John Ringhofer, a.k.a. Half-Handed Cloud, gives the impression of being a bit of an eccentric. He turns his songs into a series of sacred psalms and then spears the sentiments with an irrepressible blend of wit and whimsy. At less than 30 minutes long, Halos & Lassos unfolds in a…
The five members of Eisley are irrefutable proof that some familial gene pools are just better than others. Consider the four siblings and one cousin who all share the name DuPree: With fanciful, elegant arrangements and luminous vocal harmonies, they elevate what would otherwise be basic dream pop into something…
1. Built to Spill, You in Reverse (Warner Bros.) 2. Calexico, Garden Ruin (Dig) (Quarter Stick) 3. Band of Horses, Everything All the Time (Sub Pop) 4. Flaming Lips, At War With the Mystics (Warner Bros.) 5. 2Mex & Life Rexall Are $martyr, Money Symbol Martyrs (Cornerstone Ras Inc.) 6…
Damn, brah, what to do on 4/20, yo? The magically puffalicious date only rolls around once a year, and any hardcore smoke aficionado uses it as an excuse for a day filled with bong rips and heavy snacking — kind of funny, since according to Snopes.com, our favorite urban-legend debunker,…
Not that long ago, my friend Jason and I got ourselves in hot water with our girlfriends when we went on a double date to a nice restaurant and, after several shots, began acting like drunken jackasses — literally. We were running through all of the farm animal noises we…
In 1986, it didn’t matter if you supported the anti-rock mothers of the PMRC, loved pop playboy Robert Palmer, or subsisted on a no-carb diet of hardcore punk; there were two kinds of people: 1) those who bowed and worshiped Metallica’s new thrash-metal masterpiece Master of Puppets, and 2) infidel…
The Phoenix hardcore scene just can’t seem to get a break. Between bad press about feisty hardcore gangs and more venues refusing to book bands that have a reputation for attracting violent fans, now the scene has taken another hit — high-profile local posi act Where Eagles Dare is closing…
The voice crackling over the cell phone belongs to a cat with three days left to live: D12 rapper Proof, Slim Shady’s right-hand man, and a respected hip-hop artist in his own right, who was slain early Tuesday, April 11, in a three-way shootout that the Detroit po-po are still…
In a past life, the arena-striding Goo Goo Dolls were thought quaint by their critics and artsier alt peers: too in love with their punk heroes, too working-class sentimental, too straight rock. Well, they got the last laugh when the money rolled in. But while re-creating the success of the…
While the current British Invasion is wearing a bit — particularly when the bands are seemingly interchangeable and all apparently worship at the altar of Ian Curtis — the very clearly British foursome The Rakes don’t appear so tiresome. The London band’s ADD-influenced, punk-tinged tracks on their debut contain a…
So, Tub Ring is playing the PHiX. “Who the hell is Tub Ring,” you ask? Only Chicago’s premier experimental rawk practitioners, a band that tastefully merges the off-the-wall crush of Tomahawk with the pop appeal of Only a Lad-era Oingo Boingo. Tub Ring has also toured relentlessly with acts like…
Revolution-building is painful, thankless, hard work. Immortal Technique isn’t only a self-styled revolutionary, however, but a battle MC, so his withering critiques of politicians, capitalist pigs and cultural cowards are served through incendiary, violent language — you can usually hear the weariness and strain in his voice. He raps the…
When his sex tape went public earlier this year, it merely cemented Kid Rock’s nose-dive into that tacky level of celebrity culture where talent means less than tabloid notoriety, where people know you’re famous but can’t remember for what. Rock’s artistic standing wasn’t always so pathetic: The rap-rock jokester exploded…
In an attempt to give light to forgotten (though pivotal) singles from the heyday of the San Fran/Oakland funk/soul diaspora, Luv N’Haight launched in 1990. Fifty records later, the label shows no signs of slowing, as Bay Area Funk 2 proves. Like with many compilations of this nature, there are…
The smorgasbord of rock ‘n’ roll has included Hispanic/American culture clashes in the past: Santana, Los Lobos, War. Add to that list Brooklyn’s Cordero, a fab foursome featuring the bilingual songs of guitarist/singer Ani Cordero, a self-described “Georgia-Rican.” With guitar, trumpet, bass and drums, the band unaffectedly blends minimalist, sinewy…
It’s hard to say whether Kori Gardner and Jason Hammel, the married music makers known as Mates of State, have inspired more flat-out envy for making lovey-dovey, knowing glances at each other onstage, or for simply defying that old rule about romance dooming a band (Bring It Back is their…
Wayne Coyne promised a return to the guitar-grinding Flaming Lips of yore with At War With the Mystics, and he does deliver — kinda. Just like the Oklahoma freak-rockers’ ADD stage show, there’s more of everything here, with guitars being just another sliver of the whole gonzo pie: more studio…
We can all agree that Lemmy Kilmister owns the coolest name in all of metal history, but coming in a close second is Trey Azagthoth — leader of the long-running death metal outfit Morbid Angel — who sounds like he should hail from the frozen blackness of upper Finland but…
Thursday 20Acme Roadhouse: College Night with DJ J. Alan (Top 40) Anderson’s Fifth Estate: Area 51 with DJ Jeremy (goth, industrial) Barcelona: DJ Rob (dance) Camus: KURRENT_affairs with Pablo Gomez (electronic, rock, pop, avant-garde) The Crown Room: DJ Gable (rock, house, hip-hop) Deadbeats: EZ Thursdays with DJs Robin Lepel &…
1. T.I. , King (Atlantic) 2. Paul Wall, The Peoples Champ (Atlantic) 3. E-40, My Ghetto Report Card (Warner Bros) 4. LL Cool J, Todd Smith (Def Jam) 5. James Blunt, Back to Bedlam (Atlantic) 6. Toby Keith, White Trash With Money (Show Dog Nashville) 7. Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Show…
Jacques Brel and Morrissey walk into a bar. As Kurt Weill pours the Maker’s and glasses are raised, Marlene Dietrich pulls up a barstool. The liquor flows and the conversation percolates. Dietrich is considering a sex change, Brel can’t stop talking about abortions and the Holocaust, and Morrissey keeps bringing…
Musically, this sure as hell can be an incestuous town. I see it more and more all the time, with the same musicians playing in multiple bands with different sonic flavors, often on different instruments. Especially in Tempe, where a relatively small group of musicians hold down a scene where…
