The Rogue, south Scottsdale’s infamous punk rock bar, isn’t normally the sort of place you’re likely to see people bustin’ out dance moves. But lately it’s been known to happen, according to DJ William, host of the almost-two-months-old Shake! night on Saturdays. “It’s not really a dance night, but people…
As befits a band that’s a teen-culture purist’s dream, Ash spent part of the four years since its last album producing its own horror movie. Innocent of all things emo or artsy on its new album Meltdown, Tim Wheeler’s Belfast quartet rips through glam-casual anthems about clones, vampires and breath-stealing…
On its third studio album, Daft Punk lays on the irony as thickly as the distortion. Ditching the glittery nouveau-disco textures of 2001’s Discovery, the French duo renovates the gnarly crusts of tweaked noise that animated the best cuts on its debut disc, Homework. They loop absurdly rudimentary synth riffs…
By calling itself Robbers on High Street, this Brooklyn band dares you to guess its influences, and many of them are fairly obvious. There’s snarling guitar reminiscent of the Kinks, vocal harmonies inspired by the Beatles, and a lead singer who could double for the Zombies’ crooner Colin Blunstone. What’s…
Back with thicker bounce and deeper funk than 2003’s brittle Bazooka Tooth, NYC MC Aesop Rock takes a step toward his musical origins while backpacking ever closer to the perfect flow. Rock’s loopy, wide-mouth baritone is easily one of the most recognizable voices in hip-hop, and its near-manic intensity is…
With its previous albums, Thievery Corporation’s adoration for the cocktail lounge could wear thin. But The Cosmic Game embraces a broader song-based collection, buoyed by outside vocalists both familiar and exotic. And Rob Garza and Eric Hilton make the most of their A-list guests. “Marching the Hate Machines (Into the…
Tegan Quin is happy to set the record straight about some things that have been written about her and her sister Sara. Their band, Tegan and Sara, is really a five-piece, not just a duo. Being identical twins does not make them one entity. Their sexuality is a non-issue because…
Tommy Lee’s first tattoo was of Mighty Mouse, a small, gaudy rendering of the pocket-size superhero bursting through a bass drum with sticks in his hands. Back in his early 20s, Lee identified with the cartoon underdog because he was one himself: With scrawny ostrich legs set against a pile…
John Nelson, 48, renowned outsider artist, creates primitive acrylic and collage-on-wood-panel works inspired by puns and word play that strike his fancy. Nelson’s new show, “VACANCY (at the Madson Hotel),” is a collaboration with writer Eric Susser about a metaphorical transient hotel where sad, sick people (representing you and me…
You shouldn’t know from Sunday morning AM radio — with maybe one exception. Too Jewish With Rabbi Sam Cohon and Friends, which debuted here last month, is fast becoming a guilty pleasure among Jews and gentiles alike. The 3-year-old Tucson-based program, which can be heard Sunday mornings at 7 on…
About one week out of major abdomen surgery, it starts. Not the pain, or my clock-watching hours of when I could take my next pain pill. No, that would have been easy. A week after they gutted me like a pig, Nick, my visiting 74-year-old stepdad, starts in with the…
Mesa Republican Representative Russell Pearce, co-chairman of the powerful Arizona House Appropriations Committee, is launching a pitched assault on the First Amendment to the Constitution. Pearce, a member of the Salt Lake City-based Mormon Church, put language in this year’s state budget bill to eliminate funding for campus publications in…
Three years ago, Bill Tonnesen self-published a book announcing his plans to become one of the top modern artists in the world. The undisputed giants of the field were Richard Serra and James Turrell, he wrote. “Then I thought, there would be me.” At the time, Tonnesen wasn’t just little-known…
THU 17 Believe it or not, we capitalist pigs get it right once in a while. For example: a little thing called electricity, the assembly line, and, uh, belly-dancing. True, belly-dancing was originally a gift from the Turks, but it took American innovation in the form of Hollywood know-how to…
Thursday 17 Acme Roadhouse: College Night with DJ J. Alan (Top 40) Ain’t Nobody’s Bizness: DJ Suzy (hip-hop, dance) Anderson’s Fifth Estate: Area 51 with AKA (gothic, industrial) Axis/Radius: DJ MCB (hip-hop, dance) Coyote Hill Bar & Grill: Local DJs (all genres) Craiger’s Restaurant & Lounge: DJ Hollywood (dance) Dos…
1. Jack Johnson, In Between Dreams (Universal) 2. The Mars Volta, Frances the Mute (Universal) 3. 50 Cent, The Massacre (Aftermath) 4. Death Cab for Cutie, The John Byrd EP (Barsuk Records) 5. Living Legends, Classic (Legendary Music) 6. RZA and Keb Darge, Kings of Funk (Rapster) 7. Gratitude, Gratitude…
If you think this is a reunion of the U.K. Mono-monikered band that won trip-hop infamy with Formica Blues in the ’90s, forget it. But don’t expect to be disappointed — this altogether different Mono is an instrumental band from Tokyo that’s heavily influenced by Mogwai and Godspeed. And who…
Sometimes, the early band on the bill is the one worth your dollars. Last year, when that glorified ’80s tribute band The Killers rode the success of their debut record, Ambulance Ltd. opened for them, promoting a far superior rookie effort. Without a sexy marketing hook to guide them, these…
Woe to hip-hop. Sometime in the past year, mainstream MCs became so venal that you don’t so much listen to them as vicariously experience their bloat of self-importance. Meanwhile, a once-hot underground got colonized just enough to lose its thunder, blurring the line to the point that DJ Hi-Tek and…
Love — as Pat Benatar sagely noted — is a battlefield, and on the remarkable third album from Montreal indie-rock collective Stars, the bullets have been spent, the mines exploded, and all one can do in the aftermath of romance gone awry is somehow find a way to survive a…
Jane’s Addiction fans reached for the Zeppelin, and Strokes fans uncovered the Velvet Underground. All’s well in geekdom. But now El Paso, Texas, outfit the Mars Volta returns with a second full-length, challenging indie rawkers to reference their . . . King Crimson and Yes albums?!? Frances the Mute is…
On his affable comeback album, Billy Idol just barely succumbs to the demon that haunts Hollywood recording studios, whispering in the ear of every aging rocker, “Better tack on some drum loops for the Hip-Hop Generation, old man!” That leaves most of Devil’s Playground for the original arena punk to…
