Jay-Z’s claim to being “The Best Rapper Alive” is delivered so flippantly it’s almost filler anymore. Certainly, there was a time after 2003’s The Black Album dropped that it’d have been indisputable to any serious fan of hip-hop music, but, in the years since, it’s become such a droning constant that…
It seems like almost everyone in Authority Zero have a side project or two going on these days. Case in point: Authority Zero guitarist Zach Vogel and bassist D.J. Farmer play in the party rock band R.A.D. According to the guys MySpace page, R.A.D. “has been around forever” and their goal…
Idolator: What Have You Done With Your CD Library? (If You’ve Done Anything With It?) NME: Obama: ‘I grew up on Michael Jackson’s music’ NME: Watch Bloc Party’s new video now – exclusive Pitchfork: Jesu + Isis = Greymachine Rolling Stone: Michael Jackson’s Neverland: What Should Happen to the Superstar’s…
There’s more to see and do this weekend than just staring at massive explosions of gunpowder in the sky while some Lee Greenwood anthem plays in the background. A lot more. Since you’ve got three straight days away from the salt mine, we’ve put together a planner of off-the-hook alternatives…
At last, the train we’ve wanted to ride is finally pulling up to the station, so to speak. METRO light rail is becoming a post-midnight express as of tomorrow with service offered until last call on weekend evenings. The trains will run approximately every 20 minutes until 2 a.m. when…
Good With Grenades will take a page from fellow popsters The Maine and appear at Desert Ridge’s Hot Topic Thursday, July 2. The local band, who are hot off performing at the New Times Summer of Sound pop show last week at the Tavern on Mill and have quickly built a steady fanbase…
Sometimes a show falls through the cracks that deserves more coverage in the ‘Nix. It’s no one’s fault in particular — it can be a tough task to be on top of every single noteworthy show that comes to The Valley. Such is the case for this Friday night as…
Stateside Presents has really been on a hot streak, poster-wise, of late. Their Deer Tick flier has caught my eye a few times, as has this one for last Monday’s Men show at Rhythm Room. This flier for We Shot The Moon was good enough to make me look up…
“Is Shane MacGowan still alive?” That’s the immediate reaction I got from a co-worker after informing them of the news that legendary Irish rock band the Pogues will be coming to Tempe’s Marquee Theatre on October 21. It’s not an unreasonable question, given MacGowan’s notorious penchant for drinkin’ and druggin’…
It’s hard to say exactly what Brooklyn-via-Providence alt-country band Deer Tick’s coolest claim to notoriety is: Hanging on NBC with Brian Williams, the undeniably fantastic cover to their debut album War Elephant (replete with enough girls and guns to make the late great Warren Zevon happy), associations with members of…
Beyoncé, a.k.a. Sasha Fierce, is everywhere these days. She co-starred in Obsessed, a thriller that didn’t last long in theater. She’s always in the entertainment mags, whether it’s for her sense of style or cozying up to her boo, Jay-Z. “If I Were a Boy,” “Single Ladies (Put a Ring…
Many have called Copeland a Christian rock band, but the group’s singer prefers to avoid the label. “I think that’s kind of a defective term,” Aaron Marsh has said. “It’s not our nature to have religious connotations. We are not a ministry band. We have some people in the band…
Since their debut in 2004, The Heartless have gone through more members than Jay-Z goes through white sneakers, Girl Talk goes through samples, or Bret Michaels goes through groupies. They lost their singer and drummer and have used a steady rotation of bass players. Now with a solid lineup —…
Unless you’re a hardcore EDM aficionado or crate-sifting turntable wizard, it’s likely you don’t know Adam Freeland from, er, Adam. Which is a shame, really, considering that the English-born DJ/producer was one of icons of the UK’s breakbeat scene in the mid-’90s, helping to pioneer the darker and dirtier sub-genre…
When a local band earns the chance to headline the Valley’s largest club, Tempe’s Marquee Theatre, it’s a big hint that the group is good enough to stand next to national acts. Though the show is promoting the band’s first album, I think it’s fair to say Joey Arroyo Band…
THURSDAY 2 American Junkie: DJ Josh Royal, & DJ RoleModel (Top 40, hip-hop, mash-ups) AZ/88: Mark 5 (rare groove, trip-hop) Bikini Lounge: INTOXICA! with DJ HFE (blues, R&B, rock, rarities, vintage) Bobby Q’s: All-Star Thursdays (hip-hop) Bunkhouse: DJ Doom (dance) Cherry Lounge: Scandalous Thursday with DJ Juan Rocha (house, electronica)…
If you take The Fader’s word for it, you pretty much have to see Abe Vigoda. In fact, if you take their word for it, you should probably stop listening to anything other than Abe Vigoda. The magazine’s editors have gone gaga for the band they dubbed “the lone practitioner…
It used to be so easy — so blessedly easy — to tell the difference between secular and Christian rock bands. The shrill U2 wanna-bes? Christian. The guys with the tattoos and dilated pupils? Secular. But that was yesterday. Somewhere along the line, these once-useful distinctions collapsed into each other…
Hell hath no fury like a New Age physician scorned. That’s what Sedona healer Reinalda de Souza wants the world to glean from the untimely demise of Michael Jackson. She especially wants the famous and wealthy individuals who beat a path to her door seeking a cure for their mental,…
Dear Jay, Can I call you Jay? Thanks. I heard you were coming to town and I just wanted to make a little public service announcement sharing my concerns about your latest high-profile celebrity feud. Up against NaS and The Game, you handled yourself well, and I think it’s fair…
NYC’s DJ Neil Armstrong is one lucky mofo. Not only does the dood get to spin the backbeats for Jay-Z as the hip-hop superstar’s official turntablist, he also got to hang with Obama during the inauguration and has been lauded in the pages of Rolling Stone, URB, and the recently-deceased…
Local folk standout Courtney Marie Andrews has made a song from her new album — which will be availible July 31. “The Buffalo and the Bird” is one of a few songs I really like on her sophomore effort, Painters Hand and Seventh Son, so be sure to check it…
