The guys in Vistalance will be watching eBay for their stolen instruments, since some asshole stole their van (with all of their equipment inside) back in November. The local metal band’s losses totaled roughly $12,000 including the van, which has since been recovered, riddled with miles and reeking of piss…
The one-man-band scenario always carries a greater potential for silliness than your average act. Scott Wexton, a.k.a. the Voodoo Organist, is no stranger to kitsch himself, what with glow-skull stage props, excursions on the theremin (the geekiest instrument ever devised), and songs about being dipped in battery acid by the…
We’re still happily enjoying the paradise that is our balmy wintertime in the ‘Nix, but clubgoers should be prepared for a chilly blast when Florida’s DJ Icey, lauded as “the King of the Funky Breaks,” hits town Friday, February 25, with an appearance at Myst, 7340 East Shoeman Lane in…
After making an indelible impression with 2002’s seismic Source Tags and Codes, Trail of Dead appeared poised to deliver a pretentious follow-up. When Worlds Apart opens with an “Overture” that includes an operatic choir and an ostentatiously ominous piano melody, it seems as if this track will be the first…
Dr. Dre has discovered a foolproof method for creating superstars. First he casts an unknown with the right profile — in this case, Jayceon Taylor, who hails from Compton, used to deal and has been shot five times. Then he introduces him via a disc whose high-profile producers (Timbaland, Hi-Tek)…
Sound Tribe Sector 9 produces elaborate live shows combining innovative visual effects with a sound that draws on elements of rock, electronica, jazz and hip-hop. Playing live and in real time, the band scrambles up an inimitable souffl that’s wildly appealing to both dancers and space travelers. The 20 tracks…
What you think you hear when you listen to the Golden Republic is bastard strains of the Killers, Interpol, and Nada Surf. What the band hears is an amalgam of Blur, Talking Heads, and T. Rex. But wherever the dial actually lands in the name-the-influences game, it works. So well,…
Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz started Epitaph Records in the ’80s primarily as an outlet for his band’s records, but soon expanded its scope to include other punk and hardcore bands like L7, The Offspring, and NOFX. Surprisingly, the label’s never mounted a company package tour until now. In the…
Every few years, a new ancient voice arrives on the scene to rev up the same ol’ authenticity debates and stale Billie Holiday comparisons. Last year it was Jolie Holland’s turn for both scoffs and well-deserved year-end best-of citations. Holland shares a label (and some vocal inflections) with Tom Waits,…
1. The Game, The Documentary (Aftermath) 2. Krayzie Bone, Gemini: Good Vs. Evil (Ball’r/Thug Line) 3. Lil’ Jon & East Side Boyz, Crunk Juice (TVT) 4. Snoop Dogg, R&G (Rhythm & Gangsta): The Masterpiece (Geffen) 5. Gwen Stefani, Love, Angel, Music, Baby (Interscope) 6. Destiny’s Child, Destiny Fulfilled (Sony) 7…
Thursday 17 Acme Roadhouse: College Night with DJ J. Alan (Top 40) Ain’t Nobody’s Bizness: DJ Suzy (hip-hop, dance) Anderson’s Fifth Estate: Area 51 with AKA (gothic, industrial) Axis/Radius: DJ MCB (hip-hop, dance) AZ 88: DJ P-Body (all genres) Big Fish Pub: Reggae Thursdays with Selector J-Cut & DJ Blackstar…
When the award-winning Metallica documentary Some Kind of Monster was released on DVD late last month, it came bundled with a disc of bonus footage. Now fans could enjoy even more whimpering about how fucked up it is being Metallica. More of the band members telling each other off. More…
On a recent weekday afternoon, I was sitting at home flipping through the new issue of Food & Wine when Adam Jacobson, bassist and lead vocalist of the Tempe rock outfit Steppchild, dropped in to school me in his philosophy of rock ‘n’ roll. Now, I think I’m pretty well-versed…
From breakbeats to broken beat, Brazilian Girls specialize in a sort of musical globalization and amalgamated planet rock. Imagine being trapped inside a French film: First, you’re riding in a horse-drawn carriage on a cobblestone street; then, you pass a subway entrance where b-boys are break-dancing. Nearby, a well-dressed Casanova…
It’s no surprise that the new album from a band just signed to Sub Pop should be referred to in critical quarters as “a rock record.” But although Low isn’t a rock band (or at least has never been easily characterized as one), it turns out that the trio, which…
On this debut, the chameleonic Vancouver fivesome is lovin’ the ’70s. “Oh, we can’t stand/Your modern music/We feel afflicted,” singer Stephen McBean moans on the saxophone-and-drums swells of “Modern Music.” Things get retro on the bounding-down-the-boulevard “Druganaut,” which sounds like Jimi Hendrix by way of Band of Gypsys. But when…
Radio-friendly, catchy tunes do not have to be generic, and Hot Water Music understands that. The four guys in this Florida band created a house blend of thoughtful, emotionally charged lyrics, creative drumming, and emo-styled guitar riffs intertwined with punk rock vocals to create a sound in the vein of…
Step right up, ladies and gentlemen, and experience the genuine, bona fide, certified humbug hullabaloo of the one and only Sleepytime Gorilla Museum. No siree, not even the legendary P.T. Barnum himself could’ve conceived such a clamorous concoction of sinister industrial noise, death rock, and portending lyrics offered by this…
If Valentine’s Day didn’t give you enough room for romance, there’s really no better concert to take a sweetie to this week than Mates of State. On the flip side, there’s also no worse concert to attend if you’re lonely, single and bitter. The husband-and-wife duo — Jason Hammel on…
So you thought the Pink was hot already? You haven’t seen Hotter Pink yet, going down at Karamba (1724 East McDowell Road) this Friday, February 18. It’s the second annual birthday party for DJ Nimh (Hot Pink’s grand impresario), and he’s pulling out all the stops for this one, flying…
With their debut, Gallowsbird’s Bark, New York’s Fiery Furnaces made the best two-person indie-blues CD in 2003 that didn’t feature someone surnamed White. For a follow-up 10 months later, they released Blueberry Boat, a complicated, intermittently brilliant departure from indie blues that didn’t feature someone surnamed Zappa but sounded like…
Yes, Paul McCartney was in a band before Wings, and yes, George Harrison had a thriving solo career, most of it on his own Dark Horse Records, after the Beatles called it a day. This DVD — also gone solo after originally being included as a bonus disc in last…
