So this one time, my college roommate was gonna buy this album. It came in two formats: CD and MP3. The CD version was a few bucks cheaper. I argued with my roommate that a CD was a better deal because you also got a physical copy of something, but…
Six years is a long time for a musician to be absent from the field. Unless you’ve reach “legendary” status, making a comeback after such a long period of dormancy is nearly impossible. With that said, Justin Timberlake’s last album, FutureSex/ LoveSounds, is one of the greatest R&B albums of…
Our sister paper, the Village Voice’s annual Pazz & Jop music critic’s poll is live, and the results are in: Frank Ocean’s neo-neo-soul record channel ORANGE is the album of the year, and Carly Rae Jepsen’s infectious (and impossible to escape) “Call Me Maybe” is the single of the year…
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…
We once asked local turntablism guru Logan Howard to approximate how many gigs he’s performed over the course of his 16-year stint as DJ Element. While he wasn’t able to answer the question exactly — which you can’t fault him for, considering the staggering length of his career — but…
Following up last year’s New Times Soundcheck, a two-day festival at Club Red in Tempe — which featured performances by The Love Me Nots, Sugar Thieves, 2 Tone Lizard Kings, Jason Devore, Skky Brown, The Insects, Crusher Sound System, and more — was a serious task. See also: -The Love…
Once a week, Up on the Sun features a new comic strip from punk rocker, cartoonist, and full-time dad Brad Dwyer. See the New Times print edition to check out the strip in glorious, inky newsprint each Thursday…
For the past 14 years, Las Vegas’ Punk Rock Bowling and Music Festival has featured some of the biggest names in punk music. Previous lineups mostly comprised Warped Tour veterans that were big in the ’90s — think NOFX, Rancid, Good Riddance, etc. The festival combines that nostalgia factor with…
Although he’s only been working the local DJ circuit for around four years, Tonic Kemestry has had more than his fair share of memorable experiences. The 25-year-old has performed at numerous underground dance affairs, gotten throngs of teenyboppers shaking their groove things with his EDM mixes, and has even had…
Stretch your sea legs and sharpen those soul patches: Sugar Ray’s Mark McGrath is hosting the biggest 90’s radio rock revival of all time upon the warm waves of the Atlantic, and even from here I can smell the salty goodness of Clinton-era prosperity. See also: Should We Feel Bad…
David Tyda Tyda is the owner of EATERAZ.com, Arizona BBQ Festival and Arizona Taco Festival. He invites you to Flavors of the West Sunday, Feburary 17. For more information, go here. When you put your key in the ignition and turn on the radio, what station would play right now?…
Carrie Brownstein had a pretty awesome 2012. Her band Wild Flag mounted a successful tour, her IFC comedy series Portlandia won a Peabody and got renewed for a third season, and her voice just appeared in an episode of The Simpsons. We caught up with the Seattle-born multi-hyphenate to chat…
Editor’s note: In early 2012, our sister paper the Village Voice ran writer Steven Thrasher’s interview with Kronos Quartet violinist David Harrington about the influence of composer Philip Glass. In anticipation of the Quartet’s two-night stand at the Musical Instrument Museum, here is that conversation. In addition to several collaborations…
In his blustery way, Phil Anselmo has embodied everything that is right and wrong with the heavy metal lifestyle. Fronting the legendary Pantera, he raised the bar with one timeless album after another. In Down, he combined soul and sludge. With Superjoint Ritual, he brought forth a mix of hardcore…
We’re only a week and a half into 2013, but Dry River Yacht Club is already having a great year so far. These gypsy rockers were one of the five artists added to the River Jones Music Label on New Years Day. The big news doesn’t end there, the band…
Were you looking forward to seeing what West Coast G-funk pioneer Warren G on Thursday, February 10? Looking forward to seeing if he could bring that old hutzpah to classics like “Regulate” and the curiously titled “Party We Will Throw Now?” Well, we were — we crowned the guy king…
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…
Local record label 80/20 has been on a roll lately. The label signed Future Loves Past, PALMS, and Captain Squeegee last month, and announced the acquisition of local electro fuzz poppers Zero Zero yesterday. Zero Zero, like the other three bands, is set to release a new album this year…
And so it begins. Now that the all the decorations have been put away into the attic and holiday season is firmly in the rearview, so ends a relatively dead period in the local concert calendar. As the days grow longer and the temperatures begin to climb, big shows and…
Once a week, Up on the Sun features a new comic strip from punk rocker, cartoonist, and full-time dad Brad Dwyer. See the New Times print edition to check out the strip in glorious, inky newsprint each Thursday…
High-energy hip-hoppers Weird Is the New Cool and Latin-reggae-punk rockers Fayuca wasted no time in hitting the road to begin their 2013 campaign. Mere days after the new year dawned, the two local acts launched their Spark the Flame Tour on Thursday, January 3, and paid a little visit to…
Corey Eaton is a fairly straightforward guy. He doesn’t rock a clever or overly pretentious DJ moniker and tends not to put on any airs about himself or his chosen profession. The 35-year-old — who maintains weekly residencies at several of the Valley’s Dos Gringos locations, as well as Fat…
