Alas, the constant search for the best party in town can be a little exhausting. Sometimes, Club Candids needs a quick break from the saturated scene. This week, we decided to hit up one of our favorite local venues, The Brickhouse Theater, on Thursday, September 20, to check out a…
I’m standing in front of Cash Inn Country on 21st and McDowell, and I’m frightened. I’m scared for several reasons: 1) It’s a lesbian bar; 2) I’m wearing a Metallica Kill ‘Em All T-shirt; 3) it’s a country joint. I use a lifeline and text a girlfriend: “Is it safe…
He who closeth all the doors of his senses, imprisoneth his mind in his heart, fixeth his vital powers in his head, standing firm in meditation, repeating the monosyllable OM, and thus continues when he is quitting the body, goeth to the supreme goal.
–Bhagavad Gita, chapter 8, verse 13 (from the 1890 translation by William Quan Judge)
Although as a reporter I’m obligated to mention that Om is the two-man rhythm section from San Franciscan stoner/droner doom metal band Sleep (Al Cisneros – bass/vox, Chris Hakius – drums), the logistics are not important: these two warm bodies work no better than any others as conduits for the omnipresent brain-erasing throb of the ETERNAL COSMIC HUM. These two set up a riff and examine it, probe its defenses, struggle, claw, bite, and enter it, and finally pound on it good and hard before they toss it limp to the floor. If you stand too close the dense undulating waves of hypnotic monotony may very well pass straight through the backs of your vibrating eyeballs.
Weirdness abounds is this week’s rendition of Future Shock, as we’re pimping the “just announced” concerts of numerous acts coming to the PHX in the near future that are kinda “out there” in many different respects, whether its outlandish stage performances, strange album titles, or bizarre music videos.
There’s no reason to fear 50 Cent, right? That’s what I tell myself while heading towards Manhattan’s Flatiron District for a one-on-one interview with the much-shot gangster emcee. The guy has no beef with me, and besides, he hangs out with people like Dustin Hoffman and Justin Timberlake, perhaps the two-unscariest guys in the universe.
So why — as I wait to be buzzed in behind G-Unit Clothing headquarters’ wall of bulletproof glass — am I shaking?
Thursday 20 Bikini Lounge: Sophisticated Boom Boom with DJ HFE (rockabilly, surf, jazz, classic country, indie, obscuro) The Blooze: DJ El Dedo (rockabilly) Crown Room: Naughty Thursdays with DJ Gable, & Kevin Dow (mash-ups, dance, rock) Dirty Pretty: Foxy Bitch with D-JR (rock, Top 40, hip-hop) The Door: R&R Thursdays…
There must have been something up with the moon last week, because once Thursday rolled around, we started to get super-antsy. No casual neighborhood bar would sate our desires because we were in the mood for vibrating eardrums and dizzying crowds. We wanted it all for our preemptive weekend celebration…
One of Jim Louvau’s favorite talking points when making a case for his new band The Attitude is the void to be filled because there are no more new rock stars. And he’s right. If you want cocksure swagger and violence, rappers have that segment fully under control. And as…
Juliette Lewis, the actress with the off-kilter gaze probably best known for her role as Mallory in Natural Born Killers, experienced a full-blown musical conversion a few years ago and formed a band called the Licks to record some Stooges-style rock. Lewis took some time while doing laundry to talk…
Blues Traveler frontman John Popper made headlines last March when the 40-year-old vocalist and harmonica player demonstrated that mouth harps aren’t the only weapons he likes to wield. After popping Popper’s SUV for going 111 miles per hour and collaring the bluesman for carrying a small amount of marijuana, Washington…
Whatever animates Riverboat Gamblers lead singer Mike Wiebe, the audience is giving him a wide berth lest it prove contagious. Dragging the mic cord like a lifeline, Wiebe climbs on tables, mounts structural supports, and hangs from exposed pipes — within the first 15 minutes of the show. Behind him,…
One thing you notice about Breathing Under Water is that Shankar was willing to go beyond the confines of classical Indian music (her previous discs contained material written by her father, legendary sitar player Ravi Shankar, who guests on the disc). Kale’s sonic textures, which blend Western, Eastern, and electronic…
Cultural music is what you get with Congolese-born Marie Daulne, best known as the founder and frontwoman of Zap Mama. The band’s music draws from various influences without sticking to a single genre, surprising the listener at every turn. On “Toma Taboo,” for instance, she borrows elements from ’70s Brazilian…
Kanye is the most exciting man in rap because he puts out quality, popular albums. Forget the artless 50 Cent and Akon — Kanye tries harder, and Graduation, which has 13 bangers and zero skits, reflects the man’s tireless work ethic. Having united backpackers and clubbers with his first two…
Who’d’ve thunk it? Along with windy Chicago and verdant Mississippi, Arizona is, in fact, a fertile environment for the blues. The proof’s in these two discs, with the commonality between them being Bob Corritore, boss harmonica player and owner of Phoenix’s Rhythm Room. On Travelin’ the Dirt Road, he co-leads…
Phunk Junkeez More than just a little reminiscent of the Beastie Boys, the entire genre of white, outlandish pseudo-rap is somewhat of a novelty that has worn itself out, but the six-piece Phunk Junkeez manage to come together into a tight, cohesive group that sounds layered, blending funk, hip-hop and…
One-man noise ensemble Luke Fischbeck is a computer musician, unlike other sound manipulators working the 0s and 1s. The Los Angeles-based improviser executes his experimental music-meets-performance-art concertos under the Lucky Dragons moniker. Instead of gazing into a computer monitor, Fischbeck employs a circuit-bent box and sophisticated software capable of producing…
What was old is new again. The Burt Reynolds ‘stache. Polyester. The Pet Rock. Okay, you might not see a revival of the eight-track tape, but you will see a lot of current young bands picking up and incorporating a lot of the wild experimentation happening within mainstream rock and…
When many people use the “Americana” tag, they’re usually referring to rock ‘n’ roll laced with elements of folk and country music, two of its “roots” vectors. But uniquely, distinctive American music encompasses other genres and styles, too — blues, gospel, jazz, the song craft of Stephen Foster and Hoagy…
Grammy winner Michael McDonald has been a road warrior since his success with Motown and Motown Two. Three years later, the silver-haired crooner is back in the studio revisiting significant songs from various stages in his life for a forthcoming CD, due in February on Motown Records. McDonald has been…
The times are a-changing over at Homme, 138 West Camelback Road. Gone are such old and busted dance nights as StraightNoChaser’s “one” and Club Rumorz, making way for new hotness like Solid Saturdays. Promising plenty of “Muzik4FunkyOPENminds,” the weekly event sees Scottsdale mainstay DJ Kevin Brown painting Homme’s main room…
Bottom line: Alice In Chains blew Velvet Revolver off the stage.
I was expecting the opposite: I was skeptical about Alice In Chains touring without singer Layne Staley (who died of an apparent drug overdose in April, 2002), but I knew that Velvet Revolver included 2/5 of the original Guns ‘N’ Roses (Slash and Duff McKagan), as well as ex-Stone Temple Pilots singer Scott Weiland, and former drummer of The Cult and G ‘N’ R, Matt Sorum (one of the best drummers in the world today, in my humble opinion). I fully expected Alice In Chains to blunder through their best songs with some inferior vocalist, and for Velvet Revolver to rock the house.
