Australian native Xavier Rudd is a musical madman; the ambidextrous multi-instrumentalist is proficient at guitar, percussion and didgeridoo, interlacing them into a sharp, dynamic echo of today’s funky folksters. Most interesting is that he plays them simultaneously. Solace is one man’s journey into sonic solitude and an aural testament to…
Even if the name looks unfamiliar, chances are you remember Seu Jorge singing David Bowie covers in The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou or playing nice guy turned rebel Knockout Ned in City of God. That last movie proved a summation of his life, being reared in Brazil’s favelas. Today…
“Super Heroics” by Mark Newport at Arizona State University Art Museum: Fiber artist and ASU professor Mark Newport pokes fun at traditional gender roles by using the feminine art of knitting to make manly superhero costumes. His empty Daredevil and Spiderman suits hang flaccidly from the museum walls, waiting for…
Food Fight Let the poseurs beware: Loved the “Reality Check” review by Stephen Lemons (Cafe, June 30), because there’s nothing I love more dearly than seeing the mighty taken down. I’ll bet Christopher Gross is screaming bloody murder to everybody who will listen about Lemons’ being a hack who wouldn’t…
SAT 7/16Fans of lesbians, music, and Showtime’s The L-Word get a bite of the Big Apple on Saturday, July 16, when the cable series house band, Betty, takes the stage at Ain’t Nobody’s Bizness, 3031 East Indian School. The lovely ladies of Betty — siblings Amy and Elizabeth Ziff (cello…
FRI 7/15 Throw a rock in the air this weekend and chances are you’ll find a party in honor of the July 16 release of the sixth Harry Potter installment, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. But you’ll find very few with their own troupe of fire-dancers as entertainment, old-school…
SAT 7/16Sorry to be the bearers of bad news, booze hounds, but despite having a hops-happy handle, the latest event in the Fat Tire Triathlon Series on Saturday, July 16, at Tempe Town Lake, 80 East Rio Salado Parkway, won’t include any competitive chugging of the famous amber ale or…
SAT 7/16Dante got it wrong: There are actually 10 circles of hell, and local filmmaker Nicholas Holthaus has been there and back making Dante’s Arizona, which premières Saturday, July 16, at the Alwun House, 1204 East Roosevelt. “Four people have died during the making of this film, including my mother…
As a professional ghost hunter, Christopher Moon says he’s been scratched, pushed, beaten, and suffered third-degree burns courtesy of some seething spirits who refuse to cross over to the other side. Obviously, this guy can’t take a hint. On Saturday, July 16, the Valley native — and owner of Colorado-based…
Critics of Phoenix’s downtown art scene love to bitch about how its plethora of painters, mixed-media masters and other creative types have forgone imagination and simply mailed it in. As much as scenesters would hate to admit it, it looks like those pugnacious pundits are correct, at least when it…
Movies based on comic books have become dime-a-dozen events — appropriate given that the cover price of these titles was 10 cents when they debuted decades ago. It wasn’t so long ago Warner Bros. teased the release of Richard Donner’s Superman by insisting, “You’ll believe a man can fly”; now,…
Me and You and Everyone We Know, the new film from writer/director/performance artist Miranda July, walked off with prizes at both the Sundance and Cannes film festivals. An audience and critical favorite, it follows an ensemble cast of characters, each of whom is longing to connect with another human being…
Roald Dahl’s inner child was evidently a contrary lad — precocious, dark-minded, contemptuous of adult supervision, and fueled by a sense of justice that often proceeded via cruel whim. In Dahl’s twisty children’s stories, villains throw kids out of windows, beautiful women turn out to be hideous witches in disguise,…
Does anyone else cringe when they hear of Mayor Phil Gordon’s front porch benches and how they’re now greeting visitors at Sky Harbor Airport? The mayor’s Mayberry aesthetic may have a noble intent; it’s supposed to bring us all together, and in doing so, help fight crime. But can’t we…
If you were born and christened “Michael Jackson,” you might be thinking about changing your name nowadays — perhaps to something like a disclaimer such as “Oh No.” That’s exactly what Oh No, the triple threat MC/producer/DJ brother of Madlib (Otis Jackson Jr.) did a while ago. Oh No’s swiftly…
Nearly a decade ago, exceptionally talented skins man Jimmy Chamberlin was the black sheep of the Smashing Pumpkins family, finally getting drummed out of the group (and publicly shamed by his bandmates) after a particularly egregious 1996 run with Racehorse Charlie that resulted in the overdose death of Pumpkins touring…
Alkaline Trio has had a revolving door for band members since its inception in 1997. Yet somehow the three-piece emo band sounds consistent. With pop-driven music and lyrics depicting the agony and self-deprecation of breaking up and being rejected, the Chicago band has captured the broken hearts of emo kids…
“This one’s for the ladies,” Mike Montoya murmurs, before the opening strains of Menso’s title track. Whether you are a lady or just want one, this disc contains a woman’s daily requirement of vulnerability, furry animals, and baffling danceworthiness. From lush arrangements to achingly brainy lyrics, each song is an…
Like their collaborator Lil Jon, Atlanta’s Ying Yang Twins (the team of Kaine and D-Roc) burst onto the mainstream as the ambassadors of brash, bass-heavy urban club anthems, i.e., crunk. U.S.A. is expected to surpass the platinum achievement of its predecessor, Me & My Brother, and deservedly so. The Twins…
From their perch on the stage of Denver’s Bluebird Theater, the members of Matson Jones look almost like shadows. Drummer Ross Harada, limbs splayed, pounds a beat as bare as a rattling skeleton. Next to him, Matt Regan coaxes notes from his upright bass. Seated before them are cellist/vocalists Martina…
When I visit Cory Spotts in the control room of his north Phoenix studio, he’s got his finger on the Valley’s musical future — quite literally. With a click of the mouse, a sizable chunk of the best stuff being produced in town reverberates through the room, and Spotts is…
I have no faith in the ability of Maricopa County to conduct fair and accurate elections. It’s now appallingly apparent that County Attorney Andrew Thomas is skirting the serious problems gripping the Maricopa County Elections Department. I had hoped Thomas would conduct a thorough investigation of the elections department, part…
