Melissa Lenberg Lenberg is the owner of Citrine Natural Beauty Bar at UNION Biltmore Fashion Park. Learn more here. When you put your key in the ignition and turn on the radio, what station would play right now?Sirus Channel 42, The Joint. What’s the first album you bought? Wu-Tang Clan, Enter…
Curious what’s going on around town this weekend? Need some suggestions as to how to rock, dance, or krump in the Valley of the Sun? Don’t fret: These are our Five Shows to See This Weekend…
Rapper T.I. must have seen something he liked when he stopped by Phoenix this past weekend. His Atlanta-based record label Grand Hustle is showing Arizona some love with a new mixtape, The Phoenix Edition Mixtape. The 17-track release showcases some of the Valley’s up and coming hip-hop acts including Yung…
After a two-and-a-half-year run, DJ William “Fucking” Reed has decided to pull the plug on Sticky Fingers, Bar Smith’s ultra-hip Friday night dance party (which just so happened to win our best of award for Best Weekly Dance Night for Hipsters in 2012, and a whole bunch of other years…
I can’t believe there’s actually a Twitter war going on (when isn’t there a war on Twitter?) over the legitimacy of #Seapunk. What’s that “hashtag seapunk,” you ask? Imagine if you took Lisa Frank’s fetish for porpoises, ran it through crappy late-’90s Geocities GIFs, and added some terrible, too-clever ocean-themed…
By Dave Good It’s hard not to notice: Indie bands seemingly soundtrack just about every sitcom, film and television commercial today. But why? Influential music supervisor Alexandra Patsavas swears it’s not just about cheap labor. “It’s far more of a creative decision than a monetary one,” she says. “We’re picking…
It’s hard to put a finger on exactly what’s pulsing in the world of underground shoegaze pop, but it seems to sound an awful lot like the hazy, languid rock of San Francisco’s Young Prisms. Heavy, droning, swirly, fuzzy, gothic, melancholy, and cathartic, Young Prisms’ music is reflective of an…
In the hands of Dutch symphonic metallers Epica, just about any subject matter can take on operatic proportions, from tales of romance to quantum physics. But lately, the six-piece’s style, which builds heavily on classical instrumentation, has focused on current affairs. With 2012’s Requiem for the Indifferent, guitarist/vocalist Mark Jansen…
Gliding across a musical spectrum, from the infectiously groove-laden “Itchin’ on a Photograph” to the dance pop of “Tongue Tied,” from the indie quirkiness of “Naked Kids” to the bubblegum pop of “Sunny Day,” Grouplove clearly has a group love of all forms musical on its debut album, Never Trust…
Second best isn’t that bad, right? To call horrorcore rappers Twiztid — Jamie Madrox and Monoxide Child — the second most popular Juggalo act (after Insane Clown Posse) doesn’t seem all that fair. ICP are the originators, of course, making Madrox and Child something like apostles to Shaggy 2 Dope…
He’s being awful polite about it, but Lawrence Zubia has places to go. It’s Halloween evening, and he’s sitting at a table at Casey Moore’s in Tempe. He looks every inch the rock star. He’s sporting a black vest and drain-pipe black Levis, a red bandanna around his neck, and…
If the eggheads at NASA ever decided to send another compilation of tunes into the far reaches of the universe (à la the “Music From Earth” collection that’s aboard the Voyager spacecraft), we’d suggest including a track or two from local DJs Joseph Mercado, Byron Fenix, and RMC. Though the…
It starts simply enough, with a pulsing electric guitar blip and waves of synths. “Brace for the glory, as you stare into the sky,” Deftones vocalist Chino Moreno moans through the fuzzy washes of noise. “Beneath, I know you can’t be tired,” he sings softly, as the twin guitars roar…
In hip-hop, the past is a constant, and idealization of one’s forefathers — or mothers — is an uncrossable tradition. The Game might be hip-hop’s most eloquent eulogizer. His 2005 hit “Dreams” spoke poignantly to that point: Game all but admitted that he’ll never mean as much to the culture…
Thursday 15 Afterlife: Touch Thursdays (Top 40, 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, R&B,…
Rush does its own thing. Resolutely, absolutely, completely. The “Holy Triumvirate’s” fierce individualism can be viewed as a tribute to one of its heroes, Ayn Rand, but it’s okay if you’re not into the Objectivist thing; you can appreciate Rush for exactly what it is: a power trio that’s enjoyed…
The quickly expanding lineup of McDowell Mountain Music Festival 2013 has added two more big names to the roster: The Shins and Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeroes. The 2013 installment of the festival is looking to have the most impressive lineup in MMMF history, as The Shins and Sharpe…
Last weekend’s cold spell made finding an appropriate outfit for Saturday night shenanigans a bit of a challenge. It was way too cold to rely on go to cute dresses or button down tops, so it was time to dig cozy hoodies and sweaters out of storage. In spite of…
Local DJ and activist Austin Head was assaulted early Friday morning in what has now been designated an anti-gay hate crime. The local community has expressed outrage over this incident, as well as sending its best regards to Austin Head. Check out what some local DJs have to say about…
Tempe-based dream pop band Bogan Via has been picking up steam. Just last month the duo released its anticipated EP, Wait Up, and now they’ve added a sleek black-and-white video for one of the album’s standout cuts, the Lee and Nancy-styled “Afternoon Wonderland.” See also: Indie Pop Duo Bogan Via…
R&B artist and Arizona transplant Keize Montoya is sticking to his musical moniker for his latest track, “On My Way.” The single, which dropped last week along with a new music video, takes a step away from the club bangers Montoya has been dishing out as of late for a…
Folk punk heroes Andrew Jackson Jihad are one of the most recognizable fixtures in the Valley’s independent music scene, and Sean Bonnette, the band’s frontman, is one of the most down-to-earth, friendly musicians I’ve ever met. I’ve often bumped into Bonnette at local dive bars or kickass shows and he’s…
