Now this is cool. This week, the soon-to-be-open Musical Instrument Museum (MIM) in north Phoenix took delivery of the piano in which John Lennon of The Beatles composed “Imagine,” a tune that some people feel is the best song ever. The instrument – which isn’t the white piano that Lennon…
Is it still the great American Rock ‘n’ Roll dream if the person living it wants to move back to Japan? Ask Masaki Murashita, the 24-year-old lead singer and guitarist of Phoenix thrashers Hemoptysis. Murashita has spent the past nine years in North America — attending high school in Canada…
Phoenix-based Greeley Estates have long been one of the Valley’s most prominent post-hardcore acts. Their last album, Go West Young Man, Let the Evil Go East, earned the band glowing reviews from sites like Absolute Punk, and the band’s participation in the Vans Warped Tour helped them garner a national…
Back in the day — and by “day,” I mean the mid-’80s — a movie star wasn’t really a movie star until he cut a shitty, self-indulgent music album that bombed everywhere except Soviet satellite states. After a Don Johnson Heartbeat here and an Eddie Murphy So Happy there, the…
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. What are the 12 guys from N.W.A’s first album doing now? Why does Tucson have such…
Wanna hear some free local metal? MetalSucks is hosting an exclusive stream of Landmine Marathon’s new album, Sovereign Descent, which hit stores on Tuesday, March 16.In other Phoenix-area metal news, Glendale’s Job for a Cowboy have announced a spring headlining tour that kicks off April 21 in Newport, Kentucky, and…
In case you haven’t heard, The Rolling Stones are preparing to reissue their iconic 1972 album Exile on Main Street this May. There will be original remastered tracks as well as 10 unheard new tracks available.This has gotten plenty of people excited — American Idol producers, who featured some of…
Jay-Z and Jack White have collaborated on a new song.Can this week get any better? I submit that it cannot!While the two had publicly discussed a desire to work with one another, no specifics had ever been announced. White recently broke the news to GQ about the project, but the…
Artist: Xiu XiuTitle: Dear God, I Hate MyselfRelease date: February 23Label: Kill Rock StarsIs anyone else looking forward to the baseball season? Outside of listening to and making music, following baseball is my primary hobby. Living most of my life in Michigan, Indiana, and the Chicago area, I always felt…
There’s no shortage of strip club action in the Valley of the Sun. From high-end gentleman’s clubs like Christie’s Cabaret and Le Girls Cabaret to the low-rent flesh parlors of the West Valley’s skeezier industrial neighborhoods, Phoenix is definitely skin city.Despite what you might think, the buxom babes baring it…
Artist: Drive By TruckersTitle: The Big To-DoRelease date: March 16Label: ATOI’ve been looking forward to hearing the new Drive By Truckers’ record for one reason: They represent the last time (before this year, of course) I dove head first into the work of a band I was totally unfamiliar with…
Gone are the college-era days of the The Whigs raucous live shows and raw sound. Instead you’ll find a timid homage to one of America’s biggest sell-outs. Still, The Whigs press on, and In The Dark will stand as an extension of their garage/grunge sound, even if that same sound…
Rolling Stone gives everyone the highlights of last night’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony. You know — just in case you lost your ticket to the Waldorf and/or cannot afford top-tier cable channels.While each year is unique, people just can’t stop talking about The Stooges’ intense performance…
If you’ve ever been through the system for a ridiculous traffic infraction at Tempe’s downtown kangaroo court (full disclosure: I have), you probably know the city is run by idiots. Like, the sort of idiots who wanted a now-shuttered Borders Books on their downtown strip instead of several legendary bars?…
To say Marshall “Fucking” Beck and New Times have had a contentious relationship over the years would be an understatement.Love him or hate him, though, Beck’s dedication to the local metal scene is unassailable. In addition to hosting and promoting numerous metal shows throughout the Valley, Beck is also the lead…
There’s no denying Lady Gaga’s a pro when it comes to crafting a unique visual style to go along with her catchy pop music. Her new video with Beyoncé, for “Telephone,” is no exception–it sure is unique. But it also doesn’t make a whole lot of sense and contains a…
Summer. Her collaboration with producer/performer M. Ward — She & Him — has become quite the force in today’s music scene.NPR’s Exclusive First Listen has made the duo’s second album, the appropriately-if-not-imaginatively titled Volume Two, available for a full album stream a whole week before the album is released…
Last night was an exciting one for fans of rock band Digital Summer. The group best known for its successful grass roots marketing (hand-delivering tickets to fans, putting their logo-covered stickers all over town, etc.) made their triumphant return to Tempe, opening for Sevendust and Drowning Pool at Marquee Theatre.Meanwhile,…
Artist: April Smith and the Great Picture ShowTitle: Songs for a Sinking ShipRelease date: February 23Label: April SmithHere’s one for fans of musical theater. With a flair for the dramatic, April Smith and her band weave in and out of various old-timey American musical idioms: Dixieland, ragtime, swing, doo-wop. It’s…
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is hosting its induction ceremony tonight.Too bad you can only watch it if you get the Fuse channel, or if you happen to be at the Waldorf Astoria in New York.The list of inductees this year is diverse, and will feature…
On July 31, Lady Gaga will hit U.S. Airways Center on her massive summer Monster Ball Tour. Gaga told Rolling Stone that she sees the show as a sort of “pop-electro opera.””The theatrics and story elements are in the style of an opera. Imagine if you could take the sets…
Artist: The Morning BendersTitle: Big EchoRelease date: March 9Label: Rough TradeObviously, summer ain’t no big deal in Phoenix. No one here actually looks forward to the dreadful season. But everywhere else (including my native Midwest), people have had more than enough winter by this point, and are waiting for the…
