The Swedes have exported another boundary pushing, groove enticing, electronic music artist. This time, they’ve dug deeper and are making waves with the melancholic sounds of Magnus Johansson, who is known to the EDM world as Bam Spacey.
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Alicia Velasquez did not settle for a conventional life. Growing up in a traditional Mexican family in east L.A., she knew she wanted to sing at an early age. She eventually formed the influential and legendary band The Bags, a female fronted punk band from the West Coast punk revolution of 1977. Punk rockers are known for burning out but Velasquez made it out just fine. She describes her tumultuous and incredible life story in her book “Violence Girl: East L.A. Rage to Hollywood Stage, a Chicana Punk Story.”
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If you’ve ever wondered what the Phoenix hip-hop scene had to offer, now’s your chance to fully immerse yourself. Earsweat Records has released a compilation album highlighting 14 of its artists. Earsweat Drops is filled with MCs that are both talented and ingenious. Each track on the album brings a new whirlwind of fresh beats and a different personality. Each artist comes with his own story and leaves the listener wanting more.
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There aren’t enough single word band names. Suckers is a fabulous band name, and they’ve got the musical chops to back it up. Their sophomore album Candy Salad is a nice sit-down-and-occasionally-dance party album.
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It has been a year since Suckers toured nationally, but now they’re ready to get back on the road with their fun, inventive and trippy sophomore album, Candy Salad. Band mates Austin Fisher, Quinn Walker, and Pan grew up in the Connecticut suburbs and not far from each other. These days they make music in the one and only Brooklyn.
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The Black Keys will extend their worldwide tour in support of El Camino with the addition of U.S. dates in October including the Staples Center in Los Angeles, the famed Santa Barbara Bowl and US Airways Center in Phoenix. The Phoenix show will be October 9. Tegan and Sara will open the 8 p.m. show. Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. on Friday, May 18. The first leg of the tour included sold-out shows at Chicago’s United Center, DC’s Verizon Center and two nights at New York’s Madison Square Garden.
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It’s tempting to call The Donkeys a surf-rock band, but that would be selling them short. The San Diego-based group is as fun as you might imagine, if not more. Their music is smooth and laidback, but you never know what to expect with The Donkeys. Even trying to find out more about them is hard. You’re bound to find strange things if you type in their name into a search engine (there’s a very sad looking children’s book entitled “The Donkey That No One Could Ride”) but they’re definitely worth looking into.
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Smile is a project that belongs to Björn Yttling from Peter Bjorn & John and Joakim Åhlund from Teddybears. If you happen to be a fan of their previous work, there is a strong possibility you’ll love Smile. Listening to A Flash in the Night makes you want to go out and make a short film just so you can make it the soundtrack. In fact, it’s hard not to visualize cinematic scenes that would fall in line perfectly with the tracks.
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Emily Wells is a very passionate and very talented woman. A powerhouse all on her own, she plays keyboards, violin, drums, cello and even directed her own music video. While being onstage is easy and rewarding for Wells, touring certainly isn’t. Traveling in a crammed hatchback without AC, her 60-pound pit bull, who acts as her body guard, rides shotgun as they battle the heat. It’s all worth it for Wells once she’s on the stage and sharing her music with an attentive crowd.
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George Sarah made a name for himself composing music for television and film, but when he found himself wanting more he got to work. Who Sleep the Sleep of Peace is the result of his labors. A mix of electronic and classical sounds, Sarah’s solo album is complex and heartfelt.
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So this is what Sydney has to offer? Well, it looks like Royal Headache is a pretty good time. It’s not their Australian charm and quirky names (Shogun, Shorty, Law and Joe). It’s that new band sound, y’know? Only new bands with debut albums can produce such a sense of urgency in their music – one that fills you with a twinge of anxiety but mostly makes you want to dance. It’s no surprise the band has a background in punk. Their songs are fast, fearless and concise.
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With Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich at the helm, Brooklyn's Here We Go Magic have basically turned in the album that the former band should have made immediately following In Rainbows. Not that Here We Go Magic would have necessarily needed Godrich's help, per se, because the vast majority of songs to be found on the record reach the pinnacle of A-list indie rock material, twisting their way inside your head and staying there giddily. The album is a tunefully, poppy affair, clearly influenced by '70s Krautrock, with a completely layered sound that invites you to peel away at it go get to its carefully structured secrets.
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It’s hard to believe the California rock band Thrice has been together for over 13 years. They’ve created eight albums and tirelessly toured the world together.Singer and guitarist Dustin Kensrue released a statement in November, shortly after the release of Major/Minor, breaking the news that the band would be going on an indefinite hiatus.
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Norah Jones’s album Little Broken Hearts is clearly about heartbreak, but it’s also so much more. It’s a wonderful album with plenty of truly great songs that you wouldn’t know are themed unless you listened closely.
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Since he teamed up in 2001 with the Fabulous Superlatives – guitarist Kenny Vaughan, drummer Harry Stinson, bassist Paul Martin – Marty Stuart has been making the best music of his career, even if the onetime "Hillbilly Rock" champion is no longer having hits as he did in the '90s. He continues on that roll here.
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If you like your music full of bass and with a heavy dose of that shredded dubstep sound, look no further thanDirtyloud.The electro-house project was formed by Brazilian duo Marcus Campos and Eduardo Nascimento in 2008 and catapulted to stardom in a few short years.
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I understand what the album is meant to be and I know it’s good. I just wouldn’t recommend it. Dr. Dee is a 48-minute story about the life of John Dee, a mathematician, alchemist, philosopher and advisor to Elizabeth I. If that description didn’t make you yawn, taking Dr. Dee for a spin might do the trick.
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Not a lot of rappers can say they're feuding mercilessly with critical darlings Odd Future, modeling for fashion lines, or collaborating with Chris Brown, Taylor Swift, and Morgan Freeman, all at about the same time. That's B.o.B.'s job.
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This has got to drive an artist nuts. Martin Zellar has done a lot of stellar work, first with the Gear Daddies and later on his own, but the Minnesotan's best-known song is probably the novelty "I Wanna Drive the Zamboni," which was originally just a hidden throwaway on a Gear Daddies album.
You won't find anything so lighthearted on Roosters Crow, Zellar's first album in 10 years.
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Deer Tick is known for its rambunctious music, crazy antics and lively performances. Like most bands these days, they’re either riding a crammed tour bus and playing shows, or working in recording studios on new material. It’s a vicious cycle but they seem to thrive in it. As mere observers, we can’t complain, but just how does a band keep up such a high energy lifestyle?
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Say Anything’s Max Bemis is a straightforward, no nonsense kind of man who tells it like it is. In his songs, he opens up about his relationships and past demons. He has also waged war against pretentious hipsters with his song “Admit It!!!" from the 2004 album …Is A Real Boy. Almost a decade later, Say Anything is working with the same producer and rekindling that war on the band’s latest album, Anarchy, My Dear.
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Long Wong’s at the Firehouse is perhaps the most passion-driven bar and venue in Tempe, and the local bands who have embraced it as their home are its driving force. A rebuilt firehouse, this particular Long Wong’s recently celebrated its two-year anniversary. Slowly but surely, it has moved out of the shadow of Tempe’s previous Long Wong’s on Mill Avenue, but still carries on the tradition of fostering local music. “When it first opened we had a smaller number of bands and we’ve just been expanding – more people have been coming in, more bands, different scenes,” said Kalen Lander, a bartender who graces the Long Wong’s stage with his psychedelic hip-hop band TKLB. “We’re trying to encapsulate all the scenes from around the Valley.”
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With his penchant for slowly plucked banjo, his earnest, understated singing, and his uneasy, often grim lyrics, Justin Ringle sometimes impinges on Bonnie "Prince" Billy's weird, old Americana territory. But Ringle's Horse Feathers comes with strings attached: The Portland band is at its best when it contrasts his stark songs with luxurious orchestrations, and that happens often on Cynic's New Year, Horse Feathers' fourth album.
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If Sweden’s school system and dark days are to credit for EDM geniuses like Avicii, Alesso, Swedish House Mafia, and Dada Life among many, many others, then for that we are thankful, because with the rise of electronic music came a surge of talent from the land that supplies us with affordable, flat-packed furniture. And, among the most famous is Dahlbäck himself.
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If you mixed gospel choir, R&B, harps and a bit of existentialism you would get something similar to Active Child. Singer Pat Grossi is a perfectionist, creating music that must be heard to comprehend. As a young man, Grossi was a choir boy and learned his chops by singing in church. Fifteen years later, he is headlining a US tour after supporting M83 and figuring out his taxes.
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Diamond Rugs’ self-titled debut album is dirty. It clearly hasn’t showered in days and is covered in filth. If this album had a scent, it would be stale beer, bourbon and cheap perfume. Diamond Rugs is an indie super group made up of John McCauley (Deer Tick), Robbie Crowell (Deer Tick), Ian Saint Pé (The Black Lips), Steve Berlin (Los Lobos), Hardy Morris (Dead Confederate) and Bryan Dufresne (Six Finger Satellite). This band of misfits came together and created a rather cohesive fun, backyard barbeque album. Crack open a cold one and enjoy the musical debauchery.
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The Dandys sober up (or at least pretend to) for their latest, which isn't necessarily a good thing. One option is to take them at face value, I suppose, and assume that This Machine's restraint and simplicity marks an attempt by the band to get their ducks in order and recapture the punchy pop magic of, say, 2000's Thirteen Tales of Urban Bohemia, a career high that constitutes a better best-of than any actual Dandy Warhols best-of. The Dandy Warhols don't make a very good case that they can function as a minimalist rock unit. Like reformed alcoholics who were more fun when they drank, This Machine is alternately sullen and unconvincingly earnest and inoffensive to a fault.
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When Billy Bragg and Wilco undertook the Mermaid Avenue project, they simply wanted to lead people back to the music of Woody Guthrie. What they actually achieved was so much more – they also helped lead Woody Guthrie back home. Now, almost 14 years after the initial release of Mermaid Avenue, Nonesuch is re-releasing Volumes I and II as part of a set that includes a third volume of previously unreleased songs and "Man in the Sand." The release corresponds with the centennial anniversary of Guthrie's birth and an ever-growing interest in a man whose legacy continues to spread far beyond music.
