Yeasayer

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 >>

Top Ten Finest Fashion Moments on the S.S. Coachella

By Liz Tracy Most of the people we met on the S.S. Coachella had never been on a cruise before. Like us, they weren't so sure what to pack or how to dress for three days of awkwardly saying hi to their favorite bands on a floating building at sea. But, like the festival, the fans also brought thei ... More >>

Is a Nirvana-Style Breakthrough Looming with '90s Revival?

Twin Shadow at Crescent Ballroom, 9/4/12

See also: Twin Shadow: Songwriter Trades in Gauzy New Wave Honesty See also: Download: Bogan Via's Sparkling, Pulsing "Kanye" See also: Take Cover: Bogan Via Covers Department of EaglesTwin Shadow and Bogan Via @ Crescent Ballroom| 9/4/12Twin Shadow played its first Phoenix show last night and the ... More >>

IAMWE's "So They Say," as Explained by the Band

​Isabelle "Bella" Vise is a simple lady. The 100-year-old from Torquay, England led an equally simple life -- well, simple for the time period in which came up. IAMWE drummer Josh Carlson met Bella while volunteering at a hospice. The two quickly became unexpected friends, and Carlson told his b ... More >>

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 >>

Neil Young: Le Noise

​Artist: Neil Young Title: Le Noise Release date: September 28 Label: Reprise Neil Young is a first-rate iconoclast and one of the few successful rock artists who has remained truly uncompromising throughout his long and storied career. Of course, uncompromising can result in inconsistency, ... More >>

Girl Talk: All Day

​Artist: Girl Talk Title: All Day Release date: November 15 Label: Illegal Art Whether sample-happy mash-up act Girl Talk is "good" or "not good" and whether you "like" or "dislike" Girl Talk are completely irrelevant to any discussion regarding Girl Talk. The only things I care about when it ... More >>

5 New Years Resolutions for the Phoenix Music Scene

She's a beaut, isn't she?​2010 sure was a fickle beast at times. A Kanye West album was top dog, a Canadian teenager ruled the world and a bunch of bands decided to boycott Arizona. But enough looking into the past, it's time to look towards a fresh, new 2011. What better way to get the juices flo ... More >>

Tierra del Fuego: Queen of the Rendezvous

​Artist: Tierra del Fuego Title: Queen of the Rendezvous Release date: December 11 Label: Scapular Winging Through pure happenstance, I witnessed this local band, Tierra del Fuego, on Saturday night play as they played to a small but appreciative crowd at Trunk Space. It just happened to be t ... More >>

DJ Roya Talks Obscura, Tron Legacy, Daft Punk, Temper Trap, Pussycat Dolls, and More

DJ Roya​Name: Michele Chinichian AKA: DJ Roya Current gigs: Obscura, held at Rips Bar every second Saturday of the month. Genres spun: I play a blend of indie, New Wave, and Britpop at Obscura. I also enjoy spinning '80s pop, old school, electro, and the occasional Top 40 guilty pleasure. How ... More >>

Odds 'n' Sods: Helmet, Michael Franti & Spearhead, The Charlatans, Small Black, and more

​It's amazing how much music is released in a year. I've listened to nearly 270 records in their entirety this year, yet I still have a huge stack of unlistened CDs on my desk, several unlistened digital downloads in my iTunes, and a lengthy list of high-profile stuff I never got a chance to h ... More >>

Mini Mansions: Mini Mansions

​Artist: Mini Mansions Title: Mini Mansions Release date: November 2 Label: Ipecac One of the biggest musical curveballs of the year has to be the debut record by the Southern California trio Mini Mansions. I say it's a curveball because I wouldn't have guessed such a Beatles-esque display o ... More >>

Sun City Girls: Funeral Mariachi

​Artist: Sun City Girls Title: Funeral Mariachi Release date: October 26 Label: Abduction Sun City Girls' last-ever record -- they've made dozens since forming in Phoenix way back in the early days of West Coast punk -- comes off as a more somber affair. And some of it is downright -- odd to ... More >>

Daft Punk: Tron Legacy (Original Soundtrack)

​Artist: Daft Punk Title: Tron Legacy (Original Soundtrack) Release date: December 7 Label: Walt Disney Records I'm a little surprised by the buzz surrounding the release of a soundtrack to a Disney movie. I understand that the kids love the helmeted French house duo Daft Punk and that said ... More >>

The Parting Gifts: Strychnine Dandelions

​Artist: The Parting Gifts Title: Strychnine Dandelions Release date: November 9 Label: In the Red Last week, I didn't have many good things to say about the new record from Kanye West. This morning, a white co-worker walked into my office and said, "I read what you said about Kanye West. Whe ... More >>

Kanye West: My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

​Artist: Kanye West Title: My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy Release date: November 22 Label: Roc-A-Fella Fitting, perhaps, that Kanye West's new record, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, is one of the final 15 or so new records that I'll be listening to before this Nothing Not New project t ... More >>

Sharon Van Etten: Epic

​Artist: Sharon Van Etten Title: Epic Release date: September 21 Label: Ba Da Bing! If you're relatively unknown as a musical artist, as is Sharon Van Etten, and you name your record Epic, you'd better be damn sure your record doesn't suck. The good news for Van Etten is that her seven-song r ... More >>

