As Wooden Wand and under his own name, singer/songwriter James Jackson Toth has recorded dozens of projects, ranging from wailing freak folk to crunching hard rock, and released a sprawling catalog of cassettes, CD-Rs, vinyl, and digital efforts. But for all his diversity, Toth had a consistent pattern of hopping…
Since the dissolution of Ohio-based experimental trio Emeralds in early 2013, guitarist Mark McGuire has kept busy. He’s explored smooth jams with his project Road Chief, and contributed to Do the Beast, the first album from the Afghan Whigs since 1998. He also found time to record and release his…
Whatever dust songwriter Tim Rutili, who records and performs as Califone, got on his shoes when recording parts of his 2013 album, Stitches, in Tempe and Phoenix appears to have stuck. On Friday, March 21, he’ll join forces with psychedelic Phoenix outfit Wooden Indian for a mini-festival at the Icehouse…
Andy Kindler speaks his mind, often at length and with great detail. “I’m famous for my long-winded responses,” the comedian, known for his recurring roles on Bob’s Burgers, Wizards of Waverly Place, Everybody Loves Raymond, says laughing. Kindler is a stand-up vet. A joke-teller for nearly three decades, he often…
David Armstrong’s music is out of this world. At least that’s how he explains it. According to the Minnesota-based musician’s website, his “spirit guides recently turned him onto a being named The Traveler.” Armstrong communicated with it, and The Traveler “brought David music from various Alien races to help humanity…
There are names you might expect to read in a review of Jess Williamson’s Native State: Karen Dalton, Joanna Newsome, Devendra Banhart. But Pitchfork’s Lindsay Zoladz struck mighty close to the source when she compared Williamson’s voice to that of a coyote. Though it was clearly intended as an accolade,…
It’s 2014 and high time you got some new music into your playlist — seriously. And that’s doubly true when it comes local music, of which there’s an overabundance in metro Phoenix. The Valley’s music scene is gifted with burgeoning bands and emerging artists who will be making waves and…
It’s 2014 and high time you got some new music into your playlist — seriously. And that’s doubly true when it comes local music, of which there’s an overabundance of in Metro Phoenix. The Valley’s music scene is gifted with burgeoning bands and emerging artists who will be making waves…
Every year, thousands of UFO enthusiasts, researchers, debunkers, and the simply curious arrive at the International UFO Congress in Fountain Hills. It’s the largest annual UFO conference in the country, originally founded in Laughlin, Nevada, before moving to the Phoenix area in 2011. Since then, the Congress has been organized…
In case you’ve been avoiding the Internet the past several days, thanks for coming back. Now let’s catch up: The Grammys went down on Sunday night (with all the schwag such an industry fete entails) and people are talking about it. While much of the post-Grammy discussion has centered on…
Parquet Courts, Destruction Unit, Dogbreth Crescent Ballroom 1/20/2014 Those looking for the through line connecting Brooklyn-by-way-of-Texas post-punkers Parquet Courts to Dogbreth and Destruction Unit, the two Phoenix bands they shared the Crescent Ballroom stage with Monday night, might look to the impassioned yet cynical refrain of the Courts’ “Master of…
Once again this year, Chow Bella writers are gnawing on the holidays — in the form of stories of Christmas and food. Hope you have some Alka-Seltzer handy. Enjoy. When my mother and father divorced in 1990, lots of things changed, but not Christmas. Christmas was divided up before the…
If you’ve ever wandered into Crescent Ballroom early on a Saturday evening, you’ve likely been privy to the bewitching performances of Flamenco Por La Vida. Led by Angelina Ramirez and Carlos Montufar, the group expresses its Latin gypsy soul through sound and dance in the Ballroom’s lounge weekly, but on…
So who is this Drake guy, anyway? Of course, there’s Drake the superstar, the guy who opens his latest, Nothing Was the Same, with the brag that he’s as famous as his mentor — though at this point, he’s arguably much more famous than Lil Wayne, who signed him to…
So who is this Drake guy, anyway? Of course, there’s Drake the superstar, the guy who opens his latest, Nothing Was the Same, with the brag that he’s as famous as his mentor–though at this point, he’s arguably much more famous than Lil Wayne, who signed him to Cash Money…
“Most comics are pretty dark people,” Doug Stanhope says. Few comics are quite as dark — or willing to get as pitch black — as Stanhope. Our conversation with him, following the terrible news that his best friends and Bisbee neighbors Nowhere Man and a Whiskey Girl, had passed away,…
Bill Callahan picks his words carefully. If one thing defines his recent work – pastoral, grooving, and far removed from his noisier days recording under the name Smog – it’s the way he selects his words. “The only words I’ve said today are beer and thank you,” he croons on…
Chances are, whatever you’re listening to right now isn’t as heavy as The Body’s Christs, Redeemers. The record, the latest from southern-born duo Chip King and Lee Buford, opens with a haunting drone, “I, The Mourner of Perished Days,” before “To Attempt Openness” kicks in, marrying Buford’s doomy drums and…
Bill Callahan picks his words carefully. If one thing defines his recent work — pastoral, grooving, and far removed from his noisier days recording under the name Smog — it’s the way he selects his words. “The only words I’ve said today are beer and thank you,” he croons on…
Comedian Doug Stanhope makes his living going into dark places and making people laugh. Even a cursory glance at his act — which has included a lengthy reflection on helping his ailing mother commit suicide — demonstrates that the man has little time for fear and that he can wring…
As members of Vetiver, Daniel Hindman and Sarah Versprille explored the gauzy textures of Rumours-era Fleetwood Mac (occasionally recalling the hazy mysticism of the Peter Green era, too). As Pure Bathing Culture, the duo fast-forwards the Mac dial to Tango in the Night o’clock. No, really: “Pendulum,” which opens their…
Ahem, “spoiler alert.” If you’re not caught up on Breaking Bad, you might want to get that way before reading further. There’s no way around it, Breaking Bad fans: It’s almost over. On Sunday, September 29, AMC will air the final episode of the acclaimed drama, drawing to a close…
