Music

Tucson’s Howe Gelb is a premier American songwriter, the kind of guy whose career could only happen in the rock ‘n’ roll era. He’s upheld its wanderlust Neil Young spirit from the center of the Giant Sand collective (Calexico’s step-paterfamilias) for more than 20 years now. Over the years, he’s…

Many of the topics that seep into Oakland rapper Mr. Lif’s lyrics could pop up in a graduate seminar — looming ecological meltdown, U.S. foreign policy, the emptiness of a workaday existence. His background is still in battle rhymes and getting the crowd to go “ho!,” however, so don’t expect…

Jay Vance couldn’t get along with his fellow musicians — so he shacked up with four robots. Vance was a member of the Chicago-based ska group Blue Meanies from 1989 to 1994, but it was his subsequent enlistment in the San Francisco ska outfit Skankin’ Pickle that made him realize…

The Wednesday night broadcast of local hip-hop show “Under the Influence” is only halfway through its three hours, yet the vibe at the KFNX-AM 1100 studio on North Third Street is already well-defined. “This is the realest hip-hop spot in Arizona, yo,” says rapper Kamillion, an energetic 25-year-old hopeful, to…

Redfield is a tough band to pigeonhole. It might count as punk. The Valley hopefuls seem to prefer that tag, having been profiled and hyped by local Web site AZPunk.com and given shout-outs to punk bands on the liner notes to their new EP The Hellfire Club. Plus, vocalist Alfie…

Bonnie Prince’ Billy is the alter ego of Will Oldham, who, along with Bill Callahan of Smog, is a crucial upholder of American folk tradition in modern popular music. Oldham is a brilliant, intense guy who has spent his career mostly hiding under a veil of monikers. “I never felt…

As we at last rejoin Billy Corgan, he seems pretty much where we left him when the Pumpkins smashed their last corroded power chord against pop culture’s uncaring cliffs. The chrome-domed, dark guitar deity is standing at the lip of New York’s Hammerstein Ballroom stage — feet together, arms outstretched…

“I earned it. After 30 years in the desert, you deserve something, man.” Hans Olson sat in the spotlight Sunday, an iconic lonesome bluesman. He had come to Hayden Square in Tempe to play a song and collect our new Big Chihuahua award for lifetime achievement as part of the…

If Lucinda Williams is such a genius, then how come she keeps making the same album? Car Wheels on a Gravel Road, her 1998 breakthrough after years of obscurity, defined and perfected her earthy songwriting, filled with lust, longing, and exacting character detail. Its acclaim deserved, the record also painted…

The last several releases by former Spacemen 3 guitarist Jason Pierce’s psychedelic-gospel outfit Spiritualized — Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space, Royal Albert Hall October 10 1997 Live and 2001’s Let It Come Down — have been as much about Pierce’s tendency toward staggering production costs as his…

From the left-field blues that Shara Nelson crooned for Massive Attack to the thumping turbo-sex rhythms that Timbaland’s plastered behind Tweet and Missy, modern soul vocals and minimal electronic beats have been fitfully flirting with each other since Prince first asked for some extra time in your kiss. Since the…

With riffs as thick as their skulls, Godsmack is a band of unabashed metal meatheads, which doesn’t necessarily invalidate their music; like Jean-Claude Van Damme films, there’s something to be said for mindless kicks. But after three albums of crushing, monster-truck rock, Godsmack’s Dirt-simple approach is growing exceedingly monotonous. Initially…

The reaction to Steve Malkmus’ eponymous 2001 debut was astonishingly consistent. “Whew,” sighed hard-core Pavement fans: Malkmus was a little poppier, a little more straightforward than any Pavement recording, but it still sounded like Pavement. Non-fans seemed likewise relieved: The word play made actual sense (hey, we know who Yul…

is, at the Marquee Theatre, 730 North Mill in Tempe. Doors open at 7 p.m. Tickets are $36.25. Call 480-829-0607.

The music industry may want to eulogize Marilyn Manson, Slipknot and Nine Inch Nails, but the alchemy of industrial, metal and theatrics still strikes a chord with teens who just can’t find it in them to link to Linkin Park. Think songs that question the need for religion; vocalists who…

Like a five-headed Joe Millionaire, Ticker Tape Parade, an average-guy amalgam of pizza deliverer, construction worker, data entry clerk, tee shirt printer and “between jobs”slacker have been doing their best to put together their own million-dollar sound in preparation for attracting the most eligible suitor. For most of the past…

“If you get any four guys into a room, it doesn’t matter if they do market research or accounting or whatever — they fuck around all the time,” contends Sum 41 drummer Steve Jocz (pronounce it yatch). “That’s what guys do. That’s what we do, and people tape it and…

John Calleo, former roadie for Megadeth and ZZ Top, a concert producer, all-around rock ‘n’ roll guy and a storied prankster, died two weeks ago after a long, slow demise partially related to congenital heart disease. The response from local musicians has been overwhelming. At a benefit gathering held at…

The White Stripes’ Elephant is not a five-star album. In fact, Elephant’s not even the fashionable two-piece garage band’s best record. That’s still 2000’s De Stijl, which years from now may be seen as essential, the blueprint that got this whole burgeoning march toward a renewed simplicity and joy rolling…

One of the weird things about the ill ’80s musical revival spreading through the Western world is the symbiosis between said revival and the global political climate. Then, as now, fear grips. The nervy retro-futurist flavors of this nü New Wave seem to mirror the renewed sense of free-fallin’ civil…

There’s little arguing electronica’s link to ’60s psychedelic practice, especially when you think of peace, drugs ‘n’ noise-filled raves to paraphrase Austin Powers as latter-day “happenings” that’ll freak you out. But most well-known electronic artists who’ve tried to integrate early psychedelia into their music have wound up stumbling about in…

Back in the early ’90s, dance-hall toaster Buju Banton found himself deep in controversy over the lyrics to a song called “Boom Bye Bye,” which advocated violence against homosexuals. That meant a virtual crib death. “Through my travels I’ve seen certain things that I don’t believe in and don’t agree…