OK Go scored right out of the box with its memorable shit-talking single “Get Over It,” which epitomized the band’s fun-loving, amped-up power-pop. Riding a mix of crashing post-punk guitars and bouncy New Wave rhythms, this is a party band with real skills, not unlike fellow Illinois natives Cheap Trick,…
The Soweto Gospel Choir, a South African troupe that includes some 30 members, is one of the most inspiring musical performances you’ll see this year. Under the direction of choir leaders David Mulovhedzi and Beverly Bryer, the group delivers elegiac layers of harmony in eight African languages from 11 separate…
Women of the future, prepare to shake your hips. There’s a blast of fresh air coming from the Windy City, and it’s coming straight from the roaring amps and tightly wound voices of Chicago band The M’s. Future Women, the group’s second album, is chock-full of reasons to do the…
While most “Golden Era” hip-hoppers have retired to community social clubs or made halfhearted, half-cracked attempts at reliving bygone days, Public Enemy has kept chipping away at the cornerstone. While on a seeming hiatus since Apocalypse 91, Chuck D, Flava Flav, and newest addition Paris have designed a sound through…
For this week’s American debut of the Arctic Monkeys, bullshit deflectors have been readied in droves. And for good reason: The debut’s hype, British record-breaking sales figures and critical raves are getting more attention than the actual songs in question, a fact that demands an immediate red flag (yet, strangely,…
Scott Herren’s recent work has drawn criticism for sounding too similar to his early breakthrough recordings (particularly Vocal Studies + Uprock Narratives). He often uses the same melodies — a soft, melodic arpeggio of keys — on all of his recordings, a tendency that frequently appears on Security Screenings, his…
If you’re digging the broken sound of breakbeats and the pulsating pound of drum ‘n’ bass, peruse the plethora of peeps who’ll be spinning at 10,000 Leagues Below the Funk on Saturday, March 4. This massive aquatic-themed, rave-style event features three stages with more than a dozen DJs from around…
All hail Jurassic 5! They were a breath of fresh air, bringing pleasure and fun back to the type of hip-hop listened to by indie-rock fans. But they did not come alone — and the group that came with them, Black Eyed Peas, has turned from a fun bit of…
What do a couple of DJs from the land of milk and honey know about darkness? Quite a bit, it would appear from She Wants Revenge’s self-titled debut, which bubbles with the same debauched, white makeup/black lipstick vibe and downcast synth as British darkwave progenitors Joy Division, Bauhaus, and The…
Fans of West Coast “true school” underground hip-hop will have loads to throw their hands in the air about during this weekend’s Gold Chain Music Tour stop at the Clubhouse Music Venue. Oakland legend Casual headlines; he’s best known for his affiliation with the famed Hieroglyphics collective (which also counts…
March 5 will find most of the world gearing up for the 78th Academy Awards, but here in Phoenix, everyone with more than one use for a safety pin will still be coming down from the AZ Ska Punk festivities the night before. These two gala events would appear to…
As you might glean from the title of the second collaboration between Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy and Glenn Kotche, and composer/engineer/all-around post-rock icon Jim O’Rourke, religion figures heavily in Loose Fur’s (or is that Lucifer’s?) curious, frequently skewed, mostly engaging songwriting this outing; while Pat Robertson likely will disagree, the trio’s…
Thursday 2 Anderson’s Fifth Estate: Area 51 with DJ Jeremy (goth, industrial) Axis/Radius: Scooter & Lavelle (house, hip-hop) AZ 88: DJ P-Body (jazz fusion, funk) The Bunkhouse: DJ Doom (dance) Camus: Sparkle with DJ Pablo Gomez (deep house, electro, rock) The Crown Room: DJ Gable (rock, house, hip-hop) Cypress Lounge:…
When Kurt Cobain growled “Here we are now” in the early ’90s, he unwittingly sounded the death knell for the classic speed-metal thrash scene. Fifteen years later, most thrash acts have hemorrhaged crucial members and credibility, and either thrown in the towel or converted. Look no further than any barf-worthy…
Tired of all the ho-hum musicians our local scene has to offer? You know, boring bands who’d rather blast their tracks while standing on stage? Then peep the perversely non-plastic performing plaything known as Treasure Mammal. This one-man musical dynamo is gung ho like G.I. Joe, giving new meaning to…
This melodic indie rock quartet sounds a bit like another local band, radio rulers Jimmy Eat World, whom SLP once joined on a Midwest tour that included a gig in a barn. The A-side, “Hold Your Flashlight,” is a chugging, hard-edged pop number full of images of summer camp, canary…
One of the things that’s great about local hip-hop artist Jawa is that he doesn’t give a crap about mainstream success. He could have had it — Priority Records had him working with artists like Brian McKnight and Method Man in the mid-’90s — but he didn’t like being told…
Here’s a band that could easily contribute to the soundtrack that G.G. Allin, Stiv Bators, and Johnny Thunders are probably making in Punk Rock Hell. Big Vinny & the Cattle Thieves sound like old-school gutterpunks, spewing about anal rape and violence from a graffiti-covered garage. “I Was a Teenage Premature…
There’s such a fine line between stupid and clever. — David St. Hubbins, This Is Spinal Tap Metal has never been a genre of music generally associated with rocket scientists, but perhaps no band in the past quarter-century better illustrates the central truth of the above quote than the meatheaded,…
Rock ‘n’ roll flicks that aspire to quality are usually a waste of time. The ones sincerely committed to being dumb, however, can be treasure troves of useful bad taste. I Was a Teenage Mummy (released in ’92, but stuck in ’65), for example, is brimming with quotably stupid soliloquies…
Compared to his pioneering work as a producer, drummer and bandleader, ?uestlove’s DJ career seems modest and unassuming. Live, he usually plays to the people in the crowd (whether they’re VIP glitterati at a posh nightclub or hundreds of enthusiasts at a hole-in-the-wall rock bar), mostly avoids too-rare grooves and…
If the theme of 2006’s party is art damage, then Test Icicles — originally called Balls, in case you’ve missed the sketchy word play — provide the soundtrack. But party rock was once about partying, while this might not be about anything. To wit, the Icicles’ declaration “Yeah yeah, bitches…