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Though it may be surprising, the band responsible for Weather Systems began their career in doom-metal. The dramatic piano chords and orchestral backings that make up many of the album's tracks would suggest a genesis in Coldplay-esque balladry – not in grim, atmospheric metal. Nevertheless, that evolution is the one Anathema has taken and that growth has proven to be excellent. With Weather Systems, Anathema haven't given up on their signature beauty.
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If you're the kind of person for whom most albums take too long, Off! is for you. All you need is 16 minutes, and you'll get some of the most highly-charged, old-fashioned, brusque punk rock that money, snot, spit, and a delicious pedigree can earn. Philadelphia expatriate guitarist Dimitri Coats (Burning Brides) joined forces with Circle Jerks founder/Black Flag singer Keith Morris, Steven McDonald of Redd Kross and Mario Rubalcaba of Hot Snakes to form a slippery, hardcore-ish supergroup for a few West Coast shows.
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There is no way an album with ridiculous testosterone-filled jams could ever live up to the infamous legend that is Kenny Powers, but this soundtrack made a valiant effort. These songs are the equivalent of a mix tape made by Powers, so obviously it is a two-disc CD with plenty of his own dialogue. The first disc has amazing jams such as The Black Keys’ “Your Touch” and Ram Jam’s “Black Betty.” is PIt kicks ass and takes names.
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Anna Vivette knows her way around the art world. Born and raised in Chicago, Vivette grew up under the artistic influence of her father, who taught her how to paint, draw, had her classically trained as a violinist, and perhaps more significantly, gave her an appreciation for opera music. Though Vivette dreamed of becoming a singer like the ones that her father would blare, she never pursued it as a child. However, her move to Phoenix 10 years ago spurred a new phase in her artistic career.
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Behind every good song there is an even better story. With this in mind, the Musical Instrument Museum invited five Arizona musicians to sit and share their memories and talents in a living room setting.
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With all the awesome events going down at record stores all over the Valley, we recommend taking a peep at this list of Record Store Day events so you've got the best plan of attack. We recommend keying in on the cupcakes and charity drives in addition to the limited edition vinyl and live performances...
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Banana Gun has a big year ahead. After spending much of 2011 playing shows, the band’s about to head into the studio and board the promotion train. They’re one of the more colorful bands the Valley has to offer, but, oddly enough, none of the members are actually from Arizona. It’s not often a band with a female saxophonist can knock people’s socks off in Phoenix. The band possesses a unique sound that takes from various genres and styles including rock, jazz and blues. Banana Gun bassist Ross Troost couldn’t offer up a genre that they fit in. “I don’t know, it’s just Banana Gun,” he said.
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Sidi Toure, from Mali, plays varieties of traditional African blues akin to his late countryman Ali Farka Toure; they share a musical lineage but not a familial one. On Koima, the guitarist and singer expands his palette: He recorded it in a Bamako studio with a quintet that includes a lead guitarist, bass player, vocalist, calabash player and soukou (violin) player.
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The second release from Philadelphia hip-hop artist Lushlife is one of the strongest albums to come out of the city this decade. The 11 tracks on Plateau Vision feature live instrumentals and a variety of electronic melodies, topped with Lushlife's quick enunciation, aggressive delivery and compelling rhymes.
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Galaktikon is the kind of album that feels so large it could easily fill an arena with an accompanying laser light show. Maybe a planetarium would be a better venue for the galactic sound, as it is space-themed. Oddly enough, it fills a space-rock hole in my heart I never knew I had. Brendon Small is clearly on to something.
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Once fueled by his love of mind-bending drugs and the guttural aplomb of the Velvets and the Stooges, English guitarist/singer/composer Jason Pierce made Spiritualized sound like an airy embrace of punk primitivism. Near-death illnesses toward the end of the 2000s left Pierce with a deep voice and a deeper understanding of human frailty, which gave rise to 2008's Songs in A&E and this year's somewhat happier Sweet Heart Sweet Light.
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For those of you following the ever-growing dubstep scene, emerging party rocker and certified badass Asaf Borger, aka Borgore, is one artist you’ve most certainly come upon. The Israeli-born DJ and producer certainly had a varied musical past. Borgore was classically trained in music theory and as a jazz saxophonist growing up but later pursued a slightly different path and became a beat boxing extraordinaire as well as the drummer for Israeli death metal band Shabira.
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Brendon Small is a man of many talents, known best for his awkward and hilarious cartoons “Home Movies” and “Metalocalypse.” In the “Metalocalypse” world, Small not only writes, directs and acts, but pens the music and tours as the cartoon’s metal band Dethklok.
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The pale and unconventional musician is still at it, 10 years after fans first fell in love with him. This time it’s just his name on the marquee. If Blunderbuss is what White sounds like solo, it makes you wonder why he waited so long to do so. Blunderbuss is mature and thoughtful, which can be a bad thing for impatient listeners. It would be a shame for them to not give it a chance. Any White fan would truly love this album.
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Chicago-based band Maps & Atlases have truly outdone themselves with their sophomore album, Beware and Be Grateful. It’s well produced and there are infinite layers and multiple vocal tracks, but they come through crystal clear and perfectly balanced. Dave Davison’s voice is easy to fall head-over-heels for. It can kill a bear and build a log cabin. In fact, without knowing what singer Dave Davison actually looks like, I predicted he had an astonishing beard. I was correct. It’s a quality he shares with David Bazan and Sam Beam. They have robust, hairy voices and have the talent to back it up.
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In 1973, Chris Difford, Glenn Tilbrook, Jools Holland, Harry Kakouli and Paul Gunn formed a rag-tag band called Squeeze that found a place in the English new wave scene.
They recorded their debut EP with Velvet Underground’s John Cale, which was a strong start to a legendary career.
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Patrick Wimberly was clearly sleepy and on the road when he chatted and yawned on the phone with College Times. The other half of his band, Caroline Polachek, was driving on a rather bumpy road, somewhere outside of Montreal, burning fuel and getting used to their tour.
Chairlift is scheduled to play the Crescent Ballroom on April 14 at 8:30 p.m.
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When “The Voice” returned to NBC last month, vocal coach Blake Shelton was not around. The country superstar, whose latest album is Red River Blue, was knee deep on his new tour, “Well Lit & Amplified,” with supporting acts Dia Frampton of “The Voice” and Justin Moore. But fans of the country superstar didn’t need to worry. The first several weeks of the second season of “The Voice,” which began February 5 after the Super Bowl, were already taped, which allowed Shelton to tour and return to “The Voice” in time for the live rounds. Although Shelton will take a brief break to perform Saturday at Country Thunder.
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Choosing to be a musician in 2012 is not exactly a solid career choice. Record labels are no longer what they use to be and the once-seductive fantasy of a rock star lifestyle is gone. Bands have to take their art into their own hands and Former Friends of Young Americans know that all too well. Phoenixlocals and dedicated musicians, FFYA will officially release their album estas diluculo this week although it has been available online since November. Their career is anything but typical and their timeline is all their own.
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The Phoenix natives in Former Friends of Young Americans have created a thought out, organized album. While it is not exactly a concept album, estas diluculo sounds different from the get-go. Dreamy, experimental tracks easily blend together. It is easy to lose track of where you are on the album, but it becomes fun not to notice. The album opens with the industrial sounding track “Loneliness” and works its way from there.
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Keller Williams is a rambling man with a new project always on the horizon. The multi-talented musician has tinkered with nearly every music genre from bluegrass to reggae, techno and even a children’s album. The one-man band never stays put for long and is known for indulging his musical desires. Williams has put 17 albums under his belt since 1994 and says there are more still on the way.
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Ladylike’s debut self-titled album is a burst of high energy and an explosion of sound. The group certainly reflects well on the Phoenix scene as a whole, proving that we are a city to be reckoned with. The opening track, “Leave the Boy Alone,” makes a huge effect and sets the tone for the larger-than-life album. Each song is layered and has a giant, cinematic quality to it. The song progressions are bold and unpredictable but transition eloquently. A massively layered production, each track keeps you on your toes.
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Breaking into the music business has never been harder for artists. The music industry is experiencing a huge shake up and it has to do largely with the way music is consumed. Grannis didn’t have to mail out her demo to a dozen labels and cross her fingers. She didn’t have to play in coffee shops and wait for years for a record label to notice her. She simply filmed herself, uploaded her music onto YouTube and things fell into place.
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The word “indie” seems to mean a number of things, depending on who you ask. It’s a word that gets tossed around quite a bit, but The Boxer Rebellion is truly an indie band. They are independent by choice, free from record label executives and solely responsible for their careers. The London-based band released its third full-length album The Cold Still last year and is starting a North American tour in Arizona this week. Drummer Piers Hewitt chatted with College Times from London, where the band members recently rented out an underground space they have “experimentally” transformed into a studio.
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Trunk Space co-owners Stephanie Carrico and JRC have truly seen it all. As their catch-all venue’s eighth birthday approaches and about 1,800 shows have passed, we asked them some of their personal highlights. Their collective trip down memory lane proves why the Trunk Space is truly one of a kind. “One thing I love most about Trunk Space is that we're not just about doing one thing,” JRC said. “We're not just about fine art, or rock shows, or folk music, or noise, or outsidertheatre. Our mission and joy is to present the acts other places overlook, and give local performers a place to perfect their craft.”
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Erika Wennerstrom is a soulful woman. She’s the voice of Heartless Bastards and each of their songs have her heart on the line. An Ohio native, Wennerstrom moved to Texas for a fresh start after ending a nine-year relationship. Now closer to her family and her management company in Austin, she is better than ever.
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We’ve got a fever, and the only prescription is more drummers. Luckily, the double-drummer sensation White Rabbits is touring in support of its latest album, Milk Famous, a strong follow up to the band’s sophomore hit It’s Frightening. Singer Stephen Patterson told College Times how White Rabbits’ newest album fills him with pride.
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AU is a fascinating band with a giant sound. Both Lights is the band’s third album, and it certainly does not disappoint. Listening to it feels like trying stove-top Jiffy Pop for the first time. You’re not sure if you’re doing it right, it’s a little frightening, there’s a lot of noise, but your instinct tells you shake it all up.
