The lack of crossover between the Phoenix and Tucson scenes has always struck me as a little odd, not only because we’re out here in the desert together, without another decent-size city within a five hour’s drive of us, but because the music coming out of the scenes isn’t all…
Valley indie-rock buzz band Source Victoria (a Jim Adkins favorite!) and Gin Blossoms über-guitarist Scotty Johnson are mixing it up this weekend with gigs outside the box. Source Victoria will perform at Scottsdale’s Art One Gallery, 4120 N. Marshall Way. The show starts around 10 p.m. Cover is $5. Proceeds go…
Pazz and Jop, the annual Village Voice poll of music critics, is out. Conducted since 1971, the poll is the original metacritic, aggregating music writer’s annual best of lists in to one mega list. Unsurprisingly, TV on the Radio won the number one spot, as it did in all the…
Arizona hip-hop acts Cousins of the Wize and Golden Tung will reunite to play a show at Chaser’s, 8005 E. Roosevelt, on Friday, February 20. The two bands collaborated last year to record “We Do This Together,” a song that is often played at Arizona Cardinals games. Cover is $7,…
Could you imagine this photo in the paper, beside my column on pastor Mason Betha, a.k.a. the rapper Ma$e? Neither could I. And not just because my name is spelled wrong.So this might be a little inside baseball for some readers, but I thought I’d share it anyway, because it’s…
It hardly needs to be stated, but Willie Nelson is an American original — a legendary songwriter, tireless performer (at 75, he continues to tour relentlessly), fine actor, committed activist, and all-around cool dude. Over the course of his celebrated five-decade career, the country music troubadour has been quite the…
Lil Wayne is scheduled to bring his “I Am Music” tour to Phoenix this week, but be warned before you drop $35 to $75 on a ticket. While New Orleans native Dwayne Carter Jr. had the best year of his career in 2008, he has repeatedly wasted fans’ time when…
On the title track of Cattle Decapitation’s 2004 album Humanure, vocalist Travis Ryan growls the line “Here’s to your health.” But don’t get the wrong impression, as he isn’t exactly trying to foster a warm and fuzzy feeling. In the same song, he invites the listener to “defecate upon the…
The last time you saw Mason Betha, he was probably in a shiny suit, holding a handful of money, with Puff Daddy dancing behind him. That was 10 years ago, when Mason was Ma$e, Puffy’s protégé following the assassination of The Notorious B.I.G. Back then, Mason was bemoaning the adverse…
Tempe-based music artist The Wiley One has been booked to perform at the “Jocks That Rock Super Party” in Tampa, Florida on Friday, January 30. The Wiley One’s newest album, No. 7 Kid, was released on Sun Dawg Records last year, and serves up a well-wrought mix of ska, hip-hop, and folk, with a stylish troubadour touch that the ladies seem to love.
The Houston Press asks that question in this post from their music blog, Rocks Off. Their conclusion? “Green Day can go back to singing about jerking off now. If they feel like it.”Lots of video goodness with this funny piece…
The Neville Brothers/Dr. John concert scheduled for Super Bowl Sunday has been moved to Feb. 3. Celebrity Theatre made no bones about the reason for the move: The Cards are in the Super Bowl, who’s going to go to a show that night? Instead of February 1 the show will…
I’ve always been a fan of public transit map shirts, bags and umbrellas. It’s the classy way to show off from your vacay. I mean, it says “I went to this city” but also “See, I’m cool, not only did I hook up with some Dutch guy at my hostel,…
Dubbed as one of the BBC’s 10 Breakout Acts of 2009, West London’s White Lies released their debut album To Lose My Life… yesterday to much fanfare. The buzz surrounding these three chaps from across the pond is staggering. On one hand, it’s always a good thing for a band…
I’m not sure I’ve seen anything that sums up the raucous atmosphere surrounding the Obama inauguration better than this live video for “My President is Black” with Young Jeezy and Jay-Z (a.k.a. Old Jeezy), which I came across over on The Village Voice’s music blog, Sound of the City. If anything, it sure beats…
We’ve got a couple big pieces of news involving Kinch, who recorded what we said was the best album in Arizona last year. First comes news that they’ve been selected for SxSW, joining several other Phoenix bands at indie rock’s biggest showcase. They’ve also got new tracks from their The…
So we still haven’t got any sort of press release on this, but eagle-eyed Clubs Editor Benjamin Leatherman spotted this listing for Fleetwood Mac on LiveNation.com. According to the info there (which may get taken down, for all we know) the Mac in back in Glendale on May 24. Tickets…
I was recently introduced to French electronic dance music quartet (I know, four dudes seems a bit much) Birdy Nam Nam last week, and after soaking in (absolutely loving) their new album Manual for Successful Rioting, I must say I am impressed. Their name is super stupid, but do not…
Why is “douchebag” the default insult of our time? Our sister paper in SF explores the rise of this most 00s of insults.BTW, the guy above is the first thing you get when you type “douchebag” in to a Google image search… quite a dubious honor. Personally I think this…
Tuscon’s Calexico is finally coming north. The band will play Heritage Square on Saturday, April 4, 2009.Not since December 2006 at the Clubhouse Music Venue in Tempe has Tucson’s biggest indie act headlined a show in the Valley. Calexico will be supporting their 2008 album, Carried to Dust, arguably their…
Corey Busboom and one of his photo theremin creations. Click here for more photos of Busboom’s and Ryan Avery’s works. Last week, local artist and musician Corey Busboom got a rather interesting phone call. It was from Mark Mothersbaugh, the eccentric frontman for 80s hitmakers Devo. The legendary keyboard player…
The big show announcements just keep coming. Earlier today we had Fall Out Boy and a host of buzzing bands (Gaslight Anthem, Black Lips) now we’ve got The Killers on April 16 at Dodge Theatre. Tickets for the Las Vegas faux-indie act’s show go on sale next Friday. Tickets at…
