By Gabriel San Roman It was no coincidence that Rage Against the Machine released The Battle of Los Angeles on what’s traditionally observed as Election Day in the United States in 1999. The 2000 election season was already in gear, with Republican George W. Bush and Democrat Al Gore setting…
“A monthly exploration into Latin Rhythms across genres” reads the subtitle of Clandestino!, a highly rumored and now-realized Latin night at Crescent Ballroom. Does Phoenix have a “Latin Alternative” audience big enough to sustain a monthly party at the most relevant music venue in town? El Nico, curator and mastermind…
Walking through the back rooms of the Tempe History Museum, it’s easy to get distracted by the various artifacts of the city’s lore. Boxes are stacked like in the last scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark; one clumsy turn could result in someone accidentally getting his face melted. Navigating…
If it seems odd that a band named Modern Baseball lives in a house named Michael Jordan, well, that’s all just part of the fun. After all, it wasn’t as though this Philadelphia pop-punk quartet devised some master plan that would make them stars. From the start, Modern Baseball just…
It’s official! Hot Buttered Rum, a five-piece bluegrass band from San Francisco (of all places!), is now more popular than the après-ski cocktail of the same name. At least, the group finally shows up above the drink in Google searches. “We’ve arrived!” guitarist Nat Keefe says with a laugh from…
Tucson’s Shooda Shook It are, well, a little weird. But the relatively new group is that kind of weird that is both an entertaining spectacle, while also laying down some solid funky dance music. Fronted by twins Kee Kopps and Dawn Copps, the group has only been playing live for…
The Valley of the Sun has a lot of musical talent that spans across all genres. However, when it comes to heavy metal, the desert spawns some killer musicians. So we decided to take a look at some of our favorite heavy metal shredders. There’s no way to really define…
I’ve never had an interest in Screeching Weasel, as I don’t listen to punk music that comes off like it was meant to be the soundtrack of a straight-to-video film about kids rollerblading in a shopping-mall parking garage. I listened to Boogadaboogadaboogada! a few times (primarily just so I could…
For thousands of years, the drum has been one of the most integral pieces of human civilization. It’s provided a steady beat for everything from war marches and healing ceremonies to weddings and initiation rituals. Beginning November 15, Phoenix’s Musical Instrument Museum (MIM) will host its “Beyond the Beat” exhibition,…
It’s clear that El-P and Killer Mike, the explosive rap duo that make up Run The Jewels, give a shit about their fans. You need look no further than how they handled the funding for Meow The Jewels, the tongue-in-cheek proposal to remix Run The Jewels 2 with nothing but…
There are three bands about to come through Phoenix that have, collectively, been writing, recording, playing and influencing heavy metal for around 100 years. One. Hundred. Years. You might think, yeah, okay; that’s impressive. What if I also said that, collectively, these bands have released more than 30 studio albums,…
Wait a second, you might say — Phoenix has a Jewish funk band? It’s true. As the name implies, Jerusafunk skillfully blends traditional klezmer with the ass-bopping sensibilities of R&B rhythms, tossing in jazzy twirls here and there. Using instruments such as bass clarinet, saxophone, and trumpet, the band attacks…
Cohesion is the name of the game for Dum Dum Girls’ Dee Dee Penny nowadays. Though you might know the band because of its highly acclaimed first album, I Will Be, the band’s sound has morphed four years later from a lo-fi, surf vibe heavy on female vocal harmonies to…
The members of Arch Enemy have always set the bar high for themselves and their genre. Then again, let’s be honest: any band labeled Swedish melodic death metal provokes high expectations. It combines the strongest elements of heavy metal, like super heavy riffs and refined melodies, set in an environment…
Earlier this year Phoenix New Times celebrated the cream of the crop with our 36th annual Best of Phoenix edition. Here are our top picks for best radio stations in metro Phoenix. Best Alternative/Rock Radio Station: KWSS 93.9 FM KWSS stepped up in a big way this year, sponsoring the…
You won’t be able to catch local indie band The Brown Tones performing at the Ice House Tavern later tonight. Ditto for Six Gun Satellites and their gig on Saturday night at the dive bar. That’s because all upcoming live music events at the Ice House Tavern have been canceled…
The first thing you should know about this Saturday’s Bloodfest out in Mesa is that the titular liquid that will drench attendees isn’t composed of plasma, erythrocytes, platelets, or leukocytes. Instead, it’s a mixture of water, various dyes, and other non-toxic ingredients. Despite what you may have heard or read…
Long before heavy metal was known for ingredients such as shredding guitars, double bass, “horns up” or black leather, the budding chefs were studying up in the ‘burbs of England. Not far from Birmingham — which eventually spawned Black Sabbath — a young Rob Halford walked to school in Walsall…
Need some new ear candy? Here are four tracks brought to you by locals to get you grooving…
We totally got to party with a robot in Scottsdale a few weeks ago. True story. Well, we’re pretty sure it was a robot, but admit that it might’ve been a dude in some shiny, vacuformed plastic armor. (We also may have been a few drinks in at the time.)…
You’ll often hear about how the Arizona State University downtown campus has revitalized downtown Phoenix, but you rarely hear credit given to the other demographic whose growing presence in the area has thrived: Latinos. From gourmet cuisine to hair salons that become art galleries at night, there’s a sense of…
It’s tempting to refer to 2014’s Nobody Wants to Be Here and Nobody Wants to Leave, the Twilight Sad’s fourth LP, as their return-to-guitar-rock record. Their last full-length effort, 2012’s underrated No One Can Ever Know, was saddled with a similarly reductive byline: their synthesizer record. Both are accurate-ish, but…
