Until now, Elton John, Philip Norman’s 1992 unauthorized biography of the piano man, has stood as the definitive word (also updated in 2000 as Sir Elton: The Definitive Biography, for those who missed the point). That’s the tome where we first learned about “Elton’s little moments” — his frequent tantrums…
Were you one of the thousands of hopefuls who submitted demo tapes to BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel? Perhaps he didn’t play it, let alone include it on his annual Festive 50 list. But consider this: Did you describe your music as “jazz”? Boast about your saxophone player? Profess…
This CD sounds like sitting in the back of a 1976 Dodge van, surrounded by blacklight posters, clouds of incense smoke, and stacks of 8-tracks. Musically, it’s like some time-warped orgy of Cream, Black Sabbath, and Electric Light Orchestra; lyrically, it’s all dragons, wizards, and cryptic cheesiness oozing over macabre…
Shelby James and the Crying Shames’ Cadillac Valentine is an often sprightly blend of ’90s rock, country, blues, driving bass and drums, and ’60s-esque guitar and vocal riffs. Drawing on influences far and wide, the lyrics quote songs by everyone from Pink Floyd to Oasis, and the melodies are reminiscent…
Magic is being hyped as Springsteen’s rocking return to his classic period, and that’s understandable: The album contains lotsa familiar musical totems, not to mention lyrics about driving a highway until the road turns black, and a diner on the edge of town (bet it’s dark there). But while Boss…
Konono No. 1 is from the Congo, and they make music unlike anything you’ve ever heard. Their music is based on the sound of the mingiedi, the Congolese thumb piano, also known as the kalimba and sanza. Band leader Mawangu Mingiedi moved to Kinshasa (Congo’s capital) in the ’70s and…
In his first appearance as a bandleader in New York in more than a decade, Santa Fe-based saxophonist and clarinetist Daniels played a four-day residence at The Iridium Jazz club, a well-known jazz spot best recognized for its regular Monday-night sessions with nonagenarian guitarist Les Paul. This two-disc package contains…
Frontman Matt Pond doesn’t care for the term “chamber pop,” and it’s a loose fit. His band’s sound is more Delgados than Belle & Sebastian, which is to say that though the quintet frequently uses strings for texture and its melancholy tone, there’s a sturdy indie rock undertone recalling Sebadoh,…
As one of the most prominent promoters of Hawaiian culture today, Keali’i Reichel (pronounced Key-ah-li-ee Ray-shell) takes an educational approach during his live concerts. “It’s a good mixture of hula, storytelling and music,” he says during a phone interview from his native Maui. Though he sings mostly in Hawaiian, he…
Cave Singers frontman/guitarist Pete Quirk doesn’t need a band, really. He’s got a vocal delivery so weathered and lived-in — thin as a middle-aged woman’s croak, almost, or a limited Perry Farrell — that it’d even be a devastating weapon sans instrumental accompaniment. His voice speaks woeful volumes and drips…
It’s almost impossible to believe Bobby Bare Jr. is the son of legendary countrypolitan crooner Bobby Bare. Bare Jr.’s tongue-in-cheek lyrics, dry vocals, and ’60s pop-infused melodies are in direct opposition to his father’s schmaltzy country fare. To be certain, there is the occasional pedal steel lick, but the younger…
Beware the Jabberwock, my son, not to mention the Jubjub bird, the sneaky Snark, or any of the other boojumed bizarrities that will surely journey Through the Looking Glass for Tis Brillig, on Saturday, October 20, at the Starlight Room, 16737 East Parkview Avenue, in Fountain Hills. Dubbed by organizers…
Rather than espouse the many virtues of Weird Al Yankovic’s live show, I’ve elected to let my inner child write a brief “review” of the spectacle and follow it up with an off-the-wall, exclusive interview I had with Weird Al a couple weeks before his Phoenix show.
Have you ever wished more bands would take a cue from the Navy Seals and—as you’re quietly admiring the architecture of the venue rafters—creep up behind you, grab your hair in a fist, and open your carotid artery from ear to ear? I know I have, ha ha! Although Black Moth Super Rainbow didn’t quite do that to me, they did pleasantly surprise me in a manner akin to being licked on the back of my neck by a frisky unicorn. They stir up an extremely creamy blend of vocoder-heavy psychedelic synth pop, and ANALOG synth pop no less, meaning there’re nice fat waves of color rolling off your tongue and eyelids as the hard and heavy rhythm section crams it in your nostrils and/or armpits. Drums and bass were locked in, the Nord/Kawasaki synth axis roamed around like a freewheelin’ Atari astronaut, and the vocodings moved in and out of the proceedings with eyes agog.
Thursday 11 Anderson’s: S.W.A.G. Thursdays with DJ Essence, DJ Astonish, & Bryce Breeze (hip-hop, reggae, R&B) Axis/Radius: Ladies Night (hip-hop, rock, dance) Baja Tilly’s: DJ Adrian (old school, R&B, cumbia, reggaeton) Big Fish Pub: Chronik Frequency Thursdays with the Hazardous Crew feat. DJ Ladykilla, DJ Papi Cholo, DJ Spawn, Kyle…
We’re just finishing up a nice dinner at Dick’s Hideaway on a random Wednesday night when I hint at the urge to slum it for a few. Carla picks up on my slobbering (and the fact that I’m done paying $9 for a glass of wine). She says she has…
Shane Ocell has the biggest, hardest . . . callus I’ve ever seen. It’s the size of a small marble, sitting on the knuckle of his right middle finger. He cultivated the knot through his unconventional drumming style — holding the stick between his fingers while using the rest of…
Via Vengeance’s songs sound gritty, dense, and calculated. The rhythms are snappy and solid, with seamless, simple timing changes that often lead into even simpler guitar interludes, but show attention to composition nonetheless. Not that Via Vengeance is machinistic prog rock by any stretch of the imagination. This is raw,…
It was the eve of the new millennium at Joe and Maxine Zawinul’s beautiful place in lower Manhattan. The music of Marvin Gaye filled the home — “What’s Going On,” as I recall. Zawinul had invited me to a small family celebration, and all my other plans for the big…
So witty, so inquisitive, so downright loquacious is Elisa Ambrogio that a telephone interview with her threatens to unravel at any given moment, to turn obliviously tangential — not unlike the music she’s made, until recently. A question about authors who influenced the Magik Markers singer/guitarist’s graphically provocative lyricism on…
The best descriptors for Devendra Banhart’s latest album, Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon, come in pairs; one at a time doesn’t do justice to its heady tensions or its creator’s labyrinthine mystique. The record is kinetic yet placid, pensive yet droll, erratic yet strangely cohesive. The fact that singular phrases…
One of the mantras that emerged from the hippie counterculture movement of the ’60s was “never trust anyone over 30.” When you’re young, idealistic, and wearing rose-colored raver sunglasses to protect your eyes from the early-morning sunrise assault, that seems all right — especially since 30 seems impossible, a nonreality…
