Liquid Heat

If you were hankering for many happy returns in 2007, looks like you’re gonna get your wish, bub. Namely, the dope drum ‘n’ bass DJs of Essential Wednesdays, who were dumped from their longtime weekly gig at Sky Lounge late last year, are making a comeback with Liquid Heat on…

The Top 10 selling CDs at Circles, 800 North Central Avenue

1. Snoop Dogg, Tha Blue Carpet Treatment (Geffen) 2. Various Artists, Dreamgirls: Music From the Motion Picture (Col/Urban Soundtrax) 3. Young Jeezy, The Inspiration (Def Jam) 4. Akon, Konvicted (Umvd) 5. Beyonc, B’day (Sony) 6. Omarion, 21 (Sony) 7. Nas, Hip-Hop Is Dead (Def Jam) 8. Justin Timberlake, FutureSex/LoveSounds (Jive)…

Seven Nights of DJs and Dancing

Thursday 18 Bunkhouse: DJ Doom (dance) Cat Eye: Punk Rock Thursdays with DJ Diesel (rock, punk) The Crown Room: DJ Gable (rock, house, hip-hop) e4: “Passport” with DJ Tranzl8r (hip-hop mash-ups) E-Lounge: DJ Domenica (hip-hop, house) GLAM: DJ Vertigo (goth, industrial) Grilled Expedition: DJ Jeff (hip-hop) Hard Rock Cafe: Skandilis…

More Peachiness

Damn, a glitch in the interweb prevented this from going up with the previous post about the swell kids in Peachcake, Stefan Pruett and Johnny O’Keefe. Stefan sent me over these tracks for all you fans and haters out in the blogosphere to scope out. But also, besides the nifty…

Let Them Eat Peachcake

I always enjoy the little missives I’m sent from Stefan of weirdo duo Peachcake, but this one was so exceptional I had to share it with everybody, ’cause it’s a damn thoughtful and interesting idea. Check it… 2007 has gotten off to a relatively slow start. We’ve been home now…

Harass-Holes

We Fly Our Kites at Night I don’t ordinarily get vindictive towards bands that I actually like, but I’ve got to solicit y’all’s assistance in lighting a fire under the arses of the guys in spazz/punk outfit We Fly Our Kites at Night. The boys, who I wrote about more…

Necro-Philia

The Necronauts I’ve been wondering what local indie/alt/punk trio the Necronauts have been up to lately; seems I haven’t heard about any shows or tours recently, and they’re one of the most entertaining acts we’ve got around here. If you’ve been missing Billy, Andrew and Dale as well, I’ve got…

Roadhouse Blues

After two holiday weekends in a row and the final shake-off of family obligations (phew!), we wanted nothing more than to return to normal life and normal drinking habits. This week, Club Candids skipped on anything super sizzling and flopped into homey Scottsdale punk bar TT Roadhouse on Saturday, January…

Rollover DJ

“We put Vaseline on the men’s urinal so you can’t do coke off of it,” Tyler King tells me from behind the bar at the Stray Cat in Tempe, on the Wednesday after Christmas. “Cruel, but funny.” King is, of course, cracking on the reputation of certain punk DJ nights…

Beat on the Brat

In April of last year, New York magazine published an article by Adam Sternbergh called “Up With Grups,” discussing the phenomenon of hipster parents. He touched on the sociological and economic nightmare we face if there is no longer a quantifiable generation gap — if parents’ habits and tastes are…

Alligator Rap

On a recent cold and rainy Thursday night, my girlfriend CooKie and I plan to hit a hot hip-hop weekly — but not the one most people think of, which is “The Blunt Club” at Hollywood Alley in Mesa. With a crew like Emerg McVay, Pickster One, and Brad B,…

Old Wives’ Tales

Courtney Love and Sharon Osbourne have a lot in common. They are both outspoken, headstrong women who married men who later became monstrously famous musicians. They both had plastic surgery. They are both known for throwing things — Love for hurling makeup at Madonna, Osbourne for pelting Iron Maiden with…

From Boy Band to Real Man

Young men fumbling to grasp the power of their hormones usually look to the brawny lead singers of hard-rock bands to learn machismo and sexual confidence. Unfortunately, these same impressionable teens simultaneously lap up the music’s misogyny, and so they only develop into self-pitying sexist pigs with an overactive interest…

Juicy Newt

Any band that calls its members “Vagina Rock Warriors” and takes its name from a pseudonym for a slutty friend must be on a sublime mission to spread its, uh, music to the menstruating masses. But the music made by the three ladies of Juicy Newt — vocalist/guitarist Annamarie Sanchez,…

Bob Seger

Diddy has yet to bastardize a classic rock riff from Bob Seger, which is great because I don’t care to hear Diddy’s rap tribute to James Brown slapped down over “Night Moves.” The Seger songbook is just too underrated for that kind of modern-day MTV molestation. Indeed, it seems that…

N.W.A

Like Public Enemy and the Wu-Tang Clan, the five pioneering group members in N.W.A were a revolutionary bunch that changed music with unabated street rhymes composed within the framework of gangster rap. However, no rappers were oppressed like Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, MC Ren, Yella, and the late Eazy-E —…

Strike Anywhere

After six or so years on Jade Tree Records, the Richmond, Virginia, melodic hardcore quintet Strike Anywhere — which formed in 1999 from the ashes of Inquisition — jumped ship to Fat Wreck Chords for 2006’s Dead FM, their third full-length. Makes sense, really, as SA’s primary influences (Avail, Sick…

The Applicators

Who invited you? The Donnas may not think you’re cool enough to get into their pajama party, but the five females in Austin-based band The Applicators will not only let you into their pop-punk bash, they’ll probably shove a beer bong down your throat to boot. With songs that sound…

Albert Hammond Jr.

Albert Hammond Jr. is The Strokes’ Ron Wood, or maybe its Izzy Stradlin, or . . . y’know, the guy who’s content to bash out a few chords and look cool while leaving the bulk of the flashy soloing and histrionics to someone else, but who’s usually the band’s secret…

Aura: Garnet

Some things are just awesome together: chocolate and peanut butter, Britney Spears and drunken rampages, trance music and belly dancing. Local DJ collective Overmind Works serves up the latter in spades at its monthly laid-back dance spectacular Aura, which goes down at belly dancing joint the Mystic Jewell Studio, 524…

Hi My Name Is Ryan

Live From the MTC, the debut release on Phoenix-based DIY label onewordlong, isn’t exactly music because the conceptual art piece doesn’t abide by any familiar formula. Project founder JRC, co-owner of the Trunk Space art gallery and performance venue, recruited four local artists/musicians (Archbishop Jason Polland, The Coitus, Zach Burba,…

Seven Nights of DJs and Dancing

Thursday 11 Bunkhouse: DJ Doom (dance) Burn: DJ Jeremy (Top 40, hip-hop) Cat Eye: Punk Rock Thursdays with DJ Diesel (rock, punk) Club Central: DJ Luis (salsa, merengue) The Crown Room: DJ Gable (rock, house, hip-hop) Dos Gringos: DJs Benjamin Cutswell & Kid Vicious (rock, ’80s, old school hip-hop) E-Lounge:…