Title: The Rapper’s RapperBasics: You Asked For It gets hip hop this time around, compliments of champion of all things Arizona, Noxious of AZ. I will admit that this album — Noxious’ first of two albums released in 2010 — was pretty damn difficult to listen to. The asinine, 8-second…
Dang, it’s sad when a song climbing up the Billboard Hot 100 charts refers to women as hos and bitches. Such is the case with Wiz Khalifa’s “Black and Yellow,” which had to be cleaned up extensively for radio play. The original “dirty” version is riddled with n-bombs, as well,…
Is there seriously anything cuter than kittens these days? The Rogue Bar co-owner and talent buyer Lindsay Tripodis went for the jugular with this flier for local rock band Sun Ghost at the Scottsdale venue this Friday, December 17. Not surprisingly, she says her inspiration came from cats, the sun…
“Big in Japan” is a punch line to a joke about how bands actually kind of suck, but if you say that sort of thing around Night Ranger, Jack Blades should turn to you and say, “Thank you. We are far more popular in Japan than in the United States,…
You may not be familiar with the name, but chances are you’re more familiar with the band Trapt than you realize, especially if you’ve been to the movies in the past seven years. The band’s 2003 single “Headstrong” has been featured on the soundtrack to such cinema classics as Never…
Imagine for a moment that you are the more talented half of one of the most successful vocal duos in country music history, scoring a multitude of number one singles and winning a shitload of Grammys and CMAs all by the time you are 25. Now imagine that the other…
Infected Mushroom, an Israeli-based psy-trance group fronted by Amit Duvdevani and Erez Eisen, are nothing if not prolific. Since forming in 1996, they’ve dropped seven albums, appeared on more than three-dozen compilations, and rocked clubs from Moscow to Milan. Their heady mix of trance and phat beats has produced darkly…
Things are going to get heavy when hardcore band Ruckus comes to town. The group cites “the pain and sufferings of everyday life” as influences, and they’re bringing their baggage with them from California, with sullenly titled tracks such as “Apocalypse Never,” “Gallows,” and “Fools Die.” Yup, that’s just what…
As many others will inevitably do during the holiday season, Elizabeth Quintanilla (a.k.a. DJ Alkemé) is planning on serving up some sweet treats to her nearest and dearest. But instead of peppermint pinwheels and peanut butter bars, the 32-year-old she-jay’s confections are of the auditory variety. Quintanilla is planning on…
I first met Nate Allen a couple of years ago, when he played a house show in downtown Tempe where he rolled up in a ramshackle van full of ‘zines and self-pressed CD-Rs. I don’t think the cops were called that night, but if they were, they would have stumbled…
What is rock ‘n’ roll if not the sound of youthful exuberance? In that context, Orange Juice might just be the greatest rock ‘n’ roll band of all time. Led by a young Edwyn Collins, he of the “A Girl Like You” international mega-hit in the mid-’90s, Glasgow’s Orange Juice…
As a lifelong Phoenician, it’s hard not to get all nostalgic for the old Boston’s when stepping foot into 910 Live, but even without its dirt lot and smelly interior, the location has once again become a great place to see bands. We stopped by on Saturday for the No…
Album: Wake Up Dead EPBasics: Phoenix’s The Whisperlights are amongst the stable of indie rock bands currently making the rounds in Phoenix/Tempe — Black Carl, What Laura Says, Dry River Yacht Club, and Gospel Claws. Many an opening slot has been reserved at those bands’ shows for The ‘Lights. Their Wake…
Awwww, Bruno Mars. What a puppy dog he is.He’s the lyrical epitome of what a man should be–accepting, someone who doles out sincere compliments, someone who wants his partner to be his equal, etc. And his current single, “Grenade,” is yet another example of what a fine gentleman he is.In…
Usually when you pay money to go see a show, you want the bands you’re seeing to perform their best–you know, not mess up, sing in key, play the right chords.That’s a little hard after you’ve taken 10 shots.Shotfest 4: The Quest for Peace might be one of the only…
If making pimp remixes of pop artists were a martial art, Richard Vission would easily be a ninth-degree black belt. The Grammy-nominated maestro of house music has unleashed his magic on some of best and the brightest in the biz, including Lady Gaga (“Bad Romance”), Black Eyed Peas (“Meet Me…
Funny how things work out. When a violent dustup with a choirgirl in Arkansas ended Joseph Williams Perkins’ budding career as a guitarist, it started him down his path as a pianist. Better known as “Pinetop” Perkins, Joseph holds the distinction of being one of the oldest Delta blues performers…
Smell that? It might be the scent of your roommate’s fifth bong rip today. However, it could also be the Smoker’s Club tour bus nearing the Arizona state line. As if you didn’t already know that rap music and pot go together like alcohol and Taco Bell, Curren$y has made…
Over the past decade, the model for the live music business has been turned upside down. Back in the day, a band would go on tour to increase the sales of its record. Now, bands often sell their records in an attempt to support their tour. Roger Clyne and the…
Usually, band’s origin stories are pretty similar to one another. You know the drill: The members, outcasts at school, rebelled against their parents and wound up in a forceful, angst-y band. That’s not really how things worked for the members of NeedToBreathe. The stripped down Southern-sounding quintet hailing from Seneca,…
As most people get all warm and fuzzy during the holiday season, others flip their shit. There are just so many times when the stress of shopping for stupid gifts and coordinating stupid family schedules is just too much to handle. That’s when banging your head and screaming it off…
Christmas is a big thing at the Coach House. The folks at this Scottsdale mainstay do it up right by decorating the renowned dive bar with more than 10,000 twinkling glow lights and more wrapping paper and bows than one can imagine. It’s definitely a sight to be seen, which is…
