MTV has a lot to answer for. Killing the radio star to force-feed us hair bands in the ’80s. Re-imagining punk and grunge to be all those lousy bands that filled two entire CDs of “buzz cuts” in the ’90s. Inventing the reality show and, in reality, gutting music from…
Santa, forgive us for saying this, but screw Christmas. In our opinion, Halloween is the most wonderful time of the year. And since the haunted holiday is just around the corner, there’s gonna be plenty of scary soirees that we’re going to be hanging out at over the next few…
Though other top MCs have had to create their own bogeymen to battle — Kanye has his ego, Eminem had Kim, Lil Wayne has those cough-syrup Martians — T.I.’s got real problems. Released from house arrest and in the midst of 1,500 hours of community service, he still has to…
When considering the work of The Jesus and Mary Chain, most conversations begin and end with the Scottish band’s stunning 1985 debut, Psychocandy. Fair enough. With its simple, melodic pop songs dipped in battery acid guitar feedback, the album is widely regarded as a landmark of the era. Had songwriters…
Fresh on the heels of 2006’s Robbers & Cowards, the debut album that featured the radio darling “Hang Me Out to Dry,” Long Beach-based Cold War Kids fight an uphill battle on their sophomore effort. Loyalty to Loyalty chronicles the band’s efforts to shake the reputation that their single made…
Nearly every music genre has an avant-garde wing, an “underground” scene escaping the notice of mainstream press. Hip-hop is no exception. San Francisco duo Blue Sky Black Death — Young God and Kingston — got together with vocalist Yes Alexander and the result, Slow Burning Lights, redefines what a hip-hop…
An aging hipster and a 16-year-old girl stroll through the mall, absentmindedly enveloped in their respective iPods. They collide. “Hey, watch where you’re going,” says the hipster. “You got pop sensibilities in my drone-y shoegaze.” The 16-year-old girl cocks her head: “Nuh-uh. You got your lameass shoegaze all up in…
Philly three-piece Jukebox the Ghost’s wry whimsical alarm is just the balm to soothe a decade of complaint rock and loudcore ache. Whether surviving imminent manmade apocalypse or entertaining the devil while God explains “how all the shit’s going to be when I blow your little planet into smithereens,” the…
Taking a break from their larger pavilion/ballroom tour with Nashville rock mainstays Kings of Leon, tourmates The Stills and We Are Scientists come to Tempe to showcase their solid new albums to a more intimate crowd. This show says a lot about both bands, stopping by Arizona in between shows…
For far too long, there were far too few bands interested in layering acoustic and electronic elements to make the sort of “chill” music that fills any respectable nightclub with pleather couches. Not anymore. Chill music is everywhere now, Phoenix and elsewhere, though not everyone is doing it as well as Kruder & Dorfmeister.
By Benjamin Leatherman Much like the mythical bird from which our ‘burg draws its name, popular record store Hoodlums has risen – quite literally – from the ashes. As Steve Jansen wrote in this week’s issue, the music emporium’s former location on the ASU campus was gutted by a tragic…
A couple weeks back I wrote a long diatribe about the lost art of the concert poster and challenged you to come up with something that would blow us all away — with the winner getting me to show up at the advertised concert, regardless of its musical merit. Then, to remind you of the contest, I pointed out one local flier I wasn’t fond of, stirring the ire of some readers.
This week’s Flier of the Week is a no-brainer. Check this bad boy out – despite the need to have each band’s logo in it’s own font (a decidedly metal phenomenon) it’s got a clean look. And is pretty badass to boot.
From the Democratic Republic of Congo — where, in the words of Spin writer Eric Pape, a “culture of corruption, moral decay, and negligible resources has created a music scene that can best be described as Darwinian . . . an absurd world where even the biggest pop stars feel compelled…
Recognized for producing of some of the greatest records of the punk era (Elvis Costello, The Damned, the Pretenders), Nick Lowe left the most indelible mark on his own records. Witness Yep-Roc’s recent 30-year anniversary edition of Pure Pop for Now People. In 1978, dressing up like the Riddler was…
The band’s name is crass, and song titles like “Myke Ptyson” and “Iaadeedaa” hardly help bolster any early confidence in liking them, but Starfucker’s self-titled debut is a smart, multi-layered gem of indie-pop splendor. The album’s opener, “Florida,” establishes the band’s simple yet delightfully complex sound with its dreamy guitar…
Like their Elephant 6 brethren, of Montreal has always walked the line between the accessible and the avant-garde. Usually, Kevin Barnes and Co. have fallen neatly on the pop side, making music that would work in, say, an Outback Steakhouse commercial — after being stripped of its references to Greek…
It’s not easy to follow in the footsteps of a frontman who had a four-octave vocal range and a tendency to wear glittery capes on stage. Listening to Cosmos Rock, it’s clear that former Free/Bad Company singer Paul Rodgers isn’t up to the task. To his credit, though, Rodgers didn’t…
Cat Power kicks off her new CD, Jukebox, with a remake of John Kander & Fred Ebb’s standard “Theme from New York, New York,” but given the track’s sultry, Stax-y R&B makeover and coolly rumbling keyboards, perhaps she should call her version “Memphis, Memphis.” She recorded her previous album, 2006’s…
There was a time when a new Randy Travis album was cause for celebration in country music circles, with radio programmers tripping over themselves to add Travis’ brand of neo-honky-tonk to their late-80s and early-’90s playlists. The basso profundo former juvenile delinquent could render a tear-and-beer-stained ballad better than anybody…
For a Phoenix band, Smokescreen sound pretty British. Not, like, Blur British, but British enough. It’s not the vocals – singer Gus Holwerda doesn’t sound like Liam Gallagher or anything – but the band’s musical vocabulary definitely owes a debt to the lads across the pond.
By Lilia Menconi Woah. Slideshow. Planning our nights out isn’t always a smooth ride. Especially when we start boozing. So, in a slightly inebriated state, we weren’t as Johnny-on-the-spot when it came to our original plan, Friday’s Dear and the Headlights CD-release party. Being the party animals we are, we…
