The Nadas are not a forgotten band from that “the” band explosion from 2000 that featured the likes of The Strokes, The Hives and The Vines. Sure, The Nadas existed back then, and their unique name would have lent itself nicely to that particular scene, but things took a different…
In the ’90s, a dead lead singer seemed like a surefire ingredient in the formula for musical immortality. Jeff Buckley garnered way more fans after his 1997 drowning death than he did while alive. Bradley Nowell’s 1996 heroin overdose turned a little-known ska-punk band from Long Beach into an international…
Guitar virtuoso Al Di Meola is quite dazzling when it comes to technique. His blazing riffs exploded in the ’70s as a member of the groundbreaking jazz-fusion group Return to Forever, with his fretwork often defined by dizzying, slashing turns. Over the years, the New Jersey-born Di Meola has ascended…
There’s a well-known saying among diehard fans of dyke-folk duo the Indigo Girls: “Everyone wants to marry Emily; everyone wants to sleep with Amy.” With a new solo album on her own label, Amy Ray (the brunette Indigo; the blonde is Emily Saliers) should continue to stoke her fans’ passions…
In the 1990 film Cry-Baby, Johnny Depp played a rebellious rocker named Wade “Cry-Baby” Walker. Walker’s singing voice, however, was provided by rockabilly revivalist James Intveld, who was trying to make a name for himself. Intveld’s real break came in 1996, when he was invited to contribute a track on…
On its new album, Today We Are All Demons, the band’s fourth, Combichrist effectively ups the ante on the tried-and-true answering machine intro with a message from an unfortunate soul on his way to jail on a concealed-weapons charge. His girlfriend, meanwhile, is in the hospital after swallowing a bottle…
To say that Nik Richie has had a beef with the West Valley is as an obvious understatement as saying that Hamas and Israel are known to get into a minor dust-up once in a while. The infamous “reality blogger” has spent years on his debaucherous tattletale site TheDirty.com labeling…
Otis Jackson Jr. (a.k.a. Madlib) wins the award for the coolest bedroom ever.With apologies to Russell Simmons, Madlib’s arguably the hardest working cat in hip-hop.Besides creating his own jams and flows under a few different noms de guerre (Quasimoto, Sound Directions, Yesterday’s New Quintet), the California-born MC and DJ has…
Not too many bands would post a flier for a show where they’re not even named, but I thought there was something telling about Third and Maryland’s decision to do so here, where they’re, presumably, referred to as “LIVE BAND !”Third and Maryland, a four-piece gener-ock band from Phoenix/Scottsdale/Buckeye/Cave Creek…
Check the slideshow for more hot chicks.Every week, we approach at least 20 strangers and ask if we can take their photo. We’ve gotten used to the feelings of nervousness but it’s always a little embarrassing when someone says, “no.” Hate to admit it, but there’s a teeny part of…
It’s still a bit of a deadzone, show-wise, but things really start pickup up next week and by the end of the month we’ve got Willie and Weezy in a three day span. In the meantime, we’re digging Stone Foxes, who come to The Ruby Room Saturday. Their brawny San…
The first rule of Fight Club is you do not talk about Fight Club. The second rule is the same. Axioms aside, it’s hard not to spread the word about this Saturday’s fifth annual Fight Club-themed Sadisco*, the only dance party in town where ear-splitting industrial music and bare-knuckle fistfights…
In terms of originality, there’s nothing brave about what these citizens are up to. Sonically, they worship at the un-nuanced, widescreen altars of U2, Angels & Airwaves, and the Killers; vocally, frontman/guitarist Andrew Capra seems to regard Patrick Stump as a mentor, aping the Fall Out Boy singer’s tendency for…
Despite a productive 15-year career in the music industry, first as the frontman of San Diego indie rockers The Rugburns and most recently as a solo performer, Steve Poltz’s biggest claim to fame may ultimately be his co-writing credit on the ubiquitous and annoying 1996 Jewel mega-hit “You Were Meant…
We probably should’ve seen it coming. After The White Stripes hit the big time earlier this decade, a host of other two-piece acts followed in their footsteps, from the bluesy rock of the Black Keys to the bass-driven dance-punk of Death from Above 1979 to the sludgy doom metal of…
Heaped in the late ’60s and early ’70s blues, rock, and folk scene of their native San Francisco, Stone Foxes have established their sound as a force to be reckoned with. A clear contender for one of 2009’s early buzz bands, the Foxes have been riding a wave of publicity…
If manufacturing sick-ass mixes and phat sounds were a crime, then The Gaslamp Killer undoubtedly would have fried in the electric chair by now. The 25-year-old turntablist genius is a certifiable freak, whether he’s sporting kinky hairstyles or molesting the wheels of steel to spit out his filthy-sounding experimental flows…
Seven Car Pileup Seven Car Pileup (Self-released) With all the American Idol in Phoenix fever it took me awhile to sit down and do this week’s You Asked For It. Luckily, Seven Car Pileup, was a nice change of pace, sounding like nothing you’ll ever hear on Idol. Unless, that…
The “Louis Vuitton Don” is moving units down at Zia Record Exchange. Although Kanye West’s emotionally-wrought 808s & Heartbreak didn’t prove as big a smash with most fans and critics as his previous discs, it’s still a quality album (our music editor Martin Cizmar considers it one his faves of…
For more things inappropriate, click the slideshow.It’s no secret we frequent the bigger night events in this town, but our very favorite part of Club Candids is discovering a new place.Not that Doc and Eddy’s is new to anyone else in the area. In fact, it’s a stand-by sports bar…
Almost every local venue has been going through a long post-holiday slump, booking-wise. Not Trunk Space. The Jewel of Grand Avenue has been staging a ton of shows lately, including the Back Ted N-Ted concert we shot earlier this week and the concert promoted by this cool flier, local folkie…
One basic characteristic of Bollywood films is the fact that actors generally do not use their own singing voices during the musical numbers — that task goes to playback singers like Asha Bhosle, who has participated in almost 1,000 such flicks during the past six decades. In the meantime, she…
