Blink while you’re walking down Mill Avenue and you’ll probably miss the new Swell Records. Just doors down from Fatburger, with only printed paper to mark its place, the latest incarnation of Swell sits a block north from Swell Clothing. Enter and you’ll see a post-industrial space with a few…
Right now in England, forming a band to play self-consciously epic guitar rock in the key of U2 is about as original as learning three chords on a beat-up Stratocaster in a Brooklyn loft space is here. So give it up for the guys in Sussex’s Keane: They formed a…
The sheer bombast and spectacle of mainstream dancehall nearly eclipses a smaller but equally vibrant scene overseas: Conscious dancehall, a less chest-thumping branch more focused on ganja than on gats, combines dancehall’s verbal gymnastics with roots reggae-style rhythms. The conscious scene in Birmingham, England, has gotten a boost of late…
U.S. Maple’s music is like Frank Gehry architecture, Stan Brakhage cinema, or Andy Kaufman humor — you either get it or you don’t. Usually, those who get the Chicago math-rock/no-wave quartet’s live avant-noise deconstructions undergo epiphanies on a par with Chilean peasants who just saw the neighbor’s porcelain Virgin Mary…
When Greg Cartwright, a garage-rock revival vet from way back before Rolling Stone caught wind and broke out the champagne, rinsed off his customary gravel with 2001’s folk-influenced Reigning Sound debut, he revealed himself a breezy, literate songwriter. Two albums later, we find Cartwright back under the burqa. Too Much…
Of all the lame-assed rock-band reunions we’ve weathered over the past decade, perhaps the Pixies’ hurts the least. This band of Boston oddballs made four and a half albums and played about a zillion live shows — and still we know less about them than we do about Ashton Kutcher’s…
The gritty, woozy sound that defined the Wu-Tang Clan’s mid-’90s dominance still pounds in the eardrums of the Hip-Hop Nation. It’s the reason Ghostface Killah’s last album, 2001’s pop-friendly Bulletproof Wallets, was so poorly received by the street that it “went wood.” And it’s why his new single, “Run” –…
Did you know that Tijuana rhymes with marijuana? Of course you did — you’ve heard Cypress Hill before. The Hill’s 1991 self-titled debut was a hip-hop landmark that altered the genre’s very structure. Within months of its release, everyone from House of Pain to Ice Cube was imitating the East…
What’s Selling Top 10 sellers at Circles (800 North Central Avenue) for May 9 through 15: 1. Usher, Confessions (BMG) 2. NB Ridaz, NBRidaz.com (Upstairs) 3. Lil’ Flip, U Gotta Feel Me (Columbia) 4. Kanye West, College Dropout (Universal) 5. Eightball & MJG, Living Legends (Bad Boy) 6. Petey Pablo,…
Sounding like a particularly rotten day during the Apocalypse, Arch Enemy is a Swedish band that throttles its listeners with a unique mix of Sepultura-like riffage, dirty Florida swamp-style death metal, the occasional mid-’80s classic, over-the-top metal solo and meat-cleaver-style hooks. But the band’s members, formerly of Carcass, Armageddon and…
The adult sex industry barely has to lift a finger to separate people from their cash. But the savviest skin purveyors realize they can maximize profits by selling the fantasy of availability. Successful strippers aren’t just skilled at shakin’ the ol’ funbags — they chitchat the easy marks between sets,…
With their mutating time signatures, intricate guitar interplay and ever-shifting syncopations, math rock bands can produce more glazed expressions than two variable differential equations. But that’s not the case with Don Caballero, whose hairpin time changes and supple melodic maneuvers are more roller-coaster ride than graduate dissertation. The linchpin is…
A Halloween joy ride through the rockabilly side of town, Th’ Legendary Shack Shakers conjure a backwoods boogie that recalls Southern Culture on the Skids and The Cramps, but with a hip-loose, wild-eyed, blues-inflected fervor that’s all their own. The fun starts with lead singer J.D. Wilkes, whose spectacular mouth-harp…
CLUBS ACME Roadhouse: In its original Scottsdale location, ACME catered to Harley-Davidson weekend warriors. In its new Tempe incarnation, it entertains the college set with dancing and, on Sundays, local rock bands. Dance space is at a minimum, but there’s plenty of room for other social rites. Sun: Live music…
For a long time, I didn’t patronize the Marquee Theatre in Tempe. Hadn’t been there until I was preparing to write this column, and then it was at the insistence of my editor. At first it was simply coincidence that I didn’t visit the former Red River Opry, renamed and…
Have you seen The Wicker Man and 2001: A Space Odyssey? Judging from the Beta Band’s music, the Scottish quartet surely has absorbed those cult films’ respective pagan-folk and space-trippingly futuristic influences into its sound. The Beta Band’s third album proper (self-produced, but mixed by Nigel Godrich) is its most…
For six long years, the Canadian quintet Finger Eleven must have regarded America as a stubborn virgin on prom night: No matter how hard they worked it, they just couldn’t get lucky. Despite some well-crafted hard-rock albums, a whole lotta U.S. touring, and even a hearty push from labelmates Creed…
Tempe’s Freedom nightclub has almost run its course — the dance music mecca closes after a Memorial Day blowout — but there’s still time for a couple more Kind Fridays. This Friday, May 21, South American progressive house DJ Hernan Cattaneo stops in to get your collective asses shaking. Progressive…
From a pop-culture standpoint, it’s always an interesting sign when quality reissues trump current releases. Thing is, that’s pretty much all the time. Marvin Gaye deluxe editions soar miles above 99.9 percent of contemporary R&B material. Roots-reggae reissue specialists like Blood + Fire and Moll-Selekta have consistently outgunned any label…
Old man Winter is white enough in hair and pallor to carry off the moniker, but his heart is full of deep, poignant blues rich enough for the paintings of Paul Gauguin. Playing in bands since his earliest teens, Winter started as the kind of prodigy who made Jonny Lang…
In the ’60s, Golden Dawn was labelmate and stylistic soul mate to the 13th Floor Elevators — in fact, Dawn leader George Kinney was Roky Erickson’s classmate for many years. Both grew up in Austin and played together in a high school band called the Fugitives. When the International Artists…
It’s rare when a show gets a rain delay in Arizona. This cozy local lineup was originally scheduled to play Day One of the Tempe Music Festival in the Marquee’s small room, but when torrential rains prevailed for most of the day, organizers moved the last four bands inside, including…
