DJ Tranzit’s Throwback Birthday Bosh @ Smashboxx

As the old saying goes, what do you get the man who has everything? Or more specifically, what sort of gift could you possibly buy a cat like Steven Chung (a.k.a. DJ Tranzit) in honor of his 32nd birthday this weekend, given that he already owns a pimp ride, a…

Drop the Lime @ Monarch Theatre

Right now, some kid is listening to Enter the Night, the 2012 release from Drop the Lime (NYC-based producer/DJ/pop artist Luca Venezia), and it’s blowing their dubstep-addled mind. They’re pressing play on his cover of Bruce Springsteen’s stark 1982 classic “State Trooper” and thinking, “Oh, my God, this is brilliant…

Musiq Soulchild @ Celebrity Theatre

Taalib Johnson, better known as Musiq Soulchild, or sometimes just Musiq, released his debut album, Aijuswanaseing, in 2000, at the apex of the neo-soul movement. The term, coined by then-Motown president Kedar Massenburg, described a particular streak of black American music. As with any name given to a diverse and…

Club Candids: Sundays 4-2-10 at El Hefe

Football fans can be a rather crazy lot. Setting aside the fact they spend around four months out of every year obsessing over a single team and practically living and dying on their every move, pigskin addicts are more than willing to watch games in the freezing cold, while wearing…

Valley Metal Act Blessedbethyname Returns for Benefit Show

The terms “black metal” and “benefit show” may not seem like they go hand-in-hand, but you’d be amazed at the amount of love coursing through veins of local act Blessedbethyname. This industrial black metal band is one of the best known metal bands to come out of the Valley of…

Other Lives @ Crescent Ballroom

Other Lives don’t write songs so much as soundtracks. That’s not to disparage frontman Jesse Tabish’s breathy, languid croon. It’s more to note the epic sweep and orchestral mien of their widescreen compositions. Their soundfield suggests a dry river bed extending to the horizon line, ringed by mountains with twilight…

Nick Warren @ Bar Smith

The rising EDM boom in America is one vulnerable to trends: even has-been nü-metal troglodytes Korn have added bass drops to their ham-fisted, distorted chords. UK DJ Nick Warren, a specialist in house and progressive techno, has been spinning and mixing for over 20 years, and though his career has…

MV & EE @ Yucca Tap Room

It’s not hard to get lost in the world of Vermont-based songwriters Matt “MV” Valentine and Erika “EE” Elder. The duo’s blanket of releases — dozens of tapes, CD-Rs, downloads, live tour documents, and long players for labels like Thurston Moore’s Ecstatic Peace!, Time-Lag Records, and Three Lobed Recordings —…

Alanis Morissette @ Comerica Theatre

Oh, Alanis, you sure have mellowed out. Seventeen years ago, you released Jagged Little Pill, one of the most commercially successful albums of the ’90s. Those vindictive songs about heartbreak (“You Oughta Know”) were balanced by the Taoist outlooks (“Hand in My Pocket”) and not-so-ironic situations (“Ironic”). It was an…

DJ Qbert @ Monarch Theatre

In the hands of most DJs, a pair of turntables is the place to put colored Serato Control records. When wielded by the expert hands of Richard Quitevis, known in the music world as DJ Qbert, a pair of Technics 1200s will reach transcendence, becoming a true musical instrument or…

Club Candids: Monster Masquerade on Mill

Happy Halloween, everyone! On behalf of everyone at Up on the Sun, I hope you find a cool concert or party to go to tonight, and thoroughly encourage you to party a little too hard. Halloween is a blast–as a kid, neighbors handed out free candy because you dressed up…

Are You a Cute Blond Lady? Now Is a Good Time to Be in a Music Video

Last week, a couple of so-called indie bands released music videos that featured quirky blonde actresses. Michelle Williams traveled to Niagara Falls Wild Nothing’s “Paradise” and The Girl Next Door Elisha Cuthbert imagines herself in a movie in The Gaslight Anthem’s video for “Here Comes My Man.” Both of these…

Rapper RoQ’Y TyRaid Channels Pulp Fiction in Latest Single

One of the brilliant things about collaborative music groups is that there’s always work to be done. Accounting for half of the super group Writer’s Guild, Mr. Miranda and Random a.k.a Mega Ran hit the road earlier this month to tour with fellow local emcee Mouse Powell, allowing group member…

Up on the Sun’s EDM Halloween Playlist

There are two Halloweens: One is for the kids, so they can get dressed up in costumes and score candy. The other? It’s known as “the one night a year when girls can dress like a total slut and no other girls can say anything about it.” Yes that is…

Bounce Music Festival @ Mesa Amphitheatre

If you’ve attended a major music festival, club night, or dance party within the past 12 months, it’s almost certain that you’ve heard “Spaceman” being blasting over the sound system. The otherworldly six-minute track, crafted by Dutch-house wunderkind Hardwell (pictured) earlier this year, has pretty much become the new “Levels,”…

Earth @ Rhythm Room

Seattle band Earth’s progression from instrumental drone-metal negativists to tempered electric Americana drone artists has been as natural and languid as the band’s riffs. Led by guitarist Dylan Carlson — the only constant member in the band’s nearly 20-year run — the group formed in the early ’90s, inspiring legions…

A$AP Rocky @ Celebrity Theatre

If you’re hedging your bets on who will be the next big thing in hip-hop, you should probably wager on A$AP Rocky. The Harlem-born member of A$AP Mob struck a nerve with his 2011 mixtape, LiveLoveA$AP, which adroitly combined disparate elements like East Coast boom bap, ambient synths, and crushing…