The Exorcism of Emily Rose, which is based on a true story the same way Harry Potter and Star Wars movies are, is the latest — though certainly not the last — movie of this bloody (awful) year trying to scare the money right out of your wallet. It has…
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory: That’s what — poof — appears in my cranium like a two-bit magician behind a puff of smoke as I walk back to my car from Vu, chef William Bradley’s chichi, yearling eatery over at the Hyatt Regency Scottsdale at Gainey Ranch. There’s one…
Hundreds — more likely thousands — fondly remember the good ol’ days with a monkey on their back; in this instance, RedMonkey, the long-reigning, irregularly held house music celebration thrown down by infamous local DJ Pete Salaz. Wave your Tootsie Pops in the air, because RedMonkey’s making a comeback. Back…
At 25, Milton Campbell is a generation between generations. The Flatbush, Brooklyn, native known as Ohmega Watts borrows the beat structures and b-boy swagger of predecessors — you could easily believe The Find was released in ’95 as much as ’05. The producer/MC is accustomed to living between worlds, crafting…
While not unique, the songs on 32 Leaves’ Welcome to the Fall would be ideal sandwiched between 3 Doors Down and Dark New Day on mainstream modern rock radio. By far the standout member of 32 Leaves is singer Greg Norris, whose beautiful vocals bring serenity to the sound and…
Phew, can you smell that? No, we’re not talking about the stench of decaying pabulum emanating from the Top 40 charts. This particular pleasing aroma wafting its way into our proboscis originates from across the pond, courtesy of the Seatsniffers, a foursome of Belgian hellcats who specialize in blending all…
The Posies loved Big Star so much that they became the band. Front men Ken Stringfellow and Jon Auer became the backing for Alex Chilton and Jody Stephens when they reunited Big Star for the first time in 1993, and have just finished a new Big Star album with them…
While it burst from the same U.K. post-punk explosion that produced other such earnest and humorless flag wavers as U2 and The Alarm, New Model Army’s continued to mine the battlefield long after the former dropped politics for messianic introspection and the latter proved to be just an excuse to…
Seems like gangsta rap has come a long way since the days of Casiotone beats and Jheri curl hairdos. But really, things haven’t changed at all. Take 50 Cent, who last week rereleased his so-so The Massacre not six months after its initial March launch. The new version features DVD…
Let’s just get this out of the way right now — the Redwalls are derivative, and what’s more, the bands they derive from are not hiply obscure. Hell, neither are the songs. So don’t expect to look like an authority when you play “spot the influence” with the tunes on…
American music is a rich tapestry of historical elements, often evident in contemporary music. The White Stripes channel Delta blues with Detroit garage; bluegrass elements figure into almost every alt-country (or y’all-ternative) outfit’s output; New Orleans jazz is co-opted by post-prog rockers like the Mars Volta. But rarely do you…
I was baffled when Nearly Naked Theatre announced earlier this year that it planned to open its season with Scott McPherson’s Marvin’s Room. McPherson’s dramedy tells a story that, despite some gallows humor and a better-than-competent script, isn’t more challenging than your average Lifetime Movie of the Week. The play’s…
You don’t need to mow down a Wal-Mart employee or kidnap a teenager and force her into prostitution to make headlines in Phoenix. Just ask Jose Avila, a Valley wiseacre who’s made news (not to mention the rounds of network talk shows) thanks to his super-thrifty approach to home furnishing…
In a corner of a packed sports bar, beneath a neon Captain Morgan sign and a blank TV monitor, Erik Miller steps up to the mic and launches into his regular Friday night standup routine at Chilly Bombers Bar & Grill in northwest Phoenix. “Let’s keep it going for John…
Major labels haven’t had a lot of success marketing singer-songwriters (unless they sound like Dave Matthews), and given that their target audience isn’t advertisers’ favored demographic (18 to 25), it might be questioned how much interest they can generate. Duncan Sheik produced the enormous hit “Barely Breathing” (which sounds a…
My nostrils are so filled with the stink of keister-kissing by the other restaurant critics in this city that I long for nothing more than the hide of an overrated grub purveyor. Throughout greater Phoenix, there are plenty of culinary dinosaurs, as well as new bistros, in need of a…
ClothesHorses Homegrown talent: With regard to the story about Arizona’s fashion scene (“Angela’s Ashes,” Joe Watson, August 18), I strongly disagree with several points. First, the author suggests that talented designers leave the state. But there are talented designers with very successful lines that choose to make Arizona their home,…
THU 1Phoenix’s flirtation with the Surreal World continues with the opening of the Paper Heart’s “Surreal September” exhibit on Friday, September 2, and Phoenix Art Museum’s ongoing “Surrealism USA” installation. “Surrealism USA” Live: Poetry Reading, held in conjunction with the latter exhibition, features readings by “surrealist poets” Dean Young and…
1. Mt. Eerie, No Flashlight vinyl with CD (P.W. Elverum and Sun, Ltd.) 2. Sufjan Stevens, Illinois (Asthmatic Kitty) 3. New Pornographers, Twin Cinema (Matador) 4. Fruit Bats, Spelled in Bones (Sub Pop) 5. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (self-released) 6. Holopaw, Quit +/Or Fight…
“Hector Ruiz: La Realidad (Reality)” at the Heard Museum: Phoenix artist Hector Ruiz fires a shot between the eyes of American values with wood carvings, block prints, and mixed-media assemblages that address racism, border issues and capitalism. A King Kong-size blonde crushes a hapless businessman in her manicured hands in…
“There’s more white cloth in here than a Klan meetin’ in Georgia!” I spit as we cross the threshold of Old Town Scottsdale’s Dos Gringos for the club’s toga party last Thursday. “So, uh, how do I look?” “Like someone tried to tie a tablecloth around a hippo,” cracks my…
The party’s just getting started inside The Fort, even though it’s well past 2 a.m. on the first Friday in August. Haunts like the Emerald Lounge have long since discharged their drunks, but numerous night crawlers have journeyed to the squat gallery run by brothers Isaac and Gabriel Fortoul next…
