By Jonathan McNamara A bassoon, a bass clarinet, a guitar, assorted percussion, a cello and ethereal vocalizations are the combined elements that give Dry River Yacht Club their strange but undeniable charm. Hear the eclectic group in action with a song called “Broken Back.” Dry River Yacht Club will soon…
By Benjamin Leatherman Last one out, turn off the light-up dance floor. For Phoenix’s nightlife scene, the bad news just keeps on coming. First, there was the announcement that downtown Phoenix indie rock haven OnePlace was closing up shop at the end of July because of financial woes. Then, as…
By Steve Jansen My Feral Kin rocks the world music tip If you checked out my “Noise Boy” column on My Feral Kin a few months back, you probably gathered, at the very least, that I’m digging on their fusion of rock and world music. Like, big-time…
By Jonathan McNamara A day of punk-rocking, T-shirt purchasing and baking in the summer sun drew to a close as Gym Class Heroes rapped one last song into the Phoenix night. The sweat-drenched fury that is the Vans Warped Tour was over for another year. But fret not, Warped Tour…
From the television screen to the magazine rack, music coverage generally skews young. It makes sense, given that the most rabid consumers are kids with time on their hands and cash to burn as they scour their sources for breaking artists. Eventually, though, an older generation of music fans gets…
What is with local DJs blowing this burg after getting some renown? DJs Dirty Dave and Denny Le Nimh (of Hot Pink! fame) both did it, as did Z-Trip and Markus Schulz before them. The latest big fish to ditch our small pond is house mixmaster Joe DiPadova, who used…
After listening to Robert Plant and Alison Krauss’ unlikely collaboration, Raising Sand, we couldn’t help philosophizing about what other artists we’d like to see record together. We had rules, though, as all good lists should have. Whatever pairings we came up with would have to be, like Plant and Krauss,…
One day last year, Michael Sweet — frontman of the Christian metal band Stryper — was sitting down with a bowl of Cheetos to watch a Law & Order marathon when his cell phone rang. Michael Sweet: Hello? God: Hey, Michael, it’s me, God. Sweet: No fuc — I mean,…
THURSDAY 26 Armitage Bistro: RE:WINE’D with DJ Seduce (jazz, soul, house, downbeat) Axis/Radius: Divine Ladies Night with MCB & DJ Devine (various) Barcelona: ROQ Thursdays with DJ Cubeechee, Scooter and Lavelle, & more (various) Bar Smith: Thru the Wires with DJs Issa, Terra, Dim, Glix, & more (various) Blooze Bar: DJ El…
Detractors tell you American Idol is ruining pop music. Alarmists go even further, reminding us that American Idol is pop music evil incarnate, having secretly replaced the rich taste of The Beatles, Elton John, Michael Jackson, and U2 that we used to enjoy with the sound of Davids Cook and…
There’s a moment on The Blackened Flat Tax — a 30-minute effort by the rock-heavy, world-music-fortified Phoenix-based band — when we experience some serious chills (this is our body’s positive, uncontrolled reaction to music that really wows us). The goose bumps start to form at the beginning of “Long Sinner,”…
Few reggae albums can muster up strong anticipation from the dancehall and hip-hop communities simultaneously, but Elephant Man’s latest release, Let’s Get Physical, is just that type of disc. Lots of hype surrounded Ele’s jump to Bad Boy Records. Not only was that a bold move for both parties, but…
L.A.’s ax ‘n’ drums duo No Age (along with a bunch of other young guns like Times New Viking and Pink Reason) has reconnected with the quirky and all-too-damaged spirits coursing through old-school American indie rock. Nouns’ title stinks compared to that of their 2007 debut, Weirdo Rippers, but the…
Acclaimed blues-rock guitarist Joe Bonamassa has been blazing a path in music since B.B. King first discovered the six-string slinger when he was 12 and took him on the road as his opening act. He’s been featured on the cover of Guitar World, Guitar Player, and Guitarist; he continues to…
No one can question Mike Ness’ punk rock badge, with his being the sole remaining original member of seminal rockabilly punks Social Distortion and having survived an addiction to heroin. And while some may question the authenticity of Ness’ solo work — which is markedly less “punk” and more straight-ahead…
The Sulphur Springs/Denton, Texas-based quintet Fair to Midland holds the platypus-rare distinction of sounding like pretty much no one else in rock music today. Consider a track such as the single “Tall Tales Taste Like Sour Grapes,” from the band’s debut album, Fables from a Mayfly, released last June. There’s…
Proponents and supporters are apparently taking the park very seriously, as yesterday, the park proposition (Senate Bill 1450) passed with a 17-9 vote.
It hasn’t been a very good year for Sky Lounge. The popular downtown dance club made news headlines in May, when a group of men leaving the club got into a fight outside the building that escalated into a shooting, leaving one man injured and another dead.
And last week, Sky Lounge was shut down by inspectors from the City of Phoenix’s Neighborhood Services Department for building code violations.
By Benjamin Leatherman If there’s one thing that YouTube is no short supply of, it’s homemade music videos. I’ve personally lost count of the times my eyes have been assaulted by streaming clips of goofy teenage girls lip-synching to rock and pop music, relentlessly random slideshows of weird images set…
By Lilia Menconi As we approached our 80th Club Candids, we were beginning to think this town was totally tapped out. These past weeks, we’ve had to be a bit bolder with our choices and run the risk of heading into clubs that felt more like superficial war zones than…
Face it, every once in a while you like to get a little post-punk. Hell, maybe you even occasionally need to sing an emo-ballad if only to your steering wheel. Luckily for you there is a time and place for you and it’s The Vans Warped Tour. Warped Tour hits…
About a month ago, I posted a blog asking Phoenix artists to send me their CDs for review. This week, I review the latest disc from Valley singer/songwriter Matthew Reveles, whom I first saw perform back in 2002 at a “Battle of the Bands” at ASU West. He’s come a long way.
