Writing a top ten list vacillates between easy and hard faster than the questions in a typical Trivia Crack game. Sometimes, the lists flow right out and you nail it. Others, though, you stew on and cross things off, add them back, and cross them off again while the little…
There is no doubt that rapping dominates hip-hop. No matter how good a beat is, for the casual hip-hop fan, the bars being spit over it will almost always be more important. Even a mega-producer like Kanye West didn’t ascend to superstar status until he released The College Dropout and…
Three Bad Jacks, the band that started the fire at Rebel Lounge that triggered the venue’s sprinkler systems, posted about the incident on Facebook Monday evening. The band called the Saturday night accident an “unfortunate situation.” Instagram user evilchavo posted a pair of videos that showed bandleader Elvis Suissa starting a…
Phoenix is a musical hotbed for a lot of things: there’s an amazing indie scene here, folk is stronger than ever, the heat had bred some insanely talented metal bands, but choral music’s prevalence is not high on the average concertgoer’s list. However, tonight marked the third time that Phoenix…
Speed metal or thrash metal? The consensus seems to be that the terms are interchangeable and probably not even applicable in 2016, although the term “thrash” metal doesn’t elicit the groans that “speed” metal does when experts on the subject are asked. In fact, this list of the best speed/thrash…
An incident Saturday night has damaged central Phoenix club Rebel Lounge to the point that the club must close until Wendesday. The Los Angeles band Three Bad Jacks had a show scheduled Saturday night. It’s unclear at this point what happened, but the Arizona Republic is reporting that there was…
It’s not often that a video game nerd is also an indie rock musician. It’s rarer still when that person is dragged to a rave that, in turn, heavily influences the music he makes. For these reasons and his fatalist lyrics that contemplate life as a predetermined journey, Robert DeLong…
The Mason Jar holds a special place in the minds of longtime rock fans in the Valley. Now, you can take a piece of the now-defunct legendary music venue home with you. Auction Nation is hosting almost 200 lots of memorabilia from the Mason Jar, including everything from unused concert…
Mitchell Hillman listens to more local music than just about anyone in the Valley. He presents his picks for best new music in his column, Right Hear, Right Now. Wolvves – “Ivory Drive” Around this time last year, Wolvves released its debut full-length debut album and upon doing so, immediately…
Phoenix Afrobeat Orchesta produces some of the most cohesive, full-bodied, and smooth grooves in the Valley. This is known. Looks like the rest of the country is starting to find out. The organizers of NPR’s much-watched Tiny Desk Contest have chosen Phoenix Afrobeat Orchestra as to compete against five other…
As he puts down his instrument case, we ask Tempe musician Daniel Suber, better known as MC/DC, if there are a lot of punk trombonists. “Not that I know of,” he responds with a laugh. “Everybody is like, ‘Play in my jazz band,’ and I don’t know how to do…
Supposedly, there is a war on Christmas, and Thanksgiving might bring about your family’s dark, alcoholic side. But no holiday divides the nation quite as bitterly as Valentine’s Day. In the red corner, you have those who must reluctantly conjure up greeting-card-style devotion to their indifferent significant other. And in…
Downtown Phoenix’s overall fun levels have taken a hit, as Obscura dance night at Rips Ales and Cocktails prepares to wind down from a monthly happening to a special event taking place whenever founder Robden Brethauer feels like it. Brethauer is making the change after nearly eight years of monthly…
Krystle Delgado paid for college by competing in beauty pageants. She was Miss Palo Verde and Miss Sonoran Desert, titles she dutifully carried from the end of one contest until the beginning of the next year’s. But as an artist, she didn’t want to have anyone else’s reputation or legacy…
Haymarket Squares — “Let’s Start a Riot” Your favorite punkgrass anarchists are back and better than ever! The Haymarket Squares are ready to release their highly anticipated new full-length, Light It Up, at Last Exit Live on February 27, and last week, they released a video for the album’s first single…
What would it be like to move to another country and end up being called “Mr. Heavy Metal”? Marty Friedman knows. The gifted guitar player, initially known for his groundbreaking work in Cacophony, moved to Japan a decade ago after living in Phoenix from 1993 to 2003. Since his move,…
For those who want to “feel the Bern” with a veritable who’s who of local talent, Saturday, February 6, will be everything you could want and a little bit more as Sacred Reich and friends have a little fundraiser for the Presidential candidate from Vermont, Bernie Sanders, at the Rebel…
Justin Beiber’s “Love Yourself” is a little passive aggressive. The chorus of “You should go and love yourself” is a radio-friendly, PG-rated euphemism, and we all know it. The entire song, is a soft-sung but arrogant dismissal of an ex-girlfriend. It’s arrogant, too. Justin Beiber might be the only singer…
Sitting down with Christian Dion Dean, a.k.a. Vee Tha Rula, it’s clear he’s always had a vision. His foresight is how he got his name in the first place. “In the neighborhood, anything that would happen, my homeboys would always come to me and ask what’s going to happen,” Vee…
Thomas Wesley Pentz, better known as five-time Grammy-nominated producer, DJ, and recording artist Diplo, has had many illustrious collaborators since his rise in the early 2000s — M.I.A., Shakira, Robyn, Kid Cudi, Bruno Mars, No Doubt, and Snoop Dogg, to name a few. Now to that list you can add —…
Mitchell Hillman listens to more local music than just about anyone in the Valley. He presents his picks for best new music in his column, Right Hear, Right Now. Harper and the Moths – “In the Shadows”Last weekend, Harper and the Moths released their new EP, Rock.Pop.Soul., to a packed house…
The idea of disruption is big these days. It seems everyone is trying to disrupt something: the mattress industry, healthcare, taxi services. You don’t have to look far to see advertisements talking about new, better, and different ways of looking at established products and services, especially when it comes to…
