Shane MacGowan’s continued existence on the planet is nothing short of a miracle that would test the resolve of even the most determined atheist. I’ve personally witnessed the notorious Pogues front man — who’ll turn 49 on Christmas Day — ingest an incomprehensible amount of booze and illicit substances, then…
Six years ago, Jonny Lang faced a crossroads in his music career and personal life. Too much underage drinking, cigarette smoking and drugs, plus an obsession with witchcraft, threatened to ruin his career and create havoc in his personal life. A revelation gave rise to his current sobriety and new…
There’s a goofy little beach scene on the album cover that could fool you into thinking these guys made a surf-rock record. But it’s nothing like that, really. Sure, they do a track called “Surf” that starts off as a shameless “Pipeline” knockoff, but before the song is through, they’ve…
The first CD from local bluesician Paris James harks back to the back-porch country blues of the 1920s, when players like Blind Blake and Blind Lemon Jefferson were finger-picking through a mix of folk, gospel hymns, and Delta blues. The sounds of spirituals and the South that dominate James’ CD…
Surrounded by mountains of amps stacked and cranked to unhealthy heights, Jucifer can shatter half of generic modern metal’s fibulas with just its feedback. The coed Atlanta duo literally rattles plaster loose, and drummer Edgar Livengood pounds the skins so hard he has broken his bones mid-set. The smash-riff-bash stoner-rockers’…
Rap producer James “J Dilla” Yancey, who died of lupus at age 32 in February, didn’t yet have the industry clout of peers like the Neptunes or Kanye West, but he sure had their respect, working with everybody from Ghostface Killah to Janet Jackson. This spring’s Donuts, an instrumental disc,…
Marriage is all about communication, compromise, and . . . psychedelic indie rock. At least it is for Kevin and Anita Robinson, otherwise known as Viva Voce, who have popped out four albums of the stuff since 1998. The Portland, Oregon, couple’s latest, Get Yr Blood Sucked Out, channels marital…
Last fall, Art Brut was the hotness du jour, the toast of all things hipster and good. A year later, the South London band is still touring behind its now-old album, Bang Bang Rock & Roll. The quintet, whose album was issued this spring by New York label Downtown Records…
Queensrÿche has prompted many deep questions in the course of its 20 years as a band: What does it mean to be silently lucid? Has anyone ever been noisily lucid? Is Dr. X noisily lucid? (Ronnie James Dio certainly is.) Further: Does “conceptual metal” exist only in one’s head, and…
Summer festivals might be winding down elsewhere in the country, but since it’s sunny and hot nine months out of the year here, the Valley’s guaranteed to have a few more super-sized summer shows before we get the big fall festivals. Edgefest 2006, presented by “independent” Phoenix radio station Edge…
Frank Black could be living the easy life, riding the public’s insatiable thirst for the Pixies through another big nostalgia tour. But he’d clearly prefer to be doing his own thing. Consider the staggering volume of solo material he’s been able to crank out since putting the Pixies back together…
The lineup for the hip-hop/R&B-flavored “Up Close and Personal” extravaganza is everything the Arizona Diamondbacks weren’t this year — young, hungry, and well able to bash out the hits. Juelz Santana is the 23-year-old, Harlem-born rapper who first rose to prominence a few years ago as a member of Cam’Ron’s…
Riddle me this: Which award-winning, NYC-based turntablist has created best-selling dance mixes for MTV and Tommy Boy records, and remixed the likes of such superstars as Dido, Christina Aguilera, and Janet Jackson? The answer to the oh-so-easy brain teaser: DJ Riddler. Besides a gig at Gotham’s dance station WKTU (alongside…
As a bed of acoustic guitar is lazily strummed below Charles Westmoreland’s vocal gymnastics on “Driver,” the opening track off Portland-based band The Kingdom’s new LP, one may recall another NW purveyor of bliss-pop, The Shins. But it becomes clear early on that The Kingdom is more keen on injecting…
Thursday 28Anderson’s Fifth Estate: Area 51 with DJ Jeremy (goth, industrial) AZ 88: Mr. P-Body (synth pop, electro) The Biz: DJ Robbie Rob (hip-hop, Top 40) Bunkhouse Lounge: DJ Doom (dance) Camus: KURRENT_affairs with Pablo Gomez (electronic, rock, pop, avant-garde) Cash Inn: DJ Kat (country) Club Central: DJs Ernie G…
1. Justin Timberlake, FutureSex/LoveSounds (Jive) 2. New Found Glory, Coming Home (Geffen Records) 3. Fergie, The Dutchess (Interscope Records) 4. Ben Kweller, Ben Kweller (Red Int/Red Ink) 5. Lupe Fiasco, Food & Liquor (Atlantic/Wea) 6. Mars Volta, Amputechture (Umvd Labels) 7. Fear Before the March of Flames, The Always Open…
Back in the ’90s, when I was a young adult, I desperately wanted to start a small record label. It was the age of awesome and inspirational labels like Kill Rock Stars, the heyday of indie stalwarts like Dischord and Lookout, and a time when you could watch a small…
Author Chuck Bukowski probably never imagined Hot Water Music, the title of a collection of his short stories, would become synonymous with the post-hardcore scene. But so it is, thanks to Hot Water Music, the Gainesville, Florida, proto-punk quartet that took its name from Buk’s tome and spent the past…
When it comes to rock ‘n’ roll theatrics, Rob Zombie may not have drawn up the blueprint, but he’s definitely remodeled his own house of horrors, from directing instant cult classic horror movies like House of 1000 Corpses to his catalogue of ghoulish industrial metal albums (the latest being this…
Hippies, though admirable and well-intentioned, often compensate for their excellent politics with profoundly lousy art. Which is a real bummer, as our current political situation is profoundly lousy — as you might have heard, we’re living through one epic backlash against the ’60s and liberal democracy and yadda yadda. Meanwhile,…
Nick Luca, front man of his namesake band Luca, sounds a little confused, and like he might need a hug. The Tucson group’s latest album, Sick of Love, has an abundance of lovelorn laments and a strange mixture of rock genres. Luca and his bandmates, Chris Giambelluca (bass and vocals)…
The guys of Kingfish Fiasco are weird. They cite beer and porn among their musical influences, but that is probably because they frequent the Yucca Tap Room in Tempe. They also claim to have bought their drummer, John Earl Gilmore, for $20 on eBay. Actually, the story goes that they…
