Dario Varela rocks the decks like nobody’s business. The 29-year-old DJ has become a staple of Latin dance events in downtown Phoenix in recent years, having spun cumbias and reggaeton tracks in such spots as Sky Lounge, Silver, and PHX Nightclub. Varela’s sights are now set on conquering Scottsdale, as…
Thursday 13 27th Avenue Bar: DJ Manage (Top 40) Afterlife: Thumpin’ Thursdays (various) AZ 88: Josh One (various) Blue Martini: Rewind Thursday with DJ Mendez (hip-hop, dance, Top 40) Bobby Q’s: DJ Deuce (hip-hop) BS West: Intravenous Thursdays (goth, industrial, electronic, ’80s) Capitol Sports Lounge: DJ JS3 (various) Carly’s Bistro:…
On Monday, October 10, British songwriter and psychedelic legend Donovan (born Donovan Philips Leitch) visited the Musical Instrument Museum, strolling around the exhibits and conducting interviews with writers about the history of music and education. Speaking with Donovan was really something. They guy doesn’t seem to stop to even think;…
Today we published a list of ten great albums you may have missed in 2011, but one record Up on the Sun contributor M.T. Richards left off his list is one at the top of mine, The War on Drugs’ Slave Ambient. The album suggests the Nebraska Springsteen could have…
Growing up you were always told not to judge a book by its cover, but judging a band by its name? That’s pretty easy. The Black Keys? They’re blues rock, of course. Spice Girls? The poppiest pop imaginable. Nickelback? Yeah, I suppose that combination of flavors would taste a lot like…
Despite the attendance being a bit of a disappointment to its promoters, Red Light Disco at Tempe’s Club Red last Friday night was far from a letdown for those who managed to show up. Rave kids, EDM enthusiasts, and colorful clubgoers were in the house as DJs spun from an…
As if things couldn’t get any worse for Valley sports fans. First the Diamondbacks run out of pixie dust, ending their season in gut wrenching fashion, and now NBA commish David Stern has canceled the first two weeks of the regular basketball season. Something about money, or whatever, is keeping…
On the official Rock the Revolution site, presidential candidate Ron Paul says: “I always knew that if you were going to have a revolution, you needed two things. Young people, and music.” Well — looks like he has the music part locked down with Rock the Revolution Concert, scheduled to…
When our sister paper The Village Voice publishes the results of its annual Pazz & Jop poll next February, there will be three or four albums that invariably get a nod on every ballot. See: Fleet Foxes’ Helplessness Blues, Jay-Z and Kanye West’s Watch the Throne, and Girls’ Father, Son,…
We’re here to help.When all else fails (or if you’re just really enthusiastic about music), dress up as your favorite band. Plenty of artists are offering merch that easily doubles as a Halloween costume. No matter what your taste in music, we’ve got 10 ideas that include a little something…
There’s something about LOUDNESS that’s deeply appealing to fans of rock ‘n’ roll, especially when it comes to a live performance. The visceral shock, the days of tinnitus… it all coheres into something that transcends a recording and delineates the difference between headphones at home and headbanging at the club…
Given his penchant for tequila, you’ve no doubt woke up feeling like a zombie after a Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers show (lord knows we’ve felt it). But on Friday, October 28, Clyne and friends will literally be getting zombified — dressing up as the undead for Harold’s Haunted Honky…
Sometimes help can come from the unlikeliest of places. You might not think of Ozzy Osbourne as a self-help guru, but you sure as hell can’t say the the dude doesn’t know how to survive. His years of hard living benefit his new book, Trust Me, I’m Dr. Ozzy, out…
Look, don’t tell Netflix or Qwikster or whatever it’s called today, but I am their perfect customer. When Netflix raised prices, I didn’t cancel my plan. When CEO Reed Hastings announced that the service would be splitting into two services, Netflix for streaming video, and the absurdly named Qwikster, for…
English rockers Bush, who have always had better luck in the US than in their own home country, are looking to further their success as they sweep through Phoenix in December.If you’ve been eagerly awaiting to hear grunge hits like “Glycerine” and yearning to enviously stare at Gavin Rossdale while…
Dawes and Blitzen Trapper Crescent Ballroom Monday, October 10, 2011 When you catch onto a band in its early stages, they become bigger in your head than they actually are in real life. For me, one of those bands has always been Blitzen Trapper. Their indie folk sound is exactly…
Frank Turner and The Sleeping Souls Rhythm Room Monday, October 10, 2011 A sold-out, super energetic Monday night show is somewhat of a rarity in Phoenix (or, you know, anywhere). British punk/folkie Frank Turner had no problem selling out Rhythm Room as he has done for most of his U.S…
Want to know what new release discs and platters are moving across the Valley at local record stores? We’ve got you covered with another installment of What’s Selling. Shopping at Spanish language record shops is a whole lot different than a regular trip to your local Zia Record Exchange. Discotecas…
A few years ago, shortly after I turned 21, I purchased a sixer of Fat Tire. At the time I was living with a constantly rotating cast rogues in a two story house attached to an old doctors office. The couch was nearly always occupied by any number of guests,…
All holidays have their plusses (even the ones with dubious — though not syphilitic, as it turns out — origins, like today, Columbus Day) but for my money, there’s no holiday quite as much fun as Halloween. Each year I try to scare up a special mix of spooky tunes…
Because the normal channels of communication weren’t enough for you voracious non-readers, New Times and Up on the Sun have agreed to jumpstart and update the old school Serene Dominic vidcasts of yesteryear to bring you..drumroll please…. The Serene Dominic Show v 2.0!! Our 5 minute vidcasts will give national…
Adrian Belew has an extensive résumé. The art-rocker has played with the avant-garde vanguard, clocking in time with King Crimson, Nine Inch Nails, David Bowie, The Talking Heads, Frank Zappa, Brian Eno, as well as playing straight up power pop with his band The Bears. Lately Belew has been touring…
