Phoenix-based hip-hop artist Vocab Malone is clearly passionate about two things: God and rap — so much so, that he spends his 15-song album explaining this to you, underscored by unremarkable old-school beats. While this topic is interesting for a few songs, such as the moody album opener “Hard” or…
Roughly two years after her comeback album with New Bohemians (2006’s Stranger Things), Edie Brickell gets together with stepson Harper Simon for a collection of new songs that has a stronger musical connection to her solo material than to her old band. The disc has a laid-back feel, despite the…
In the midst of his career renaissance as the silver-fox master of many musical milieus comes the 30th anniversary reissue of Nick Lowe’s debut solo album. Jesus of Cool has been restored to its original title and running order after first seeing life in the U.S. as Pure Pop for…
It seems every time you turn around, a new Hot Topic-approved emo band appears. So, to break away from the rest of the gloomy pack, Seattle quintet Emery has relied on its unpredictable song structures and articulate/semi-religious lyrics. Beginning with their successful debut album, The Weak’s End, Emery has been…
Rock stars often sing of desperation — touring is hell (fans and groupies want of piece of you, sigh), gimme shelter (in a private helicopter), and “you don’t have to live like a refugee.” Rebellious punk bands sing of disaffected-youth angst and how soul-destroying life in the ‘burbs is. Then…
If you’re looking for the ideal business model of how to achieve pop success in a marketplace where radio play lists keep shrinking and album sales are no longer a financial surety, 32-year-old Australian singer Sia Furler is as good a candidate as anyone. Ethereal in every regard — her…
G. Love’s voice rides a rollercoaster of melodies — up, down, and around hairpin turns with a crafty grace that owes as much to old-school hip-hop as it does to classic R&B. While Love (born Garrett Dutton) gets top billing, his music’s most distinctive element is his backing band’s shuffling,…
Baby Dee became a legend in New York’s art music underground for her antics with the Bindlestiff Family Cirkus and her penchant for roaming the city on a gigantic tricycle, smoking a cigar and wearing a bee costume. Onstage, and on her recent Safe Inside the Day CD, Dee’s shamanistic…
Normally, we avoid pimping our company’s shit in this column (so as to avoid becoming soulless corporate shills and all), but we figured y’all would let us slide on plugging our annual Ultra DJ Spin Off on Friday, February 15, at Myst, 7340 East Shoeman Lane in Scottsdale. A half-dozen…
Released in 2005, this was the second compilation (of three, so far) designed to showcase the artists on Ludacris’ DTP label. Of the 17 tracks here, Luda appears on eight — three are solo tracks (if you count “Intro”), and the rest are group efforts like “That’s My Shit,” with…
This past weekend, I had the pleasure of tagging along with the Phoenix Bach Choir and the Kansas City Chorale at the 50th annual Grammy Awards . At the end of the day, they took home one phonograph statuette for “Best Engineered Album, Classical” during a star-studded affair in Los Angeles. (For a full list of winners, go to http://www.grammy.com/GRAMMY_Awards/50th_show/list.aspx)
THURSDAY 7 Axis/Radius: Crystal Thursdays Ladies Night (Top 40, rock, dance) The Blooze Bar: DJ El Dedo (rockabilly) Bunkhouse: DJ Doom (dance) Casey Jones: Da Gutter Thursdays with DJ Soulman (hip-hop, Top 40) Club Red: The Blunt Club with Pickster Uno, DJ Element, Emerg McVay, Dumperfoo, & more (hip-hop, reggae, breaks,…
When we think of a classical music composer, we picture a man in a tuxedo, sipping bubbly while writing conservative-sounding scores in his study — not a guy sleeping out in the bush to get his inspirations, tackling ancient myths, and causing controversy. Mark Grey, the Phoenix Symphony composer-in-residence for…
With his unique hairdo, colorful suits, and acoustic guitar, Dan Zanes’ musicality and talent are always a pleasure to behold, regardless of your age. Though he has a more obvious appeal to children because of his songs’ themes (“Father Goose” and “The Hokey Pokey,” for example), the apparently endless energy…
Scan the celebrity support of our presidential hopefuls, and it becomes glaringly obvious that none seems to be attracting the funk endorsement. Sure, John McCain has Sly Stallone’s backing, but coaxing Sly Stone out of seclusion would be way more of a coup. Mitt Romney has Donny & Marie Mormonic…
Some of the hottest parties hit this place during Super Bowl weekend, so by the time Sunday rolled around, we had a mean case of social anxiety disorder. We figured all the other photographers in town would snap their fair share of glitz and glamour shots over the weekend, so…
With all the disparate influences Sonorous has in its lexis, the percentages of what you’re going to get (and when) are always in flux, and this clashing of expectations constitutes the best moments on the group’s second CD, recorded “live” to tape during two successive nights at the Lost Leaf…
British singer Dusty Springfield was the diva de tutti dive of the “Tough and Tender” genre, in the sense that no matter how sweet the pop confection, she was guarded in all directions but one — the only place she allowed some vulnerability to show was straight down the pipes…
Though he might not be a household name, this Brooklyn-based musician’s had a fruitful career as a sideman for jazz and pop artists (including Norah Jones) and as a songwriter. On what is only his second solo release, he showcases new material that follows up on his 2002 debut, Come…
The two-minute take on “New York, New York” that opens Cat Power’s second album of covers is almost too easy. Iconic to a fault and not too engaging musically, it’s mostly a warm-up for Chan Marshall and her newly minted Dirty Delta Blues Band. The group succeeds The Greatest’s Memphis…
Fans of this Philadelphia six-piece will undoubtedly hail Angels of Destruction! as its best album; it’s certainly Marah’s most accessible and expansive record to date. There’s always been an honest theatricality and a colorful, imaginative flair running through Marah’s musical stories, but Angels takes them to a new level entirely…
Though they’re still waiting to make a big splash in America, The Editors have been making waves in the U.K., earning them the headlining spot in this traveling circus of a tour. The British post-punk band follows in the steps of international rock sensations like Franz Ferdinand and Interpol but…