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Kick off your pants and put on your longest robe, The Polyphonic Spree is coming to town. The massive 21-piece band (including choir members) is hitting the road for the first time since 2007. The Me + You tour will hit intimate venues across the country, allowing the band to get back to their roots and be closer to their fans. Each show will no doubt be an interesting challenge for everyone involved.
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Twenty years ago, when Madonna was at the top of her game, she published her provocative art book “Sex.” Decades later, the now-53-year-old confirms, for better or for worse — OK, worse — that Madge of the Dance Floor is nothing if not consistent. On her 12th studio album, MDNA, she follows the advice she laid out at her peak.
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From the outside looking in, Rocky Votolato has a pretty sweet life. He has a loving wife, beautiful kids and an adorable Boston terrier that looks like he attracts mischief. His latest album, Television of Saints proves this theory even further.It feels as if he’s not only writing for his fans but thoughtfully leaving a legacy for his children to remember him by.
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Quality over quantity is definitely true when it comes to Good Old War. A three-piece band from Pennsylvania, Good Old War manages the sound of a much larger band. Each member takes on multiple roles in the band and they all sing. Despite being on the minimal side, Good Old War’s sound is anything but humble. Their latest album, Come Back as Rain, proves how three skilled musicians can create endearing songs that feel truly heartfelt.
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French Tucson transplant Marianne Dissard is a pro when it comes to traveling the world and keeping busy. Last year, she was touring for nine months in just about every country but Canada and the US. The talented signer is currently finishing four albums, has plenty of other recordings in the works, is about to embark on another European tour and recently launched a Tucson music label called Tucson Music Factory.
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The White Stripes were big fat liars when it came to being related, but The Belle Brigade is the real deal. An actual brother and sister duo, Barbara Gruska and Ethan Gruska work together seamlessly to create pop-folk songs that are sometimes introspective and gloomy but mostly uplifting and positive.
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In 2009, Miike Snow’s song "Animal" was a huge hit. It seems to be playing everywhere and certainly piqued the interest of many. It has been three years since the Swedish American band put out its self-titled debut album. It seems to be the necessary time to avoid a sophomore slump. While this album isn’t as straightforward pop, there is no reason to dismiss it. The dance-synth-pop trio does not disappoint with Happy to You.
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There are few activities that are as fun as listening to a new Mars Volta album for the first time. Fans might have their own technique or rituals, and while for past albums it might have made a difference, there is no need this time. Noctourniquet, their sixth studio album,is surprisingly easy to listen to no matter where you are and what mood you happen to be in.
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Take their anonymous, mercenary name literally. As a noise band, The Men came out of nowhere last year (well, Brooklyn) with the swiped Ramones title "Leave Home"; it kind of dragged. This time, they steal from Madonna and sound a lot closer to the Ramones.
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There are some bands that give you what you expect at a live show. Not Radiohead. We pre-perused the blogosphere and noticed they've switched up set lists nightly, and while Thursdays show at Jobing.com Arena pulled heavily from King of Limbs there were still a few pleasant surprises. And dancing. Lots and lots of "Lotus"-style dancing.
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Mrs. Magician is an odd name for a group of four male musicians from San Diego, so it comes as no surprise that they happen to be pretty odd themselves. Together they are bringing back surf-pop with a side of witty cynicism. Their album Strange Heaven is influenced by The Beach Boys and is insanely upbeat and happy-go-lucky.
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Electric Guest is storming the L.A. scene with its upbeat and catchy songs and have even caught the attention of Danger Mouse, who produced the duo’s debut album, Mondo. Matt Compton and Asa Taccone come from different backgrounds but work together effortlessly to make music that instantly makes audiences want to move.
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You have to hand it to Tyson Illingworth for not settling for mediocrity. At 24 years old the Australian DJ and producer, better known to fans astyDi, has found the kind of international success that most DJs work decades to achieve. But fame and notoriety were not enough for Illingworth, who also elected to pursue a degree at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. This Thursday, Illingworth will be stopping by Smashboxx in Scottsdale to play his set live. College Times chatted about music education, writing and Twitter with the DJ via email as he was en route to London.
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Mrs. Magician has songs that catch you off guard and transport you to an era you never lived in. This era is much cooler than the one you currently live in. This San Diego band bottled beach weather and charm and shook them up. Close your eyes and imagine you’re waxing your surfboard on a sunny beach, eating delicious treats and thinking about the next school dance. The soundtrack to this fantasy life is Strange Heaven.
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WZRD, band and CD, is an alliance of Kid Cudi and one of his earliest producers, multi-instrumentalist Dot da Genius ("Day N' Nite"). Cudi drums, plays guitar and sings. WZRD comes across as something like The Wall – if only 1960s Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd had recorded Roger Waters' ode to dark introspection.
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Conventional training in music doesn’t always guarantee a conventional musician. Martin Stääf, a Swedish-born electronic DJ better known by his stage name, Liquid Stranger, is proof of that. At a young age, Stääf was playing the piano at classical concerts but his intrigue with the strange and unexplored led him down a less traveled path of ambience and dubstep laden beats mixed with electronic dub-reggae sounds.
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Kate Cooper is half of An Horse, a dynamic pop duo from Australia that has toured with the likes of Tegan and Sara, Death Cab for Cutie and Cage the Elephant. In fact, the duo has toured nonstop since leaving its homeland and cushy jobs. You can thank Tegan and Sara for yanking An Horse from the Land of Oz.
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Before LMFAO, there was Andrew WK. He was the go-to guy for pumped up jams that got the party going. It has been 10 years since Andrew WK released his debut album, I Get Wet, which brought us the classic jams "Party Hard," "She Is Beautiful," and "Party Till You Puke." These days Andrew still loves to party, almost as much as he loves Soulja Boy, Taco Bell and feeling uncomfortable. He's stopping by Phoenix on his 10 Years Of Partying tour where he will play I Get Wet in its entirety.
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Like most DJs, Morgan Page's career began with producing. From a young age, he was composing electronic music and garnering attention from local disc jockeys in his hometown of Burlington, Vermont. By the time he was in high school, the young music enthusiast was hosting a radio show at The University of Vermont and went on to work as a DJ and station manager at an Emerson College radio station. It was during his stint in radio that Page was exposed to the vastness the electronic music realm possessed and when, he said, he realized he yearned to explore it further.
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Taylor Momsen's life as the lead singer of The Pretty Reckless is far too chaotic to allow for luxuries such as free time. She juggled a phone interview with College Times while trying to find quarters in her purse to do some last-minute laundry. Momsen was only a few hours away from boarding a flight to Australia, where her band was set to perform for the first time there. Upon their return, she and her band will jump straight back into their next headlining tour.
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Call it patronage, insider politics, Wall Street privilege. In Chicago, they call it the "We don't want nobody that nobody sent" rule. It's given rise to the Occupy movement around the world, a year-long citizens protest against the entitled that up ‘til now really doesn't have a soundtrack. Bruce Springsteen tries earnestly to provide one on his 17th studio album, Wrecking Ball.
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Have no fear; Nedry is here to bridge the gap between dubstep fanatics and the more conservative indie-rock audience. Nedry is a British trio that experiments with its music in ways that sound familiar but aren't repetitive. If The Knife lost its Swedish charm and was raised in a dirty, smoggy corner of London, the end product would sound like Nedry.
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Nu-metal band Korn stopped by Comerica Theatre Thursday, March 1, with support from Valley DJ Sluggo and featuring the debut of Korn vocalist Jonathan Davis's DJ alter ego, J Devil. Although the show wasn't sold out, it was reaffirmed that Korn's exploration into blending dubstep and nu-metal is a tread-ready frontier.
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St. Ranger may be a young band, but it's ahead of the game. A laid back local band with songs ideal for breezy spring break road trips, St. Ranger is taking off. They recently released their debut EP, Life Coach, through The Color Group, a record label co-run by their guitarist Jeff Taylor. This is the first album The Color Group has released, and according to Taylor it was a bit of a bumpy ride.
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Arizona is steadily climbing the ranks for touring EDM artists, but we need not look much farther than Scottsdale to find such surging talent. The Valley's own Matt Brough, known to the club world as DJSoloman, is an industry veteran with nearly 20 years of experience under his belt. He was recently named the 2012 Nightclub & Bar Awards ‘Resident DJ of the Year' for his residency at Scottsdale nightclub Axis Radius.
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If you cut Brian Lopez, the man would bleed Tucson. Tucson is in his heart and it's in his music, which is a mix of English and Spanish lyrics with Latin influences and heartfelt crooning vocals. A cultured and savvy musician with plenty of experience in the music industry, Lopez is leaving his former band, Mostly Bears, behind for a solo career. His debut album Ultra will sweep you off your feet and even make you breakfast in bed.
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Since Nora Guthrie opened her father's archives to select artists, we've been treated to several collections of newly unearthed Woody Guthrie lyrics set to new tunes, starting with the two volumes of Billy Bragg and Wilco's Mermaid Avenue. Like that project, New Multitudes is a collaboration, in this case of lead guys associated with alt-country bands.
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Sinead O'Connor has always leaped headfirst into controversy, so, of course, she kicks off her new album How About I Be Me (and You Be You)? with a folkie ode to marriage "4th and Vine." Her recent tabloid exploits – a Las Vegas wedding in December for an on-again, off-again marriage (currently on) and an apparent suicide attempt – distract from what is a stunning return to form. "Old Lady" reminds us that she still rocks, while the stream-of-consciousness folk of "Queen of Denmark" reveals her sly humor still intact.
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The opening of fun.'s Some Nights is so brazenly ambitious you can't help but expect the New York trio to eventually fall flat on their faces. Spoiler alert: They don't. "Some Nights Intro" starts with Nate Ruess' distinctive voice and a simple piano line that builds into operatic grandeur, calling to mind both Queen and Rufus Wainwright as the former Format front man declares, "Tea parties and Twitter, I've never been so bitter."
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Dion DiMucci is no stranger to the blues. The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, now 72, cut some blues tracks in the '60s for Columbia. In recent years he has come full circle: His previous two albums, Bronx in Blue and Son of Skip James, consisted of interpretations of blues songs – acoustic and uniformly excellent. Tank Full of Blues flips things around. All but two numbers are originals, and it is a full-band recording: guitars, bass, drums.
