Always near the forefront of socially conscious hip-hop, Brother J and X-Clan sat poised to take over the world 18 years ago. Their Afrocentric LP To the East, Blackwards, thrived in that time of heightened social awareness, addressing issues of race, stereotypes, and socioeconomics as few had before. Eventually, it…
As we reported on Monday, rap star and Valley resident DMX was arrested at MetroCenter Mall on July 19. Today we learned that he was released from jail on Sunday night and was indicted on felony charges today.
Former Replacements frontman Paul Westerberg is offering fans his new album for only 49 cents. The Minnesota-based rocker has increasingly gravitated toward independent, experimental, basement-based recordings, and his new record, 49:00…Of Your Time/Life, is one long track with no song listings. Westerberg played all the instruments himself, and the sale price stems from a joke Westerberg made to his manager that fans would “pay a penny a minute.”
This week’s review is High Speed Chase, an album from local hip-hop group Bomb Legacy.
The legal woes continue for DMX, Phoenix’s most illustrious rap star/resident. As reported by The Associated Press, the 37 year-old rapper was arrested at Phoenix’s Metrocenter Mall on Saturday on suspicion of providing a false name (“Troy Jones”) and a fake Social Security number to the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale back in April, allegedly to avoid paying $7500 in medical bills.
Usually, I like to post fliers for upcoming events in the “Flier of the Week” section. But this flier for a rave last weekend was just too good to pass up. Rock on with your clock on, Flava Flav!
Mexican artists have recorded English-language songs for decades, but the opposite is rare. American musicians have historically treated Mexican music like they treat Mexicans, and when they do bother to cover a classic, they tend to sound absolutely awful. Here, we present our favorite American covers of Mexican songs, plus…
“The music industry,” declares Less than Jake drummer and lyricist Vinnie Fiorello, “is pointing toward bands becoming their own cottage industry. Which means bands being in charge of their own merch, distribution of records, and production of records.” Fiorello makes this claim of the power of independence with an assurance…
This weekend marks the New Times Summer of Sound “experimental” show. The event, scheduled to take place Friday, July 18, at Papillons Too (formerly Cell Block) in Mesa, features local eclectic outfit Janis Joplin Crap N Vomit, along with three other great local bands and headliners Estradasphere Trio.
If you’re a band from the Phoenix metro area and would like to have your CD reviewed here, please send it to me at:
This weekend was full of fun (and rain). Friday, July 11, the New Times Summer of Sound jazz show took place at the Brickhouse Theatre. I was not there for personal reasons (a close friend had a medical emergency in the family), but I heard the event was smooth and groovy. Props and thanks to all the local acts that played the show — Jazz Robot, Eric Rasmussen, Music for Bowlers, and Jiggle — and headlining act, the B-Side Players.
July is the time of year when families get together for cookouts, kids stay up late to watch TV, and music critics compile their midyear Top 10 lists. Yes, we live for this kinda thing. Never mind that there are still six long months of records that will be released,…
Country audiences have always been strongly working-class, and such country greats of yesteryear as Johnny Cash and Merle Haggard sold albums based on how they answered the fears of the average American. Toby Keith does the same thing, but with a wholly commercial slant, pandering to audiences dismissed by the…
Montreal indie-rock quintet Wolf Parade — relentlessly championed by Modest Mouse frontman Isaac Brock — made a huge splash in 2005 with their exhilarating debut full-length, Apologies to the Queen Mary. Three years later, they’re back with a follow-up, At Mount Zoomer. On the phone to give us his take…
This week’s “Flier of the Week” comes from local rockers Antique Scream. The band is currently on tour, and this flier is actually for a show in Las Vegas, but I chose it for two reasons: 1) the retro go-go chick art is really cool, and 2) notice how it says “from Phoenix, Arizona” beneath the band’s name. Hats off to Antique Scream for giving props to their hometown — I rarely see that from local bands who’re touring nationally.
This week, I’m reviewing the new album by Phoenix hip-hop artist Fetti Profoun. I reviewed his debut CD back in 2006, which I called “one of the most impressive local hip-hop debuts in years.”
So…sophomore slump for Fetti, or did he outdo himself? Read on.
Since it’s Monday, I was going to do a blog analyzing various songs about Mondays, from the usual suspects like the Boomtown Rats’ “I Don’t Like Mondays” to lesser-known odes like Fleetwood Mac’s “Monday Morning.” But then I got an e-mail from local experimental band Janis Joplin Crap N Vomit, who, in addition to having one of the most intriguing band names in the Valley, also possess some palatable-but-quirky pop skills.
In the spirit of the Fourth of July, and to show appreciation for all those who served and sacrificed for the freedom we celebrate today, here’s an assemblage of USO music performances for our troops.
Rock ‘n’ roll has had a hefty impact on American pop culture and identity for the past 50 years or so, more often than not intersecting with our politics and whatever social unrest afflicts us at the time. With Independence Day right around the corner, we’re celebrating some of the…
Two-time Grammy winner Common, 36, is best known for his socially conscious rhymes on albums like Be and, more recently, Finding Forever, but that probably won’t be the case for long. Like so many rappers, he’s been bitten by the acting bug. Last year, he appeared in shoot-’em-up Smokin’ Aces…
This week’s flier is for a show featuring Phoenix avant indie rockers Emperors of Japan and loony local rockers The Necronauts. We’re not quite sure what it means — maybe that’s Satan or Ming the Merciless in the middle, and the signs along the bottom are letters from the American Sign Language alphabet. I think they spell “SAWA.” Not quite sure what that means, either.
Almost any band can sound decent on a studio record. Enough overdubs, multi-tracking, knob twisting, and processing can make even the crappiest of garage bands sound like disciplined, precise musicians. The true test of a band’s talent is the live show – not just the sound and cohesiveness, but the energy and the connection between band and audience.
