Features

I suppose it’s a testament to Devonté Hynes — that he can pull the wool over one of his biggest fans’ eyes, effectively tricking me into thinking I had stumbled upon yet another brilliant British indie rock band…

Do you want a copy of DJ Element’s new mixtape, FreeStyle Session Japan? It’s been hailed as a “funk odyssey” by no less than, um, the Phoenix New Times.   For real though, the first 50 peeps in the door tonight at tonight’s Blunt Club installment at The Yucca Tap Room…

This week, New Times ran a list 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 eight best local records of 2011 so far? What are the best and…

Headlines struck familiar tones on June 16. The Diamondbacks defeated the San Francisco Giants 3-2, after Justin Upton nailed a 10th inning walk-off home run. Broadway Road was closed between Rural Road and Mill Avenue. A Glendale woman was arrested on charges of pimping out a 17-year-old girl. And a…

The Raconteurs have announced that they will be performing at the inaugural MI Fest in Brooklyn, Michigan on September 17.The band, which consists of Jack White, Brendan Benson, Jack Lawrence of the Greenhornes and Dead Weather, and Patrick Keeler, has not yet revealed any information about any potential additional tour dates…

You might have read about local electro pop band Super Stereo in this week’s music feature in Phoenix New Times. While you’ll get the details of how the group came together there, you’ll also notice the band is a bit into fantasy and myth-building — so much so, the group…

It’s a Friday night at the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, and local electro-pop band Super Stereo is getting ready to take the stage. The five 20-somethings (two gals and three guys) in the group are wearing sunglasses and coordinated gray-and-white outfits. They look crisp, clean, and cool, as…

After he released Curse Your Branches in 2009, an album frequently called his “breakup letter with Christianity,” you’d think that former Pedro the Lion frontman David Bazan would be done answering questions about his faith. But, inevitably, his wrestling match with Christianity still comes up in nearly every interview with…

Pete Townshend once claimed, “I have terrible hearing trouble. I have unwittingly helped to invent and refine a type of music that makes its principal proponents deaf.” But there’s a drummer/singer out there right now who was born deaf but learned to hear. He’s performed more than 2,500 concerts for…

, according to Consequence of Sound.As if she wasn’t busy enough promoting her new album 4, which is doing quite well on the Billboard charts, Beyonce will take the lead female role as “an aspiring singer who arrives in Hollywood desperate for a break.”The film is set to be released…

, according to the Fab Life.Clayton Hill, the inmate, has said that Nation of Islam member Dawoud Muhammad was the hit man who shot and killed the Notorious B.I.G.Muhammad “stated to me that he was on the run for the murder [of the Notorious B.I.G.],” Hill said in a recent…

The line up of Within These Walls has been changing a bit over the past couple weeks, but it looks like it’s close to being locked down. A headliner was recently announced, and it’s none other than seminal New York hardcore punk heroes, H2O. It’s been a good six years…

Dayve Hawk lit up the blogosphere back in 2008 with his multifarious Memory Tapes remixes, as well as 2009’s debut LP Seek Magic. Then championed as chillwave, Memory Tapes is now seen as a more calculated producer effort by Hawk, and rightfully so — he has hit his stride with…

This week is a special one for Chad Krystals. The local hip-hop musician is releasing his new, third independent album, Mind Games, today, off his own independent label, Krystal Clear Inc. He’s giving Valley music fans a little taste of the album with a special showcase at Phoenix’s Hidden House…

Music writer Jane Scott, who covered just about every music legend you can think of during her 50-year tenure at The Plain Dealer in Cleveland, died early Monday morning at age 92.As a female music journalist, Scott was a pioneer. She was the only woman reporter at a Cleveland news…

Sometimes the word “eclectic” just doesn’t do a dude justice. Djentrification is one of the most “eclectic” DJs in town, and the term barely serves to scratch the surface when it comes to his unique musical approach.He’s not a typical DJ, finding kindred spirits in guys like legendary Phoenix oddballs…

A new queen of pop has been crowned by Rolling Stone, according to Idolator.Rolling Stone put 16 female pop stars head to head in the ultimate statistical showdown to see who would reign as queen. Competitors included Adele, Beyonce Knowles, Britney Spears, Carrie Underwood, Christina Aguilera, Katy Perry, Kelly Clarkson,…

Aaron MayThe chef owns Over Easy (additional location here), The Lodge, Mabel’s on Main, Iruna and Vitamin T, as well as May’s Counter in Tucson. When you put your key in the ignition and turn on the radio, what station would play right now? The Grateful Dead channel on Sirius…

Although they have not produced at a very prolific pace thus far, the members of Phoenix indie pop group St. Ranger are on the verge of unleashing some serious noise.

UK doom metal band 40 Watt Sun’s new album, The Inside Room, won’t be released stateside on Metal Blade Records until July 19, but it’s already hotly anticipated by fans of both 40 Watt Sun and their singer Patrick Walker, former front man of Warning.The Inside Room boasts five tracks,…

Brent Cowles, otherwise known as indie rocker, You Me and Apollo, spent 2010 as a Phoenix resident, cultivating his place in the music community before moving back to Fort Collins, Colorado. Earlier this month, he released Cards with Cheats, a 13 song album available online and has a release party…

This week, New Times ran a list 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 do members of local band The Comseticators have to say about their song, “Apple”? •…