There are a few speaker cables needing to be hung, and someone’s gotta make some minor adjustments to the soundboard. But other than that, The Underground is just about ready to go. The downtown Mesa music venue, which is located in the space formerly occupied by the Nile Basement, is…
Google’s vast stretch of the blogosphere is going silent. The search giant, who owns the popular Blogger service and blogspot.com domain has been destroying content from music bloggers deemed to be copyright infringes. Google has owned up to it on its Buzz blogger: “When we receive multiple DMCA complaints about…
It’s been almost two years since I profiled Digital Summer, and I’m still getting shit for it to this day. More times than I can count, certain local musicians or hip-hop artists have told me they think the West Valley hard rock band “really sucks” and asked why this publication…
Singer-guitarist Annie Clark — better known by her nom de indie rock St. Vincent — returns to town on yet another tour behind her acclaimed second album, 2009’s Actor. We caught up with her via phone for a quick chat: New Times: So Actor has been out for a while…
Most bands go into immediate brain death when their lead singer fatally overdoses on heroin, cocaine, or any combination thereof. From Sublime to the Blues Brothers, the case history is extensive. Not Alice in Chains. It took 14 years, but the seminal Seattle grunge band is finally back with a…
All I’d ever wanted to do was work in a record store. I’d begun collecting LPs in earnest during my freshman year in high school. I joined the Columbia Record Club (under the name ZaSu Pitts) and, by senior year, my collection was overtaking my tiny bedroom. My classmates had…
[jump] To get your book signed, you need to purchase a copy from Changing Hands, (for $26.99 plus tax) at which time you will receive a voucher which is redeemable for a copy of the book that can be signed at one of the two scheduled events, at 3 or…
There will be no 2010 Tempe Music Festival.Entertainment Solutions, the company behind Tempe Music Festival, is planning to pull the plug on the long-running but still shaky Spring music festival at Tempe Beach Park — at least for this year.No lineup had been announced for the event, which is scheduled…
There have been big days for live music in Phoenix, and then there have been BIG days for live music in Phoenix. Today has been absolutely bonkers for Valley music fans as a plethora of artists have all announced upcoming shows for March, April and even May. Freak folker Devendra…
Welcome to “Nothing Not New,” a yearlong project in which New Times editorial operations manager Jay Bennett, a 40-year-old music fan and musician, will listen only to music released in 2010. Each Monday through Friday, he will listen to one new record (no best ofs, reissues, or concert recordings) and write about…
Last night began the “In Performance at the White House” concert series, and focused on music from the civil rights era. Both Bob Dylan and Joan Baez performed, though not in fact together. (Initial buzz had specualted that they would be singing a duet.) Smokey Robinson, Yolanda Adams, the Blind…
Bookmans, the giant “Entertainment Exchange” store where people go to sell their CDs, books and video games when they’re out of beer money, has opened a fancy in-store cafe, Arizona State University’s student newspaper reports. Personally, I’ve felt depressed every time I go into a place like that — it’s…
He may be a star now, but back in the day, Andrew McMahon had to haul his piano into the basement of the former Nile Theatre in Mesa just like the rest of them.”I’ve definitely got a lot of good memories from Phoenix,” McMahon says, remembering the Valley as one…
Tennessee’s Bonnaroo music festival has announced a full line-up for this June. No real surprises here: Dave Matthews Band, Kings of Leon, Stevie Wonder, Jay-Z, Weezer, and the Flaming Lips are the top of the pile.The Dead Weather, Phoenix, John Fogerty, Jimmy Cliff, Tenacious D, Zac Brown Band, Avett Brothers,…
Welcome to “Nothing Not New,” a yearlong project in which New Times editorial operations manager Jay Bennett, a 40-year-old music fan and musician, will listen only to music released in 2010. Each Monday through Friday, he will listen to one new record (no best ofs, reissues, or concert recordings) and write about…
What this critic says: “One Life Stand is really the tale of two albums: the blisteringly fast-paced first four songs plus the final track versus the sluggish, filler-esque latter half. No other album this year, however, opens as strongly through it’s first four tracks as One Life Stand, and “Take…
You may have heard the controversy. Sure, there’s been a ton of talk recently about whether or not Taylor Swift actually deserves the accolades she’s received. Autostraddle has published a lengthy and much talked about essay on why Taylor Swift is a feminist’s nightmare. The crux of the writer’s argument is…
The Valley is getting a ton of runoff from this year’s Coachella. First it was Yeasayer and Beach House. Deer Tick and Vampire Weekend then entered the fold. Finally, Sia and Frightened Rabbit scheduled Phoenix dates around the massive festival in Indio, California. The recent announcement that Arctic Monkeys will play Tempe’s Marquee…
Last Wednesday night, Nick Jonas went on Jimmy Kimmel Live to plug his brand-new album — Nick Jonas and the Administration’s Who I Am — and shoot the shit with Kimmel. During the latter part of Jonas’ segment, his recent role in the new version of “We Are The World”…
Sade has long been on the hook-up playlists of many, since the group debuted back in 1983. You know, light some candles, throw your stuffed animals off the bed and put on some smooth R&B stylings from the classic British group. Now the band is releasing their first album in…
At this point, the words “sell out” hold little real meaning in our society. Essentially, musicians who are trying to “make it” are constantly forced to choose whether or not to let advertisers or prime-time TV use their music. Those who have already made it, even those are really admirable,…
Welcome to “Nothing Not New,” a yearlong project in which New Times editorial operations manager Jay Bennett, a 40-year-old music fan and musician, will listen only to music released in 2010. Each Monday through Friday, he will listen to one new record (no best ofs, reissues, or concert recordings) and write about…