OFF!: First Four EPs

​Artist: OFF! Title: First Four EPs Release date: November 23 Label: Vice Records In 2010, few things seem more ridiculous than a punk supergroup anchored by two guys who made their most indelible marks on American punk rock nearly 30 years ago. But, damn, OFF! pulled off an unlikely feat, ma ... More >>

Robyn: Body Talk

​Artist: Robyn Title: Body Talk Release date: November 22 Label: Interscope The critics sure do love the Swedish dance-pop star Robyn, who's been releasing Body Talk in chunks throughout 2010 and now has finally dropped the entire album as one 15-song compendium. But there seems to be a commo ... More >>

The Fresh & Onlys: Play It Strange

Fresh & Onlys, Play It Strange​Artist: The Fresh & OnlysTitle: Play It StrangeRelease date: October 12Label: In the RedAnd just like that, I find myself a little bored by the sound plied and, possibly, perfected by San Francisco's The Fresh & Onlys. It's the sound that has passed for g ... More >>

Long Wong's Shadow: Concerning a Band Without a Name and the New Wong's

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 >>

Gospel Claws: C-L-A-W-S

​Artist: Gospel Claws Title: C-L-A-W-S Release date: October 26 Label: Common Wall Media Gospel Claws are a local band (Tempe, I've been told) that is currently enjoying a little bit of national exposure, residing in a reasonably high position on some relatively obscure indie-rock-tallying ch ... More >>

Elvis Costello: National Ransom

​Artist: Elvis Costello Title: National Ransom Release date: November 2 Label: Hear Music I really wish it weren't the case, but I'd have to file the new record by Elvis Costello under "For Completists Only" (of which I'm sure there many when it comes to Elvis Costello fans). If you heard hi ... 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 >>

Sufjan Stevens: The Age of Adz

​Artist: Sufjan Stevens Title: The Age of Adz Release date: October 21 Label: Asthmatic Kitty The new record by indie-music deity Sufjan Stevens is an hour-and-12-minute endurance test, one who's raison d'etre is revealed in the closing seconds of the record's final song, "Impossible Soul." A ... More >>

The Corin Tucker Band: 1,000 Years

​Artist: The Corin Tucker BandTitle: 1,000 YearsRelease date: October 5Label: Kill Rock Stars Who else loves Sleater-Kinney and was disappointed to hear they'd gone on indefinite hiatus after the release of one of their best records, The Woods, in 2006? In my opinion, we're one of the finer bands ... More >>

Caribou at The Clubhouse Last Night

thejitty.com​ CaribouClubhouse Music VenueOctober 9, 2010Canadian electronic act Caribou is essentially only one person, Dan Snaith. At least in the studio. When Snaith, who I was lucky enough to interview for this week's print edition hits the road, however, he is joined by bandmates.The question ... 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 >>

Top 10 Celebrity Cameos in Indie Rock Videos

These days, the lines between indie and mainstream music are difficult to pinpoint. With indie artists featured prominently in mainstream media (I'm looking at you, Twilight soundtrack), it's hard to see what makes indie music, well, indie. When you add celebrities to the mix, it becomes even more d ... More >>

Nothing Not New: Podcast #9

​Welcome to our latest podcast, in which Martin Cizmar and I play some new music and about it, too. On today's program, we discuss the merits of such bands as Wavves, Arcade Fire, The Budos Band, Jimmy Eat World, and local superstars Snake! Snake! Snakes!Here's the playlist:Jaill -- "The Stroller" ... 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 >>

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 >>

Devo: Something for Everybody

​Artist: DevoTitle: Something for EverybodyRelease date: June 15Label: Warner Bros.You may be asking yourself, "Why does Devo have a new record out?" Is it for the money? Doubtful, because how much money could they possibly make by releasing a major-label record in 2010? And, anyway, aren't these ... 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 >>

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 >>

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 >>

The New Pornographers: Together

​Artist: The New PornographersTitle: TogetherRelease date: May 4Label: MatadorFor me, the equation's always been real simple when it comes to the indie-pop group The New Pornographers: songs with Neko Case taking the vocal reins = yes; songs with the wanna-be British dude singing = maybe. Wel ... More >>

21 Questions: Jim Adkins

Jim Adkins at the canal trail near the BiltmoreWelcome to 21 Questions, a regular feature where PHXmusic.com goes to the favorite hangout of a notable Phoenician and asks the "big" questions. This week we met up with Jim Adkins of Jimmy Eat World at the trail along the canal that runs by the Arizona ... 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 >>

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 >>

This Just In: Brooklyn Has Own "Sound," Numerous Bands

Brooklyn has become a mecca of sorts for indie rock in the past decade, with numerous new bands emerging from its brownstone-lined streets​I was listening to Sirius XMU yesterday while driving with the air conditioning on, since it's a balmy November in the Valley. On came a song by new indie/psyc ... More >>

New Late Night TV Battles a Boon For Music Lovers

The Late Show, Tonight Show and Late Night all have impressive music acts this next weekFirst, let me just get it out there: I watch a bunch of TV. I love it, and though I know it deadens my intellectual abilities, I'm not quitting. So, take it from a junkie, late night TV -- with the recent additio ... More >>