You know you’re getting old when you hear some smooooooth jazz on the radio and think to yourself, “Wow. This would sound fantastic at my next dinner party.” Listening to keyboardist-composer David Garfield is kind of like that. One minute, you’re marveling at his clean West Coast texturing and slick…
As the old chestnut goes, life is all about timing. A mere six months ago, the Dancing Machine Review was just another hokey traveling tribute act (in the vein of such faux shows as Fab Four or Beatallica) paying homage to the Jackson 5. But after the “great gloved one”…
Tastemakers are split over these Long Beach, California-based psych-rockers and their debut long-play, Tentacles. Some reviewers and bloggers insist that the album picks up precisely where the band’s self-released, untitled EP (2008) left off — namely, in a state of feverish musical ass-kicking. Others suggest that the speedier Tentacles backtracks…
Holiday spirit is slowly seeping into the Valley’s December’s concert lineup, and add local indie poppers Kinch to the long list of seasonal soirees. Slotted within days of shock-rocker and driving-range master Alice Cooper’s annual Christmas Pudding party at Dodge, the emo pop Winter Wonder Slam at US Airways Center…
The bombastic electro-hop duo of Oren J. and Carnegie (a.k.a. Silver Medallion) must be plenty tired lately, because the past few weeks have been crazy-busy for the pair of rhyme-slinging cats. They’ve entertained teenyboppers at Chandler’s Hamilton High School as a part of 101.5 Jamz “High School Invasion,” impressed Scottsdale…
Band: HaloceneRecord: The Secret, a six-song EPBasics: Halocene is a Phoenix female-fronted fivesome that’s a little bit Letters to Cleo, a little bit Veronicas, a little bit The Maine. For the most part they’ve got a pure pop rock sound but they show a little edge from time to time. Love…
Looks like the corner of 32nd Street and Indian School is finally getting the love it has so desperately missed since the demise of Glam. If its maiden voyage Friday night was any indication, Club Vibe maybe the new spot to kick off the weekend with its anything-goes dance night…
Draconian DUI penalties. Overpriced drinks. Snotty bartenders. There are any number of reasons why P-town urbanites haven’t been willing to travel far from home to get to their favorite clubs or dance nights over the past few years. So longtime Blunt Club resident Pickster One has a solution to the…
Christmas albums are as unavoidable as the awkward family gatherings and office holiday parties that everyone suffers through every December. No fewer than 30 different Yuletide CDs will be hitting shelves and iTunes this month, including discs from Bob Dylan, Andrea Bocelli, Tori Amos, Michael McDonald, and even the most…
The Mormon-heavy milquetoast milieu of Mesa is likely one of the last places you’d expect to become a hotbed of death metal and hard rock, but such is the case, thanks to the soldiers of the Mosh Pit Army. The metalheads of this military-like clothing company/concert promoter (which boasts fan…
It’s amazing that, as busy as the members of the Canadian indie-rock group Metric are, they can still find time to release any new material. Metric frontwoman Emily Haines and guitarist James Shaw are both members of the Canadian indie-rock super group Broken Social Scene. In 2007, Haines released an…
It would be easy to compare the acoustic folk-rock trio The Sweet Remains to a group like Crosby, Stills & Nash. Easy, but not necessarily accurate. The group, made up of Rich Price, Greg Naughton, and Phoenix’s own Brian Chartrand definitely shares similarities to CSN, but its music really has…
With Ruby Room’ sudden departure from the downtown music scene we’ve been watching veeeeery closely to see what venues are picking up the old place’s shows. Add Chopper John’s on Indian School to the mix, as they host this show for Ruby Room regulars Skinwalkers, noted KISS-hater Jay Bennett’s band…
Band: Jim Bachmann and The Day DrinkersRecord: Jim Bachmann and The Day DrinkersBasics: Jim Bachmann, a country-styled man about town whose a fixture at Tempe’s Yucca Tap Room. Bachmann once did a Sun Session cover of Alan Jackson’s “Chasin’ That Neon Rainbow” which I still regard among the best we’ve…
We found ourselves way out in the East Valley on Saturday night and we thought it might be a good idea to poke around one of Chandler’s old stand-by’s, Fibber Magees. Now, it was freakin’ freezing that night so we were a little worried everyone was home, cuddled up in…
Many readers have probably picked up on he fact that the closing of The Ruby Room, and the changes at Modified, leave a huge hole in the downtown music scene. Where are the shows that used to go to those two places headed? Right now a lot of them seem…
Anybody who’s ever attended one of Peachcake’s free-spirited and vibrant gigs would likely attest to the fact that the indie-pop band’s ever-optimistic frontman Stefan Pruett is the eclectic poster child for positivism and imaginative thinking. So it’s only natural that the 24-year-old’s other pet project, Planet Awesome (a collective of…
Every year, countless singers leave home and descend on Nashville with visions of superstardom dancing in their heads, and every year most of those singers return to Moose Dick, Montana, with their tails between their legs. However, if you look good with your shirt off, à la Kenny Chesney, or…
Surf rock has come a long way since The Ventures, and to be honest, most of that journey has not made for pleasant listening. Sure, there are the Beach Boys and Jan and Dean, but, typically, purveyors of Orange County’s lamest export have been generally indistinguishable: all mid-tempo, reverb, whammy…
Some assume that being in a punk band means surrendering your sense of humor and giving up all claims on musical maturity. Fortunately, there’s the occasional outfit that dispels that stereotype. The Ramones were goofy from the get-go, while Green Day proved that irreverence can garner you a Grammy. For…
There’s a standard formula that’s worked well for the PHX’s DJ/dance scene. If something hits it big in another city, be it S.F. or NYC, chances are it may just work here as well. (Just look at how well electro played out at Valley clubs after being imported to our…
Electric Mustache: Electric Mustaches ALBUMS OF THE YEAR!!!Idolator: Sean Kingston Tweets Song About Tweeting As The Internet ExplodesNME: Lily Allen confirms break from musicNME: Flaming Lips to cover Pink Floyd’s ‘The Dark Side Of the Moon’ at New Year’s Eve gigPitchfork: Radiohead’s Marching Band Collaboration ReleasedRolling Stone: Enter to Win…
