Michael Escoto

In your face, every other city! It's no secret that music-loving Phoenicians sometimes get the shaft by bands that skip the Valley to play in Tucson, our neighbor to the south. (It always feels like salt in the wound, no?) But no other city can boast this one: Bon Iver...

When the name of your band comes off like a warning, you can be sure no one is going to mistake you for a straightforward pop band. Sure enough, Chandler hardcore band Keep Your Distance makes aggressive music, but songs like "For I Am the Sky" may surprise listeners expecting...

In March 2009, Portland folk-rockers The Decemberists released a rock opera called The Hazards of Love. Inspired by an EP of the same name by English folk singer Anne Briggs, the album tells the story of a woman who falls in love with a shape-shifting forest dweller. It was an...

The year 1986 was memorable for numerous reasons: There was the Challenger space shuttle explosion, the Iran Contra scandal, Hands Across America, and the return of Halley's Comet, among other things. It was also the year that we saw debut albums from some of hair metal's biggest acts — which...

One of the best moments on The Simpsons was in a 1993 episode in which we learned that Homer, Principal Skinner, Barney, and Apu were in a barbershop quartet called The Be Sharps. The group was so good that they won a Grammy award for best "Barbershop Quartet Album." At...