Life can be tricky for metalheads who turn to heavy music to galvanize their conscience. If that sounds like a stereotype, plenty of metal bands play into the meathead/douchebag/sociopath thing and do it with pride. Gojira isn’t one of those bands. But Gojira doesn’t simply spew pointed political sloganeering either…
So, the other evening I was watching the History Channel when a two-hour program about the Dark Ages came on. I thought to myself, “Wow, I should really turn the sound down and put on some In Flames” — kinda like we did in college when we’d crank The Jesus…
Hey, kids, how’d you like to know how brand-new Orange, California quartet Eye Alaska came up with its name? Well, according to singer-guitarist Brandon Wronski: “‘Alaska’ is the Aleutian word for ‘that which the sea breaks against.’ ‘Eye’ means that you’re looking to those upon whom the sea breaks. It…
Here’s a recipe for a seriously stellar night of entertainment: Take a half-dozen of Arizona’s most imaginative visual artists, VJs, and filmmakers, and mix them liberally with eight or nine of the Valley’s DJs, turntablists, and “audio navigators.” The result? An all-night extravaganza titled Illumination v2.0, which goes down on…
By Martin Cizmar I bring you this week’s Flier of the Week not because it’s a bunch of bands we’ve recently featured at the Ruby Room, but because it’s possibly (and hopefully) the last time we can use Sarah Palin as a pop-culture touchstone for a long, long, long time…
By Martin Cizmar
Not too many bands morph from cover band to successful original act – especially when they start out playing covers of Ryan freakin’ Adams, but that’s just what the subject of this week’s You Asked For It, The New Westerns, have done.
By Benjamin Leatherman Music editor Martin Cizmar totally digs the Flaming Lips funky new CD/DVD Christmas on Mars, and apparently so do the customers at Zia Record Exchange (105 West University Drive in Tempe). Here’s the rest of the top 10 best sellers for the week of Nov. 10-Nov. 16…
By Lilia Menconi You should know the drill by now. Click this link to the slideshow. We’ve gone to a number of these lovely parties and this time, we were particularly impressed with the way it all came together. The theme, inspired by Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art’s current exhibition,…
By Martin Cizmar I bring you this week’s Flier of the Week not because I love the Towelie-esque flier – though it is pretty cool – but because I don’t want to be the only person who shows up to see videogame rockers sBACH at Modified this Saturday. I advanced…
The hip-hop scene in the PHX is bigger than ever. Homegrown homeboy Willy Northpole made an appearance at the BET Hip Hop Awards last month, rhyme-spitting MCs are doing their thing on the mic at nights like The Blunt Club and Raising Arizona, and a new old-school station started broadcasting…
It is difficult to maintain momentum over the course of 13 songs, yet New Zealand’s Pip Brown — better known as Ladyhawke — is blissfully ignorant of this. Right from the dual claps on the opener “Magic,” Ladyhawke grabs listeners by the hand with a purple, sequined glove of splendid…
English-born Sarah Brightman has nothing left to prove — throughout her career, her iconic soprano has been heard in the definitive versions of various Broadway tunes, successfully crossing over to pop while still making classical recordings. On her first holiday-themed album, with the London Symphony Orchestra, she takes on standards…
Shiny Toy Guns guitarist/singer Gregori Chad Petree and bassist/keyboardist Jeremy Dawson (the two creative forces behind the Los Angeles synth-pop band) evidently like to keep trying until they get things just the way they want them. They released their debut album, We Are Pilots, three different times and are now…
Will Minus the Bear make it? With a second successful tour and a new EP just released, it may be safe to say the critically lauded quintet is going to stick around. Then again, maybe not, considering that its EP Acoustics, released in October, features only one new offering, which,…
It took Daniel Smith, the man behind Danielson, a sudden realization while attending Rutgers University to help him embrace his childhood and live as a child once more. The revelation eventually led him to form Danielson, an indie rock/gospel supergroup whose stage shows feature matching outfits (nurses, gospel choirs) with…
Looks like everyone’s favorite Hasidic reggae singer/rapper might just outlast his novelty status after all. But that doesn’t necessarily make it safe to go back in the reggae waters for anyone aspiring to stand out based on his, uh, demographic makeup alone. On one hand, it’s unfortunate that Matisyahu’s work…
Acts like Cypress Hill and The Luniz (remember “I Got 5 on It”?) helped blow a big cloud of stoner rap into the ears of hip-hoppers back in the ’90s and early ’00s. And few did it with more bonhomie than Def Jam’s playful punk Redman and the Wu-Tang Clan’s…
Words are so over. Well, at least plenty of post-rockers think so, increasingly ditching the language in their spaced-out experimental music. But while bands like Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Mogwai at least named their songs, Spencer Seim, the man behind sBACH, has no use for such extravagance; the track…
There are heroes among us. Some wear uniforms, some wear spandex, and some dress like you and me. And one of mine is a man named Nick Nelson. A few years ago at Seattle’s Sasquatch Music festival, Mr. Nelson noticed a horrifying sight. Twenty yards away from him was the…
Seeing is believing, particularly in Underoath’s case. Whatever your feeling about their thunderous, increasingly complex and dynamic metalcore tsunami, their performances are a sight to behold. Writhing and shaking as though in the midst of a full-body seizure, the Florida six-piece appears on the verge of physically vibrating apart as…
By Benjamin Leatherman Since the global retail industry has decided in it’s great wisdom that the day after Halloween is the official starting point for the annual Christmas season, we feel it’s our duty to inform the public of the following: You’ve only got 43 shopping days left to track…
By Lilia Menconi These ladies REALLY want you to check the slideshow. Some weekends, we just want a little comfort. There’s been a lot of special event-oriented club candids that are always a good time, sure. But between the opening of the W Scottsdale Hotel and Halloween at Last Exit,…
