What’s The Best Way to Promote My Band?

Are you a musician? Is your group having issues? Critic Jessica Hopper has played in and managed bands, toured internationally, booked shows, produced records, worked as a publicist, and is the author of The Girls’ Guide to Rocking, a how-to for teen ladies. She is here to help you stop…

Phoenix DJ Austin Head Injured in Hate Crime Assault

Update: Phoenix Police have officially designated the attack on Austin Head an anti-gay hate crime. Read more at New Times’ news blog, Valley Fever. Local DJ, activist, and former New Times Clubs Editor Austin Head was assaulted early on Friday, November 9, while walking down Central Avenue. Two men harassed…

Morrissey Reschedules Marquee Theatre Show

I imagine there are some casual Morrissey fans out there, but most of the Moz fans I know are the diehard sort, the kind of folks who’ll stick by the singer no matter what grumpy things he says and does. So while I’m sure someone was just kinda bummed about…

Top Five Phoenix Music Stories of the Week

The news waits for no one — at least that’s what we read somewhere — so it’s perfectly understandable that you, the reader, might have missed out on a musical tidbit, breaking news about your favorite venue, or one of our rants. So enjoy this digest-style sampling of some of…

TK Newman, What Are You Listening To?

TK Newman Newman is the co-founder of upscale wedding dress reseller Hustle Your Bustle. For more info, go here. When you put your key in the ignition and turn on the radio, what station would play right now? Either 100.7 FM or 102.5 FM — I’m a country girl at…

Take Cover: Yus Covers Broadcast

Broadcast built a dedicated fanbase with its innovative mix of ’60s nostalgia and electronic beats. If you’ve never heard the band, imagine Nico singing for Stereolab. Youceff Kabal, who performs under the stage name of Yus plays piano and slows the song down a bit for his version of “Michael…

Jens Lekman Studies the Science of Songwriting

Matters of the heart exist, of course, in an emotional realm, but for singer/songwriter Jens Lekman, heartbreak has a bit of a scientific component, too. For his follow-up to 2007’s Night Falls Over Kortedala, Lekman didn’t want to make an album about a difficult breakup. But the songs had other…

Sera Cahoone Cracks Jokes on Mostly Sad Deer Creek Canyon

Sera Cahoone is hilarious. Don’t believe it? Ask. “I am a pretty hilarious person,” the singer/songwriter laughs, discussing “Rumpshaker,” one of 12 excellent country rock songs on her latest record, Deer Creek Canyon. But “Rumpshaker” isn’t exactly a joke. Lyrically, it’s far from it. “I know you, at the time…

Daniel Johnston’s in Love With a Mad, Mad World

There’s no better illustration of the fine line between brilliance and madness than Daniel Johnston. Indeed, the childlike simplicity and directness of his lyrics suggests the two are inseparable at times. A talented cult fave who spent years and years listening to and dissecting the Beatles, Johnston has a gift…

Indie Rock Is Worth Hating

“Don’t rock the boat, sink it!” commands the anonymous scribe behind I Hate Indie Rock, a fiery Twitter account that has been launching crust-punk-tinged salvos at publicists, nostalgia and vapidity in the indie rock realm. The account has been around only since October, and at this point, the feed has…

The Blasters, Down, Coheed and Cambria, and More Just Announced Shows

The Blasters will be hitting The Rhythm Room on Saturday, December 15th. They’ll no doubt be pushing their latest album, Fun on Saturday Night, a 12-track joyride through rockabilly and blues territory. The album also includes a June Carter Cash cover of “Jackson” with X’s Exene Cervenka. After thirty years…

Maynard James Keenan: Events and Rituals

The journey known as “Vintage 2012” is almost complete. Not finished, but it’s most certainly arriving at a fairly calm station. No more 2 a.m. panic-related insomnia attacks, where I stare at the ceiling going over and over the logistics of a tiny workspace. I’m not about to kid myself;…

Did Death Grips Shoot Themselves in the Foot by Leaking Their Album?

Following the disintegration of electroclash hardcore hip-hop outfit Death Grip’s relationship with their label, Epic Records, has been as drama-filled as a reality TV show. It seems to have started when Epic pushed back the due date for a follow-up to their debut, The Money Store, so Death Grips leaked…

Starfucker On Their Upcoming Album: “It’s About Death. Surprise.”

Starfucker’s highly danceable beats put the band in league with Neon Indian and Passion Pit, but frontman Joshua Hodges brings enough lyrical insight to the table to have you thinking and boogieing. Hodges has something of a fetish for The Grim Reaper’s handiwork, even searching out the original copy of…

Top Five Phoenix Music Stories of the Week

The news waits for no one — at least that’s what we read somewhere — so it’s perfectly understandable that you, the reader, might have missed out on a musical tidbit, breaking news about your favorite venue, or one of our rants. So enjoy this digest-style sampling of some of…

Indiia Wilmott, What Are You Listening To?

Indiia Wilmott Wilmott is the owner of Yes to the Arts, a T-shirt vendor that donates profits to arts programming to Arizona schools. For more information, go here. When you put your key in the ignition and turn on the radio, what station would play right now? 95.5-FM. It’s an…