By Chris Gray It’s time to rank the best of what went around and came around again. BILLY JOEL The Stranger (Columbia/Legacy) As punk and disco exploded, the Piano Man’s deeply unhip 1978 breakthrough proved that top-shelf Broadway/Brill Building songwriting could still sell – and, occasionally, rock. “Scenes From an…
By Noah W. Bailey Picking the best folk and Americana records of the year isn’t nearly as hard as discarding those great records that just didn’t feel right stuck in the category. Releases by Calexico and DeVotchKa felt far too worldly to pigeonhole as folk or country, for instance, while…
This is the good stuff. Check the slideshow.So after a million different holiday functions (we come from a broken family – it tends to extend such celebrations), we needed something to break up the wholesome time. And with time running out for the long weekend, we decided to check out…
The mobile protesting pair of Erin Searle (left) and Kevin Sweet at the light rail’s Central Avenue and Roosevelt Street station. It’s not all sunshine and roses at crowded light rail stations today. Kevin Sweet and Erin Searle, a pair of college-aged sweethearts, are out protesting the fact the light…
Not sure how many more folks are headed out to the train today, but if you are steer clear on the eastern most stop. There are several thousand people there, all waiting in a looong line for their chance to take a ride on the Valley Metro’s first day of…
Are you still standing? Hell! That must mean you haven’t taken a trip on the Night Train, the ultimate pub crawl for the Phoenix Light Rail. We’ve spent the last month giving you one stop, one drink and one more reason to ride the light rail every day. Now that…
Show: Metallica at Jobing.com Arena on October 21Unlike Niki, I’m not much of a metalhead, but this should was truly brilliant. In fact, I found myself listening to Death Magnetic for weeks afterwards, and was fond of saying things like “I feel like I just discovered this new band… Metallica!…
Where: Stop #1, Montebello and 19th Avenue: Oz (1804 W. Bethany Home Road, a five-minute walk from the stop) Drink: Rolling Rock (or any other domestic beer) for $4-$4.50. Happy hour is from noon to 7 p.m. every day and includes discounts on well drinks, domestic beers, and draught beers…
By Julienne GageAmericans who still think of Latin music as mariachi bands and gyrating Ricky Martins and Shakiras might want to lend a closer ear to the genre. This country’s Hispanic population isn’t just growing, it’s growing more diverse. More and more unique musical styles are being gobbled up, and…
By Michael Roberts In 2008, independent rock returned to the underground, where it belongs. Given the grand catastrophe that is today’s record industry, most major-label executives don’t have the time or energy to convince music fans they might like something a little out of the ordinary. They’re too busy recycling…
It seems like just yesterday we were reminding you how bad the Eagles of Death Metal are live while praising The Hives for putting on one of the best shows of the year. Well, the band Axl Rose so memorably dubbed The Pigeons of Shit Metal are coming back in…
Valley hip hop act Golden Cousins – a project of members from the groups Golden Tung and Cousins of the Wize – released a new video for a song they penned for the Arizona Cardinals. The song, titled “We Do This Together,” is played often during halftime at the University…
It’s that time of year, the time when people trot out their list of what they see to be the top 10 albums of the year. I always enjoy this time of year, it’s a great way to catch up on any albums I may have overlooked, a good way…
Show: Bloc Party at The Marquee on Dec. 14After a terrible interview to advance the show, I wasn’t expecting Bloc Party singer Kele Okereke to have much verve on stage. Boy, was I wrong. The front man carried his British indie band through an exciting set at a packed Marquee…
Where: Four Kings Cocktail Lounge (5041 N. 19th Avenue, a two-minute walk from the stop) Drink: Rum & Coke for $2.75. There are daily drink specials, depending on the day of the week: Mondays – Rum, Tuesdays – Vodka, Wednesdays – Gin, and Thursdays – Brandy. Scene: The lounge tends…
By Randall RobertsAny knucklehead with DSL and a laptop can now make an electronic track. With a half hour of clicking and fiddling, you can sample enough cheesy beats and mashups to clog arteries from here to Berlin. Simple dropdown mouse maneuvers can transform electro tracks into progressive house tracks…
By Dan Leroy A couple of weeks ago, an expert on the Harry Potter series told an audience of high school kids how lucky they were to have this Big Shared Experience–these seven books and 41,000 words in common. What does Harry Potter have to do with hip-hop in 2008?…
Down AKA Kilo is scheduled to perform Friday at the Sets in Tempe. This weekend’s lineup of concerts isn’t exactly big on star power. Sure, there are few major names scheduled to perform in the Valley over the next two nights (including local superstars The Maine, Latin hip-hopper Down AKA…
Show: The Hives at The Marquee on Sept. 19.First, a correction on my review this evening. In panning Eagles of Death Metal – who truly were awful – I offhandedly dissed their new record, Heart On, which wasn’t out at the time and sure seemed bad based on what they…
Where: Stop #3, 7th Avenue and Camelback Road: Charlie’s (727 W. Camelback Road, a one-minute walk from the stop) Drink: $2 Cuervos, Coronas, and Goldschlaggers (on Tuesdays), $3 beer pitchers from 2 to 7 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays with $1 happy hour drinks from 7 to 9 p.m. Scene:…
THURSDAY 25 Club Red: The Blunt Club with Pickster Uno, DJ Element, & guests (hip-hop) Ruby Room: Phoenix Christmas Sol Party with DJ Johnny D. (eclectic, rarities) FRIDAY 26 Axis/Radius: AR Weekly (hip-hop, house) Homme: Party Foul! Fridays with Kevin the Makeout Bandit, Bigie, Epidemic, BC/AD, Craig Citizen, & more…
In just a few short days (December 27, to be exact), the Valley Metro will be running. With those electrified cables comes the chance to drink down Phoenix like never before. Yes, soon you’ll be able to get booze from Mesa to damn near Glendale without forcing a friend to…
