Bonnie Prince Billy

Top Five Must-See Shows in Phoenix This Week

Phoenix! It's our top five must-see shows this week.

Angel Olsen Doesn't Want to Sell You Anything but Her Music

Angel Olsen's Beautiful Folk Music Probably Won't Show Up in Car Commercials

Singer/songwriter Angel Olsen skipped out on SXSW 2013. Though she's hardly indignant about it, the industry showcase just doesn't speak to the sensibilities displayed on Olsen's gorgeous noir-folk Half Way Home, released by Bathetic Records in 2012. Those songs, like the wounded but sensual "Lonely ... More >>

J. Tillman Shakes Sad-Folkie Tag with Fear Fun

Five Great Lost Albums

By Mark Keresman Brian Eno was quoted as saying, "The first Velvet Underground album only sold 10,000 copies, but everyone who bought it formed a band." Rock history is filled with bands and albums that were somewhat unappreciated in their time yet occupy an enviable (by some people, at any rate) ... More >>

Entrance Band, Amen Dunes, and Wooden Indian at Chasers, 5/1/12

Entrance Band, Amen Dunes, and Wooden Indian Chasers Bar and Night Club Tuesday, May 1, 2012 See also: Amen Dunes on Living a Million Musical Lives I'm sitting at a table with Paz Lenchantin a few hours before her heavy psych-blues outfit, Entrance Band, decimates the stage at Chasers in Scottsda ... More >>

10 Years Later, Andrew W.K.'s Debut Still Is Gloriously Baffling

The Man Wore Black: Five Awesome Johnny Cash Covers

​Johnny Cash died eight years ago today. Do you remember the first time you saw the video for "Hurt," the Nine Inch Nails song brilliantly interpreted by Johnny Cash on this album, American IV: When the Man Comes Around? I do. The song and accompanying Mark Romanek film are beautiful. You may ... More >>

Kid Rock and Sheryl Crow at Ashley Furniture HomeStore Pavilion, 8-5-11

Maria Vassett​Kid Rock and Sheryl CrowAshley Furniture HomeStore PavilionFriday, August 5On paper, Kid Rock and Sheryl Crow come off like a study in contrasts, some sort of "beauty and the beast" proposition. Crow has always been easy to like -- or at least hard to actively dislike. Her '90s hits ... 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 >>

Christopher Mansfield of Fences on Awkward Moments in Bed and Being Forever Bummed

Kyle JohnsonChristopher Mansfield of Fences​The incessantly morose Seattle band Fences is coming up fast. Their self-titled album was released at the end of September 2010, and ever since then the band has been popping up on a variety of you-oughta-know lists.Christopher Mansfield, the songwriter ... More >>

The Black Swans' Jerry DeCicca Talks Touring, Larry Jon Wilson, and Vermont

The Black Swans Jerry DeCicca with some black swans​ When preparing for an interview with a band I Google the hell out of them beforehand. In the case of Columbus, Ohio band The Black Swans, this task was a little more difficult than normal thanks to the movie Black Swan. In fact, when trying t ... More >>

Baby Dee: Win Tickets To Her Show Sunday at Trunk Space

​Not many acts more colorful than Baby Dee drop by Phoenix.Dee, sort of a cross between The Dresden Dolls (who she's toured with) and Joanna Newsom (just because of the harp), is a transgendered Clevelander-turned-New-Yorker-turned-Clevelander who really has no interest in talking about her life's ... More >>

What's Spinning: Radio Phoenix

Stroke: Songs for Chris Knox​New Times singled Radio Phoenix out in our annual Best Of Phoenix issue as the "Best Online Music Station That Should Be a Radio Station."Actually, in addition to being too-indie-for-the-airwaves the station spins a few things that aren't even topping the charts at the ... More >>

William Elliott Whitmore Stomps and Strums at Chyro, Crowd Goes (Literally) Crazy

Jonathan McNamaraWilliam Elliot Whitmore on stage at Chyro Arts.It's rare to see a fight at a Phoenix show. When that fight is between two girls standing outside a Scottsdale art gallery where they just witnessed a brilliant performance by a banjo-playing bluesman from Iowa? Well, that's just weird. ... More >>

Tempe Music Festival, Country Thunder, Bruce Springsteen and (Way) More Over the Weekend

Wait! Before you check out all the content from our weekend coverage, grab a big cup of coffee and relax. It was a big weekend and as such, there's a lot here. Take it in and enjoy it.  Tempe Music Fest 2009 This weekend Tempe Music Fest 2009 united us once again from scattered Valley citizenry t ... More >>

Bonnie Prince Billy Awes at Modified Arts

Bonnie Prince Billy (a.k.a. Will Oldham) doing what he does best. I've never seen Modified Arts as packed as it was last night during Will Oldham's performance as Bonnie Prince Billy. And it's no surprise why. More than 60 people jammed into the downtown Phoenix music venue to watch the iconic and ... More >>

Country Thunder 2009: Where My 'Necks At?

