Yeasayer frontman Chris Keating’s tongue-in-cheek claim that the band’s sophomore release, Odd Blood, was designed to “sonically challenge Rihanna in the clubs” might be overly ambitious, but it’s a good description of the band’s departure from its earlier work. The Brooklyn-based trio’s critically acclaimed 2008 debut, All Hour Cymbals, melded…
Under normal circumstances, a birthday party involves friends and family heaping plenty of gifts and good tidings upon the guest of honor. Not so with Joel Davis. The P-town selecta (better known as DJ Epidemic) is turning 22 this week, but he’s the one who’s been providing the presents to…
THURSDAY 8 27th Avenue Bar: Ladies Night with DJ Moy, & DJ Jared Paul (Top 40, hip-hop, Latin) Afterlife: Filthy Thursdays (dubstep, breakbeats) AZ88: Mr. P-Body & Friends (classic and old-school grooves) Bikini Lounge: DJ Shane Kennedy (jazz, blues, country, R&B, rarities) Bobby Q’s: All-Star Thursdays (hip-hop, Top 40) Bomberos:…
This judgment comes to us from no less an authority than Christian Lander, the Canadian humorist whose Stuff White People Like blog has become an Internet staple of the pigment-poor, diploma-rich, probably-votes-Democrat set. The blog’s appeal is quite simple: It shows those very same navel-gazing whiteys the folly (and, by…
With each passing spring, the four-day music fest in Florence known as Country Thunder gets a little less country and packs a little less thunder. For example, two years ago, John Fogerty headlined one night in the converted alfalfa field and fired up some old chooglin’ Credence Clearwater Revival hits…
My Elvis Costello phase started pretty much by accident. I found a cassette copy of Blood and Chocolate in a thrift store, marked at 50 cents, and bought it not knowing much about Costello or his work. I did, however, have the concrete sense that I was supposed to know…
I was at Eastside Records, maybe a year and a half ago, when I found myself eyeing an EP from Becky Lee and Drunkfoot. It was an eye-catching package: a heavy paper case decorated with glitter and black permanent marker. After briefly wondering what a “drunkfoot” was, I bought the…
Given the varied pop culture terrain liberally explored throughout Kevin Smith’s nine films — comic book legend Stan Lee doling out relationship advice in Mallrats, cracks about Con Air in Dogma, a wacky Scooby-Doo homage in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, ubiquitous Star Wars references sprinkled throughout his oeuvre…
This week, New Times ran a box 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. Why can’t Phoenix’s NPR station, KJZZ, be more like KCRW, and play some indie rock? What…
Welcome to Stripper Songs, a weekly feature that proves not all Phoenix strippers bump and grind to Warrant’s “Cherry Pie” of Flo Rida’s “Low.” Scan the Internet for the top stripper songs of all time, and chances are you’ll happen upon list after list filled with such rock and pop…
[jump] Big thanks to Gabe over at Videogum for pointing this out. Enjoy:Man, fuck talking to scientists! They are always up in my shit, pissing me off, too. It’s so nice to have someone finally articulate so passionately what I’ve been feeling!Let’s take a look at some of the more inspired lyrics, shall…
I really should stop beating on the Arizona Republic’s “Reader’s Choice” poll — poorly conceived and executed though it may be. However, a reader just pointed out two other real gems in the “best annual music festival or event” category.Go down this list and pick out which two festivals didn’t…
Tuesday night was Beatles night on American Idol, and with no guest mentor, viewers were lucky enough to see clips of the contestants talking about each other, and real personalities were shown for the first time ever this season.And, everyone’s also lucky that the majority of the performances were enjoyable,…
Artist: Slow ClubTitle: Yeah SoRelease date: March 30Label: Moshi MoshiBreaking up never sounded so fun as it does when sung by the angel-voiced Rebecca Taylor and her Slow Club bandmate Charles Watson. When they sing “I’ve gotta ruin tonight / Because there’s no good way to say I’m leaving you /…
Longtime PHXmusic.com readers may remember the scandal surrounding the “Best Local Band” category in last year’s Arizona Republic readers’ choice poll. First, the paper put together a terrible list (Asses of Evil?), then it allowed Isle of Essence to dominate the competition, so much so that the band declared themselves…
Tickets for Lady Gaga’s July 31 show at US Airways Center go on sale this Saturday, April 10, at 10 a.m.If you want to see The Monster Ball tour you’d better be at www.LiveNation.com with a credit card in hand at 9:55 a.m. since 16 dates have already sold out.While…
Tempe’s Hoodlums record store and Spraygraphic, an online community of artists and designers founded by two locals present open their latest show “The Lost Album Art” Saturday. The show, the fourth Hoodlums and Spraygraphic have teamed up for, will run for one month. It’s high concept and very cool: Spraygraphic…
We didn’t know that a Saturday night at Bikini had to be designated as “super sensational” but it seems to have worked out for the folks behind the event who just celebrated their 2nd anniversary on Saturday, April 3.There were so many people crammed in the little dive along Grand…
Tempe Music Festival was supposed to be this weekend at Tempe Beach Park. That plan was scrapped back in February when organizers decided they needed to take a year off before mustering the resources to host another two-day event.What do we get instead? The finals of the festival’s Garage Band…
What the other critics are saying:…
Artist: Black FrancisTitle: NonStopErotikRelease date: April 6Label: Cooking VinylI wish I’d never seen The Pixies in concert back in the day. If I hadn’t, I might be a bigger fan and not one of those people who thinks “over-rated” when someone espouses his or her Pixies love.I distinctly remember buying Come…
Remember the good ol’ days, when area indie rock festivals were “Presented by Such-and-Such” or “The Such-and-Such Company’s Festival/Throwdown/Party/Show”?That’s apparently old and busted. The new hotness? Suitefest: Presented by Campus Suites.How’s that for branding, marketing majors?I won’t pretend to understand much about Tempe’s Campus Suites student-oriented housing. I imagine it…
