What was old is new again. The Burt Reynolds ‘stache. Polyester. The Pet Rock. Okay, you might not see a revival of the eight-track tape, but you will see a lot of current young bands picking up and incorporating a lot of the wild experimentation happening within mainstream rock and…
When many people use the “Americana” tag, they’re usually referring to rock ‘n’ roll laced with elements of folk and country music, two of its “roots” vectors. But uniquely, distinctive American music encompasses other genres and styles, too — blues, gospel, jazz, the song craft of Stephen Foster and Hoagy…
Grammy winner Michael McDonald has been a road warrior since his success with Motown and Motown Two. Three years later, the silver-haired crooner is back in the studio revisiting significant songs from various stages in his life for a forthcoming CD, due in February on Motown Records. McDonald has been…
The times are a-changing over at Homme, 138 West Camelback Road. Gone are such old and busted dance nights as StraightNoChaser’s “one” and Club Rumorz, making way for new hotness like Solid Saturdays. Promising plenty of “Muzik4FunkyOPENminds,” the weekly event sees Scottsdale mainstay DJ Kevin Brown painting Homme’s main room…
Bottom line: Alice In Chains blew Velvet Revolver off the stage.
I was expecting the opposite: I was skeptical about Alice In Chains touring without singer Layne Staley (who died of an apparent drug overdose in April, 2002), but I knew that Velvet Revolver included 2/5 of the original Guns ‘N’ Roses (Slash and Duff McKagan), as well as ex-Stone Temple Pilots singer Scott Weiland, and former drummer of The Cult and G ‘N’ R, Matt Sorum (one of the best drummers in the world today, in my humble opinion). I fully expected Alice In Chains to blunder through their best songs with some inferior vocalist, and for Velvet Revolver to rock the house.
Halls of fame are all well and good, but face it: they never ever get it right. There’s always about twelve dozen perfectly great artists that get completely overlooked, or worse, ignored in favor of total mediocrity, and who gets to argue about it? No one, because halls of fame are HALLS OF FAME. Immortal—unassailable—in the postmodern deterioration of all that is good, holy, reliable, and worth clinging to for dear life, halls of fame comfortably bludgeon the gullible masses into seeing The Canon and/or give something for tourists to do when they go to Cleveland. Wouldn’t we be better off just admitting that Cleveland just can’t be gussied up?
You won’t need to crack open any Shasta when reading this week’s edition of Future Shock, since the latest crop of “just announced” concerts heading to the Valley is already packed with plenty of pop. From squeaky clean bubblegum starlets to cutie-pie pop-punkers, we’re gonna be giving you some sugar, baby (as well as upcoming shows by some punk rock legends and a noted jazz superstar).
Thursday 13 Anderson’s: S.W.A.G. Thursdays with DJ Essence, DJ Astonish, & Bryce Breeze (hip-hop, reggae, R&B) Bikini Lounge: Sophisticated Boom Boom with DJ HFE (rockabilly, surf, jazz, classic country, indie, obscuro, R&B) The Blooze: DJ El Dedo (rockabilly) Dirty Pretty: Foxy Bitch with D-JR (rock, Top 40, hip-hop) Hard Rock…
I’m driving down Hatcher toward Seventh Street in Sunnyslope on a Thursday night when I see two hot girls walking and . . . Wait, they are checking me out! Surely, the minivan must be doing its magic. I’m staring and almost miss the green arrow that will point me…
On a recent Friday night, people from all over the world are watching local “Bohemian Geek Soul” artist Jody Gnant kick my ass at bowling. Gnant’s been broadcasting her life 24/7, via a UStream channel on the Internet, for the past several weeks (www.ustream.tv/jodygnant). Tonight, she’s carrying around two big…
On a late summer afternoon, harmonious duo Rachel Cox and Patrick Sullivan of Oakley Hall are stationed just outside the subway entrance on the southwest corner of New York City’s Union Square. They are busking. As in, both are singing high and hard, without amplification, and Patrick is playing guitar…
The three most sentimental places in the world are cemeteries, airports, and tattoo parlors. Because the first two are verboten, thanks to the church and Homeland Security, Jake La Botz has been making good on the remaining option with his second annual Tattoos Across America tour. If you’ve ever wondered…
“Nobody wants to hear perfection, because nobody’s perfect,” Brandi Carlile declares over the phone as she lies on her lawn in Ravensdale, Washington — just outside the Starbucks capital. “It’s something I’ve learned playing live shows, too. People want you to fuck up.” The country-fried singer-songwriter, who’s as obsessed with…
MySpace is a baffling labyrinth. It’ll consume your whole day if you let it, and you’ll usually come away depressed by what you hear and see. But click the right link, and you can be neck-deep in a wondrous new world before you realize what’s happened. Or, in this case,…
Here’s an all-star tribute to the jazzy queen of the American songbook, Ella Fitzgerald. Check these creds: produced by legendary A&R Recording studios founder Phil Ramone; arrangements by Billy Childs (formerly of Trumpeter Freddie Hubbard’s band) and Rob Mounsey (whose horn arrangements include Paul Simon’s “You Can Call Me Al”);…
There are several ways to play rockabilly nowadays: the gentlemanly way (Robert Gordon, Sleepy LaBeef), the roots-conscious 1955 hepcat way (High Noon, Big Sandy & the Fly-Rite Boys), glam-revival (Stray Cats, Polecats), and the mondo-demento lunacy/ribaldry of the Cramps and Reverend Horton Heat. (Can’t forget the Blasters — in a…
We have a little piece of music history living here in Phoenix in the form of Paul Roman, vocalist and guitarist of seminal psychobilly band The Quakes. Formed in 1986 in Buffalo, New York, The Quakes were one of the first American psychobilly bands — influential enough to get constant…
The debut album of Tempe-based Awake and Alert, Devil in a Lambskin Suit (Five One, Inc.), is one of the most welcome surprises in the indie pop scene this year. The band’s sound is a mix of classically inspired rock with touches of soul and musical theater, which seems to…
Put them in suits and give them bowl haircuts, because from the sweet harmonies to the charismatic melodies, this Phoenix quartet channels the British Invasion circa 1965. In April, they released their 11-track debut, We Can Do No Wrong, which recalls the retro vibe of the Rosebuds’ debut several years…
Hats off to any musician who ventures out of his/her comfort zone and doesn’t stick (or bury) him/herself in a particular niche. But venturing isn’t without its pitfalls: Your fans might be disoriented by a new direction, while other listeners might think you a dabbler or pretender. Guitar wizard John…
Swedish imports (as if the name wasn’t a giveaway) PB&J have been making music together for eight years, but it took their third and latest release, Writer’s Block, to strike a chord in America. The album represents a change of pace for the trio, as they largely ditch the up-tempo…
Friendship has some effin’ sweet benefits when you’re pals with London West Records owner Matty Spangler. The 28-year-old DJ frequently books his turntablist buds to blast out house and trance tracks at the Ballroom (adjacent to Myst, 7340 East Shoeman Lane in Scottsdale) every Friday night at the aptly named…
