Rachel Barton Pine Brings Metal Intensity to Classical Music

If pressed to come up with the metal version of classical music’s “Big Three”, Brahms, Beethoven, and Bach, violinist Rachel Barton Pine, a performer who’s well versed in both styles, has got it covered. “You can’t leave off Sabbath, because they were the first metal band from which everything derived,…

Lymbyc Systym: Post-Rockers Return to Phoenix with New Album

For their third album, Symbolyst, post-rock band Lymbyc Systym has come full circle, beginning and ending in the Valley of the Sun. After a tour through their former hometown, brothers Michael and Jared Bell began working on their latest record in January 2010 and three days after its release this…

Take Cover: The Captives Cover The Cure

See also: Take Cover: Fate of the Galaxies Cover The Cure Robert Smith is a weird dude– his disheveled hair and smeared red lipstick make his appearance as recognizable as his vocal style. It was only natural for Tom Laman, vocalist of The Captives to include some theatrics in his…

Walkmen, Crescent Ballroom, 9/16/12

See also: The Walkmen Can’t Be Beat on Heaven (Q&A with Hamilton Leithauser) See also: The Full Walkmen @ Crescent Ballroom SlideshowThe Walkmen @ Crescent Ballroom| Sunday, September 16, 2012The Walkmen have always sounded worn. “Sometimes I’m just happy I’m older,” singer Hamilton Leithauser belted on “We’ve Been Had,” from…

8 Kids More Metal Than You

See also: The Most Anticipated Heavy Metal Releases of the Fall See also: The 10 Hottest Chicks in Metal See also: Six Desert Metal Bands You Need to Hear See also: A Closer Look at KUPD’s MILF Contest 2012There are few things in this world that have the ability to…

Arturo Sandoval, Musical Instrument Museum, 9/14/12

Arturo Sandoval @ Musical Instrument Museum| 9/14/12It took all of eight minutes for jazz trumpeter Arturo Sandoval to lead his band into a driving Latin jazz tempo, one that would remain for most of the evening. Following slow warm-up featuring Sandoval and his keyboardist gently feeling out their instruments, Sandoval,…

Top Five Must-See Shows This Week

Yeah, yeah, yeah…we get it Mondays suck (we’ve read Garfield). But it means the start of a new week, which means a bunch of killer shows in and around Phoenix. And here are a few of the coolest, our top five must-see shows this week…

Krewella’s Yasmine Yousef on Their Stylish and Sexy-Sounding EDM

See also: Top Five Must-See Shows This Weekend In the comments section on the YouTube video for Krewella’s dubstep-heavy track “Killin’ It,” one clever wiseacre describes the Chicago-born electro-pop act as “2 Girls, One Drop.” It’s an unseemly bon mot, recalling one of the Interweb’s most infamously vile viral videos,…

Hydra Head Records: A Personal Recollection

Gary Copeland, courtesy of TorcheTorcheSee also: Packrat, Boyfrndz, and Feuding Fathers Help Make Math Rock Look Easy See also: Henry Rollins Won’t Tell You Who to Vote For (But He Really Thinks You Should Vote) See also: Keith Morris of OFF! On That Time The Band Got Arrested For Taking…

Los Amigos Invisibles, Crescent Ballroom, 9/13/12

See also: Los Amigos Invisibles Tried to Make a Pop RecordLos Amigos Invisibles and B-Side Players @ Crescent Ballroom | Thursday, September 13, 2012 The bleachers that cradle Crescent’s backwall were uncharacteristically vacant last night when Venezuela’s feisty funk fellas, Los Amigos Invisibles, breezed through town. I was one of…

Jeffrey Wiles, What Are You Listening To?

See also: Douglas Proce, What Are You Listening To? See also: Ryan Gaumont, What Are You Listening To? Jeffrey WilesThe stand-up comedian performs at the Hidden House in Phoenix Wednesday, September 26 at 9 p.m. When you put your key in the ignition and turn on the radio, what station…

DJ Filthy Flip on Why He’s A One Man Wolfpack

See also: Collective Chaos on Misconceptions About Scottsdale DJs See also: Pilots on Their Airplane Shtick, Harry Potter Obsession, and Busting Into the Local DJ SceneBy his own admission, Filthy Flip still has plenty a lot to learn about the world of EDM. The fresh-faced local DJ is a relatively…

10 Favorite Concerts of the Summer

See also: Top Five Must-See Shows This Weekend See also: Five Albums Every Man Should Have In His Bachelor Pad See also: 10 Black Pop Stars Who Should Go Country See also: Maynard James Keenan: These Are the End of DaysWe don’t want to jinx it, but a string of…

Swans and Xiu Xiu, Crescent Ballroom, 9/13/12

See also: Xiu Xiu’s Jamie Stewart: “Gnarly and Deep” See also: Swans’ Michael Gira Returns With The SeerSwans and Xiu Xiu @ Crescent Ballroom| Wednesday, September 12, 2012It was a night worth gutting one’s helpless past. Guys with goatees in the front row were pounding their fists on the stage;…

Blake Mills: Fiona Apple’s Guitarist Makes Killer Pop on His Own

Blake Mills isn’t a household name, but like classic sidemen of lore (David Lindley, Ry Cooder, Leon Russell), he’s makes an impact wherever he shows up. As a guitarist in Fiona Apple’s band (he’s performing with her on Tuesday, September 18, at Mesa Arts Center), Lucinda Williams, Cass McCombs, Billy…

Five Albums Every Man Should Have In His Bachelor Pad

For those who are really terrible in this life, I imagine a special hell: reality TV hell. This awful place will be populated by the combined casts of Jersey Shore and The Bachelor Pad, two of the most painful shows ever. Why would I want to watch a television show…

The Walkmen Can’t Be Beat on Heaven

See also: The Walkmen @ Clubhouse (2010)The Walkmen didn’t set out to write a “dad rock” album with their seventh album Heaven — though that’s exactly how the press received it. It doesn’t help that the record’s photos feature the band members surrounded by their kids and spouses, or that…