Seven Nights of DJs and Dancing

Thursday 6 Acme Roadhouse: College Night with DJ J. Alan (Top 40) Anderson’s Fifth Estate: Area 51 with AKA (gothic, industrial) Axis/Radius: DJ AM spins for the CEG 5 year anniversary (dance) Draft House: DJ Dave outta NYC (hip-hop) e4: “Eve” Ladies’ Night in the Earth Room with DJ Tranzl8r…

Blood Brothers

The bathroom sink is bathed in blood, the splatter extending up onto the mirror above it. Near the stalls there’s a guy holding his tee shirt to his previously gushing nose. That’s just what you’d expect to see at a Madball show — tonight I’m at the Marquee Theatre in…

Critical Fatwa

All hail Quincy Jones! Never has such cool walked the Earth as the man known as “Q.” And now we praise him even more as the producer of Thriller, so we can praise that great album without mentioning Michael Jackson. Certainly, you would think that with two child-molestation charges (and…

A Time 2 Wait

Promised for June 2004, A Time 2 Love failed to appear even by December 31, the last day Stevie Wonder could’ve delivered it in that year and still been a man of his word. Fans were hotter than July under the collar, leaving angry posts on steviewonder.com that were beyond…

Radar Love

Back in the day, I regularly watched DJ Radar perform with his Bombshelter DJs crew at Nita’s Hideaway and, later, the Green Room. The scratch virtuoso and I became friends, and I rarely missed one of his sets, even if it was at a rave where he was the only…

Vinyl Fetish

By the time Henry Rollins carries his last box of merchandise out the back door of Celebrity Theatre, the building lights have been shut off and the parking lot is almost empty. But a handful of fans still wait behind the line of tape that separates them from his tour…

Battle Acts

Battle Acts for week of September 29 through October 5 Battle Act: Green Day Where & When: Wednesday, October 5, America West Arena, $37 to $42.50 Strongest Selling Point: They’ve scored a career milestone by claiming American Idiot is “the first punk rock opera.” Somewhere, Meat Loaf is furiously mopping…

Four Tet

Kieran Hebden secured a contract for his English post-rock band Fridge while still in his teens. With the money he would’ve used for school, he bought a computer, and, after dropping out of school, began composing music on it during his off time from Fridge. Influenced by the hypnotic avant-jazz…

Mindless Self Indulgence

Mindless Self Indulgence hates you. Don’t worry, the band will still make out with you — but only after attempts at setting you on fire and maybe throwing feces at you. It’s a third-grade mentality, but it works. MSI aptly named its live album Alienating Our Audience, but the four-piece…

Fruit Bats

Andrew: What are you listening to? Sam: The Shins, you know them? Andrew: No. Sam: You gotta hear this song, it’ll change your life, I swear. Andrew: Hmm, the song is skipping really bad. Sam: Oh, crap, look, there’s a big scratch on the disc! Andrew: Oh well. Sam: Wait,…

Ryan Adams

In a 2003 interview, Ryan Adams’ idol, Paul Westerberg, suggested that it might do the younger singer-songwriter some good to get his teeth kicked in. This seemingly mean-spirited comment, despite coming from someone who’d slapped an audience member that same year, was taken personally. But Westerberg was right. Anyone who…

Blackalicious

When last seen as a duo in 2002, Chief Xcel and Gift of Gab had just dropped Blazing Arrow, one of the most accomplished hip-hop albums in recent memory. An ambitious and humane collection, filled with eclectic samples, sensitive live instrumentation, and interesting guests (Ben Harper, Gil Scott-Heron), it was…

Boom Bap Room at Big Fish Pub

As the temperatures start to drop, Monday nights are heating up in the world of beats and thumps. The latest entry is hip-hop weekly Boom Bap Room at Big Fish Pub in Tempe (1954 East University Drive), kicking off on Monday, October 3. Brought to you by Universatile Music, the…

From Autumn to Ashes, Armor for Sleep

It’s feeling a lot like the early ’90s, with rock acts selling hundreds of thousands of albums on little indies, and the majors out in force with their bankroll-operated cherry picker. Coming out of the fertile Long Island emo scene, From Autumn to Ashes’ 2001 debut, Too Bad You’re Beautiful,…

The Queers

To compare the real-world success of onetime labelmates The Queers and Green Day, consider that one of them has just made a successful transition to bloated arena rock, while the other apparently couldn’t leverage the rights to its back catalogue for a best-of album. For last year’s Summer Hits No…

Watch Them Die

The five members of Oakland’s Watch Them Die eat metalcore bands for breakfast — their sound is that ferocious. They look tough, too — two of them are wearing Goatwhore shirts in a photo on their home page — and they’re not just poseurs. Formed out of the ashes of…

In Memory of Donnie

As this issue was going to press, we received the sad news that Donnie Chiesa had died earlier this month, from complications following a stomach operation. He was 52. Anybody in the Valley who’s owned a working turntable has shopped at Tracks in Wax, the record store on Central Avenue…

Wolf Parade

Talk about a thrill ride. After two self-released EPs and a third out this summer on Sub Pop, Wolf Parade’s anticipated debut full-length is the kind of heart-pounding, emotional roller coaster we’ll gladly take again and again — except the line to jump onboard is bound to get longer. Hailing…

Seven Nights of DJs and Dancing

Thursday 29Ain’t Nobody’s Bizness: DJ Suzy (hip-hop, dance) Anderson’s Fifth Estate: Area 51 with AKA (gothic, industrial) AZ 88: DJ P-Body (jazz fusion, funk) Dos Gringos — Scottsdale: Block Party with DJ Sterling (all genres) e&sup4;: “Eve” Ladies’ Night in the Earth Room with DJ Tranzl8r (dance) Hard Rock Cafe:…

Top 10 best selling CDs at Circles Discs & Tapes (800 North Central Avenue)

1. Paul Wall, Peoples Champ (Atlantic) 2. DJ Quik, Trauma (Mad Science) 3. Kanye West, Late Registration (Roc-a-Fella) 4. Mariah Carey, The Emancipation of Mimi (Island) 5. Bon Jovi, Have a Nice Day (Island) 6. Charlie Wilson, Charlie, Last Name Wilson (Jive) 7. Young Jeezy, Let’s Get It (Def Jam)…

Fly’s Down

When it comes to music, sometimes you need an evening of total fucking irreverence, abandon, chaos, loss-of-bowel-control hysterics. Take my advice: Look to the kids. I hit up Modified Arts a couple of weeks ago to check out a local band that fits the bill perfectly: We Fly Our Kites…