Earlier this year, during the First Friday art walk, you would find a couple dozen people hanging out outside Palabra – Phoenix’s up-and-coming hair and art collective. It wasn’t that the people wanted to enjoy the fresh air (not with our weather), the former space simply couldn’t fit the rising…
On October 18 at Comerica Theatre, more than 80 Arizona MCs, DJs, and performers will get together for what must be the largest local hip-hop show ever thrown, Arizona Hip Hop Festival. This staggering undertaking is the brainchild of JustUs Samuel, the rapper and founder of Respect the Underground, which…
Ever known an ass you really, really loved to an unimaginable degree — a behind that spoke to you like no other? If so, Bob Log III has a doozy of a sales pitch for you. On his website, the semi-mysterious one-man band is now selling custom-written songs about butts,…
Mindy DuPonte sees the big picture. No matter what aspect of her life is in question, she’s prepped with an answer, a plan, or an approach, whether she’s talking about songwriting, one-year plans, or mixtape rollouts. It’s likely the best way to operate at the moment, as DuPonte’s hip-hop career…
Tim Showalter made his name as Strand of Oaks over three albums of dark folk music, a mysteriously enticing mix of dreamscape sci-fi lyrics and a simmering, powerful delivery. Unsatisfied, however, because of a key missing piece, Showalter turned everything upside down for Strand of Oaks’ fourth album, HEAL. “What…
Our desert summer is finally winding down; and really, it wasn’t so bad, now was it? It’s probably in part to the awesome parade of metal shows that came through our fair state since the music industry’s touring season was in full swing. Either way, at least the September nights…
Here’s some tasty new ear candy for you, all brought to you by Phoenix-based artists…
There were a lot of things both shiny and new making a debut in local nightlife during the month of August. Spots like The King or Cowboys and Whiskey in Scottsdale opened to the clubgoing public while a few new dance nights (such as Motown on Mondays at the Crescent…
When the Tempe History Museum unveils its long-awaited exhibition delving into the city’s storied live music past later this year, don’t be surprised if there’s little to no mention of Paul “PC” Cardone amongst the many displays doting on the Gin Blossoms, The Refreshments, or other local jangle-pop icons. By…
Remember Tomas Tovar Rascon, a.k.a. Tito Torbellino, the Phoenix-born banda singer who was brutally assassinated in a restaurant in Ciudad Obregon, Mexico, in late May? News came late July that Mexican police shot and killed one of the men responsible for the murder…
By Luke Winkie Why did you like Yeezus? Did you find it anarchic? Did you like how it challenged racial norms in a confrontational, blacked-out way? Did you like its minimalism? Or its maximalism? Did you find the songs to speak to a larger narrative of where Kanye West is…
Electrisad has had a very punctuated emergence as a fixture in the Phoenix scene. In the space of a few months, the band has opened up for several prominent acts in the national DIY indie scene such as Julie Byrne, Emperor X, and Your Heart Breaks. Saying that isn’t meant…
Black Moods fans eagerly anticipating the release of the rock band’s follow-up to their eclectic self-titled debut album will have to hold their breath a little longer. The Phoenix-based trio is tabling their upcoming album for a short time in an effort to strengthen the material, lengthen the album, and…
It’s time to locate the CD binder somewhere in a closet. Thumb through the inserts, and as nostalgia washes over, pull out 1994’s “required listening” album for angst-filled teenagers and brush up on the Offspring’s Smash. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the record that exposed the Huntington Beach,…
Fairy Bones frontwoman Chelsey Louise Richard said that every song on the band’s upcoming album, Dramabot, is going to have a video to go with it, and they are starting out with the album’s first single, “Waiting.” The video depicts what is essentially the scariest house party you’ve ever seen…
In May, Phoenix-based hip-hop duo Shining Soul — Franco Habre, a.k.a. Bronze Candidate, and Alex Soto, a.k.a. Liason — made a video for their track “No Mercy,” off their album, released in September 2013. The video mostly is protest footage mixed with clips of the group performing in concert, but…
Barn. Abandoned hotel. Log cabin. These are just a few locations outside the recording studio that bands have recorded their music. And now: record store. Jared Cox and TJ Jordan of Revolver Records are the masterminds behind Recorded in a Record Store, a compilation album of local bands who did…
Tucson’s Copper & Congress is a self-described “indie soul” trio of singer/guitarist/keyboardist Katie Haverly, bassist Patrick Morris, and drummer Julius Schlosburg. “We formed in 2012,” Haverly recalls. “We had a different drummer and guitar player. Patrick and I have been together since the beginning. Our guitar player quit and our…
Despite putting on a fantastic show at the Marquee Theatre last Wednesday, the New York kids collectively known as Interpol put on a set that clocked in at just under 60 minutes. It wasn’t exactly the Rolling Stones at Altamont, but there were many in the crowd who were vocal…
Heshers, hard rock fans, and metalheads alike have a lot to look forward to in the weeks and months ahead. Besides much-anticipated upcoming concerts by such living legends as Judas Priest and Slayer, the fall also bring with it the annual Rockstar Energy Drink Uproar Festival, the debut of Rob…
It’s odd that people who have never met me want to punch me in the throat. Perhaps it’s akin to what people like Sean Hannity and Joe Arpaio experience on a daily basis, although I would never want to be compared to them. Luckily, I feel safe in saying there…
“I don’t want to talk about music, that’s so boring,” declares Travis James as he sits inside the Neverland House. And the local musician certainly has every right to call the shots, since the curiously named bungalow and DIY performance space in the Garfield Historic District is sort of his…
