Hot Chip

The Best of Coachella 2013 Week Two

The Visual Stimulations for People Who Were High Coachella's art installations -- the ones designed to impress you while you're high, a.k.a. all of them -- were particularly impressive this year. There was the Tesla coil, the crane that was formerly a flower but now a praying mantis, the giant fluor ... More >>

Was Coachella 2013 Worth The Drive From Phoenix?

If you went to Coachella last weekend, you're probably still sunburned, dehydrated, and physically exhausted. Sleeping in your own bed is a glorious feeling after camping out or crashing on a friend's hotel room floor, but some aches and pains are bound to persist. Fortunately, if you had a good-en ... More >>

Ricky Brindley, What Are You Listening To?

Ricky Brindley Brindley performs with sketch comedy troupe Bully Mammoth tonight at the Tempe Center for the Arts at 8 p.m. For more information, go here. When you put your key in the ignition and turn on the radio, what station would play right now? The station that plays my iPod or 91.5-FM (NPR ... More >>

Coachella 2013 Official Lineup is Posted

The wait, as they say, is finally over. You can cease all the speculation of who the hell is officially playing this year's Coachella as Goldenvoice unveiled the lineup in grand fashion. See also: -Who Is Really Playing Coachella This Year? -The Rolling Stones Aren't Playing Coachella, but Some ... 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.

Passion Pit: The Electropop Band is "Doing A Lot Better" After Drama Earlier This Year

Massachusetts' electropop outfit Passion Pit got fans moving with its full-length debut, Manners, in 2009. The group followed it up this year, with Gossamer, full of the same catchy synth tones, but with much darker undertones. Songs like "I'll be Alright" provides a glimpse into songwriter Michael ... More >>

Songwriter Michelle Blades Walks a Tightrope

S.S. Coachella Cruise Lineup Announced Featuring Pulp, Girl Talk, Z-Trip, and More

See also: Z-Trip Talks Growing Up in Phoenix, Johhny D., Crate-Digging, Mexican Food, Smite, and More See also: Up on the Sun's Coachella 2012 Coverage Goldenvoice promised an announcement at 6 p.m. today, but looks like someone jumped the gun: Get ready for the S.S. Coachella cruise, which takes a ... More >>

Treasure MammaL's "Real Talk Diaries" Chapter Three

See also: Treasure MammaL's "The Real Talk Diaries: The Road to SXSW" Fort Stockton is one of those small towns that takes you completely by surprise with its personality as you drive through it. The kind of place that makes road trips special. We drive out of town and toward Lyndon B. Johnson's ... More >>

The Worst Moments from SXSW 2012

The last few days, Village Voice Media's indefatigable music staff has been regaling you with stories of the best from SXSW 2012. In the midst of these discoveries, we've been culling another list: the worst shit. The acts that ranged from huge bore-fests to downright lame. Below, you'll find our cr ... More >>

The Best of SXSW Music: Friday 3/16/2012

If you're familiar with chaos theory, which in its basic form is the attempt to find patterns in the random acts of shit on Earth, then you may understand the difficulty that comes with describing a full day at SXSW. To break down the chaos, Village Voice Media's roving music editors have selected t ... More >>

Top 25 Lists of 13 New Times Contributors

The Top 10 Music Videos of 2010

​We've nearly got another year in the books, and with a great year came a great collection of fabulous music videos from musicians representing a wide variety of genres. So we're counting them down, in the far-too-usual fashion.The best part of this year end list?Kanye West is not #1.Crazy, I know ... More >>

Matt & Kim: Sidewalks

​Artist: Matt & KimTitle: SidewalksRelease date: November 2Label: FaderI suppose I should mention up front that I didn't like Tears for Fears in 1985 and I still don't 25 years later, even in a nostalgic sense. So it stands to reason that I have little use for Matt & Kim in 2010.It's not t ... More >>

The 88: The 88

​Artist: The 88Title: The 88 Release date: September 28 Label: Rocket ScienceWhat do you do if you're a band like The 88? You're top-flight songwriters and musicians, you get your songs placed in all kinds of big-name TV shows and high-profile TV commercials, you tour the country opening ... More >>

Warpaint: The Fool

​Artist: Warpaint Title: The Fool Release date: October 25 Label: Rough Trade The musical path taken by L.A. foursome Warpaint is well trodden -- but this kind of ultra-moody, sort of experimental, Joy Division-indebted music is usually plied by men. But Warpaint is a quartet of women, and in ... More >>

Screaming Females: Castle Talk

​Artist: Screaming Females Title: Castle Talk Release date: September 14 Label: Don Giovanni Back in the day, I'd hate to miss a good show (I'm still not happy that my parents wouldn't let me drive to Kalamazoo one Monday night to see Scratch Acid and Big Black play, ditto the time I couldn't ... More >>