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It's almost March and that means only two things to college kids: spring break and SXSW. Last week, College Times caught up with Echo Cloud Production's plans to bring nearly a dozen Valley bands to Austin for an unofficial SXSW showcase at Hole in the Wall. This week, we chatted with River Jones about River Jones Music Label's partnership with Austin's Deadbird Records and two unofficial SXSW showcases featuring three Valley-based RJM artists: SteffKoeppen and the Articles, You Me and Apollo and Sareena Dominguez.
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For a prolific artist who has achieved worldwide fame in just a few years, Andre Tegeler is a pretty down-to-earth guy. The German EDM artist — better known by his DJ and producer moniker, Moguai — is easy to talk to and very humble about his accomplishments but, despite his modesty, the man has a lot to boast. Last year was a big one for Tegeler and he is poised to have an even better 2012. Tegeler joined forces in 2011 with some of the top DJs in the industry when he signed under Deadmau5 imprint, Mau5trap.
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Cursive's done it again – made a concept album. Again. Their latest, I Am Gemini begins with a reunion of two twin brothers who were separated at birth. The twins, Cassius and Pollock, sometimes appear to be the same person upon closer inspection of the lyrics, which are presented as dialog in the liner notes. Regardless, the formerly conjoined twins exist as the respective epitomes of good and evil and their reconciliation is the classic clash of those entities. The final product is theatric and much more than an album. I Am Gemini has some of the heaviest work from Cursive in a while.
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Lots of young country singers invoke the old greats of the genre, as if that gives them instant credibility. Kellie Pickler boldly gets right to it with the first song of her third album, "Where's Tammy Wynette." In this case, however, Pickler earns the right to make such references: From start to finish, she thoroughly lives up to the best of the music's traditions.
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Realizing their tunes weren't cutting it against the market-cornering Arcade Fire, the Twilight Sad stop trying to be so loud and emo on their third and most palatable album, recruit Andrew Weatherall for synth consulting, and focus James Graham's powerful, if impenetrable, Scottish brogue on nuances like being sexy.
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Visions relishes dichotomies. It's the third album in two years from Grimes, the electronic pop project of Montreal's Claire Boucher. On the one hand, it's an insular, homemade-sounding set built on looped beats, washes of synthesizers, and pizzicato melodies. On the other, it brings to mind top-40 pop from more than a decade ago, as Boucher sings in cooing tones as if trying to channel and then deconstruct Destiny's Child and TLC.
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Georges Méliès is having quite the comeback. The revolutionary French filmmaker, famed for his dreamily surreal visions of the future, is the prime subject of Martin Scorsese's Golden Globe-winning, Oscar-nominated "Hugo." With that, the hundreds of shorts Méliès shot at the dawn of the 20th century have been screened and scrutinized, none more than 1902's "Le Voyage Dans la Lune" ("A Trip to the Moon"), based on the stories of H.G. Wells and Jules Verne.
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Trance music duo, Dave Reed and Chad Cisneros, came to be known as Tritonal when fate and a common interest brought them together through an online hardware synthesizer forum. "We had been going back and forth discussing and troubleshooting our methods of sound design using this piece of hardware," Reed said in an email interview with College Times. "Through time, we started sharing our productions and realized that the two sounds fused with each other quite well."
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The tough thing about reviewing I Am Gemini is the conflict between focusing on the music and the lyrics. A brief introspection into a track can lead to a five-page paper bearing resemblance to your homework for an English class. We'll tread that tightrope of over-analyzing Cursive's latest concept album for the sake of doing it more justice than harm. So, without further ado, welcome to the gnarliest Cursive album yet by Tim Kasher, Matt Magnin, Ted Stevens, Patrick Mewberry and Cully Symington. I Am Geminiis about the reunion of conjoined twin brothers who were separated at birth.
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The year is 1957. Four guys trying to make it in the music biz head down to the dry bed of the Salt River in search of a water tank that'll work as a makeshift echo chamber. These men — Floyd Ramsey, Jack Miller, Duane Eddy and Lee Hazelwood — spend the day yelling into steel water tanks until they happen upon a 2,000-gallon one with a charming echo. They decide to bring the enormous thing back to Floyd's recording studio in Phoenix, where Jack, an aspiring sound engineer, builds a platform for it.
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Brothers Dan and Justin Hawkins are the heart of UK rock band The Darkness. They've been writing songs together since they were about eight years old. And when the band went on an "indefinite hiatus" in '06, none of us really could have thought any amount of drugs, solo success or bad blood could keep them apart for long. In fact, lead vocalist and guitarist Justin Hawkins said he always predicted the course of the band would go exactly as it has. "I used to say we did a brilliant first album," Justin said. "We'll do an okay second album. We'll split up and then we'll do an amazing reunion and [my accountant] reminded me of that recently."
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VICE and Project X are bringing the second leg of their multi-city Party Legends College Tour and concert series to Tempe, following the first leg of the tour featuring rapper Machine Gun Kelly. The tour includes an exclusive screening of upcoming film Project X (from the producers of The Hangover and Old School), with after party and performances by Pusha T and DJ Jesse Marco.The screening will be held Sunday, February 19. Pusha T's afterparty will follow the screening at the ClubHouse, 1320 E. Broadway Road in Tempe.
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Some songbirds can't weather the kind of acoustic storm Michelle Blades has stirred up on her third album Mariana. There's fragility to Mariana. The devastating "Petite Mort" lives (or dies) up to its name. Snow White's great-great-great descendant could have sung "Walnut City"; the vocals warbling like a nightingale. But, Blades (with the help of Tobie Milford's violin and cellists) finds a way to make her provincial vocal style elegantly aggressive on songs like "La Verite" and "LikeWildflowers."
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Touring with The Dead Weather did some wonders to this trio's psyche. Title track "Sweet Sour" is psychedelic, redundant and shameless. So right out the gate, they hit us with an irresistible throwback. Much of Sweet Sour is punctuated by raids of heavy guitar that toughens up relatively delicate tracks like "Bruises." The album's easy on the ears, but rebels every now and then. "Wanderluster" is one of the more technical songs despite being a little forced and choppy in its time signature.
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Danger Mouse's paws have prodded quite a few collabos over the last decade years, but in the conception of Dot Hacker he can probably only claim more of a marginal role. Those who are familiar with Josh Klinghoffer's collaboration with John Frusciante on A Sphere in the Heart of Silence will immediately recognize the former's androgynous vocals. However, placing his bandmates might be a bit more difficult. The four members of Dot Hacker, Klinghoffer, Clint Walsh, Eric Gardner and Jonathan Hischke, are established musicians with aforementioned ties to the Danger Mouse Club.
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Young the Giant is no stranger to the main stage in last year's festival circuit, which led to a tour with Incubus and a session on "MTV Unplugged." And even with all of the road testing and successful radio play they've seen over the last year and a half, the group's reception has teetered on the extremes. But that doesn't seem to faze guitarist Jacob Tilley, who chatted with College Times while stuck in L.A. traffic about Pitchfork, BBC, Morrissey and whether size really matters — venue size, that is.
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Contemporary music is in a constant state of evolution. The beats change, the tempo may quicken or slow down, even the way that it's recorded has changed drastically over the years. But at the root of it all, despite where it's been and what its doing, you can always find the true origin of a song. Be it bluegrass, classical, jazz or country, music has a past, a present and a future. That is exactly what the Re:Generation Music Project set out to examine.
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It's a fact of life that some of the most talented individuals fall through the cracks while people like Rebecca Black ride a wave of pop glory created by the tectonics of success: financial, networking and geographic advantages. In this universe, the people with the means reach the end. But we may not have to mess with the space-time continuum to return to the days where hard work and talent could yield a successful career in the public eye. And for aspiring emcees, Billy Danze of hip-hop duo M.O.P. is all about kicking down doors of opportunity.
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Common causes are the foundation of a strong community. For 10 Valley bands, that means making the 1,000-mile trek to Austin, Texas, to spread the word about the awesome music Arizona has to offer. The 15½-hour trip, organized by Echo Cloud Productions, coincides with the annual SXSW Festival in Austin. A Mecca for up-and-coming artists, the SXSW Festival seemed like the perfect opportunity to Echo Cloud co-founder Spike Brendle to spread the word about the Phoenix music community.
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You may not know them by name, but you have definitely heard Swanky Tunes. The Russian trio; VadimShpak, Dmitry Burykin and Stanislav Zaytsev, have been blowing up the EDM scene across the world and have recently started to tap into the U.S. market with more vigor.
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Talkdemonic is the brainchild of vintage synthesizer enthusiast Kevin O'Connor. And according to thePortlandnative, it's a musical project best left un-genre-lized. Without genre-fication, Talkdemonic is a music-making duo whose songwriting primarily utilizes drums, synths and a viola. And it is pretty impressive how many different genres the duo can get out of that instrumentation.
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Emilie Autumn is a teatime loving human vortex – a portal between the Victorian era and modernity. At first glance, she's a white-faced, red-lipped pin-up girl for the steampunk movement. At first listen, it's apparent she was a violin virtuoso from a young age, a prodigy who demanded to learn the violin at the age of 4 then to be home-schooled at 10 in order to focus on her musical pursuits.
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It seems like a musician with a sleeved heart would thrive more as a solo artist, but the voice of Circa Survive, Anthony Green, admits he's more collaborative by nature and needs both a band and his solo work for fulfillment. That said, the outspoken (and optimistic) songwriter has quite the year ahead of him, kicking off 2012 with a North American tour in support of Beautiful Things and plans to drop another solo record, Young Legs, after the new Circa Survive album is released later this year. Through the crackles of poor Nashville reception, College Times chatted with Green about boobs, babies and Beautiful Things. Or at least we think we did.
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Zola Jesus, whose given name is Nika Roza Danilova, came onto the scene in 2009 with a sound that is often branded as ‘industrial goth rock.' The 22-year-old artist was raised near the woods of Wisconsin, and is known for finishing both high school and college a year before her peers and for an aggressive pursuit of knowledge apparent from a young age. When she was 7 years old, she decided to train her voice in opera and though she's never felt comfortable performing opera, her unique and classically trained voice is the centerpiece of her solo work.
