Seether’s sixth studio album, Holding Onto Strings Better Left to Fray, comes out today. The good news is, fans of the band will find that this is Seether’s best album yet. The bad news is, it’s still not good enough to garner the band a whole lot of new fans…
Danger Mouse has done a lot of things over the course of his career, but Rome, his new album released yesterday with composer Daniele Luppi, may be one of his best projects. As a producer, Danger Mouse (born Brian Burton), has received accolades for his work with artists like the…
Rapper M-Bone, part of hip-hop group Cali Swag District, died last night after an apparent drive-by shooting in his hometown of Inglewood, California. Cali Swag District’s biggest hit was 2010’s “Teach Me How to Dougie.” The group’s debut studio album, The Kickback, was scheduled for release this year. The title…
Sound Strike, the movement in which musicians boycott Arizona as a statement of opposition to the state’s anti-illegal immigrant law, SB 1070, is still going strong. As we reported in recent months, acts like Maroon 5 and My Chemical Romance, who had concerts booked in the Valley, canceled them as part…
Legendary jazz and R&B singer Etta James has been hospitalized in Riverside, California with a blood infection. James, 73, is perhaps best known for her song “At Last,” though she’s also sang backup vocals for Chuck Berry, toured with Little Richard, and garnered four Grammy Awards since her recording career…
On Sunday, May 15, New Age artist Yanni (pronounced yawn-ee) is scheduled to perform at Jobing.com Arena. I’m personally not a fan of his flowery, adult contemporary compositions, but the man has sold more than 20 million albums worldwide, and his instrumental soundscapes have been included in every Olympic Games…
Sometimes, when art imitates life, you get a bunch of glorified karaoke videos dressed as talent competition shows. In this week’s “Noise Complaint” comic, Robbie Pfeffer explores the vacuous realm of music and celebrity judges on “reality” TV…
To a music fan, there’s nothing like having a unique piece of memorabilia from their favorite artist — for example, an autographed guitar, or maybe the mandolin that Ministry used on three world tours, or Red Hot Chili Peppers singer Anthony Kiedis’ MTV Europe Award. To a music fan and…
It’s hard enough holding down regular gigs at country bars, blues clubs, and rock joints around Phoenix, as acoustic troubadour Joe Bethancourt has done since the ’60s. But it’s beyond tough when your house burns down and you lose everything, as Bethancourt’s did on April 30. That’s why several local musicians…
Apparently, any corner of the Internet is free game for music promotion these days. Facebook users accustomed to hearing drizzling midi banjo when they log into Zynga’s Farmville game will be in for a surprise this month — Lady Gaga will be debuting new tracks from her record Born This…
Bob Marley was such an integral part of bringing reggae to the U.S. that when he died in 1981, the commercial life of reggae almost died with him. But the genre has lived on through reggae acts like Burning Spear, Sly and Robbie, and Steel Pulse. The latter is scheduled…
If you still can’t get enough of that drug called Charlie Sheen, here’s a new fix: a musical collaboration between Sheen and Snoop Dogg called “Winning.” Sheen debuted the video for the song in Detroit on his “Violent Torpedo of Truth” tour last month. Much of Sheen’s audience walked out…
Heavy metal has a rich and diverse history in Arizona. Our state has had a horde of notable residents: hard rock pioneer Alice Cooper, hair metal singer Bret Michaels of Poison, Judas Priest singer Rob Halford, Dave Mustaine of Megadeth and Kerry King of Slayer (both ex-residents now), Sacred Reich,…
Believe it or not, Arizona’s a hot spot for shooting music videos — and we don’t just mean literally hot, but conceptually, too. I mean, where else could a pre-slutty Britney Spears pontificate on her virginity from a cliff top overlooking green waters or Paul McCartney pretend to be an…
Today, The Cars release their first record since 1987’s Door to Door. The new album, Move Like This, also marks the band’s first album without bassist and co-lead vocalist Benjamin Orr, who died of pancreatic cancer in 2000, twelve years after The Cars broke up.Orr’s harmonies and bass lines are…
Next month marks the 18-year anniversary of punk pariah G.G. Allin’s death. Yes, G.G. Allin is dead, but that hasn’t stopped his older brother Merle from using his name to try and make a living. You may have noticed a band called “G.G. Allin’s Murder Junkies” are playing this Thursday…
Black Carl and Gospel Claws The Duce Friday, May 6Who would have thought a boxing ring would make such a great stage? And that an old warehouse turned retro mini-mall and bar would have good acoustics? But both were so Friday night at The Duce in downtown Phoenix, where two well-known local…
In April of last year, longtime Valley radio show host Jonathan L left the Phoenix airwaves and moved to Berlin, Germany. L was a popular DJ here, and hosted shows or did programming at radio stations all around Arizona for 30 years, including a long stint at alternative station KUKQ and…
The term “progressive rock” conjures all sorts of sound bites, good and bad, from the jam meanderings of King Crimson to Geddy Lee’s nasally wail in Rush. The music of Coheed and Cambria, playing the Marquee Theatre on Monday, is often labeled progressive rock, but it’s really more just rock…
This weekend, you can have your local funk and experimental art rock, too. Not only are Black Carl and Gospel Claws playing a free show at hip hot spot The Duce on Friday, but there’s another killer music show of local acts lined up at The Fixx in Tempe for Saturday…
This week, New Times Clubs Editor Jason Woodbury explores the passion of a tribute band in his feature on Queensrÿche tribute band The Rÿche. As relayed in the story, covering another artist’s material isn’t always easy, but it can be rewarding in many ways — like when a cover song…
Warner Music Group — home to acts like Led Zeppelin, Green Day, and Tempe-based indie rock band The Maine — is for sale. If you think it’s tough outbidding other eBay users for a rare record, you should see the bidding battle currently underway for one of the last giants…
