Deep inside Spotify headquarters, at this very moment, some poor marketing team is tasked with the idea of making Spotify gift accounts sound like a good idea for a Christmas present. I know this because I am too cheap to pay to make the Spotify ads go away. So far…
Look, I should probably start with myself. The only Christmas music I listen to every year comes on Bing Crosby’s White Christmas, featuring the Andrews Sisters and Carol Richards. From that an FBI profiler would be able to judge that I’m a white male, late 20s/early 30s, with a large…
Just a couple of days removed from Scottsdale’s first True Music Festival, Phoenix’s McDowell Mountain Music Festival has announced the lineup for its latest go-around. Headliners include Gramatik, Slightly Stoopid, and–on Sunday–Ben Harper and Charlie Musselwhite and Dwight Yoakam. The festivities will begin March 28 at Hance Park downtown. (The…
Dogbreth plays fun pop-punk music–or desert power-punk, some may say; that is, unless you ask Tristan Jemsek, or Erin Caldwell, who consider Dogbreth to be power-kindness, or sentimental power-pop. Jemsek says he never intended for Dogbreth to be a pop-punk band, not back when it was just a solo project,…
From Movimiento Alterado’s “Sanguinarios del M1″BuKnas de Culiacán singer doing what he does best–vamping!By Gustavo Arellano America’s liberal class and MSMers are abuzz right now over Narco Cultura, a documentary about Mexico’s horrific drug war and the musical movement that has risen around it. These libs (and more than a…
Johnny Richter, formerly of the Kottonmouth Kings, doesn’t slow down for anyone. He also doesn’t take shit from anyone. After unexpectedly leaving KMK in mid-October, Richter hit the ground running with a rejuvenated solo career and a new EP, FreeKING Out, set for release December 17. The short and sweet…
It’s been a long time coming. Music lovers across Phoenix have awaited an event that will truly encompass the diverse variety of today’s most popular artists. On December 14, Salt River Fields will host the inaugural True Music Festival, marketed with the tagline “One day will change everything,” as another…
It’s probably a good idea to avoid people who quote Doors lyrics in everyday conversation — unless, of course, it’s John Densmore, timekeeper for the legendary group. He earned that right, having to live with those words and Jim Morrison’s predilection for acting them out onstage and in real life…
There’s no shortage of Michael Jackson conspiracies, but this one is my favorite: Michael Jackson was supposed to do the music for Sonic 3, one of the biggest video game events of the ’90s, but the child abuse scandal that changed his career forever sent Sega running. Nevertheless, the conspiracy…
Everything is 20 years ago. Or so goes the cyclic, feedback-loop that is pop culture. Apparently, it was 20 years ago for The Stones Roses when they formed in the mid ’80s, citing ’60s psychedelia as a primary influence (in 1967, 20 years before The Stone Roses formed, another notable…
Mike Kinsella has reincarnated himself yet again, and you have every reason to be excited. Kinsella, along with brother Tim and cousin Nate, helped to usher in the emo movement of the Midwest, setting the underpinnings for the genre with Chicago-based Owls, Cap’n Jazz, Joan of Arc and American Football…
The Hourglass Cats released their video for their single “Sense,” on Monday. The video is their first from their May 2013 EP, 432. The video is a plotless ode to the summertime day trips that Phoenicians take to get out of the sweltering Phoenix heat. “I mean, obviously, it’s an…
When it comes to tradition during the holiday season, Phoenix isn’t known for snowmen, hot cocoa, or sledding. But one thing that can always be counted upon is the tradition of Christmas Pudding — Alice Cooper’s Christmas Pudding, to be exact. And it’s a tasty recipe. After nearly five decades…
It’s that time of year again, and with the holidays comes the annual Almost Acoustic Christmas concert. A seasonal staple, and one of the more buzzed-about events among Valley country fans, Almost Acoustic Christmas plans on beefing up the artists on the bill this year by featuring up-and-coming musicians Cole…
Talking about Captain Squeegee’s new album, To the Bardos, frontman Danny Torgersen is excited about the songwriting and the performances, and he’s excited about the crowdfunding campaign that made it possible — he’s excited about most things, to be honest. But that’s not what he’s most excited about. “I think…
Talking about Captain Squeegee’s new album, To The Bardos, frontman Danny Torgersen is excited about the songwriting and the performances, and he’s excited about the crowdfunding campaign that made it possible–he’s excited about most things, to be honest. But that’s not what he’s most excited about. “I think Bob Hoag…
Sedona-based decker. has been playing atmospheric desert-folk jams across Arizona and beyond for years, making multiple nationwide tours and earning a place on the main stage at last year’s McDowell Mountain Music Festival. The group’s music possesses a certain quality that fills in the empty space at all its live…
I haven’t had to work on Thanksgiving for a long time. But I had a column to write, with a Friday deadline, so work I must. I know it seems obvious (because it is obvious), but if I was going to be writing on Thanksgiving, I truly thought it would…
Change brings both a new outlook and new detractors. Ask Jimmy Stadt, vocalist for upstate New York post-hardcore outfit Polar Bear Club, whose newfound vocal range brings a sheen to Polar Bear Club’s tight pop-rock structures that can still open up a pit. On Death Chorus, the band’s fourth release…
Scottsdale young people The Summer Set have built up a big, devoted fanbase for their particular brand of electronic pop-rock, but it was still a bit of a surprise to see where that had gotten them Thursday morning–on NBC at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, performing for a New York…
Josh Landau can’t stop moving — mostly because he doesn’t allow himself to. For starters, he’s the vocalist for Venice Beach-based The Shrine. Then there’s Eliminator, the skateboarding and clothing company he manages with bandmates Court Murphy and Jeff Murray. Finally, his band’s about to embark on a series of…
Of all the stars of the ’80s punk scene, only one band is still having impact some 35 years after forming: X. Mixing driving punk energy with rockabilly riffs, staccato rhythms, unexpected dual vocal drive, and socially conscious lyrics, X was a defining voice in the punk movement. The band’s…
