Tuesday, January 27, 2015
Hip Hop legend C-Rayz Walz just released a new music video for his 2003 track "Dead Buffalos" and some familiar sights are prominently featured in the video. Filmed around Tucson, the video for the song off of Walz's "Ravipops" album features local artist Rock Martinez's murals and Zoe boutique on Fourth Avenue.
Working as producer, director, and editor, Walz made the video as an extension of Sun Cycle Industries, his record label. The Bronx native plans on making more videos in his part-time home Tucson for Sun Cycle Films in the future.
The song itself is a biting commentary on the treatment of native peoples and the video uses a few different visuals to express that. According to Sun Cycle Industries manager Anna Schindler, Walz connected with the subject matter personally.
"Walz is African American, which consists of mixed ancestry. The song and video are meant to tell the story of oppressed and indigenous people everywhere," she says. "The same story could be told for African Americans and slavery in this country."
Here's C-Rayz Walz's "Dead Buffalos" video:
Tags: c-rayz walz , sun cycle , dead buffalos , video , new , tucson , fourth avenue , rock martinez , Video
Stop everything. Calexico just announced their next album, Edge of the Sun, is due out in just a few months.
From their website:
Today we are very excited to announce the details of our new record Edge of the Sun, which will be released on April 14. After writing in Mexico City, we returned to Tucson to record at Wavelab Studios where Joey, John, Calexico’s own Sergio Mendoza and Craig Schumacher produced the album. This is the most collaborative work in the band’s history, with guest musicians ranging from Sam Beam (Iron & Wine) and Ben Bridwell (Band of Horses) to Gaby Moreno and members of the Greek instrumental group Takim.Still no word on the next time you'll get to see them play in Tucson, but their website promises US tour dates will be announced soon. Until then, you can listen to the new song “Cumbia de Donde,” featuring Carla Morrison on SoundCloud.
Tags: Calexico , Edge of the Sun , Iron & Wine , Band of Horses
Monday, January 26, 2015
Badass droney psych rock band Moon Duo was slotted to play Valley Bar in Phoenix on March 21, but then something amazing happened and the concert was moved to Tucson instead. You can (and most definitely should) get tickets to the show at Flycatcher via Ticketfly for the low, low price of $10.
If you're not sold, just sit back, relax, and pretend you're in a Quentin Tarantino movie while listening to their performance of "Motorcycle, I Love You" at last year's Austin Psych Fest.
On the other end of the rock and roll spectrum, music nerds will be happy to know Interpol and Ryan Adams just booked Tucson dates as well at the Rialto Theatre. The shows are on April 8 and April 21, respectively, and will likely sell out. The good news is that it looks like festival season is finally upon us and a host of amazing acts will be stopping through Tucson in the coming months.
Tags: moon duo , ryan adams , interpol , tucson , live , concert , rialto theatre , flycatcher , Video
Friday, January 23, 2015
Tucson's Brian Lopez released a new video this month for the title track off of his 2014 release "Static Noise," and, ladies and gentlemen, it's a real thinker.
In Tucson Weekly's 2014 feature of Lopez, he said this of the song:
"That song actually is about a man's love for his broken television." Lopez explained. "A very lonely man, obviously. He's singing to his television, that just plays the static noise. That was just me on piano, a live take. I wanted to hear my fingers pressing the keys. I wanted it to be just like you are in the room with me."According to music critic Linda Ray, "the music invokes a mid-century movie scene with a white piano, a women dancing in bias-cut satin and, in the air, the fragrance of gardenias." However, it seems Lopez and director Nadine Roselle went the complete opposite path with his aesthetic for the video, instead relying on a more macabre, bare, and solitary style, as well as some familiar imagery.
You can catch Brian Lopez live, along with Carlos Arzate & The Kind Souls, at Monterey Court on Friday, Feb. 6 at 8 p.m. You can buy tickets at the door the day of the show for $15 or online, in advance, for $10 via Brown Paper Tickets.
Tags: brian lopez , static noise , music video , tucson , carlos arzate & the kind souls , monterey court , live , Video
Thursday night at La Cocina means Funporium will bring under-the-radar local acts to the stage for your listening pleasure. Last night's show featured Otherly Love, who, despite not playing in a while, really killed it with a high-energy set, as well as az77 and RJM, featuring members of Prom Body.
However, a great free show is only one reason to head to Funporium nights at La Cocina. If you're not a music junkie, consider the taco special. The weekly changing offering dreamt up by Kyle Araishi who mans the grill is something inventive and totally delicious.
Taking some liberties with fusion, you'll find that chimichurri tacos, kimchi tacos, and more are well worth the $3 price tag. Plus, they pair rather well with the varied list of local, seasonal brews on tap at La Cocina. You can try the taco specials for yourself by heading to La Cocina Thursday nights from 10 p.m. until 2 a.m.
