Montreal indie-rock quintet Wolf Parade — relentlessly championed by Modest Mouse frontman Isaac Brock — made a huge splash in 2005 with their exhilarating debut full-length, Apologies to the Queen Mary. Three years later, they’re back with a follow-up, At Mount Zoomer. On the phone to give us his take…
Sigur Rós’ latest is positively festooned with danger signs: first album to be recorded mostly outside the band’s home base of Iceland, first to feature a track sung in English, and the first co-produced by a big-shot dial-twister (Flood, of Depeche Mode and PJ Harvey fame). Somehow, though, these seemingly…
With 10 like-minded bands on the same bill, it’ll be damn near impossible to avoid death metal overkill here. But if you can find a way to conserve your energy, the Summer Slaughter tour features two Montreal death metal bands that go together like, well, an ax and a freshly…
Not to be confused with the ultra-polished Indiana University a cappella group of the same name (though that would be funny as shit), this extreme metal outfit dares to go where most of its peers fear to tread. Which is to say: awkwardness. Yes, Straight, No Chaser will still melt…
A Todd Rundgren performance could include just about anything from the multi-instrumentalist’s 41-year career: the ’60s garage rock of his old band Nazz, his early ’70s power pop solo work, his mid-’70s Zappa-esque experimental stage, his ’80s New Wave dabbling, his ’90s phase of bossa nova, concept albums, and interpretive…
Chris Martin and company return to the road in support of their latest album, Viva La Vida, their follow-up to the number one, 10-times platinum album X&Y. Critics are already commenting on the album’s “harder edge,” and even Coldplay front man Chris Martin remarked to Entertainment Weekly that “We’re slightly…
Omaha’s Tilly and the Wall doesn’t have a drummer. But the band’s figured out a way to lay down the beat just the same: Member Jamie Pressnall provides percussive rhythms by tap-dancing. Yes, tap-dancing. Left to the wrong feet, it could all turn into a gimmicky, indie-pop version of Riverdance…
This Pittsburgh jam band has long been a shared favorite of Deadheads everywhere (the devout are known as “Rootheads”), as the band’s music incorporates world-music percussion and touches of bluegrass, but leaves room for improvisational jams. Some of the bands songs, like their biggest hit, 1995’s “Send Me on My…
We were surfing through DJ Tranzit’s impressive-looking MySpace page (www.myspace.com/tranzit) the other day, and besides being amused by the house music maestro’s catchphrases (“Some people call it a dance floor. I call it my office”), we peeped a pretty lengthy list of the clubs and gigs where he’s plied his…
What’s the most surprising characteristic about this DIY-sounding album? That it’s not just some dude holed up in his parents’ basement multi-tracking in the bathroom to achieve that just-so sound. Because it seriously sounds like that. However, The Black Jacket is a full band featuring a number of members from…
The only thing music correspondents are concerning themselves with right now is what’s the song of the summer gonna be — that special confection that encapsulates in 3 1/2 minutes something that’s going to make life on a planet that’s cooking itself with Jiffy-Pop finality worth sticking around for. Well,…
By Jonathan McNamara In the ancient times before Rock had been drawn, quartered and separated into an unrecognizable mass of encyclopedic classification Britannica in proportion; before The Beatles ushered in the first British Invasion; before the very word “rock” was even uttered in a backwater pub by some guitarist who…
Perfect Timing Entertainment’s Grid City on Thursday, July 3rd. By Lilia Menconi It gets weirder. Check the slideshow for more. It’s really not that unusual for us to end up in some strange house downtown. Typically, we’re one of the stragglers at the alluring yet oft-disappointing after-party — scrounging for…
All of the *Sadisco events I’ve been to have been fun, but very few shows by the underground productions company/local rivethead collective that I’ve attended have featured full band instrumentation. Usually, there’s just a crew of DJs, spinning a sick mix of underground trance, psycho techno, industrial, and death rock.
By Benjamin Leatherman Here’s a list of what’s been selling at Circles Records & Tapes (800 North Central Avenue in Phoenix) for the Week of June 30 to June 6: 1. Lil Wayne, Tha Carter III (Cash Money) 2. Plies, Definition of Real (Atlantic) 3. The-Dream, Love Hate (Def Jam)…
This week’s “Flier of the Week” comes from local rockers Antique Scream. The band is currently on tour, and this flier is actually for a show in Las Vegas, but I chose it for two reasons: 1) the retro go-go chick art is really cool, and 2) notice how it says “from Phoenix, Arizona” beneath the band’s name. Hats off to Antique Scream for giving props to their hometown — I rarely see that from local bands who’re touring nationally.
This week, I’m reviewing the new album by Phoenix hip-hop artist Fetti Profoun. I reviewed his debut CD back in 2006, which I called “one of the most impressive local hip-hop debuts in years.”
So…sophomore slump for Fetti, or did he outdo himself? Read on.
Since it’s Monday, I was going to do a blog analyzing various songs about Mondays, from the usual suspects like the Boomtown Rats’ “I Don’t Like Mondays” to lesser-known odes like Fleetwood Mac’s “Monday Morning.” But then I got an e-mail from local experimental band Janis Joplin Crap N Vomit, who, in addition to having one of the most intriguing band names in the Valley, also possess some palatable-but-quirky pop skills.
By Joseph Golfen Better than: a sauna, but not by much. The little, wooden stage at the Modified Arts was sweltering. The air was still and thick with the type of humidity that rolls in with the monsoons every summer. “I know you guys probably get tired of bands coming…
In the spirit of the Fourth of July, and to show appreciation for all those who served and sacrificed for the freedom we celebrate today, here’s an assemblage of USO music performances for our troops.
By Jonathan McNamara While I’m sure all of you are planning to spend the weekend reading biographies on our founding fathers and saluting the flag, here are a few less patriotic suggestions you may wish to employ. Friday: First Friday Just because it’s Independence Day doesn’t mean the monthly spectacle…
By Benjamin Leatherman Folksy indie quirksters Polka Dot Dot are scheduled to visit the Trunk Space. Normally we’d be putting this up tomorrow, but since it’ll be a holiday (and in all likelihood y’all will be out feting freedom, fireworks, and frankfurters for three days straight) we thought we’d give…
