You might already be familiar with “Lausd,” the track off Jurassic 5’s 2000 classic Quality Control, but you probably don’t know what the hell the song title means. It’s an acronym for Los Angeles Unified Skills District, which is also the name of J-5 rapper Akil’s new, totally underground side…
He probably won’t be sporting yellow stitching, but Los Angeles-based house DJ Doc Martin is indeed the genuine article. Martin started spinning records back in ’86 — nearly two decades ago — and in the interim he’s held court at practically every legendary venue on both sides of the Atlantic,…
With Modest Mouse hitting town Friday, July 23, as well as sitting high on Billboard’s albums and modern rock tracks charts, and in heavy rotation on 103.9 The Edge, I feel a responsibility to let you know that, if you’ve recently glommed on to the Northwest troubadours’ latest LP, Good…
While the Valley’s music scene is still adrift, the punk rock community here in the ‘Nix is congealing — not just onstage, but online, at AZPunk.com. Consider the Dames, a local all-female punk trio that sounds like the demon spawn of the Donnas and Black Flag. After guitarist Heather Shope…
Go through the looking glass this weekend at Wonder, an Alice in Wonderland-themed rave at a yet-to-be-announced location on Saturday night. Wonder ought to be one of the biggest parties around here this summer — local DJ Kore, of azhardcorejunkies.com, says, “If this doesn’t bring everybody out, then there’s nothing…
Uh-oh . . . TVT’s collection of Southern thug rappers is pretty much — to borrow a phrase from Lindsay Lohan — completely retarded. The Dirty South’s incarnation of gangster rap is no torch-bearer to the West Coast’s industry-shaking forebears like ‘Pac and Eazy. Lil’ Jon and the Eastside Boyz,…
The Bled is the best goddamn rock band in Arizona. On the band’s 2001 EP His First Crush, the album cover bears the line, “Can you still feel the butcher knives?” It’s a clever play on Jimmy Eat World’s chorus to “For Me This Is Heaven,” off the Clarity LP…
Lines in My Face might seem an odd album title for a band whose members’ mean age isn’t old enough to drink at a bar, but Chronic Future has already been around the block a few times at this point. On this, the band’s third full-length release, Chronic Future has…
Tragedy is an unpredictable catalyst, as Mike “Sir Pie” Gomez knows all too well. On May 10, 2003, Chris “CPT” Pangrazi, Pie’s rhyming partner and fellow MC in long-running hip-hop/rock collective Cousins of the Wize, was killed by a drunken driver. Pie and CPT were the backbones of Cousins, the…
If you like a little evil with your needles, look no further than this Saturday’s Sadisco 54 party at Jugheads. Sadisco (www.sadistic-disco.com) is a monthly industrial/EBM/noise event where resident DJs Squalor, ///she///, 1975, and Aversion drop ear-eating bombs of wax — this month’s event bumps up the atmosphere with ’70s…
The bohemian vibe is always present at the Sail Inn in Tempe, but the producers of this Friday’s Buhay party aim to amp it up even higher. Buhay (pronounced “boo-HIGH,” it’s Tagalog for “life”) is bringing Montreal producer and DJ JoJo Flores to town to add his soulful house grooves…
Hours before he takes the stage as the headliner of the Plea for Peace tour, Cursive front man Tim Kasher is looking shaggy. His hair’s grown out considerably, and he’s sporting a ruffian’s beard. “I’ve just pledged that I’m gonna keep growing my hair out until I fix my life,”…
The three guys performing at the Mason Jar on a spring Friday night have a crowd bunched close to the stage, including a clique of teenage girls who occasionally yell “I love you” and “You’re sexy” at the band of siblings — yet another boy brother band, in the tradition…
Marques Wyatt made a pilgrimage to New York City in 1984 that not only changed his life, but changed West Coast dance music; Wyatt returned with the roots of the soulful, spiritual house music that would define his legacy. Now, the creative force behind L.A.’s legendary monthly party DEEP, born…
Dear Ms. Cooper, Over the past few weeks, I’ve had the opportunity to listen to your still-young syndicated radio show, Nights With Alice Cooper, weeknights on KDKB-FM 93.3, broadcast from deep in your underground bunker in this “toxic wonderland” I like to call the ‘Nix. First, let me say that…
Blink while you’re walking down Mill Avenue and you’ll probably miss the new Swell Records. Just doors down from Fatburger, with only printed paper to mark its place, the latest incarnation of Swell sits a block north from Swell Clothing. Enter and you’ll see a post-industrial space with a few…
Sorry, candy kids, but time is almost up for frolicking at Freedom in Tempe. The dance club institution is saying goodnight after its final blowout on Sunday, May 30, featuring the biggest DJ in the world, Paul Oakenfold. Oakey was there to play the first night of Freedom’s current incarnation,…
Tempe’s Freedom nightclub has almost run its course — the dance music mecca closes after a Memorial Day blowout — but there’s still time for a couple more Kind Fridays. This Friday, May 21, South American progressive house DJ Hernan Cattaneo stops in to get your collective asses shaking. Progressive…
For a long time, I didn’t patronize the Marquee Theatre in Tempe. Hadn’t been there until I was preparing to write this column, and then it was at the insistence of my editor. At first it was simply coincidence that I didn’t visit the former Red River Opry, renamed and…
The venerable local nonprofit Web site and message board AZPunk.com just keeps on giving to the local music scene. This weekend, it’s hosting the first-ever AZPunk.com Featured Band Riot at Minder Binder’s in Tempe, a three-day festival event with sets by 19 local bands that the site has highlighted over…
The last couple weeks have been sheer torture on the ears. See, this coming weekend I’m turning 30, and in an effort to ensure that I’m not losing touch with what the kids are rocking, I’ve been immersing myself in what may be the most obnoxious genre of music ever:…
A new monthly Brit Pop/indie/New Wave night, Trash!, debuts this Saturday with a maudlin splash, previewing the new full-length LP by mope master Morrissey, titled You Are the Quarry. Trash!, unlike most dance nights around the ‘Nix, will feature live bands at each installment, along with DJ Manchester’s Cockney sound…
