By Martin Cizmar I bring you this week’s Flier of the Week not because I love the Towelie-esque flier – though it is pretty cool – but because I don’t want to be the only person who shows up to see videogame rockers sBACH at Modified this Saturday. I advanced…
The hip-hop scene in the PHX is bigger than ever. Homegrown homeboy Willy Northpole made an appearance at the BET Hip Hop Awards last month, rhyme-spitting MCs are doing their thing on the mic at nights like The Blunt Club and Raising Arizona, and a new old-school station started broadcasting…
It is difficult to maintain momentum over the course of 13 songs, yet New Zealand’s Pip Brown — better known as Ladyhawke — is blissfully ignorant of this. Right from the dual claps on the opener “Magic,” Ladyhawke grabs listeners by the hand with a purple, sequined glove of splendid…
English-born Sarah Brightman has nothing left to prove — throughout her career, her iconic soprano has been heard in the definitive versions of various Broadway tunes, successfully crossing over to pop while still making classical recordings. On her first holiday-themed album, with the London Symphony Orchestra, she takes on standards…
Shiny Toy Guns guitarist/singer Gregori Chad Petree and bassist/keyboardist Jeremy Dawson (the two creative forces behind the Los Angeles synth-pop band) evidently like to keep trying until they get things just the way they want them. They released their debut album, We Are Pilots, three different times and are now…
Will Minus the Bear make it? With a second successful tour and a new EP just released, it may be safe to say the critically lauded quintet is going to stick around. Then again, maybe not, considering that its EP Acoustics, released in October, features only one new offering, which,…
It took Daniel Smith, the man behind Danielson, a sudden realization while attending Rutgers University to help him embrace his childhood and live as a child once more. The revelation eventually led him to form Danielson, an indie rock/gospel supergroup whose stage shows feature matching outfits (nurses, gospel choirs) with…
Looks like everyone’s favorite Hasidic reggae singer/rapper might just outlast his novelty status after all. But that doesn’t necessarily make it safe to go back in the reggae waters for anyone aspiring to stand out based on his, uh, demographic makeup alone. On one hand, it’s unfortunate that Matisyahu’s work…
Acts like Cypress Hill and The Luniz (remember “I Got 5 on It”?) helped blow a big cloud of stoner rap into the ears of hip-hoppers back in the ’90s and early ’00s. And few did it with more bonhomie than Def Jam’s playful punk Redman and the Wu-Tang Clan’s…
Words are so over. Well, at least plenty of post-rockers think so, increasingly ditching the language in their spaced-out experimental music. But while bands like Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Mogwai at least named their songs, Spencer Seim, the man behind sBACH, has no use for such extravagance; the track…
There are heroes among us. Some wear uniforms, some wear spandex, and some dress like you and me. And one of mine is a man named Nick Nelson. A few years ago at Seattle’s Sasquatch Music festival, Mr. Nelson noticed a horrifying sight. Twenty yards away from him was the…
Seeing is believing, particularly in Underoath’s case. Whatever your feeling about their thunderous, increasingly complex and dynamic metalcore tsunami, their performances are a sight to behold. Writhing and shaking as though in the midst of a full-body seizure, the Florida six-piece appears on the verge of physically vibrating apart as…
By Benjamin Leatherman Since the global retail industry has decided in it’s great wisdom that the day after Halloween is the official starting point for the annual Christmas season, we feel it’s our duty to inform the public of the following: You’ve only got 43 shopping days left to track…
By Lilia Menconi These ladies REALLY want you to check the slideshow. Some weekends, we just want a little comfort. There’s been a lot of special event-oriented club candids that are always a good time, sure. But between the opening of the W Scottsdale Hotel and Halloween at Last Exit,…
Let it never be said that Evan Brightly lacks ambition. The Narrator, this week’s You Asked For It, not only comes with a novel, it’s also augmented by a web site featuring paintings. I only skimmed the first chapter of novel, but it wasn’t great, though the paintings showed a great touch and an ability to create a real mood. I’m especially fond of this one, even if it is a little emo.
This week’s flier of the week is for a show that’s slightly out of town, but sounds really cool. As Chris Hansen Orf told you in this week’s paper, Mountain Mojo III is a hippie shindig up in Jerome, where Tempe’s Mojo Farmer play once a year. They’re also joined by Mossy Rocks, The Breadwinners, Bargrass Revival, Joy World Entertainment Co., The Overtones, and Nacho Jesus, so grab a tent and a lighter and head on up.
Back in the day (read: a few years ago), it would’ve been unwise to give Pete Didonato any lip when he was working the mixers. Chances are the fierce-looking former bouncer might’ve answered back with his fists. “My temper got the best of me back then and people usually got…
Chicago’s The Sea and Cake continues to refine its unique bossa nova-tinged blue-eyed-soul dream-pop with Car Alarm. Though there are few surprises, it’s a consistently captivating throughout. The opener “Aerial” and the title song charge from the speakers like outtakes from the Flamin’ Groovies’ Shake Some Action. A solid beat,…
Those who’ve heard the first two Eagles of Death Metal albums predominantly fall into two camps: either fully onboard with the tongue-in-cheek bluesy rock and offbeat shenanigans of frontman Jesse “Boots Electric” Hughes and Josh “Baby Duck” Homme, or left cold by their ’70s-rock homage and accompanying antics, like those…
Some artists emerge fully formed from the gate; others have to wait and see how their talents evolve. For some years now, Larkin Grimm, a singer/guitarist raised mostly in Appalachian Georgia who now roams about the country, has worked somewhere between those two descriptions: a compelling musician who has yet…
Fourteen years into a largely unheralded career, Elf Power is still at it, even if the band has never made the big time. In fact, it never came close. Led by frontman Andrew Rieger, this indie-rock band has been the odd man out in some buzz-worthy scenes. Despite its association…
When it comes to avant-garde rock bands, there are usually two distinct routes: noisy cathartic (Sonic Youth, Dead C) and dissonant/drone-y ominous (Spiritualized, This Heat). Then there are the bands that go to a third extreme, exuding a smug “Gosh, aren’t we just so zany and quirky?” attitude. Few bands…
