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…
The holiday season may not be upon us just yet, but it’s never too early to start planning. When buying a gift for a metalhead, your gift better rock, otherwise you’re going to illicit a “mehhh” before a “fuck yeah!” Don’t sweat, heshers and moshers, we’ve got you covered. Metalheads…
Phoenix-based outfit Snake! Snake! Snakes! specializes in a sound well suited for high drama. The group’s 2010 self-titled release proved that the band had its gaze aimed at the big time, filled with tunes that earned comparisons to previous indie bands that wound up playing arenas: U2, The Arcade Fire,…
Mainstream and indie film actor Michael Cera knew what was up back in January. He hopped on the supergroup bandwagon and joined a band called Mister Heavenly, which is made up of Honus Honus of Man Man, Nicholas Thorburn of Islands and The Unicorns, and Joe Plummer of Modest Mouse…
Last week we wrote about Alice Cooper’s new album, Welcome 2 My Nightmare, set to be released on September 13. While the promise of a new “Coopster” (that’s what fans call him) record no doubt excited classic rock fans, we did lack one element in our blog post that could…
They might have a solid lineup slated for tonight’s grand opening, but Venue 104 won’t be getting boozy for the next few weeks. The combination art space, music venue, theater, coffee house, bar and restaurant will actually only be the first three things in that list tonight, as they host locals…
First came Cheap Trick’s disastrous performance at the Ottawa Bluesfest. Thankfully nobody was badly hurt in that disaster. Next came the Flaming Lips’ lighting rig in Oklahoma. The band wound up with $800,000 worth of damaged equipment. Last weekend it happened with Sugarland at the Indiana State Fair. Misfortune has…
Phoenix is a pretty great place to live if you like nerd music. Not only have we got The Minibosses, one of the most respected NES-rock bands in the biz, but we’ve got Mega Ran, AKA Random, who raps serious stuff over video game samples, including sounds from the Mega…
Update: This post has been edited to fix an error regarding the venue Lil Wayne is scheduled to perform at next week. Perma-stoned New Orleans rapper Lil Wayne has been hip-hop’s eccentric golden boy for five years now. On the heels of his magnificent breakthrough album Tha Carter II, Wayne…
Oh, dear god. What have I done?Last week I wrote about my discovery of 37-year-old Chandler “scene” creep Bryan Lightningrod. I mean, “97-year-old vampire from Cairo” Bryan Lightningrod. Whatever. Same difference. The point is, he solicits fan photos, regardless of their nature, and posts them to his Facebook, MySpace, Twitter,…
Want to see indie rockers The Globes, El Ten Eleven, and Sister Crayon for free on Tuesday, August 23, at The Rhythm Room? Up on the Sun has two tickets to give away to one lucky reader. Read on to hear a tune from each band, and details on how…
River Jones Jones is the owner of local record label River Jones Music. When you put your key in the ignition and turn on the radio, what station would play right now? Growing up, I listened to KDKB, KUPD, KEDJ, and KUKQ. Now, I am always streaming music 24/7. But,…
The 2010 biopic Serge Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life, about the legendary French singer and general scoundrel, is coming to downtown hot-spot FilmBar next month.Though the film won’t premier at the theater until the “last week in September” according to FilmBar’s Facebook, the staff is counting down the time until the…
It looks like College Dropouts is ready to hit the books — er, bottle — again, just in time for the new ASU semester. The bar, tucked away on College Avenue near Sun Devil Stadium, closed in April when the owner was unable to reach a lease agreement with the building’s…
As an avid fan of Fall Out Boy (read: an avid fan of Patrick Stump, Joe Trohman, Andy Hurley and 5 percent of Pete Wentz), I am pretty damn stoked to watch Stump perform his solo act at the Martini Ranch later this month.
What if Sheryl Crow had been your elementary school music teacher? How cool would it have been if Bun B was your professor in a class about religion and hip-hop? How strange would your learning experience have been if Peaches had been your drama instructor? Those artists actually held those…
Seems like that licensing deal is working out well for Phoenix-based hip-hoppers The New F-o’s. The group’s song “Good and the Bad” will be featured on tonight’s episode of the FX sitcom Wilfred. In case you haven’t got hip to it, the show features Elijah Wood and Jason Gann in…
Phoenix band KONGOS may be no-frills when it comes to their rock performances, but the indie rock group with African influence created a dang sexy spectacle with their newest video for their current single, “I’m Only Joking”.The clip looks like it could be sandwiched between Ke$ha and Nelly Furtado on…
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 rock star is being “memorialized” at Memorium in Bar Smith? Why is Bryan Lightningrod the…
Check out this week’s issue of Phoenix New Times for a feature on a guy many call one of the most talented young musicians in the Valley, indie singer/songwriter/violinist Tobie Milford. Milford performs with band The Whisperlights, but when he takes the stage at Scottsdale’s The Rogue Bar this Saturday,…
When Jeff Rosenstock’s band The Arrogant Sons of Bitches broke up in 2004, he decided to record a bunch of weird songs alone on his computer and just give them away for free on the Internet. He called this project Bomb the Music Industry. “When I realized I could record…
We don’t like change. We don’t like evolution, slow growth, or new surprises. Once we’ve figured something out, it’s easier if it just stays as it was when we got to know it, thank you very much. And we’re skeptical when those whom we’ve gotten to know as actors start…
