Walk into any Hot Topic store, and you’re bound to be bombarded with an array of band T-shirts that have different band names on them but tend to look all the same. If you’ve ever thought, “I could make a way better shirt” before, now’s your chance to put your…
Song: Danger Mouse & Sparklehorse, “Dark Night of the Soul” (featuring David Lynch) Context: It may have only gotten a B+ from Jay Bennett, but Danger Mouse’s long-awaited collaboration with the late Mark Linkous gets an A+ in my book. It’s a well-crafted and multifaceted album filled with sonic gems, particularly…
Depending on whom you ask, hipsters either provide salvation or ruination to dive bars. When fashionable types latch onto a particular hole-in-the-wall, they tend to bring a ton of additional drinkers wielding disposable income. At the same time, all the attention can erode a dive’s cool factor and turn it…
Artist: Danger Mouse & SparklehorseTitle: Dark Night of the SoulRelease date: July 13Label: CapitolThe “lost album” of Gnarls Barkley’s Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse (a.k.a. the late singer-songwriter Mark Linkous) was finally officially released today after more than a year in legal limbo. A cast of thousands (including Iggy Pop, Suzanne…
The dollar may not go as far as it used to (especially in these tough economic times), but the Blooze Bar’s Tumbleweed plans on stretching the $4,600 jangling around in his pocket as far as it will possibly go. That’s the exact amount that was generated by a pair of…
Sometimes the best time and place to dance will surprise you. More often than you’d expect, a Thursday night at Tempe’s Yucca Tap Room is a way better time to “get down” than a Friday night at [insert any typical dance club here], thanks to the killer DJs and zealous…
Song: Glacier Saints, “The Devil” Context: The Seattle-based male/female duo will be filling the Trunk Space with their haunting indie-electro tunes and soulful singing later tonight. Lady Lazarus, Hug-of-War, and Michelle Blades will also perform. (Click here for more details). 03 The Devil by Glacier Saint…
According to NME, Jason Bonham, former drummer for Led Zeppelin and son of John Bonham, the band’s original drummer, said that Zep came close to reuniting and playing new material — without lead singer Robert Plant, that is. Apparently Bonham, along with John Paul Jones and Jimmy Page had worked together for…
Call it vapid, call it superficial, call it genius: whatever you think of MTV “reality” show The Hills, the program’s managed to make its mark on the music scene. Thanks to star Audrina Patridge’s cushy “job” at Epic Records, as well as castmates Lauren Conrad and Whitney Port’s work at…
Crazy For You is scheduled to be released July 27 via Mexican Summer.UPDATE: If you didn’t like the link provided by Urban Outfitters (or just don’t want to associate with them) then you can hear the entire album at Wichita Recordings. Too lazy to click that link? Fine, I’ll embed the damn…
Arulpragasam, known to the world as hip-hop visionary M.I.A. Today sees the release of Arulpragasm’s third album as M.I.A., the cleverly titled ///Y/. Calling Arulpragasam controversial is akin to declaring July “pretty fucking hot” in Phoenix — once the stark, violent video for lead single “Born Free” hit the Internet in…
This is part of a series of reviews of bands who play weekly at local bars. The show: Badness at Char’s Has the Blues. The look: Small, old-school blues dive, lit by red Christmas lights. The smell: Wood and the street. The taste: Sweet. In an old, sweaty kind of…
I remember it like it was yesterday: it was the summer of 2002 and I was in super-humid Milwaukee for Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game. We were in the parking lot of Miller Park, enjoying the pre-game festivities, eating and drinking all of the finest food the city of Milwaukee and…
Artist: Crowded HouseTitle: IntriguerRelease date: July 13Label: FantasyThanks to the many people who read and commented on my post last week of my must-hear songs from the first half of 2010. Seems I touched a few nerves with that list — a common theme of those who were critical of…
Welcome to 21 Questions, a regular feature where PHXmusic.com goes to the favorite hangout of a notable Phoenician and asks the “big” questions. This week we met up with Ear Candy’s Nate Anderson at the Compound Grill. Name: Nate AndersonAge: 28Occupation: Founder and President of Ear Candy CharityNew Times: In one…
Finally playing on a stage befitting their status as one of the best rock bands of the past 15-20 years, Built to Spill put on an excellent show at Cricket Pavilion Saturday night, and, as a bonus, they even brought along some plucky, young, Southern rock upstarts from Nashville to…
Artist: The trickily named .listen.Album: A CD-R containing one song from .listen’s future album Atomic Sunrise, “Defiance,” was all that was submitted.Basics: .listen is a young man named Eric who moved from Vermont to Scottsdale and has been a MySpace member since April 5. .listen is billed simply as such: With…
While it may be the opinion of the majority of Up on the Sun writers that Glee represents everything that is awful about the world of popular music, and even popular culture, the show’s producers seem to have found yet another way to piss off music critics everywhere. According to…
Hoodlums has been the indie-rock home for ASU kids for many years. This week, the kids are branching out a little bit. While there are no great surprises in Hoodlums’ top 10 list of bestsellers, classic rocker Tom Petty comes in at number one, and the Rolling Stones, Ozzy Osbourne,…
In case you’re not up on all the latest hip-hop news, Mr. Earl Simmons (a.k.a. DMX) got himself sprung from Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s tender care earlier this week after spending four months incarcerated in the county hoosegow. “THE DOG IS OUT THE CAGE!!” exclaimed the hardcore rapper’s Twitter on Wednesday…
Name: Jimmy Ng, Jr. AKA: Silent J Current club nights: Thursdays and Fridays at Afterlife in Scottsdale.Genres spun: Electro, Dutch, dubstep, hip-hop, mash-ups.Craziest shit you’ve seen at a club? I would say seeing one guy get maced for trying to get into a fight with a girl, and blindly trying to…
Leave it to Justin Bieber to make a gentleman out of Usher.Usher, a player notorious for demanding threesomes and using big boobies as criteria for hooking up, actually sounds sweet on the track featuring him and The Biebs, “Somebody to Love,” which is all about commitment and showing a special…
