It’s been a productive few weeks for local hip-hop, giving us new video releases from local rappers Mav, Trap and Mr. Miranda, three of the busiest MCs in the Valley scene. Mav is still promoting his 2010 release, Independent Hustlin’, which recently won the “Best Album” award in the Phoenix…
Title: The Dalliance AlbumBasics: Underground Cities is described as being “formed by old high school friends in the summer of 2009 from the remnants of punk, indie, metal and rockabilly bands.” Thankfully, Underground Cities is not just one of these sounds — the band plays instrumental rock songs in the…
DeVotchKa is Russian for “girl.” Not sure what that has to do with anything, but I like when foreign words are so much longer than their English counterpart. DeVotchKa is also the name of a crazy-ass band from Denver that sounds like Fiddler on the Roof if many, many more…
California singer-songwriter Joey Cape is best known for his work in bands like Lagwagon and Me First and the Gimmie Gimmies. When he’s not working on records for those groups, Cape is building a pretty strong solo career for himself. Unlike the pop-punk sound Cape developed with his bands, his…
The grungy hard rock band 10 Years has had its share of ups and downs. Like most groups that last more than a hot minute, they’ve gone through personnel changes, management changes, and a few creative crises. In fact, the band wasn’t even certain that its most recent album, Feeding…
Let’s say you decide to start a solo project, eventually inviting some friends to play with you. It’s hardly serious — the newly formed band is just a way to see some friends you might not otherwise get to see on a regular basis. Why not give the band a…
San Francisco duo The Dodos’ bright, intricately rhythmic music quilts together influences ranging from Afro-pop and folk-psych to country-blues and po-mi (post-millennial) experimental pop. Since forming in 2005 around singer/songwriter Meric Long and drummer Logan Kroeber, The Dodos have released three increasingly polished and refined albums, with a fourth, No…
Musically, the Vietnam War era is remembered through “All Along the Watch Tower,” “American Woman,” “War Pigs,” and Hot Rocks-era Rolling Stones — the sort of heavily bluesified rock songs you’ll hear in Platoon and Full Metal Jacket. Odd as it may seem, future generations may think Operation Iraqi Freedom…
Mixtapes have been a staple of the hip-hop world, dating back to the old days when NYC selectas like Kool Herc were using the rhymes of artists like Grandmaster Flash and Afrika Bambaataa to help launch their careers. Another cat who rose to glory via his masterful mixtapes was DJ…
What can we make of Ian “Lemmy” Kilmister these days? The 65-year-old frontman of semi-legendary punk/metal outfit Motörhead is still the same bird-flipping rock ‘n’ roller who changed the lives of innumerable angry suburban children with guitars. But he’s also turned into a bit of a grandpa. Yes, he’s still…
After a quarter-century of showcasing the biggest up-and-coming bands, Austin’s South by Southwest has built enough of a brand to warrant unofficial offshoots in far-flung places. Like, umm, Tempe, which is a convenient stop for Texas-bound bands from the West Coast. Every year, the folks at Stateside Presents toss a…
When it comes to South By Southwest, Phoenix’s fortunes are always changing. In recent years, as many as 20 local bands have played at the king-making music industry event in Austin, a half-dozen from Phoenix alone scoring official showcases. This year, there are only four Arizona acts showcasing, including one…
THURSDAY 10 27th Avenue Bar: DJ Manage, & DJ Android (Top 40) AZ/88: Josh One (rare groove, urban funk) Bar Smith: Splash Thursday (reggae, dancehall, Top 40, house) Bikini Lounge: DJ Shane Kennedy (jazz, blues, country, R&B) Blue Martini: Rewind Thursday with DJ Mendez (retro) Bobby Q’s: All-Star Thursdays (hip-hop,…
Miley Cyrus is continuing to prove that she’s into older men, according to the Fab Life.Cyrus seems to be having a fling with Kings of Leon bassist Jared Followill. They’ve been doing an awful lot of texting lately, according to a source that’s close with Kings of Leon.The source said,…
It’s become a cliché for music journalists to write “pity poor Ron Sexsmith” stories about how wonderful the Canadian singer-songwriter is and how it’s a crime that he doesn’t sell more records. It’s only a cliché because it’s true. With his eleventh studio album, Long Player Late Bloomer, in stores…
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. Are The Refreshments really playing South By Southwest as reported?Which Strokes side project is the best…
Casey Moore’s is the neighborhood bar of Tempe. Located just walking distance from the Mill Avenue bars, Casey’s is the perfect place to have a couple beers and still be able to talk to your friends without yelling. Jimmy Eat World even wrote a song about the place. The casual…
SanTan Brewing is taking the beer festival band thing to a whole new level at their first Ameri”CAN” Canned Craft Beer Festival.The Chandler brewery cans instead of bottles, which probably seems like a trivial distinction (or a horrible mistake) to people who aren’t into craft beer.Trust me, it’s the sort…
Song: Family Of The Year, “Treehouse”Context: LA’s Family Of The Year will be playing the South By Stateside show on Monday at Sail Inn. This is a super cool song from the group. Treehouse by Family of the Year…
Title: For When It’s Sunny OutBasics: Phoenix foursome Snow Songs features the versatile Yolanda Bejarano as their lead singer, and it’s damn near impossible to not to mention Bejarano when discussing the band. She is one of the strongest presences I have come across in my time with YAFI and…
Festival season is a great time to be a music fan in Phoenix. With South by Southwest and Coachella both right around the corner, tons of great bands will be passing through Arizona on their way east or west across our state. You can add The Dodos to this list…
Their live shows, however, are where the band makes their reputation. They coordinate their clothes — usually all white — and pretty much just have at it onstage. Nothing is out of bounds and seemingly everything tends to happen. Luckily for the Phoenix crowd, Man Man are set to release…