Kings of Leon: Come Around Sundown

​Artist: Kings of LeonTitle: Come Around SundownRelease date: October 19Label: RCAI think it's funny that people are getting all bent out of shape over the supposed "selling out" of Kings of Leon, saying their new record sucks worse than that sucky one that sold a bajillion copies a few years ago. ... More >>

Grinderman: Grinderman 2

​Artist: GrindermanTitle: Grinderman 2Release date: September 14Label: Anti-Most of the indie rock I've heard this year (well over 200 records and counting, with 11 weeks to go in this series) is really pretty toothless. Even the harder-rocking stuff, with its big drums or wall-of-sound guitars or ... More >>

Borat to Play Freddie Mercury in Queen Movie

​British funnyman Sacha Baron Cohen, also known as Ali G, Borat and Bruno, is slated to play Freddie Mercury in an upcoming Queen biopic.As you can see, the resemblance means this isn't much of a stretch. But will Sacha Baron Cohen really make a good Freddie Mercury?I think so. That man can play s ... More >>

10 Most Bizarre Videos of the Year (So Far)

​Floating heads shooting lasers, machete wielding mad men, exploding gingers and Lady Gaga.You're probably asking yourself what all of these things have in common. If you said, 'things you see while dropping acid,' you aren't that far off. Actually, those scenes are just some of the oddball image ... More >>

Lollapalooza 2010: All Your Festivals Belong to GaGa

​ There are people who just don't like music festivals. It won't matter who's on the bill or whether the show is in the middle of the desert or the center of a city; they're just not interested in seeing bite-size sets crushed by an often bikini topped mob. Don't get me wrong, I understand. I hadn ... More >>

Odds 'n' Sods: Cowboy Junkies, Winnie Cooper, Grieves, Shelby Lynne, and more

​Holy crap, only five-plus months left of Nothing Not New. I gotta get to a lot more new(-ish) releases. Let's roll . . .Cowboy Junkies -- Remnin Park: Who knew these dour Canadians were even still around? Remnin Park is a concept album inspired the Timmins' family month-long sojourn to China. Out ... More >>

Authority Zero: Stories of Survival

​Artist: Authority ZeroTitle: Stories of SurvivalRelease date: June 22Label: Suburban NoizeI have a friend who's a native Phoenician and longtime fixture in the Valley punk scene, both as fan and musician. He loves West Coast punk, thinks Southern California spawned the best of the best punk, espe ... More >>

13 Must-Hear Songs from the First Half of 2010

Dum Dum Girls​Today marks the halfway point of Nothing Not New. That means I've listen to nearly 140 records in their entirety in the first six months of 2010. Just another 140 or so to go before I can retreat to the familiarity of my record collection.To recognize the occasion, the Up on the Sun ... More >>

Foals: Total Life Forever

​Artist: FoalsTitle: Total Life ForeverRelease date: June 22Label: Sub PopThough I disagree with a commenter on one of my posts this week (Shawn from excellent local music blog Electric Mustache) about the merits of electro-punk Sleigh Bells, I agree with him that S.B. are a band that you either l ... More >>

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers: Mojo

​Artist: Tom Petty and the HeartbreakersTitle: MojoRelease date: June 15Label: RepriseHow many of you have acts that you'd never call yourself a fan of, would never buy one of their records, or pay money to see in concert, yet recognize that the acts have been around for so long and written songs ... More >>

Odds 'n' Sods: Delta Spirit, Stereo Total, The Tallest Man on Earth, The Cringe, The Dig, and more

​Let's clear off the desk, shall we?Stereo Total: Baby Ouh! -- This band on the Kill Rock Stars label is a multi-lingual new-New Wave boy-girl band with songs sung in English, German, and French. It's quirky with a capital "Q" and not nearly as charming as it thinks it is. Still, most songs are un ... More >>

Band of Horses: Infinite Arms

​Artist: Band of HorsesTitle: Infinite ArmsRelease date: May 18Label: ColumbiaTake a look at the cover art to the right of these words. If you were browsing through the racks at your local record store, this cover is nearly all that you'd need to know about the new of Band of Horses.From the band ... More >>

Odds 'n' Sods: CocoRosie, Natalie Merchant, Disco Biscuits, The Sadies, Small Black, and more

​It's been a pretty big past two weeks for indie rock: Hold Steady, New Pornographers, Flying Lotus, The National, The Dead Weather. That's a lot of heavy-hitters. Meanwhile, some lower-profile stuff has been piling up on my desk, so it's time to give you a rundown of the other stuff I've been lis ... More >>

Male Bonding: Nothing Hurts

​Artist: Male BondingTitle: Nothing HurtsRelease date: May 11Label: Sub PopRemember all the buzz about Wavves last year? I thought they were just okay. Hopefully, their next record (slated for release this year) will be better. In the meantime, I'll be listening to the new record by Male Bonding, ... More >>

Flying Lotus: Cosmogramma

​Artist: Flying LotusTitle: CosmogrammaRelease date: May 3Label: Warp RecordsA while back, a reader posted a comment on one of my Nothing Not New posts asking why I continued to listen to electronic/laptop music even though I don't care for it all that much.Well, first of all, in the spirit of the ... More >>

An Open Letter To Coachella

How can such an idyllic scene be such an absolute nightmare? Selling 75,000 tickets is a start...​​​Dear Goldenvoice, Promoter of the Coachella Valley Arts & Music Festival,My name is Michael Lopez and I have been attending your festival for the past five years. In those past five years, I ... More >>

Growing: Pumps!

