Seven Nights of DJs and Dancing

Thursday 18 Ain’t Nobody’s Bizness: DJ Suzy (hip-hop, dance) Anderson’s Fifth Estate: Area 51 with AKA (gothic, industrial) Axis/Radius: Ladies’ Night (dance) AZ 88: DJ P-Body (jazz fusion, funk) Barcelona: DJ Rob (dance) Dos Gringos — Scottsdale: Block Party with DJ Sterling (all genres) Draft House: DJ Dave outta NYC…

Mt. Egypt

What do Willie Nelson and Wayne Coyne of the Flaming Lips have in common? Besides resin-caked brainstems, both legends have handpicked the same unknown singer-songwriter as an opening act: Travis Graves, otherwise known as Mt. Egypt. And while his upcoming sophomore disc, Perspectives, is already sparking up a buzz on…

Bonin’ Up

In the seminal 1997 film The Apostle, Robert Duvall plays E.F., a charismatic Pentecostal preacher who travels across the South, hitting the radio waves and filling tents with his fiery brand of syncopated hallelujah preaching and stomping, wild-eyed histrionics, inspiring hand-clapping, ass-shaking and great wailing incantations. Pocketbooks open and the…

The Man Show

The two girls are all over each other on the big purple couch, writhing, eyes locked in a passionate lip-synch to No Doubt’s “Underneath It All.” A crowd’s in the doorway, giggling as the girls lose their shirts and bottoms, and end up rolling around together in nothing but their…

Streaming Consciousness

These days, anyone with a Live365 account and a stack of CDs can run his own radio station on the Internet. The hard part is getting people to know about your quirky little station. That’s where we come in. Every few weeks, Streaming Consciousness will search what’s being streamed, uploaded…

The Fleshtones

It’s hard to believe that the Fleshtones have been at it for 30 years. Beachhead sounds as youthful, snotty and out of control as anything they’ve ever cut, brimming over with joyous garage-band enthusiasm. They kick things off with “Bigger and Better,” in which they shout: “It’s nothing new, it’s…

A Certain Ratio

It was inevitable that part of the fallout of the post-punk/punk-funk riot that recently wrapped its icy fingers around indie rock would be voracious crate-diggers starting to work back through history, excavating any overlooked band that roughly approximated the bass-bulging and jittery riffing taking up hourlong blocks on MTV2. One…

ZUCO 103

Brazilian chanteuse Lilian Vieira went to study voice in Rotterdam, where she met drummer Stefan Kruger and keyboard wiz Stefan Schmid. And although their collaboration is based in Holland, the sound is pure Brazil. The trio is continually finding unique ways to blend electronic beats with samba, afoxé and other…

Blue Merle

While you wait for the next Coldplay album, Nashville’s Blue Merle should fill in nicely. It’s eerie how much singer Lucas Reynolds’ tenor sounds just like the voice of Coldplay leader Chris Martin. Named after a Led Zeppelin lyric (not the Australian sheepdog), this foursome somewhat distinguishes itself by using…

Buckwheat Zydeco

It’s no surprise that our most soulful president tapped Buckwheat Zydeco to play both of his inaugurations. Slick Willy knew no one other than the oft-labeled “world’s greatest party band” could, well, you know, get the party started. Buck, born Stanley Dural Jr., refuses to follow a set list, opting…

Toby Keith

Well, stick a boot in my ass and whistle “Dixie,” I do believe Toby Keith has gone soft! Seems like only yesterday the linebacker-size Oklahoman was the biggest, baddest mofo in all of country music — favorite of rowdy rednecks from coast to coast; godsend to U.S. Army recruiters; mainstay…

Michael T. at Hot Pink!

Any excuse for a party, right? Local dance rock institution Hot Pink! is throwing itself a pre-two-year anniversary get-down before its actual two-year birthday party. We like their style. On Friday, August 12, DJ Nimh and his cronies are flying in legendary NYC impresario DJ Michael T., creator of the…

The Rules

Music is subjective. Well, sort of. While the way a song or an artist affects you is deeply personal, it’s pretty likely that most of your choices fit a prearranged pattern. Learn the patterns of others, the way a politician studies demographics, and you can learn a lot about people…

The Thrifty Ear

Most people collect music like they plaster walls — always looking to fill gaping holes. This week, I’ve decided to limit my $10 purchase to artists whose contributions to pop have yet to disturb The Thrifty Ear record collection. Britney Spears Greatest Hits: My Prerogative Source: Zia Record Exchange Price:…

Koufax

Modern U.S. life sure is rubbish, asserts Koufax singer Robert Suchan on his Kansas-based quintet’s third album: We’ve got a cheater for a president (“Back and Forth”) conning the nation through a war (“Blind Faith”), but ignorance reigns supreme because the education system is a joke (“Why Bother At All”)…

A Wilhelm Scream

A Wilhelm Scream may win the award for best song titles this year. Here are the top three: “The Kids Can Eat a Bag of Dicks,” a quick post-hardcore tune with a nice bass solo and an emo breakdown (no, that’s not a joke); “Me vs. Morrissey in the Pretentiousness…

Modey Lemon

A grotesque vegetable, psychedelic rock is rarely served on its own. But just a smidgen lends weight to pop, color to blues, brains to country, and space to dance music. Modey Lemon is that unusual band that takes it straight. On The Curious City, the Pittsburgh trio’s second album, fun-house…

The Red Chord

The Red Chord must be familiar with European theater; the Boston band took its name from a German play in which a schizophrenic man slits his lover’s throat and then reverts to his normal self, asking, “My love, what is that red cord across your neck?” It’s both poetic and…

The Briggs

Anyone paying attention knows that punk bands are in a Zelig-like state of national confusion. So if Scandinavians can sound like Detroit rockers and the Japanese can capture British hardcore, then what seems so perverse about an L.A. band that embodies Boston street-punk? Maybe it’s just our familiarity with American…

Seven Nights of DJs and Dancing

Thursday 11 Acme Roadhouse: College Night with DJ J. Alan (Top 40) Ain’t Nobody’s Bizness: DJ Suzy (hip-hop, dance) Anderson’s Fifth Estate: Area 51 with AKA (gothic, industrial) Axis/Radius: Ladies’ Night (dance) AZ 88: DJ P-Body (jazz fusion, funk) Barcelona: DJ Rob (dance) Dos Gringos — Scottsdale: Block Party with…

Top 10 selling records at Tracks in Wax (4741 North Central Avenue)

1. Led Zeppelin, Houses of the Holy (Atlantic) 2. The Beatles, The Beatles (The White Album) (Apple) 3. Cream, Fresh Cream/Disraeli Gears (Atco) 4. Black Sabbath, Paranoid (Warner Bros.) 5. The Who, Who’s Next (Decca) 6. David Bowie, Ziggy Stardust (RCA) 7. Jimi Hendrix, Electric Ladyland (Reprise) 8. The Beatles,…

In Store

Sure, Starbucks’ in-store music — which has begat its own record label, Hear Music, and, since last August, “Media Bars” listening stations in selected coffee houses — gets all the buzz. But what about all the other “third places” we go to between home and work, where we’re treated to…