Elton John, Mumford & Sons, Black Keys Headline to Outside Lands

Outside Lands, the San Francisco music festival, released its lineup today, including an impressive group of top-line headliners. Elton John, Mumford & Sons, Black Keys, Kendrick Lamar, Wilco, D’Angelo, and more top the lineup this year, which is heavy on the indie rock. The festival takes place August 7 through…

VEX on Heavy Alternative Art Rock and Villain Recording

Vex is one of those bands that commands attention whenever they hit the stage. Fitting, since their name is the very definition of evoking mystery and discussion. It’s also defined as changing or “shaking up” the arrangement or position of something, and that’s something Vex is all about. The four…

Scott H. Biram’s Tunes Will Kick Your Ass

Mr. Scott H. Biram is nothing short of a total and complete badass mofo. First of all, he is thee one man in his namesake one-man band, and his many quality releases over the past 14 years have proved he doesn’t need anyone else to help him get the job…

Kid Rock Announces Phoenix Concert at Ak-Chin Pavilion 8/26

Kid Rock announced a Phoenix date today, on the heels of a wildly successful concert at the Coors Light Birds Nest during the Phoenix Open at the end of last month. The singer will play Ak-Chin Pavilion on August 26. Foreigner will open. Tickets go on sale Tuesday, February 24…

Springtime Carnivore’s Tall Tales of Circus and Heartbreak

Gravity gave Greta Morgan a gift and a broken fibula. Working as a skilled tightrope tripper, fatigue set in from constant touring in the circus and she fell three stories. Recovering in the wake of her broken dreams, she taught herself piano and created Springtime Carnivore. “I’ve been playing ever…

For a Duo, Dodos’ Indie Prog Is Ambitious

The music of San Francisco band Dodos packs plenty of shifting time signatures, stylistically syncopated drumming, and a constantly growing technical savvy in its music, but don’t even think of labeling this duo as math rock. If anything, the band embodies the spirit of 1970s prog icons such as Yes…

Why Vinyl Subscription Services Are the Laziest Thing Ever

Love listening to music, but hate all the time and effort it takes to pick out something you like? Good news! There’s a burgeoning industry of vinyl subscription services, what they like to call “Netflix for record lovers,” making the rounds.The formerly arduous process of developing personal music taste –…

Sidney DeLorean Loves Dicks, Especially Marc Maron’s

You might say Sidney DeLorean has an obsessive personality. Part of that obsession just happens to be dicks. And standup comic Marc Maron. And neon pink hair. And dicks. Lots of dicks. What size dicks, you ask? Why, “Average Dicks,” of course, as DeLorean, a local rapper (who once was…

MarchFourth Marching Band Underwhelms at Crescent Ballroom

You know what sucks the most, as a huge fan of live music, about living in Phoenix? A lot of bands that come through here don’t bring their A-game, and MarchFourth Marching Band contributed to that tradition on Friday night. To be fair, the bands’ hands were tied a bit…

100 Places to Party in Metro Phoenix: Super Bowl Guide

Hey there, Phoenix! We’re rolling out the grassy green carpet in honor of the biggest event to hit town since – well, since the last Super Bowl rolled through. The 49th annual celebration of all things professional football promises to be the grandest yet, and Phoenix New Times has it…

Sunn Trio Crafts Cosmic Jazz in the Desert

Joel Robinson is a young man with a clear view of his heroes, artists like Sun Ra, Captain Beefheart, and the Meat Puppets, musicians who followed their own singular paths. As band leader of experimental jazz combo Sunn Trio, Robinson’s goals are lofty: music reflecting the desert and addressing no…