Far East MovementOh, how much fun it is to use gibberish.There is plenty of nonsensical vocab in Far East Movement’s first hit single, “Like a G6,” from “slizzard”, to “sizzurp,” to “808 bump”–partially in thanks to the hook from Dev’s “Booty Bounce”. It is as if the band took a…
TItle: The J & D Experience EPBasics: More YAFI hip hop? I could get used to this. This EP was passed along to me by resident PHX hip-hop expert Mike Meyer, so I knew I was in for something decent — if not actually good. Well, you know what? Miranda…
Travis EnglerMike Mangan’s Big Organ TrioOrgans aren’t just for church, as the rock n’ roll stylings of Mike Mangan’s Big Organ Trio prove. The band, with a Hammond B3 organ taking center stage, perform tonight, October 7 at The Rogue Bar in Scottsdale, and the show is sure to be…
European scientists recently discovered a method of transmitting sound waves through the lonely vacuum of outer space, which might be good news for German trance music heavyweights Cosmic Gate. The Deutschland DJ duo of Claus Terhoeven and Stefan Bossems have spent the past decade creating a slew of spacey and…
Since 1994, Seattle-based indie label Barsuk records has proved that there’s more to the area than Sub Pop. It has released music by Death Cab for Cutie, Mates of State, Ra Ra Riot, Nada Surf, and Rilo Kiley. So when Phantogram — guitarist Josh Carter and keyboard player Sarah Barthel…
For some, the very concept of a tribute band flies in the face of traditional American values. It could be viewed as the easy way out: Rather than doing the hard work yourself and writing original material, you simply learn how to mimic a successful band’s style so well that…
Tech N9ne and E-40 are two of the most successful independent artists in hip-hop, so it seems like a no-brainer for them to tour together. Tech N9ne founded his own label, Strange Music, in 1999 and has gone on to release 11 albums, which have sold more than 1 million…
No outlaw-country music singer has labored harder to prove his outlaw bona fides than David Allan Coe. A few years ago, the Akron, Ohio, native led a Dallas TV crew through the Ohio prison where he was incarcerated in the 1960s, showing them the spot where he supposedly killed a…
Life sucks for hippies without The Band and the Grateful Dead. Good thing San Francisco jam band Tea Leaf Green is around to combine the sounds of those two legendary bands. TLG brings spirited keyboard licks, funky guitar riffs, and soft vocals to the table, singing about shit like gardens…
Do you quietly address world issues in the songs you write on your porch? Have you got America thinking you’re the chillest person in the country? Do you go everywhere barefoot? What, you don’t? That’s all right, because acoustic pop mellow man Jack Johnson is coming to town to fill…
In last week’s Best of Phoenix issue of the New Times, the notorious Tempe dive bar Palo Verde Lounge was named the “Best Place to Get Up Close and Personal with the Band.” A weekend gig by Antique Scream this past Saturday perfectly demonstrated why the “Shallow Dirty” deserved such an…
Local bands were in demand at Zia Record Exchange in Tempe this week.Jimmy Eat World took the top spot with their new album Invented, and the Gin Blossoms also found their way onto the list with their anticipated second comeback album. Singer-songwriter Pete Yorn snuck onto the top 10 with…
Along with trends like ‘the bear thing,’ ‘the wolf thing,’ and ‘the beach thing’ has come ‘the remix thing.’Lately, indie bands have recently been all about organizing remix contests and projects for their fans.The latest band to jump on the bandwagon? Metric. They’ve partnered with Indaba Music, Topspin, and RCRDLBL.com…
It’s pretty sad when a guy has to rely on alcohol to have luck with the ladies, but here Trey Songz is singing “Bottoms Up” to potential hook-ups in the club. Never mind that alcohol-induced sex makes the line between rape and consent blurry–Songz just wants you to get your…
Brad WiatrThe Other 49 at The Rogue BarIf you didn’t know this flier was for a rock show, you might say it was downright pretty, with a poignant image juxtaposed with a fancy headline.Brad Wiatr, of the indie progressive band The Other 49, designed the poster in honor of the…
As geekazoids of the world will undoubtedly tell you, crossovers can be pretty effin’ cool. Doesn’t matter if it involves Aliens battling Predators or the heroes of Marvel taking on the dudes from DC, whenever characters from differing realms hang out, the result is almost always greater than the sum…
Crave critical consensus? Just take a look at the reviews for The Brutalist Bricks, the sixth and latest album from Washington, D.C.-based gentleman-punkers Ted Leo and the Pharmacists. Ted and Rx got 31/2 out of 5 stars from three leading national periodicals, and a 7.9 from a certain infernal online…
These days, it can seem like America’s youth is too jaded to care about their fellow man, but Adam Smith is doing his level best to change that. Last year, more than 26,000 Arizona teens attempted suicide, and the young singer/songwriter is using what he can — his musical ability…
Rick Springfield isn’t just a Grammy-winning singer-songwriter and the guy who played Dr. Noah Drake on General Hospital — he’s also a miracle of preservation rivaling that amber-encased mosquito in Jurassic Park. Now 61 years old, Springfield still has the hair, the looks, and the fit matinee-idol physique of the…
The lead singer of a band that sold 25 million albums is performing a solo acoustic show in a smallish venue. That should probably be a pretty big deal, but most people wouldn’t go to see Scott Stapp on a bet. There aren’t too many living frontmen more despised than…
It’s easy to write off an act that becomes famous because of its success on American Idol. That is to say that most Idol contestants’ careers have proved short and boring. Carrie Underwood, then, is one of the exceptions to the rule. The 27-year-old country superstar not only sold the…
“Don’t put baby in a corner,” the late Patrick Swayze said to Jennifer Grey in Dirty Dancing. If I were in a similar movie, starring alongside Maxim Ludwig & the Santa Fe Seven, I’d advise anyone around us at that dull Catskills resort to not put my man Max in…
