It’s not everyday that a band’s first gig is also its CD release show. It’s rarer still that such a gig would take place at Tempe’s Clubhouse Music Venue, a 600-capacity venue that typically plays host to up-and-coming national touring acts. Then again, The Artifact isn’t your typical wet-behind-the-ears local…
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. Why was Steve Nash hanging out with Arcade Fire?How was Lil Wayne’s show in Phoenix?Why is…
Song: Megadeth, “I Thought I Knew It All”Context: This track is from my favorite Megadeth record, 1994’s Youthanasia, which was recorded right here in Phoenix. I touch on the recording of this record in this week’s music column, which is all about how Dave Mustaine is Metal’s MVP. Megadeth -…
Welcome to Obscuro, a feature where Up on the Sun dives deep into the world of vinyl oddities: private press jobs, major label cast-offs, and general thrift shop clutter that’s thus far escaped anyone’s attention. These LPs have been hiding out, collecting dust, until we come along, investigate, probe and…
A couple of weeks ago, our music feature was on the earliest musical recordings from Arizona, created in 1929 by a cowgirl singer/guitarist named Billie Maxwell. Though her music is obscure to most, a handful of Arizona collectors are on a quest for to obtain a very rare original copy of…
Song: Lil Wayne, “6 Foot 7 Foot”Context: I’m seeing Weezy tonight. Can someone tell me what the fuck bananas have to do with the verses on this song? I’ve consulted Urban Dictionary on the matter and the only connection to slang I see is that the song is about a…
French pop star Yelle played Rhythm Room last week and Up On The Sun cartoonist Robbie Pfeffer was there.As a result, he has some advice for people who wish to blog about such events. Read on for those tips…..
A new commercial for Vitamin Water pairs up Steve Nash and “Barbra Streisand” by Duck Sauce, according to Prefix. What a winning combination.Keeping it classy by wearing a suit and tie to a party and then at a fancy restaurant, Steve Nash plays himself in the ad. There couldn’t be…
However, it’s punk quartet Face to Face who have perhaps the most intriguing just announced show with their June 1 date at the Nile Theater. The Victorville, CA band rose to prominence with the release of their second album, Big Choice, which contained such radio stalwarts as “Disconnected” and “I Know…
w h o k i l l picks up right where BiRd-BrAiNs left off, bolstered by the catchy, unique lead single “Bizness.” Garbus’ vocals are in top form, commanding your attention from start to finish. She also ditched the DIY recording style from BiRd-BrAiNs, opting instead to go the more traditional recording studio…
As everyone knows, The Dude was in the music business, briefly. As a roadie for Metallica during the Speed Of Sound tour. The band was, reportedly, a bunch of assholes.Now the Dude, using his professional alias Jeff Bridges, will record an album with Oscar and Grammy award winner T-Bone Burnett…
, according to Idolator.”Judas” will be released on Tuesday, April 19 as Gaga’s followup single to the track that shares a name with the album. The song clip sounds like a low-quality preview. The music video is expected to be rather religious and, naturally for Lady Gaga, pretty racy and controversial. Check…
YouTube brings it’s first national tour, the 6 week, 27 city “DigiTour” through Club Red in Tempe tomorrow night. The line-up features many of the video site’s most popular novelties, accounting for more than one billion views combined.MysteryGuitarMan, Dave Days and AutoTune The News guys The Gregory Bros. headline the show.Let’s see…
Song: Fake problems, “Soulless”Context: Fake Problems will be at Hard Rock Cafe downtown tomorrow night. Fake problems – Soulless by totosarg…
Huge and old-timey show announcement today: The Decemberists will play Mesa Arts Center on August 11.The date comes at the end of the Portland indie-folk act’s extended summer tour, which is in support of their January record, The King Is Dead. No support for this date announced yet but other…
Song: The New Pornographers, “Your Hands (Together)”Context: The New Pornographers will play Marquee Theatre tonight. New Pornographers – (Your Hands Together) by Perriquin79…
Christwire has issued a hilarious warning about Coachella titled “Coachella is a Festival of Disease and Sin. Your Children Most Likely Will Die.”The satirical site — that means it’s not real, folks — begins by describing the California festival as “a concert event for neo hippies, naked beer drinkers and drug addicts. Each year…
Mack DuncanThe improviser, filmmaker, puppeteer, teacher, co-founder of The Torch Theatre and creator of the web series Vincent and Me helped organize the Phoenix Improv Festival this weekend at the Herberger Theater. When you put your key in the ignition and turn on the radio, what station would play right…
Is Weezy sober as good as the Weezy who was getting blazed and freestyling about Al Sharpon in a 9 minute song? Now that Lil Wayne is out of jail and on probation he’s supposed to stay straight, which is bound to have an impact on his work. So is…
Tom Hanks has big plans to move American Idiot into movie theaters, according to Consequence of Sound.Considering that Hanks and the guys of Green Day are involved in the film, there’s little doubt that it’ll bring a lot of people into theaters. Plus, Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong is…
Score one for Zack de la Rocha, Javier Gonzalez and the Sound Strike.Steve Earle has bowed to intense pressure from organizers of a boycott of Arizona related to an immigration law that will never take effect, postponing his upcoming Arizona show indefinitely.In a statement, Earle says he was “under the…
Song: The Stone Foxes, “I Killed Robert Johnson” Context: San Francisco’s Stone Foxes have been impressing us for awhile. Glad to see them back in town tonight opening for The Black Keys. I Killed Robert Johnson by The Stone Foxes…
