Was it Magnet, Spin or Pulse! that first coined the insidious term “stoner rock” in an effort to describe a new sound emerging from the desert? The sound that’s at times lethargic yet prone to getting loud and sonorous at the crack of a high hat. Personally, I’m hoping the…
Chris Hillman knew Gram Parsons perhaps better than anyone, or at least as well as anyone could know a wealthy young man dedicated to living fast, loving hard, dying young, and leaving a beautiful memory. It was Hillman who brought Parsons into the Byrds in 1968; and it was Hillman…
It’s a Thursday, early in the evening, and the barroom at Tempe’s Balboa Cafe is abuzz with more than the usual happy-hour rumblings. In a corner by the stage, amid the din of chatter, video-game noise and the clink of glasses, a group of local musicians is huddled together discussing…
Ween Paintin’ the Town Brown (Elektra) Paintin’ the Town Brown, the most recent offering from demented duo Ween, reeks of contractual obligation or more likely Elektra’s failure to understand the burgeoning MP3/Internet culture. Brown was originally intended to be a limited-edition chronicle of Ween’s live shows from 1990 to 1998,…
“Hum to me baby,” croons Glory Revival singer/guitarist Paul Lamb from the stage of Nita’s Hideaway as the spry seven-piece band slides down into a Sly Stoneish passage. The horn’s brassy meter and the seemingly looped groove of the rhythm section has female hips rotating in slow, deliberate gestures on…
The Birthday Party Live ’81-’82 (4AD) The Birthday Party’s 1980 arrival in London came at just the right moment. Punk rock had died, and the somber, icy tones dubbed “post-punk” (more as a requiem than as a symbol of progress) had turned punk’s corpse into a zombie. Back home in…
You’ll have to forgive Backsliders front man Chip Robinson if he sounds a bit tired and confused. It’s not just because Robinson is phoning from a truck stop outside Provo, Utah, in the middle of a grueling, two-day drive from Texas to Oregon. The gravel-voiced singer has spent much of…
Not everyone understands electronic music. Those who express their resistance often describe it as repetitious, soulless, faceless and disposable. Such generalities are perhaps understandable given that every category of music has a few superficial characteristics that sometimes go on to define the whole genre. For the uninitiated, The Community Service…
As a 20-year veteran of the local music scene, Bruce Connole’s life and career have taken so many twists and turns that they’re almost impossible to keep track of. Connole’s reputation is such that his movements generate interest from even casual music observers. Recently he’s enjoyed a career rebirth of…
These might be the darkest days in the history of country music. The industry has always been a two-faced creature. While Nashville has long paid lip service to the history and traditions of country music, it’s rarely ever practiced what it preached. After all, these are the same people who…
This may not be cause for concern for some of you whose lives revolve around something besides obscure and trivial music-related events, but deep in the heart of this here section, we’re biting our nails down into bone powder at this startling discovery–double live albums have just been added to…
First Live Album Created Entirely in the Studio: Johnny Rivers Johnny Rivers at the Whisky A-Go-Go (1964) It doesn’t take a secret agent man to figure out that this and three other “Recorded Live, Very Live” Whisky A-Go-Go albums sound identical to Johnny’s first designated “studio” album, where friends were…
Although he’s probably best known for the light jazz of the song “Europa,” saxophonist Gato Barbieri’s odyssey as a musician has taken him to nearly every corner of the world and brought him in contact with a host of musical giants. In the process, Barbieri has managed to carve a…
Trashman letters come in; bits o’ luv, lots o’ hate. But after I tossed the latest Jimmy Buffett dullard to the kittens in last month’s column, tons of spunk-packed e-mail scribed by ire Buffett mellow yellows from around the country crammed the box. Ironically, a bulk of said shorts arrived…
Gladys Knight & the Pips Claudine Bobby Womack The Poet Leon Huff Here to Make Music (The Right Stuff) This trio of R&B rereleases from The Right Stuff label dates back to the heart of the disco era. Released at any other time, two of the albums would easily have…
Some play for the sake of art, others to become famous, while many play just to pay the rent. Increasingly, groups that perform for the simple joy of making music are in the minority. The harsh reality of daily life as a working musician in Phoenix doesn’t usually offer the…
“I’ve just been in the hospital for the last couple of days,” confesses Lo-Fidelity Allstars DJ Phil Ward, a.k.a. The Albino Priest. Ward (who like the other members of the group uses a ridiculously elaborate alias) has been recovering from a serious bout of road fatigue. Speaking in a thick…
Among the greatest tragedies that the advent of music videos brought with it was that the amazing visual power of the medium, especially in its early years, was so strong that often the images it left behind were so indelible they tended to obscure the more important truths about the…
More and more, Tempe is becoming an enemy of the state. Developers are encouraging the growth of an already overly saturated downtown area, and businesses are being forced to relocate. Even McDonald’s–a company with a seemingly infallible reputation for success–was unable to survive on Mill Avenue. Some say that hungry…
“I used to ditch school and go hang out at his house,” says Sonic Thrills front man Jim Monarch, pointing to his bandmate and guitarist Michael “Johnny” Walker. Sitting on the front porch of his Tempe home, Monarch is recalling, amid the noise of passing jets, how the two Mesa…
A quick run-down of the artists contributing to the soundtrack for the upcoming teen comedy American Pie and one wonders if a more appropriate title for this collection of songs wouldn’t have been Why Alternative Radio Sucks. It seems that virtually all the guilty parties responsible for the dumbing down…
Don’t let the chain wallets, workman’s plaid and hitched jeans fool you. Flathead is more unique than its retro-hillbilly appearance might lead you to believe. After all, how many bands can say they’ve shared a studio with Waylon Jennings, had their record played as a warm-up for an arena full…