Watch out, another twisters a-comin! Damn, how I wish we were in that there V.I.P tent!I've spent the last year telling everyone who'll listen that Country Thunder is the premier music festival in Arizona. Whether you like country music or not, you should recognize that compared with any other festi ... More >>

Concert Calendar for This Weekend: Lou Reed, Bruce Springsteen, Leonard Cohen, Country Thunder, Tempe Music Fest, and Much More

Art PerryLou Reed and Laurie Anderson are scheduled to perform on Sunday at the Chandler Center for the Arts. If you're the type who bitches how nothing ever goes on in Phoenix, please feel free to grab a nice steaming cup of STFU. We've been referencing all week long on this very blog about how h ... More >>

Flier of the Week: The Yucca's Open Mic Night

This weekend is probably the biggest three days of music I can remember in my time in the Valley, with two multi-day festivals (Country Thunder and Tempe Music Fest) along with Bruce Springsteen, Lou Reed, Fall Out Boy, Leonard Cohen, Bonnie Prince Billy and Calexico all coming to town.Think you'll ... More >>

Amazon Trots out Their "100 Greatest Indie Rock Albums of All Time"

Amazon takes their shot at indie rock's 100 greatest albumsThe fine folks over at amazon.com decided that the time was ripe to assemble a list of the best indie rock albums of all time. Indie rock is a genre either really easy to define or kind of confusing to define, but that sentiment did not hol ... More >>

Flier of the Week: Danse Macabre

There's not a ton of live music in town this weekend -- especially compared to next weekend's musical bonanza of Country Thunder/Tempe Music Fest/Springsteen/Bonnie Prince Billy/Calexico/Leonard Cohen -- so this week's flier is for a dance night. Not just any Dance night though, as Benjamin Leatherm ... More >>

Cymbals Eat Guitars Explain Why There Are Mountains

Cover art by Raymond Garneau. Pretty interesting, if you ask me. What's that? You're not asking? Fine, then.Those wily whippersnappers over at Pitchfork have dubbed yet another indie buzz band with their "artist to watch" label. This time around it is Staten Island rockers Cymbals Eat Guitars, maste ... More >>

Bonnie 'Prince' Billy Sends Us The Worst Promo CD Ever

Bonnie "Prince" Billie's Beware: Do Not Buy This CDBefore today I really had nothing against Bonnie "Prince" Billy. Sure, his insistence on saying he plays "Appalachian post-punk solipsist" when he's clearly a fairly run-of-the-mill folkie is a little pompous, and I've always been a little skeptical ... More >>

Feb. 13 In Blogs: Porn Stars, Tom Morello, TeHaru and More

We understand that in the 24-hour news cycle it can be difficult to keep up. Worry not! We have the solution. Check back on Valley Fever every evening for highlights from each of New Times' blogs. Today's entries:Valley Fever: Mesa Teacher Accused of Molesting Junior High School Student Researcher ... More >>

Conor Oberst Is Coming to the Marquee on April 14

Conor Oberst, a.k.a. the guy from Bright Eyes I know my excitement about this show is going to give people a chance to give me shit, but fuck it: Conor Oberst and the Mystique Valley Band are coming to the Marquee on Tuesday, April 14. Already, you can feel the excitement building. Witness this conv ... More >>

Dan and the Deadhead

The music that moved Dan Wilson and Al Franken in '07

Israeli Gears

Monotonix bring licks with chutzpah

Pink Nasty

Mold the Gold
(self-released)

Dark Star Rising

Watch out for the undertow

Bonnie "Prince" Billy

The Letting Go
(Drag City/Caroline)

Magnolia Electric Company

Good and miserable

Top 10 selling CDs at Stinkweeds Record Exchange (1250 East Apache Boulevard in Tempe)

Chart-toppers for February 20 through 26

What's Selling

Top 10 selling CDs at Stinkweeds (1250 East Apache Boulevard in Tempe) for August 26 through September 1:

Gimme Shelter Again

The Green Room's Altamont 2 takes rock back into the bowels of hell