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Mesa jazz-rock band The Riveras is toned down and subtle on its full-length debut Some People Like Poetry. Drummer Douglas Berry is clearly a jazz guy and singer Jody Lew's violin adds a splash of color to the background of what can only be described right now as rainy day music. Lew is a vocal tease. The lyrics are a bit challenging to decipher through her whispers but this vocal aesthetic is effective in its ability to captivate. The band members work well together. They're polite. Yes, there's definitely something formal going on.
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As the title suggests, this 19-minute EP is all about narrative and truth. Everyone knows the key to a good story is one with an effective ending, even if that means tip-toeing into hyperbolic ranges. Without that, most of life's happenings go unworthy of meriting a second telling and, unfortunately, some of the tracks on the EP could have used a bit more stretching. Alex Casnoff, former piano man for LA bands Dawes and PAPA, adds one more band whose name is a grandparent homage to his resumé. Harriet – a band named after his grandmother – is a little less of a 180 as one may hope.
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The sound of Long Island's Twin Sister exists somewhere between a lucid dream and an acid trip. It's the kind of band that might make you think of neon hues, bubbles, aquariums and art exhibits. This is due to vocalist Andrea Estella's arresting, jazzy voice hovering over electro snap, crackle and pops. In many ways, Twin Sister's work is an invitation via hypnosis to some kind of time-warped dance party. And they're still just pre-gaming. It's been just a little over two years since Twin Sister played its very first gig at a hipster trap in Brooklyn called Superfine.
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ASU's Gammage Theater is an interesting place for a Wilco show. It is also an interesting fit for the openers, White Denim. Frank Lloyd Wright never could have imagined his beautiful design being as versatile as it is today. Here's a look back at the sights, sounds and feelings from the bands' packed show last Saturday night.
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Thrash metal was born in 1981 with the formation of Slayer, Metallica and Anthrax. Anthrax was one of the first East Coast thrash metal bands to come out of the ‘80s and pave the way for all the subgenres of heavy metal we've got today. Although it's had its ups and downs, concerning labels and band members, the group's influence has arguably survived just over 30 years of evolving tumbles. Looking back, vocalist Joey Belladonna, who joined Anthrax in 1984, had never imagined himself fronting a heavy metal band.
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It's a numb world out there, but those who seek catharsis through music will find a nerve-warming tingle in their veins post-listen to Anthony Green's aptly titled sophomore solo release, Beautiful Things. Although the songs come in various forms – from a capella ("Do It Right") to reggae ballads ("When I'm On Pills") – a common theme of self-acceptance and the quest for happiness bleed through most lyrics. Per usual, Green's adolescently lulling voice is cold comfort for the soul and his songwriting doesn't get stuck in any ruts, making the 13-track album an entertaining listen from beginning to end.
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Gothic bluegrass was bound to happen. Or, as the band prefers to say on its Facebook page: "Post-Civil War Hip-Hop." (They'd also have you believe they're inspired by possum hair.) But, that's strangely an appropriate description. The band is as modern as the term roots-y can get without crossing over to annoying fringe genres like "baroque folk." Bones for Tinder is technically Justin Robinson's first solo full-length since leaving the Grammy-winning Carolina Chocolate Drops and it's looking like a win-win situation for everyone. A viola, violin and cello swoop and plunge over Robinson's own autoharp, fiddling and guitar.
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The guys of Austin garage band White Denim know their name is gloriously terrible if not a little misleading. But that's par for the course, given that none of the guys are actually from Austin. Nor have the guys ever really recorded in a garage (their first three records were tracked in drummer Josh Block's Airstream trailer). Their music is a throw back to ‘70s psychedelic rock, though it often colors outside the lines on both the edgier and softer side of the spectrum.
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There's a science to every art; even the gig poster. Almost anyone can design posters if they have the right connections and own a computer. After asking a handful of artists all over America who have designed at least one poster for a Phoenix show, it seems the fine print applies to those who have been able to turn something that was once done out of promotional necessity into a lucrative art form. Emek Golan is perhaps one of the most prolific and recognized contemporary music-related poster artists. Other artists, like Jared Connor, are recognized for projects like his limited edition tour posters for The Mars Volta. While that's all swell, there are still dozens of shows in PHX every night rivaling for residents' attention.
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There's a rich, nerdy culture that keeps record stores in business. So for audiophiles and vinyl enthusiasts, seeing a beloved record store close its doors is tough. They hardly ever re-open in the same place twice and generally the new locations never seem as convenient as before. Remember when Hoodlums went "on hiatus" after the Great Memorial Union Fire of 2007? The store's relocation on McClintock Drive – so far away from the college crowd – was such bittersweet news. Thankfully, the store is alive and well, and always worth the drive.
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At 22, Swedish DJ, remixer and producer Avicii has accomplished more in his career than most artists do in a lifetime. The young prodigy, born Tim Berg, emerged in 2008 and churned out a string of club hits, including "Seek Bromance", "Fade Into the Darkness" and his latest chart-topper, "Levels," most recently sampled in Flo Rida's "Good Feeling." Now, riding the success of his hit tracks, the young DJ is using his wide reach to help others.
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The song titles suggest there's something episodic about This Means War. And while metal albums seem to be obsessed with conceptual packages, this one doesn't make any efforts to get overly gimmicky with it. The songs don't follow a story as one may hope, but it's still fair to say this album is a progressive effort for the band. Right out the gate, "The Revolution" commands attention with its semi-cinematic intro. The electronica blend that folks have come to expect from the group is teased at in tracks like "The Hopeless" and "The Confrontation," but has become more subtle overall.
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In the phylum of songwriters, Cass McCombs is a traditional folk artist. However, he appraises and perceives the world with some kind of impartiality that feels completely modern if not a little prophetic at times. It's often mentioned in articles like these that the NoCal native is known for being a vagabond, a recluse and an intellectual. Some may perceive him as a mysterious eccentric who denounces fame and loves word play with a subtle wit requiring multiple exposures to a song. As McCombs sees it, though, anyone's guess is as good as his.
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The musical climate was just as weird as the field of GOP candidates in 2011. The DJ boom and rave craze took the heat off sweater-wearing folk musicians. Not to mention, American black metal artists also infiltrated the masses with their reformed ways. And although it was an unnatural Doppler shift for some of us, there were some great new artists in the studio and out on the road. That said, we hope you aren't discouraged by a Top 10 list full of established musicians.
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Phoenix has a few musical claims to fame but none is more decorated and celebrated than the Phoenician patron of All Hallow's Eve and Christmas pageantry than Alice Cooper. While enjoying a "white Christmas" in Pennsylvania and counting down to the end of a 100-city world tour, the 63-year-old recent Rock and Roll Hall of Fame talked with College Times about his upcoming 11th annual Christmas Pudding concert in Phoenix, which includes talent such as The Tubes and members of Korn, Judas Priest, KISS and Mötley Crüe, plus his son's band Runaway Phoenix featuring Orianthi – the blonde female guitarist of Michael Jackson's "This Is It" fame.
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This week, we feature a bunch of songs off relatively new albums. And suggest some bonus offerings. Consider it our holiday musical treat. --- Firehorse, "Only the Birds", Leah Siegel is, quite simply, a vocal artist. Her debut album And so they ran faster… is morose with only the occasional glimpse of sunny pop, but it doesn't lack for variety in its cohesion. In a damp, sultry voice, Siegel delivers darkly gothic lyrics such as, "Only the birds know what you've done/they feed your secrets to their young." Musically, Firehorse is a hybrid of DannyElfman and jazz. Bonus: "Puppet" and "She is a River"
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Dry River Yacht Club is the kind of band whose brand writes itself – nine individuals playing gypsy rock on old-school instruments. Band members range from classically trained at Doctorate levels to others who are self-taught to late bloomers on their instruments at hand. The frontwoman is the charismatic apron-clad Garnet and there's a bassoon and bass clarinet, French horns and accordions to boot. And yet, despite their quality quirk, the Phoenix band is realizing it takes more than refined raw talent to make it in today's music market.
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Record labels and artists are known for tumultuous relationships that end over power struggles or creative and financial woes. And although you hardly hear of ‘em, there are also plenty of artists and bands that have working relationships with their labels. One such band is San Diego metalcore group As I Lay Dying, which signed to Metal Blade Records in 2003 for its sophomore album. The band has since been nominated for a Grammy (in 2008 for the track "Nothing Left") – although they lost that year to Slayer, a band that also got its bearings with Metal Blade Records.
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Although the group has a rep for its testy front man, trumpet player Vincent DiFiore has a big heart. He recently put to use arranging the song "Federal Funding" for marching bands and distributing the sheet music for free. He took a few minutes to chat with College Times about responding to fan mail, finding a balance between trumpet and electric guitars and how solar powered recording may have affected Showroom for Compassion.
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This is a straight-ahead rock ‘n' roll album, and an excellent one. Last year's Brothers was the Black Keys' breakthrough, garnering the Akron, Ohio, duo its best sales and severalGrammys on the strength of the single "Tighten Up" (not coincidentally the sole track produced by Danger Mouse) and the album's diverse, soulful intensity. For El Camino, the duo's seventh full-length album, guitarist/vocalist Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney decamped to Nashville, brought back Danger Mouse as songwriting partner, keyboard player and producer for the whole record, and dialed up the volume.
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Seventeen years ago, Mary J. Blige let loose with the harrowing My Life. Filled with raw emotions evoked by an abusive relationship and addictions of all kinds – to say nothing of her personal and professional move from pavement to penthouse – My Life set a high bar for all rap/R&B belters. Even Blige couldn't often match My Life's nervously fatalistic yet hopeful soul. Blige's life and sound have famously moved past My Life's messiest business. This second volume's first act (more continuation here than the "Final Destination" film series) is a sequel, a star-stuffed (Drake, Nas, Beyoncé) slice of slick soul, rapid-fire hip-hop, and sappy but solid ballads.
