Singer/songwriter Angel Olsen skipped out on SXSW 2013. Though she’s hardly strident or indignant about it, the industry showcase just doesn’t speak to the sensibilities displayed on Olsen’s gorgeous noir-folk LP Half Way Home, released by Bathetic Records in 2012. Those songs, like the wounded but sensual “Lonely Universe” and…
Singer/songwriter Angel Olsen skipped out on SXSW 2013. Though she’s hardly indignant about it, the industry showcase just doesn’t speak to the sensibilities displayed on Olsen’s gorgeous noir-folk Half Way Home, released by Bathetic Records in 2012. Those songs, like the wounded but sensual “Lonely Universe” and the earthy “Tiniest…
Max Cavalera of Soulfly is a mellow speaker. His Brazilian accent is thick, and there’s a lilting quality to the way he punctuates his sentences with phrases like “You know?” or “It’s killer, man.” He’s buzzing about a lake house in unincorporated Phoenix, a second home to go along with…
Mammoth, Arizona-based Al Foul’s website proudly proclaims the rockabilly singer as the “One, the Only Al Foul.” It’s more than just an accurate boast: The duder performs solo, snarling over a fat Gretsch guitar and stomping on a bass drum. But his songs aren’t rowdy BBQ Show/Bob Log-style tirades. No,…
Sacramento, California-based hip-hop duo Blackalicious has released three full-length records in the two decades it’s been in action: 1999’s Nia, 2002’s Blazing Arrow, and 2005’s The Craft. But don’t dismiss Gift of Gab (Timothy Parker) and DJ/producer Chief Xcel (Xavier Mosley ) as slackers. Though they might not appear to…
Max Cavalera of Soulfly is a very mellow speaker. His Brazilian accent is thick, and there’s a lilting quality to the way he punctuates his sentences with phrases like “You know?” or “It’s killer, man.” He’s buzzing about a lake house in unincorporated Phoenix, a second home in addition to…
Up on the Sun has learned that Norteño soul guitarist Eddie Dimas, author of the classic Latin instrumental “El Mosquito,” passed away March 8 of natural causes. Dimas was 65. See also: -100 Years of Music That Defined Arizona…
The Roots @ McDowell Mountain Music Festival at Margret T. Hance Park|3/23/13About an hour into their dominating set, the legendary Roots crew pulled out a trick few other bands could get away with: Drummer Questlove and percussionist Frank Knuckles did a drum solo. An extended one. It’s always been my…
The Shins @ McDowell Mountain Music Festival at Margret T. Hance Park|3/22/13It’s been 10 years since McDowell Mountain Music fest got started, and nine since Natalie Portman, as the prototypical “manic pixie dream girl” stated that The Shins would “change your life.” In that time, McDowell Mountain Music fest has…
Update: Tickets are now available from Luckyman Online. Each night will feature two shows from Prince, an early and late show, and tickets are available for $277. Folks, the time has come to purify yourself in the waters of Lake Minnetonka. Or, uh, Tempe Tempe Lake.* Because Prince is coming…
Of all the stupid things we do with our phones, Instagram might be the worst. Not only has the app falsely convinced us all we’re professional photographers, but it’s done something even worse: It’s encouraged our worst vainglorious tendencies. No one is Amaro-toning his or her real life. There are…
Like Ziggy Stardust before him, Mos Def knows the value of a good stage trick, some moniker-based sleight of hand. His decision to shelve “Mos Def” in 2011 in favor of “Yasiin Bey” struck some as a puzzling move, but it makes sense. Mos Def is as much an actor…
“I’m a writer, not a rapper,” Masta Killa brags on “R U Listening,” one of the standout songs from his latest, Selling My Soul. It’s a tricky distinction to make, of course, but Killa has a solid case. Though none of his fellow Wu-Tang Clan brethren are lyrical slouches, Killa…
Timberlake-style audacity aside, it takes some serious stones to open an album with a six-minute-plus slow-burning anthem. But that’s what Erika Wennerstrom does with “Marathon,” the opening track of her Texas-via-Ohio band Heartless Bastards’ 2012 opus, Arrow. See also: -Questlove of The Roots Is So Much Better at Instagram Than…
Of all the stupid things we do with our phones, Instagram might be the worst. Not only has the app falsely convinced us all we’re professional photographers, but it’s done something even worse: It’s encouraged our worst vainglorious tendencies. No one is Amaro-toning his or her real life. There are…
We’re pretty sick of reporting it, but seriously, Morrissey’s upcoming Friday, April, 19, show at Marquee Theatre has been canceled. The past TWO TIMES he’s postponed his tour stop in Tempe, fans were told to hang on to their tickets, because the show would be rescheduled. Well, not anymore: The…
Dear readers, let’s get this out of the way: In nearly every possible way, being the music editor of Phoenix New Times/Up on the Sun has been my dream job. No joke: I’ve chatted with Brian Wilson (it was a terrible conversation, and my chat with Al Jardine was much…
Tucson-based singer/songwriter Marianne Dissard didn’t set out to make a dark album when she teamed with bandleader/arranger Sergio Mendoza to craft her new record, The Cat. Not Me, but looking back, she’s not surprised. When she returned to Tucson after touring in Berlin last year, she was “spiritually and emotionally…
It’s a ways off, but electronic pioneers Dave Gahan, Martin Gore, and Andy Fletcher — collectively known as Depeche Mode — are coming to Phoenix. The band will end its U.S. tour at Desert Sky Pavilion (because, hallelujah, the owners of the venue got as sick of saying “Ashley Furniture…
By now, you know the scoop regarding New Times’ Carnaval Eléctrico at Crescent Ballroom: It rained — a lot — but performances by pop princes Diners, the soulful Stan Devereaux and the Funky Suns, hard rockers Mergence, garage kingpin Hanni El Khatib, indie combo Cold War Kids, and more, made…
Carnaval Eléctrico ft. Cold War Kids, Hanni El Khatib, Mergence, Stan Devereaux & The Funky Suns, Diners, and More @ Crescent Ballroom|3/8/13It’s awesome when everything goes right at a show: great lineup, great venue, and great concept. But, as the crowd at Friday night’s sold-out Carnaval Eléctrico festival proved, sometimes…
Stone-faced and brutal, Lee Marvin defined the role of cinematic “tough guy.” Dwayne Epstein, author of the new biography Lee Marvin: Point Blank, describes the moment he realized Marvin’s role as film’s first “action star” as the “quintessential whack on the back of the head. Some people call it a…
