Rob Kwik has a whole lotta reasons to be celebrating on Friday, April 4. The ultra-ill turntablist is commemorating not only his 29th birthday but also the release of his latest remix CD, and the ninth anniversary of the Dirt Assasinz Crew — the eight-member DJ collective that’s been rocking…
Metal-core band Bullet for My Valentine takes the best of British heavy metal (tap-frenzy twin guitar harmonies, rapid-fire rhythms) and combines it with the worst of American emo (harmonic choruses that border on whininess). But we’ll forgive them because: 1) they’re British; 2) they don’t wear girls’ jeans; and 3)…
It has to be said: The AZ music scene suffers from a severe lack of spookiness. Perhaps it’s the overabundance of sunshine or scarcity of graveyards, but in the greater Phoenix metro area, it’s hard to get rocked in that “this music could very well be sucking the blood from…
Watching Hiroshima perform is akin to witnessing two cultures come together through music. Formed almost 30 years ago by saxophonist Dan Kuramoto and master koto player June Kuramoto, the six-piece band bridges the gap between traditional Japanese music and modern jazz by incorporating sounds from both cultures, resulting in a…
It’s fitting that Muppet Show creator Jim Henson based his Dr. Teeth character on pianist Dr. John, who has served as unofficial mascot-ambassador for the city of New Orleans and its indigenous musical forms for a good 50 years now, arguably filling the shoes of none other than Louis Armstrong…
New Times: Is there anything else you want to add?
Cris Kirkwood: Hail Satan.
Believe it or not, there are a handful of excellent indie record labels in the great state of Arizona, boasting rosters with some of our finest local artists and some hot underground national acts, as well. This week, we’d like to give a shout-out to Modern Art Records.
If you listen to frontman/bandleader Justin Sullivan tell it, it’s a surprise that New Model Army is still around at all. Formed in 1980 with the intention of playing just two pub gigs in the band’s hometown of Bradford, England, NMA is still heralded today for its politically engaging lyrics and the passionate fury underlying its acoustic guitar-based attack.
Happy April Fool’s Day! In this spirit of this stupid unofficial holiday, we thought we’d take a look at some of the biggest dupes in music, both local and national, as well as some strange things that are actually true. Can you tell urban music legend from bizarre fact?
The Phoenix Film Festival kicks off on Thursday, April 3, at Harkins Scottsdale 101 (7000 E. Mayo Boulevard). In addition to a wide variety of films from both local and national filmmakers, the festival plays host to some of the coolest music acts in the Valley.
This weekend music fans had no trouble finding ear candy.
This year more than ever before, the festival sought to showcase local bands making the event truly reflective of Tempe. Inviting a few legendary hometown heroes to play didn’t hurt either. The most exciting headliner was, of course, the long awaited return of the Meat Puppets. Though they haven’t played here for well over a decade the Meat Puppets did nothing less than awe the crowd.
Fagenson took time out before the concert to reveal his thoughts on playing Tempe Music Festival and his appreciation for Phoenician ladies.
The Black Keys announced their presence at The Marquee on Friday with a flurry of feedback and a crashing wave of pounding drums. There was no chit-chat or pleasantries from the two man band before they began their musical onslaught. They just took their places and banged out their own extra heavy, fuzzed-out version of the blues.
Bob Schneider is a respected singer-songwriter from Austin, Texas, a prolific road warrior who’s managed to release 20 albums in 16 years (eight as a solo artist, and 12 with various bands and side projects like Ugly Americans and The Scabs). His latest record, When Sun Breaks Down on the Moon (Shokorama), continues to establish his mastery of his craft through a rough-and-ready rock/Americana sound that incorporates musical elements from a wide range of genres. (The song “Slower Dear,” for example, tells the story of someone waiting for a loved one to come back from the war through the eyes of a forlorn grocery shopper, and includes steel drums and horns that give the song a melancholy calypso-jazz feel.)
THURSDAY 27 Axis/Radius: Divine Ladies Night (Top 40, dance) Blooze Bar: DJ El Dedo (rockabilly) Bobby C’s: Willy B. (old-school R&B) Bunkhouse: DJ Doom (dance) Casey Jones: Da Gutter Thursdays with DJ Soulman (hip-hop, Top 40) Cherry Lounge: DJ M2 (rock, ’80s, old school, hip-hop) Club Red: The Blunt Club with Ervin Arana, Pickster Uno, DJ…
It seemed every hipster-artist type with a little extra cash was heading to “SMoCA Nights: Drive” on Thursday, March 20. The car-inspired theme was arguably the best we’ve seen from the think tank responsible for these seasonal parties, and the accompanying lowrider car show was just the right touch to…
Source of pride for living in Mesa, AZ: Google “woman offers sex for gas,” and your hometown comes up on the first nine hits. Source of shame for living in Mesa, AZ: Read those nine stories and see the unappetizing mug shot that sadly illustrates how it was the woman…
If you listen to frontman/bandleader Justin Sullivan tell it, it’s a surprise that New Model Army is still around at all. Formed in 1980 with the intention of playing just two pub gigs in the band’s hometown of Bradford, England, NMA is still heralded today for its politically engaging lyrics…
Now in its sixth year, the Tempe Music Festival brings an annual spotlight to town. As always, the headliners are national acts, meant to draw in a crowd of people who probably have little interest in local music and are far more likely to see a show at the Dodge…
It’s Friday and it’s raining — as if we live in the grungy Emerald City of Seattle. Naturally, I throw on my flannel, itching for a drink when I receive a text from my buddy Guano (really, he goes by Guano). It reads, “I’m done with work pay day wanna…
Some people believe that chakra, a Sanskrit word meaning “circle,” refers to an energy center, a place where the physical body and the “mind” meet as one, where things like aural sensations become visceral stimulations in certain parts of our bodies. If that all sounds like a bunch of seduce-you-spiel,…
