Bon Iver

The Office Finale and Five More Signs Your Indie Music Is Getting Old

Season 2 of the American version of The Office is my favorite TV show ever, and because I am a glutton for punishment, I've been using tonight's series finale mostly as an excuse to understand how old I and my tastes (and the DVDs I watched all those Jim and Pam moments on over and over) are getting ... More >>

Black Mountain's Stephen McBean Fronts a Lot of Bands, Is Influenced by Even More

Top Five Must-See Shows in Phoenix This Weekend: Merle Haggard, Modest Mouse, and More

Of all the things Merle Haggard and Sigur Rós have in common, this is perhaps the most important: They're both playing in Arizona on Friday. But that doesn't guarantee they'll end up in today's Top Five Must-See Shows in Phoenix This Weekend. Of course, if you're at Country Thunder this weekend, ... More >>

Billy Bragg: With Tooth & Nail The British Folk Singer Continues to Evoke Woody Guthrie

Once again, it's a sort of apprenticeship with Woody Guthrie that's drawn Billy Bragg into a new realm. Thirty years since his debut, the seven-song Life's a Riot with Spy Vs Spy, Bragg is back with a new album, Tooth & Nail, which came out Tuesday, March 18, on Cooking Vinyl. Bragg calls the albu ... More >>

Cold War Kids Headline New Times' Carnaval Electrico at Crescent Ballroom

Meet the New Times Carnaval Eléctrico Lineup: Cold War Kids, Hanni El Khatib, Mergence, and More

Following up last year's New Times Soundcheck, a two-day festival at Club Red in Tempe -- which featured performances by The Love Me Nots, Sugar Thieves, 2 Tone Lizard Kings, Jason Devore, The Insects, Crusher Sound System, and more -- was a serious task. But challenges are cool, right? Up on the S ... More >>

Sareena Dominguez Is Taking a Little "Me Time" Before Next Album

For someone not even old enough to drink, Sareena Dominguez sure has accomplished a lot: After signing to the River Jones Music label less than a year and half ago, she's played South by Southwest, released an album (her debut, Moonbeams), and starred in a music video of the same name, directed by L ... More >>

A Tale of Two Black Flags

The story of Orpheus and Eurydice, a myth originally told by the ancient Greeks but best-preserved in Western culture through the Roman poet Ovid, generally is interpreted as a cautionary tale about the perils of living in the past. Orpheus, a famous Greek bard, loses his wife to a snake bite, goes ... More >>

Top Five Must-See Shows This Weekend in Phoenix

Awesome 'ish alert: Drake and Riff Raff are collaborating. Yeah, totally. Along the same lines: It's the weekend, and all sorts of great shows are scheduled for Phoenix. We've gone ahead and rounded 'em up for you, including a broken-hearted industrial party at the Rogue, a night of experimental mu ... More >>

Grammy Awards 2013: Katy Clowns Bon Iver, Miguel Shows How It's Done, and Taylor Swift Dissed Her Ex

The Grammys are a huge night for music fans. While we tend to shake our head and wonder how some of these artists won (ie. "Album of the Year"), it's entertaining to watch the live performances and keep fingers crossed for our favorite artists. fun. won big last night, sweeping up the "Song of the Y ... More >>

Top Five Must-See Shows This Week

Yeah, yeah, yeah...we get it. Mondays suck (we've read Garfield). But it means the start of a new week, which means a bunch of killer shows in and around Phoenix. And here are a few of the coolest -- our top five must-see shows this week.

Walkmen, Crescent Ballroom, 9/16/12

See also: The Walkmen Can't Be Beat on Heaven (Q&A with Hamilton Leithauser) See also: The Full Walkmen @ Crescent Ballroom SlideshowThe Walkmen @ Crescent Ballroom| Sunday, September 16, 2012The Walkmen have always sounded worn. "Sometimes I'm just happy I'm older," singer Hamilton Leithauser belte ... More >>

The Gathering of the Juggalos 2012 Lineup Is Pretty Good. Really!

See also: Soulfly and Fear Factory to Play The Gathering of the Juggalos See also: Seven Awesome Things About The Gathering of the Juggalos 2011 See also: FBI Report Officially Classifies Juggalos a Hybrid Gang; Arizona Boasts "Strong Juggalo Presence" Okay guys, so hear me out. I.C.P.'s The Gather ... More >>

Five Summer Releases We're Excited About

To our extreme delight, there are quite a few artists that are dropping new music this year for the first time in a long time. We've been waiting seemingly forever for No Doubt's next album. Thankfully a few other artists didn't leave us hanging for as long. We've selected five albums you definitel ... More >>

Destroyer, Crescent Ballroom, 6/7/12

Destroyer and Sandro Perri Crescent Ballroom Thursday, May 7 See also: Destroyer Got Rejected By Jazz Festivals, Which Is Good for Pop Fans Speaking with Dan Bejar of Canadian indie rock band (or smooth jazz, or '80s pop, or Bowie- worshipping-street-poet rock -- the band was all of these at vari ... More >>

Sasquatch! 2012 Wrap-Up: Trivia for the Casual Observer

By Chris Kornelis Sasquatch! went down this past weekend in George, Washington, and our good friends at Seattle Weekly's Reverb blog were on hand to take it all in. Test your knowledge of the 2012 edition of the festival in this multiple-choice trivia test. For clues, check out Seattle Weekly's co ... More >>

Guns N' Roses at Comerica Theatre, 12/27/11

Guns N' Roses Comerica Theatre Tuesday, December 27 See also: Our complete Guns N' Roses and Sebastian Bach slideshow. Our interview with Guns N' Roses bassist Tommy Stinson. The line stretched around Comerica Theatre, and snaked all the way down Adams, placing us just across the street from t ... More >>

What Laura Says' Mitch Freedom on BobbyBrandNew, Crash Street Kids, and Terra Firma

Welcome to the latest installment of our weekly feature, Sound Off, in which Jason P. Woodbury is joined by a different guest each week to listen to and discuss three tracks from local Phoenix artists. If you would like your songs to be considered for future Sound Off columns, please email music@new ... More >>

Key Losers' Katty Davidson: "Phoenix Is Way Cooler than Portland, In a Lot of Ways."

