Sometimes a music documentary reaches a state of transcendence. John Pirozzi’s new film Don’t Think I’ve Forgotten: Cambodia’s Lost Rock and Roll is that kind of movie. Examining the thriving pop scene of Cambodia’s capitol city Phnom Penh in the ‘50s, ’60s, and ’70s, when crooners, rock bands, songstresses, surf combos,…
Otep Shamaya is no stranger to controversy. She challenges every status quo in heavy metal, feminism, and well, the music industry in general. She welcomes the chance to stand up and speak out for those with no voice, or who risk too much to use it. As a result, the…
U2 left fans awestruck on Friday night as they kicked off their two-night stand at US Airways Center in downtown Phoenix. To say the iNNOCENT+eXPERIENCE tour was a spectacle would be an understatement, as the world’s biggest band brought a visual and sonic freight train that hit the Valley in…
If you’ve got any sense at all, you’ll be taking a trip somewhere this summer to escape the heat for at least a couple of days. Sure, you could fly, but that means dealing with gross airports, TSA searches, and constantly wondering if you’re going to miss your plane. Instead,…
I Want You To Crowd Surf My Body At My Funeral is a fitting name for Red Tank!’s upcoming album because their frontman Clipper “Danger” Arnold crowd surfs pretty much every show he plays. But the appeal of Red Tank! goes much farther than the chance to carry Arnold around…
Music videos are the way in which bands and performers share the vision of their music with their fan base, and many of Phoenix’s best musical acts are almost as creative visually as they are musically. It’s the musical visionaries who keep the Phoenix music scene fresh, exciting, and always…
Not many bands survive the passing of time, let alone when members move cross-country. Yet, Fatigo manages to come together amidst breaks, relocations and new projects. If anything, the fact that the band can evolve, taking on new members and styles as the members spread out, enhances their sound. After…
“Two words: Margaret Thatcher,” replies journalist and film director Travis Collins, “Sometimes a swear word is included in-between.” The question was what facets of British society inspired industrial music, the topic he and co-director Amélie Ravalec (Paris/Berlin: 20 Years Of Underground Techno) explore in their new documentary Industrial Soundtrack For…
It has been less than a year since the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion obliterated the Crescent Ballroom with their raucous road show, blasting an eager crowd with its high-energy hybrid of punk-ass blues, noise, soul, garage, and straight ahead punch-you-in-the-face rock ’n’ roll. If you were there, you’ll be back…
In the golden morning sun of Jared & The Mill banjo/mandolin player Michael Carter’s Tempe backyard, the Phoenix-based folk band begins their fraternal cajoling with the regularity of an act that has spent the past year incessantly touring — which they have. When we last checked in with Jared &…
“Do you want to get a drink or see a show?” asks Charlie Levy. The local concert promoter stands in front of a pair of doors in the landing of Valley Bar, his new basement-level music venue and lounge in downtown Phoenix, as he poses the question. It’s more choose-your-own-adventure…
Comic books may have been considered kids’ stuff or something for nerds and geeks in the ’90s, but in 2015, comic book conventions are springing up all over the country and attracting thousands of people with programming and activities for just about anyone. Phoenix Comicon has taken to calling itself…
New genres seemingly can appear out of nowhere. Take the case of Miami Horror. When Illumination, the band’s debut album, was released five years ago, the words “indie electronic” were used to describe the Australian quartet. When pressed about the difference between indie and non-indie electronic music, band leader Benjamin…
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…
Chris Squire, the virtuosic bass player for YES, has cancer and will not join the band on its upcoming tour, the band announced today. Squire will receive treatment in Phoenix over the next couple months, a release on the band’s website stated. The band was scheduled to tour North America…
Earl Sweatshirt and I have a history — a three-day history. I have spent the last three days obsessed with Earl Sweatshirt, waiting for his call to record an interview before his show and then again when I thought we had rescheduled. I’m not saying this to give him, ahem,…
Just days since the world suffered the tremendous loss of music icon B.B. King, the Rhythm Room’s recent addition of a mural featuring the blues great, along with six other legends of the genre, feels especially poignant and significant. The venue has been a go-to spot for live roots and…
If you were under the age of 40 you probably didn’t enjoy REO Speedwagon show last night at Talking Stick Resort. With that said if you were over 40 and attended last night’s show you had a blast watching Kevin Cronin and company execute a well constructed blast from the…
At Rock on the Range in Columbus, Ohio this past weekend, there was a ton of old and new metal. You had the classics, like Judas Priest, Dillinger Escape Plan and Slash; favorites from the last decade, like Slipknot and Halestorm; and artists that are starting to break big on…
We’ve been fortunate in that this past weekend in the Valley felt like, well, it wasn’t the Valley. This is but the calm before the storm. Summer is coming. The Southwest remembers. Here are our picks for this weekend. If you’d like more options, mosey on over to our comprehensive…
Remember when everyone was really big into rapping and rocking and wearing backwards baseball caps all at the same time? Yeah, the ‘90s (and early ‘00s) were a weird era for music. It’s probably best that nu-metal hasn’t made a huge resurgence on the back of ‘90s nostalgia, but here…
Many are the bands profiled in these pages who ask what a bunch of musicians has to do to get a cover story around here. Sometimes it’s by sheer popularity. Sometimes it’s sheer luck, a slow news week when some guitarist turns out to be more visually appealing than a…
