Niki’s Weekend Word: Local Music News Wrap

I’ll admit it: I didn’t do jack this weekend. There were some cool shows going on, but this past weekend was the first one in several months where I decided to just hang completely low for two days in a row. But the local music scene charged on, and I did keep an eye on my incoming e-mails. Hence, this week’s (and the first ever) local music news wrap!

Meet Star Wars‘ macho femme, Karen Traviss

Karen Traviss: 7 p.m. Monday, July 28, at Changing Hands Bookstore By Clay McNear George Lucas is the sort of hypersensitive, litigious billionaire who’d sue a vending company for stiffing him on a soda pop, so he’ll probably drag my ass to court for calling him sexist, but there it…

Romantasy Cabaret at The Sets

By Joseph Golfen The Sets in Tempe is not the first place that pops into my mind when I think of sexy, dancing girls. Usually when I think about this strip mall venue, I remember the story one of my friends told my about shattering his nose, via head butt,…

Concert Schedule for This Weekend

By Benjamin Leatherman The Ying Yang Twins are scheduled to perform at the Venue of Scottsdale on Saturday. Here’s our weekly list of all the major concerts and music shindigs that are scheduled to take place over the next 72 hours from tonight until Sunday. There’s a show for every…

A fake AC/DC and other bands we love that you’ll loathe

By Clay McNear Why are tribute bands so maligned? By definition, they lack original thought, but most make up for it with suicide-bomber zeal. Not to mention pride of craftsmanship. As someone who used to play “Smoke on the Water” and “We’re an American Band” in a shitty junior-high band,…

Less Than Jake at the Marquee

By Jonathan McNamara We wrote about them in last week’s New Times, now see them in action for yourself. Less Than Jake hit the Marquee with a pumping, rock fist along with veteran punk-rockers Goldfinger last night. Goldfinger gets the audience on stage for their finale. See more shots in…

Podcast & Local Label Spotlight: Tiny Panda Records

By Steve Jansen Art by Rachelle Arbellar I remember being 21 years old. Staying up really late. Sleeping. Swimming. That’s all I can remember. Miss Franberry is 21 right now, and though I’m unaware of her daily schedule, I do know that she goes to a ton of shows, plays…

Seven nights of DJs and dancing

THURSDAY 24 Armitage Bistro: RE:WINE’D with DJ Seduce (eclectic, downbeat, jazz, soul, house) Axis/Radius: Divine Ladies Night with MCB & DJ Devine (various) Bikini Lounge: DJ HFE (rockabilly, surf, jazz, classic country, indie, obscuro) Blooze Bar: DJ El Dedo (rockabilly) Bunkhouse: DJ Doom (dance) Cash Inn: DJ Sting (hip-hop, dance) Cherry Lounge:…

Oh, the Rocky Horror!

Arriving at Chandler Cinemas on a recent Saturday night feels like walking into a subpar episode of The Twilight Zone. The strip mall that houses the cinema (along with a Target store) is huge, but at midnight on a weekend, the entire place is gloomy and dead quiet. When I…

Fetti Profoun

Let’s start off on a positive note: Fetti Profoun is an immensely talented rapper, capable of spitting 16 witty bars that could dust most competitors at MC battles. And the instrumentation and production here are stellar, from the smooth sitar sample that drives the song “Blue Skies” to the sexy…

Flo Rida

As the Southern-rap money train runs out of steam, it’s fitting that the style is currently — and, perhaps, terminally — resting in the land of its neon-drenched, reality-detached origin: Miami. Flo Rida, proprietor of the most-hyped release of this commercial down cycle, started his career as a hypeman for…

Katy Perry

Katy Perry’s capable of remaking herself for any promising target demographic. In her teens, she delivered achingly sincere contemporary Christian fare that didn’t turn out to be achingly sincere after all, and her One of the Boys persona — flirty, snarky tart — feels equally phony. The production, by a…

The Electric Bunnies

The Electric Bunnies’ music makes me feel as though I’m beating off to pornography while my wife sleeps in the same room. Good thing I ain’t married and can enjoy the Electric Bunnies in public. Wow! This four-track, vinyl-only EP is an excellent example of the Miami garage punk rock…

Republic Tigers

A crew of Digital Age composers, the Republic Tigers pass around song files like intraband demos, loading them onto ProTools rigs and sculpting massive creations from the initial song chunks. Starting with the hard elements of rock — guitar, drums, bass line, melody — the Kansas City band stacks vocal…

Stone Temple Pilots

Who would ever have thought Stone Temple Pilots would top off 16 drug- and drama-addled years by hitting the road for a reunion tour? Then again, rehab’s expensive, and with at least three albums’ worth of solid music (out of five), the band can make a killing with 65 greatest-hits…

Ying Yang Twins

The Atlanta crunk duo of Kaine and D-Roc (Ying Yang Twins) may be better known for their collaborations (the singles “Get Low” and “Salt Shaker” with Lil’ Jon, Britney Spears’ In the Zone album, their Chemically Imbalanced album with Wyclef Jean as producer), but the pair’s latest album, A.T.L. Holes…

Party Foul! Fridays

Life apparently goes on for the DJs of the recently closed nightspot Glam. Not only is Faux Show founder Jared Alan hunting for a new home for his decadent dance extravaganza, but Kevin the Makeout Bandit and the other beat-spinning boys of the former Word Up! Saturdays have debuted a…

Various Artists

The movie may not be highbrow, but the Rocky Horror soundtrack contains some great songs. Of course, “The Time Warp” is timeless and essential listening for anyone who wants to learn how to do the Time Warp dance in the film, but so many of the 14 tracks here could…