Though malls and retail have already been doing it for a couple weeks, we’re going to go ahead and make an official statement: It’s now totally okay to listen to Christmas music. And while plenty of Xmas jams are mind numbing, annoying earworms, there’s always some good to be had…
Christmas music is weird stuff. Sure, grandmas like it, but for poor souls folks manning the boards at 99.9 KEZ FM, it’s less the music of holly jollies and more a nightmare of tunes played long before (and even a little after) Christmas. DJ Fresh, who’s spinning funky breaks as…
David Taylor, better known by his dance-floor-packing name Switch, comes to Phoenix packing serious credentials. He’s worked with M.I.A., Santigold, Christina Aguilera, and Beyoncé, not to mention crafting the dancehall/electro project Major Lazer with Diplo. The production duo’s debut, Guns Don’t Kill People . . . Lazers Do, indulged their…
Timothy B. Schmit always felt like “the new kid in town” in The Eagles, but that’s because he pretty much is. Schmit played on only one pre-reunion Eagles record, The Long Run, but he made his presence known with the stellar, blue-eyed soul number, “I Can’t Tell You Why.” He’s…
The cynical among us (ahem) might view Sting’s “Back to Bass” tour as a way to cash in on The Police experience without having to deal with the other two guys who make The Police so awesome. But we’re the critics? What did you, the loyal reader have to say…
The death of the CD may be neigh, but as Serene Dominic tells us, the format’s demise probably won’t impact punk trios like Rumspringer much. The band acts a lot like it doesn’t care much, but the poetic melodic punk rock on records like Empty Towers betrays otherwise. Of course,…
This week, New Times ran a list in our print publication highlighting some of the most interesting posts published at Up On The Sun over the past week. Here are links to those posts. What are your 100 favorite Arizona songs? What bands names might you find on your Thanksgiving…
It’s a sad day when we have to comment on the passing of two Valley musicians, but over the weekend Phoenix lost two members of its music community. Tony Richey, who played in heavy bands like Nihil, Grum, and most recently sludge-rock favorites ZiRoh, was killed on Saturday, November 19…
Welcome to the latest installment of our weekly feature, Sound Off, in which Jason P. Woodbury is joined by a different guest each week to listen to and discuss three tracks from local Phoenix artists. If you would like your songs to be considered for future Sound Off columns, please…
Marks Sultan, The Wrong Ones, Andrew and His Feisty Felines, and The Cosmeticators Trunk Space Monday, November 21 Mark Sultan: Someone has offered me a Xanax and an enema tonight. Audience member: Welcome to Phoenix! Such was the tone last night at Mark Sultan’s Phoenix stop. He seemed perturbed at…
It’s been a little over a year since Tempe-based pop-rockers The Maine released Black and White, the band’s major label debut. And while the paint still seems wet from that album’s promotional blitz (view “the Maine Wall” on Roosevelt downtown on Tumblr), the group is already gearing up for a…
“Beam me up, Scotty.” “There’s…somethingonthewing. Some…thing!” “Rock-it-man.” Get your best/worst Shatner impression ready, because Phoenix Comicon announced today that none other than Captain James T. Kirk himself, William Shatner, will be the esteemed guest at the convention on Saturday, May 26, 2012. Fellow nerd Benjamin Leatherman alerted me to the…
Immortal Technique at the Puente Office Friday was a good night to fight the powers that be, especially if you were in Phoenix around 13th and Van Buren. In the wake of the Pearce recall, Puente Movement and Sound Strike hosted a neighborhood style Hip Hop show to celebrate and…
Anyone who’s ever picked up a guitar and tried to play along with another human knows that that process if a whole lot of “miss” and the occasional “hit.” In this week’s exciting installment of Record Heat, Brad Dwyer examines the difference between rock ‘n’ roll fantasies and rock ‘n’…
John Prine and Loudon Wainwright III Orpheum Theatre Saturday, November 19, 2011 Early yesterday afternoon, I found myself at Tempe Marketplace, wandering the parking lot dazed. Christmas music wafted through the air. With nearly a week left before Thanksgiving. Look, I get it, but I’m a traditionalist. Some people hate…
DJentrification’s weekly Palace World Music night at Filmbar always features far out world music, but this weekend, it’s got another goal as well. “I have been to South East Asia and feel very lucky for all the good people I met, for the records I was able to dig, for…
With Occupy encampments being dispersed all across the country, protesters are getting antsy. In New York, protesters took on Wall Street and tried to jam the Union Square subway station. In Los Angeles, protesters blocked traffic. Today in Phoenix, Occupiers are celebrating Free Speech Friday, meeting at César Chávez Plaza…
It’s another packed weekend in the Valley. Tonight, Sound Striker-Immortal Technique performs a benefit show at the Puente Office, and Mr. Meeble brings its crazy-as-hell laser show to Crescent Ballroom. On Saturday, you’ve got folk from Loudon Wainwright III and John Prine, and funky pop courtesy of Kreayshawn. And of…
Maynard James Keenan is a successful guy: he’s fronts two massive rock bands, Tool and A Perfect Circle, owns Merkin Vineyards and Caduceus Cellars in Jerome, Arizona, where he lives. Though ostensibly a “side-project,” Keenan’s band Puscifer seems to be increasingly be where Keenan’s hear lies. He’s released two full…
Robert “Fun Bobby” Birmingham was a fixture behind the bar at Hollywood Alley for over a decade — a talkative, friendly dude with a serious musical yen for the bonkers rock music of Japanese rockers Melt Banana. He’s been booking the band for over 16 years — at places like…
This week, New Times ran a list in our print publication highlighting some of the most interesting posts published at Up On The Sun over the past week. Here are links to those posts. What does alt-comedian Tim Heidecker have to say about his Herman Cain-inspired album? Who’s sporting our…
Touring Europe sounds like a blast right? Well, sure, but it’s a lot of work. Phoenix-based glitch rockers Mr. Meeble did it, booking the entire tour without the help of a tour manager or press people. In this week’s issue, Nicole Smith brings us the tale straight from the mouth…
