A couple of weekends ago, I traveled down to Sonoita, near the Mexican border, to hit up my cowboy buddy Andy Hersey’s release party for his new CD, Between God and Country. The first song on the disc is called “Roughshod Range,” and I’d been sitting at his ranch with…
There’s a certain, what I call, celebration of summer in our culture. I don’t care who you are. If you live in New York City in a tenement or in Arizona on a ranch, there’s something about the freedom of summertime [that harks back to our childhoods]. You wake up…
One of the most volatile and acclaimed bands to rise out of the Washington, D.C., hardcore punk scene in the early ’80s, Bad Brains overcame novelty status (four men of color playing punk) by mixing blazing speed and virtuosity with reggae riddims and social consciousness. Fronted by the often unpredictable…
When industrial rock gods Skinny Puppy play the Marquee Theatre on Tuesday, there is only one thing that audience members can truly count on: fucking insanity. The band, which has regularly reinvented itself since its formation in the early ’80s, built its reputation by bringing nightmares to reality. Using elaborate…
Now is as good a time as ever to redefine “desert rock.” For most people, it means expansive country rock with a couple of cacti in the background. But now, thanks to urban sprawl, it often means expansive country rock music surrounded by lots of sports bars and move-in-today apartments…
Seductive jazz singer Wensday made her first Phoenix appearance at Alice Cooper’s 2006 “Christmas Pudding” concert, where she performed a soulful version of Cooper’s power ballad “Only Women Bleed.” That track is included on Torch Rock, with ad-libbed lines like “Just kick that jackass out of town.” The other 12…
What is Ozzy now, a hundred or something? You’d think the old coot would call it a career rather than further tarnish his legacy. Like most icons past their prime, though, maybe he just doesn’t know when to say when. He’s clearly saddled by idiots. Why else would he choose…
Near the conclusion of Austin Powers (the first one), Dr. Evil taunts our hero, “There is nothing worse than an aging hipster.” Veteran femme rock icon Grace Slick has said “old people” look, uh, foolish playing rock ‘n’ roll. It is a nice trick if one can manage it —…
This Portland trio clearly doesn’t want people to know much about its background. Its latest album, Friend and Foe, though visually impressive with its cutout CD booklet and clever use of contrasting colors, contains almost nothing in the way of information about the band. The band also makes a concerted…
Twelve years ago, it seemed as if the music world barely noticed the release of The Police’s posthumous double-live album. Clearly, something’s changed since. And though it is encouraging to see such ravenous demand for the reunited Aryan trio, it’s kind of hard to justify plopping down 200 bucks to…
Say what you will about Norah Jones, but the woman has the guts to choose opening acts that could potentially blow her off the stage. On her last go-round, Jones enlisted the mighty Gillian Welch to warm up the crowd, and this tour features the considerable talents of M. Ward…
File Great Lake Swimmers under “alternative Canadian country” — faster (sometimes) than a speeding Iron & Wine, less intense than a galloping Band of Horses and just about exactly as nasal as a youthful Neil Young (because though you can take the band out of Canada, you can’t take Canada…
Amidst the bombast of Nirvana-influenced alternative rock in the ’90s, a handful of Chicago-based musicians pioneered the genre of music tagged by critics as “post rock.” Mixing a heady compound of jazz improvisation and outsider indie mentality, post rock provocateurs established quiet musicianship as the overarching aesthetic in the face…
San Francisco mixmaster extraordinaire Lorin Ashton, a.k.a. Bassnectar, has spent the past decade in the Bay Area’s underground scene amassing a legion of fans who dig his exotic sonic concoctions, which blend thickly warbling bass lines, spastic techno glitchery, and throbbing breakbeats with generous dollops of funk, hip-hop, and freestyle…
Thursday 14 Andersons: 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 Tillys: DJ Adrian (old school, R&B, cumbia, reggaeton) Bikini Lounge: Sophisticated Boom Boom with DJ HFE (rockabilly, surf, jazz, classic country, indie, obscuro, R&B) Bobby Cs: Willy…
It seems like ages since we’ve been able to sit at a bar and enjoy a cigarette with our booze. This weekend, we may well have found the coolest patio in town. Bar Smith in central Phoenix has a real city vibe with its open-air bar, wedged between two other…
By Brendan Joel Kelley Since I assume that if you’re reading this you likely just don’t have enough to do at your place of employment, I thought I’d point you towards another site that’s got the potential to do some cool shit. It’s phoenixrockcity.com, a site with a plethora of…
By Brendan Joel Kelley A Second to Die If you haven’t noticed, I’ve spent a lot of time discussing metal lately, both in its traditional and innovative forms. It’s earned me the ire of some and the praise of others, and apparently broken up at least one band (that’s unconfirmed,…
By Brendan Joel Kelley My technical difficulties now resolved, here are the tracks I promised to give you from the Smob’s just-released-last-night album I Hate Your Face. Fresh off of a triumphant release party last night at the Sets with Zion I and Tajai sharing the bill, I’m about to…
By Brendan Joel Kelley I was going to grace you with some fresh new music today, being released tomorrow, but after wrestling with the internet for a while I found out that my capacity to upload and share music with you is temporarily hindered. Nonetheless, if you dig local and…
On a recent Thursday afternoon, disgruntled by the heat, Phoenix drivers, and the smell of my pants, I drop my Boston terrier, Murray, at home and high-tail it to a small bar in a strip mall marked by a fuzzy neon orange-red glow. I arrive at the Dilly Dally ready…
Having covered music in this town for more than a decade, I see and listen to a lot of bands encompassing all genres, styles, and persuasions, but what I rock and go see for my personal enjoyment is another, more specific matter. A few years ago and beyond, my steez…