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Kenny Vaughan has been the guitar slinger in Marty Stuart's Fabulous Superlatives for 10 years, and the Colorado native has been an in-demand accompanist since he hit Nashville in the late 1980s. V is Vaughan's first solo album, and it's, well, superlative. A brisk and varied set of originals, it blends impressive instrumental mastery with down-to-earth charm. Backed by the Fabulous Superlatives, including Stuart, Vaughan starts off appropriately with the rollicking honky-tonk of "Country Music Got a Hold on Me." From there, he dives into Western swing
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Like Ke$ha without the Jack Daniel's bottle, Hot Chelle Rae specializes in watered-down party music – its polished summer smash "Tonight Tonight," with the line about dancing on the edge of the Hollywood sign, is as crazy as this Nashville pop-rock quartet gets. Talented people are in this band, beginning with Ryan Follese, who has an effective regular-guy falsetto, but Whatever has the feel of filling studio quotas. "Tonight Tonight" is here, as are such studied reproductions as "I Like It Like That" and "Downtown Girl"; "Beautiful Freaks" is the requisite dance anthem, with the Auto-Tuned "oh oh oh oh oh" chorus and layered synth bursts.
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Fans of Tool, A Perfect Circle and everything Maynard James Keenan expect the impeccable from the Arizona-by-way-of-Ohio rocker. Go to any MJK show and you'll even see folks sporting shirts with his winery's logo on it. He's set a high bar to top and that's a creative challenge he and his artist collective or "solo project" Puscifer seems to be all about. Former APC guitar tech Mat Mitchell, who played guitar, bass, banjo and programmed tracks on the album, talked (and tried not to talk) to College Times about the band's secretive live show (we scooped the show in Atlanta and it's worth the hype 10 times over).
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There is something refreshing about catching a live DJ set and seeing not one, but two hot blondes killing it on stage to some dance-worthy electronic music. No, these girls aren't just the dancers; they are DJ duo Liv and Mim Nervo, better known together as NERVO. They are the newest thing to grace the EDM platform and their DJ career is just getting ready to take off. The Australian-born twin sisters first broke into the scene as fashion models but their love for music soon prevailed. Harmonizing their passion for pop music with their sheer writing talent, the girls felt right at home penning hits for artists such as Ke$ha, Kylie Minogue and the Pussycat Dolls.
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The term "tasty" is thrown around a lot in the music world. There are tasty guitar solos and tasty jams, tasty lineups and tasty venues, and, of course, tasty little tunes. Basically, it's a word used any time music fans want to convey their approval. Rarely in the music business, however, has the term served as a more suitable – and literal – description than in the case of the rock band-top chef collaboration, "The Recipe Project: A Delectable Extravaganza of Food and Music" (Black Balloon, $25. 116 pages).
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Were she willing to tip her hand a little earlier, Rihanna might have considered kicking off her new album, Talk That Talk, with "Watch n' Learn," which appears near the end of the 11-song release and best captures the Barbados-born singer's most prominent obsession. On it, Rihanna, who over the last half-decade has risen to become one of the most successful pop artists in the world, outlines the myriad ways in which she'll have her way with a lover.
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I'll get the gripe about how stupid independent band names are getting these days out of the way now so we can re-introduce this CD review properly. The four-piece outfit from Oakland, California, known as Mwahaha are like the four cardinal directions on a compass in crazy land. In a good way.There is a kind of otherworldliness to the nine sprawling electrodellic tracks on the band's self-titled debut. Maybe it's more appropriate to make this into an analogy: Mwahaha is what Sedona is to Arizona.
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This early into the musical afterlife of Michael Jackson, it's hard to know how to react to something like Immortal. Should we be excited about an officially sanctioned DJ mix/score to the new Cirque du Soleil production of the same name, peppered with odd vocal interludes, weird New Age accents, crazy funk breakdowns and something called "The Mime Segment"? Or should we reserve our enthusiasm for whatever lies in the archive that's rarer and/or more revealing of our fallen superstar, no doubt waiting in the wings for the next prime-time opportunity?
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Daughtry is like a pop-rock homing pigeon. Wherever Chris Daughtry and friends start out in the songs from Break the Spell, either musically or lyrically, they eventually end up in their same dramatic sweet spot, with raised voices and power chords. Every time. It's not a bad formula, and it has its moments, like the wrenching sing-along single "Crawling Back to You" and "Louder Than Ever," the super-shiny throwback to ‘80s Bon Jovi and Loverboy.
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Snorah Jones has met her match in having the most sleep-inducing album on the market. In a sea of albums mastered to the max volume of every track, the delicate imprint of Keith Kenniff (Helios, Mint Julep) will strain your ears into exhaustion. Unless, of course, you're a history buff. Then, I can imagine little bores you. Especially an album that marches back into pre-20th century America with "covers" of old Civil War-era songs like "When the Saints Go Marching In."
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Hart, who's got a thing for Phoenix, chatted with College Times about turning a video game controller into an instrument he plays with his feet and how his musical career evolved from being part of the 11+ ensemble Polyphonic Spree to a one-man band and part of others like The Rosebuds, which opened for a series of Bon Iver shows this past summer.
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Black Friday is only as black as new vinyl for several Valley record stores. The same locally-owned shops that open their doors to hoards of rabid music fans every April as part of Record Store Day will be hard at work again the Friday after Thanksgiving, doling out special releases and items only available at retailers doing it the old-fashioned way, on shelves and racks in-person, just like we like it.
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"Ready to be me/Ready to feel some real changes/If you believe/Then I really can." Those are the lyrics to "Ready To Be Me," a song composed by Sheridan Wheeler, a 13-year-old with autism, whose experiences with neurologic music therapy have changed the way she and her family handle her disorder.
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Given the hard times that have hit the music and publishing industries in recent years, it wasn't so shocking when Magnet, the national indie-rock magazine based in Philadelphia, put out what looked like its final print issue in 2008 and became a Web-only publication. Its sudden return to print this year, however, was a pleasant surprise to subscribers everywhere.
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Don't fear the jazz – unless you're a jazz musician. Chances are, you won't make a living playing old standards for fat cats in Hawaiian shirts. That's where bands like Kneebody come into the scene with players fresh out of their respective conservatories to lead the new generation of jazz by example.
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The days of Johnny Cash and old country are just as over as the melted smiles once displayed in Nashville's Country Music Wax Museum. Enter the new face of country. One that's just a bit more poppy, a la Miranda Lambert or Carrie Underwood, and has traded in small town anthems for chasing the American Dream into big cities.
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Earlier this month, we checked in with Scottsdale Community College film students who planned and shot an abstract music video for Portugal. The Man's song "So American." The band is currently touring Europe, but drummer Jason Sechrist was able to field a few questions about the process via e-mail.
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When you think of the band Cake, you may think sardonic hipsters or you may even find yourself imagining Linzer Tortes, but we're almost sure you don't think about marching band geeks. It certainly would take a peculiar ear to imagine a Cake song ideal for a marching band. However, Cake trumpeter Vincent DiFiore's ears were burning brass after the group finished the lead track on Cake's first release in seven years, Showroom for Compassion.
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Film students at Scottsdale Community College are bringing to light the creative forces of music and cinema through the hippest of art forms: the music video. The program's recent partnership with Atlantic Records and Portugal. The Man, allowed students to work on an alternative video for the band's single "So American." It may seem strange – 33 students at a community college in Scottsdale recording a music video for a band signed to a major label.
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Drake recorded Take Care largely in his own home studio in Toronto instead of New York or LA, offered no advance listens and restricted both his live performances and press – something only rap veterans such as Jay-Z and Kanye West can pull off these days. No matter how popular rap's newest star may be, the move is risky.
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When Will Smith made his acting debut as the smooth-talking Fresh Prince with a heart-of-gold, he continued to build his rap career around that image. Donald Glover, better known as Troy from the TV show "Community," doesn't have that luxury. If he did, he'd be talking about LeVar Burton and spouting off whimsical verses full of the naiveté saturating his Community role.
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The group is a unique force in the Phoenix music scene, – a band of four brothers (the product of a supermodel mom and a multi-million-record selling father) that make music that subtly pulls at the group's roots in South Africa, London and Phoenix with musical prowess that's an homage to everyone from the Beatles and Eminem.
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Moguai recently signed to Deadmau5 imprint Mau5trap and his debut album, We Ar Lyve, became the first non-Deadmau5 record to be released on the label. The success of his first album has brought Moguai worldwide fame and on November 10, the DJ will bring his set to Scottsdale for Spanish Fly's Full Moon party.
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The band, Family Force 5, a group of three brothers and their two long-time friends, released its third (although technically fourth) studio album named, III, and has embarked on the It's All Gold Tour to support it. College Times talked to guitarist Derek Mount, aka Chap Stique, about the FF5s more mature lyrics, touring, stage props, record stores and Christmas.
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Pitted at the front, although coming a little late into the soul revival scene – a term Lewis isn't too fond of – he and his band, Black Joe Lewis and The Honeybears, have opened for Little Richard and Spoon, whose drummer, Jim Eno, produced the band's first LP and most recent, Scandalous, which was released in March.
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Pat Grossi, the androgynous voice of Active Child, is the harp-plucking force behind the recently-coined genre of hymntronic – a portmanteau in homage to the archaic melodies from his choirboy roots and the modern atmospheric swells taking over the indie circuit. Grossi is opening for the sold-out M83 show at Crescent Ballroom this week.
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For all fair intents and purposes, tUnE-yArDs is officially a duo, although it's driven by the powerhouse of quirk Merrill Garbus, whose vocals and melodies are off-beat in an on-point way.tUnE-yArDs is an experience. In one song, you're transported from the sweaty streets of some mid-brow metro to suburban brass to the musical sensibilities of indigenous nations. tUnE-yArDs is unique enough to stand out on its own.
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Puscifer's album doesn't look like it wants to be taken seriously with some corny portrait of a mullet-sporting convict in an orange jumpsuit holding a blonde Southern belle who appears trapped in the '80s. Don't judge the album by its cover. Other than the over-emphasis of "seamen" in "Man Overboard," Conditions of My Parole takes itself seriously.
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Sometimes bands are formed by brothers; some come together while in college. Rarely does one hear a story like ElixirOnMute's, in which a then-20-something band leader and guitarist Jordan Ferriera recruited a fluid line-up of former members of Guns N Roses and The Mars Volta to join his "band," despite living on the other side of the country.
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For The Jokerr, a rapper whose new album Mayhem Night drops on Halloween, where the maestro ends and the minstrel begins is a gray area. It's an area that's served as the subject of great debate by art critics of every generation: Does art imitate life or is life art?
