Wildly psychedelic, stylishly dressed, always uplifting in spirit (so much that some considered them just another wayward Texas cult), The Polyphonic Spree has kept a relatively low profile lately. The band has been holed up in leader Tim DeLaughter’s home studio jamming the night away — but the pop-psych veterans…
Day 1 at Los Angeles’ FYF Fest was pretty hectic. Yeah Yeah Yeahs headlined, closing out the first night of the fest opposite of Death Grips. The action packed day also featured rare performances by The Breeders, FLAG, Thee Oh Sees, The Locust, and many more. The festival was divided…
Think you’re down with hip-hop culture? Okay, son, then which of its four elements — be it rapping, b-boying, graf artistry, and turntablism — is the most vital part of its mix? According to veteran local selector DJ Akshen, it’s the latter, since the beats dropped from the decks help…
You know what I like to do every year around this time? Go to the Back to School section at my nearest Target and buy some pens. (More selection than usual, and I can’t pass up a deal on those Pilot Precise rollerballs.) You might not be as boring as…
Why should Phoenicians care about a festival that’s happening nearly 400 miles away, in rival territory no less? Some of you diehard sports fans are probably groaning that we’re featuring a music festival in the hometown of the dreaded Lakers, Kings, and Bruins. The short answer is My Bloody Valentine,…
As a Midwestern transplant, I’m having a lot of trouble figuring out what is summer and what isn’t in Arizona. I left my last apartment in the spring, back in April, and arrived here two days later in the summer. From what I’m told, it will continue until sometime next…
Yeah Yeah YeahsMarquee Theatre, TempeAugust 21, 2013 (View the full slideshow in a new window.) It was a flurry of colored strobes, shimmers, and sparkles as Karen O. and her boys Nick Zinner and Brian Chase — best known as the New York-based Yeah Yeah Yeahs — took over the…
Wooden Indian, Yellow MinuteAugust 29, 2013Musical Instrument Museum Theater Going to the Musical Instrument Museum from central Phoenix feels like an occasion, even when it isn’t–you’re on the interstate all that time, the cars are getting gradually more expensive, and then when you get there, and park your car in…
Lemuria mostly wrote their newest record, The Distance Is So Big, remotely, sending each other videos of melodies, hooks, and songs from their different home bases, but the distance between them has not held them back from creating an album full of catchy songs that capture the high energy ’90s…
Charles Bradley, his voice dripping with raw emotion, sings as though his life depends on it. It’s a voice that, in essence, gave Bradley a new start in life at 61, when his debut album, No Time for Dreaming, at long last found its way into the world, via Daptone…
Are you aware just how big a deal Barenaked Ladies’ first album was in Canada? Wikipedia tells me it “topped the Canadian charts for eight consecutive weeks” and that 80,000 copies of Gordon were sold in the first 24 hours. We didn’t include them in the Top Five Must-See Phoenix…
Last week, we published a segment of our interview with Keith Morris in response to Greg Ginn’s lawsuit. The lawsuit talk only made up about five minutes of our 30-minute discussion. The main purpose of the interview was to discuss FLAG’s presence at FYF Fest, a two day music festival…
I went to see Earth Crisis in 2013. This seems unbecoming of me, and I admittedly felt out of place at the show, wondering if anyone thought I was one of those undercover cops who spies on punk shows and the animal rights movement and also classifies straight edge as…
It’s coming. College kids are circling the Valley in hand-me-down Corollas; especially eager snowbirds are lying to their friends back home about it being A Dry Heat, even in August; the days are very gradually getting shorter. And big touring acts, who’ve stayed away from Phoenix all summer, are announcing…
By Michael Cryer When Paris James took the stage Tuesday night at the Musical Instrument Museum’s “I Am AZ Music” Acoustic Blues show, a collaboration with the Phoenix Blues Society, and bid everyone “good evening,” the audience said “good evening” in turn with a tone that was more “peace be…
It’s hard to figure out exactly what to make of modern country’s flirtations with genres outside Nashville’s rustic confines. Taylor Swift’s Red incorporated an (ever-so-slight) dubstep wobble into her pop-country frame. The Zac Brown Band is covering Metallica live. Former Hootie and the Blowfish frontman Darius Rucker gets as much…
Like most superheroes and supervillians, it’s hard not to take a guess at the true identities of Wisconsin’s pop punk gem, Masked Intruder. After getting a close look at all four members, I can confirm that none of them are Mikey Erg. The verdict’s still out on whether or not…
The soul-rock-blues quartet Vintage Trouble see themselves as not just practitioners of what they call “live-wired, straight-shootin’, dirty-mouthed, pelvis-pushing juke music,” but protectors of a long and fruitful legacy. The band of veteran musicians — Ty Taylor on vocals, Nalle Colt on guitar, Rick Barrio Dill on bass, and Richard…
Although the scribes at DJ Mag won’t be releasing the results of their annual (and oft-debated) Top 100 poll for another couple of months, we’re willing to wager there’s one name that’s guaranteed to be close the top of the list: Hardwell. Bet on it…
It’s not often that band names are as straightforward as Masked Intruder. They wear masks, they claim to be interested in breaking into your house and stealing your VCR, the end. Something like “Earth Crisis”–you’re left wondering what the crisis is, and why they’re named after it. Of course, Lyle…
Tim McGrawSalt River FieldsAugust 10, 2013 Tim McGraw delivered a concert nothing short of excellent Saturday night, when he brought his highly anticipated and publicized Two Lanes of Freedom Tour to Salt River Fields. The country veteran proved he still has what it takes to excite fans with a live…
Tony Martinez took naps in his father’s guitar case when he was a baby. He would cry and cry at his father’s shows, and would only stop when he was put in the guitar case and fall asleep to the sound of the music playing. The first time he recalls…
