The news waits for no one -- at least that's what we read somewhere -- so it's perfectly understandable that you, the reader, might have missed out on a musical tidbit, breaking news about your favorite venue, or one of our rants.
So enjoy this digest-style sampling of some of our biggest stories from the week of Dec. 10-14.
Local shock rock legend and all Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame inductee Alice Cooper hosted his 12th annual Christmas Pudding holiday bash at Comerica Theatre in downtown Phoenix last weekend. All proceeds benefited his Solid Rock Foundation. This year Cooper featured Pudding alum Don Felder, L.A Guns, Sebastian Bach, host John O' Hurley, and magician Murray SawChuck took the stage.
While the line-up of openers may have not been all that exciting on paper, Cooper had some tasty ingredients in his recipe this year (See what I did there?) closing out the night with a 10-song performance which featured superstar actor Johnny Depp and guitar virtuoso Orianthi backing him up.
Read the full review and see more photos of Johnny Depp jamming with Alice Cooper.
--Jim Louvau
Top 5 Genre-Bending Electronic Albums of 2012
I initially conceived this list as a starting point to further explore one of the biggest albums of the year: "Ayo, if you liked that Grimes record, this shit is pretty good, too." The Korean and Japanese pop influence on Visions made it easy to like, but it was the gauzy textures, unconventional song structures, and understated vocal subtleties that made it addictive.
Last year's weird electronic pop champ was synth theorist John Maus, and now Claire Boucher is an even more prominent figure in the legion of programmers, producers and reformed noiseniks stretching familiar forms. While they might not sit comfortably with every Grimes obsessive, these five albums pulled from various experimental electronic sources to each make a memorably skewed engagement with pop in 2012.
--Chase Kamp
Rockzone Records in Tempe to Close This Month
It seems the record store world is in a constant state of shuffle in Phoenix.
Recent months have seen Zia Records move up the road to its biggest location yet, Eastside Records reborn on Forest Ave., and the birth of Scottsdale's The Record Room, which joins wax shack stalwarts like Stinkweeds and Revolver Records in providing vinyl hounds ample crate digging grounds.
But where there's ups, there's downs: Hoodlums in Tempe closed its doors this fall after 14 years, and now Stephen Wilkinson, owner of Rockzone Records in Tempe, says he's closing his store down this month.
--Jason P. Woodbury
Does the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Matter At All?
So, hey, The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame went ahead and announced their Class of 2013, which this time around includes Rush, Public Enemy, Randy Newman and someone called the "Disco Queen," Donna Summer. Those who were nominated but didn't make the cut included Kraftwerk, Deep Purple, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, and N.W.A.. If you're like me, you're probably making this hand gesture and going back to reading actually relevant news.
But hold on. We all kind of agree the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is an elaborate joke on the gullible, fabricated by the same Christian fundamentalists from the '80s who said there were Satanic messages played backwards on Led Zeppelin albums, right? Right?
Well, if not, here are a few reasons why the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is pretty much the lamest thing ever.
--Troy Farah
Top 20 Phoenix Concerts of 2012
2012 isn't even over yet, and we're already feeling sort of nostalgic for it.
We saw a lot of great shows this year, so narrowing it down to the most mind-blowing 20 wasn't easy, but it was a lot of fun.
Enjoy, our Top 20 Phoenix Concerts of 2012.
--New Times Staff
