Labor Day weekend is shaping up to be a good one for local music. KWSS 106.7 announced plans to today to play nothing but local music starting Friday at midnight, and continuing on till Monday, when the TMI Morning Show’s Beef Vegan, Shorty, and Buddah will count down their 20…
It’s weird the way “viral videos” work. Though local ska band Liam and The Ladies’ version of La Roux’s “Bulletproof” has been online for the better part of the year, last week saw it start popping up on local blogs like the Select blog, and AZ Kaos, and all over…
In case you’ve been sleeping the past couple of months, here’s some news: Deadmau5, one of the hottest electronic acts in music, is coming to Phoenix, scheduled to play Phoenix Convention Center on Thursday, September 1. He’s rocked Coachella, Lollapalooza, and sold out Earls Court in London, all while wearing…
Way back in April, we spoke with cartoonist/musician Stephen Steinbrink about his plans for Yellow Canary Dance Hall, which he described then as “a community center, movie theater, punk basement, print shop, art gallery, lecture hall, and a place to play board games at three in the morning.” The space…
Yesterday Up on the Sun reported that DMX was arrested for speeding on Wednesday night. I noted that, sadly, the event was hardly surprising, given X’s history of arrests in Arizona. Today, things got a little less routine. In a statement made to The Source earlier today, Domenick Nati, DMX’s…
It’s looking to be another packed weekend of gigs here in the Valley of the Sun. Here’s a handy guide featuring some fresh, hand-picked recommendations to your rock, rap, soul, punk, or whatever on this weekend…
No doubt you read our awesome Q&A with Atmosphere’s Slug from the other day — but even if you didn’t, you probably want to go see the group on Saturday at Mesa Amphitheater. After all, the group’s latest record, The Family Sign, is loaded with taut rhymes and minimal beats…
BY DANIEL RAVEN Young Jeezy Celebrity Theatre Thursday, August 25, 2011 Young Jeezy may not know how to ride a beat or rap for more than ten seconds without losing his breath, but he was certainly able to keep it gangsta last night at Celebrity Theatre. Rapping to a half-empty…
Well, here’s one for the “nobody is surprised” bin: Rapper Earl Simmons, better known as DMX, was arrested Wednesday night. The arrest took place just before 9 p.m. after being pulled over for doing 102 miles per hour while driving westbound on U.S. 60 near the Power Road exit in…
In this week’s issue, we featured a story about Mergence, a Phoenix band that knows a thing or two about “weird.” We knew the group was out there — just check out singer Adam Bruce’s explanation of “Me and My Family Vs. The Robots” — but when guitarist Yod Paul…
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. Why is College Dropouts returning to the same location where it closed only months ago? What…
Atmosphere, the duo of Sean Daley (a.k.a. Slug) and Anthony Davis (a.k.a. Ant) has been a commanding force in indie hip-hop since the group formed in 1989. Not only did the two help found Minneapolis-based Rhymesayers Entertainment, but their 2003 release, Seven’s Travels, co-released by punk-minded label Epitaph, helped expose…
There’s a killer song by ’80s doom-metalheads Saint Vitus called “Born Too Late,” and the song’s subject fits Tempe-based roots-rock band The Smith Family Band well. The music of Derek and Ryan Smith doesn’t have anything to do with the sludgy guitars and crawling tempos of Saint Vitus, owing its…
Maxine Johnson is something of an RnB legend in Phoenix, and she’s got the resume to prove it, having worked with everyone from Wayne Newton and Diana Ross to Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong. Johnson is known for her big voice, which can regularly be heard at juke joints around…
“Music for a cause.” You’ve heard it, and it’s not good. Go ahead and listen to “We Are the World” for a refresher. But sometimes music does serve a cause other than inflating a performers ego. Americana artist Adam Smith, who performs September 9 and 10 at Desert Ridge Marketplace…
I’m positive that wherever you are reading this, whatever you were doing before reading this, you’re not having more fun than Freddie Gibbs. I phoned the Gary, Indiana-based rapper last Friday, and could barely make out his laid-back voice over the roar of the early afternoon party going down on…
On her 2009 release High Hopes & Heartbreak, Mesa-born American Idol finalist Brooke White covered “Use Somebody.” It’s tough not to hold the song choice against her (I’m going to blame Randy Jackson, dawg), but Gemini from White’s new project Jack and White certainly goes along way in helping to…
If Prince ever revealed anything about himself, it’s that he liked to take charge (just too demanding, and like his father, too cold). There’s no better example than The Time. When Warner Brothers allowed Prince to recruit new talent for the label, he hooked up Minneapolis band Flyte Tyme with…
She’s at the forefront of the “white folks saying the N-word debate,” been compared to Odd Future’s Tyler the Creator, and her big single “Gucci Gucci” possesses anti-commercialism undertones, but if you ignore all the implications of her music, Kreasyshawn makes party music. And that’s a handy thing, seeing as…
Sad news hitting the web today: Jerry Leiber, the lyricist who wrote classic songs from Elvis Presley, The Drifters, Stealers Wheel, and many more, passed away today at the age of 78. Leiber and Stoller worked as a team, with Leiber writing words to Stoller’s compositions (that man’s way with…
Last week marked the 16th anniversary of the tragic death of Mike Condello, who took his life on August 17th, 1995, in his Santa Monica apartment. Best known as the musical director of The Wallace and Ladmo Show, Condello’s musical career was marred by spotty promotion and record company politics…
Sean Daley, A.K.A. Slug of Atmosphere, is an outspoken dude. Just listen to The Family Sign, released earlier this year by Slug’s label Rhymesayers for proof. Over live guitar, keyboards and beats courtesy of Ant, his long time partner, Slug rattles of tales of abusive boyfriends, his personal life, and…
