There aren’t very many guitar-slingers who could consistently work with such exacting taskmasters as Frank Zappa and Robert Fripp, not to mention the thin white duck, er, duke — David Bowie. Usual suspects: a) Tom Verlaine; b) Adrian Belew; c) Gary Sinise. If you chose “b,” congrats! Between 1978-2002, Belew…
In the past dozen years, Against Me! singer Tom Gabel’s gone from being an Americanized Billy Bragg strumming angrily against the man to a rock juggernaut with enough fist-in-the-air intensity to rival the anthemic agit-prop of the Clash. Last summer, the Gainesville, Florida quartet made the leap to the majors…
Here’s a no-brainer: The radio situation here in the PHX sucks a fat one. Between annoying adverts for overpriced car stereos and overplayed earworms like “Hey There Delilah,” we’d rather spend our drive time listening to static instead of another insipid 20-minute mix. If only those wastes of airtime had…
How do the Dropkick Murphys prepare for Saint Patty’s Day? Try two weeks of warm-up shows.
Rose McGowan. Dita Von Teese. Evan Rachel Wood. They’re all talented, beautiful, and they’ve all been to bed with super-freak Marilyn Manson. Though this will never make sense to us, we can’t help wondering what other entertainment types might satisfy Manson’s appetite for the bizarre. Lindsay Lohan: Lohan is beautiful;…
Ladysmith Black Mambazo, South Africa’s premier vocal group, made the world aware of the power of Zulu music in 1986, when they sang on Paul Simon’s Graceland. Since then, they’ve won Grammys and toured the globe, captivating audiences with their uplifting harmonies and amazing dance routines — but they were…
Chris Walla plays guitar in Death Cab for Cutie, and in addition to producing all his band’s discs, he’s helmed albums for a litany of indie-rock heroes (Decemberists, Tegan and Sara, The Thermals, and more). Walla’s been called Ben Gibbard’s “sonic wingman,” but the perpetually cheerful multi-instrumentalist recently headed out…
THURSDAY 21 27th Avenue Bar & Grill: DJ Tranzo (hip-hop, Top 40) Blooze Bar: DJ El Dedo (rockabilly) Bunkhouse: DJ Doom (dance) Casey Jones: Da Gutter Thursdays with DJ Soulman (hip-hop, Top 40) Cherry Lounge: DJ M2 (rock, ’80s, old school, hip-hop) Club Red: The Blunt Club with Pickster Uno, DJ Element, Emerg McVay, Dumperfoo, & more…
Before tax specialists H&R Block admitted to overstating its earnings for 2003 and 2004 by $91.1 million, founder Henry W. Block used to appear in its TV commercials, itemizing “the 17 reasons why you should let us prepare your income tax.” Taking a subliminal cue from the Block head himself,…
Think what you may, but at the very least, you can always count on black metal for its directness. You can count on it to be exactly what it is and nothing more or less. With album titles like Bondage Goat Zombie and Goatreich-Fleshcult, the Satan-worshippers of Austrian outfit Belphegor…
“Emperors of Japan” sounds like something somebody would name their band while under the influence of psychedelic drugs. The Phoenix band sounds like it’s on a fabulous trip, too. Their latest album, Activator, opens with a song called “The Jesus Bee,” which is all woozy surf guitar with indecipherable, upper-register…
While 18-year-old guitarist and principal Eyes Set to Kill songwriter Alexia Rodriguez’s lyrical phrasing continues to advance, her preoccupation with depressive themes suggests a deeper wisdom already at work. She may not have known it at the time, but ever since she first scrawled her band’s name in her notebook,…
In this new Putumayo collection, we look at a variety of jazz-inflected, electronically inspired songs that come mostly from Western Europe and are influenced by the many Middle-Eastern and Latin musicians who live there today. One of the first tracks to catch your attention is Toufic Farrouk’s “Destins et Désirs,”…
Jack Johnson would undoubtedly make a wonderful dinner companion. Unlike the average rock star, who might well break the good china, wipe his face on the curtains, call your mom the C-word, and violate your Pomeranian, he’d be charming and kind, even if he found out you use environmentally unfriendly…
If a guy looks like the missing link between Bat Boy and a young Jason Vorhees (in that scene at the end of Friday the 13th where the, um, rather intent-looking lad shoots out of the water) and plays it up, then you know he’s probably got no shame about…
Though Waters, Gilmour, & Company are no longer touring as a band (their last appearance was at Live 8 in the summer of 2005), Floyd fans have a good opportunity to experience the band’s music in a theatrical format in this show that covers the band’s career, from classics like…
If you combined Elvis Costello’s pop sensibility with the White Stripes’ early, stripped-down sound and Weezer’s geek chic, you’d have something like Los Angeles indie trio Miniature Tigers. Sans bassist, the group’s songs tend to hang on the high end, but with all the colorful jangle and grit of garage…
Over the past year, the Goat Head Saloon, 1423 South Country Club Drive in Mesa, has given groovy types around the PHX a place to trip out and chillax to the kind sounds of local jam bands and other irie musicians. And now, the Mesa jam shack will be taking…
A guitarist wearing nothing but an oversized diaper. A white girl sporting a cat costume, then later, roller skating around stage with a fake fire extinguisher. A fit specimen of a man wearing a white fur coat. And an old dude in a peacock-esque headdress who can still bring the P-Funk.
These were just some of the things on display during the George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic (http://www.georgeclinton.com/) show at Marquee Theatre Wednesday night. At times, it didn’t all make sense. But when/if it starts making sense, it’s probably a sign that Clinton has died and gone back to the planet he is from.
“I’m basically a guy with tits.”
This is how 16-year-old Red Mountain High School student Kelly Ortiz describes herself at the beginning of her “Pageant Queen” episode for the MTV show Made, which airs Saturday, February 16.
I had so many memories of drinking in the afternoons with transvestites and guys doing lines in the bathrooms at the cool, old haunt that used to occupy the corner of Seventh Avenue and Indian School Road. I wasn’t sure I wanted to tarnish any of those “good times.” But,…
Ever since we loitered at the Scottsdale Civic Center as 14-year-olds, we’ve been dying to drink at AZ88. Its banana-boat lighting and pink bathrooms were so enticing that we couldn’t wait until our 21st birthday. Now that we’re well past that milestone, AZ88 has endured as one of our favorite…
