Lee Hazlewood

Heartless Bastards: Songwriter Erika Wennerstorm Aims for "Clint Eastwood-meets-Nancy Sinatra" Sounds

Timberlake-style audacity aside, it takes some serious stones to open an album with a six-minute-plus slow burning anthem. But that's what Erika Wennerstrom does with "Marathon," the opening track of her band Texas-via-Ohio band Heartless Bastards' 2012 opus, Arrow. See also: -Questlove of The Ro ... More >>

Jimmy Webb, Musical Instrument Museum, 2/1/13

Jimmy Webb @ Musical Instrument Museum|2/1/13It's always interesting hearing an alternate version of a popular song. That's one of the appeals of live music. But that version is especially worthwhile when it's the original version by the original artist. Such is the case at a Jimmy Webb concert. A ... More >>

Top 10 Reissues and Compilations of 2012

2012 is at its end, and just like I did last year, I thought it would be good fun to try and recap the reissues and compilations I couldn't seem to get off my phonograph this year. So here they are: The 10 reissues and compilations I dug most in 2012. See also: - The 10 Most WTF Moments of 2012 - ... More >>

Meet Mexican Summer's Jess Rotter, Whose Art You've Probably Already Enjoyed

By Michael Alan Goldberg Jess Rotter truly racked up the frequent flyer miles this year. The long-time in-house publicist and marketing wiz for Brooklyn-based indie record label Mexican Summer practically lived in airplanes, repeatedly jetting out west and back to handle her duties repping Best Coa ... More >>

The Blasters vs. X: It's L.A. Circa '80 For The Yuletide Season

It's peculiarly fitting that these two punk trailblazers should arrive in town on the same night, because they've been inextricably bound together for more than 35 years since the beginnings of Los Angeles' punk underground. For one thing, they've endured, even though (or perhaps because) their me ... More >>

Nick Lowe, The Musical Instrument Museum, 10/1/12

Nick Lowe @ The Musical Instrument Museum|10/1/12If the tag "The Jesus of Cool" strikes you as hyperbolic or overblown, you've never watched 63-year-old Nick Lowe strut onto the stage, strap on his big Gibson J-200, and proceed to crack jokes and break hearts for 90 minutes. Lowe, with his easy En ... More >>

Lee Hazlewood Re-Issues Chart an Unexpected Trajectory

Lee Hazlewood's "Manager" Wyndham Wallace on the "Surreal and Offbeat" Songwriter

See also: Improbable Lee: Lee Hazlewood Re-Issues Chart an Unexpected Trajectory See also: John Dixon Discusses the Lee Hazlewood-produced "The Fool," by Sanford Clark, 1956 See also: 100 Songs That Defined Arizona In this week's issue, we cover the psychedelic trajectory that brought songwriter/pr ... More >>

Five Must-See Shows This Weekend

Curious what's going on around town this weekend? Need some suggestions as to how to rock, dance, or krump in the Valley of the Sun? Don't fret: These are our Five Shows to See This Weekend. Saturday, April 28: Ross Rocks! @ Hollywood Alley Hollywood Alley owner Ross Wincek has been an important f ... More >>

10 Record Store Day Exclusives You'll Have to Fight Me For

It's almost here: Record Store Day. The day the industry bands together and does its best to shine a light on the independent record stores that dot neighborhoods in cities all over the U.S. Now, I could take this opportunity to lecture about how music fans should treat normal days like Record Store ... More >>

Up on the Sun: The Podcast with Ron Livingston, Isaac Brock, Wanda Jackson, and More

In this week's issue of Phoenix New Times, we profiled Queens of Country, a new movie filmed on location in Cave Creek, Arizona, which debuts this weekend at the Phoenix Film Festival. In this episode UOTS: The Podcast, we speak with Ron Livingston (Office Space), who stars opposite of Lizzy Capla ... More >>

Musical Instrument Museum Debuts "I Am AZ Music" Exhibit

On Saturday, February 18, the Musical Instrument Museum debuted its "I Am AZ Music" exhibit, featuring over 40 installations that examine the scope and history of music in Arizona in celebration of the State's centennial. Reggae artist Walt Richardson performed, as well as psychedelic soul band What ... More >>

