Johnny Marr

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 >>

New Order - Coachella - April 13, 2013

New Order While over at the main stage the bulk of the Coachella crowd was enduring Phoenix with the hope that Daft Punk would come out -- they instead got R. Kelly -- a smaller but perhaps-more-enthusiastic crowd got a first-rate greatest hits set from New Order last night. See also: Doing Drugs ... More >>

Modest Mouse @ Crescent Ballroom

Billy Bragg, Crescent Ballroom, 3/26/13

Billy Bragg @ Crescent Ballroom|3/26/13For his first-ever Phoenix show, Billy Bragg gave his all, of all of his sides -- the young punk firebrand, the activist, the lover, the Woody Guthrie acolyte, the folk malcontent, and the Bard of Barking hawking his new album. Though the new record, Tooth & ... More >>

Stop Hating on the 2013 Coachella Lineup

Each year, like many of you, I impatiently wait for the Coachella lineup to be announced. Sometimes it's disappointing (if Daft Punk says they're not touring, chances are they're not playing the festival), but there's always going be a few redeeming artists. At best the lineup will be amazing, and i ... 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 >>

Coachella's "Bloom" Video: WTF Does it Mean?

Yesterday afternoon, the home page of the Coachella website changed to a video called "Bloom," which shows plants and art exhibits sprouting from the ground. Some look pretty creepy--did those worm/slug things 30 seconds into the video really just form a structure? At least the rest are fairly cute ... More >>

Who Is Really Playing Coachella This Year?

Historically, the Coachella line up has always been announced in January. That means the official line up should be announced any day now, along with some artists that will hopefully make their way to Phoenix between dates. There have been a number of fake posters circling the net-- some credible a ... More >>

Robyn Hitchcock's Strange World Is a Tuneful Place

Robyn Hitchcock Talks Tomatoes and Psychedelic Pop

Speaking with Robyn Hitchcock back in 1996, the conversation quickly diverged from music to the difficulties of growing tomatoes at high-elevation. It was not his issue, but mine, as he lives in England where growing tomatoes is much easier, and I was in Colorado. Still, that conversation made it cl ... More >>

Goldenboy's Shon Sullivan Talks Phoenix and Elliott Smith

The New Familiar is more than just the name of the forthcoming album from L.A.-based Goldenboy. It's an aesthetic, says songwriter Shon Sulllivan, whose resume includes work with Elliott Smith, Spain, The Eels, The Watson Twins, The Rentals, and more. "People always ask us, what do you sound like? ... More >>

Flashback Friday: The Smiths, A Soundtrack to Awkward '80s Dance Moves

Where we're going, we don't need roads; just a synthesizer, eyeliner, and a touch of androgyny. Welcome to Flashback Friday. Los Angeles-based rockers Ozomatli reminded me of a cold hard fact at last month's McDowell Mountain Music Festival; if you're a Latino, particularly a Chicano like myself, y ... More >>

Unite and Take Over Vol. 2: More Stories Inspired By the Songs of The Smiths

Unite and Take Over Vol. 2, Record Store Day variant cover by Jason Pedersen​One of our favorite Kickstarter success stories was last year's Unite and Take Over, a graphic collection of songs inspired by the lyrics of The Smiths. Editor and writer Shawn Demumbrum took to the crowd-funding s ... More >>

Otro Mundo Featured in NME's 100 New Bands You Have to Hear in 2012

British tabloid NME has a penchant for overstating it -- you know, a new "savoir of rock" every couple weeks -- but they're right on the money with this one: the January 7 issue of the magazine spotlights Phoenix-based Otro Mundo as one of the 100 New Bands You Have to Hear in 2012. The Otro Mundo ... More >>

First Ever Twitter Cover Band Created

​A group called Tw1tterband (@tw1tterband) has become the first Twitter music group, according to Paste.The project began when an Englishman named Richard Newman decided to reach out for singers, musicians and producers via Twitter to make a cover song together in honor of his two year Twitter ann ... More >>

Goldenboy's Shon Sullivan on Bisbee, Johnny Marr and South by Southwest

​Shon Sullivan has collaborated with Elliott Smith, Johnny Marr, The Eels, The Watson Twins, and Neil Finn over the years. Sullivan started playing solo acoustic music between Elliott Smith and Eels tours and dubbed his band Goldenboy after a nickname Smith gave him.Three albums later, Goldenboy i ... More >>

Feb. 17 In Blogs: The Oatmeal, J.D. Stooks, Raspados, and Jeff Flake

​​​In the 24-hour news cycle, it can be difficult to keep up. We have the solution. Check back on Valley Fever every evening for highlights from each of New Times' blogs. Today's entries:

MGMT Drummer Gets Hit With Jar of Piss, Refuses to Return to Stage UPDATE

​Move aside, angry pigeons -- piss is the new birdshit. In a story that seems too good to be true, MGMT drummer Will Berman was hit in the chest by a glass full of urine during a gig at the Manchester Apollo Sunday night. The band was in the middle of the song "The Handshake," from their admittedl ... More >>

New Bob Dylan Video, The Swell Season Live, Slayer/Megadeth Tour

Electric Mustache: Video: Black Carl @ ModifestIdolator: Katharine McPhee Covers A Christmas ClassicNME: The Cribs announce first North American tour with Johnny MarrPitchfork: Video: Bob Dylan: "Must Be Santa"Rolling Stone: Live at Rolling Stone: The Swell Season Play "Strict Joy" TunesSpin: Slaye ... More >>

Neil Finn, family and friends make melodious music for poverty relief on 7 Worlds Collide

Frenz.comSinger/songwriter Neil Finn gathered family and friends in his native New Zealand to create and record a double album in three weeks.​ A sage singer/songwriter named Willie Nelson once extolled the joys of "making music with my friends" and a younger, but perhaps no less sage, singe ... More >>

Modest Mouse

The Top 10 Reissues of 2008

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, ... More >>

Life After Morrissey

Former Smiths drummer is still alive and stickin'

Modest Mouse

We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank
(Sony)

Andy Rourke

Magic hands

Next Wave

The Wonder Stuff is back, with one finger raised for the Britpop it spawned

Billy Bragg

Must I Paint You a Picture? The Essential Billy Bragg (Rhino Records)

The Star Spangles

Bazooka!!! (Capitol Records)

It Ain't Good -- So What?

Sometimes, the best music is the stuff you wouldn't dream of praising in public

Canadian Smoke

With a new album, killer fashion and trendy referencing, Hot Hot Heat prepares to invade the hip U.S.

Still Ill

Forever Maladjusted, Morrissey hauls his musical baggage out on tour

Pet Shop Boys

Release (EMI)

Revved-Up Rock

The Black Rebel Motorcycle Club rides roughshod over today's guitar gods

Uncertain Smile

The The's Matt Johnson is back with a new record, a new label and something close to optimism

The The

Naked Self (Nothing)

JUICED UP AFTER A SPARKLING DEBUT, THE CRANBERRIES ARE TRYING NOT TO GET BOGGED DOWN