​Though she didn't start playing music professionally until after she had moved away, Katy Davidson of Key Losers (formerly of Dear Nora) says that Phoenicians seem to be able to sense that she's a native. "It's a cool feeling," she says over the phone from Fun Fun Fun Fest, where she perfor ... More >>

I Wish It Would Rain -- 10 'Rain' Songs We Hope Inspire More Rain

​ So we finally got a little rain last night -- but if your car is still as dirty as mine from last week's haboob -- it wasn't nearly enough. I'm talking some serious monsoon action, the kind that lasts a few days.  Here's 10 songs that that will hopefully inspire Mother Nature to help us out ... More >>

Underground Cities on Songwriting, River Jones, and First Friday

www.reverbnation.com/undergroundcitiesUnderground Cities​Instrumental music is usually associated with background music. It's what you listen to when you need help relaxing, studying, working, meditating, or what have you. Chandler's Underground Cities break away from this stereotype by playing l ... More >>

Local Singer-Songwriter Hopes to Make Big Splash with First Friday Street Corner Performance

Brooks Hansen has big dreams and songs to sing.​Tonight is going to be a landmark event in the life of Tempe-based singer-songwriter Brooks Hansen. The shabbily dressed 26-year-old acoustic guitarist is planning an "epic" street corner performance near the intersection of Fifth and Roosevel ... More >>

10 Steps to Becoming the Next Indie Buzz Band

Arcade Fire​So, it's Saturday night and you are playing another show in front of an empty dive bar. You can't figure out why your Linkin Park tribute band hasn't become more successful. You've spent hours working on your bands MySpace page, you've worked hard to get your original stuff played o ... More >>

Obama Believes Bob Dylan to be Skeptical About White House Gig

​President Obama said Bob Dylan was skeptical about a recent performance at the White House, according to NME.Dylan did not ask for a meet and greet with Obama, nor did he ask to take a picture with the President or even rehearse at the White House before his show. Artists who are invited to perfo ... More >>

The National: High Violet

​As May starts to heat up here in the Valley, the new releases are following suit. Brooklyn rockers The National release their fifth album today, High Violet, to very lofty acclaim.Anything the band lays down these days seems to turn to gold. The National has indie rock by the balls, and High Viol ... More >>

St. Vincent to Return to the Valley in February

Annie Clark, better known as St. Vincent, will return to the Valley this February to play The Rhythm RoomIt's a good thing Annie Clark -- better known as St. Vincent --  is such a relentless touring machine. The Dallas-born, Brooklyn-bred singer/songwriter played a show in the Valley just this ... More >>

Stevie B, Lisa Lisa, and Debbie Deb – You’ve Gotta Love the State Fair’s Old School Jam

Old School Showdown

Stevie B, Lisa Lisa, and Debbie Deb – You’ve Gotta Love the State Fair’s Old School Jam

Q&A: Get Up Kids' Matt Pryor Talks Jumping Around, Playing Pop Music and the Emo Handbook

​ Any attempt on my part to play "rock critic" on this assignment would be complete bullshit. Few assignments have ever made me want to high five my inner fifteen-year-old more than a chance to interview Matt Pryor of The Get Up Kids, a band that dominated my Walkman in early high school. I'd spen ... More >>

Amy Winehouse Not Guilty, Jay-Z's Mayoral Campaign, Thom Yorke Writes for 'New Moon'

NME: Amy Winehouse found not guilty of assault NME: Jay-Z replaces Beastie Boys at All Points West Idolator: Jay-Z Enlists Kanye West And Rihanna For His Mayoral Campaign Idolator: Jordin Sparks Is Not Singing About Giving Head On Her New Record Pitchfork: Director: Thom Yorke Wrote New Song for New ... More >>

John Vanderslice

Bonnaroo, Summer of Sound, Transformers 2 Rave, and the Dub Show Tour Over the Weekend

Onstage at Bonnaroo Music Festival Bonnaroo kicked off Thursday with sets from, among others, Passion Pit and Those Darlins. Friday's acts included Al Green, the Beastie Boys, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Phoenix and Grizzly Bear. Saturday's sets included Bon Iver (with Justin Long and Drew Barrymore in the cro ... More >>

Austin City Limits Jumps on Festival Bandwagon, Announces Lineup

Austin City Limits: recycling this year's festival headliners so you don't have to The lineup for the 2009 Austin City Limits Music Festival has been announced and it is teeming with top-notch talent. The Beastie Boys, Pearl Jam and Dave Matthews Band round out the top slots of Outside Lands Lollapa ... More >>

M. Ward, Vetiver, Owen, and Sigur Ros are Just Some of What's Selling at Revolver Records

Mathew Ward and Zooey Deschanel (a.k.a. She & Him). We fully admit to our jealousy of Mathew Ward. Not only does the Portland guitarist have an obscene amount of talent (which he's demonstrated much over the past decade on seven separate full-length albums), Ward's collaborated musically with ... More >>