Wordplay is essential for a rapper. Without it, what more is he than a dude who talks with music in the background? A love of language suggests a lot, and those who stayed awake through high school English class should be familiar with the rapper’s bag of tricks: simile, metaphor,…
By the time this issue hits stands, it will have been just over a week since Soul Train impresario Don Cornelius was found dead by a self-inflicted gunshot in his Encino, California, home. The legendary host of Soul Train was instrumental in bringing black music into prime time, and though…
“The Fool,” Sanford Clark (single, 1956, MCI/Dot) In March 1956, KTYL disc jockey, producer, and songwriter Lee Hazlewood was out of money — to pay for more recording sessions and record-pressings, that is. After more than a year of trying for a hit on his Viv Records imprint, his closets…
“One Man Crusade” (1994), “The Inner Flame” (1997), and “The Farm” (2002) by Rainer Blues guitarist Rainer Ptacek was born in East Berlin and spent his childhood in Chicago but rose to prominence in Tucson. Though he never achieved mainstream success, his work is widely admired, with ZZ Top’s Billy…
“We Got Cactus,” Bloodspasm (1985) Bloodspasm tore up a series of now-closed Tucson clubs and house parties with blistering hardcore punk starting in the mid-1980s. But the band’s lasting mark is surely “We Got Cactus,” a song that exemplifies life as a desert rat, a local classic that’s endured for…
“Found Out About You,” Gin Blossoms, Dusted, (1989, San Jacinto) Having spent close to 15 years booking the old Long Wong’s on Mill Avenue, Sara Cina played a huge role in Tempe’s vibrant music heyday of the ’90s. She was as much a part of the venerated Mill Avenue dive…
Thursday 9 16th Street Bar & Grill: Kickback Thursdays with DJ Cedric Ceballos (hip-hop, classics, neo-soul, reggae, R&B, Top 40, old school) Afterlife: Beat the Scene Thursdays (electronica, dance, remixes) Bar Smith: Ladies Night with DJ Idenaty, DJ EC Rock, & DJ Oh-Jezus (various) Bobby Q’s: Capricorn B-Day Bash with…
“Out of Here,” Sleepwalker, Man on the Moon (1998, Hayden’s Ferry) “There’s just something in the vocal delivery of Jamal Ruhe. It was just Jamal singing and playing guitar, and Jon Rauhouse on pedal steel, bass, and drums. It’s not complex; it’s super-stripped down and pretty. Jon Rauhouse has played…
It turns out that he hasn’t dropped off the face of the earth after all. In fact, he’s been writing some pretty interesting blogs.This week we’re bringing you Holmes’ blog, American Aquarium Drinker (not to be confused with the equally awesome Aquarium Drunkard), so you can read up on what…
Get ready for gross out. Pop deconstructionists Man-Cat, whose mission statement reads: “We’re just trying to feed pop music back to the consumers in the most subversive way possible,” have reactivated their long dormant YouTube video for “Yeast.” And it’s comprised solely of “pizza delivery boy porn” clips (insert “extra…
It’s almost here: New Times Soundcheck at Club Red is this weekend, featuring a roster of entirely local talent. Over two days you get The Love Me Nots, Father Figures (download an exclusive MP3 here), Jason Devore (of Authority Zero), Crusher Sound System, Mouse Powell, and many, many more. Tickets…
When we last checked in with Shawn Foree, the man behind synth punk band Digital Leather, he was touring in support of his Fat Possum LP Warm Brother. He’s been busy since then, releasing a mini-LP, Infinite Sun on Volar Records (which featured a song “co-written postmortem” by Foree’s friend…
The Roosevelt Row district sees some of its heaviest foot traffic during the First Friday artwalk. When the weather is nice, it can be next to impossible to get into some of the more packed galleries. Things slow down a little bit around 10 o’clock as galleries and exhibitors begin…
Over the past year Jeff Rose and Dustin Chaffin have endured their fair share of problems in establishing Jivemind, a cooperative music lab geared towards facilitating local musicians with a central resource center and musical hub. Rose and Chaffin initially tried to set up shop in downtown Phoenix, but the…
Some of our favorite local hip-hop has been coming from the Avenue of the Arts Crew, and one of the best releases by said crew was last year’s Cold Castle LP by ILL AL the Anglo-Saxon & Beatnic the Enforcer. The album features plenty of good jams, but my favorite…
Saturday night was a good one for emotional rock ‘n’ roll. The Jealous Sound (featuring former and current members of Knapsack, Sunday’s Best, Foo Fighters, and Sunny Day Real Estate) aired tunes from its brand new record, A Gentle Reminder, at the Rogue Bar in Scottsdale. Source Victoria, whose last…
It’s no “Dirty Little Secret” : Pop-punk band All American Rejects will be performing on ASU campus this Friday, February 10. Last time I saw All American Rejects live, the were warming up for Blink-182’s in 2009, along with Fall Out Boy. The band is back with a brand new…
PJ Harvey’s musical style suits Sweetbleeders well. These local rockers were spot on in reproducing her sound, even though a man was singing her songs. The idea to cover PJ Harvey arose when Stateside Presents’ Charlie Levy asked the band to play Cover the Crescent a few weeks ago. Vocalist…
Of all the articles concerning Madonna’s Half Time show/M.I.A.’s on air fingerbird (Finger-Gate 2: Electric Boogaloo), none was quite as hilarious as this one, from Vigilant Citizen, which alleged that the entire performance was an indicator of Madonna’s allegiance to the Illuminati (you know, that secret world order): “Laced with…
Even more Coachella runoff? That’s fine by me.Noel Gallagher of Oasis will be making his way to Phoenix on April 18. Apparently he has been playing some Oasis songs at his High Flying Birds gigs, so there’s a chance you’ll hear some material from the Gallagher boys’ good old days…
Want to know what new release discs and platters are moving across the Valley at local record stores? We’ve got you covered with another installment of What’s Selling. Stinkweed’s shoppers are kicking it folk-style, listening intently to First Aid Kit’s new release, The Lion’s Roar. The Americana-infused sophomore album by…
Just in case Flogging Molly’s annual St. Paddy’s Day stop in Tempe doesn’t make it abundantly clear to you, the Phoenix metro area loves Irish stuff, and it loves its Celtic punk. In 2009, Authority Zero frontman Jason Devore (who headlines the New Times Soundcheck festival this weekend) formed The…
