John Darnielle has recorded under the name “The Mountain Goats” since the early ’90s, and in that time his records have gone from crude boombox recordings to polished, sprawling efforts. The fidelity has cleared up, but Darnielle’s way with words and flawed-but-noble characters has always been central to the proceedings…
Are you a musician? Is your group having issues? Critic Jessica Hopper has played in and managed bands, toured internationally, booked shows, produced records, worked as a publicist, and is the author of The Girls’ Guide to Rocking, a how-to for teen ladies. She is here to help you stop…
David Bazan Band (with members of Jimmy Eat World) @ Rhythm Room|12/5/12David Bazan’s grandma spent the evening at the merch table. I’m not sure when exactly it struck me, the realization that Bazan’s relentless honesty knows no bounds, and that the man’s grandma must be used to it. Maybe it…
Bloc Party is back, and the post-punk outfit is Tempe bound. Hailing from London, the band is closing out its 2012 comeback tour here in the Valley. The buzz kings benefited from the early 2000s “rock is back” craze, but it stuck around, outlasting the hype and incorporating soul, post-rock,…
When Garland Jeffreys broke onto the New York music scene in the early 1970s — the same scene that spawned Patti Smith, Lou Reed, and (via New Jersey) Bruce Springsteen — his songs were a little too close to the reality of the times. Music was supposed to be an…
There are at least three sets of noted Diaz brothers: Nick and Nathan of mixed martial arts fame; Lu and Hugo, known for producing hip-hop and Miami bass records in the 1980s and ’90s; and the unseen siblings in Brian De Palma’s brutal 1983 classic Scarface (“Fuck the fuckin’ Diaz…
Johnny Depp is a talented actor, ladykiller, and all-around badass. I don’t need to state the obvious, but the guy has played Captain Jack Sparrow, Edward Scissorhands, and Raoul Duke, all characters possessing the rock star mystique. But when he’s not gracing the silver screen, the guy likes to act…
How’s this as a recipe for unmitigated disaster? Three exceedingly old white dudes head into the studio with the guy who produced the last Linkin Park album to record a blues version of a Southern rap classic by DJ DMD, Lil Keke, and Fat Pat called (seriously) “I Gotsta Get…
Bob Weir is a restless soul. Already fully engaged with Furthur — his latest and perhaps most true-to-form post-Grateful Dead venture — his solo band Ratdog, assorted musical projects at his TRI Studios, activity in various political and environmental organizations, plus the occasional mountain bike foray, Weir now prepares to…
In case you hadn’t heard, the bass-heavy hip-hop hybrid of trap music is becoming the flavor of the nanosecond in the EDM world, as big-name producers like Flosstradamus and Baauer (as well as locals like Trapzillas) are pumping its bombastic gravitas through sound systems around the globe. For Vancouver-born bass…
If you’re the sort who tracks hot EDM blogs and remixes, you might surmise that the popularity of moombahton, the genre DJ Dave Nada invented three years ago by slowing Dutch house records to reggaeton speed, is waning. The style is losing ground to “trap music,” a subterranean take on Southern…
Comedian Gregg Turkington was watching when Arizona’s equivalent to Walter Cronkite said President Reagan’s fake son was being brainwashed into becoming a punk rocker by the evils of sociology (that’s right: sociology, not socialism). Turkington was a teen living in Tempe at the time, collecting punk records and devouring movies,…
Thursday 6 Afterlife: Touch Thursdays (Top 40, electronica, dance) AZ/88: Black Out Thursdays with Josh 1 (soulful house, lounge) Bar Smith: International Thursdays with DJ EC, DJ StarMarz, & DJ Clavo El Parientito (hip-hop, Latin) Bobby Q’s: All-Star Thursdays with DJ Phlava, DJ Dark Vader, & DJ Skoolboi (hip-hop, reggae,…
Election years tend to carry more chaos then normal ones, but there was something else going on in 2012. Maybe it’s the aura of apocalypse made people a little stranger this year. We had the Syrian Civil War, the Aurora Shooting, Israel being dicks to Gaza and vice versa, Mitt…
In this week’s issue, we chat with with former Grateful Dead and current Furthur guitarist Bob Weir. We ended up with more material than we could fit, so please enjoy another installment of Outtakes, where we sweep up all sorts of good stuff that ended up on the cutting room…
Anything with “ladies night” in the title is generally bound to be a good time. Us gals appreciate being able to get in for free (or at least for cheap), and most guys are stoked that a club is full with more ladies than usual, so it’s a win-win situation…
Did anyone watch David Letterman Monday night? Well, if you didn’t, you missed the greatest rock band of all time, Led Zeppelin, interviewed after receiving a Kennedy Center Honor. Something about seeing them together made me feel…overwhelmed. They’re still alive but they have no intention of getting back together. How…
When Garland Jeffreys broke onto the New York music scene in the early 1970s, the same scene that spawned Patti Smith, Television, The Ramones and (via New Jersey) Bruce Springsteen, his songs were a little too close to the pressing realities of the times. Music was supposed to be an…
The news of Mark Erickson’s suicide in September hit the Phoenix music community hard. Erickson was a familiar face on stage, performing in local groups including ROAR, Gospel Claws, and Sweetbleeders. But it was Colorstore, the band he fronted for nearly a decade, that most reflects Erickson’s commanding, singular vision…
I base my life and my movements throughout it on quite a few assumptions. These may or may not be accurate, factual, or even realistic. And until they actually prove themselves to be inaccurate, I follow them without question. (Insert silly comment about assuming here.) Today’s rant is centered on…
This week’s Take Cover session is a little different, as it’s the first time we’ve featured a touring band. Kopecky Family Band drove 16 hours straight from Norman, Oklahoma, to the Musical Instrument Museum to play a few songs and explore the museum. Tonight the band is scheduled to perform…
Sufjan Stevens @ the Rialto Theatre in TucsonIt was a night of deliberate holiday kitsch. It was an ugly Christmas sweater gone awry. If someone told me I mistakenly traveled down to Tucson for a Katy Perry Christmas celebration, based on the costumes, blow up unicorns, and giant game show…