This is a story of the man behind The Jokerr.
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Retox isn't a band of minute men, although its thrashing 40-second songs may suggest otherwise. They also don't have ADD (from what we could tell). It's just how they take swings at counter-counterculture. The band, which released an EP on Three One G Records, signed to Ipecac Recordings in May and recently released its debut album Ugly Animals, which clocks in at an excruciating 13 minutes.
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At the band's disposal for its fourth full-length are current events, a whole lot of middle-class rage and a fan base that will listen. The band yarns songs about dependency on electricity to conspicuous consumerism and more light-hearted tracks about having a good time or relationships.
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The band's fourth album, Divine Providence, contains all the punk-fed attitude of LA without really committing to a certain "sound" or scene and that's all we can really say about that. You know how the saying goes: "Everything's better from the Deer Tick's mouth." Keyboard and saxophone player Robbie Crowell took our questions by email.
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Mason Jennings and The Pines played to a stagnant crowd at Crescent Ballroom Tuesday night. A lot of non-Arizonan state pride seemed to circulate the room, as I overheard people talking about their roots and Jennings latest album being titled Minnesota, one of the many places he grew up. I'd say the largest percentage of the crowd were Minnesotans, based solely on the observation that "Minnesota" was shouted randomly throughout the night.
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A strange, cryptic car ad (which generated some puzzled calls to the Beacon Journal's advertising department) is just one of the oblique ways that Carney and his bandmate Dan Auerbach are promoting the Keys' upcoming seventh album, the appropriately titled El Camino, due out December 6.
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Pop music's doe-eyed, wild-haired, red-lipped, sparkle-donning princess played the first of two sold out shows at Glendale's Jobing.com arena Friday night on her Speak Now World Tour. And, man, was it a spectacle to behold -- from the fireworks to the Swifties giggling and flipping curled tresses within a one-mile radius of the arena.
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These days, there are media opportunities around the clock, whether the stars want them or not. Step out of the house, paparazzi will capture the moment. Go to the convenience store, a fan will snap your photo with a cellphone. Make a scene at a nightclub, someone will post it on YouTube. Diana Ross, Madonna and Mariah Carey never had it like this.
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Switchfoot is teaming up with Veokami.com, a website that combines fan-shot footage of concerts into music videos for national touring acts. The band is asking all attendees of the October 21 show at Grand Canyon University Arena to bring their hand-held video recorders to the show and record any or all songs they feel compelled to and submit that footage to Veokami.com for possible use in a Switchfoot video.
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For a band that has primarily built its fan base up from the stage and its live shows over the last decade, South Carolina's NEEDTOBREATHE were recently outstretched a hand (and a tour leg) from one of the most influential fans any artist could dream of; princess of pop Taylor Swift. The tour includes back-to-back nights in Phoenix.
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In light of the holiday season, the guys of the ever-loving electronic dance band Peachcake are hosting a sweepstake that'll award participating Facebook users a free 8G iPod. All prospective winners have to do is "like" the band's Facebook page and register to win. And don't expect an everyday iPod straight from the factory, either. Winners will get a swagged-out Peach-Pod that comes with the band's full discography (including the new EP, "This Wasn't Our Plan"), footage of live performances, photos, the music video for "You Matter," a Peachcake engraving and a little love note.
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Delving into heartache and epiphany with her usual expertise, Shelby Lynne's 12th studio album is "her most personal yet" – a description routinely employed in reviews since I Am Shelby Lynne, the 1999 breakthrough that helped earn the Alabama-raised artist a Grammy in 2001. She continues to defy Nashville's "corporate country" machinations, even today.
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Let's refrain from labeling Wild Flag a "supergroup." There's no denying, though, the impressive indie-rock pedigree of the female foursome whose self-titled debut delivers more kinetic rock ‘n' roll kicks than any of the competition this season. Guitarist-songwriter Carrie Brownstein, once burnt out on music altogether, got back into the mix as a music writer.
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Dave Grohl did an unheard of thing at the Foo Fighters show Sunday night: he semi-seriously asked the crowd to "shut the fuck up." Apparently what was estimated to be 11,000 people were the loudest crowd on the entire tour thus far — a feat for Phoenix, which is notorious for mustering lousy audiences. As one approached US Airways from any angle of Phoenix, it was hard to miss the FF fans making pilgrimage to the venue. This is deduced from the observation that male Foo Fighter fans wear their love on their upper lip. And handlebar mustaches a la Grohl abounded. (So much so that even Cage the Elephant's Matthew Shultz remarked on the crowd's shaving habits.)
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Being a soul revival band from L.A. that pulls inspiration from the likes of Led Zeppelin is a cliche these days. And yet, Rival Sons are the exception to the rule and won't be annexing themselves to the foothills of nostalgia anytime soon. However, we do think it's pretty weird they're going to spend the fall opening alongside The Pretty Reckless and Evanescence. or 30 minutes (vocalist Jay Buchanan joked if they played any longer he'd get a nosebleed), I almost forgot who the headliner was. Why the hell was a classic rock band that has supported Judas Priest, Alice Cooper and AC/DC tours opening alongside The Pretty Reckless and Evanescence? Simply: They were hand-picked.
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Erika M. Anderson, formerly of drone folk band Gowns, and her slightly more avant garde solo project EMA is co-headlining a show October 15 at Crescent Ballroom with "chillwave" librarian Ernest Greene's Washed Out. Although seemingly contradictory artists, the two have more in common than converging tour stops in Phoenix: They've shared a stage with a significant other, have received blog acclaim for recordings done in their bedrooms and they both have names that start with the letter "E."
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Ernest Greene is a 20-something doe-eyed Georgia native with a degree in library sciences whose full-length solo debut as the artist Washed Out was well-received after a series of blogosphere-beloved EPs. College Times caught up with Greene before he and the band got ready for a day at the beach.
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Is it an app or an album? That's the central question of Bjork's latest effort, Biophilia, an intriguing work conceived and partly executed on and for Apple's iPad and iPhone. The critically acclaimed Icelandic polymath, along with a team of artists and engineers, designed her eighth studio release as the world's first "app" album.
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The Chevy-championing 'Bama rapper's next album, Radioactive, out November 21, had all hands on deck, produced by, among others, Eminem, Jim Jonsin and Travis Barker. Itwill technically be Yelawolf's second full album and first in six years. College Times interviewed Yelawolf a few months ago about the imaginary line between of artist and rapper.
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Sometimes, when you watch a band live it feels like rediscovering something familiar, yet unique in the impermanency of the moment, be it that wailing climax of a guitar solo, a locked groove between a bassist and drummer jamming out between songs or a monologue about a song meaning. Dawes is that kind of live band.
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The Rockstar Uproar Festival brought a surprisingly varied line-up to the Ashley HomeStore Pavilion's main stage Saturday afternoon. Nearly every set began with some kind of mournful cathedral music, which was pretty contrived. However, it was probably one of the few things that felt continuous about the line-up. From young bands to established bands across the pond and from low-budget stage get-ups to extremely architectural ones, no band really came off as too much like the one before or after it. Which, sometimes, doesn't always happen at these kind of rock feasts.
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The band comes from a variety of geographic and musical influences with roots in South Africa and a drummer from Oklahoma. Not to mention, they recorded their recent album in Tennessee, the hub of early rock music. They're branching out, and it's faring well. Now, the band is set to play Phoenix as part of the UPROAR Festival.
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Want to hear the new song from the Flaming Lips? Better put in for a day off from work or school to check it out. "Found a Star on the Ground" runs six hours – yes, that's hours, not minutes – and it's being released as a philanthropic move to benefit two groups in the band's hometown of Oklahoma City.
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Give Leslie Feist credit for not focusing solely on the coffee-shop folk pop that she's so good at. On Metals, the long-awaited follow-up to 2007's The Reminder, Feist pushes at the edges of her sweet melancholy. She eschews perky pop in favor of quiet, focused ballads and drum-pounding, work-song-like chants.
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Incubus is back after a brief hiatus during which drummer Jose Pasillas became a father, keyboard and turntable guru Chris Kilmore retreated into his respective life, guitarist Mike Einziger studied musical composition at Harvard and front man Brandon Boyd and bassist Ben Kenney released solo albums.
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The once-prolific Ryan Adams, a songwriter who digs songs out of seat-cushions and sneezes out albums, pulled the stripped-down Ashes & Fire straight from his back pocket. It's sort of hard to believe that this is Adams' first true studio album since the 2008 gem Cardinology, but he continues along a similar songwriting tract in a beautiful, subdued way.
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Thanks to Arch Enemy, metal heads all over Phoenix woke Friday morning with the bells of anarchy ringing in their ears. The death metal band from Sweden played Marquee Theater Thursday night for the first time since 2007 and, ahem, killed it. Guitarist Michael Amott also took some time to chat with College Times before the show. Check it.
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Charlie Levy, main man behind local promotion company Stateside Presents, has spent the last five months "sleeplessly" preparing to open a live music venue in Phoenix, Crescent Ballroom, blending all of Levy's music know-how into a two-room space featuring a concert ballroom, lounge, kitchen and bar.
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The puke-cute pop-punk duo Matt & Kim have been swept into the mainstream collabo world as of late, from a Converse advertising campaign alongside Soulja Boy and Andrew W.K. to calling shotgun on the Honda Civic Tour this fall with Blink-182 and Jimmy Eat World. Now, they're headed to Phoenix with time on their minds.
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The supergroup is a familiar concept for rock fans. But has there ever been one as random as this one? SuperHeavy is the unlikely collaboration of Mick Jagger, Damian Marley, Joss Stone, ex-Eurythmic Dave Stewart, and Indian film composer A.R. Rahman. What should be a train wreck actually meshes in interesting fasion, eventually.
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Jimmy Eat World is one of those bands that put the Phoenix metro on the worldwide map. This weekend's Tempe show is not much of a momentous homecoming for the guys of Mesa, who simply now live in Phoenix and Gilbert and own a rehearsal space in Tempe. Lead man Jim Adkins lets us know where the band is at, mentally.
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Blink-182 is a band that once made angsty potty-mouthed music for kids with lockers, braces and baby fat hidden beneath black hoodies. And almost two decades later, the band still makes that kind of music but has become the kind of group that's sprawling into multigenerational ranks of fandom.
