I’m throwing myself under the bus here, but I’m going to do this anyway. These are my Chuck Taylor All Star tennis shoes. As of yesterday, my retired Chucks. They used to be black and white, but now they’ve got this brown hue — and holes to boot. I don’t…
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 were the worst moments of SXSW? How does local band The Madera Strand Sound Covering…
Despite their tongue-in-cheek moniker, there’s nothing truly controversial about Good Old War. It would be tough to argue the negative sides of singable indie folk, after all. The Philadelphia-based trio makes pretty music. It’s accessible. They’re not looking to be the next hipster fad, but to have approachable melodies that…
Nü Sensae vocalist/bassist Andrea Lukic and drummer Daniel Pitout recently added guitarist Brody McKnight to their lineup, expanding the violent melodies that underpin Lukic’s frenzied, venomous vocals. On the Canadian band’s new three-track seven-inch, Tea Swamp Park, the heavy, theatrical group decelerates, if only slightly, conjuring thoughts of Sonic Youth’s…
God bless YouTube for preserving moments of true human passion. Rita Coolidge and Kris Kristofferson divorced in 1980, but not before appearing on English variety show The Old Grey Whistle Test in 1971, singing “Help Me Make It Through the Night” together. As they huddle close around a single microphone,…
It’s tough to be a fan of the portmanteau. Blending words is an art mastered by few keen wordsmiths, like Liz Lemon on 30 Rock with the word “snart.” But for every “snart,” there are dozens of “turduckens” and “Blaxploitations.” Apparently, it’s the nature of idiots and geniuses alike to…
When the hip-hop duo of Kentrell “Krispy” Lindsey and Alvin “Joey” Lindsey, better known as The Knux, burst onto the scene with 2008’s Remind Me in Three Days, they were decked out in skinny jeans and leather jackets, with electric guitars strapped on and skateboards under their Chucks. In short,…
While costumed DJ twosomes are as much a fixture in the world of electronic dance music these days as pirated copies of Ableton Live, there are a few ultra-talented tandems who rise above the rest. Besides the groovy Gauls in Daft Punk, the Italian dance-punks of the Bloody Beetroots, or…
Although it’s admittedly kinda fun putting Lilith Fair and FoxVag Fest in the same sentence, the two music expos couldn’t be more dissimilar once you remove the female-heavy rosters. Lilith Fair was started in 1997 by Canadian adult-alternative chanteuse Sarah McLachlan as a response to the commercial radio dial —…
Reggae originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s — an integration of numerous musical styles dating back to 1930s swing bands. Over the years, new beats regularly had infiltrated the Jamaican music scene and been altered and adapted to prevalent styles. The R&B music drifting over the radio from Miami,…
Making things obvious has just never been Hot Snakes’ style. “Hi-Lites,” from 2004’s Audit in Progress, provides a great example of this MO in action. The song begins with a shivering, impetuous guitar line that sounds like it’s desperate to break out of a confined space and go skyward. When…
Thursday 22 16th Street Bar & Grill: Kickback Thursdays with DJ Cedric Ceballos (hip-hop, classics, neo-soul, reggae, R&B, Top 40, old school) Afterlife: Beat the Scene Thursdays (electronica, dance, remixes) Bar Smith: Double Vision Thursday with DJ Kyko, DJ Idenaty, & DJ Dario (Latin, hip-hop) Bobby Q’s: DJ Phlava, MC…
Ah, St. Patrick’s Day. It’s one of the few days where getting drunk and trying to kiss people is not just acceptable, it’s encouraged. We actually did not see much kissing going on at Seamus McCaffrey’s on St. Patrick’s Day. There were lots of people dancing or sipping on Guinness,…
Tumblr blogger Chris Haley has proclaimed that he loves comics and he loves Kanye. Put ’em together and you have, you guessed it, Kanye Plus Comics.This blog has got all of the comic drawings with captions that have been replaced with Kanye West’s lyrics. Each entry lists the artist, the song…
See also: Ace Frehley on KISS and His New Memoir, No Regrets You guys like guitars? How about makeup? Well, KISS and Mötley Crüe are coming to town. The “summer’s biggest, baddest rock tour” (their words, not ours) is headed to Ashley Furniture HomeStore Pavilion (I feel like Gene Simmons…
Thursday, March 15 “No wonder Austinites hate SXSW,” Abe says as city traffic delays our PA system pickup. “You can’t get fucking anywhere in the city right now.” We drive for two hours, listening to a jazzercise mix CD a friend made for Abe, as we keep getting snagged on…
Local band A Life of Science, who has adopted a more electronic pop sound as of late, is really taking their multimedia approach to their band seriously. Their new video for the track, “A Crystal City Awaits,” off their sophomore album Vita Nova, seems to have just as many graphic elements as…
Hip-hop artist Tyga, who was set to perform in the Valley this weekend, was involved in an altercation last night after a concert in Omaha, Nebraska, that resulted in a shootout.In addition to injuring two of his posse members, the incident has caused the cancellation of Tyga’s appearance on Friday…
When The Ting Tings announced months ago that they were coming to the Valley, the concert was originally supposed to take place at the Clubhouse Music Venue in Tempe. Then the tragic shooting outside the establishment prior to a Nipsey Hussle show went down on March 2, which caused the…
Bummed out that Drake skipped Phoenix in favor of Tucson earlier this month? Well, be bummed no more: Everyone’s favorite former-Degrassi star/current sexy music maven is returning to Arizona, planning a stop at Ashley Furniture HomeStore Pavilion on Thursday, May 10. Drake’s latest, Take Care, earned him four Grammy nominations…
See also: Metallica Curates Orion Music and More Festival: Who Picked Which Bands? Lucero’s Brian Venable on Metallica Being Dead to Him, ATO Records, and Women & Work When Metallica revealed the lineup for Orion Music and More, the two-day festival curated by the band members themselves, plenty of folks…
Cults Rhythm Room Monday, March 19, 2012 Better Than: Sweating buckets or inhaling copious amounts of secondhand smoke at previous Cults shows. Being “Internet famous” can come as a mixed blessing, but Cults has now played three sold out Arizona shows thanks to hype from the blogosphere. The band’s career…
