Features

Song: Against Me! “White Crosses”Context: I can’t stop listening to this record this week. In fact, I kinda wanna go to Flagstaff to see the band headline instead of open for Silversun Pickups at Marquee…

Every once in a while, a band comes along that breaks with so many conventions and pushes so many boundaries that music critics laud them with terms like “revolutionary,” “groundbreaking,” and “genre-defying.” The Summer Set is not one of those bands and, surprisingly, they’re not afraid to say so. Ask…

It’s safe to say that they don’t make them like Leon Russell anymore. An authority no less than T-Bone Burnett said about Russell, in an April interview with The Onion A.V. Club, “I haven’t been intimidated for a really long time, but Leon was scary-good. He understood Henry Mancini, he…

Games like Rock Band and Guitar Hero appeal to that part of us that not-so-secretly wishes we hadn’t quit practicing music in fourth grade so we could be selling out arenas instead of selling out our souls to make a little more money for our boss. Of course, we know…

We dig Nick Cave. A lot. We’ve documented as much previously here, here and here. With this second set of reissues of the Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds catalog — begun last year to mark the 25th anniversary of their recorded debut — we’ve now reached the halfway point…

Artist: Wolf ParadeTitle: Expo 86Release date: June 29Label: Sub PopLast night, I made an unplanned run down to the Yucca Tap Room to catch this band called Shapiro, a group of pleasant young men from the D.C. area who play piano-driven pop-rock songs that, at their best recall 1970s classic…

Song: Scissor Sisters, “Night Work”Context: Jay Bennett of Nothing Not New has called this “the best song of 2010.” 01. Night Work by gorgeouz…

With dozens of bands on the Vans Warped Tour, which came through Phoenix to the Cricket Wireless Pavilion yesterday, you’d think more kids would be talking about just how their favorite groups did. But there was only one thing bands and fans alike couldn’t stop Tweeting about during the day-long…

Good: Spoon is not boycotting Arizona.Bad: They are playing Tucson. Good: The show is at Rialto Theatre, which is beautiful and full of friendly people. Bad: The show is on October 4, which is a Monday.Proceed according to the whims of your own hedonistic calculus…

Artist: Scissor SistersTitle: Night WorkRelease date: June 29Label: DowntownAt the end of the day, I’m not sure what this new Scissor Sisters record adds up to. But it almost doesn’t matter, because the opening title track is so good that it practically carries the weight of the record all by…

Song: Shapiro, “All Things Around The Sun”Context: I’ve been championing Shapiro for five years. It’ll be nice to see them play their first Arizona show, at Yucca Tap Room tonight. As always, there’s no cover at the Yucca. All Things Around the Sun by RootMusic…

I have to admit the announcement that Nine Inch Nails is “boycotting” Arizona kinda slid by me yesterday.After all, like most right thinking people I sorta assumed Trent Reznor was off doing the soundtrack for some children’s television program I’ve never heard of, or civilly married to Marilyn Manson in…

​Zack de la Rocha’s The Sound Strike has added more names to the already massive list of bands/performers boycotting Arizona over SB 1070. Those new boycotters include Maroon 5, Steve Earle, Nine Inch Nails, Gogol Bordello and Chris Rock. Ry Cooder is also a new addition to the list, and…

A big thanks to Pitchfork for doing their part to make the world know not everyone in Arizona is a racist bastard.Today the Site of Record for the music-loving hipster elite mentioned our anti-SB 1070 compilation, A Line In The Sand, and linked to this excellent open letter by local…

A funny thing happened to NYC glam-poppers Scissor Sisters on their way to recording their third album, Night Work — the band scrapped 18 month’s worth of effort in order to finalize the album. Lead singer/utterly charismatic young man Jake Shears noted that the year and half of work left…

Legendary slide guitarist Ry Cooder (he’s played on records by everyone from Randy Newman to the Rolling Stones) has recorded an anti-SB 1070 song called “Quick Sand.” Cooder is one of those country(ish) guys the lefties love — not only is that track available exclusively from NPR until tomorrow, when…

Song: Mike Posner, “Cooler Than Me”Context: Warped Tour founder Kevin Lyman says he thinks Posner will be the breakout star from this year’s installment of the annual fest. We’ll see how he does in Phoenix tomorrow. Mike Posner, “Cooler Than Me” by gardnerz…

Name: Elizabeth Quintanilla AKA: Alkemé Current club nights: Thursdays: Azúl at San Carlos, Fridays: Fuse at Bar Smith, Saturdays: Z Girl Club. Guest spots at other venues such as Cream Stereo Lounge. Genres spun: All that encompasses sexy…mmm, I love me some sexy. Yet, I love what gets the crowd…

This week’s music feature is on the local band Anarbor. Though their recent tour to Japan may have been a bit of a flop, involving lost teeth and a select band members lying in a pool of his own blood, they’re poised to rock the Warped Tour, and are hoping…

Song: Yonder Mountain String Band, “This Train Is Bound for Glory” (Live in Flagstaff) Context: My train is bound for Flagstaff’s beer festival this weekend. This Train Is Bound For Glory by stray-hound…

Artist: FoalsTitle: Total Life ForeverRelease date: June 22Label: Sub PopThough I disagree with a commenter on one of my posts this week (Shawn from excellent local music blog Electric Mustache) about the merits of electro-punk Sleigh Bells, I agree with him that S.B. are a band that you either love…

You may not necessarily associate popular music with the Library of Congress, but a few recent inductees have just made the catalog a little bit cooler. NME reports that the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry’s recent inductees include: R.E.M.’s single “Radio Free Europe” Patti Smith’s album Horses Tupac Shakur’s…