Old Testament

BLESSEDBETHYNAME stirs up the scene with industrial-strength spectacle

Comments (0) By Gilbert Garcia Thursday, May 7 1998

Sad Song: At press time, Soundcheck had learned that Brad Singer, owner of Zia Record Exchange and Epiphany Records, had died on Sunday, May 3, at Tempe's St. Luke's Hospital of complications from lupus. On April 28, Singer was rushed to the hospital after collapsing at home. Both his kidneys and liver had failed, and he was in a coma for five days until his death.

Ballot Box Tops: The ballot results are in for the New Times Music Awards, and here's what they look like: In the Modern Rock category, the winner is Jesus Chrysler Supercar; in Country/Americana, it's Keltic Cowboys; Funked-Up is Fred Green; Latin is Barrio Latino; Hip-Hop is Cousins of the Wize; Punk is Hillbilly Devilspeak; Reggae/Ska is Kongo Shock; Club DJ is Radar; Hard Rock/Metal is Zig Zag Black; Jazz is Blues Ratio; Industrial is Victims in Ecstasy; Blues is Sistah Blue. The band voted Most Likely to Make It Big is Sistah Blue.

Congrats to all the winners, whose awards were to be presented at Gibson's on May 6. For those who didn't come out on top, I would say, at the risk of extreme hokiness, that the old Hot Chocolate song title does apply: "Everyone's a Winner." I don't normally make it my habit to quote relics from the disco era, but the music awards showcase really is meant to celebrate the best in local music, and that applies to everyone who performed, regardless of the voting tallies.

Moon Walk: Sleepwalker celebrates the release of its debut CD on Saturday, May 9, at Nita's Hideaway in Tempe. The band, a long-running side project that includes Jon Rauhouse of Grievous Angels, tends to play about once a year, but that activity might step up with the release of the new CD, titled The Man in the Moon. Gloritone--whose new Kneeling Elephant album was released to local stores on May 5, though it won't break nationally until June 30--will headline the show.

--Gilbert Garcia

Contact Gilbert Garcia at his online address: ggarcia@newtimes.com