MC Hammer Is Working All the Angles

All right. Who the fuck let MC Hammer back on the stage? That’s right, he’s back. He’s breakdancing. He’s writing albums. He’s starting up Internet ventures. Hell, he’s even tweeting. I suppose we’re all to blame. The man has been trying to claw his way out of bankruptcy for almost…

Seven Nights of DJs & Dancing

THURSDAY 19 AZ/88: Mark 5 (rare groove, trip-hop) Bobby Q’s: All-Star Thursdays (hip-hop) Bomberos: Rani G., dk.stricker, & more (lounge, house) Club Red: The Blunt Club with Crown City Rockers, Pickster, & DJ Element (hip-hop) Hanny’s: William Fucking Reed (various) Margarita Rocks: DJ Mr. Eaton (Top 40) Myst: Twist Thursdays…

Dierks Bentley

Dierks Bentley knows where his bread is buttered, which is why the country superstar’s upcoming benefit concert at Tempe Marketplace has a Harley-and-highway theme and not, say, a redecorate-your-loft theme. “Miles & Music for Kids” will offer fellow road warriors the opportunity to cruise from Cave Creek to Tempe with…

Pete Yorn

You can’t blame Pete Yorn for wanting to cut an album with Scarlett Johansson. After all, the Match Point actress is freakin’ hot. Still, that doesn’t mitigate the fact that Yorn cut an album with Scarlett Johansson. What’s the big deal? Well, imagine if Michael Chabon agreed to co-author a…

CenPho.tv One-Year Anniversary Bash

Whether it’s music, news, or the arts, when you want the best roundup of everything going on in downtown Phoenix (and only downtown Phoenix) you go to CenPho.tv. But when you want to actually hear the best music from downtown Phoenix? Well, you go to the CenPho.tv One-Year Anniversary Bash…

Polka Dot Dot

In a way it seems appropriate that the second full-length album from Polka Dot Dot is entitled Syzygy, a term used to describe the alignment of three or more celestial bodies in the same gravitational system along a line. If you were feeling sufficiently poetic, you could say that was…

Hatebreed

If Jamey Jasta, Hatebreed frontman and former host of MTV’s Headbangers Ball, ever gets sick of the music biz, the dude could probably make a decent living as a motivational speaker. Take the lyrics from “In Ashes They Shall Reap,” a song from his long-running hardcore band’s new self-titled album:…

Axis/Radius 12-Year Anniversary

With all the Scottsdale nightspots that have closed for business in the previous 12 months (SIX, Pink Taco, Mickey’s, etc.), it’s kinda unique to pimp a place that’s managed to survive the triple threat of economic upheaval, tougher DUI laws, and the ever-fickle whims of clubgoers and scenesters. The folks…

23 West Schedules January 1 Grand Opening

Rodney Hu’s much anticipated all-ages joint 23 West, which is located next door to the Yucca Tap Room, has scheduled a grand opening celebration on Friday, January 1. According to the Web site for Valley concert promoter Mantooth Grooup, who are partnering with Hu to run the venue, Chicago hardcore…

College Times Wades In To “Ovah” Controversy

Last week’s issue of College Times features an interview with Kimber Lanning where the Modified Arts owner talks a bit about her plans for the future and a little about the controversy surrounding my “Downtown is Ovah” column (and my followups) on the subject: College Times: Martin Cizmar from the…

Tucson Home To America’s Best Yodeler

As I told you last week, Arizona is (apparently) a hotbed of competitive yodeling. Now we’ve got some (proverbial) hardware for the trophy room: Tucson’s 17-year-old entrant, Tiffany Jo Allen, bested our boy from the QC and another competitor to win the U.S. competition. Now, she’ll be featured on the…

Dfactor Does Kiss (Video)

Our good friend Dfactor, the blogger who runs Waved Rumor, has published a cool new  video of Kiss’ “See You Tonight,” in honor of next week’s show at Jobing.com Arena. Check it out above or read about it here. After seeing this, we’re also gonna ask him to come do…

Concert Review: The Swell Season at Mesa Arts Center

​By Lindsey Holder I’m not sure how many bands I saw last night. …maybe three-ish? The ticket said The Swell Season, but the show was more like The Swell Season, Glen Hansard, The Frames, and a combination of the three. I figured it would be fairly straightforward, with songs from…

Phoenix Indie Bowl 2009: Have You Signed Up Yet?

Having just e-mailed the PHXmusic.com team’s sign up sheet myself, I’m not really in a position to nag here, but I’ll tackle the task anyway: Have you signed up for this weekend’s indie bowl yet?The Psyko Steve sponsored venture, a tournament to benefit Local First Arizona, does draw pretty much…

Groove Candy Returns For One Night Only on November 25

If you’re one of those cats who’ve been Groove Candy since the hip-hop night went the way of Jam-Master Jay back in September, Karlie Hustle is gonna give y’all another lick. The Power 98.3 personality is reviving the event for one night only on Wednesday, November 25, in honor of…

Alvin Band, Mini T’s Side Project, Gets Love From Spike Jonze

I’m not sure if Rick Alvin Schaier counts as “local” since he was based in Southern Cali, and the Phoenix-associated band he drums for, Miniature Tigers, up and moved to New York City, but just in case anyone’s interested, his side project, Alvin Band, is making some noise. Spike Jonze’s…

Earthless, Iron Age, Baroness Coming To Clubhouse December 5

San Diego psychedelic hard rockers Earthless join their thrash metal Tee Pee Records labelmates Iron Age, and Georgia sludge metal act Baroness for a show at The Clubhouse on Saturday December 5. Should be one hard rocking show, as you can hear from the Mp3s below. Tickets here.Bullhead’s Psalm -…

Club Candids: Retro Hi-Fi at SideBar featuring Jojo Flores

Who says there’s nothing to do on a Sunday night? Well, to be fair, there wasn’t a whole lot going on. Thankfully the folks behind Retro Hi-Fi at Sidebar pulled out the big guns, in this case Montreal’s Jojo Flores. An internationally revered garage, deep house and Afro-Latin DJ, Flores…

Looking for a Laugh? The Backstreet Boys Have You Covered

I admit, I was a huge Backstreet Boys fan back in the day. I attended every concert, bought every CD, wore their T-shirt and wrote them fan mail. That’s why it saddens me that their latest music video, “Bigger,” made me laugh really hard, and not in a good way…

Phoenix Annual Parade of the Arts In Pictures

The ultra-eclectic Fifth Street in downtown Phoenix got even more coloful than usual as a flock of funky types gathered for freaktastic fete of epic proportions this past weekend.. First Friday? Nah, that ain’t for another couple weeks. It was the Phoenix Annual Parade of the Arts, a pulchitrudinous procession…