Music Editor/Ambassador of the Funk Martin Cizmar got things kicking with his Friday picks for this year’s edition of the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival, so I figured I should divulge my picks for Sunday’s lineup. My sensibilities are different than most people’s. Last year’s Coachella lineup was my…
So I know Coachella isn’t quite the planning nightmare SxSW is — given that there’s less than a tenth of the bands playing, and it’s at a single site — but I’ve learned my lesson and have planned things carefully. I thought I’d share it with you. I’ll be there…
I actually try to keep Republic-bashing to a minimum here on Up on the Sun, but, as you’d probably expect of one of the largest papers in the country to never win a Pulitzer, the Gannett-piloted drone just keeps embarrassing itself.The latest example? Their “Best Local Band” category in the…
Right now, if you were to amble over to Live Nation’s No Doubt page you’d see that lawn tickets for Gwen Stefani’s band’s show at Cricket Wireless Pavilion are $25. Not tomorrow. In a promotional effort tied to tax day they’ll be a more modest $15. For the band that…
As we all eagerly await the set times to be announced for this weekend’s Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival, San Francisco’s Outside Lands Festival announced its initial lineup. The headliners for the second edition of the festival, set to take place August 28-30, are the Beastie Boys, Pearl Jam,…
If you’re a fan of The Love Me Nots, a local act that makes their bones playing originals inspired by the garage acts from the Motor City, you will not want to miss The Detroit Cobras at The Rhytm Room on May 27. Actually, anyone with even the tinest soft…
The big music news today is a report from Billboard on iTunes price changes and their negatively affecting chart positions for the top 100 songs.Last week, iTunes introduced variable pricing, with some newer and more popular singles priced at $1.29 while other songs remaining at 99 cents and some older…
First, the good news: Wilco is coming to Arizona for the first time in five years on June 18. Now, the band news: to Tucson. A two-hour drive really won’t affect the most die-hard fans (like me) of the Americana-turned-jam-turned-soft rock band, which tours extensively and once wrote a song about how…
Hot on the heels of their Tempe Music Festival performance, future-forward, electro-rock band Shiny Toy Guns have released a free download of “Major Tom” their cover of Peter Schilling’s song of the same name which is a continuation of the Major Tom character as told about in the David Bowie…
Austin, Texas based-band The Meat Puppets (How much do you old Mill types hate seeing that? But that’s how they bill themselves!) have a new album, Sewn Together, coming out next month and will tour extensively in support of it, playing everywhere in the continental United States. Well, everywhere except…
I know a lot of people are planning to go out to The Loveblisters’ last show Saturday night, but there’s another cool show that night, this one for a good cause. Allen Shellenberger, drummer of the California band Lit, was diagnosed with brain cancer a year ago and the age…
With a name like Sisterbrother, it’s probably not surprising that family has played a big role in the Gilbert-based band’s musical development. The three members of Sisterbrother aren’t actually siblings, but their respective families have been instrumental in the band’s early success. Drummer Chris Albers’ father plays both guitar and…
Conor Oberst is a man known to take on any and all musical ventures, starting when the 13-year-old Omaha singer-songwriter self-released an album, Water, recorded on his father’s four-track. Most know Oberst as lead man in Bright Eyes, his most popular project, which cemented its spot in the indie consciousness…
For a genre that never received much attention, even during its heyday, thrash metal is enjoying one of music history’s more unlikely renaissances. In the past few years, a slew of retro-thrash bands has emerged from the underground. With names like Municipal Waste, Toxic Holocaust, and Merciless Death, these bands…
Living with an addict destroys you. Either you shut down emotionally to weather the shitstorms or you erupt like Vesuvius because someone has relegated you to secondary status, behind the drug of choice. An addict only has to keep falling and the world sympathizes with his co-dependency. But how about…
Ever since we got a press release about Green Day’s impending album, 21st Century Breakdown, a few weeks ago, I’ve been eager to see when the band would start playing live again. Turns out our sister paper in San Francisco was there to see Billie Joe, Tre, and Mike play…
Looks like AZPunk’s not dead after all. The infamous local website was reborn last week with a completely new look after taking a year-long hiatus from the Internet. For those of you unfamiliar with AZPunk, it functioned as an information resource and meeting ground for P-Town’s punk and hardcore community…
You excited for McDowell Mountain Music Fest yet? No? Not yet? Well, that’s about to change, kids, because no one in their right mind would want to miss The Flaming Lips Saturday set after seeing this amazing cover of Madonna’s “Borderline.”By the way, we’re doing our own little covers project…
From our sister paper in St. Louis comes a funny blog post about a Craigslist ad for a new indie rock club that’s requiring a mix CD with applications for bartender, barback, and doorman.mix cd should contain music in and around the neighborhood of indie rock/pop. the more unknown the…
Armed with subtle yet snarky British vocals and a staggering amount of originality, Britain’s Mica Levi has assembled an album that stands as one of 2009’s best so far. I know I have already deemed Reintegration Time by Edmonton’s Shout Out Out Out Out as my favorite of 2009 (and…
Am I the only one who didn’t realize people were still listening to Incubus? The band’s been around 1991, and seemingly peaked in 1999 with the double platinum Make Yourself, but is somehow still has a #1 album, and is playing Jobing.com Arena. Go figure. So, I guess that’s a…
It makes sense these days for some older acts to get out on tour and start playing some shows. Just looking at this past weekend in the Valley, we saw Springsteen, Lou Reed and Leonard Cohen all unravel some shows well in the twilight of their respective careers. Paul Frederic…
