Lost in love? Stuck in a relationship quagmire Ann Landers wouldn’t understand? Trying to figure out what comes next in life? We’d like to invite you personally to bring your problems to Ask Magic, your chance to ask Arizona’s reigning slow-jam king for advice on whatever life throws at you…
Check the hashtags on Twitter or Tumblr, folks: John Mayer is back. This might make some pop culture enthusiasts’ skin crawl, yet for those who remember the glory days of Grammy wins, number-one albums, and the brilliant resurrection of true blues with the John Mayer Trio, the guitar god has yet again arisen.
A male patron of Scottsdale’s Martini Ranch is in critical condition with life-threatening wounds following a stabbing at the Old Town dance club and music venue early this morning. According to a report released by the Scottsdale Police Department, the 34-year-old victim was walking down the stairs on his way…
If you’re having trouble finding something to do tonight, or a week from tonight, or three months from now, it is literally our job to help you solve that problem. Here’s one way we do it: Our regularly updated Phoenix concert calendar. Once you’ve got the day’s festivities at a…
When my kids were little, and I’d be playing and talking about music with them, they’d say, “Dad, what is this song about?” You can probably guess my answer. Because eight out of 10 songs (not an official stat) are about the same thing: Love. Of course, that one simple…
Phoenix has plenty of things going against it when it comes to uniting the local music scene. The venues that most often book local acts are often miles and miles apart, forcing fans to hop on freeways and drive up to an hour to see their favorite bands. Some of…
Even the most ardent music fans have a skewered impression of Phoenix’s early rock musical landscape. It starts with Sanford Clark and Marty Robbins, then you cross a whole spread of barren desert ’til you get to Lee Hazlewood and Duane Eddy, and then nothing until the early rumblings of…
Will Wiesenfeld, the 24-year-old lap-pop programmer and dedicated pianist who performs as Baths, has made numerous mentions of his disdain for the “glitch” tag that is sometimes glued to his palpitating, cathartic compositions. Can’t blame him: It brings to mind inscrutably syncopated drum ‘n’ bass, or the decreasingly cited anymore…
Anyone who follows Arizona’s reigning slow-jam king on Twitter or Facebook knows that he’s into keeping in touch with his fans. With that in mind — and because Ann Landers just doesn’t know you as well as he does — we’d like to invite you personally to bring your problems…
The venue intermittently known as Desert Sky Pavilion has seen a number of sponsors come and go since opening more than 20 years ago, so let’s hope this one sticks: Out with Cricket and Blockbuster and Ashley Furniture HomeStore, in with Ak-Chin Pavilion, named for and sponsored by the Ak-Chin…
Kanye West’s new opus Yeezus has leaked, and with it a map of the latest locations where he’ll be projecting his face. Bad news: After getting a “New Slaves” of our very own in the second round of the first set of projections, Phoenix got stiffed for Friday’s festivities. You’ll…
Ronnie Styles hasn’t sported long-ass dreadlocks for years, but he’s still just as big into reggae culture and Rastafarianism as during his kinky-haired days, if not moreso. As such, the 32-year-old busies himself with spinning irie and dub sounds as DJ Jon Dread at The Sail Inn’s Reggae Roots Unwind…
As far as I’m concerned, people who don’t ever listen to albums are music lightweights. By “albums”, I don’t mean actual vinyl records. I couldn’t care less which configuration or delivery method you chose. I mean a specific group of songs in a certain order. As it is, I don’t…
It could be the dance moves, or the tight pants, or the man-of-the-people lyrics. It could be that video with Courteney Cox in it. Whatever it is, people — ordinary, otherwise law-abiding people — cannot resist rushing the stage at Bruce Springsteen concerts. It’s a phenomenon that’s led journalist and…
Musician and professional surfer Donavon Frankenreiter has been all over the world and seen his share of big waves. Still, he marvels at the daredevils who routinely tackle giant waves, including an estimated 100-footer recently surfed in Portugal. “It’s unbelievable what some of these guys do,” he says by phone…
“Free at Dawn,” the opening song of Small Black’s second full-length album, is the sound of a band reclaiming itself at the start of a new day. Gone is much of what characterized the band’s eponymous 2008 EP and 2010 debut album New Chain — the chill synths and preset…
Last night’s sold out Fall Out Boy show was full of girls singing their hearts out to the band’s hit songs. Some fans arrived early to get a coveted spot near the stage, extending the line to the Mill Avenue bridge. I overheard a guy say that Fall Out Boy…
After an unpleasantly long stretch on the rumor mill–even by Apple standards–complicated by a hard-bargaining Sony Music, iTunes Radio finally exists. For the most part, the rumor mill got it right: It’s a lot like Pandora, it has text and audio ads (which feel strange on an Apple product), and…
When rapper Rick Ross proudly proclaimed to having the detestable ability of slipping psychedelic stimulants into the drinks of unsuspecting ladies, he did more than upset a few women activists and anti-sexism organizations. Shoe giant Reebok dropped Ross as a spokesperson in April, and local grassroots movement Artistic Reason AZ…
Future Loves Past has been a local favorite since getting together in 2010, but 2013 could be their most important year yet: They’ve just announced a full-length album (already recorded at Flying Blanket Studios) due out this fall on Common Wall Media. In the meantime, we’ve got a song from…
MC Magic has been writing a column for us for a few months now, but anyone who follows Arizona’s reigning slow-jam king on Twitter or Facebook knows that he’s into keeping in touch with his fans. With that in mind–and because Ann Landers and Dear Abby just don’t know you…
We all have bands that defined our youth–that made us love music, that maybe even introduced us to a new feeling that we didn’t know existed. Whether it’s the psychedelic rock of the ’60s, punk of the ’70s, thrash of the ’80s, or grunge of the ’90s, every generation has…
