Though I confess to being an ardent reader of them, I’m resistant to shoveling my year’s listening habits into a year-end list; looking back like that feels like underscoring the records I missed rather than the ones I was spinning endlessly. Beyond that, I find it nothing short of off-putting…
Billy Joel has earned more than a few awards during his lengthy career, including six Grammys, a slew of honorary doctorates, and inclusion in both the Songwriters and Rock and Roll halls of fame. And later this year, the piano-playing superstar can add another prize to his overflowing trophy case:…
Has selfie culture officially gone batshit? Oxford Dictionaries named “selfie” the word of the year in 2013 (it narrowly beat out “twerk” and “binge-watch”) and anyone who goes to concerts sees audience members spending most of the show shooting themselves. Now a marketing firm called 3d Public Relations is asking…
In 2011, Nicolas Jaar and Dave Harrington were on tour in Berlin when, on an off-day, they were too restless to relax. Stationed in a hotel room, Jaar asked Harrington, who was playing guitar in Jaar’s touring band, if he wanted to make some music. Harrington said yes. The duo…
Phil Anselmo has been a pioneering metal vocalist ever since joining Pantera in 1987. Since then, he’s contributed vocals to more than three dozen acts — most notably as the frontman of Down and Superjoint Ritual — and has been involved in twice as many other projects, including voicing Satan…
On an already long list of distinctions, Skinny Puppy recently added a new one, and not one that makes the pioneering industrial band very proud: The U.S. government has used the band’s music as a torture device. “We heard through a reliable grapevine that our music was being used in…
Music gormandizers of Phoenix, better make sure you’ve got an open schedule on Friday, March 7. Oh, and a comfortable pair of walking shoes as well. Both are going to come in handy if you want to make the most of Viva PHX, a one-day music festival that New Times…
For music journalists, there’s nothing better than when an artist or performer gives good quote. While musicians can be pretty hit or miss when it comes to interviews, when one gets garrulous and decides to dish or diss, there never seems to be enough tape or memory space available for…
The results are in, and there are a few quirky choices among the bunch — maybe even a snub or two. But regardless of who made the cut, you can be damn sure that much speculation and dissection will ensue. So we’re referring to the Oscar nominations, right? Nah. Actually,…
Society is obsessed with culture clash. Stories of different countries making love and starting wars, cuisine fusions and foreign customs — people eat it up, day after day. But what else society is craving nowadays? A rowdy new democracy. And the music industry wants the same. Enter The Aristocrats, three…
The key to any band’s longevity is the ability to maintain a core sound while changing to lure new generations of fans. The Rolling Stones are the quintessential example, having survived 50 years on gritty rock ‘n’ roll licks that receive fresh infusions of timely sound forms (from country to…
For those who came of age after Y2K, the heady days of heart-on-sleeve pop-punk, as defined by bands like Fall Out Boy, Cartel, and Panic! at the Disco, brought radio-ready acts that were as relatable and open-hearted as they were kitschy. Few records encapsulated this timeframe with the honesty of…
Within instrumental music circles, the majority of the talented musicians run alone — releasing solo albums, working as sidemen, dipping deep into numerous projects. And on occasion, a handful of those virtuoso artists come together to create more than just a collaborative album, and it gets a little rowdy in…
I’m sure you’re burnt out on reading best of 2013 lists by now, but taking an extra two weeks to wrap up the best shows of the year list was productive. For one, it’s tough to compare a small, intimate show like Jimmy Eat World’s mini-Arizona tour against massive productions…
“I think there’s a big misconception of EyeHateGod,” says guitarist Jimmy Bower. “People see the name, think, maybe these guys are Satanists, maybe they’re just stupid.” I first heard EyeHateGod back in 1992 when In the Name of Suffering came out. Admittedly, I was as enthused by their name as…
Nirvana means absolutely nothing to me. I’m sorry to have to be so blunt, but that’s the only way to put it. As much as I enjoy the songs, and as much as I can intellectually recognize the influence he had on the next decade of popular music, Kurt Cobain…
After five years of fun, memorable shows, The Whisperlights are calling it quits. Like most people in long-distance relationships, the band members tried to make it work by getting together once a year or so and rekindling the magic, but they had the added problem of trying to get eight…
If you have a lot of music critic buddies, you’ve probably noticed that they’re just now getting back to their usual neurotic selves. That’s because they’re finally done with year-end lists. Going from genre to genre can be especially difficult — how does an up-and-coming pop punk band that wrote…
William Michael Smith (left, photo by Chris Knight) and David ThorpeThe 11 alternative weeklies of Voice Media Group are responsible for a tremendous amount of music writing: This year, we produced thousands of pages of printed stories and tens of thousands of blog posts. We’re proud to present the very…
Wally Boudway of Wooden Indian isn’t sure about the word psychedelic. “I don’t like it when people call our music psychedelic because I don’t like the idea of making music to do drugs to. It’s the opposite of what I’m trying to do. I like to make music that gives…
Musical hot spots seem to circulate around the country. Detroit and Memphis were leading soul centers of the ’60s and ’70s, while Haight-Ashbury dominated the psychedelic movement. In New York City, Greenwich Village’s jazz and boho-folk gave way to the Lower East Side’s early glam, punk, and New Wave scenes…
When some bands have a big show coming up they throw up a couple of posters, set up some well-timed posts on Facebook, cross their fingers, and hope for the best. When indie-progressive-disco six-piece Future Loves Past has a big show coming up they get weird. With their final show…