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The Whole Love is a work by a group of exceptional musicians who, four years into their collaboration, have melded into one. Over the band's 17-year career, Tweedy's Wilco has gradually moved from a roots-rock band to something a bit more nebulous, further distancing themselves from their whiskey bottle and Levis past.
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It's been almost 10 years since Nappy Roots released its Grammy-nominated and platinum-certified Watermelon, Chicken and Gritz. A month before the five-piece hip-hop outfit's fifth LP and third independent release since leaving Atlantic Records, B. Stille says, "I'm on a rooftop in San Francisco. Life can't get much better than this."
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How does that old Pledge of Allegiance go? Oh, yeah, "For those about to rock, we salute you." With only three more show dates on the Rock Allegiance Tour, some of the biggest bands in alternative rock in the last decade (Buckcherry, Papa Roach, Puddle of Mudd, P.O.D. and Crossfade) were running without a hitch.
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R.E.M. broke up Wednesday, with an exit nearly as modest as its entrance. You couldn't get much more humble than touring America in a beat-up van out of the decidedly un-hip environs of Athens, Ga., in 1980. And when the band went out this week, it wasn't as part of a blow-out arena tour, but via a terse announcement on its website.
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Rupa Marya, the wild-haired multilingual front woman of Rupa & The April Fishes, is your typical free-spirited professor. She teaches internal medicine at the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center and busks in the little free time she has – you know, when she isn't writing and touring her songs with her band of April Fishes.
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The L.A.-based global pop-band members solidify their sound, but diminish some of their kaleidoscopic and exotic charm. Singer Luke Top shifts from Hebrew to English this time and guitarist Lewis Pesacov prioritizes rapid, trebly guitar lines derived from African soukous and highlife with fewer Middle Eastern undercurrents.
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P.O.D. brought us countless arena rock classics at a time when teen angst anthems were fist-pumping on high. They transcended the Christian band label by just being their dreadlocked selves and although they never rose too far above the fray, ESPN doesn't care that a decade has passed since Satellite was released.
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By far his most musical album to date, the sample-heavy and overwhelming The Less You Know The Better has DJ Shadow playing with the light and dark of the soul and its corresponding sounds. The more concentrated and closer a light is to an object, the more pronounced its shadow will be – something that's apparent in the album's sonic evolution.
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Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis, the minds behind Skype and Kazaa, are onto their next internet-monopolizing music platform with the music streaming subscription service Rdio (pronounced Are-Dee-Oh), which is like Grooveshark, Spotify, Ping, Pandora and Rhapsody rolled into one. The service is three years in the making.
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World domination – so difficult to predict, so impossible to maintain. But 20 years ago, the improbable happened. Two era-defining albums were released by then-obscure Seattle bands that would become so successful the music industry created a marketing genre out of them: Nirvana's Nevermind and Pearl Jam's Ten.
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With "One Love" and its remixes, French über-producer David Guetta moved from his behind-the-scenes role to that of artist/star. Not that he's singing or rapping while shaking his mop of hair. The house-head sets up guests with tight, sugary melody, crackling electric ambience, and nervous-yet- sympathetic rhythms, and lets the dance hits roll.
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The Shondes have had quite a year. Their tour bus was stolen 18 days before they had to travel from Brooklyn to SXSW and their violinist Elijah Oberman was diagnosed with cancer. But the indie punk band has a new tour bus, Oberman survived the disease and they're taking a more positive approach with their album Searchlights, out September 20.
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From bluesy rock wop to folk and cheese-ball '80s ballads, The Walkmen, Fleet Foxes and Bon Iver put on a concert at Comerica Theater Thursday night that reminds us all why they're the indie trifecta. WARNING: This review may make you experience feelings of regret for not even buying yourself a nosebleed ticket.
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"Nirvana: Live at the Paramount" was filmed in lead singer Kurt Cobain's home base of Seattle on Halloween 1991 and features performances of the songs that helped define an angst-ridden generation, including "Smells Like Teen Spirit," "Lithium" and "Breed," along with other tracks from the band's catalog, including "Aneurysm" and "Sliver."
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It took the uke-wielding Christopher Drew two albums and six EPs to finally release a record with a permanent band. Everything in good time, as they say. Although, there's no real telling how much adding twelve limbs and three brains has changed the natural direction Drew was heading in anyway
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The starving artist days of Polar Bear Club's early career were fueled by Taco Bell and the fast food co.'s Feed the Beat program, a promotion that hooks musicians up with free grub while touring. An inside joke about the Bell also inspired the titled of PBC's first album, Sometimes Things Just Disappear.
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Butter your toast with vaseline the morning of September 20, because you're gonna have a lot to swallow when Andrew Jackson Jihad comes at you with Knife Man – 16 tracks that relentlessly knead at those sore spots in society: racial and gender inequalities, God and the devil, divorce, homelessness and conspicuous consumerism.
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If we can go to the movies and watch blood, gore and idolize drug lords and mafia men, then who's to say we can't appreciate those things in music? Certainly not the cheekily clever local Americana duo, Andrew Jackson Jihad. Sean Bonnette and Ben Gallaty will release their fourth full-length Knife Man September 20 on Asian Man Records
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The quartet's self-titled debut is a combustive mix of indie-rock veterans: two-thirds of Sleater-Kinney (guitarist Carrie Brownstein, drummer Janet Weiss), the guiding force in Helium and countless other projects (Mary Timony) and a key member of the Minders (keyboardist Rebecca Cole). Together they've made one of the year's best albums.
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Hanson played hundreds of gigs and made multiple records before they were ever signed. They have a career that has survived a recession, the age of digital downloads and piracy and viral success. And still, they somehow found a sense of stasis in the middle of the ebb and flow of musical stardom.
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Madonna has confirmed rumors that she is at work on her next album. While promoting her directorial film effort, "W.E.," at the Venice Film Festival, the pop diva announced that she'd "started a little bit of work in the studio" on her as-yet-untitled 12th album, with the first single pegged for a February or March release.
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College Times caught Foster the People's Cubbie Fink while the band toured through Germany and discussed the song that has changed his life, why he's not worried about being a one-hit wonder band and the story behind "Pumped Up Kicks," one of the biggest songs of the summer and how it was almost never written.
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Big Harp is a husband-wife duo whose debut record reflects the essence of their love story and geographic roots: a boy from a cow town and a girl from the City of Angels meet and make music like a saloon bar that midnights as a jazz club in the backwoods of some podunk town in Nebraska.
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Mason Jennings is the kind of lovey songwriter boyfriends won't hate. He sticks to simple melodies on Minnesota,but his lyrics are far more ambitious, tackling the complexities of love without getting flighty, chick-flicky unrealisticky like Jack Johnson. Maybe now's a good time to add that he's aided by Johnson's side group, The Living Room.
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Blitzen Trapper has always walked the line between being indie-accessible Americana country, but on the band's fourth album American Goldwing, the guys cross the Dixie line a little too far with songs like "Love the Way You Walk Away," playing their harmonicas, fingerpicking their banjos and emptying bottles for slide guitar playin'.
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Because Dead Throne is performed in the language of metalcore, there may be entire chunks of juicy brain food that gets lost in translation via screaming. So, luckily, the tracks are pretty solid and the cleanest the Ohio sextet has ever done, thanks largely to Killswitch Engage's Adam Dutkiewicz, who produced the album.
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Things that are true about songstress Amy LaVere: she hates photographs of herself; has been playing music for over half of her life; is the leading lady of an upcoming movie called "The Romance of Loneliness;" she's been listening to a lot of Elbow, Anais Mitchell's Hadestown and Bill Callahan and she also wrote the breakup album of the year.
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Beyoncé's revelation — both on the red carpet and during her performance — that she and her husband, Jay-Z, are expecting their first child undoubtedly stole the show at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday. The big warm-and-fuzzy moment also has provided the diva with a major bump, pun intended, on record sales.
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While most musicians are spatially challenged when it comes to home recording in the corner of some studio apartment in Brooklyn, the eco-conscious black metal brother duo Wolves in the Throne Room chose to build their recording domain against 200,000 acres of national forest reserve in Olympia, Washington, just down the street from their own farmland.
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The first, best thing about Stephen Malkmus' Beck Hansen-produced fifth post-Pavement album is that it doesn't sound like a Beck album. The alliance of ‘90s indie icons has not resulted in Beck trying to Odelay- or Sea Change-ize Malkmus. Instead, it finds one aging hotshot letting the other aging hotshot be his self-referential, semi-detached self.
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Joe Plummer wants to do it all and is definitely getting there, from his "white dub" and "soundscape-druggie-film" solo work to to writing, recording and touring with Modest Mouse, The Shins and his most recently released project, Mister Heavenly – the brainchild of Man Man's Ryan Kattner (aka Honus Honus) and The Islands' Nick Thornburn.
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Red Hot Chili Peppers come with certain signifiers. They wear socks on private parts, enjoy Rick Rubin's punk-funk production, make ballads that sound like "Under the Bridge," and have gone through as many guitarists as Spinal Tap went through drummers. This doesn't mean you can guess away I'm With You, the Peps' 10th studio jawn, by acknowledging its clichés.
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The members of Def Leppard were rock gods in the 1980s. The hard rock band is responsible for bringing us head-banging songs like "Pour Some Sugar on Me" and "Photograph" and those sing-at-the-top-of-your-lungs power ballads; "Bringin' on the Heartbreak" and "Love Bites." The band is set to roll out these hits and more at a tour stop in Phoenix.
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Joel Zimmerman, better known as the world-famous, mouse-headed Deadmau5, rolls into town on his Meowington Hax North American tour, and we haven't seen anything quite on this level in recent memory. Upwards of 10 thousand fans are expected to take in his thumping, laser-crossed dance-a-thon in the same spot that's recently hosted MLB all-star festivities and car shows.
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When Patrick Stump first came onto the mainstream music scene with his fedoras and belting with Fall Out Boy, he accepted the role of front man rather reluctantly. However, just as he organically fell into that role and just as Fall Out Boy naturally came to a stopping point after their 2008 release, Folie a Deux, the voice of FOB is set to release his debut solo album October 18.
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