A confession: When Jay Z writes his lyrics, I feel as if he is writing them for me, a white woman from suburban Pennsylvania. His soulful rhymes about drug-dealing, his forlorn verses about incarceration, and his triumphal beats about being a pioneer in the music industry are all things I…
Check the hashtags on Twitter or Tumblr, folks: John Mayer is back. This might make some pop culture enthusiasts’ skin crawl, yet for those who remember the glory days of Grammy wins, number-one albums, and the brilliant resurrection of true blues with the John Mayer Trio, the guitar god has yet again arisen.
A male patron of Scottsdale’s Martini Ranch is in critical condition with life-threatening wounds following a stabbing at the Old Town dance club and music venue early this morning. According to a report released by the Scottsdale Police Department, the 34-year-old victim was walking down the stairs on his way…
If you’re having trouble finding something to do tonight, or a week from tonight, or three months from now, it is literally our job to help you solve that problem. Here’s one way we do it: Our regularly updated Phoenix concert calendar. Once you’ve got the day’s festivities at a…
I know a lot of people who are kind of frustrated that the Vans Warped Tour has passed them by — that they’re targeting new teenagers instead of targeting the people who were teenagers when Warped Tour began. To those people, I ask: How many fellow 30-year-olds do you know…
On Nashville-via-New York string trio the Howlin’ Brothers’ debut record, Howl, the band doesn’t “re-create” a specific moment in Americana music so much as run wild and wooly through great big landscapes of it. Recorded by Brendan Benson (the Raconteurs, The Maine) for his Readymade Records imprint, Ben Plasse (upright…
Last week at the O Music Awards, rock musician Andrew W.K. set the world record for Longest Drum Session in a Retail Store after he spent 24 consecutive hours (from June 19-20) at his drum set. While the songwriter/instrumentalist/party connoisseur was hitting the skins, lots of other rock musicians sat…
Because one idea is synonymous with the other. Electric Daisy Carnival started Sunday in Las Vegas, bringing the EDM generation out en masse to celebrate its love of sensory overstimulation and all things electronic. Last night the scene inside the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, where the festival is being held,…
Harry and the Potters The Trunk Space Saturday, June 22, 2013 Harry Potter fans are an intense bunch. Folks dressed up as their favorite Gryffindor heroes or Slytherin villains are standard fare, but wizard rock takes the adoration to a whole new level. The genre is exactly what it sounds…
Think back on a gig you saw six or seven years ago, and about how much the landscape in our fair city has physically changed since. Now try imagining a gig from 46 or 47 years ago, and how much history has been paved over–then you’ll get some idea of…
It’s been a couple weeks since Edward Snowden ratted out the National Security Agency, and most of America’s still in a major twist over said revelations of government’s Orwellian-style surveillance tactics. And maybe in the mood to riot, stage a few protests, or — at the very least — preach…
This weekend in Phoenix: The ’80s comes together to listen to Cyndi Lauper, the Phoenix music community comes together on a new record (and some old ones), Harry Potter fans come together to listen to songs about Harry Potter, and the Trunk Space comes together to eulogize Noodle. This weekend’s…
Even the most ardent music fans have a skewered impression of Phoenix’s early rock musical landscape. It starts with Sanford Clark and Marty Robbins, then you cross a whole spread of barren desert ’til you get to Lee Hazlewood and Duane Eddy, and then nothing until the early rumblings of…
When my kids were little, and I’d be playing and talking about music with them, they’d say, “Dad, what is this song about?” You can probably guess my answer. Because eight out of 10 songs (not an official stat) are about the same thing: Love. Of course, that one simple…
Everyone’s tripping over themselves to parse out the complicated and conflicted political posturing going on in Yeezus, myself included, so it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that, for all its ground-breaking, this record is still chock-full of hilarious Kanye lines. He’s always been funny (that light-skinned/dark-skinned Michael Jackson…
For an up-and-coming band, the road to fame can be grueling. Little by little, a foundation must be poured to garner a following. Phoenix rock ‘n’ roll act Stone Mary is in the beginning stages of this tedious process. In their corner, they already have the support of local club…
Much to the enthusiasm of my pop-loving girlfriends, I agreed to go to Wednesday’s Ke$ha show at Ak-Chin Pavilion. The tickets were free, and we had a car with a driver, so I figured I could at least drink enough whiskey to dull the shame brought on by my seething…
Green Line Operator knows how to leave an impression in a crowded scene and with a very distractable music editor: Easily digested, arbitrary show ideas. The THR33 Show is, as its flier helpfully points out, three bands with three-word names playing three sets of three songs for $3 at, and…
After what seemed like a hearty chunk of time between the two opening acts and headliner Sea Wolf, the band took the stage last night at Crescent Ballroom. Enforcing the toothy and animal side of their moniker, they kicked it off with “You’re A Wolf” from their first EP and…
Ke$ha and Pitbull, Ak-Chin Pavilion, June 19, 2013 See the full slideshow of Ke$ha & Pitbull here. Pitbull and Ke$ha put together one of the most genius tours of the summer — a pop princess and Spanish-speaking smooth rapper got the masses out at Ak-Chin Pavilion Wednesday night. The show…
Last night, I came to the conclusion that Deafheaven is black metal’s Vampire Weekend. I’ve never thought up an uglier string of words to describe what is fundamentally a thing of beauty. To see Deafheaven is to not see a black metal band but to see black metal being curated…
Pick up a copy of this week’s Phoenix New Times, and check out the feature on Scattered Melodies, a rhythm duo who featured nine different singers and several guitarists on their upcoming album, A Collective Agreement. We shot a video of the guys explaining the track, featured below. Check it…
