ballroom to perform their 2005…
The last eight years have certainly been more than just a dream for Michael Fitzpatrick and his six-piece neo-soul indie pop group Fitz and the Tantrums. In that time, the band has grown from a festival favorite to bona fide superstars. But even with all their successes, their dynamic frontman,…
Mitchell Hillman listens to more local music than just about anyone in the Valley. He presents his picks for best new local music in his column, Right Hear, Right Now. Dogbreth – “Steeping” The release of Dogbreth’s new album Second Home is getting close. The newest preview track off the…
Of all the ways I thought I would be describing my first Gathering of the Juggalos, “like my first rave” was not on the short list. But after less than 24 hours among the fans of Insane Clown Posse, that’s how I’m feeling. It’s like I’ve traveled back in time…
Despite Steven Tyler’s own protestations that this is not a solo tour because he is performing with a fully integrated band called Loving Mary, it’s hard not to see his whole career trajectory of the last few years—from signing on to judge American Idol to writing a tell-all best-selling biography…
