By Yvonne Zusel You would never guess it to witness the ease at which glow sticks flew through the air on Saturday night into Sunday morning, but Earthdance 2008 almost didn’t happen. Originally meant to be held at Schnepf Farms in Queen Creek, the event venue was changed Friday night…
By Martin Cizmar Common is about as close to imageless as you can get in the rap game. He’s got the pretty boy thing going, but he’s not LL Cool J or Nelly. He’s known for smart rhymes, but he’s not Talib Kweli. He’s got live instrumentation, but it’s not…
By Jonathan McNamara According to Carrie Schnepf of Schnepf farms, Saturday’s Earth Dance 2008 has been moved from the Schnepf Farms location where workers have been setting up for the event since this morning to a warehouse on 5th Avenue and Madison (most likely Boo’s warehouse) in Phoenix after the…
By Martin Cizmar Some cool new shows announced this week, including Metallica with Austin’s The Sword and former Pantera frontman Phil Anselmo’s band Down, who will bustle the shit out of your hedgerow. Metallica Tuesday, Oct. 21 Metallica released a new album this week (see earlier blog item) so they’ll…
By Jonathan McNamara Friday, September 12: Brad B. CD Release Party at Hollywood Alley Call me optimistic, but if there’s free music to be had, I want to hear it. My external hard drive clamors to be fed even more 320 kbps MP3s, especially if we’re talking about local acts…
By Benjamin Leatherman Nightwish is scheduled to perform this Sunday at the Marquee Theatre in Tempe. — FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 12: Death Pilot With Ethnic Degeneration, Impulsive Agression, Aizen, Slip Micky, and Ethan 103 [metal/rock] 7 p.m. $11 (visit www.13thfloorentertainment.com) The Sets, 93 E. Southern Ave., Tempe, 480-829-1822. Vic Dunlop [comedy]…
By Martin Cizmar So, hey there, I’m Martin, the new Music Editor here at New Times. It’s Thursday, when Niki usually does her Flier of the Week but, I gotta say, I’m not feeling a lot of the local fliers I’ve been seeing on MySpace this week. I feel like…
By Benjamin Leatherman “Say! Do you like television? Cause I got a deal for you!” If you happen to be channel surfing sometime after midnight this coming Saturday night, and the image of a guy getting electrocuted hits your television screen, don’t panic. (And whatever you do, don’t change the…
By Jonathan McNamara For fans it got harder and harder to breathe when Maroon 5 and Counting Crows took to the stage on September 10, 2008. Photos by Luke Holwerda Check out this slideshow of shots from the concert last night…
By Steve Jansen The Money Shot In case you haven’t been able to check out a performance by The Complainiacs since my most recent Noise Boy column ran last week, check out these supercool images of the band practicing in Matt Spastic’s old bedroom at The Firehouse…
So I’ve been writing this inebriated nonsense for more than a year now. Not a bad showing of “commitment,” considering the amount of booze I’ve thrown down my throat. Then again, being a drunk is all about commitment, discipline, and the ability to see the truth. I look at people…
I recently watched the video for GZA’s “Liquid Swords” — from the Wu-Tang Clan’s poet laureate’s classic 1995 album of the same name — for the first time since the Clinton era, and I found the shadow world contained therein just as relevant today as it was then. Indeed, the…
Deep inside a fortified bunker in the mountains near Arco, Idaho, the Black Crowes have convened to rehearse in the midst of their world tour. Chris Robinson is seething. “I wanna tear that guy’s head off,” he screams, “and shit down his fucking throat!” Chugging the remnants of his fourth…
THURSDAY 11 Axis/Radius: LMFAO, DJ Circle, DJ MCB (hip-hop, Top 40) Bar Smith: Peppermint Lounge with DJ Brazilia, DJ Mara, & guests (electro, funk, ’80s) Bikini Lounge: DJ HFE (rockabilly, surf, jazz, classic country, indie, obscuro) Blooze Bar: DJ El Dedo (rockabilly) Bunkhouse: DJ Doom (dance) Cash Inn: DJ Sting (hip-hop, dance)…
Maybe it’s just us, but the stale Mill Avenue nightlife scene has been in dire need of a shake-up recently. We’ve grown somewhat bored with the same old clubs pumping out the same old hip-hop and Top 40 tunes every weekend, and have longed for something better to come along…
Nestling somewhere between metalcore and screamo/post-hardcore, From Dark sounds a lot like a bunch of other bands you’ve probably heard: The Used, Atreyu, Avenged Sevenfold, Underoath, Thrice, and Senses Fail, to name a few. The formula? Spiraling, melodic guitars; dissonant lyrics; steady drum rhythms; and vocals that alternate between singing…
On You & Me, The Walkmen’s signature organ wheezes as though it’s on the repair bench, and the hazy, back-corner guitar tones haven’t changed much, either. One of the decade’s most riveting bands channels its energy on this, their fifth album, into electrifying climaxes and a surplus of early ’60s-era…
My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, released in 1981 (and recently reissued), was an attempt by David Byrne and Brian Eno to forge new territory via found sounds, samples, and assorted Africanisms that foreshadowed a good many musical trends. In contrast, Everything That Happens represents a retrenchment, albeit an…
If sanity in hip-hop is sexy, then J-Live might fuck around and become Denzel. The New York underground fixture’s fifth indie release, Then What Happened?, is a consistent collection of songs that promote common-man sensibilities and simple humanity — traits often absent in hip-hop these days. J’s strength is his…
Young hunk Ryan Cabrera’s third effort, The Moon Under Water, is supposedly his entry into serious music. Check out Cabrera’s brunette locks and soul patch as well as his Bono-inspired attire on the album’s back jacket — this guy is a thoughtful rocker, dammit. He’s been listening to Springsteen (actually…
Even though she has barely reached legal drinking age, this Cleveland-born singer-songwriter has accomplished much more than many other troubadours of her generation. In addition to scoring a regular spot on the CW soap One Tree Hill, she has also earned enough respect to be able to share the stage…
Unlike many of his rap contemporaries, Rashid “Common” Lynn has matured artistically — but he had a head start. Back in 1992, when he released his debut CD, Can I Borrow a Dollar?, under the name Common Sense, he was already sage beyond his age — and since then, his…
