“When I go out, I want to hear things I’ve never heard” explains Jesse Keeler, who’s half of the electronic music duo MSTRKRFT. “I feel like dance music was all about that forever, then at least in the last while, people have been too worried about, I guess, losing a…
Nikki Hill’s secret recipe: Take equal parts revved-up rockabilly punk, AC/DC metal stomp, and scorching modern electric blues, and add overflowing spoonfuls of raw, edgy jump blues, R&B, and soul. Blend on 11. What pours from the speakers is one fiery, passionate soul shouter with plenty of attitude and the…
If you’re looking for a unifying theme for this column, here it is: It’s dedicated to exploring what one of my oldest and dearest friends calls “the uncanny valley of music.” I’ve mentioned it here before. For anyone who missed it, here’s how it works: Take a band like The…
Cool weather is just around the corner, Phoenix, and with it, the opportunity to actually walk outside. Scottsdale Quarter, the fancy mall up north on Scottsdale Road and Main Street, is preparing for the cool temps by throwing together a weekly concert series starting September 10 and featuring bands that…
The music scene doesn’t happen on its own. What we see on the surface is the result of passionate people behind the scenes, writing, creating, organizing, promoting, and working tirelessly to bring music to the venues, bars, and houses of Metro Phoenix. We will look at 25 here, some familiar,…
A heated argument at a popular Phoenix bar early this morning escalated into a shooting that injured two people. According to Phoenix Police Department officials, an after-hours dispute between two men inside of CJ Talley’s Pub became violent after they took the fight outside. A total of four people became…
The music scene doesn’t happen on its own. What we see on the surface is the result of passionate people behind the scenes, writing, creating, organizing, promoting, and working tirelessly to bring music to the venues, bars, and houses of Metro Phoenix. We will look at 25 here, some familiar,…
The Valley is going to be hesher heaven this week. Thanks to the fact that the annual Psycho Fest took place in Las Vegas this past weekend, a number of participating metal and rock bands (including many of the experimental, psychedelic, stoner, and death variety) are passing through Phoenix in…
So, how was your summer? Hope you packed in tons of carefree fun and thrills aplenty at festivals and pool parties during last few months as the summertime season is about to officially wrap up. If not, don’t fret. You’ve got a few opportunities left to live it up, get…
A longtime voice of and advocate for the local music scene, KWSS morning show host Brad Pfirrman, a.k.a. Beef Vegan, is leaving local airwaves. Friday morning, August 25, will be his final show. “It’s bittersweet,” Pfirrman says. “But I’m excited to start this new chapter in my life.” For almost…
This weekend’s slate of big concerts happening around the Valley is downright eclectic, to say the least. It seems an apt description, considering it includes a lingerie rave, a visit from punk icons Face to Face, and a performance by instrumental post-rock act Explosions. And that’s just on Friday.The rest…
Go to enough pop concerts and certain parts of the show will start to annoy you. For instance, pretty much every pop star incorporates the state flag of whatever city they’re in into the set, usually to resounding, pandering applause. They throw unrealistic superlatives to the audience, saying they’re the…
Streaming music is, at best, for the most basic music consumer. At worst, it’s exploitative and shitty. All of the major streaming platforms tout the fact that they are an amazing way to discover new artists. But for more serious listeners, that claim is usually empty. I’ve never “discovered” an artist…
Phoenix native Josh Graham knows a thing or two about sights and sounds. The 42-year-old musician and visual artist brings his current band, A Storm of Light, to Yucca Tap Room on Friday, August 26. Graham and his bandmates, Domenic Sita on bass and Billy Graves on drums, are doing…
What Coldplay is these days is increasingly rare: A young-ish rock band that inspires a monoculture and plays to adoring crowds in arenas nationwide. To illustrate: Coldplay headlined the Super Bowl halftime show last year, a show where only the least offensive, most broadly popular artists get to perform. It…
Sometimes bands really do get it right with a name that truly reflects the nature of its music. It was a dazzling display of fireworks following the band’s first-ever gig that spawned the name Explosions in the Sky, and for 16 years this all-instrumental Austin, Texas, four-piece has consistently delivered…
During the past seven years, decker. has been recording music quite clearly drawn from the very land of the Southwest itself, from all that is comforting, eerie, haunting, healing, harsh, and beautiful about it, as though he and his partners are able to somehow evoke the very taste of Arizona…
In an industry where top earners are praised as “electronic cash kings,” it is no surprise that the world of DJing and dance music is preponderantly patriarchal. Despite the historical context and deafening statistics of male dominance within the DJ industry, women are now more visible than ever. While the…
Purists scoff. Detractors, whom are often vocal, will tell you that its soul has been lost. Those who are indoctrinated are often divided themselves, gravitating toward certain aspects and shying away from others. Country music has never been more dynamic or divisive, and few artists know this quite like Chase…
The Go-Go’s still have the beat, but the beat will no longer go on: The group is calling it quits after decades together. The group’s sound epitomized the New Wave era of the early ’80s. The Go-Go’s combined ’60s beach music fandom with a spunky punk-rock DIY attitude, created catchy…
Mother Nature tried her best to keep metal fans from catching two of the most prominent acts in the genre Saturday night at Ak-Chin Pavilion as Slipknot and Marilyn Manson rolled through town. After openers Of Mice & Men kicked things off, the Phoenix monsoon took over. Nearly 30 minutes…
Let’s be honest, if rappers were athletic, there’s a good chance they wouldn’t be rapping (and if athletes could rap, well… they’ve tried that a few times). Of course, that’s not to say that every rapper has the same body type. There are the jacked-up muscular guys (50 Cent, Flo…
