​Don't be alarmed if you hear the sound of irritated groaning emanating from the campuses of Arizona State University and other local institutions of higher learning this week, as it's merely the collective grumblings of students returning to class for the spring semester.

Southern rapper T-Pain will offer an ease to the, uh...pain, as he'll be staging a free DJ set for Valley college kids on Saturday at the Marquee Theatre.

It's part of the Textbook and Tickets Tour, which will feature the Cash Money superstar on the one's and two's during a gig that's only open to college students. There's been no word on what exactly T-Pain will be spinning during his session, but we're guessing it will involve auto-tune and hip-hop in some fashion.

Admission for the event is free, but getting access the gig involves a bit of rigmarole. The Textbooks and Tickets site states that those interested in attending will have to send in the name of their particular school via text message in order to claim their respective ticket.

There's been no indication of when and where the claiming will take place, or if school IDs will be checked. (In other words, if you're young-looking and wear a Sun Devil sweatshirt, you'll just might be able to get inside).

​By now you've probably heard the dozens of promos that KUPD has been running daily for the free Smashing Pumpkins concert they're putting this coming Thursday night.

Billy Corgan and his crew are making a swing through the Valley (guess they're not down with Zack de la Rocha and the Soundstrike) as a part of the world tour and the hard rock station is hosting an invite-only show at the Venue of Scottsdale.

Unfortunately, unlike other gratis gigs by local radio stations, you can't just waltz through the front door. There's a bit of rigmarole that one has to go through just to even get a shot at landing some tickets.

Read on for all the details on the hoops you'll have to leap through in order to gain access.

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Crystal Antlers are scheduled to perform on Wednesday at Yucca Tap Room in Tempe during the Vice 15th anniversary party.

​The first Vice party was so nice, they've decided to do it twice. 

On the heels of the raucous Desert Bender Party they threw a couple of weeks back, the clever hipsters behind Vice are putting on another blockbuster bash this coming Wednesday at the Yucca Tap Room in Tempe. The publication is celebrating its 15th anniversary of existence and wants y'all to join in on the fun. 

The set-up is basically the same deal as the first go-round: big-time indie acts and local DJs will perform (in this case it will be Touch and Go noise rockers Crystal Antlers along with the Valley's own Black Carl, Pickster One, and DJ Tricky T) with an open Hornitos Tequila for those who'd like to get drunk on the magazine's dime.

As before, the party is free, but attendees hafta RSVP through this site in order to attend. And if you weren't lucky enough to attend the Desert Bender, revisit Adriane Goetz's slideshow from the evening.

See you there.

Jonathan McNamara

The scene at last summer's Star Swim.

Last summer, one of the coolest (and indeed, hottest) places to be seen was at the Hotel San Carlos for the weekly Star Swim pool party. An absolute throng of hundreds of hepcats and kittens crowded the tiny swimming area at the vintage auberge in downtown Phoenix for several weekends while an array of local indie bands and musicians like Miniature Tigers, Black Carl, and Mr. Meeble provided a summertime soundtrack.

Co-promoter Jen Deveroux sums up the scene last summer fairly succinctly: "It was fucking insane," she says. "It was half-naked people splashing around listening to great music. Definitely different than if you went to some Scottsdale party. We had the hipster crowd and a way different vibe." (Peep our slideshow from last year).

Deveroux is expecting this year's Star Swim to be equally as well-attended when it launches this weekend at the Wyndham Hotel (50 East Adams Street, 602-333-0000). The set-up remains much the same as last year, with a slate of local and touring indie talent performing poolside every Saturday night through Labor Day.

So what's with the change in venue? Read on for the answer, as well as a full rundown of who's scheduled to perform and some info on how score a pair of tickets to the launch party this weekend.

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What Laura Says Thinks and Feels will provide you with free tunage.

Fresh off a multi-city tour that took them to both coasts and lots of places in between, as well as a stint at last week's McDowell Mountain Music Festival, local indie rockers What Laura Says Thinks and Feels are bringing their act to the newly-opened Phoenix Civic Space Park in downtown Phoenix May 8. Y'know, the one with the giant jellyfish/used condom/cervix/tornado looking thing looming over it.

Even if you're only ho-hum about the band, you can't really argue with the price of admission, and the park alone is worth a visit if you haven't checked it out yet.  You can even make a night of it and check out a couple of downtown's new restaurants, Cafe Sapna or Vinery 214.

Austin indie folk outfit Okkervil River.

Okkervil River and Roger Miret are about as disparate musically as you can get.

Roger Miret and the Disasters.

The former is the eclectic indie darling septet from Austin, Texas whose intricate instrumentation and folkie sound has been described by NPR as "dark, literate rock that's as explosive as it is thoughtful and intimate." The latter, on the other hand, is the balls-out punk icon who resides here in Phoenix and serves as vocalist for both NYC hardcore band Agnostic Front and side project Roger Miret and the Disasters.

What they do have in common, however, is that both Okkervil River and Miret will be putting on concerts tomorrow night in Tempe that are absolutely free of charge.

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First off this may not be the best Banjo album of 2009, but since it is the only one anyone has heard of I will just go ahead and say it is. And yes it is by the comedian Steve Martin.

You can download a free mp3 from The Crow New Songs for the 5-String Banjo at Amazon.com. The free song is the albums first track "Daddy Played The Banjo." Don't expect it to be funny but it is great. (On a side note Amazon.com's digital music service is not great and if you don't use it already it might be a pain).

Some of you might know that Steve Martin has always had a thing for the Banjo, it made it in to some of his earliest comedy routines, like this one with The Muppets. But it also has had a serious side to it as well, like shown by this video with Bela Fleck and Tony Trischka:

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Amazon just announced their list of the Bestselling Albums of 2008 on their MP3 digital service. At first glance you might not think much of the list: Coldplay, Death Cab For Cutie, 3 Doors Down, Beck, and Radiohead are all near the top of the list.

What is remarkable and noteworthy is the #1 spot, Nine Inch Nails album Ghosts I-IV. Ghost I-IV is a 36 song instrumental album with no radio airplay, no MTV love and only minor press coverage, that however is not what is noteworthy about the #1 album (although 36 song instrumental album is not what conventional wisdom would tell you should be the best selling album on any list).

Chris Anderson of Wired points out that what is remarkable about this album being the #1 album is that it was was released for FREE under a Creative Commons license.

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Brand new to the internet this week is the latest effort from DJ Minty Fresh Beats, otherwise known as 22-year old New Yorker Max Tannone. Tannone has harnessed the eternal power of Jay-Z's The Black Album for his own evil-doing, choosing Radiohead as his partner in crime in creating this week's mash-up sensation Jaydiohead. The effort is all there, he employs a few different Radiohead albums - OK Computer, Kid A and In Rainbows - to accomplish his mashing. It's a novel concept, the mash-up, and Tannone shows some pretty slick innovation in combining two totally different artists to create his Franken-album. When listening to this, I wouldn't be at all surprised if Tannone - as I will refer to him, since his corny DJ moniker sounds like his 8 year old niece chose it for him - picked Jay-Z and Radiohead since they lend themselves to such a great pun of an album name, Jaydiohead. Two questions still remain: do we need another Jay-Z mash-up? And why must I bitch so much about a free album?
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