When somebody tells you that his new album is divided into four musical acts with Roman numerals and movements, well, you run, quite frankly. But when it’s Eddie Kelly of Blessedbethyname, you sit and listen. Because when it comes to manufacturing personal drama and overcoming it, Kelly’s already on his…
While the record industry keeps wailing the lost-revenue blues, Tracks in Wax, Central Avenue’s used and collectible records mainstay since 1982, which mostly moves vinyl, has just spawned another store. TRX2 Multi-Media Exchange, which opened in the northwest Valley on October 22, also carries vinyl and CDs, but also specializes…
John Rich of Big & Rich — the funniest and funkiest new rebels in country music — likes to tell a story about his preacher dad and Mötley Crüe, a group that embodies rebellious fun (if not exactly funk) for a whole generation of heartland Americans. About four years ago,…
Last Chrismukkah, an entire generation did a double take when The O.C. ‘s resident indie geek, Seth Cohen, uttered the words “Death Cab for Cutie” on network television during prime time. A year later, it’s clear a new era has arrived when the biggest name on the soundtrack to TV’s…
Mega-producer Clive Davis of J Records declared Gavin DeGraw his “next big thing” a few years back, but ivory tickler DeGraw is still waiting for everyone else to realize just how good he really is. If you know anything about him, then you already know it might just be his…
Although Decemberists vocalist Colin Meloy went on a solo tour this past winter, Picaresque, the Portland, Oregon, band’s third album, is arguably its lushest yet. The nuanced production of Death Cab for Cutie’s Chris Walla finally matches Meloy’s obsession with detail: Horns, strings and accordion drift in and out of…
Halloween reeks of charity, so what better way to get into the spirit than with a UNICEF-posse cut produced by some of rock’s biggest trick-or-treaters? We’re talking Beck, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, the Arcade Fire, Sonic Youth, Malcolm McLaren, Sum 41, an Inuit throat singer named Tagaq — along with…
“If you see us again, we will definitely be doing it for the money,” announced Tom Reardon, bass player and vocalist for Hillbilly Devilspeak, in a recent press release. After more than 11 years of playing shows, Reardon’s killing off the band that’s been his primary artistic endeavor, at least…
The other day I happened, to my great surprise, to walk by a cheerleading camp, a small army of kids with words like “TIGERS” emblazoned across their trim, peppy asses. Sometimes I forget that real, nonironic cheerleaders, who are very serious about what they do, exist — and not just…
If you were a Phoenician and a Beatlemaniac between 1964 and 1966, you had your choice of venues to see the Fab Four: the Convention Center in Las Vegas, the Red Rocks Amphitheater in Colorado, the Cow Palace in San Francisco, or the Hollywood Bowl. But John, Paul, George and…
When the Bravery followed its ballyhooed South by Southwest appearance with the release of its debut disc, the backlash began. Wise witnesses saw hacks cashing in on a hip sound. But the group’s detractors were so vitriolic that some misguided souls made appeals on the band’s behalf, creating Bravery-backlash backlash…
All hail X, the band that has somehow remained un-embarrassing as it ages, a most difficult task for punk rockers. Just look to their contemporaries the Germs to witness how sad punk rock has become. Despite the 1980 death of singer Darby Crash, the remaining members of the band want…
The rock ‘n’ roll wife has always been a martyr figure of sorts. She raises the children while her husband’s on tour, endures his infidelities, supports his successes, consoles his failures, and usually ends up a mere footnote in her famous husband’s biography. Unless, of course, she writes her own…
As reports of rock’s resurgence in the music world have continued to flood the press, so has there been an increase in stories of rock breaking down on concert stages in the U.S. and abroad: Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age collapsing onstage. Nine Inch Nails drummer Jerome…
As a songwriter with nearly a dozen country chart hits to his credit — including four Top 10s with his former band, McBride & The Ride, and a few other chart-toppers for the likes of Kenny Chesney, Aaron Tippin and Lee Greenwood — Arizona-born singer/guitarist Ray Herndon is used to…
The bathroom sink is bathed in blood, the splatter extending up onto the mirror above it. Near the stalls there’s a guy holding his tee shirt to his previously gushing nose. That’s just what you’d expect to see at a Madball show — tonight I’m at the Marquee Theatre in…
All hail Quincy Jones! Never has such cool walked the Earth as the man known as “Q.” And now we praise him even more as the producer of Thriller, so we can praise that great album without mentioning Michael Jackson. Certainly, you would think that with two child-molestation charges (and…
Promised for June 2004, A Time 2 Love failed to appear even by December 31, the last day Stevie Wonder could’ve delivered it in that year and still been a man of his word. Fans were hotter than July under the collar, leaving angry posts on steviewonder.com that were beyond…
Back in the day, I regularly watched DJ Radar perform with his Bombshelter DJs crew at Nita’s Hideaway and, later, the Green Room. The scratch virtuoso and I became friends, and I rarely missed one of his sets, even if it was at a rave where he was the only…
By the time Henry Rollins carries his last box of merchandise out the back door of Celebrity Theatre, the building lights have been shut off and the parking lot is almost empty. But a handful of fans still wait behind the line of tape that separates them from his tour…
Battle Acts for week of September 29 through October 5 Battle Act: Green Day Where & When: Wednesday, October 5, America West Arena, $37 to $42.50 Strongest Selling Point: They’ve scored a career milestone by claiming American Idiot is “the first punk rock opera.” Somewhere, Meat Loaf is furiously mopping…
As this issue was going to press, we received the sad news that Donnie Chiesa had died earlier this month, from complications following a stomach operation. He was 52. Anybody in the Valley who’s owned a working turntable has shopped at Tracks in Wax, the record store on Central Avenue…
