It was announced this week that SXSW will be getting yet another addition to its already fruitful lineup: Tinted Windows. The band consists of Taylor Hanson (Hanson, duh), James Iha (Smashing Pumpkins), Bun E. Carlos (Cheap Trick) and Adam Schlesinger (Fountains of Wayne). It’s an eclectic group, that’s for sure,…
The Game’s reckless, bizarre, whiny tendencies make him a wholly unique hip-hop character. Though the Compton native is among the handful of rap stars who still have platinum potential, he’s no gangsta superhero like collaborator-turned-foe 50 Cent, and he’s no drug-addled weirdo savant like Lil Wayne. His flow is much…
There are few rap songs as important to modern culture as Public Enemy’s “Fight the Power,” a rallying cry against African-American communities for their political indifference. Well, it’s been 20 years since frontman Chuck D helped scare the hell out of white America, and a black man now sits in…
Even witnessing it up-close and in person, the transformation is hard to believe. Grace Perry, a naturally pretty, soft-spoken 23-year-old college student and librarian, is about to turn into a monster. On a Thursday night in late January, the five members of Landmine Marathon are rehearsing at their small, unadorned…
After a mass backlash from its users, Facebook is trying to make nice after the Consumerist posted an item stating that the social networking Web site owns everything its users upload, even after deleting their profiles. The site will revert back to its old terms of use, according to a…
Wait, what? The Hold Steady, beloved hipster bar band, sharing a stage with unrepentant frat-rock douches Dave Matthews Band? It’s happening in St. Louis, reports our sister paper, Riverfront Times. It’s too late to call Live Nation, and the listing for Dave at Cricket Wireless doesn’t say anything about The…
As we come right smack into another Tuesday rife with new releases, I will choose to focus my energies on one particular release, N.A.S.A.’s The Spirit of Apollo. N.A.S.A. (North America/South America) is the collaboration between DJ Zegon (Ze Gonzales) and Squeak E. Clean (Sam Spiegel). Apollo has been hotly…
Or at least a sticker with their name on it did:”A bicycle with a sticker advertising a Florida punk-folk band forced the evacuation of a Memphis, Tennessee airport terminal late Monday afternoon, authorities said.A pilot alerted airport police when he saw a bike with a sticker that read “this bike…
Fresh off a three-night stint at Madison Square Garden, Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood have announced a 14-city U.S. tour beginning in June, which stops in Glendale on Friday, June 26. Tickets go on sale Monday, February 23 at 10 a.m. through LiveNation.The duo teamed up at the Chicago Crossroads…
We’ve been getting a lot of comments complaining we’re too snarky lately, so we’ll let you take care of this one yourselves. The following press release from Limp Bizkit begins with this sentence: “The original line-up of Limp Bizkit is back, do you believe in miracles?”Have at ‘er…
With The Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach’s solo record, Keep It Hid, having come out last Tuesday and his protégé, Jessica Lea Mayfield coming to town tomorrow, I thought this would be a good time to share a story I wrote on Auerbach for my college paper back when his band…
It should come as no surprise to know that in today’s music scene, albums are leaked months before their release date. Ever since Napster became all the rage and the MP3 format made world domination a feasible notion in the latter half of the 90’s, bands have been seeing the…
“After 20 years the Simpsons have changed their opening sequence. Tonight the show had its premiere in HD and with it brought the first revamp of the main titles since 1989.” – The Huffington PostI am not so sure I know what to think of this. Is it reaching for…
Former Rage Against The Machine guitarist Tome Morello has been added to the Tempe Music Festival lineup. He joins 3 Doors Down, The All American Rejects, Mutemath and Shiny Toy Guns on Saturday, April 4. Kid Rock, Cowboy Mouth, Roger Clyne and The Peacemakers and The Outlaws hold down the…
Before today I really had nothing against Bonnie “Prince” Billy. Sure, his insistence on saying he plays “Appalachian post-punk solipsist” when he’s clearly a fairly run-of-the-mill folkie is a little pompous, and I’ve always been a little skeptical of failed actors trying their hand at music, but William Oldham’s always…
When The Format suddenly broke up last year, it left a lot of people in Phoenix surprised, because they’d been one of the most influential bands to come out of this town in years.Now Nate Ruess from The Format has a new band simply called Fun. Well this video of…
The two things that get us talking here on Up on the Sun are music and sex, and if you can combine the two then it is something that is going to get written about on this blog. Well, NME is reporting a new survey in the U.K. of young people…
My good friend Albert Ching at our sister paper in Orange County penned a real gem this week: “Seven Unsexy Songs About Sex.” From Bruce Springsteen talking about anal sex with a hooker to the Liz Phair song that’s more lewd than “Flower” these songs are guaranteed to kill any…
Tempe Music Festival has bolstered their lineup with three acts that give the beachfront festival — headlined by Kid Rock and Three Doors Down — some indie cred. The Outlaws, Mutemath and Shiny Toy Guns pad a lineup that also includes Cowboy Mouth, Roger Clyne and The Peacemakers and The…
One of the things I enjoy most about reading the other music, arts and culture blogs in the Village Voice chain is seeing how they reflect their respective scenes. Take, for example, today’s porn-related posts here in Phoenix and at our sister paper in San Francisco.Last night, Niki D’Andrea covered a…
After having a humongous 2008 — and sure to be large 2009 — Santogold has chosen to change her name to “Santigold.” This comes as very little surprise; the original “Santo Gold” has been all over her ass, harassing her and threatening legal action if the singer didn’t change her name…
Most-often-heard gripe in the digital age? That there’s no regionalism in music anymore, that once upon a time, you heard a record and could tell in a second if it was from Philly or Detroit or New Orleans. Often, a record label could even reproduce a map indicating the exact…
