The downside of achieving massive success is becoming typecast. After leaving the airwaves, many of the original Star Trek cast found it difficult to secure work because of their association with the series; Chumbawamba has a 20-year career but is remembered by most for “Tubthumping”; and, despite having appeared in…
When it comes to straddling genres, few artists have the crossover breadth of Citizen Cope (a.k.a. Clarence Greenwood). He’s listed with granola-heavy Web site Jambase.com, and he certainly has the lazy acoustic-guitar appeal of Ben Harper or Jack Johnson. But his lyrics also have a gritty, street-worn sensibility reminiscent of…
One’s interpretation of Clutch, the mostly metal and sometimes funk-soaked ensemble, depends on where in the game a listener was made hip to the band’s interpretation of Led Zeppelin doing the nasty with Black Sabbath. Fans of their 1993 debut, Transnational Speedway League: Anthems, Anecdotes and Undeniable Truths, still muse…
For a while, it seemed as if the only off-the-chain event going down over at the Rogue East, 423 North Scottsdale Road in Scottsdale, was William Fucking Reed’s rock ‘n’ roll dance party Shake! on Saturdays. Thankfully, this sad state of affairs has been rectified, as the landmark hipster hangout…
We remember back in the day when Shady’s had a different name and was full of bearded, blue-collar workers guzzling beer to wrap up a hard day’s work. Not so much any more — with its new name and new jukebox, the little neighborhood bar has become a hangout for…
Job for a Cowboy sounds like a good name for a country band, but this Glendale combo is in the vanguard of today’s extreme metal movement. The intense grindcore/death metal sound of Doom, their indie EP, and their relentless touring has generated a rabid following — 6 million MySpace plays…
The battle cry of the rawest punk rock and proto-hardcore bands circa 1978-84 was “louder, faster, shorter” and the attitude behind that ethos was about shearing away rock and roll’s accumulated excesses (tedious and/or showoff instrumental soloing, meandering songs). That premise is the bread and butter, the meat and cheese,…
After hearing the debut disc by local lesbian punk/dance trio The Pübes, the only thing left to say is “Oh, hell, fuck yeah!” Led by local folkstress Cameo Hill (who becomes Ivana Pluchya in this band), The Pübes combine the bouncy bad-girl vibe of artists like Suzi Quatro and Bikini…
Tori Amos is the blue-chip stock of the female singer-songwriter boom of the ’90s: Investing in her art has only become more expensive (read: demanding) over the years. With hooks disappearing, her albums have grown longer, while her lyrics have turned increasingly oblique. More memorable than 2005’s The Beekeeper, American…
If Wilco put together a greatest hits album, it probably would contain only two or three songs from Sky Blue Sky — and although that may sound like a criticism, it’s actually more of a testament to the band’s impressive body of work. Whereas 2004’s A Ghost Is Born was…
Although her flamboyant outfits may never be polite, Björk’s last few albums certainly were. The ice-crystal percussion and melodies on Vespertine were stunning but mannered, like an immaculately decorated parlor, while the nearly a cappella Medulla — an album in which beatboxing and throat-singing replaced traditional instrumentation — felt too…
Total chaos. Upon initial inspection, that’s what the songs of local duo Get Down! To Brass Tacks are built upon — synthesizers careen through the compositions like a blind man driving a Mack truck through a carnival of cowbells and fatass basslines, while singer/bassist Aarik Miller shrieks and wails through…
Jimmy LaValle has made music in the past with some interesting bands (Tristeza and Black Heart Procession chief among them), but the best thing that ever happened to him — and listeners, too — was when members of cosmic art-rockers Sigur Rós discovered one of the discs he’d recorded under…
Voxtrot’s eponymous 2006 EP may be the best indie-rock debut since, oh, the Pixies’ Come On Pilgrim. Each of the five songs on Voxtrot is nigh on perfect — a crystalline distillation of the band’s love of ’80s British pop. That’s not to say that the Austin quintet’s disc is…
Matt and Kim are just totally fun. Totally. Like a power-pop take on They Might Be Giants, with a (simulated) accordion and everything. They’re even from Brooklyn, where they’ve developed a loyal following at loft parties, basements, art galleries, and clubs. They accurately describe their live sets as having the…
Two songs on The Shapes We Make show the influence moving back to Washington, D.C., has had on Mary Timony’s writing. The spritely “Sharpshooter” — as close as the ex-Helium frontwoman gets to out-and-out indie-pop these days — sees wildlife turning the tables on trigger-happy hunters (“Ted Nugent, hey whatcha…
Club DJs of the P-Town, we feel your pain. You endlessly work the same local joints week after endless week, slaving over the turntables and beat-matching your brains out for a bunch of selfish and snotty hotties, all the while dreaming of blowing this burg for far-flung destinations and superstardom…
Duders. That’s what the Coach House in Scottsdale had to offer on Saturday, May 19. (Click here for more photos.) The ratio of post-adolescent ex-football players to cutesy Scottsdale ladies was about 2 to 1. Although the vibe was relaxed, we spied some scattered single sirens on the prowl, taking…
“Well, even if he just sits down and licks his balls, it’ll still be fun.” It’s Cinco de Mayo, and my buddy B-Boy is trying to talk me into going to the annual Chihuahua races in Chandler. My companion wants to enter Blanquito, his sister’s cream-colored Chihuahua, in the races…
Yes, it seems as if we can’t get away from the typical DJ . . . spinning relatively hot tunes and taking his headphones way too seriously in an obvious, pathetic attempt to get laid. So, it was great to hit Homme Lounge on a Thursday night, when they embrace…
Skinny Puppy’s known for its dark industrial sound and psycho-techno compositions that don’t follow a linear progression. The doomy machines are still present on Mythmaker, but the songs here are SP’s most danceable yet, from the infernal pulse and processed vocals of the leadoff track, “Magnifishit,” to the KMFDM-feel and…
What hath Nile Rodgers wrought? Or was it Giorgio Moroder? Whoever was the wizard who figured out how to make records without musicians has a lot to answer for. True, sampled beats and programmed rhythms come a lot cheaper than those who can actually play instruments, but pop and dance…
