Welcome to “Nothing Not New,” a yearlong project in which New Times editorial operations manager Jay Bennett, a 40-year-old music fan and musician, will listen only to music released in 2010. Why? Because in the words of his editor, Martin Cizmar, he suffers from “aesthetic atrophy,” a wasting away of one’s ability…
Let’s face it. Cover albums are usually a bad idea. While it’s wonderful to see one artist admire another so much that (s)he wishes to have a recording permanently linking the two together, most of the time the art of the craft is lost. David Bowie’s Pin Ups is an…
Contra will be released January 12 on XL…
Everyone’s favorite band of early 2008, Vampire Weekend, will play the the Marquee on April 13. As I said when the band last played here, for what ended up being “Take Your Kids to a Concert” night in September 2008, their new record is make-or-break for the once hotly tipped…
The general rule for New Year’s Eve is to try and top every outlandish thing that you’ve done at a party in the last year. That’s kind of tough if you’re the Flaming Lips and you’ve already topped yourself more times than you can count. So Wayne Coyne and the…
Artist: Texas TornadosAlbum: Está Bueno!Release Date: March 2, 2010Label: Bismeaux Records…
OK, so maybe I was a little harsh against Adam Young of Owl City in this post, considering his legion of fans are still posting comments every day debating whether or not he is, indeed, a pussy. But I’m still getting a ticket to check him out April 10 when he plays…
Welcome to the first installment of “Nothing Not New,” a yearlong project in which New Times editorial operations manager Jay Bennett, a 40-year-old music fan and musician, will listen only to music released in 2010. Why? Because in the words of his editor, Martin Cizmar, he suffers from “aesthetic atrophy,”…
“If music be the food of love, play on. Give me excess of it . . .” — Wm. Shakespeare I recently received some bad news regarding a diagnosis. It’s never easy to hear someone (especially an expert in his field) tell you that you have a serious problem, and…
It’s a wonder that Sonic Youth manages to even release Sonic Youth records, given the flurry of activity that envelops Thurston Moore, Kim Gordon, Lee Ranaldo, Steve Shelley, and Mark Ibold outside of their work in the band. Their combined creative enterprises include books of poetry, ‘zines and record reviews,…
If you’ve lost your faith in love and music Oh, the end won’t be long Because if it’s gone for you, then I too may lose it And that would be wrong I’ve tried so hard to keep myself from falling Back into my bad old ways And it chars…
And while the “Punk Rock Girl” practitioners haven’t graced the Valley with their presence as of yet, at least their lead singer will be doing so in about a month. Joseph Genaro (otherwise known as Joe Jack Talcum, or even Butterfly Fairweather) has scheduled a February 2 performance at the…
Clear your calendars now for what’s likely to be a pop music fan’s wet dream when cutie pie Christofer Ingle, aka Never Shout Never, comes to town and brings a bevy of sugary acts along with him.Ready for the line-up?It includes Decaydance vets The Cab and Hey Monday, along with…
You know who loves finding out about just announced shows in the Valley? This guy. I, however, understand how this time of year is painfully slow for any real music news. That is why everyone and their mother — myself, included — trots out their best of/year end lists of…
It’s been a slooow news week around the music-oriented blogosphere. In fact, several blogs, like our friends at Electric Mustache, have just taken the rest of the year off. We’re soldiering on and reading over some of the many funny and fascinating pieces on wheel chair-bound indie-folk scion Vic Chesnutt,…
Miniature Tigers will hold a low-key goodbye show at Trunk Space tomorrow night. The band, which we’ve written about approximately eleventy billion times over the past two years, is moving to Brooklyn for reasons I won’t hazard a guess about. I’m sure I speak for everyone here at New Times…
Patti Smith, in her own words, is “an American artist . . . [who has] no guilt.” Though she has been making music for over 35 years, her thick, unapologetic voice can still stir you to the core. In each note is her every experience. Her joys, her sorrows. Her…
Would the “real” Jay Bennett have been disappointed in me? The late guitarist was, by all accounts, a free-spirited soul who appreciated mischief and who didn’t shy away from good-natured troublemaking. He might’ve gotten a laugh out my misrepresenting myself — had I taken my many chances. The real Jay…
2009 rocked and we’ve got 51 shots to prove it. From Tempe Music Fest to McDowell Mountain, Slayer to Kiss, Flight of the Concords to Shiny Toy Guns, they’re all here waiting for you to wax nostalgic. What are you waiting for? Check out the slide show…
Our music editor Martin Cizmar seems to think an American version of X Factor would be sort of pointless, but not if Simon Cowell has anything to do with it. The notoriously cranky American Idol judge wants to make the similarly performance-based X Factor a hit here in America, according to…
[jump] I have nothing at all against their number one pick, Everclear’s In A Different Light. Art Alexakis, lead singer and only original member of the band, has since retooled things and turned the once formidable alternative rock band into a pathetic covers band. Gone are the glory days of…