More on "The Fool" by Sanford Clark

"The Fool," Sanford Clark, 1956

Editor's Note: An abridged version of this article appears in this week's issue, featuring 100 Songs that Defined Arizona. In celebration of Arizona's centennial, John "Johnny D" Dixon, host of Mostly Vinyl with Johnny D on KWSS 106.7 and unofficial Arizona music historian, shares a little history a ... More >>

Light in the Attic Records and Rhino Handmade Team Up

Even with rumors rumbling that the Big Four (soon to be three?) will cease producing CDs at the end of 2012, Seattle-based label Light in the Attic has teamed with Rhino Handmade to help distribute ultra-deluxe compact discs. Turns out, certain people (collectors) still want some physical, musical p ... More >>

Metal Goes Pop: Five Examples of Doing It Right

​Yesterday our compatriots at Country Grind announced that heavy rockers Torche and Part Chimp will team for upcoming Chunklet-issued 12-inch record that finds Torche covering legendary lo-fi rockers Guided By Voices. Torche have always been a metal band unafraid to embrace big pop sounds, and th ... More >>

Eastbound & Down: 13 Killer Songs Featured in Season Two

"If at first you don't succeed then maybe you just suck."​ I hated Eastbound & Down when I first started watching it. The show's protagonist, Kenny Powers, portrayed by Danny McBride, was just so utterly unlikable. I couldn't get behind him, even as an anti-hero. He was just too racist, sexist ... More >>

Finding Nimoy: Examining the Unsung Musical Merits of the Man Who Played Spock

15 Good Songs You Might've Missed in 2010

Peter Storch​I listened to more than 3,000 songs in 2010, so I was asked to come up with a list of the best of the year. But you've probably heard "Swim" by Surfer Blood and "Boyfriend" by Best Coast and "Helicopter" by Deerhunter and "Hustle and Cuss" by the Dead Weather, so I came up with a ... More >>

Gospel Claws @ Sail Inn

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 >>

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 >>

Eels: End Times in "Nothing Not New"

Welcome to "Nothing Not New," a yearlong project in which New Times editorial operations manager Jay Bennett, a 40-year-old music fan and musician, will listen only to music released in 2010. Each Monday through Friday, he will listen to one new record (no best ofs, reissues, or concert re ... More >>

Top 10 of 2009: Jay Bennett

Up on the Sun is counting down the days until the unveiling of music editor Martin Cizmar's personal Best of 2009 list with some other lists from New Times' stable of excellent freelancers. Today, we bring you a list from Jay Bennett, New Times' editorial operations manager and a contributor to Up o ... More >>

So Many Madison Square Gardens, So Little Time

Summer Clubbin'

Ten nightspots that manage to keep patrons and bands cool

Steve Turner and His Bad Ideas

Steve Turner and His Bad Ideas
(Roslyn Recordings)

Nancy Sinatra

Nancy Sinatra
(Sanctuary Records)

Primal Scream

Evil Heat (Epic)

Guitar Man

Al Casey A Man for All Sessions (Bear Family)

Rebel Rouser

The recently rediscovered Lee Hazlewood finds his place among a new generation of fans

Oh Mercy

The Bob-Man cometh; the Bash on Ash gets Hotter Than Hell; DJ Z-Trip bids farewell to the Valley

In 'n' Out

The Gas Giants split; Jimmy Eat World lives up to its name; legends Hazlewood and Strummer return to the Valley

Retro No More

Singer-songwriter Neko Case and her musical pals bring country music out of the curio cabinet

Various Artists

The Gift (Will), You can Count on Me (Artemis/E-Squared), O Brother, Where Art Thou? (Mercury)

Tally How

Pregnant chads and butterfly ballots abound as we sort through the latest batch of local CD submissions

Servile or Survivor?

We find out which local CDs can pass our daunting challenge

Lee Hazlewood

13
(Smells Like Records)

Nancy Sinatra

Molten Wax

Molten Wax

A Song for You

The essential Gram Parsons discography

Rig and Roll

Flathead turns upside-down technique into a winning hybrid of raw country and roadhouse

Recordings

Songbird Rising

Live music in Phoenix is there if you want it -- whatever it is you want