For Bloodshot Records’ 15th anniversary, or quinceañera, if you will, they’re throwing themselves a little party. So far, that party has stopped at 10 cities across these United States with plenty of BBQ, booze and tunes to satisfy the most nomadic and hungry of folk punks. At Tempe’s Sail Inn…
Wanda Jackson has been dubbed many titles, most of which are some play on “The Queen/First Lady of Rock/Rock n Roll/Rockabilly.” This year she finally got that official recognition when she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as an “Early Influence.” Last night, a 71-year-old Jackson…
It’s been something of a packed Saturday, what with Tour de Fat, the Tiki Throwdown, Oktoberfest, and various and sundry other weekend events happening around the Valley. If you’ve still got some energy and cash left, jump in your ride and head for Grand Avenue in downtown Phoenix, where the…
By now you’ve probably read music editor Martin Cizmar’s contentious column from this week’s issue regarding his opinion that “CenPho’s Music Scene is So Over” with the impending change to Modified Arts later this year and the opening of Rodney Hu’s 23 West venue.Like many others who’ve spoken out since…
You’re all a bunch of sexist pigs, and here’s why: One of our city’s esteemed professional sports franchises is scheduled to engage in a do-or-die final showdown for the big championship later tonight. It’s got all the makings of an action-packed, winner-take-all donnybrook that’s guaranteed to be filled with thrills…
The much talked about demise of Modified Arts as an indie rock venue has another twist: South Scottsdale’s The Rogue Bar is entering the fray by moving to a full-time live venue. Sadly, as part of that, DJ William “Fucking” Reed’s always wonderful Shake! dance night is going the way…
Electric Mustache: mp3: Tegan & Sara “Hell”Idolator: Jennifer Lopez Is Not Doing The Whole “Alter Ego” Thing All That WellNME: Guy Ritchie breaks silence on Madonna: ‘I still love her but she’s retarded’NME: Brian Wilson asked to finish incomplete George Gershwin compositionsPitchfork: Video: Nirvana: “School” (Live at Reading Festival 1992)Rolling…
By Frances Michelle Lopez It takes a brave person to release an album of covers. Sure, Rod Stewart’s “Great American Songbook” had some sweet old school jams, not to mention the nostalgic tracks off of the infamous Pop Goes Punk compilations, and the growing number of indie artists covering hip-hop…
[jump] Music sales have been in steady decline, in my opinion, since the week of March 21, 2000. It was on that Tuesday that ‘N Sync’s No Strings Attached was released, going on to sell 2.4 million — million — copies in it’s first week. No album has been able to come…
Thankful Birds have had some cool posters in the past — just check out this and this. Compared to those, actually, this is pretty tame. But, in a week of weak fliers this is distinctive enough to claim the prize for the jazzy Phoenix band. Looks like a pretty cool…
THURSDAY 8 AZ88: DJ Mark 5 (rare groove, trip-hop) Baja Tilly’s: Electric Thursdays with DJ Flair (Top 40, pop, hip-hop) Bananas Ranos: Hip-Hop Thursday with DJ Drey (hip-hop, Top 40) Blue Martini: DJ Mendez (Top 40, ’80s) Bobby Q’s: All-Star Thursdays (hip-hop) Bomberos: Rani G., dk.strickler, Deon Pearson, & Alkeme…
If you had asked me a month or two ago whether Tempe had any chance of re-establishing itself as the center of the local music scene, I would have said no. Actually, I probably would have said, “Hell no, dude. Are you fucking serious?” But that was before huge news…
Despite the inflated reputation of 1999’s Keep It Like a Secret, it’s obvious Built to Spill has never made the perfect Built to Spill record. If anything, the band’s Pavement-meets-Phish take on jammy indie rock is universally agreed to be best realized in concert, and has been remarkably consistent, though…
It’s reportedly gonna be colder than normal this weekend, which means you’ll definitely want to be somewhere hot. Slide over to the Venue of Scottsdale, 7117 East Third Avenue in Scottsdale, where things are probably gonna get a little toasty during Tropic on Friday, October 9. Hollywood’s Latin Prince and…
If rock required a caretaker for its creative flame, it could do a lot worse than Yo La Tengo singer/guitarist Ira Kaplan. The one-time rock critic and his crew possess an encyclopedic knowledge of the form (witness their annual covers-by-request pledge drive performances for Jersey’s WFMU), and they’ve developed such…
Sequels can be tricky to pull off. For every Terminator 2 and The Dark Knight, there are twice as many shitheaps like Caddyshack II and The Two Jakes. This axiom also extends to music, which is cluttered beyond measure with ill-advised follow-ups: For example, Woodstock ’99 never should have existed…
After a meteoric rise that brought them perilously close to the line that separates buzz from hype, Vivian Girls have followed up their self-titled debut album with another that seems to wisely dial things back just a little. That isn’t to say that Everything Goes Wrong is subdued or watered…
It’s pretty much always good news when any of the Wu-Tang Clan decides to show up in town, so Ghostface Killah’s upcoming appearance is probably worth checking out, if only out of prurient interest. He just dropped his latest album, Ghostdini: The Wizard of Poetry in Emerald City, which for…
If a pig-roastin’ rock show at Tempe’s most legit dive bar is what you’re in the market for, this is it, bro. In the parking lot of the venerable Yucca Tap Room, an entire (presumably, already dead) pig will be sacrificed (ya know, metaphorically speaking) to the party gods. The…
Hold on a second: It’s called the Atticus Tour, and the co-headliner is a band called Finch? Wow, that’s really precious. Maybe they’ll hire Scout Willis as a cage-dancer, or add melancholy indie-pop duo Harper Lee to the bill later on. Actually, let’s hope they don’t. Featuring the identical swept…
You’re a young, creative cat studying music at a university a few hours from your hometown. All in all, things are good and comfortable. But being comfortable is for people with finance degrees and not for a percussionist like you. You need a change, to get out there, but nothing…
They were one of the ’90s defining acts, spawning legions of bands in their wake. Sunny Day Real Estate’s arty, churning post-punk textures, led by Jeremy Enigk’s impassioned vocal croon, were instrumental in codifying the elements of emo’s first wave. Yet despite the resonant chord their music struck, the band…
