In my newest edition of “Holy Crap I Can’t Believe They Are Playing in Phoenix,” British wunderkind and pop genius Mica Levi will bring her fantastic pop music to The Valley this September. Levi, who with bandmates Marc Pell and Raisa Khan make up Micachu & The Shapes, has produced…
The Dodos, an indie rock duo from San Francisco, made a splash on the music scene back in 2008 with their second album Visiter. That album landed them on everyone’s radar (including mine) and made them a force to be reckoned with in the indie/folk/baroque pop/whatever the hell you want…
What do you get when you combine The Kills, The White Stripes, Queens of the Stone Age and The Greenhornes? A fuzzy, alt-rock supergroup known as The Dead Weather.Like Damn Yankees and The Travelling Willburys before them, The Dead Weather are intent on taking over the world with their collective…
This Wednesday, July 15, marks the last day for Valley bands to submit for the upcoming 2009 CMJ Music Marathon, to be held October 20-24 in New York City. The festival, named for the New York City Marathon that takes place at the same time, is geared towards college radio…
Brooke White, the 5th place finisher on Season 7 of American Idol, will be hosting a unique live performance with the help of social networking site Facebook today at 5 PM PST. The event, dubbed “Facebrooke,” will showcase songs from the singer’s debut, post-Idol album High Hopes & Heartbreak –…
“Orange Shirt,” the first track off the debut album LP from indie electro-pop duo Discovery, sums up perfectly the funky electro-pop sound the band is striving to achieve. DIY laptop-pop drums and synths are greeted right away by light, cherubic, indie-rock vocals — a kooky amalgamation that works right from…
First and foremost: their name is super lame. Let’s just get that out of the way. Saddle Creek recording artists UUVVWWZ (pronounced “double you, double vee, double double you, zee,” as described by the band) release their first, self-titled LP this Tuesday, and their ambition is admirable. Unfortunately, UUVVWWZ’s polish…
Those fine French folks that call themselves Air have offered their newest single, “Do the Joy,” from their forthcoming album Love 2 (awesome title) on iTunes for free. All you have to do is go to the band’s website at www.aircheology.com, wait for the little animation and sign up for your…
Sometimes a show falls through the cracks that deserves more coverage in the ‘Nix. It’s no one’s fault in particular — it can be a tough task to be on top of every single noteworthy show that comes to The Valley. Such is the case for this Friday night as…
It’s a pretty slow new release schedule today, unless your name is Rob Thomas, Jeff Tweedy or Moby (or Mephistopheles, for that matter). What I do have to offer, however, is a new EP from Austin indie rockers Spoon. Got Nuffin contains only 4 tracks, yet it is their first new…
Last night’s 2009 BET Awards were left scrambling and revamp their program to accommodate the sudden passing of the King of Pop Michael Jackson this past Thursday. It was the obvious choice to honor one of black music’s biggest — if not the biggest — icon in history. There was…
This Friday, The Firehouse, one of downtown Phoenix’s finer collective art spaces, is hosting one such benefit show. It is being put on by Rusty Spoke Community Bicycle Initiative and the Phoenix chapter of Food Not Bombs and it features Haunted Cologne, Andrew Jackson Jihad, The Haymarket Squares, Kirkwood Dellinger and…
Portland — by way of Arkansas and Olympia, Washington– three piece The Gossip have had intriguing existence — thanks to their outspoken lead singer Beth Ditto. Ditto, who refers to herself as a “fat, feminist lesbian from Arkansas” and constantly pushes the envelope of aesthetic appeal — particularly in these…
First, let me just get it out there: I watch a bunch of TV. I love it, and though I know it deadens my intellectual abilities, I’m not quitting. So, take it from a junkie, late night TV — with the recent addition of Conan O’Brien to the Tonight Show…
A quick history of Cryptacize: Chris Cohen, former Deerhoof guitarist, met Nedelle Torrisi while recording as The Curtains, plucking Torrisi from obscurity as a back-up singer. The two began collaborating in 2007 and, shortly thereafter, released Cryptacize’s first studio album, Dig That Treasure, after recruiting percussionist Michael Carreira. The two…
By all definitions, Viva Voce are a Portland band. They feature at least one member with a beard, and while no one was wearing flannel, it felt like they were one load of laundry away from reaching that point. It is easy to bunch together Portland music as being simple…
First and foremost, don’t be fooled by the fact that DJs Diplo and Switch are the brains behind Major Lazer. Also, don’t get caught up in the fact that Santigold is on the lead single, “Hold The Line.” Major Lazer’s Guns Don’t Kill People…Lazers Do is 100% a reggae album. Sure,…
In an effort to help and curtail online music piracy, Universal Music will partner up with U.K. telecommunications (“telco,” if you’re British) provider Virgin Media to launch an unlimited downloadable music service. This service will set users back anywhere from $16 – $24 (10 – 15 pounds) a month and…
More often than not, a band’s hometown or adopted place of residence heavily influences its music. Bands love to sing about what they know, and the city where they grew up or have lived much of their lives is a perfect muse for their inspired songwriting. Unfortunately, sometimes a hometown…
Yes, as you can see by the poster for the event, that “fellow” is a didgeridooist. It sure does take balls, in this day and age, to put yourself out there and to play that instrument in the hopes of entertaining people. Hell, booking music and comedy is a slippery…
Dave Longstreth is an antsy dude. The driving force behind experimental indie-rock band Dirty Projectors, Longstreth is always shifting his lineup to accomodate his ever-evolving sound. It often makes for albums that share the same basic aural sensibilities, yet they differ just enough to act as a triumph over the…
Sometimes Monday morning just brings you a gleaming, radiant little bit of news that helps the transition into next week all the more smooth and less awkward. It’s no big surprise that I am a gigantic fan of former hair metal frontman/reality TV superstar Bret Michaels. I have watched every…
