Artist: The Dillinger Escape PlanTitle: Option ParalysisRelease date: March 23Label: Party SmasherIf you’re a regular reader of “Nothing Not New,” you’ve undoubtedly seen me gripe about the current crop of indie rockers’ general unwillingness to rock. I must’ve been sleeping off a hangover or watching an I Love the ’80s…
With just eight games left in the regular season, and a trip to the playoffs secured, the Phoenix Suns look nearly unstoppable. The Suns nipped the Chicago Bulls 111-105 Tuesday night in Chicago, a city where they have struggled in the past few years. The Suns are now 17-4 since…
The best thing about tag-teaming the recording of a podcast is finding out things about your co-host. Turns out Martin’s got a long-standing dislike of the actress and singer Zooey Deschanel. I liked her record as one-half of the pop throwback duo She & Him, and I’m playing a song…
Artist: Local NativesTitle: Gorilla ManorRelease date: February 16Label: French KissTo hear my fellow Up on the Sun bloggers talk about Local Natives, you’d think they’re the greatest band to exist since . . . well, whatever band they felt the same way about two months ago.So, I finally corraled a…
Artist: The Bird and the BeeTitle: Interpreting the Masters Volume 1: A Tribute to Daryl Hall and John OatesRelease date: March 23Label: Blue NoteHave any of you seen that new White Stripes movie Under Great White Northern Lights? I watched it this weekend and was left pretty underwhelmed. The only reason I…
Artist: Eddy Current Suppression RingTitle: Rush to RelaxRelease date: March 9Label: Aarght! RecordsHad a real cool time on the radio Thursday with the Blaze’s Sarah Ventre. We played a bunch of my favorite songs from 2010, and I wound making numerous references to the Australian band Eddy Current Suppression Ring. Their…
Artist: Let’s WrestleTitle: In the Court of the Wrestling Let’sRelease date: March 23Label: MergeAlong with a few New Times comrades, I’m gonna be on Arizona State University’s radio station, the Blaze. Our block of guest DJ starts at 11 a.m. with clubs editor Ben Leatherman. Martin Cizmar, me, and web…
Artist: GoldfrappTitle: Head FirstRelease date: March 23Label: MuteTake a look at the record cover you see to right of this text. Head First by the dance-pop band Goldfrapp sounds exactly like you’d think a record with this cover would sound like. And that’s either gonna be something right up your…
Artist: She & HimTitle: Volume 2Release date: March 23Label: MergeMy editor has claimed this project a triumph for no other reason than I’ve chosen the new over the old — sort of. See, I told Martin Cizmar a while back that I wanted to review tonight’s Ray Davies concert. I…
The NBA’s top two scoring teams did exactly what was expected of them Monday night in Oakland, where the Phoenix Suns escaped with a 133-131 win over the Golden State Warriors. The Suns moved to 19 games over .500 and maintained their hold on the fifth seed in the Western Conference…
Artist: Broken BellsTitle: Broken BellsRelease date: March 9Label: ColumbiaIf you’re a supergroup and you don’t go for broke from the outset, you’ve lost me. That’s kind of the way I feel about this debut record by Broken Bells, the new collaboration by Danger Mouse of Gnarls Barkley and James Mercer…
The Phoenix Suns didn’t hit as many baskets as usual on Sunday night (looks weird to see a double-digit score beside their name, doesn’t it?), but they stepped up their defense enough to knock off the Portland Trail Blazers 93-87. It was the fourth-straight win of their seven-game homestand, which came to…
I’ve promised my loyal readers a podcast featuring some of the best songs I’ve been listening to in the first three months of 2010.That day is finally here. The podcast is below. You’ll hear 10 songs and a little bit of discussion about each of them. This is my best…
Artist: LocksleyTitle: Be In LoveRelease date: March 16Label: SKH MusicReaders of my daily column, Nothing Not New, might find this essay from The Onion A.V. Club to be interesting. Basically, it asks the question: Are the indie bands of the world releasing too much product? The essay opens by stating…
Artist: jjTitle: jj no. 3Release date: March 9Label: Secretly CanadianIf you’ve ever found yourself up late at night and unable to sleep, you’ve probably resorted to flipping channels. Of course, you never find anything worth watching at 2:30 a.m., but sometimes those damn infomercials will find a way to hook…
Artist: Xiu XiuTitle: Dear God, I Hate MyselfRelease date: February 23Label: Kill Rock StarsIs anyone else looking forward to the baseball season? Outside of listening to and making music, following baseball is my primary hobby. Living most of my life in Michigan, Indiana, and the Chicago area, I always felt…
Artist: Drive By TruckersTitle: The Big To-DoRelease date: March 16Label: ATOI’ve been looking forward to hearing the new Drive By Truckers’ record for one reason: They represent the last time (before this year, of course) I dove head first into the work of a band I was totally unfamiliar with…
Artist: April Smith and the Great Picture ShowTitle: Songs for a Sinking ShipRelease date: February 23Label: April SmithHere’s one for fans of musical theater. With a flair for the dramatic, April Smith and her band weave in and out of various old-timey American musical idioms: Dixieland, ragtime, swing, doo-wop. It’s…
The Phoenix Suns are 2-2 on their seven-game homestand, and now find themselves with the sixth seed in the Western Conference playoffs after splitting a pair of weekend games. After six days, the Suns jumped out to a seven-point first-quarter lead against the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday, only to let…
Artist: The Morning BendersTitle: Big EchoRelease date: March 9Label: Rough TradeObviously, summer ain’t no big deal in Phoenix. No one here actually looks forward to the dreadful season. But everywhere else (including my native Midwest), people have had more than enough winter by this point, and are waiting for the…
Artist: Black Rebel Motorcycle ClubTitle: Beat the Devil’s TattoosRelease date: March 9Label: Abstract Dragon/VagrantThere’s something kind of quaint about this new Black Rebel Motorcycle Club record. It isn’t bad, by any stretch, but it doesn’t sound nearly as dangerous as the band name and album title would have you believe…
Artist: AcrassicaudaTitle: Only the Dead See the End of the WarRelease date: March 9Label: ViceI forget who said it (Ebert? Tarantino?) but someone once questioned whether a movie is really any better just because it’s “based on a true story.” Whomever said it was implying that no, it’s usually not…