​Artist: GrowingTitle: Pumps!Release date: April 6Label: ViceNo less an authority than Pitchfork.com, the Bible of indie rock, declared the Brooklyn experimental group Growing to be "cruising music for Brian Eno fans." Better watch what you say, Pitchfork, or you're gonna have a lot of pissed-off ... More >>

Indie Music Fans Beg for Some Play on Phoenix NPR Station KJZZ 91.5, Get Smackdown from Music Director

KJZZThis is the woman who doesn't want you to hear Animal Collective on the radio.​There's an interesting facebook battle shaping up over the future of Phoenix's NPR affiliate, KJZZ 91.5.The instigator is a guy named Greg Ensell who likes to listen to . . . well, umm, pretty much what I listen to: ... More >>

What's Spinning: Radio Phoenix

Mumford & Sons.​Just because a radio station is labeled as a "community" station doesn't mean it's lacking coolness or in street cred.In fact, Radio Phoenix's top ten for the week are all indie rock favs at the moment, with the down-home rootsy folk stylings of Mumford & Sons coming out on ... More >>

She & Him: Volume 2

​Artist: She & HimTitle: Volume 2Release date: March 23Label: MergeMy editor has claimed this project a triumph for no other reason than I've chosen the new over the old -- sort of. See, I told Martin Cizmar a while back that I wanted to review tonight's Ray Davies concert. I love the Kinks. T ... More >>

Nothing Not New: I'm No Critic But I'm Also Not a Fan. I'm a Listener

What's Selling: Stinkweeds

​Stinkweeds has always been a haven for indie rockers and hipsters. They specialize in independent music in a way that few others do. While it seems like most of the kids jonesing for their fix of the lastest indie release head to Tempe, they also travel a little further west of ASU to Phoenix's S ... More >>

Sade and Other New Releases

​Sade has long been on the hook-up playlists of many, since the group debuted back in 1983. You know, light some candles, throw your stuffed animals off the bed and put on some smooth R&B stylings from the classic British group. Now the band is releasing their first album in 10 years, So ... More >>

2010's Most Anticipated Albums

2010 brings with it the hope of a new, much better decade chock full of impressive albums​Some of you may or may not have noticed that the 2000s, or aughts for the cool kids, was a pretty crappy decade. That sentiment is becoming more and more prevalent as we inch toward a brand new decade, and B ... More >>

Courtney Love Loses Custody, Chris Brown Stops Tweeting, New Hot Chip

Electric Mustache: Video: Hot Chip "One Life Stand"Idolator: Chris Brown's Last Tweet: "GOODBYE!!!!!!!"Idolator: Courtney Love Loses Custody of Frances BeanNME: Guns N' Roses' Axl Rose denies he denied paparazzi attackPitchfork: Erykah Badu Announces New AlbumRolling Stone: The Stooges, Genesis, ABB ... More >>

Passion Pit Is Coming To Clubhouse

​Passion Pit -- a band I regard as a poor man's Hot Chip but every girl I know seems to be crazy about -- is coming to The Clubhouse on Sunday, December 6. Like I said, this band, which was started by a guy writing songs for his girlfriend as a Valentine's Day present (no joke) does seem to have a ... More >>

Rihanna Announces Contributors, New Hot Chip Album, Vice Party in NYC

Electric Mustache: Awsomeness: Christopher Walken - "Poker Face"Idolator: Shakira Engages In Some Bedroom AcrobaticsNME: The Strokes' Nikolai Fraiture finishes 23,347th in New York MarathonPitchfork: Hot Chip Announce New AlbumRolling Stone: Rihanna Confirms Slash, Will.i.am, Young Jeezy Guest on " ... More >>

Is Chef Aaron Chamberlin’s St. Francis Holding Back?

New Hot Chip Only Available At Indie Stores

Hot Chip's "Ready For The Floor" is my favorite song of the moment, so I was interested to learn that the band's next project, an EP with Robert Wyatt and Geese is scheduled to come out on Jan. 27. If you want it, though, you're gonna have to go in to a (gasp!) record store.And not Target, either. A ... More >>

Let Them Eat Peachcake