Artist: Mini Mansions Title: Mini Mansions Release date: November 2 Label: Ipecac One of the biggest musical curveballs of the year has to be the debut record by the Southern California trio Mini Mansions. I say it’s a curveball because I wouldn’t have guessed such a Beatles-esque display of psych…
Although there isn’t particularly an abundance of ska bands in Arizona, local ska band the 2 Tone Lizard Kings are keeping the genre fresh. They incorporate the energy of Fishbone frontman Angelo Moore, a maturing sound, and the vibes of a raucous crowd into their performances, and they put on…
Song: 2 Tone Lizard Kings, “The Bail Song”Context: Here’s a little taste from the local ska band that was the subject of this week’s New Times music feature in our print edition. The Bail Song — from Primeval Itch…
Blues Harmonica Showcase at Rhythm Room (Thursday): A virtual “who’s who” of both local and nationally-know harmonica maestros will be working their blues harps all evening long at the Rhythm Room, filling the joint with all manner of funky jams. The Rocket 88s will host the event and the lineup…
Method Man made a lot of Arizonans happy last night at the Wu-Tang Clan concert at Celebrity Theatre in Phoenix. Not only did he smoke a blunt on-stage, he also dissed SB 1070, calling it whack and inviting local politicians to suck his dick. He wasn’t the only one smoking…
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 are the keys to deciphering any music critic’s list of the top 10 albums of the…
Aretha Franklin’s family has confirmed that the singer has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, according to Billboard.After being ordered by doctors to cancel six months of appearances and going through a very successful recovery from an unknown surgery last Thursday, we can only hope she’ll beat this cancer.The soul and…
Usually when you pay money to go see a show, you want the bands you’re seeing to perform their best–you know, not mess up, sing in key, play the right chords.That’s a little hard after you’ve taken 10 shots.Shotfest 4: The Quest for Peace might be one of the only…
If making pimp remixes of pop artists were a martial art, Richard Vission would easily be a ninth-degree black belt. The Grammy-nominated maestro of house music has unleashed his magic on some of best and the brightest in the biz, including Lady Gaga (“Bad Romance”), Black Eyed Peas (“Meet Me…
Funny how things work out. When a violent dustup with a choirgirl in Arkansas ended Joseph Williams Perkins’ budding career as a guitarist, it started him down his path as a pianist. Better known as “Pinetop” Perkins, Joseph holds the distinction of being one of the oldest Delta blues performers…
Smell that? It might be the scent of your roommate’s fifth bong rip today. However, it could also be the Smoker’s Club tour bus nearing the Arizona state line. As if you didn’t already know that rap music and pot go together like alcohol and Taco Bell, Curren$y has made…
Over the past decade, the model for the live music business has been turned upside down. Back in the day, a band would go on tour to increase the sales of its record. Now, bands often sell their records in an attempt to support their tour. Roger Clyne and the…
Usually, band’s origin stories are pretty similar to one another. You know the drill: The members, outcasts at school, rebelled against their parents and wound up in a forceful, angst-y band. That’s not really how things worked for the members of NeedToBreathe. The stripped down Southern-sounding quintet hailing from Seneca,…
Evolution is a tough trick for any band. Savages, the sophomore record by New York duo The Gay Blades (think Errol Flynn, not Glee) shows a marked progression from their debut, Ghosts. The record finds them trying to blend glam rock, janky blues riffs, and arena-ready melodrama into their post-emo…
THURSDAY 9 27th Avenue Bar: R&B Thursdays (old-school R&B) Bar Smith: Bass Lettuce & Techno with DJ Josh Letsis, & DJ OG (deep bass) Bobby Q’s: All-Star Thursdays with DJ Nino (hip-hop, Top 40) BS West: Intravenous Thursdays (goth, industrial, electronic, ’80s) Club Trinity: DJ Knick Knack, DJ Unkown, DJ…
As most people get all warm and fuzzy during the holiday season, others flip their shit. There are just so many times when the stress of shopping for stupid gifts and coordinating stupid family schedules is just too much to handle. That’s when banging your head and screaming it off…
Everlast is coming to town on December 9. He is playing Toby Keith’s I Love This Bar & Grill. First of all, these two sentences put together . . . pretty hilarious. The fact that Toby Keith has a bar and grill is funny, and calling it “I Love This…
It’s a chilly night in early November, but the crowd of kids gathered outside 910 Live in Tempe is feeling plenty warm. It isn’t surprising, given that they’ve spent most of the past hour skanking up a storm to the beats of local ska septet 2 Tone Lizard Kings. Bathed…
Artist: Sun City Girls Title: Funeral Mariachi Release date: October 26 Label: Abduction Sun City Girls’ last-ever record — they’ve made dozens since forming in Phoenix way back in the early days of West Coast punk — comes off as a more somber affair. And some of it is downright…
Christmas is a big thing at the Coach House. The folks at this Scottsdale mainstay do it up right by decorating the renowned dive bar with more than 10,000 twinkling glow lights and more wrapping paper and bows than one can imagine. It’s definitely a sight to be seen, which is…
Song: T.I., “How Life Changed” Context: Everyone’s apparently too busy wetting themselves over the new Kanye West record that they’re not thinking much about the fact that T.I. just dropped a new album, No Mercy, yesterday. It’s excellent. This track, “How Life Changed,” stands up to anything on My Beautiful…
Compiling year-end lists is an art form. Lucky for everyone, our own Michael Lopez understands that art very well. So does Consequence of Sound. The Associated Press, on the other hand… not so much, which is why the Houston Press, among others, famously and understandably shit all over AP’s 2009…
