On Sunday, May 15, New Age artist Yanni (pronounced yawn-ee) is scheduled to perform at Jobing.com Arena. I’m personally not a fan of his flowery, adult contemporary compositions, but the man has sold more than 20 million albums worldwide, and his instrumental soundscapes have been included in every Olympic Games…
It’s with great sadness that we report that Dennis Chiesa, owner of Tracks in Wax Records, passed away May 1 of complications involving his battle against cancer. Chiesa was 67. The Irish Cultural Center ran this obituary, expressing sincere sadness and extending condolences to his wife, Julie O’Mahar Chiesa, who…
Like they always say, “If you can’t say anything nice, then don’t say anything at all.” In honor of this most important credo, I now present my list of the top ten best You Asked For It songs…
Sometimes, when art imitates life, you get a bunch of glorified karaoke videos dressed as talent competition shows. In this week’s “Noise Complaint” comic, Robbie Pfeffer explores the vacuous realm of music and celebrity judges on “reality” TV…
To a music fan, there’s nothing like having a unique piece of memorabilia from their favorite artist — for example, an autographed guitar, or maybe the mandolin that Ministry used on three world tours, or Red Hot Chili Peppers singer Anthony Kiedis’ MTV Europe Award. To a music fan and…
Local metal band Rising Pain recently released a new EP, War of Souls, at a raucous show late last month at Chaser’s in south Scottsdale. Frequent Up on the Sun readers might recall that the band was involved in an unfortunate incident last summer when band members and several concertgoers…
Get your illicit substances and Syd Barrett bootlegs in order: Austin psych band The Black Angels are bringing their droney rock ‘n’ roll sound to the Rhythm Room this Wednesday, May 18. The band’s latest album, 2010’s Phosphene Dream, comes courtesy of Blue Horizon Records, legendary for its mid-’60s blues…
I digress. Michaels re-upped his image in 2007 with his VH1 reality dating show Rock of Love, availing himself to a new, younger generation of fans — myself included. The show was beyond a guilty pleasure for myself — it was something I truly enjoyed watching, as “trashy” and whatever…
Genre revivals are interesting phenomena that don’t always occur in chronological order. For example, the current thrash metal revival has been going strong since the early 2000s, but the New Wave of British Heavy Metal sound that served as a precursor to the original thrash uprising in the 1980s is…
Jared Alan used to be the hipster king of Saturday nights. Back during the heyday of the weekly Cheap Thrills wingdings (which have since become a monthly), Mr. FauxShow himself packed ’em by the hundreds for a night of dancing and debauchery. Alan’s flipped the script and switched over to…
It’s fitting that the first song on The Black Angels’ recently released album, Phosphene Dreams, is titled “Bad Vibrations.” The album is chock-full of them. That isn’t to say that the latest record from the Austin psych-rock band is bad, just probably not the type of thing you want to…
In the nearly five decades The Moody Blues have been around, they’ve sold almost 70 million records worldwide, a pretty staggering number that seems almost incomprehensible by today’s standards. But one of the nice things about being a musician before the Internet existed was that people actually bought your music…
For me, Brian McKnight will forever live in a clip from the original 90210, performing for ill-fated couple Donna and Noah in a restaurant somewhere in Los Angeles. Even though I may not need to hear anything from McKnight ever again, after his early 2000s urban adult contemporary heyday slowed…
Michelle Shocked’s sophomore album, Short Sharp Shocked (1988), was a best-selling rebuke of the walkin’-on-sunshine Valium binge that ruled pop music in the late 1980s. Filled with pissed-off-sounding folk-rock paeans to the American condition, the album also sported a magnificently jarring cover image: A black-and-white photo of Shocked (born Michelle…
On the last Friday in April, New Times met local DJs Melo and Pickster at Bar Smith to talk about a new sound they’re helping pioneer in the Valley. It was loud in the downtown Phoenix club, which was gearing up for Sticky Fingers’ first anniversary party, so we found…
Following a decade of relative obscurity operating in the poppier corner of the indiesphere, of Montreal enjoyed a mid-Aughts breakout with the albums Satanic Panic in the Attic and The Sunlandic Twins, as bandleader Kevin Barnes developed a more idiosyncratic stage presence and songwriting and recording processes. Concurrently, of Montreal’s…
THURSDAY 12 27th Avenue Bar: DJ Manage, & DJ Android (Top 40, dance) Afterlife: Thumpin Thurzdays (various) AZ/88: Josh One (rare groove, urban funk) Bar Smith: Splash Thursday (reggae, dancehall, Top 40, house) Bikini Lounge: DJ Shane Kennedy (jazz, blues, country, R&B, rarities, vintage) Blue Martini: Rewind Thursday with DJ…
, according to Rolling Stone.Fox News has labeled Common as a “vile rapper” without any support. The claim came suddenly when Michelle Obama invited him to a poetry event at the White House. However, a Fox News interview with Common from 2009 states that the rapper is anything but vile…
Norman Cook, a.k.a. Fatboy Slim, has been rocking beats hard since the late ’70s, when he played in bands like Disque Attack and the Housemartins. He achieved mainstream popularity in the ’90s, when “Praise You” blew up as a radio staple. In recent years, Cook has focused on production, stepping…
It’s hard enough holding down regular gigs at country bars, blues clubs, and rock joints around Phoenix, as acoustic troubadour Joe Bethancourt has done since the ’60s. But it’s beyond tough when your house burns down and you lose everything, as Bethancourt’s did on April 30. That’s why several local musicians…
Apparently, any corner of the Internet is free game for music promotion these days. Facebook users accustomed to hearing drizzling midi banjo when they log into Zynga’s Farmville game will be in for a surprise this month — Lady Gaga will be debuting new tracks from her record Born This…
With a name like Dirty Pretty, you’d expect lots of gorgeous gals, and if you’re lucky, ladies that want to get down and dirty. I’m not sure about the dirty half of the equation, but the pretty were out in full force. Check out this week’s Club Candids to see…
