After scouring the city for New Year’s Eve shots Benjamin “Party Crasher” Leatherman headed off to Cream Stereo Lounge to see what all the fuss was about. What he found was bathing beauties, boffo beats and more during the opening night festivities at Scottsdale’s newest nightime hangout on Wednesday, December…
You can call Jeff Grenfell cheesy, and he won’t mind a bit. The Arizona native can be found at Cheuvront’s Restaurant on Central Avenue, where he is not just sommelier, but also “fromagier” – reportedly the only one in town. Can’t tell your Camembert from your triple crème brie? Never heard…
Judging from the traffic whilst journeying home post-party last night we can safely say that anyone and everyone was out last night ringing in the new year. In fact, we’ve got photographic proof in the form of these slide shows. Check out a few select shots from Downtown Phoenix, Scottsdale…
We understand that in the 24-hour news cycle it can be difficult to keep up. Worry not! We have the solution. Check back on Valley Fever every evening for highlights from each of New Times’ blogs. Today’s entries: Valley Fever: Charles Barkley Sweats DUI Arrest in Unflattering Mug Shot Local…
We understand that in the 24-hour news cycle it can be difficult to keep up. Worry not! We have the solution. Check back on Valley Fever every evening for highlights from each of New Times’ blogs. Today’s entries: Valley Fever: Rapper DMX Pleads Guilty to Animal Cruelty and Other Charges Phoenix…
By Michael McCall Photo by Michael Alan GoldbergTwo young blondes with toothy smiles and hard-core work ethics, Taylor Swift and Carrie Underwood, helped country expand its fan base in these years of shrinking music sales. Meanwhile, Kenny Chesney, Rascal Flatts, Alan Jackson, Toby Keith, Tim McGraw, Brad Paisley and George…
By Dan Leroy A couple of weeks ago, an expert on the Harry Potter series told an audience of high school kids how lucky they were to have this Big Shared Experience–these seven books and 41,000 words in common. What does Harry Potter have to do with hip-hop in 2008?…
And now it’s time for the “I love you like a fat kid loves cake” memorial Worst Lyrics of 2008, March Madness-style tournament, this year a terrifying mélange of appalling oral-sex requests, bargain-bin philosophies, grammatical atrocities, and cringe-inducing pillow talk. To elevate the drama, I provided a trusted colleague with…
By Randall Roberts You don’t need a half-wit music critic to tell you it’s been a remarkable year for America, one historians will be discussing and researching for centuries to come. War, financial collapse, politics, technology: All have been dinner-table topics for many Americans. Racial barriers in 2008 were demolished…
We understand that in the 24-hour news cycle it can be difficult to keep up. Worry not! We have the solution. Check back on Valley Fever every evening for highlights from each of New Times’ blogs. Today’s entries: Valley Fever: Street Morals: Phoenix Pimp Squeals on Client Who Requested Child…
Welcome back! We hope you had a sufficient amount of ho-ho-hoing and present opening to last another twelve months. Just in case you haven’t, here’s a package of some of the stories and photos you may have missed during the holiday. Light Rail Launch Hundreds of thousands turned out to…
By Annie ZaleskiPop music often gets a bad rap for being disposable or vapid, and in many cases that’s true. (Katy Perry, Danity Kane and the Pussycat Dolls, step right up!) But every year, a few irresistible bits of innovative ear candy rocket up the charts and seep into our…
By Chris Gray It’s time to rank the best of what went around and came around again. BILLY JOEL The Stranger (Columbia/Legacy) As punk and disco exploded, the Piano Man’s deeply unhip 1978 breakthrough proved that top-shelf Broadway/Brill Building songwriting could still sell – and, occasionally, rock. “Scenes From an…
By Noah W. Bailey Picking the best folk and Americana records of the year isn’t nearly as hard as discarding those great records that just didn’t feel right stuck in the category. Releases by Calexico and DeVotchKa felt far too worldly to pigeonhole as folk or country, for instance, while…
Are you still standing? Hell! That must mean you haven’t taken a trip on the Night Train, the ultimate pub crawl for the Phoenix Light Rail. We’ve spent the last month giving you one stop, one drink and one more reason to ride the light rail every day. Now that…
Where: Stop #1, Montebello and 19th Avenue: Oz (1804 W. Bethany Home Road, a five-minute walk from the stop) Drink: Rolling Rock (or any other domestic beer) for $4-$4.50. Happy hour is from noon to 7 p.m. every day and includes discounts on well drinks, domestic beers, and draught beers…
By Julienne GageAmericans who still think of Latin music as mariachi bands and gyrating Ricky Martins and Shakiras might want to lend a closer ear to the genre. This country’s Hispanic population isn’t just growing, it’s growing more diverse. More and more unique musical styles are being gobbled up, and…
By Michael Roberts In 2008, independent rock returned to the underground, where it belongs. Given the grand catastrophe that is today’s record industry, most major-label executives don’t have the time or energy to convince music fans they might like something a little out of the ordinary. They’re too busy recycling…
We understand that in the 24-hour news cycle it can be difficult to keep up. Worry not! We have the solution. Check back on Valley Fever every evening for highlights from each of New Times’ blogs. Today’s entries: Valley Fever: Maryland Congressman Elijah Cummings “Troubled” by AIG Hiding of Name…
Where: Four Kings Cocktail Lounge (5041 N. 19th Avenue, a two-minute walk from the stop) Drink: Rum & Coke for $2.75. There are daily drink specials, depending on the day of the week: Mondays – Rum, Tuesdays – Vodka, Wednesdays – Gin, and Thursdays – Brandy. Scene: The lounge tends…
By Randall RobertsAny knucklehead with DSL and a laptop can now make an electronic track. With a half hour of clicking and fiddling, you can sample enough cheesy beats and mashups to clog arteries from here to Berlin. Simple dropdown mouse maneuvers can transform electro tracks into progressive house tracks…
By Dan Leroy A couple of weeks ago, an expert on the Harry Potter series told an audience of high school kids how lucky they were to have this Big Shared Experience–these seven books and 41,000 words in common. What does Harry Potter have to do with hip-hop in 2008?…
