The main difference between all the “Earth-friendly” artists that jumped on the Live Earth bandwagon (or flew to the concerts on fuel-guzzling private jets, in the case of the Beastie Boys and Red Hot Chili Peppers) and French death-metal band Gojira is that Gojira gives a crap whether it’s fashionable…
He played with some of the best when he was just 17: Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, Otis Rush, B.B. King and T-Bone Walker. Guitar Shorty (born David Kearney) credits the flamboyant Guitar Slim with inspiring him to incorporate somersaults and flips into his lively stage show. Settling in Seattle, Shorty…
Hold a Will Oldham look-alike contest, and Alabama native Matthew Houck might just win it (not that you could tell from his severely backlit Pride album cover). And like Oldham’s former Palace Music collective, Phosphorescent is pretty much Houck and whatever cats he drags in with him. But that, my…
For an indie-pop group, Georgie James has had a rapid ascent, and they deserve it. Former Q and Not U drummer John Davis put his head together with the band’s other primary member, fellow Washington, D.C., songwriter Laura Burhenn, in 2005. Before long, they were opening for Camera Obscura on…
I still have a headache from visiting R&R Stix in East Mesa. I usually wait a couple of days after I hit a bar to review it (mostly to rid myself of the hangover), but I can’t wait to get this place down on paper. I’m feeling like hell, my…
There was a time, in the early ’90s, when there was no mosh pit I wouldn’t brave. I loved the sweat-drenched chaos, the primordial release of pent-up aggression, the feeling of being one with a motley mass of metalheads. I even took pride in my post-pit injuries. At one show,…
After taking a week off, we wanted to return to the scene with some class. So instead of slumming it with plastic cups and scummy restrooms, we decided to check out the Phoenix dig that’s known for a hot mess of $30K millionaires, the Merc Bar. On Friday, October 12,…
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…
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,…
Derivative, repetitive, insipid, insincere, and pandering, Songs About Girls also has the worst insert booklet in recent memory — seven pages of will.i.am mugging in a checkered suit. The first song, “Over,” a lover’s lament featuring a sample from Electric Light Orchestra (never a bad thing) isn’t terrible. But with…
The epic, soaring sonics on Happiness Ltd. , Hot Hot Heat’s latest effort, owe a debt to some tricked-out production that results in a number of satisfying swells. The strongest candidates for airplay are front-loaded for instant gratification, while the rest of the album needs time to ferment. Comparisons to…
