Artist: CaribouTitle: SwimRelease date: April 20Label: MergeSometimes you just have to throw your hands up and declare, “I don’t get it.” And I’m not talking about matters of taste, because people like what they like, and that’s totally cool. The older I get as a music fan, I try to…
Artist: The Apples in StereoTitle: Travellers in Space and TimeRelease date: April 20Label: SimianI’d remembered seeing The Apples in Stereo open for Luna at Chicago’s Metro in 1997 and was looking forward to hearing the band’s new record, Travellers in Space and Time. At that show, they played guitar-based, mid-tempo,…
The Arizona Diamondbacks’ best pitcher had a rough night on the mound Tuesday against one of the National League’s best squads, the St. Louis Cardinals — but still won. Go figure. In the end, Dan Haren had one of the oddest pitching lines you’ll ever see for a guy with…
Artist: Jakob DylanTitle: Women + CountryRelease date: April 6Label: Columbia”That ain’t country in their voice / They ain’t no local boys,” Jakob Dylan sings in “We Don’t Live Here Anymore.” He could very easily being singing about himself on his new Women + Country record. Dylan’s a pop star by…
Artist: CornershopTitle: Judy Sucks a Lemon for BreakfastRelease date: April 20Label: Ample PlayHave you seen Esquire’s list of “50 Songs Every Man Should Be Listening To”? It’s not bad. I totally agree with them about Eels’ “End Times,” Johnny Cash’s “Ain’t No Grave,” She & Him’s “In the Sun,” Soft Pack’s…
Artist: Frightened RabbitTitle: The Winter of Mixed DrinksRelease date: March 9Label: Fat CatIs Frightened Rabbit the next U2? If they’re not, it’s not for lack of trying. Like early U2, this Scottish band is quite adept at making a lot out of very little. That is to say, they have…
Artist: Coheed and CambriaTitle: Year of the Black RainbowRelease date: April 13Label: ColumbiaYesterday, I wrote about the over-the-top self-titled record by Queen acolytes Foxy Shazam. I gave it a D. But I may have to go back and adjust the grade to something better because, in the end, despite its…
Heading into Sunday night’s first-round playoff opener against the Portland Trail Blazers, the Phoenix Suns look like a team that’s going to be tough to beat. Against the Utah Jazz on Wednesday, in a game that had big seeding implications for both teams, the Suns looked like a supremely confident…
Spread out the blanket, hoist the umbrella, slather on the SPF 50, sip a beer pulled from the cooler, and gaze at the pelicans dive-bombing the breaking surf. Oh, and try not to get any sand in your suit as you doze off under the sun. Sorry, you’re a ‘Zonie…
Spread out the blanket, hoist the umbrella, slather on the SPF 50, sip a beer pulled from the cooler, and gaze at the pelicans dive-bombing the breaking surf. Oh, and try not to get any sand in your suit as you doze off under the sun. Sorry, you’re a ‘Zonie…
Artist: Foxy ShazamTitle: Foxy ShazamRelease date: April 13Label: SireAttention, fans of Glee and American Idol and Fame and Broadway and Queen. Your prayers have been answered by Sire Records, who has delivered unto you a band from Cincinnati that will blow you away. The band is called Foxy Shazam, and…
Artist: MGMTTitle: CongratulationsRelease date: April 13Label: ColumbiaI guess the kids are kinda disappointed in the new record by MGMT. Apparently, they expected another dose of harmless and forgettable electro-pop, like they got a couple of years ago with the band’s debut, Oracular Spectacular, and the singles “Kids” and “Electric Feels.”I…
You wanted the best, you got the best with another Nothing Not New podcast. This time, New Times web editor/Japanese music aficionado Jonathan McNamara and photography intern/Coachella attendee Ryan “The Wolf” Wolf joined me in our studios to compile 10 more songs from some of the better music I’ve listened…
The new releases are coming in fast and furious at the Nothing Not New global headquarters in downtown Phoenix. I’ve got so many CDs sitting here that I could never write full blog posts about all of them — not that I won’t try my damnedest to do just…
Outfielder Chris Young was so bad last season that the Arizona Diamondbacks sent him down to the team’s Triple A club to re-teach him how to hit. Apparently, his stint in Reno did him some good because after the first six games of 2010, he’s hitting pretty darn well with…
Artist: Murder by DeathTitle: Good Morning, MagpieRelease date: April 6Label: VagrantWhat would you expect a band called Murder by Death to sound like? I figured these guys were gonna be among the new breed of “punk” bands in which one dude sort of croons while another screams his lungs out…
Artist: HarlemLabel: HippiesRelease date: April 6Label: MatadorWhatever happened to the 10-inch record? Do they still make those things? I always thought they were a great way to listen to music because they had no room for filler. I’ve got some killer 10-inches by Pavement, The Drags, Urge Overkill, Lazy Cowgirls,…
Artist: Slow ClubTitle: Yeah SoRelease date: March 30Label: Moshi MoshiBreaking up never sounded so fun as it does when sung by the angel-voiced Rebecca Taylor and her Slow Club bandmate Charles Watson. When they sing “I’ve gotta ruin tonight / Because there’s no good way to say I’m leaving you /…
Artist: Black FrancisTitle: NonStopErotikRelease date: April 6Label: Cooking VinylI wish I’d never seen The Pixies in concert back in the day. If I hadn’t, I might be a bigger fan and not one of those people who thinks “over-rated” when someone espouses his or her Pixies love.I distinctly remember buying Come…
Artist: GrowingTitle: Pumps!Release date: April 6Label: ViceNo less an authority than Pitchfork.com, the Bible of indie rock, declared the Brooklyn experimental group Growing to be “cruising music for Brian Eno fans.” Better watch what you say, Pitchfork, or you’re gonna have a lot of pissed-off Eno fans on your hands.Growing…
Artist: Holly Golightly and the BrokeoffsTitle: Medicine CountyRelease date: March 30Label: Damaged GoodsHard to believe Holly Golightly’s been doing this rock ‘n’ roll thing for almost 20 years. In a long list of things that make me feel old, add her tenure as a viable musical act. I’ve been a fan…
Artist: Dum Dum GirlsTitle: I Will BeRelease date: March 30Label: Sub PopIt’s April, and that means it’s time to take a look at some of the best songs I heard during the past month. Some of these acts have appeared on the two “Nothing Not New” podcasts we put together…
