Though all indications suggest that San Francisco-based Two Gallants’ new album The Bloom and the Blight shows marked progress in song craft and overall production, the band’s fulcrum is (and always has been) their lyrical prowess. Ever seeking that perfect crescendo when lyrical mood perfectly conjoins with musical mood, the…
Sitar awareness isn’t typically regarded as a major barometer for cultural sensibility — though our general lack of knowledge about such a historically rich instrument (and subsequent genre of music) might be indicative of westerners’ startling disregard for other cultures. Now that you’ve been sufficiently patronized and are no doubt…
With July’s laborious trade rumors quickly fading and October looming nearer on the horizon, the Arizona Diamondbacks are finally beginning to show the mettle that many have expected from them all year. Following a 2011 season that began with hardball prognosticators predicting an abysmal outcome for the D-Backs and then…
Though the term “indie rock” has grown amorphous enough to envelop almost every guitar player in its gooey path, it’s still difficult to categorize Brooklyn-based band Fang Island as such. Simply titled Major, it’s fair to speculate that the band’s most recent LP was named as more than a casual…
Given the Gotye-Bieber-Jepsen shellacking that American eardrums have endured this year, it seems that something of a groundswell has begun — a running for the hills. Seeking respite from the bombardment, countless music fans are bounding down memory lane, rummaging frantically through the ol’ CD bin. Fortunately, Blackstreet’s 1996 gem…
No city on earth has produced more quality hip-hop in recent years than Atlanta. Outkast, Danger Mouse, and Ludacris are but a few standouts on The ATL’s jaw-dropping list of exports. The city having long since established itself as a fiercely emulous refinery for hip-hop trendsetters, it’s a bit baffling…
The art of dance has progressed many a step since the days of Fred Astaire, but no matter how dazzling the choreography becomes, America will always have a sweet spot for a well executed Charleston. That is why Dancing With The Bars has become one of Phoenix’s most anticipated annual…
If the late Carl Sagan is gazing down on all of us from his beloved cosmos then he’ll have plenty of spellbound admirers looking back at him during Summer Stargazing and Music from Outer Space. Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Arts hosts the event in conjunction with its summer show, “This…
If you have somehow managed to mosey through the last year without hearing Foster The People’s infectious single “Pumped Up Kicks,” you’re either deaf, a hermit, or some sort of Houdini, which is, incidentally, the name of one of the band’s other singles. Originally named Foster & The People, the…
By 1984, filmmaker John Hughes was well on his way to becoming a Hollywood powerhouse, but it’s doubtful that even he was prepared for the unparalleled success that the mid-’80s would bring. In just three years Hughes churned out Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, Weird Science and Pretty In Pink,…
Most of the world has no idea who Trimpin is, and he’d just as soon keep it that way. But the longtime Seattle resident, who legally shortened his name from Gerhard Trimpin, has quietly made a name for himself by inventing a whole lot of noisy things. Whether using a…
Whether The Life And Times will etch their names into the pantheon of great Kansas City artists remains to be seen. The seemingly innocuous Midwestern hamlet has one of the richest musical histories of any city in the states not named New York or L.A., and has churned out the…
With few exceptions, pop lyrics have become dumber over time, even though lyricists think of themselves as having become smarter. Loudon Wainwright is modern pop’s antithesis: a wryly cuttingly, often brilliant lyricist who has never taken himself too seriously — even while tackling grave, sometimes crude subject matter. Mr. Wainwright’s…
Just like the rave scene way back in the ‘90s, today’s brand of dubstep may very well be a flash in the pan. With fiercely devoted adherents who pride themselves on being contrarian and excessively counter culture, dubstep is already suffering from it’s own impositions, a finely edited curriculum of…
In the ’80s-enamored, neon world of modern electronic music, there’s plenty of plastic, just not enough plasticity. With many DJs failing to distinguish imitation from innovation, their work falls flat and formulaic. Enter Portland-based trio Remix Artist Collective. As their name suggests, RAC is, refreshingly, a group of remix artists…
How exactly Jon Rauhouse earned the nickname Mr. Orchid Fingers is unclear, but upon listening to one of Arizona’s most respected guitarists it’s safe to assume that his soulful and deliberate approach had something to do with it. The veteran journeyman is best known for his collaborative efforts with outstanding…
When Denver-based rockers Tennis serve up their breezy brand of pop at Crescent Ballroom, 308 North Second Avenue, their rackets ought to be perfectly strung to serve a serene brand of whoosh that’s all their own. The husband-wife duo consisting of Alaina Moore and Patrick Riley released their first full…
If you’ve ever had a premonition that the band geek you made fun of in high school would somehow end up cooler than you, rest easy, because it probably didn’t pan out that way. That is, unless you went to school with eventual members of MarchFourth Marching Band. While you…
Born from 1980s Manchester at the height of the Factory Records era, storied art rockers James have nothing if they don’t have integrity. Feeling that the Tony Wilson-run company was too image driven, the freewheelin’ rockers, led by idiosyncratic vocalist Tim Booth, did the unthinkable and jettisoned what was the…
Kristine Flaherty is a white suburbanite female who holds two undergraduate degrees from Stanford. She’s also K. Flay, an acclaimed up-and-coming hip-hop star. Given that her background is about as urban as a Bob Ross painting, Flay’s success in the sometimes misogynistic world of hip-hop epitomizes unlikeliness. Initially delving into…
The agave plant is commonly referred to as the century plant because of the staggering amount of time it takes to flower and subsequently die. Despite being one of the planet’s most versatile plants, it’s most often associated with tequila, which, in turn, tends to make its partying partakers blossom…
There’s nothing dingy about Canadian songwriter Claire Boucher. In fact, the 23-year-old singer/producer who performs under the moniker Grimes has a deliberate untidiness about her that makes her all the more alluring. The budding electro-diva, who describes her sound as post-Internet, is panning out to be quite prolific, too. Since…
