Despite the quick rise of his punk outfit Cloud Nothings through the blogosphere and the warm critical reception of the band’s latest record, Attack on Memory, 20-year-old singer-songwriter Dylan Baldi remains calm. The big, black all-ages Xs drawn on his hands surely negate any ego-tripping. “Some cities on the West…
Thursday 23 16th Street Bar & Grill: Kickback Thursdays with DJ Cedric Ceballos (hip-hop, classics, neo-soul, reggae, R&B, Top 40, old school) Afterlife: Beat the Scene Thursdays (electronica, dance, remixes) Bar Smith: Ladies Night with DJ Idenaty, DJ EC Rock, & DJ Oh-Jezus (various) Bobby Q’s: DJ Phlava, Judge Da…
Hope those thinking caps aren’t too snug: Phoenix New Times’ Big Brain Awards are back. The annual awards designed to recognize innovative artists in the fields of design, visual art, fashion, performing art, and culinary art, and give each $500 for their creative endeavors…
It seems like Old Town Scottsdale would be pretty busy on a holiday weekend, but against all odds, it wasn’t. For once parking was easy to find and Shoeman was eerily quiet, but once you turned the corner to Saddlebag Trail, it was the same ol’ loud and crowded Old…
Ambition goes a long way — just ask Sareena Dominguez, who signed with River Jones Music Label a scant six months ago, is releasing her debut in the spring, and is currently booking her first tour — and she’s only 19. Raised in Gilbert, Dominguez came from a rather large…
Now that we all know most record companies are the loss leaders for their conglomerate parent company we always believed they were, you kinda wish just once someone at the label would say “I don’t know how to do my job” instead of “We don’t have a way of marketing…
Roderick James Byers — known to two-tone fanatics as Roddy Radiation — has got ska credentials locked down. Not only did he play guitar in the seminal rude boy band The Specials, but he wrote some of the band’s catchiest tunes, like “Concrete Jungle” and “Hey Little Rich Girl.” Radiation…
Here’s a familiar story: Conservative candidate plays a rock song at a rally, liberal artist complains. Ronny Reagan and Bruce Springsteen. Mike Huckabee and Boston. Michele Bachmann and Tom Petty. Ron Paul, on the other hand, has a handful of diehard musician fans that are willing to travel and perform…
It’s hard to find music videos on TV these days. Sure, one could argue that the internet has ushered in a new era of DIY or underground video creativity, but it’s hard not to miss the days when you could waste hours watching clips on MTV or VH1. If musical…
Hanging out at Bar Smith on a Friday isn’t just another night out on the town. It’s pure adventure, especially when trying to navigate the crowd on either floor during the phenomenally popular Sticky Fingers weekly.It’s doubly difficult if you’ve had a few, as some of the drinkologists at Bar…
Here’s kind of a crazy realization: Stephen Malkmus has been performing and recording with The Jicks longer than he played and recorded with Pavement. But following Pavement’s reunion (I saw them at Coachella 2010, and had one of those mythic “Brochella Moments” with a complete stranger during “Cut Your Hair”),…
I’m not sure, but I think that the point Midnight in Paris (the latest in Woody Allen’s remarkable late career streak) was getting at was that getting stuck in the past is no good, especially when you’re idealizing a past you never actually experienced. That said, most of my favorite…
29-year-old local musician Braden McCall “feels too much,” and while he might humbly admit this is, well, a rather annoying personality trait, it certainly hasn’t hurt his ability to write and record music. As a Valley native, McCall has used his time and talents wisely, spending the majority of his…
Ah, Mardi Gras. A time honored tradition marked by booze, beads, boobies, and other pre-Lent debauchery. Since 1837, the city of New Orleans has been paving the way for last-minute sinners by throwing, “the greatest free show on earth.” While we at Up on the Sun have mad respect for…
Being in a band is tough. Just listen to Cursive’s travails in “Art is Hard.” Over the last decade, the Omaha-based indie rockers have endured their share of personnel changes: subtracting a cellist, adding a horn section, going back to a four piece, and eventually settling on a five piece…
In 2010, our New Times operations manager and Up on the Sun contributor Jay Bennett wrote a column about listening to only new music called Nothing Not New. For a whole year. Some time has passed, but not the lesson that column taught me. There’s nothing wrong with favorites, but…
To honor one of the most mainstream bands in indie rock, The Rogue Bar is hosting Radiohead Tribute Night.Prague, The Low Men, Some Magical Animal, Goetta, The Woodworks, and Manny vs. Chris will be performing Radiohead covers till you drop. That’s more Thom Yorke than you can probably handle, but…
Want to know what new release discs and platters are moving across the Valley at local record stores? We’ve got you covered with another installment of What’s Selling. You can always count on Phoenix music shoppers to pick up the latest in metal and rock releases. Top movers at Zia…
Glen Campbell at Comerica Theatre Going in, there was a fear that Glen Campbell’s Goodbye Tour concert would devolve into little more than a nostalgia act. That Campbell, struggling with the early onset of Alzheimer’s disease, would duly try his best to work through carefully guarded and pre-arranged songs with…
On Saturday, February 18, the Musical Instrument Museum debuted its “I Am AZ Music” exhibit, featuring over 40 installations that examine the scope and history of music in Arizona in celebration of the State’s centennial. Reggae artist Walt Richardson performed, as well as psychedelic soul band What Laura Says. Deon…
You gotta hand it to American thrash metalheads Megadeth. For as rocky as their successful road has been, the band has done great job at keeping things surprising. Just last week, guitarist/vocalist Dave Mustaine made headlines by announcing his endorsement of far-right presidential candidate Rick “Please Don’t Google My Last…
We’re pretty excited about Hooves’ homecoming gig in March, and listening to “Animal Mother,” our exclusive sneak peek at the band’s upcoming Fetch, Little Doggie LP, justifies the commotion. A live staple at the band’s shows for some time, the recorded version offers a certain clarity that isn’t always present…