Tags: la cocina , funporium , taco , grill , special , kyle araishi , chimichurri , kimchi , Image
Thursday, January 22, 2015
Indie rock lovers have the unique opportunity to see one of the genre's darlings in a very intimate setting next month. S. Carey, who is best known as the drummer and vocalist for Bon Iver, will be performing his solo work in a Tucson living room on Friday, Feb. 13 at 8 p.m.
According to a statement from Carey, his tour is in support of his most recent release, which was inspired partly from his time in Arizona:
The 'Range of Light,' to me, is the range of my own happiness and the range in anyone's happiness, sadness…it became a very California-inspired record for me. California and Arizona, specifically, because when I was a kid, my parents got divorced, and my dad lived in Arizona. Every summer we would go visit him and explore — basically road-trip around and camp and fish and hike, and do all that stuff in Arizona and in California, because we had a bunch of cousins and aunts and uncles that lived there. Some of the songs are about those memories, which again goes back to the 'Range of Light.'
The exact location of the home where Carey will be performing his airy and ethereal jams is only disclosed once you buy tickets and there are only about 25 left. Most of the Living Room Shows on S. Carey's tour are already sold out, so it's best to jump on them now before they're gone. You can buy tickets to the show via Undertow Tickets.
Tags: s. carey , tucson , bon iver , living room show , concert , live , Video
J.D. Souther, who counts Linda Ronstadt and the Eagles as just a few of his many collaborators, will be performing on Saturday, Jan. 24, as part of the inaugural Tucson Jazz Festival that is now underway.
Souther will be performing with the legendary Billy Childs at 8 p.m. at the Fox Theatre.
Find a full festival schedule and much more here.
Wednesday, January 21, 2015
2014 was a good year for Tucson filmmaker Alex Italics: His short film, Sheltered Love, won enough awards at festivals to fill the average bomb shelter; John Hodgman declared him the winner of a contest to make a music video for They Might Be Giants (watch it here); and on New Year's Eve, he got married to his sweetheart.
He's starting out 2015 strong, too: His new video for Tucson band Head Over Heart landed an Entertainment Weekly exclusive last week, although the filmstrip-based video has since been released into the wild, so we can post it here.
Italics told Entertainment Weekly:
I was immediately struck by the beautiful nervous paranoia of the lyrics, which lent themselves very well to a trip to a psychoanalyst’s couch. To compliment the band’s unique modern take on vintage synth pop, I chose to resurrect and repurpose the long-forgotten educational filmstrip, an archaic blip in technological history that went the way of the dodo as soon as VCRs became economically feasible for public schools in the 1980s.
Tags: Alex Italics , John Hodgman , Head Over Heart , Video
Tuesday, January 20, 2015
If you're already a fan of NPR's Tiny Desk Concerts, you know the series of videos is a great place to discover up-and-coming talent in the music world among videos of stripped down performances from more established musicians.
That's probably why so many local artists have submitted YouTube videos to win their spot to record their own video at NPR's Washington D.C. offices as part of the Tiny Desk Contest. Although the submission time for the contest has ended, singer-songwriter Jacob Acosta has curated a list of Tucson's entries.
Competing Old Pueblo submissions include Run Boy Run performing "Far From My Home / Lion and the Fawn," Mark Anthony Febbo performing "Bankrupt Man," and Carlos Arzate & The Kind Souls performing "On & On & On."
To watch the local videos that were made for the NPR contest, which could really mean some big national attention for these indie artists if they win, visit the Facebook event page created by Acosta. The winner of the NPR Tiny Desk Contest will be announced on the event's website on Thursday, Feb. 12. And, from the looks of it, Tucson has a pretty good chance of getting picked.
Tags: tucson , music , npr , tiny desk concert , contest , run boy run , mark anthony febbo , carlos arzate , Video
Monday, January 19, 2015
Somewhere between a circus sideshow and a funky marching band, March Fourth blends visual art with music for a high energy, one-of-a-kind performance that will keep you dancing. The full band is stopping back through Tucson to play the Rialto Theatre on Saturday, Jan. 24 and we have a pair of free tickets to give away for those of you looking for some cheap thrills this weekend.
All you have to do is text TUCSON to 77948 to download our Best of TW app for Apple and Android phones, if you haven't done so already. Once you're signed into the app, just tap the "Our New Giveaway" banner and follow the prompts to enter. The winners will be chosen and notified via e-mail on Friday, Jan. 23 so you have some time to enter for your chance to win the tickets.
Tickets for the event are also available for purchase for $14 via Rialto Theatre's website.
Tags: march fourth marching band , tucson , rialto theatre , live , free tickets , Video
