From Print: Blogs Teased in Our 1/20 Issue

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. How did Kimber Lanning of Stinkweeks talk an association of record store geeks out of boycotting…

Steven Tyler Rejected For Led Zeppelin Position

Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry has revealed that lead singer Steven Tyler was turned down after he auditioned to replace Robert Plant in Led Zeppelin, according to NME.However, Jimmy Page invited Tyler to make a record together, which Tyler declined. Why the hell would anyone turn down the chance to make…

Latest Cake Album Hits No. 1, Sets Dubious Record In The Process

This year sure has been a fickle beast thus far — treacherous weather, Jared Lee Loughner and now a slumping music industry.Showroom Of Compassion, the latest album from venerable rock band Cake, took the top spot on the Billboard charts for the week ending on January 16, Yahoo! News reports.That’s good news,…

Andrew Jackson Jihad on Downtown Phoenix

Sean Bonnette has a theory concerning time, space, and the area of Phoenix that city planners officially refer to as the “Central Business District.” “I have this idea — I’ve had it for six months now — that ‘Central Phoenix’ and ‘Downtown Phoenix’ are two totally different places, but they…

Best Coast: Things Are Going Swimmingly for Bethany Cosentino

Bethany Cosentino of Best Coast sounds pretty rough as she answers the phone for our Monday afternoon interview, but given her week, it’s understandable. A few days before, she and her bandmates — guitarist Bobb Bruno and drummer Ali Koehle — made their television debut on Late Night with Jimmy…

Pazz & Jop Announced. Kanye Won. Duh.

Our sister paper, The Village Voice, has announced the results of their annual Pazz & Jop critic’s poll.If you’re unfamiliar, basically like 1,000 music critics get to vote on their favorite albums and singles, assigning points to the top 10. Then those points are tabulated and Kanye West wins.Or at…

Coachella 2011 Official Lineup Announced

In perfect Girl Talk fashion, the good people of Goldenvoice set up a surprise late night release of Coachella’s overwhelmingly impressive lineup.Many of Michael Lopez’s lineup predictions were spot on. The Strokes made the cut, as did Duran Duran, although on a different day than what Billboard speculated.The Black Keys…

The Decemberists: The King Is Dead

​If you’re like The Decemberists lead singer Colin Meloy, then you enjoy folk-tinged albums rooted in verbosity and literary symbolism. Thank god, then, that for their sixth album, Meloy and his merry cohorts are staying true to what they do best. The King Is Dead lacks a concept — unlike…

The Underground’s First Birthday Party

Does it seem like a full year since The Underground opened in downtown Mesa?It’s hard to believe, right?The venue opened on February 12, 2010 but there’s apparently another show that day (not on the calender yet). Also, the venue is kind of small so they’re doing it upstairs at the…

Vayden, Warner Drive and Ronin Meyer at 910 Live Tonight

Get ready for a night of hard and heavy alternative rock music that’s definitely worth checking out.Vayden, Warner Drive, and Ronin Meyer will be performing a big all-ages rock show on the outdoor stage at 910 Live tonight. Tickets are $10.All three bands have put a more artistic spin on…

Meat Puppets Announce New Record, Lollipop, for April 12

Local legends The Meat Puppets will put out a new record, Lollipop, on April 12. The followup to 2009’s Sewn Together will come out on Megaforce Records. It was also recorded in Spoon’s HiFi Studios in Austin. Curt Kirwood produced the record himself — Curt lives in Austin and also…

The Flaming Lips Play Smartphone Jam in a Bath Tub

The Flaming Lips have done an interesting musical experiment with smartphones, according to Prefix.Wayne Coyne and Steve Drozd of the Flaming Lips recently recorded a jam sesh that took place in a bath tub.The guys played different parts of a song they wrote by playing the tracks of each instrument…

The Rage Music Festival and the Coming Evolution of Christian Rock

Every year at Castles-n-Coasters, 50 bands play on four stages in front of crowds that could be considered big by any reasonable Phoenix standard. Odds are, however, that unless you happen to follow Christian music, you will not have heard of the bands on the two-day Rage Festival bill. Thousand…