With the sadness of Prince’s sudden death yesterday comes that sinking feeling where you realize no one’s enjoying “that indisputable moment” anymore, that point in time when everyone is in universal agreement that the biggest name in music is actually deserving of their time at the top. Elvis and…
March came in like a lion and went out like a light for 16 notable musicians. The latest in the Reaper Ranks for the past 31 days, we have the demise a knighted record producer, a prog rock maverick and an actress turned pop star of whom we know that…
Even if he’d never released a single note of his own music, Alan Parsons would have been a part of rock history. As engineer on the last two Beatles albums, he presided at two noteworthy sessions — the last ever Beatles live show (on the roof for Let It Be)…
Although it seems more irreverent to watch just after Sir George Martin has passed away, the British comedy sketch show Big Train had a brilliant bit called “George Martin Kidnapped” which poked fun at the legendary producer’s constant recounting of Beatles recording sessions. He never tired of retelling them, and…
“I love the New Times.” That was Nils Lofgren’s opening gambit so how can you not be charmed by a guy who professes deep seated feelings for your publication right out of the gate? (Though perhaps our cover story on Lofgren’s box set had something to do with that.) Some…
After the carnage that was January 2016 when we lost David Bowie AND Glenn Frey and two members of the Jefferson Airplane on the same day, media outlets felt it was their duty to tell us that since they ain’t making classic rock musicians anymore, we’d better get used to losing…
The conventional wisdom when you mention pawn shop instruments is that whatever price you wind up paying, it’s more than you should. And if some poor musician puts his axe in hock, it more than likely is presold before it is defaulted on loan. True, pawn brokers like the ones…
Phoenicians would be within their rights to be pissed off at Robin Thicke, who has not performed a show in the state since “Blurred Lines” became the summer song of 2013. He cancelled an October 27, 2013, appearance at the Arizona Jazz Festival claiming illness. Three days later the news…
Thomas Wesley Pentz, better known as five-time Grammy-nominated producer, DJ, and recording artist Diplo, has had many illustrious collaborators since his rise in the early 2000s — M.I.A., Shakira, Robyn, Kid Cudi, Bruno Mars, No Doubt, and Snoop Dogg, to name a few. Now to that list you can add —…
The new year means new beginnings, fresh ideas, and more chances to give birth to new projects. In such a populous area, we are privy to a tremendous amount of ambition and diversity when it comes to the local music scene. The area’s creative class constantly churns out new music…
“We have all been here before, we have all been here before…” It’s only fitting that the guy who drummed on Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young’s Deja Vu album would die two deaths, one year apart. If you remember, there wasn’t any major rock ’n’ roll carnage taking place in…
Rest peaceful and easy, Glenn Frey. Last year when Don Henley opened his tour here in Phoenix, AZ., I tried to get to the bottom of why so many people who love country rock hate the band that had the most success with it, that being The Eagles. Which is…
The flood of tributes to David Bowie on social media was inescapable once the world surmised that the news of his passing was not some cruel hoax, the likes of which have already taken Morgan Freeman and Mickey Rourke from us numerous times already. It did get you thinking though…
Although there’s something ghoulish about measuring a year’s passage by how many celebrities we lost to the Reaper, the Academy Awards’ and Grammy Awards’ “In Memorium” montages provide a much-needed public service in the “I didn’t know (insert name/pronoun) died!” department. Because everyone knows celebrities generally die in threes, a…
A year ago we began this Heritage Hump celebration each Wednesday with the hope of bringing you the stories and songs of great Arizona bands, sung and unsung. Now that year has come to a close, and so has our series. We’d like to thank all the bands that participated…
While it’s impossible to pass through a minute of social media quality time this week without being reminded of the sad demise of Motörhead’s Lemmy Kilmister, it does also remind me that one band was rechristened his namesake because of some club owner’s mistake in New Times. “It was one…
Ask yourself what you were doing in 1995 and the answer might depend on how old you were. If you were in your 30s, you were probably enjoying your regularly scheduled midlife crisis and getting divorced. In your 20s? Enjoying grunge and toying with a substance abuse habit, but of…
We present yet again, the Throwback Thursday edition of Heritage Hump Day. This week we ruminate shoulda coulda with local contenders Big Blue Couch. No less of an authority on rocking hooliganism than onetime New Times music editor and future Replacements biographer Bob Mehr called it back in June 2000…
Every Wednesday is Heritage Hump Day! That’s because every Wednesday from now to the end of the year or before someone really big stops us, Heritage Hump Records (a temporary subsidiary of Onus Records) and New Times will be bringing you a limited edition collector’s item of a much beloved…
Every Wednesday is Heritage Hump Day! That’s because every Wednesday from now to the end of the year or before someone really big stops us, Heritage Hump Records (a temporary subsidiary of Onus Records) and New Times will be bringing you a limited edition collector’s item of a much beloved…
Every Wednesday is Heritage Hump Day! That’s because every Wednesday from now to the end of the year or before someone really big stops us, Heritage Hump Records (a temporary subsidiary of Onus Records) and New Times will be bringing you a limited edition collector’s item of a much beloved Phoenix band…
Every Wednesday is Heritage Hump Day! That’s because every Wednesday from now to the end of the year or before someone really big stops us, Heritage Hump Records (a temporary subsidiary of Onus Records) and New Times will be bringing you a limited edition collector’s item of a much beloved…
