By Benjamin Leatherman Here’s a rundown of the top 10 best-sellers at Stinkweeds Record Exchange, 12 West Camelback Road, for the week of June 16 to 22. 1. Fleet Foxes, Self-titled (Sub Pop) 2. Wolf Parade, At Mount Zoomer (Sub Pop) 3. My Morning Jacket, Evil Urges (ATO) 4. The…
By Benjamin Leatherman Can you conjure up something better than these examples? Local hard rock fivesome Digital Summer has itself a pretty crazy-ass, dedicated fanbase. For proof, look no further than last month’s cover story I wrote on DS. In the piece I described how Digital Summer’s ferverent fans and…
It’s kinda ironic that SoCal’s Mad Caddies entitled their latest album Keep It Going, since the ska-punk sextet is doing just that. Ironic not in a cheeky, Flight of the Conchords way, but rather because the Caddies are still rolling with the whole ska-punk thing when Reel Big Fish, The…
Back in 2004, DJ guru Rod Carrillo was all over the Valley’s airwaves and club scene, broadcasting his style of trance and progressive house on Energy Radio 92.7/101.1 FM and spinning at joints like Sky Lounge. These days, Carrillo is busy with getting tracks on the Billboard dance chart (his…
The members of JerkRag are having something of a shitty night. It’s an unseasonably rain-drenched evening in May, and the setup for their third-ever gig has been marred by endless difficulties, including missing equipment and soundboard snafus. They’ve spent weeks practicing in anticipation of rocking the rafters of Tempe nightclub…
By Benjamin Leatherman The Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum, site of rock ‘n’ roll history. Long before either the U.S. Airways Center or Dodge Theatre were even a twinkle in some architect’s eye, the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum was the premier concert venue in the PHX. Besides its status as the…
By Benjamin Leatherman What are the Top 10 best-selling albums at East Side Records, 217 West University Drive in Tempe? Here’s a list, yo. 1. Dystopia, Self-titled (Life is Abuse) 2. King Khan and the Shrines, The Supreme Genius of King Khan (Vice) 3. Atmosphere, Sad Clown Bad Spring 12…
By Benjamin Leatherman The star of a New Times cover story is about to become a star of the silver screen. Back in 2006, I profiled madcap local performance artist and musician Ryan Avery, a cherubic and ultra-gleeful teenage oddity who was a mainstay at downtown Phoenix art galleries like…
British beat-juggler Lee Burridge is sort of a freak. Sure, turntablists are known to be an eccentric lot, but it’s a safe bet your average record spinner has never claimed to have done the nasty in a DJ booth, fallen in love with a Voodoo woman, and bombed around Burning…
By Benjamin Leatherman Juggalos (a.k.a. the rabid fans of demented horror-core rap duo Insane Clown Posse) tend to scare the shit out of most people. Maybe it’s because they’re connected with violent hooliganism, wear clown makeup out in public, or are just all-around freakazoids. (There’s also the fact their cars…
By Benjamin Leatherman Here’s a rundown of the top 10 best-selling albums at Zia Record Exchange, 105 West University Drive in Tempe, for the week of June 2-8. 1. Weezer, Weezer (Red Album) (Geffen) 2. Disturbed, Indestructible (Reprise) 3. Portishead, Third (Mercury) 4. Death Cab for Cutie, Narrow Stairs (Atlantic)…
By Benjamin Leatherman Better than: Hanging out with the dicks in Scottsdale. Back in mid-1996, Zach de la Rocha and the rest of Rage Against the Machine ruled the alt-rock world, with stations like The Edge (then on 106.3/100.3 FM) broadcasting the foursome’s aggro agitprop songs from their second album…
By Benjamin Leatherman The horror rockers of Calabrese The monthly First Friday extravaganza in downtown Phoenix always proves to be a massively chaotic mess of sound and art, with dozens of musicians and bands performing inside galleries, outside on sidewalks, and practically any other location they can think of. In…
Mark LaRue is a double-duty DJ. When the 32-year-old isn’t spinning rump-shaking Nickelback or Wyclef jams for the exotic dancers of Bourbon Street Circus, he’s dropping punk rock, hardcore, and ska songs on Monday nights at the Rose & Crown Pub, 628 East Adams Street, during 1… 2… 3… 4!!!…
Hipster fashion isn’t the only thing you can hawk in exchange for some serious scrilla in these cash-strapped times. Everything from the books and CDs on your shelves to the blood in your veins is up for grabs to the highest bidder. Here’s how to sell out: SELL YOUR CDS…
As unconscionably evil as the summertime sun gets in our desert domain — reigning over our asses from May to September like a Third World despot — there are plenty of positives to enduring five torturous months of brain-melting heat. Besides increasing our excuses for noshing on gelato, and expelling…
It’s said that vice is virtually recession-proof. Meaning no matter how poor one gets (believe us, we’re getting there), there’s always enough scratch for a smoke or a drink. In fact, we can’t think of a better way of escaping all the economic bad news (as well as the summer…
Pop quiz, hot shot: How many hot dogs do you think you could eat in 12 minutes? Four? Maybe five if you pushed it? You’re gonna have to wolf down a few dozen more than that if you wanna stand a chance during the Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July Hot…
The beatmeisters of United Groove might be dusting off plenty of ’70s kitsch for their retro dance party Discotropolis, but chances are, you won’t hear any KC and the Sunshine Band or Bee Gees hits pumping out of the multi-megawatt sound system of AREA Phoenix, 2102 North 23rd Avenue, during…
A decade ago, I used to be big-time into collecting bootleg concert videos of my favorite bands. I’d habitually visit stores like East Side Records in Tempe or Shirts ‘n’ Things in Mesa to scope out their latest tapes, or log onto eBay to buy up shakily-shot VHS vids of groups like the Jesus Lizard, Scratch Acid, Dead Kennedys, Nine Inch Nails, and Rage Against the Machine.
Besides skin-searing temperatures and sky-high electric bills, here’s another sign we’re hip-deep into summertime: the annual assault of big-name package concert tours. Between now and Labor Day, the PHX will be invaded by the Vans Warped Tour, Projekt Revolution, the Rockstar Mayhem Festival, Crüe Fest, and the Metal Masters Tour,…
John Huntington is a party monster, and then some. Check it: The tattooed thirtysomething “promoter/ DJ/producer/consultant/ restaurateur” has spent most of the past decade throwing some of the freakiest fetes the Southwest has ever seen, including his infamous Club Rubber and Pimp-n-Ho affairs. Hypemaster Huntington also specializes in raucous touring…
