There is a well-worn piece of music theory that states, in sum, that all enduring compositions are constructed around a tonal center. Songs introduce a central pitch, the theory goes, and in returning to this pitch numerous times over the life of the song, the listener earns a release. It’s…
Last year, the skinny white English dude Mike Skinner convinced lots of skinny white American dudes that Eminem wasn’t the only skinny white rapper dude worth lending an ear; on his potent debut as the Streets, Original Pirate Material, Skinner countered the widespread American idea that Brits can’t rap with…
He’s given U2 the ambiance to match their soul-searching, Emmylou Harris the atmosphere to surround her angelic voice, Bob Dylan the perfect foil to create his best work in decades, and Peter Gabriel a palette for his passion. What Daniel Lanois hasn’t done, though, is write an interesting album’s worth…
This past March, around the same time that Norah Jones was scooping up an armload of Grammys for her polished pop-cum-jazz debut, the Atlantic Monthly ran a lengthy obituary bemoaning the death of jazz. The once-lofty genre was dead, music scribe David Hadju concluded, murdered in part by the antiseptic…
For those who like to argue about the evolution of British punk rock, several bands always top the list of originators: the Sex Pistols (duh?), the Clash and the Buzzcocks. The Sex Pistols self-destructed and the Clash went the way of American radio, while the Buzzcocks flew under the radar,…
When El Tri co-headlined a massive concert with the Rolling Stones in a Mexico City soccer stadium a few years back, Keith Richards sported an El Tri tee shirt, paying homage to Mexico’s own version of the Stones. Like Richards, Alex Lora, the singer, bass player and songwriting force behind…
Cursive front man Tim Kasher recites the incident clinically. “It ended up being one of those really unusual life and art reflecting each other coincidences that we had already named the album The Ugly Organ,” Kasher says dryly. He’s describing the collapsed lung and resulting surgery that landed him in…
John Logan, lead singer and guitarist for the Phoenix guerrilla rockers the MadCaPs, has been performing a song as part of his band’s sets lately called “Happy Baghdad.” His composition strongly opposes military action in Iraq and makes military aggression seem like a mortal sin. “You got nothing to be…
The Phunk Junkeez and Illegal Substance mine the same material. The latter’s a group of Phoenix youngsters whose self-titled debut leads with the track “Let’s Get Fucked Up.” The Phunk Junkeez, meanwhile, have been tearing up stages since the Illegal Substance crew was still in grade school. But the sentiment…
Tucson’s Howe Gelb is a premier American songwriter, the kind of guy whose career could only happen in the rock ‘n’ roll era. He’s upheld its wanderlust Neil Young spirit from the center of the Giant Sand collective (Calexico’s step-paterfamilias) for more than 20 years now. Over the years, he’s…
Many of the topics that seep into Oakland rapper Mr. Lif’s lyrics could pop up in a graduate seminar — looming ecological meltdown, U.S. foreign policy, the emptiness of a workaday existence. His background is still in battle rhymes and getting the crowd to go “ho!,” however, so don’t expect…
Jay Vance couldn’t get along with his fellow musicians — so he shacked up with four robots. Vance was a member of the Chicago-based ska group Blue Meanies from 1989 to 1994, but it was his subsequent enlistment in the San Francisco ska outfit Skankin’ Pickle that made him realize…
The Wednesday night broadcast of local hip-hop show “Under the Influence” is only halfway through its three hours, yet the vibe at the KFNX-AM 1100 studio on North Third Street is already well-defined. “This is the realest hip-hop spot in Arizona, yo,” says rapper Kamillion, an energetic 25-year-old hopeful, to…
Redfield is a tough band to pigeonhole. It might count as punk. The Valley hopefuls seem to prefer that tag, having been profiled and hyped by local Web site AZPunk.com and given shout-outs to punk bands on the liner notes to their new EP The Hellfire Club. Plus, vocalist Alfie…
Bonnie Prince’ Billy is the alter ego of Will Oldham, who, along with Bill Callahan of Smog, is a crucial upholder of American folk tradition in modern popular music. Oldham is a brilliant, intense guy who has spent his career mostly hiding under a veil of monikers. “I never felt…
As we at last rejoin Billy Corgan, he seems pretty much where we left him when the Pumpkins smashed their last corroded power chord against pop culture’s uncaring cliffs. The chrome-domed, dark guitar deity is standing at the lip of New York’s Hammerstein Ballroom stage — feet together, arms outstretched…
“I earned it. After 30 years in the desert, you deserve something, man.” Hans Olson sat in the spotlight Sunday, an iconic lonesome bluesman. He had come to Hayden Square in Tempe to play a song and collect our new Big Chihuahua award for lifetime achievement as part of the…
If Lucinda Williams is such a genius, then how come she keeps making the same album? Car Wheels on a Gravel Road, her 1998 breakthrough after years of obscurity, defined and perfected her earthy songwriting, filled with lust, longing, and exacting character detail. Its acclaim deserved, the record also painted…
The last several releases by former Spacemen 3 guitarist Jason Pierce’s psychedelic-gospel outfit Spiritualized — Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space, Royal Albert Hall October 10 1997 Live and 2001’s Let It Come Down — have been as much about Pierce’s tendency toward staggering production costs as his…
From the left-field blues that Shara Nelson crooned for Massive Attack to the thumping turbo-sex rhythms that Timbaland’s plastered behind Tweet and Missy, modern soul vocals and minimal electronic beats have been fitfully flirting with each other since Prince first asked for some extra time in your kiss. Since the…
With riffs as thick as their skulls, Godsmack is a band of unabashed metal meatheads, which doesn’t necessarily invalidate their music; like Jean-Claude Van Damme films, there’s something to be said for mindless kicks. But after three albums of crushing, monster-truck rock, Godsmack’s Dirt-simple approach is growing exceedingly monotonous. Initially…
The reaction to Steve Malkmus’ eponymous 2001 debut was astonishingly consistent. “Whew,” sighed hard-core Pavement fans: Malkmus was a little poppier, a little more straightforward than any Pavement recording, but it still sounded like Pavement. Non-fans seemed likewise relieved: The word play made actual sense (hey, we know who Yul…
