Frank Zappa needs no introduction . . . or does he? Though considered one the 20th century’s greatest composers by critics, much of his music, wasn’t accessible to mainstream audiences. Songs like “Don’t Eat the Yellow Snow” and “Valley Girl,” a duet with daughter Moon Unit, broke through, but only enough…
Frank Zappa needs no introduction . . . Or does he? Considered one the 20th century’s greatest modern composers, much of his music, while applauded by critics, wasn’t accessible for mainstream audiences. Songs like “Don’t Eat the Yellow Snow” and “Valley Girl,” a duet with daughter Moon Unit, broke through,…
Those who have come to know The Motet as an Afro-centric band should be happy with the band’s directional shift on its eponymous new album. While the African influences that gave the Boulder, Colorado, group its footing in the 1990s can still be heard, The Motet has morphed into a…
Every family has its issues, but most will seem slight when compared to Oklahoma’s dysfunctional Weston clan, the center of Tracy Letts’ darkly comedic, Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-winning play, August: Osage County. When the alcoholic family patriarch disappears, the family gathers at the ranch. It is here, during the…
Few things in this world are simultaneously as sweet, sensual, and alluring as chocolate. Once considered good enough for only Mayan and, later, Aztec royalty, chocolate is now one of the most consumed confections worldwide. That said, this yummy treat is a powerful lure for the annual Haute Chocolate Market…
Those who have come to know The Motet as an Afro-centric band should be happy with the band’s directional shift on its eponymous new album. While the African influences that gave the Boulder, Colorado, group its footing in the 1990s can still be heard, The Motet has morphed into a…
Skinny Puppy formed in 1982 when cEvin Key, inspired by punk-dance grind of Throbbing Gristle and darker edge of Cabaret Voltaire, left his band Images in Vogue to create music with “big sounds” beyond the current crop of new wave synthesizer-forward bands. Working with singer Nivek Ogre, Skinny Puppy’s industrial…
On an already long list of distinctions, Skinny Puppy recently added a new line, and not one that makes the pioneering industrial band very proud: the United States government has used the band’s music as a torture device. “We heard through a reliable grapevine that our music was being used…
In Arizona we get to enjoy a little fun in the sun while much of the country freezes. Having lunch outside on the lawn at a free concert is a bonus, and entirely do-able at the weekly Sunday A’Fair shows at the Scottsdale Civic Center Park. Entering their 27th season,…
Attending a workshop at Arcosanti is usually as much about the setting as the course itself, but the two typically intersect in determined fashion. Arcosanti is the-still developing vision of late architect Paolo Soleri, whose belief in Arcology — the blending of architecture and ecology — created a compact society…
On an already long list of distinctions, Skinny Puppy recently added a new one, and not one that makes the pioneering industrial band very proud: The U.S. government has used the band’s music as a torture device. “We heard through a reliable grapevine that our music was being used in…
Heather Kirchhofer’s exhibition at Practical Art is perfectly fitting as the gallery’s first show of 2014. It’s titled “The Year of the Horse,” a reference to this year’s position on the Chinese Zodiac. There are plenty of parallels between the two. People born under the horse are deemed energetic, bright,…
The key to any band’s longevity is the ability to maintain a core sound while changing to lure new generations of fans. The Rolling Stones are the quintessential example, having survived 50 years on gritty rock ‘n’ roll licks that receive fresh infusions of timely sound forms (from country to…
Brazil is hot right now, especially with the World Cup coming “home” to the country that considers itself the ambassador of the “beautiful game.” Plenty of beauty hails from Brazil, much coming from rough beginnings. Compagnie Käfig is a merging of capoeira (a Brazilian martial art that emphasizes elongated, rhythmic…
If Glendale has been a bit too bright this holiday season with its 1.5 million lights creating a glare visible to other worlds, then rejoice at the Glitter and Glow Block Party, which effectively pulls the plug. Though there have been weekly celebrations and parties with varied themes, this grand…
Depending on how you look at it, a bazaar can be, well, quite bizarre. The former is typically an interesting place to shop where something things can be, well quite bizarre. Consider the possible overlap at the fourth annual Black Bird Holiday Exhibition and Bazaar. Part art show, part gift…
It’s not exactly the Thanksgiving Day parade, but giant seven-story high bumblebees and other creatures will fill the sky during the 4th annual Cave Creek Balloon Festival. That’s just part of the fun as local vendors and restaurateurs provide food and libations while local bands sound off from country to…
Musical hotspots seem to circulate around the country. Hair metal was birthed along the Sunset Strip in late-1980s Los Angeles, but before those boys started teasing their hair and wearing makeup there was a counter-culture movement (mostly make-up free) that happened decades earlier and just a few miles further west…
Musical hot spots seem to circulate around the country. Detroit and Memphis were leading soul centers of the ’60s and ’70s, while Haight-Ashbury dominated the psychedelic movement. In New York City, Greenwich Village’s jazz and boho-folk gave way to the Lower East Side’s early glam, punk, and New Wave scenes…
Grab your sunglasses. You’ll need them because Glendale’s mayor and city council — along with Phoenix Coyotes captain Shane Doan — have flipped the switch that lights up 16 blocks of historic downtown Glendale with 1.5 million lights. Known as Glendale Glitters, the display marks the suburb’s traditional start to…
Paula Poundstone sounds she could kick some ass. Maybe it’s because the master of “spontaneous observational comedy” looks like she wouldn’t take shit from anyone, or maybe her gruff voice and challenging tone encased in an acerbic wit with a dry, no-nonsense delivery feel like a blow to the head…
The are many sides to Andrew W.K. Omni-present is the bloody nose image that adorns his major label debut I Get Wet. There’s also his well known propensity to party hard, a lifestyle he’s constantly promoting. These two ideas for the basis for a musician who’s found an angle that…
